Chapter Twenty-One Another House Completed

  As a new house was built, it had already entered December, and a heavy snowfall came down, turning the surroundings into a white landscape.

  Yang Heng and his family of three helped with the construction, but after breaking several wooden boards due to excessive force, his uncles drove them away, no longer needing their help. Although they had good control over their strength when forging iron and knew how to adjust it, house building wasn't about using more force, and even at its strongest, it required much less force than what they used when forging iron. It could be said that house building and iron forging were not in the same league. They could only sigh and watch from afar, acknowledging that this was a job for professionals.

  It's because the uncles are busy, and even the aunts are following suit, so Yang Heng's family naturally doesn't want to just stand by and watch. To make it convenient for the uncles to come here, they opened up a road over five meters wide in the western forest along the foot of the mountain, which directly leads to the village. This way, the uncles don't have to take a detour of several miles every day, as the straight-line distance is only about one mile or so.

  Looking out at the heavy snow, Yang Heng fell into deep thought once again. He remembered that in his past life, whenever he read about ancient times, it would mention something about a snow disaster, collapsing houses and whatnot. However, looking at his own house, it didn't seem like it would collapse under the weight of the snow.

  Yang Heng's house, not to mention the main building, the outer wall is all made of wood, which requires a lot of strength to be crushed. The roof is covered with thatched grass and uses the sturdiest purlins. If it rains for a long time, the thatched grass on top may rot, making it dangerous. It's normal for the house to collapse under heavy snow. It seems that the tiles should be fired as soon as possible, otherwise, replacing the thatched grass every year is also a hassle. Even so, it cannot guarantee that the purlins and even the beams will not rot.

  Yang Heng made up his mind to study the firing technology of large tiles first next year. Burning tiles is a practical technology, and it's simple, just need to buy a wooden mold or ask a carpenter to make one, with clay and straw, you can fire simple tiles, and then ordinary people will suffer less from wind, rain and snow disasters, although it can't be completely eliminated, but it will also greatly reduce the losses caused by disasters. If combined with foundation and stone wall construction method, the maintenance time of ordinary houses will also be greatly extended.

  Some people might say, "You've traveled through time, why not take advantage of the opportunity to create cement, or even generate electricity, or manufacture firearms?" However, in this era, while it's possible to build these things by hand, mass-producing them would be very difficult. In this time-traveling place, Yang Heng only planned to invent some relatively common things from his later life first. These things are just like a simple sheet of window paper - you can't penetrate it if you don't poke at it, but once you do, it's easily broken through.

  Just like the use of foundation, and the construction of stone apron walls, this technique is also simple, that is, burning tiles. Also, when building a house with wood, surface carbonization treatment can be applied to the wood buried in the ground, which can extend the service life of the house, simple, practical, and beneficial to the people.

  This way, the common people can take out some time to engage in disaster relief and farm construction. Next, Yang Heng plans to manufacture some practical farming tools to improve the efficiency of farmers' farming.

  Moreover, Yang Heng would not forget his identity as a traverser, and some high-tech things can also be slowly developed, which requires time and needs to slowly find suitable talents to assist in the development of these things. For example, chemical-related things can seek out Daoist priests.

  Now that winter has arrived, the east wing, also known as the blacksmith's house, has been completed. Next, Yang Heng plans to start making farm tools with his parents, and also needs to make some carpentry tools. Although it is not possible to work outside in the cold, he can still continue to do carpentry work inside. Yang Heng plans to have his younger uncle manufacture a waterwheel, which uses the flow of water and bamboo tubes or wooden buckets to irrigate the fields. According to standard procedure, they will first make all the parts in the house, and then assemble them next year after the ice has melted, installing it in their own river section, so that their own fields can be irrigated.

  The family's own land, in terms of soil quality, should be the best land, it's just that there is no water, which is why nobody has come to cultivate it with great effort. Now that Yang Heng has arrived, this land can naturally be cultivated and utilized. Moreover, Yang Heng even plans to let his uncles take over the remaining wasteland to open up for cultivation, each of the four uncles' families will probably be able to cultivate more than 50 mu of land.

  "Grandpa, can we start forging now?" He said it and did it. Since he thought of it, he should implement it immediately. "Not yet, to forge iron, we still lack charcoal." The old man shook his head and said.

  "Charcoal?" "Yes, but don't worry, next we'll make charcoal. With so many trees here, of course we can make charcoal." Old Dad said casually.

  "Charcoal, husband, you can actually make charcoal, I've never heard you say that before." The old lady was very curious, during this period of time, not only did Yang Heng's child give herself a big surprise, but now her own husband also gave herself a big surprise. When did he learn to make charcoal? This is a skillful job.

  "Daughter, you should know that before you saved me, I actually learned to make charcoal from an old man who made charcoal for a period of time. However, when winter came, due to the war, the old man's business was also affected and there were no buyers for the charcoal we made. That's when I left his house and arrived at the county town where you lived, and eventually fell in front of your family's door. Then, naturally, I met you." The old father said with some sadness.

  "That charcoal seller, what happened to him?" "Alas, this person's fate was truly pitiful. It wasn't until the second year that I found out he had frozen to death in his home during that winter. What an irony, a charcoal seller without any warmth." "I see, you were so downcast during that time, why didn't you say anything? Then I could have shared your burden with you." "Shared? At that time, I hadn't even thought of marrying you yet, and you were still everyone's daughter-in-law." The old man's mood lifted immediately. This matter had long since passed, and he had paid his respects many times over. He had been downcast when it was time to be, but now that he had become a garrison soldier, he should look forward with hope. With his own strength, who would believe that he would remain ordinary forever? The old man comforted himself in his heart.