Chapter 379: Tasting the New

The watermill had a "grinding weir" that combined the long-mature waterwheel technology with millstones, letting the current drive the grinding wheel to pulverize grain.

Because it required little human or animal labor and could turn day and night without stopping, Diwu Lun considered it an excellent method to "liberate productive forces." After summer began, he issued an administrative order requiring every county to promote it.

When Diwu Lun summoned his ministers to inquire, Du Shi, the Waterworks Overseer, expressed regret: "The watermill at Chiyang drove five wheels in tandem. After the summer harvest, it could grind three hundred dan of wheat a day — more than ten times faster than pounding by human or animal power. To have it destroyed like this is truly a pity!"

Du Shi assumed it was the same as in Henei, where local idlers felt the watermill had stolen the work their wives and daughters did pounding grain for others, and so they sabotaged it.

The Commandant of the Capital, Di Qi Biao, was already rubbing his fists and flexing his palms: "Great King, beating the soldiers guarding the mill and using weapons to smash the watermill — these are no ordinary troublemakers. We can hesitate no longer; we must strike with a heavy fist! Let your minister go and suppress them!"

So, was this simply a case of ignorant masses obstructing the advance of productive forces? Chiyang lay right beside Changling, and from what Diwu Lun knew of the place, the locals would at most grumble a few complaints — they lacked the nerve for anything this violent.

Diwu Lun, however, did not rush. He had Zhang Yu continue reporting the cause of the incident.

"There are shamans in Chiyang who told the locals that the watermill had suppressed the water veins, which was why the canal water was shrinking and irrigating the millet fields was growing harder. That is what incited the foolish people to commit this act of great defiance."

He added that the people of Chiyang had always been devout believers in such things. In the third year of Wang Mang's founding of the dynasty, little people were discovered in Chiyang — about a chi tall, some riding horses, some on foot, able to handle and manage all manner of things. They vanished after three days, but ever since, the "Little People Shaman" cult had existed — though in truth it was merely a few tiny dwarfs even shorter than Huang Chang putting on an act.

So, was it purely a problem of superstitious shamans stirring up trouble? Could everything be solved by throwing those Little People Shamans into the grinding wheels and pulping them, just as Ximen Bao did?

If it were only that, then aside from Chiyang, why had the other counties north of the Wei River also shown resistance, to varying degrees, against building watermills?

Diwu Lun believed the matter was absolutely not so simple.

"First ask whether it is true, then ask why."

The claim that building watermills obstructed irrigation sounded absurd — but what if it were true?

The summer harvest was imminent, and the millet sprouts urgently needed irrigation. In agriculture there are no small matters. The King of Wei designated Du Shi, the Waterworks Overseer, to cooperate with the Embroidered Uniform Guard in a thorough investigation of this affair. He added, "I recall that among the Legal Studies candidates, there happens to be a scholar from Chiyang County?"

The Legal Studies section had taken in only ten people — there was no helping it; scholars with a foundation in laws and ordinances were far too few. And though Wei was a new state, its laws still had to be revised on the basis of the Han and Xin dynasties' codes.

"There is indeed a scholar from Chiyang, surnamed Ji, given name Er. In the preliminary examination he placed twenty-third on the second list. Later he sat the Legal Studies re-examination and placed second in that single subject. He now serves in the office of the Commandant of Justice."

"The Ji clan of Chiyang is a prominent local family," the Yellow Chief reported. "In the time of Emperor Xuan of Han, there was a Ji Ke, courtesy name Yunzhong, who, while serving as County Magistrate, initiated waterworks north of the Wei River, digging canals and multiplying their branches to benefit the people's farming. Thus the people sang: 'First came Duke Zheng, then came Duke Yun; the Jing's waters, though muddy, were blocked and then flowed through, aiding our boats and oars, gracing our fields with toil — so it has been since ancient times, and the people's livelihood has grown abundant.'"

