Chapter 757: Prelude to the Great Development

Old White Ox: Some readers have mentioned being surprised by wells over twenty zhang deep. Actually, I was being conservative. The hardships of getting water in the northern regions back then are hard for modern people to understand. Let me casually paste a few source excerpts.

North of Chang'an city lies a plain, several hundred li wide. The people there dig wells and dwell in nests; the wells are fifty zhang deep. At Biyuan, the plain stretches several dozen li north to south and two to three hundred li east to west, with mountains, rivers, slopes, and lakes; the wells are fifty zhang deep. In the central area of Chengcheng County in Shaanxi Province, well water depths range from 26 to over 30 zhang. Heyang County sits on an arid plateau, where wells reach thirty to forty, even fifty to sixty zhang deep. In Wanquan County, the deepest wells are eighty to ninety zhang, and even the shallow ones reach fifty to sixty zhang.

On the eighteenth day of the tenth month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Sun Chuanting received his own reinforcements and hurried back to Shaanxi. Accompanying him were Wu Zhengchun and Gao Xun, leading three thousand Jingbian Army troops.

Wang Pu also led his forces back to Datong Garrison. During this period he had been stationed in Xuanfu Garrison, with provisions temporarily supplied by Xuanfu Garrison.

However, according to Great Ming military law, these provisions were only considered a temporary loan from Xuanfu Garrison to Datong Garrison, to be repaid afterward by Datong's Provincial Governor Wei Jingyuan. But Wang Pu did not quibble over this and magnanimously paid silver to purchase the provisions.

The Civil Affairs Department also intensified planning and development matters for the Anbei Protectorate, down to specific measures for each garrison and the targets to be achieved, especially in agriculture and livestock — what canals and dikes to build, how much land to reclaim, and so on. From Minister Zhang Gui down to the subordinate clerks, everyone was so busy their feet barely touched the ground.

Wen Fangliang, Zhong Xiancai, Gao Shiyin, and others also successively went beyond the frontier to inspect their jurisdictions. Accompanying them were large numbers of colonization officers from the Civil Affairs Department, preparing to conduct preliminary surveys of wasteland awaiting reclamation in each area, making ready for large-scale construction the following year.

Wang Dou planned to implement a large-farm plan in Monan. Setting aside for the moment military colonies and civilian colonies, even the future merchant colonies and immigrant colonies would require vast quantities of all kinds of equipment — especially excellent colonization tools like seed-drill plows, waterwheels, and tube waterwheels, for which demand outstripped supply.

Of course, using such equipment required substantial financial resources. Take the large waterwheel at Jingbian Fort, for instance: although its daily irrigation capacity reached three hundred mu, a single waterwheel cost as much as over a hundred taels of silver. Ordinary people simply could not afford to use one.

Even the dragon-bone waterwheels commonly used among the populace, though their daily water-lifting capacity could irrigate ten to twenty mu, still cost over ten taels of silver per waterwheel, and many ordinary households likewise could not afford to build one. Generally, several households would share the use of one waterwheel. Rural landlords and gentry often profited by renting out waterwheels.

Back when Wang Dou was in Xinzhuang, to say nothing of waterwheels, which required animal power to pull, even a brick-and-stone deep well — whose total costs, when all was reckoned, came to over twenty taels — was beyond their means to dig. A family of three had to carry water on shoulder poles to irrigate their fields. This gave rise to water carriers at the time, people who specialized in carrying water for others, charging from a few wen to over ten wen per load, depending on the distance traveled.

There were also advanced farming tools like the paired plow and the seed-drill plow. The seed-drill plow in particular could simultaneously open furrows, sow seeds, and cover soil, while also ensuring uniform row spacing and plant spacing. In terms of efficiency, it could plant at least one qing per day, and that was using oxen.

Such an advanced seeding machine had been invented as early as the reign of Emperor Wu of Han by the Grain Commandant Zhao Guo, yet its use remained rare throughout the various dynasties of the Central Plains. Why? It was too expensive! The construction cost was far too high.

This was also one of the reasons why ancient technology was so difficult to spread widely.

Moreover, what advanced machinery brought was often unemployment for a portion of the people.

