"Master Su, this is the well we are drilling, look at the location of the well."

In Leishan Village, Guangfeng Township, Huang Ergou, a warden on the fast shift, took Su Hao to the well drilling site and said to him politely.

Su Hao looked up at the surrounding terrain, and saw that there were continuous low mountains on both sides, with a small lonely mountain in the middle, and the location of the well was just in the upstream of the lonely mountain, which should be a place rich in groundwater from common sense, so he nodded and praised: "This well location is well chosen, and there is a great possibility of water coming out." ”

Hearing Su Hao's praise, Huang Ergou said proudly: "Master Su really has good eyesight, and he can see the beauty of this well at a glance." Master Su, it's not my Lao Huang bragging, this county drills wells, and my Lao Huang team has the best results, which has been specially praised by Lord Han. ”

Su Hao had also heard the officials of other teams talk about Huang Ergou's achievements before, but he didn't know much about the details, so he asked with a smile: "How good can your team's results be?" ”

Huang Ergou said: "I have drilled a total of 22 wells, 12 of which have produced water, and only 10 of which have been discarded. ”

"That's a very good result." Su Hao said. 12 of the 22 wells can produce water, which is indeed the best result before Su Hao instructed the teams to drill wells, but if compared with Su Hao's well exploration results, there are still some gaps. Of course, Su Hao knew that he relied on scientific and technological knowledge that was hundreds of years ahead of the times, so he only appreciated Huang Ergou and did not mean to look down on him.

"Huang Dian, how deep is this well now? How far is it from getting out of the water? Su Hao asked.

"Mr. Hui's words, this well is now 40 feet old, and it is estimated that if it is drilled another 20 feet, you will be able to see water." Wang Begging, the well foreman on the side, replied.

"Oh, then I'll go down and take a look." Su Hao said.

Huang Ergou hurriedly dissuaded: "Master, this well is quite dirty, you don't have to work hard." ”

Su Hao said: "I came here to guide the selection of the well location on the order of Lord Han, and it is difficult to choose the well location without looking at the underground structure." Don't worry, I have hundreds of wells in the villages in front of me. ”

"I see, the villain will arrange it for the master." Huang Ergou said.

The underground is digging the earth, and the excavated soil must be hoisted to the ground and poured out at any time with a wheel. Huang Ergou went to the well and gave an order, and a small worker pulled an empty hanging basket for Su Hao, let Su Hao sit in it, and then shook the wheel and put the hanging basket into the well under construction.

Su Hao, as elsewhere, sat in the hanging basket, holding the pine light, carefully observing the soil and rock layers exposed on the wall of the well from top to bottom, and making notes on paper. By the time he returned to the surface from the shaft, his face had become a little serious.

"Lao Huang, this well is a bit choking." Su Hao said to Huang Ergou.

"Enough? What do you mean? Huang Ergou asked in surprise, "Master, didn't you just say that this well location was well chosen?" ”

Su Hao pointed to the mountain in front of him and said to Huang Ergou: "I looked at it from the topography just now, and this terrain is indeed a water storage structure. But when I went down to the well just now, I saw that the rock formations below the well were not quite the same as those on the surface, and I suspected that there must be a fault in front of it, blocking the water. If this is the case, if we continue to fight, I am afraid that there will be no water. ”

"How is this possible?" Huang Ergou looked a little disbelieving, and at the same time turned his head and looked at a strong man sitting not far away.

"Scholar Wuna, what did you just say?" The strong man had been listening to the movement here, and when he saw Huang Ergou's gaze on him, he stood up, walked in front of Su Hao, and asked arrogantly.

"Dare to ask what Brother Tai is called?" Su Hao didn't know who the other party was, so he was not busy saying anything, but first arched his hand and asked the other party for his name and surname.

The strong man said with a big grin: "I am from this village, a countryman, there is nothing to call or not to call, but there is a name, called Deng Kui." ”

"Oh, it turned out to be Brother Deng." Su Hao said politely, "The younger brother told Huang Dian that this well may not be able to produce water, what is Brother Deng's opinion?" ”

This is Su Hao's attitude towards life, he is a humble person, especially for those low-status farmers, craftsmen, etc., his attitude is more respectful. Although this Deng Kui is menacing and quite hostile, Su Hao still intends to salute first and then soldier, so there is no inferiority between his words.