The Ji clan of Chiyang was a model example of a family that had earnestly embraced the new regime. Toward such families, Diwu Lun was relatively accommodating. He thus had this man join the special investigation team and ordered them to depart immediately for Chiyang to investigate the matter thoroughly, arrest the relevant persons involved as warranted, and get to the bottom of the affair.

With the King of Wei's personal, insistent instructions, efficiency was high. Three days later they all returned and reported the entire course of events to him.

"Your minister is guilty!" Du Shi, upon returning, immediately prostrated himself and knocked his head to the ground, confessing his fault.

"Upon investigation, although the people of Chiyang were incited by shamans and violated the prohibitions, the watermill truly did obstruct irrigation!"

As it turned out, a watermill's efficiency depended on the speed of the water flow; the current had to be swift for the wheel and axle to spin rapidly. However, the land north of the Wei River was flat and broad, and the drop between upstream and downstream was too small. The main canals had to carry grain-transport barges, so the Chiyang watermill was built on a branch canal. To increase the drop, the upstream flow often had to be dammed to store water, only then could the "five-linked grinders" turn.

But the White Canal drew its water from the Jing River — the muddiest of all, famed for "one dan of water, several dou of mud." Once dammed upstream, over time silt built up, the channel clogged, and the downstream flow diminished.

Now, in the dry season with water running low, the common people were already frequently coming to bloody blows over water. When they saw the great bulk of the watermill blocking the canal, they went to plead but were driven away. Watching the millet sprouts in their fields wither, righteous indignation filled their breasts — if they didn't smash you, who would they smash?!

During the initial investigation, the local authorities had reported none of this, shifting all blame onto the shamans and the commoners and recommending intensified suppression. It was only because Diwu Lun had personally appointed the Chiyang man Ji Er to accompany them, and he received tearful accounts from his fellow villagers, that Du Shi and the others learned the full story.

"The commoners who smashed the mill were at fault."

"The shamans who incited them are guilty."

"The Chiyang Magistrate who handled it improperly bears responsibility."

"And I, your minister, also bear great guilt!"

Du Shi was deeply reproachful of himself. He had poured all his energy into canal-digging and land reclamation in Shanglin County south of the Wei River. For the north, he had merely dispatched a few subordinate officials to supervise. After construction was finished, he had not even found the time to go see it before signing off on the acceptance — and thus this major blunder occurred.

Diwu Lun did not overly blame Du Shi. Although he was an excellent technical official, he was still quite lacking in administrative experience.

"No man is a sage; who can be without fault? I too bear responsibility."

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Diwu Lun reflected for a moment. His eagerness to "liberate productive forces" had been too urgent and had subconsciously revealed itself in his edicts. The officials took it as a signal that the King of Wei was enamored with watermills and that whoever could build one well would gain promotion and rank — otherwise, how could a mere bureau clerk like Du Shi from Henei have risen to a senior court position?

As a result, the officials had all scrambled to build watermills to vie for this political achievement, without considering whether it was suitable, and ignored the needs of the local people — thus stirring up a popular uprising.

Once he had clarified the cause of the affair, Diwu Lun's decisions emerged.

First, a heavy fist absolutely had to be struck, or else it would tacitly encourage the populace north of the Wei River to destroy watermills. All those involved in the case were arrested and sentenced to hard labor digging canals.

Second, the Little People Shaman cult of Chiyang County was deemed a licentious shrine. Several were executed in one sweep, and their shrine was smashed — though the locals would surely continue to worship in secret.

Third, the officials involved in the case were reprimanded, and the County Magistrate was dismissed from his post.

At the same time, Diwu Lun issued an edict declaring that, taking this as a precedent, from now on, whenever watermill operation and irrigation came into conflict, irrigation would take priority. Projects originally slated to be rushed into construction across the counties north of the Wei River were to be personally inspected one by one by Du Shi and his men; if a site was unsuitable, construction was to be canceled immediately.