During the Industrial Revolution, incidents of workers smashing machines occurred frequently. Was it to be production efficiency or a livelihood to feed oneself? This was a difficult problem.

Orders for various waterwheel factories surged, and every factory owner frantically recruited craftsmen. Although the current orders were mostly from the military and official sectors of the Protectorate, there were also some forward-looking merchants preparing to engage in merchant colonization who intended to order large waterwheels, seed-drill plows, and the like.

Even some commoners and gentry with financial means who planned to migrate beyond the frontier were likewise preparing to purchase these implements.

The future migrants would come from all across the three garrisons of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi, as well as Shanxi and even various parts of Shaanxi. Even if the latter groups needed fewer waterwheels, seed-drill plows, and such, many small amounts added up to a great deal. Recently, those making waterwheels and large farming tools had all made a fortune.

Moreover, for many years to come, the demand for waterwheels and the like would be continuous and unending. After all, the Protectorate's digging of canals and construction of water conservancy projects were, for the time being, still aimed at military colonies and official civilian colonies. People who relocated and reclaimed land on their own still needed to solve their water problems by themselves.

Even if their future fields were near a riverbank, under the current drought conditions, the water levels of many rivers in Monan had likewise dropped, requiring waterwheels to lift the river water up.

For fields not near a river, irrigation wells and waterwheels were even more necessary.

Thus, for a time, not only were well-diggers and vehicle-makers in Xuanfu Garrison in short supply, but even in other garrisons, such people were equally in demand and could not meet the need.

Although the headquarters of the Civil Affairs Department's Science and Technology Division was located within the garrison city, some of its research institutes were placed in the outskirts, beside farmland or next to workshops, to better facilitate experimentation and fabrication.

This was a courtyard compound, not far from a mountain hollow in the southwestern outskirts. The hall inside was filled with books, and there was even a recently collected volume. Mid-level Researcher Wu Shihuan wore spectacles and was writing and drawing on stiff paper with a clam-shell pencil.

The pattern on the paper was a kind of mechanism, somewhat resembling a seed-drill plow, but not quite. Wu Shihuan, originally a carpenter, had now entered the Civil Affairs Department's Science and Technology Division and held an important post. People like them also possessed a resounding title: Researcher.

It was said that this name had been personally decided upon by the Marquis of Yongning.

Each of them had their own research tasks. Wu Shihuan had originally been a carpenter and mason, so naturally his main research directions were in machinery construction and urban planning.

As Old Man Wu put it, this was truly a matter that brought honor to his ancestors. Nearing the end of his life, he had never imagined there would come a day when he would become an official and possess a title akin to that of a scholar.

Unknowingly, Wu Shihuan had been part of Wang Dou's system for many years. His beard and hair were now completely gray, yet he remained vigorous and full of inexhaustible energy.

He now lived in prosperity. Back when Wang Dou had yielded profits to the people and subcontracted some non-essential workshops to the populace, Wu Shihuan had opened a waterwheel factory with the younger members of his family. Now that waterwheel factory was thriving and had become one of the famous large factories in Xuanfu Garrison.

With no worries about food or clothing, holding an important post, and drawing a generous salary, Wu Shihuan had no other thoughts on his mind except whether he might one day leave his name in the annals of history.

Just like Grain Commandant Zhao Guo, who invented the seed-drill plow and earned eternal fame.

Over the years, he had also become quite literate, and he was further determined to pass the cultural examination by year's end and obtain the title of Master Craftsman.

Now, Xuanfu Garrison was a gathering place for craftsmen, with many superior Artisans, yet there was not a single Master Craftsman. Wu Shihuan, old but vigorous, was determined to become the first Master Craftsman in Xuanfu Garrison.

Of course, if people like Lai Yuanlong were willing to take the examination, becoming a Master Craftsman would be effortless for them — after all, they came from a clerk background. However, he clearly had no intention of entering the craftsman system, having only taken a post in the Military Science Division, bearing the title of Senior Researcher, and devoting himself single-mindedly to studying his firearms.

Li Maosen's cultural level was somewhat lacking. Li Zhifen subconsciously considered himself gentry and had never thought of testing for Master Craftsman.

