Chapter 291: The Intention to Subdue the Mohists

Soon, the Minister of Agriculture arrived in the Zhangtai Palace. This Minister of Agriculture was not tall, his skin tanned black, somewhat similar to those who lived by the water year-round. He looked somewhat honest and dull. After seeing Ying Zheng, he performed a salute. "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

And then he stopped speaking.

"Zheng Guo, you still look the same!"

Ying Zheng spoke, sighing.

Su Xuan, who was beside him, could not help but take an extra look at the newcomer.

Honestly, he really did not know who the Qin Guo's Minister of Agriculture was. He did not expect it to be Zheng Guo. But thinking about it carefully, it seemed reasonable. Zheng Guo was a world-renowned hydraulic engineer who had built the Zheng Guoqu for the Qin Guo. If not for the Zheng Guoqu, the impact on the Qin Guo during the previous great drought would absolutely not have been so small, nor would they have had the spare strength to annihilate the State of Han.

It could be said that Zheng Guo had rendered great service.

It was no surprise that Ying Zheng would rely heavily on him.

He just hadn't expected him to become the Minister of Agriculture.

After sighing, Ying Zheng introduced the few contraptions Su Xuan had brought to Zheng Guo. Among them, Zheng Guo did not understand the seed drill very well, but the waterwheel did indeed attract his attention.

After all, he himself was a world-famous hydraulic engineer; he was truly too proficient in things like "water."

"It seems to have some use, but whether it can actually be effective still requires a field test!" Zheng Guo said in a deep voice.

Ying Zheng nodded. "That is what I think as well."

Eventually, after deliberation between Ying Zheng and Zheng Guo, they decided to test these two contraptions in the fields on the north bank of the Wei River.

The plains on the north bank of the Wei River rose in terraces after stretching north for over a hundred *li*, reaching the Hexi Plateau and forming a vast belt of loess hills and slopes. These slopes were neither high nor low, with crisscrossing mounds and gullies, bordering rivers and ponds. Farmers lived looking toward the water; it was said to be tillable and plowable, yet it was precisely prone to drought near the water, barren and difficult to harvest. Even in a normal year, the yield of the slope land was less than thirty or forty percent of the good plains. If a year with little rain was encountered, it could be ten percent of the good plains, or even result in no harvest at all.

It was not until the Zheng Guoqu was completed that this place was able to become a stretch of good farmland.

However, although there was the Zheng Guoqu, it did not affect using this place to test the waterwheel Su Xuan spoke of, to see if this waterwheel could truly, as Su Xuan said, draw water from low-lying areas to higher ground.

Ying Zheng sent people to carefully transport these two agricultural implements there, and then, riding in a carriage, he brought Zheng Guo, Su Xuan, and others specifically to the plains on the north bank of the Wei River.

Su Xuan also brought some Yin-Yang School disciples there. Under his guidance, the Yin-Yang School people installed the waterwheel in the canal. As the flowing water struck the waterwheel, the hydraulic power immediately drove the waterwheel to rotate.

The massive wheel turned, carrying the water from the river into mid-air, and then, guided by a halved bamboo pole set up in front of the waterwheel temporarily to serve as a water diversion, it flowed toward the fields further away.

"It is truly feasible!"

Seeing this scene, Ying Zheng's eyes lit up, and Zheng Guo's gaze also became focused.

Although the Zheng Guoqu was already open and there was no longer a hidden danger of water shortage in the Guanzhong region, just not lacking water was one thing; how to draw water for irrigation was another problem.

This waterwheel, seemingly crude and similar to a giant cart wheel, could actually play a role that was not small at all.

Zheng Guo immediately bowed to Ying Zheng. "I request that Your Majesty order people to imitate this object as soon as possible and circulate it throughout the world!"

This kind of irrigation contraption should be put into use as soon as possible.

"That is as it should be!" Ying Zheng nodded.

He then said to Zheng Guo, "After seeing the waterwheel, let us look at the other contraption!"

Zheng Guo also nodded.

Subsequently, they looked at the seed drill.

As the Yin-Yang School disciples flicked the trigger at the front of the seed drill, the four limbs of the mechanical beast, shaped like an ox or horse, began to move. As it moved, the shovels on the feet of the seed drill immediately probed into the soil, tilling the land, and then the seeds in the hopper slid down, falling into the pits created by the shovels.

The original seed drill still required human and animal power to drive it.

But after the Six-Fingered Black Hero's modification, this seed drill was already similar to a tractor.

It was entirely driven by the kinetic energy contained within the mechanical beast itself, directly skipping the link of human and animal labor. Moreover, because the Six-Fingered Black Hero had left behind blueprints, imitating it was not very difficult.

You did not need to understand the principles of mechanical beasts; you only needed to follow the blueprints step-by-step to finish the job.

"This!!"

Whether it was Ying Zheng or Zheng Guo, watching this contraption—named a seed drill but effectively a tractor—galloping across the fields, both were stunned.

They had originally thought the waterwheel was the biggest gain.

They had not expected that this thing had even greater value than the waterwheel.

The waterwheel could only be used for irrigation, while this thing could not only be used for tilling but also for sowing. More importantly, its tilling speed was also beyond ordinary imagination.

One machine, one did not know how many people it could replace, saving how much human and animal labor.

"Promote it with all your might, you must promote it with all your might..."

Ying Zheng was very excited. Since the completion of the Zheng Guoqu, the Guanzhong region could gain over forty thousand *qing* of good farmland out of thin air. Today, obtaining these two agricultural contraptions meant that these forty thousand-plus *mu* of good farmland could be quickly put into use.

The Qin Guo in the coming year would be more than just a harvest; it would be a bumper harvest!

With sufficient grain in the granaries, he could also devote more energy to dealing with the remaining five states in the east of the mountains.

Ying Zheng realized the role brought by the waterwheel and the seed drill, and Zheng Guo realized it as well.

After recovering from the excitement, Ying Zheng could not help but look at Su Xuan and ask him, "Mr. Su said these few items came from the hands of the Mohists?"

"When did Mr. Su get involved with the Mohists?"

He had naturally heard of the name of the Mohists. Unfortunately, Mohist disciples had always been reclusive and unwilling to be used by anyone. Otherwise, Ying Zheng would really have wanted to recruit the Mohists.

Because right now, the Gongshu family was in the Qin Guo, and the Gongshu family had developed many new types of weapons for the Qin Guo.

If the Gongshu family was like this, then the Mohists, who suppressed the Gongshu family, were clearly even more formidable.

"It can be considered a coincidence!"

Su Xuan said faintly. "Earlier, in Xianyang, I met the Mohist Leader, the Six-Fingered Black Hero, and invited him to the Yin-Yang School for a meeting. These few farm tools all came from the hands of the Mohist Leader!"