Cao Liang only reprimanded people like Niu Steward, and did not pursue them.

After all, when Cao Liang came to the Grange this time, there are still many places to rely on Niu to manage things, even if he changes to a new manager, many things are far from being clearer than Niu Steward.

What's more, this kind of thing has long been commonplace, and the status of being a slave is also high and low, as the saying goes, the prime minister's family slave is a seven-grade official, and it is common for a high-status slave to look down on people.

Cao Liang instructed the cow steward: "This Mr. Ma is a strange person in the construction industry, and this time I invited Mr. Ma to come over because I want to build a few keel waterwheels to facilitate irrigation." Steward Niu, you select a dozen carpenters, a dozen blacksmiths and ten stonemasons, and ten handymen to hand over to Mr. Ma, and obey Mr. Ma's dispatch. In addition, you are also responsible for buying all the raw materials that Mr. Ma needs, so as not to make them shortage. ”

Steward Niu immediately frowned and smiled, it turned out that the person he had never looked down on was actually a master builder, and around Luoyang, there were keel waterwheels made by Ma Jun.

Although the Cao family's land is also close to Luoshui, it is difficult to use Luoshui's water because Luoshui is low and the fields are high.

This time, the young master actually brought someone to build a keel waterwheel, and the cow steward was very happy, if it was successful, many fields could be transformed into good paddy fields, and it was not difficult to increase the grain production of the grange.

Ma Jun was taken aback when he heard that Cao Liang actually brought him to build a keel waterwheel, but there were others present, and he couldn't refute Cao Liang, so he just gave Cao Liang a look, but Cao Liang turned a blind eye.

Steward Niu said: "The things that the little marquis confesses, the slaves and maids should do their best, but these carpenters, stonemasons, and blacksmiths, although there are some in the grange, but they are not enough for these numbers." ”

"Then go outside and hire it, as long as the craftsmanship is superb and down-to-earth, it doesn't matter if you spend a little more money."

"No." With Cao Liang's orders, Steward Niu naturally obeyed unconditionally, and immediately arranged manpower after going down.

At the same time, he was also secretly happy, whether it was Hou Ye or Xiao Hou Ye, he was too lazy to take care of the grange, and it was rare to come once in a few months, this time Xiao Hou Ye specially invited someone to come over to make a keel waterwheel, and he was so concerned about the place of farming, it was really rare.

Since the little marquis attaches so much importance to the grange, doesn't it prove that his status as a steward has been significantly improved in the Cao family, and maybe he will have the opportunity to be transferred back to the Cao Mansion as a steward in the future.

After the cow steward left, Ma Jun said with a dark face: "I...... I didn't say I was going to make a ...... for you. Keel waterwheel. ”

Cao Liang smiled slightly, and said: "This time I invited Mr. to come, of course, to build a catapult, but the catapult is a military equipment, and it is not allowed to be built by private according to the law, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, so I lied to the outside world that I asked Mr. to build a keel waterwheel to hide people's eyes." ”

Ma Jun listened, and he didn't say anything, Cao Liang can tell the truth, such as catapults such as large equipment, it is absolutely forbidden for private collection, Ma Jun designed a chain of thunderbolts, the first time was not to think about giving it to others, but to the general Cao Shuang, that is, this reason.

Cao Liang thought that in addition to building a catapult, he would first find something to do for Ma Jun and build a few keel waterwheels, so that he didn't have to use them in vain. In this way, it can not only hide people's eyes, but also bring benefits to the Cao family's grange, which is indeed a double thing.

Fortunately, the keel waterwheel is a mature technology for Ma Jun, and he only needs to draw out the drawings and hand them over to the craftsmen, and he can produce them.

The first to be transferred were ten handymen and three or five carpenters and stonemasons, Cao Liang picked a construction site, there was a passage with two rows of poplars on the left and right, Cao Liang asked the cattle steward to lead people to temporarily put a fence on this area, prohibiting other idlers from approaching.

At the same time, Cao Liang asked everyone to say that they invited Ma Jun to build the keel waterwheel, but fortunately, Ma Jun has expertise in this area, and others will not suspect anything. As for what was built in addition to building the keel waterwheel, Cao Liang asked everyone not to disclose it.

But fortunately, as long as Cao Liang and Ma Jun don't say it, even the carpenter and blacksmith who personally participated in the construction may not know what it is.

After all, this catapult is an uncommon artifact for ordinary people, so if a behemoth builds it, everyone will only think it is weird, and they will not associate this thing with a military trebuchet.

The reason why Cao Liang was so cautious was to guard against the Sima family, he didn't want the Sima family's people to find out that they were building new weapons.

Although Sima Yi and Cao Shuang were not too interested in improving the ordnance, they thought that the improvement of the army's combat capability was limited, not to mention that with the current strength of the Great Wei army, it was enough to crush the army of Shu Wu, and there was no need to waste money and food on this.

This is also an important reason why Ma Jun is depressed, the superior does not support it, even if Ma Jun exhausts his wisdom, in the end it will be just a pile of waste paper.

And Cao Liang can provide Ma Jun with a platform for building and testing, Ma Jun is naturally eager to build it, as for whether there is such a rule in the army that people are not allowed to hide and build privately, Ma Jun doesn't pay attention to it at all.

The construction of a counterweight catapult is an extremely complicated project, and Cao Liang did not expect to be able to build it in one day, after all, what Ma Jun is drawing now is only a theoretical drawing, and the specific size and proportion of each part have to be improved in the actual construction process, so what is built for the first time may not be so suitable.

Only under the condition of multiple tests can Ma Jun design a fully qualified catapult.

Cao Liang arranged a place for Ma Jun to eat and stay, and instructed the cattle steward to let Ma Jun eat well, live and rest well, and have meat and wine for meals to ensure his good living conditions.

Although Ma Jun is not very particular about eating and drinking alcohol, Cao Liang still made careful arrangements.

After Steward Niu knew Ma Jun's identity, and because he was the guest of the little marquis, he naturally didn't dare to slack off.

The first batch of timber was quickly delivered to the construction site, and Ma Jun personally drew a drawing of the construction of the keel waterwheel and handed it to the carpenters to build the keel waterwheel.

This technology is already very mature, after Ma Jun provided the drawings, it was built by the craftsmen themselves, he didn't bother to take a second look, and he himself devoted all his energy to the research of the counterweight catapult, concentrating on research and development.

This makes Cao Liang look forward to what the world's first counterweight catapult will look like?