Deng Kui listened to Su Hao's politeness, and it was inconvenient to have a seizure, so he just snorted coldly from his nose and said, "Scholar, I see that you are only a teenager, could it be that you can also read feng shui?" ”

Su Hao said: "I'm sorry, the younger brother did learn some feng shui theories, so he was ordered by the county lord to go to the townships to assist in the well survey." In the younger brother's opinion, eighty percent of this well is out of water. ”

"If you hit the water, how are you going to go?" Deng Kui asked.

Su Hao shrugged his shoulders and said, "Brother Deng, this is difficult for a strong man, the underground water veins are very different, and no one dares to guarantee the ticket." I'm just discussing with Brother Deng, Brother Deng thinks there is water underneath, what evidence is there? ”

Deng Kui said: "It turns out that you are also a mouth-seller, and you don't even dare to gamble." I think there's water down there because my husband says there's water. When my husband was surveying the well, you, a scholar, were still breastfeeding, no, I'm afraid your mother was still breastfeeding. My husband said there was water, and I believed it had water. If there is no water, I will jump from this well. ”

Su Hao frowned, the other party mentioned his mother, which was already a little disrespectful, but, considering that the other party was also a rough person, it was estimated that these words were also unintentional, and he went to care, but it seemed hypocritical. He smiled slightly and said, "Jump, it's not necessary." Listen to what you mean, the 22 wells drilled by the Huang Dian, were all surveyed by your husband? ”

"Exactly." Deng Kui said proudly.

It seems that the gentleman in Deng Kui's mouth is indeed a master, Su Hao thought secretly in his heart. However, he would not say this, but said with a smile: "In other words, your husband has surveyed 22 wells, and 10 of them are abandoned wells. According to Brother Deng, you should have skipped 10 times, right? ”

"This ......" Deng Kui didn't expect Su Hao to scratch his sore feet on this issue, and he was a little speechless for a while.

Seeing this, Huang Ergou hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Master Su, Mr. Tu has surveyed 22 wells, and 12 of them can drill good wells, which is already very rare." As for the fact that there are also 10 abandoned wells, this is really nothing. ”

"That's right, 22 wells, can have 12 good wells, who else can do it except my husband?" Deng Kui also relieved himself, and asked Su Hao with his neck.

"The surname is Deng, you brag in front of my master, but you are looking for the wrong person." A workshop official named Xu Zong, who came with Su Hao, couldn't stand it anymore, and stepped forward to interject: "If my master comes to survey the well, out of 22 wells, at least 18 of them are good wells." ”

"18 good wells!" Huang Ergou's eyes widened, he had been staying in Guangfeng Township to dig wells, and he had not returned to the county office, so he didn't know much about Su Hao's skills, just knowing that Su Hao had a set of well surveys, and he had been appointed by Han Wen as the master of the workshop. Hearing Xu Zong say this now, his first reaction was that Xu Zong was bragging, because 18 good wells were drilled out of 22 wells, which was a good result that he had never heard of.

"Haha, the cattle in the whole county have been blown to death." Deng Kui laughed, "You masters, dare to assert that this well can't produce water, just this ability, can you still survey the well?" ”

Su Hao was too lazy to do this kind of verbal dispute, he said to Huang Ergou: "Huang Dian, this well has been hit to 40 feet anyway, so just hit it." At 60 feet, if there is no sign of water, don't go any further, and there is no need to waste manpower. I walked around and saw if there was a better seat. ”

"Okay, master, please take care of it." Huang Ergou also hopes that this dispute will end in this way.

"That scholar, are you afraid of losing?" Deng Kui saw Su Hao give in, and believed that Su Hao was bragging, so he said even more proudly: "I'm so idle that I want to find someone to gamble." How about it, let's take this well to gamble, if the water doesn't come out of 60 feet, I'll pay you five taels of silver, how about it? ”

Su Hao looked at Deng Kui and felt angry and funny, he turned his head and said to Chen Guanyu: "Old Chen, take five taels of silver out, let's bet with this brother." If it comes out of the water, I will lose him five taels of silver. If you don't go out of the water, you are responsible for bringing his five taels of silver, and let's ask all the officials and masters to have a good meal, nourish their spirits, and change their positions to fight. ”

When Deng Kui heard this, his emotions also rose, and he shouted at the craftsmen and officials at the scene: "Okay, everyone heard it." I, Deng Kui, gambled with this scholar! When the water is beaten, let's drink with the scholar's money! ”