At present, this courtyard compound was shared by several researchers from the Civil Science Division, each tinkering with whatever interested them. Adjacent to Wu Shihuan's large courtyard was a middle-aged fat man named Long Kun, also a Mid-level Researcher, who spent his days mysteriously and obsessively working on some earthworms.

"No, no, this way the wheat can indeed be harvested, but it scatters all over the ground, increasing the manual labor even more..."

Wu Shihuan altered the pattern back and forth, never feeling satisfied.

What he wanted to research was actually a kind of reaping machine. Because Monan was about to undergo large-scale development and was, for the time being, vast in land and sparse in population, there was no problem of machines stealing people's jobs. To produce more grain in a short time, the demand for high-efficiency machinery was extremely strong.

According to Wu Shihuan's thinking, since there existed a device for rapid sowing, there must naturally also be a machine for rapid reaping. What he had been researching recently was precisely this thing.

This project had already been formally established at the Civil Science Division, and he had received a large sum of funding. But the results were long delayed, which made Wu Shihuan burn with impatience.

He set down his spectacles, paced out of his office, and came to the large courtyard in front. Several assistants and craftsmen were busying themselves around a few wooden machines. Looking at these machines, Wu Shihuan furrowed his brow. There were several difficult problems at hand.

First, after the wheat was cut, how to arrange it neatly and pack it properly into baskets? Otherwise, if it scattered all over the ground, it would be worse than manual labor.

Second was the problem of efficiency. According to Wu Shihuan's estimate, once this device was completed, its reaping speed would only be twice as fast as manual labor.

If this device were only twice as fast as manual labor, it would certainly be difficult to spread widely. The seed-drill plow could plant one qing per day, yet because of its high price, the common people were unwilling to use it. This device would be even less likely to be adopted. The reaping speed had to be increased.

But how to improve it?

Burdened with these worries, Wu Shihuan paced in the courtyard, and without realizing it, he paced over to the adjacent courtyard belonging to Long Kun. The two of them, when free, would drop in on each other, or sit together chatting and drinking tea.

Arriving on this side, he saw Long Kun directing his assistants, continuously piling up the dung of cattle, pigs, horses, chickens, and the like in a shaded, damp, and quiet spot, along with large amounts of fruit peels, leaves, and so forth heaped on top, all the while muttering to himself and recording something in his notebook.

"...Earth dragons are by nature fond of quiet and prefer dampness. In winter, one must spread thick leaves and dung, lest they freeze and starve to death..."

He was busy at work and had not noticed Wu Shihuan's entrance at all.

This fat, plump middle-aged man, because of his contributions of the grassland chicken-raising method and the earthen-jar egg-hatching method, had greatly developed the livestock industry in Xuanfu Garrison. Over the years, he had now also become a key member of the Civil Science Division. His personal fortune was likewise substantial, because every livestock farm that used grassland methods to raise chickens and ducks had to pay him a certain patent fee.

He was now researching the use of earthworms to feed chickens and ducks, because he had discovered that raising earthworms cost little, and the chickens and ducks fed on them were larger and fatter, with their egg-laying rates increasing considerably.

Moreover, earthworm castings could enrich the soil. In medicine, they were called earth dragons and could be used as medicine, possessing the effects of clearing heat, calming fright, promoting diuresis, and relieving asthma.

So for the past two years, he had been researching this matter of earthworms. After the Civil Science Division was established, a project was even formally set up specifically for this.

He was muttering to himself. Although Wu Shihuan had entered, his mind was still preoccupied with his own affairs. He watched Long Kun's movements, yet seemed not to see him, and just suddenly murmured a sentence: "What to do when the wheat scatters all over the ground during reaping?"

Long Kun replied absentmindedly: "Use a basket to catch it, then."

Wu Shihuan's eyes suddenly lit up: "Exactly!"

He hurried out. Long Kun continued jotting something in his notes, utterly unaware that Wu Shihuan had come in and gone out.

These men who worked on exotic skills and ingenious devices, in the environment of Xuanfu Garrison, each and every one of them radiated a fiery passion for their work.