Zhao Xi's heart was full of joy, and the reason why he asked Zhao Heju for instructions on everything was just because he was old and knew that this eldest young master was not good at fooling around. Hearing that the eldest young master had given up power, his hanging heart was relaxed, and in the future, some housework and trivial matters would no longer be used to trouble Zhao Heju.

While the two were talking, they finally arrived at the craftsman's residence. They first went to the dwelling of the blacksmith Eulogen, a black and strong man, bare-chested with his tendons like pig iron, and although he looked tall and mighty, he was a sincere man who could not say a word for a long time. Seeing Zhao Youju and the old housekeeper, he just smiled and waved the forging hammer in his hand to say hello.

"Ou Laogen, what you mentioned yesterday, Mrs. and the eldest young master have agreed, and you can let your junior go tomorrow morning. But when it comes to the future, if you go, you have to follow my family rules, and you have to eat and live with those boys in the family, are you willing to do it? Zhao Xi said with a raised voice.

"What's the reluctance, being able to read and write is a blessing for the junior!" Ou Laogen replied angrily: "Besides, I have heard that the food of those little butlers is much better than that of this poor blacksmith, and they can have three meals a day!" ”

He is a sincere person, and he did not avoid Zhao and Ju when he said this, and Zhao and Ju were very happy in their hearts.

"Then the matter is decided, do you want you to fight?" Zhao Xi asked again.

Ou Laogen squinted and laughed, and at the mention of striking iron, his face immediately shone: "Naturally, such a good owner, how dare I be lazy!" ”

He said as he motioned for his eldest son to take his things out. His eldest son, named Ou Da Hammer, was twenty years old, and because of his family background, he had not yet married a wife, and followed his father to strike iron. After a while, Ou Da Sledgehammer took out two large baskets, each of which was full of iron things, some fan-shaped and some round stick-shaped.

"It took five days to make it." Ou Laogen was a little proud: "It's all according to the owner's wishes!" ”

Zhao and Ju looked at the iron tools in the same way, and nodded with satisfaction for a while. Seeing him nod, Zhao Xi also smiled: "It's been hard for the past few days, I'll pay you for it, Lao Gen, you go back today and take a look, come here tomorrow, there is still something for you to do." ”

"Hey!" Ou Laogen responded hard, and the corners of his eyes were crowded into a ball because of the smile***.

"I'll go to Carpenter Fang first, and you ask the eldest and second of your family to send things to the dam." Zhao Xi put his hands behind his back, and the joy on Ou Laogen's face also spread to his face, he liked this feeling of being grateful by others.

Fang carpenter's name is rich, but in fact he is similar to Ou Laogen, but he can make a living, he is younger than Ou Laogen, but he looks older than Ou Laogen, and he has a sad face all day long, seeing Zhao Xi, he is very respectful, and he greets him very attentively: "Old housekeeper, how can you have time to come over today?" ”

In fact, Zhao Xi would go around them every day, and when he heard him ask, Hou twisted his beard and nodded, but when he realized that Zhao Heju was by his side today, he immediately put down the shelf: "Carpenter Fang, how about the things you made?" ”

"It's done, it's done, the old housekeeper please...... Ah, there is also the eldest young master. Seeing Zhao Heju shrinking behind Zhao Xi, Fang Youcai's expression was even more respectful.

Carpenter Fang's craftsmanship is average, but it is not a delicate job entrusted to him, so Zhao Youju is still quite satisfied. Seeing that both of them were smiling, Carpenter Fang cautiously asked, "Young master, old housekeeper, after this work, is there any other work to be handed over to the villain?" ”

Zhao Xi couldn't do anything about this matter, he glanced at Zhao Heju, and after getting Zhao Heju's permission, he nodded: "Carpenter Fang, seeing that you are honest and courteous, I will say a few good words in front of Mrs. for you." I know that you don't have much work at hand, and there are children and daughters in the family, so it's better to do this, if you want, you will go to my family, my first lord was a county lieutenant, and he was the blood of his grandfather, and he was generous to his subordinates, such a good master's family, where do you find it? ”

As he spoke, the topic changed from promising to give Fang Youcai a job to asking Fang Youcai to sell himself as a servant. Zhao Youju felt a little curious, in his mind, although this party has a wealth of money, although the family is poorer, but after all, he is free, and there are two acres of thin fields, so he will not agree to sell himself. But he didn't expect Fang Youcai's face to be happy: "The villain has long had this heart, but he is only afraid that the owner will not take it in, so he never spoke, the old housekeeper said so, then there must be an old housekeeper, tonight the villain invites the old housekeeper and the little housekeeper to eat and drink, and the old housekeeper Hugh wants to resign!" ”

Because Zhao Heju is young, he is not afraid to say this in front of Zhao Heju. Zhao Xi knew that Zhao Youju was the head of the family, his face was slightly red when he heard this, he glanced at Zhao Heju, and saw that he was not angry, but was just vaguely dazed, so he vaguely responded to the matter.

The stonemason's house doesn't have to go, because the stonemason is not here, but above the dam. The dam on the hill has long been repaired, and the pond dug up to fill it with water took advantage of the heavy summer rains. In addition to reinforcing the dam with Zhuang Ding, the stonemasons also had to constantly transport polished stone tools to the dam.

Two wooden houses on stilts stand on the outfall of the dam, built exactly according to Zhao and Ju's requirements, and carpenters and stonemasons are constantly bringing in a steady stream of finished items these days, and although they don't know much about their exact use, they are big enough to guess their ultimate purpose: a water mill.

China has a long history of using water to process grains, with water mills dating back to the Han Dynasty, so this is nothing new. However, what Zhao and Ju designed was not a water mill in the style of the Great Song Dynasty, but on the basis of the water mill in the style of the Great Song Dynasty, the water wheel and the driving gear were improved, which was also different from the water mill in Jiangxi in the Ming Dynasty (Note 4), but a more modern water turbine, even more advanced than the water mill invented by James Blindley, who was the pioneer of the British canal network, and his invention was also the pioneer of the British Industrial Revolution!

The installation of the water mill began the next morning, and the carpenter who had signed the contract was on site, and although his skills were average, he was a technician. Stonemasons and blacksmiths were not allowed to come close for reasons of secrecy. Those parts, if there were no Zhao and Ju by the side to direct the installation, it would be difficult to figure out by yourself, not to mention that in order to protect this secret, Zhao and Ju also asked the blacksmith to beat some parts that were not needed.

In an era when there was no patent law, Zhao and Ju knew that their primitive accumulation could only be protected by this clumsy and short-sighted method of secrecy.

Note 4: The Jiangxi water mill recorded in Yingxing's "Tiangong Kaiwu • Essence of Essence" in the Ming and Song dynasties has three functions of irrigation, threshing and surface grinding, and the water mill of James Blindley mentioned later is also the first multi-purpose machine of the emerging industry in the early stage of the industrial revolution.