"Won't it?" Su Hao was dumbfounded and asked, "Just to figure out these problems, you are willing to give up the opportunity to take the township test?" ”

Ma Yu smiled faintly and said: "There is no end to learning, life is short, and the people of my generation have heard of the avenue, how can they abandon it for the sake of fame?" ”

"You're not wrong about that." Su Hao said, "It's just a little shocking." It's a shame that you didn't get a name for yourself because you did your homework so well. I think, Wu Jiao and Ling Zun Lingtang, I'm afraid they won't agree, right? ”

Ma Yu said: "Jia Yan Jiaci has always been unobtrusive in my choice. As for Wu's teachings, he admired Western learning even more than me. Besides, I'm not saying that I won't participate in the imperial examination for the rest of my life, and it's not too late to take the imperial examination after I have figured out these ways of learning. ”

The imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty included many thresholds, first the examination of Xiucai, then the examination of the people, and then the examination of the Jinshi. Those who can cross all these thresholds in a few years are top talents. For ordinary readers, it is normal to delay for more than ten years between Zhongxiucai and Zhongjinshi.

Some people may go to teach for a few years or do something else for a few years after the examination, or for livelihood considerations, or for other reasons, and then take the township examination after a few years. Without Su Hao's appearance, Ma Yu would have been ready to take the township test the following year, but because of his exposure to the Western scientific theories taught by Su Hao, Ma Yu's mind was attracted to another direction, which led him to decide to give up the opportunity to take the township test in the second year and devote his time and energy to solving these scientific and technological problems.

Su Hao understood this set of procedures, and when he heard Ma Yu say it so firmly, he no longer dissuaded him, and asked instead: "Brother Duwen, as far as you know, how many students in the academy think like you?" ”

"What thoughts?" Ma Yu asked.

Su Hao said: "It's just like you, obsessed with Western learning, and willing to give up the imperial examination for this reason, or give up the imperial examination temporarily." ”

Ma Yu said: "As far as I know, there are at least a dozen people." What's the matter, does Brother Gai want to open a Western class in the academy? If that's the case, I'll be the first to sign up, and I'll be the first to sign up, and I'll be the brother who changes it, and I don't have to worry about it at all. ”

When Ma Yu talked about restraints, he was naturally joking with Su Hao. Su Hao smiled and waved his hand, "Brother Duwen is thinking about it." Brothers, I am interested in Western studies, I can take the time to tell you about it, and I will see you outside it. I ask you this question to see if anyone is willing to come to the workshop to help me do something, although I have more than a dozen servants, their cultural quality is really poor, and some things cannot be entrusted to them. ”

"This is the purpose of Brother Gai's visit to the academy today?" Ma Yu guessed.

Su Hao smiled: "Brother Duwen is really smart, I only said one sentence, and Brother Duwen guessed my intention." That's right, I'm here today to find a helper. ”

Ma Yu said: "Isn't the matter of the well survey already completed?" Why, did the magistrate appoint a new errand for his brother? ”

Su Hao said: "There is indeed a matter of great importance to be done at the moment. Although the drought did not cause much damage after we urgently drilled wells to fight the drought, the lessons were very profound. In order to eradicate the disaster of floods and droughts once and for all, large-scale water storage projects must be built to regulate the flow of river water according to drought and flood conditions. I have already reported to Lord Han, the magistrate of the county, that I am going to build a reservoir in the upper reaches of Fengshui and Fushui, and this is the biggest thing at the moment. ”

"What is a reservoir?" Ma Yu's question is the same as in Hangul.

Su Hao said: "This is what we usually call Pitang, but the scale is much larger than Pitang." ”

"How big can it be?" Ma Yu asked with interest.

Su Hao gestured with his finger on the stone table and said, "The preliminary idea is to find a valley five miles long and 100 zhang wide, and build a dam at the mouth of the valley 10 zhang high. After completion, it can store millions of cubic abbots of water. ”

Like Hanwen's reaction, Ma Yu was shocked by the medium-sized reservoir described by Su Hao. He eagerly asked Su Hao a few key questions, and after receiving a satisfactory answer, he said with emotion: "Can a reservoir of this scale really be built by relying on manpower?" If this reservoir can be built, it should be comparable to Dujiangyan and Zhengguo Canal. ”

"Compared with Dujiangyan and Zheng Guoqu, it may be slightly inferior." Su Hao said, "However, man will win the day, as long as it is planned properly, a reservoir ten or a hundred times larger than this can also be built, and it is indeed much more spectacular than Dujiangyan." ”

"Ten times, a hundred times bigger, isn't that ten million, ten thousand cubic abbots? Where can such a large reservoir be built? Ma Yu questioned.