As for the several watermills already built, it was not cost-effective to tear them down. Diwu Lun issued another edict: the water-powered grinders could only be used during the agricultural off-season each year. At all other times, the sluice gates must be opened, and locals must be hired to clear the silt.

After making a circuit north of the Wei River and returning, Du Shi also reflected on his previous measures and submitted a memorial: "North of the Wei, the Jing tributaries are small and the land is flat. Watermills and even water-powered bellows and other machinery can only be built in a few places like the Ganquan Hills. If the Great King wishes to promote such devices, they should be built in Shanglin and the other counties south of the Wei River."

South of the Wei, water resources were more abundant than in the north, rushing down from the Qinling and Zhongnan Mountains with a much greater drop.

This meant that grain produced on the public fields north of the Wei would often have to be shipped by barge to Kunming Lake, then sent on to the mills south of the Wei for processing — which did increase costs. But economic complementarity between the industries north and south of the Wei River was also a good thing.

The matter was laid to rest for the time being. Diwu Lun had his ministers remember this lesson and established a rule.

"Henceforth, no matter what happens, the common people are never to be called troublemakers."

"This term must be changed. I cannot have 'the people' on my lips in every edict, yet in private, in my heart, curse them as 'troublemakers'!"

"I do enjoy reading Cheng Gong's memorials — solid and substantial."

The newly appointed Palace Gentlemen sent out to the provinces could submit memorials directly to Diwu Lun, and each man's style was plainly visible.

Cheng Gong's prose in his memorials was average, not as florid as that of men like Du Du, but it excelled in truthfulness — he wrote exactly what he saw.

Cheng Gong was in Youfufeng supervising the wheat harvest. A few watermills had been built in that region as well, but Cheng Gong reported that after making a tour among the common people and asking around, he found that no commoners ever used them.

Although the invention of the millstone dated back to the Warring States period, wheat was mostly husked and steamed for eating; people of the time called it "wheat rice." This stuff had a poor texture and caused bloating when eaten. Moreover, because it was sown in autumn and harvested in summer, it was regarded as violating the seasonal order and was surely poisonous!

Thus wheat rice, like bean gruel, was considered food only for rustics and farmers; most people did not even like to grow it.

It was the great Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu who, with unique foresight, perceived that this crop could save lives during the lean season when the old grain was exhausted and the new not yet in. He submitted a memorial, citing the general principle in the Spring and Autumn Annals that other grains were not recorded, but failure of wheat and grain crops was recorded, and recommended that Emperor Wu of Han vigorously promote it. The court subsequently dispatched receptionists to urge commanderies afflicted by floods to plant winter wheat.

By the reigns of Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan, the court had tasted the sweet benefits of planting winter wheat and began distributing seeds to the poor who had none; famine relief also increasingly distributed wheat seed. During the reigns of Emperor Yuan and Emperor Cheng, the agronomist Fan Shengzhi promoted it under the title of "Light Chariot Envoy," and winter wheat thus spread beyond the Guanzhong region across the entire north.

The ways of eating it had also changed somewhat. By the Han dynasty, there were already quite a few foods made from wheat flour. When Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Bingyi, was poor and lowly, he was very fond of buying soup cakes at the market stalls — similar to the dough sheets of later ages, with chive-leaf-shaped pulled noodles that were wonderfully fragrant. After increased contact with the Western Regions, foreign flatbreads also entered the Central Plains, but in rural hamlets, wheat rice remained the staple, and flatbreads were rarely eaten.

Diwu Lun's construction of watermills was not intended to make the common people change their dietary habits overnight; it was mainly to grind the wheat from the public fields, saving able-bodied laborers so they could be used elsewhere.

Private grain brought to the mill required paying a portion as a fee. Although the rate was very low, the thought of handing over several days' worth of rations led most people to prefer pushing their own millstones at home during the off-season.

