New Trickster

  San Guan Jia received this great news, what else could he care about? He rushed back to Zhangjia Village with his servants, wanting to report this great news to the old master.

  The old master, although somewhat stingy towards his servants and tenant farmers, was generous in rewarding those who were loyal to him. Upon hearing this good news, he would certainly reward himself handsomely.

  When Old Man Zhang heard of this miraculous method, he wasn't overjoyed as the three households had imagined, but rather was skeptical.

  He pulled water from the river up to the shore, he wasn't unaware, after all a hundred-year-old landlord, this thing about water wheels was still known.

  But the waterwheel requires great strength from several people to tread constantly, and even so, it only diverts water from the irrigation ditch into the field. Moreover, the Sha family river is now over a dozen zhang away from the elevated land, and even if a waterwheel were built, the weight of its long chain would be too heavy for several men to lift, let alone move water. Where is the truth in what those mud-legged people say about not needing manpower, working day and night without rest? It's simply absurd nonsense.

  However, after listening to San Guan Jia's vivid description, the whole village of Zhu Bing Shan was enthusiastically digging canals day and night, with everyone from old to young working together. It seemed that they were all eager to see the completion of this divine instrument, which would allow them to irrigate their crops in time for the farming season. Looking at it this way, it didn't seem possible that everyone would be so enthusiastic about something that might not even work, especially when they didn't even have enough food to eat. This made him believe even more, and he silently calculated and considered the situation in his heart.

  As soon as he heard this interesting thing, Zhang Jiaolong's only son, Zhang Xiaoshao, immediately ran out and came over with great enthusiasm, saying: "Grandpa, is there still any doubt about this? Let me take a few men to go out and bring that thing back for a look. Won't we know the outcome then? Why bother sitting here guessing blindly?"

  This family is very large, but the eldest branch of Zhang Lao Tai Ye has a small population. His son is also a strange person, and he doesn't know how to get married again after marrying only one wife. He even doesn't touch his servant girls with his fingers, and he just lives with his old wife in love. The husband and wife are loving each other, and everyone does not object, but they cannot have children and grandchildren, which is a worry for people.

  Then this treasure of a grandson was born.

  The son is doing business outside, and the grandson was kept by Old Man Zhang beside him, his eyes staring tightly, afraid of any slight collision or loss, which would be a disaster for the Zhang family.

  Also because of this, the grandson was spoiled to the point of being useless, as soon as he came of age, he became a scoundrel who only knew how to stare at women all day, ruining the reputation of countless women and squandering his family's money.

  However, this thing is the only descendant of the Zhang family for generations, and it's like a treasure to the old landlord. The family is wealthy and powerful, and they can do whatever they want without worrying about the consequences. Which year doesn't have some kind of trouble or loss of life? Although Zhang Xiaoyuan is just a humble merchant who is looked down upon by the scholars, money can make everything even out. In this mountainous region, he has connections everywhere, including in Xi'an and Taiyuan, and he's a frequent guest at the Wang family's mansion. Who would dare to provoke him? If no one dies, then it's fine, but if someone with integrity is killed, the victim's family will only get some small change that they'll cry about and bury.

  Why bother to sue? Let's just drop it. As the saying goes, "the common people don't fight with officials" and "the poor don't fight with the rich". If we really get into a lawsuit, the Zhang family can use their wealth to crush us, and that would truly lead to our downfall.

  But recently this little Yan Wang has become very well-behaved, staying at home and not going anywhere. It's not that the kid has changed his ways, but rather a group of migrant workers gathered on the nearby mountain, with several thousand people, old and young, and more than ten days ago, they sent someone down the mountain to bind Chen Jia Village's own grandfather's family, an outsider who was wandering around.

  At that time, it was still his grandfather who came forward and let Zhao Tou, the stationmaster of the post house, come forward to negotiate. It took a lot of silver money to redeem the person back.

  It's no big deal to spend some money, but that little brother is now so battered and bruised that he can't even get out of bed, wailing loudly all day long. Just thinking about it still gives me nightmares, so for now, it's better to just stay hidden away in my own home.

  It's suffocating, I didn't expect such an interesting thing to happen in my own village. This is right at my own doorstep, and I'm not afraid of being kidnapped by thieves. Now I can go out and have a good time, and also get some fresh air.

  Old Zhang patted his grandson's back and said with a smile, "Don't worry, my good grandson, this matter still needs to be waited on."

  "This is why?" The little overlord was usually unruly, but in front of his grandfather, he was very well-behaved and asked the reason politely. Originally, Grandfather would not go against his own wishes, this was a rare occasion when he went against his own playful heart.

  "You think about it, those mud-legged ones are just leveling the land and digging ditches, not to mention installing anything. If we go now and want to move things for our own use, those guys are all military households, with a stubborn temper, they'll destroy everything. Even if we try our best, it won't end well. Why don't we wait until they've finished setting up, then we can take a look at the situation? If it's really as you said, it's not too late to take action then."