Su Hao said: "Brother Duwen has heard of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River? If you can set up a stone wall at the mouth of the Xiling Gorge at the bottom, you can cut off Wushan ** and achieve the high gorge Pinghu, and its water storage is more than 10,000 cubic abbots? At that time, if the goddess is unharmed, she should also be amazed at the difference in the world. ”

"Can we see such a spectacle in this life?" Ma Yu's eyes flashed with longing, and he asked sneeringly. The chairman's water tune song is indeed magnificent, even if it is changed to vernacular by Su Hao's mouth, it is enough to make Ma Yu's blood swell. It is a pity that Ma Yu did not have the opportunity to travel to later generations, and with the technical level of the Ming Dynasty, it was completely impossible to build the Three Gorges Project.

Su Hao felt sorry for Ma Yu in his heart, shook his head and said: "This is just an idea, to intercept the flow on the Yangtze River, the project is so difficult that our strength today can solve it." However, it is not difficult to build a dam on the abundant water. It's just that I'm in dire need of technicians now, and the preliminary survey of the project can't be completed by me alone. ”

Ma Yu is a cautious person, and when he heard Su Hao say this, he first asked: "What needs to be done about this engineering survey that Brother Gai said?" ”

Su Hao said: "To put it simply, it is to find a valley in the upper reaches of the river that can be used to store water, and it is best to have a large belly and a narrow mouth, so that the reservoir capacity is the largest. In addition, the valley should be largely enclosed, with high mountains on both sides, so that water does not leak from the sides after it is impounded. Finding such a place requires a careful inspection along the river valley and a detailed map. The upper reaches of Fengshui are covered with mountains and sparsely populated, and the survey work must be very arduous. ”

"The younger brother is willing to serve these things." Ma Yu replied, "I think there are some students who are also willing to participate in this matter, can Brother Gai be interested in talking to them?" ”

"Can you call them now?" Su Hao said, "If it's possible, I'd like to meet them and hear what they mean." ”

"This is easy, Brother Chang waits, and the younger brother will summon them now."

Ma Yu said, then stood up and walked to the lecture hall of the academy. After a while, only a small sound of talking was heard, and Ma Yu walked over with more than a dozen students. Su Hao hurriedly got up and saluted everyone, and those students also returned the salute to Su Hao.

After a few words of greeting, Ma Yu walked into the Sword Box Pavilion with all the students he had called. There were not enough stone benches in the pavilion, and the students who had no place to sit stood in the back. Everyone surrounded Su Hao and waited to hear him introduce the construction of the reservoir.

Su Hao said what he said to Ma Yu to everyone again, just as Ma Yu said, these students are all people who want to do something, after listening to Su Hao's introduction, they are gearing up one by one, and they can't wait to change into straw shoes and rush to the upper Luoshan area of abundance and abundance.

"A few days ago, the younger brother went to the countryside with the brother of Gai to survey the well, and he hasn't enjoyed it yet. If you want to choose the site of this reservoir, it must be more interesting than the well survey, and the younger brother is willing to go. A student named Jiang Yida said excitedly.

Su Hao explained: "The location of the reservoir is different from that of the well. The well surveys are all in the plain area, and life is convenient. The location of the reservoir is generally in the mountains, the mountains are high and dense, the caves and valleys are deep, and they are often sparsely populated, and life is extremely inconvenient. ”

Jiang Yida's character is Jingxi, and he is a lively person. Hearing Su Hao scare him like this, he became even more energetic, and laughed: "This kind of place is interesting, the master always says, read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles." If my generation can have this experience, when I go to participate in the township examination and the general examination in the future, I will have some talking points to boast about to my peers. ”

The others followed suit:

"What Brother Jing said is very true, my generation used to find some beautiful scenery to make friends, I have heard that the scenery of Naluo Mountain is excellent, we can go together, maybe we can do some good articles."

"Yes, yes, yes, we can take the opportunity to hold a poetry meeting, Yangchun recruits me to smoke scenes, and a large piece of fake me to articles, this splendid poetry must be done in the mountains."

"By the way, in the mountains and wilderness, you may be able to meet a beautiful village girl......"

"I heard that in that mountain, there is still a custom of wild cooperation......

"There is a lioness in my family, it is very fierce, this wild thing, it is better for Brother Tiande to try it......"

“……”

The more everyone talked, the more lively they became, and the more they talked, the more unbearable they became, and at the end they laughed evilly. Su Hao looked at this group of young students, and in a trance, it seemed like returning to his college days. Who said that the ancient scholars were pedantic, and the dozen or so people in front of them were full of vigor and vigor, as if they were classmates back then.

However, Su Hao also knew that these people who could be called by Ma Yu must be the most active people in the academy, and the other students must not have such a youthful spirit. In addition, these people will have to go through a number of exams in the future, such as the township examination, the meeting examination, and the palace examination, before they can officially embark on their official careers, and in this process, their sharpness may be slowly worn out, and in the end, they will become a sanctimonious appearance like Hangeul.

Alas, this damn imperial examination system is really ruined, Su Hao thought with emotion.