Some even refused to grind it — a few out of laziness, but most for a reason that made one want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Wheat rice was hard to stomach and caused bloating, yet with the great chaos barely over and famine years upon them, compared to fancy boiled noodles or hu cakes, the common folk found plain wheat rice more filling. The very thing that made it swell in the belly and digest slowly had become a virtue!

"Let them be."

After the Chiyang people smashed the mills, Diwu Lun was no longer so impatient to push the ways of later ages — everything had to be judged by practical reality.

Only when clothed and fed do people know honor and shame; only when granaries are full do they know rites and decorum. When the common folk cannot even eat their fill, how could they pursue "eating well"?

"Compared to the mill, what needs spreading far more urgently are the techniques in the *Fan Shengzhi Shu* and the three-field crop rotation."

Western Han agriculture was highly developed, and the authorities were already working to spread its techniques, but with limited success. Diwu Lun now had to take up that mission. The land in Shanglin was all public, merely rented to Chang'an people for military farming, so Diwu Lun had the system fully implemented in Shanglin County: the arable land was divided into autumn-sown, spring-sown, and fallow plots, rotated year by year.

Autumn-sown was winter wheat, spring-sown was millet, and the fallow fields were planted with alfalfa, sesame, and beans to enrich the soil. Manure-fertilizer techniques were also to be spread further on the Han-era foundation.

The people of China are the most industrious people in the world. In Diwu Lun's view, what his regime needed to do was simply organize manpower to dig the canals, spread the most advanced techniques, and carry out some sensible planning — nothing more.

As the days passed into the fifth month, after a thousand hopes and ten thousand prayers, the wheat across ten thousand qing of land north of the Wei finally ripened to a golden yellow, churning in rolling waves. The farmers, who had endured two bitter months, threw themselves into reaping and threshing.

And on the eve of the summer solstice, Diwu Lun received an unexpected gift.

"The people of Chiyang have arrived outside the Eastern Watchtower? What are they doing here?"

Diwu Lun's first thought was that the local officials had failed to carry out his decree properly and the Chiyang people were stirring up trouble again. But when he went in person to the Eastern Watchtower, he saw a startling sight.

A crowd of Chiyang commoners were kowtowing outside the Eastern Watchtower, holding wheat ears in their hands, baskets on their backs, and pushing small carts whose beds were full of threshed and hulled wheat.

"The people of Chiyang, moved with gratitude that the Great King issued the decree to halt the watermills and open the sluice gates so their grain and wheat could be irrigated — now that the wheat has yielded a bumper harvest, we have come especially to offer wheat, and hope the Great King will taste the new grain!"

It was a custom dating from the Zhou dynasty that when the winter wheat was harvested, it was first offered in the ancestral temple, and only then was the new wheat tasted. Later there had even been the tragedy of Duke Jing of Jin, who, before the new-wheat tasting ceremony, felt a stomach upset, went to the privy, fell in, and drowned…

Though Diwu Lun suspected this was the handiwork of the newly appointed local officials and the Ji clan of Chiyang, he still had the Eastern Watchtower opened and went out in person to receive the new wheat the Chiyang people offered.

The Chiyang elders bowed their heads and raised pottery bowls full of wheat grains high with both hands, only stealing a glance upward. They saw Diwu Lun, his expression solemn, accept the bowls gravely with both hands. They felt a heavy weight.

What filled those bowls was not just golden-yellow wheat grains — it was also the people's hearts!

"Lose at dawn, gain at dusk — who says this reversal has yielded nothing at all?"

The King of Wei was greatly cheered and bade the Chiyang elders come to the palace the next day to join the wheat-tasting ceremony.

"The ministers and the common folk have all been eating alfalfa for over a month — truly a bitter hardship. For this wheat tasting, I shall alter the custom somewhat: no wheat rice. Instead, let the palace provisioners and chefs prepare a 'full flour feast.' I shall share it with the people!"

…

PS: Second chapter at 23:00.