  "Lofty, indeed lofty." The several stewards surrounding him sincerely admired the master's ingenuity for the first time, but the three stewards repeatedly flattered, yet secretly smiled bitterly.

  "Moreover, many of them were originally our tenant farmers, they irrigated the land and we also benefited. Once we bring in the ready-made equipment, haha, by that time, those peasants will still have to pay us a fee to use it, which is not a small income."

  Several stewards nodded in agreement, still the old master is wise, it's really not something that ordinary people like us can see. Of course, what they were thinking more about was that their own good fields needed to be irrigated first, this is the priority.

  Old Man Zhang smiled mysteriously and said, "You few don't cause any trouble these next two days. Keep an eye on the movements of those military households and neighbors. Once that thing appears, tell me immediately, I'll handle everything."

  So everyone followed suit with a murmur of assent, and indeed no one went out to cause trouble. The little overlord even ran to the top of the fortress wall every day to check on the situation.

  Many hands make light work, the production of windmills is rapid. Under the arrangement of Lü's flowing waterline method, in just two days, all the components of a giant windmill have been completed.

  The clay pipes needed for the windmill have also been fired and are in place, and hundreds of men and women have completed the repair of the land canals, waiting for the installation of the windmill to irrigate the spring plowing.

  It was a fine day, everyone worked together in high spirits to carry the windmill parts to the already built foundation and started assembling. Zhang Laoshi even brought a bright red rooster and led hundreds of villagers to worship and pray to the gods for help to get through the spring drought.

  Lü Shi was just carefully checking the mechanical parts on the side to see if anything was missing, and took an attitude of neither approval nor disapproval towards the actions of the villagers, letting everyone do as they pleased.

  Zhao Dahi also brought several yamen runners to mix in, after all he was an official, and naturally was pushed forward to be the main sacrificer. Zhao Dahi then sincerely offered incense, kowtowed, and slaughtered a chicken, and afterwards didn't seem like the rough and unbridled man from a few days ago at all.

  God is awesome in his sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

  When the auspicious time arrived, under Lv Shi's guidance and arrangement, those carpenters began to assemble the windmill with the help of the strong men in the village, install the water pipes for drawing water, after a period of hard work, by noon, the windmill was installed.

  Lü Shi became the undisputed person who opened the braking mechanism. At this time, Lü Shi stood in front of the windmill holding the brake handle, feeling very accomplished.

  Coming to the Great Ming, I may not be able to become the butterfly that flaps its wings and changes history, but changing the lives of those around me is still within my power, and it has already begun, how can this not make Lv Shiyong feel proud and satisfied.

  Shaanxi is windy, and it's also the spring season with strong winds. Looking up at the sky to check the wind direction, I adjusted the angle of the wind blade, shook the mechanism, and the huge wind blade slowly started turning in the wind, causing nearly a hundred villagers to cheer.

  The waterwheel with the wind-driven blades was put down. The leaves touched the water and started spinning continuously, making a "squeaking" sound. The water flowed along the connected ceramic pipes, gurgling up to the shore, flowing into the stone water tank, splashing out flying flowers and jade fragments.

  The crowd had long been stunned, and after a while, there was a cheer, holding an iron shovel to run to the head of the house to put water. As a result, due to the distance between the heads of the household, there was still a conflict over who would pour first.

  Zhao Dahi, who had arrived early, brought a few yamen runners and showed his original fierce appearance to suppress the situation. After all, Zhao Dahi was an official, although he was only a small and insignificant one, but in the eyes of the villagers who rarely left their village, that was already very impressive. So everyone waited obediently for Zhao Dahi's instructions.

  Zhao Dahai divided his yamen runners, each taking charge of a village elder to supervise in rotation. The villagers lined up according to the distance from their homes to the shore, with those farthest away going first. Each family took turns irrigating their fields. Zhao himself carried a flower spear and patrolled the fields, maintaining order.

  The villagers were simple and honest, seeing that the water was really not needed by human labor, they brought this river water to the fields dozens of meters high, seeing the spring plowing with hope, without delaying farming time, they were infinitely happy in their hearts, and also knew that if it was like this, as long as the season was right, irrigation could be done, and the big harvest in autumn would also be met. At that time, each family took out the most precious food from their own home and sent it to Zhang's house, giving it to Lv Shi as a thank you, which also saved Lv Shi from the embarrassment of eating at Zhang's house for free.

  The big rooster that had just been slaughtered also became a delicious food for Lv Shi's noon, and Zhao Dahi, who was full of energy, was covered in mud and water by Lv Shi. The two sat under the windmill, in this spring-filled field, listening to the gurgling river water, eating and happily watching the excited villagers busy.

  In the occasional laughter, happy and satisfied.

  It's great to be able to make others happy.