6 And when the New Year had passed, the people began to go back to their fields and get busy, and Carpenter Chen, with six or seven of his apprentices, did carpentry work by the canal, pulling saws and laying timber. Not far away, the sound of thrashing was non-stop, and it was Xu Wa'er and three stonemasons chiseling stones.

After some discussion, Zhou Dao planned to build three large water mills on the canal, and a water mill for a total of four. Originally, he wanted to have a rice mill, but Lao Chen felt that the rice was too slow and far worse than rice milling, so he also changed it to a milling house.

This time, the contract labor in the form of lump sum is no longer calculated according to the day, and the contract price of 15 times per mill and mill is about two months, a total of 60 times, plus two meals a day, although it is miscellaneous grains, it also needs to be about 11 or 2 times, and there are other expenses, not counting the material money, there must be a total of more than 70 times.

Fortunately, there are a lot of miscellaneous trees and big stones on this mountain, and the local materials can save a lot of money. Even so, it is not a small amount to spend money. Seeing that the money in his hand is getting less and less, there are less than ten yuan left in the capital of Zhou Dao's three hundred guan. Although these costs have been calculated repeatedly and it is decided to do it, at this time, it is really a bit desperate, and Zhou Dao is very anxious.

Some expenses seem to be small, such as the food of two meals a day for everyone who is responsible for the work, which is not calculating, but it is really not small. But Zhou Dao carefully calculated and thought that the advantages of doing a good meal outweighed the disadvantages, so he gritted his teeth and held on. There are too many things to worry about, first of all, the salary of sixty wenwen is slightly higher than the market price of hired workers, and fifty wen can find someone to work. But Zhou Dao was unwilling, that price was okay for ordinary laborers, and it was not very attractive to strong men and veterans. Secondly, due to the colder weather, the uniform and simultaneous provision of meals obviously helps to improve efficiency and shorten the construction period. Moreover, in the end, it is not easy for a foreigner to settle in the local area, and it can be regarded as accumulating some contacts.

Soon the connections worked, even as a group of poor men with mud legs.

After another month of work, the big stone was almost chiseled. Zhou Dao paid this month's wages to Carpenter Chen, Xu Wa'er and other guys on time, and everyone was very happy. Zhou Dao took advantage of the situation to pull Chen Xu and the others aside to discuss, "You see, I want to take advantage of this period of water selling to make another water mill and two granaries, but the cash is not enough, can you owe it on credit first, and when this mill starts, I will make up for the wages owed to you, and you can use the grain and cash." ”

After hearing this, Carpenter Chen showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, "I should be nothing with Wa'er, just these brothers." Carpenter Chen didn't continue, but looked at Xu Wa'er. Xu Wa'er frowned and thought for a while, "Gongzi Zhou, what Brother Chen said is right, whether it is a carpenter or a stonemason, he relies on his skills to eat, and he has to earn a day's money if he works for a day, this is the rule, and there are mouths waiting to be eaten at home." It is not uncommon for those to owe wages on credit, but it is true that there are very few. ”

Zhou Dao heard this, knowing that this was someone else giving him a step, and he knew that this matter could not be done, and he was about to make a round, "However, although Zhou Gongzi is not a local, many of us have to give a thumbs up in private for his daily behavior." Discuss with them first, and I will think about it, and maybe it will be possible." Xu Chen and the others called the people who were working and said, "What's so difficult about this, I'm willing." "Huo Zui Liu is fast-mouthed, and he expressed his attitude directly." That is, when did Mr. Zhou Gongzi speak not count? Besides, people are both land and mills, how much can they get you paid? The crowd laughed. Except for two who were unwilling, the rest should be accepted.

At the beginning of April, the gate was officially opened to release water, and the canal was completed. The canal was dug years ago, but now a simple stone sluice has been made at the diversion site to control the water level. At this time, the stone gate was opened, and the Mimi stream ran down the mountain along the canal, driving the waterwheel to rotate rapidly, and the mill and grinding disc also rotated, from slow to fast and finally at a constant speed.

The total length of the canal is 78 zhang, and the four mills span the middle of the canal, each spaced four zhang apart. The slopes on both sides of the canal were shoveled into a flat foundation when the ditch was dug and used to build mills and mills. The canal is also divided into two sides with stones, almost two-thirds of the way to the canal surface, and a sluice gate below the bank is made of stone slabs and stones on the wider side, forming a dam. The slate is movable, and is connected to the winch in the mill room with a rope, the winch gate is lifted, and the canal water is leaked down from the gate, the water flow impulses the runner, and the main shaft of the connection and the roller are driven to crush the grain in a circle, and the slate gate is inserted to block the water flow when the rope is relaxed, and the runner stops.

After testing, except for some minor problems in the mill and the mill that need to be debugged, both the rice milling and the grinding flour are better than originally expected, and the villagers are amazed by this.