The structure of the waterwheel is not very complicated, but it requires relatively more materials. He had learned the skill of setting up mechanisms to block the enemy on various terrains, and with the help of enough men, he could build a waterwheel that could irrigate all the fields in the village in a few days, according to the plan he had already envisioned.

A small murmuring river flows eastward along the valley, its bed shimmering silver in the sun.

Liu Wei sat on a large rock, holding a wooden stick two or three feet long and about the thickness of a forearm in both hands, and after a while, he put the two wooden sticks on the ground, picked up the chisel from the side, and carefully cut out a groove along the stick.

Not far from Liu Bian, a pile of timber of varying thicknesses was piled on the gravel ground by the riverbank, where four or five villagers were polishing the timber and removing the polished timber from the troughs.

Tang Ji sat beside him, staring at Liu Bian's slightly dusty face without blinking.

"Husband, when did you learn this skill?" After staring at Liu Wei's face for a while, Tang Ji raised his arm, used his sleeve to help him wipe the dust off his face, and asked him softly: "Why haven't you heard your husband mention it before?" ”

"You don't know how much more you know." Liu Wei said to Tang Ji while picking the groove on the wooden stick: "It won't take much time to build the waterwheel, if the people in the village come to help, it should be built in three or two days, and then the injury on your foot will be so good, I still have to hurry to Yingchuan and return to your hometown to find a secluded place and live that leisurely life." ”

"Hmm." Tang Ji answered, didn't speak again, just dragged his hands on his chin, and looked at the wooden stick that was picking the groove in Liu Wei's hand stupidly.

Sixteen or seventeen men carrying timber waded across the river to the timber pile, unloaded the timber, and then turned and went to the other side of the river.

Walking behind these men is the burly Yuanfu. Everyone else is four or five people dragging a log together to drag it away, but Yuanfu, every time he cuts down a big tree, he is alone to hold the trunk to his shoulder, carrying a trunk that is more than ten meters long and one person is so thick, and when dragging it towards the opposite side of the riverbank, it seems easier than four or five men dragging the same one together.

"Brother Yuanfu, let's talk about it after drinking saliva." Yuan Fu threw the big tree to the ground, and was about to turn around and walk to the other side of the river, when Liu Wei called out to him, and picked up the water bag from the side and threw it at him.

Reaching out to take the water bag thrown by Liu Bian, Yuan Fu untied the rope tied to the mouth of the water bag, raised his neck and poured a sigh of "coo-dong", threw the empty water bag back to Liu Bi, nodded at him, and turned around to walk to the other side of the river.

"Brother Yuanfu told the villagers that the wood is almost the same." Reaching out to catch the empty water bag, Liu Wei shouted at Yuanfu again: "Carry it again, let the villagers rest." ”

Yuan Fu stopped, listened to Liu Wei's words, and did not respond, and walked towards the other side of the river.

About twenty or thirty steps away from Liu Wei, a group of young village girls were washing their clothes with their heads down.

Maybe it's because Liu Wei is sitting nearby, and the village girls don't laugh like they do when they wash clothes on weekdays, and everyone is busy with their own work.

While washing clothes, the sister of Tao Hu's family would raise her head from time to time to look at Liu Wei, who was focusing on carving wood.

The scene where Liu Wei threw the water bag to Yuanfu was seen clearly by the sister of the Tao Hu family.

Although the water in the river looks clear, it is also mixed with a little sediment, which is very bad to drink directly, and people with a slightly worse stomach will also have diarrhea. When people in the village drink water, they have to precipitate for half an hour, and then wait for the sediment to sink to the bottom before they take it and boil it for drinking water.

Seeing that the water in Liu Wei's water bag was drunk by Yuanfu, Tao Hu's sister subconsciously picked up the water bag she brought to the river from the side, pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then put the water bag aside.

After a while, after washing the last piece of clothing in the basin, Tao Hu's sister reached out and touched the water bag on the side, lowered her eyes and hesitated for a while, before lifting the water bag and walking over to Liu Wei.

"Let's drink some water." When she arrived in front of Liu Wei, she was holding a water bag in both hands, and as soon as she said the words, her face was already half red.

"Thank you, girl." Liu Wei stopped what he was doing, raised his head and smiled at Sister Tao Hu, reached out to take the water bag, and poured two big mouthfuls of "Gu Dong Gu Dong", just when he wiped his mouth after drinking the water, and was about to return the water bag to Sister Tao Hu, he found that Sister Tao Hu had turned around and walked towards the river.

Looking at the back of Tao Hu's sister leaving, Liu Wei was holding a water bag in his hand, stunned for a moment, and then turned his head to look at Tang Ji on the side.

Tang Ji maintained a quiet smile on her face, and when Liu Wei turned her head to look at her, she didn't say anything, just lowered her head slightly.

Seeing her appearance, Liu Wei pursed his lips, put aside the water bag that still had more than half of the water left, and continued to carve grooves on the wood.

There are bayonets on both sides of the groove he carved, so that it can be stuck on the waterwheel more tightly and not fall off when the waterwheel turns.

The two wooden grooves are connected to the outlet of the waterwheel, and next to Liu Wei are several grooves carved out of wood as thick as his thighs, and those grooves are dug deeper, which are used to embed the fan blades of the waterwheel and roll the bucket of the river water into the water inlet and outlet.

The eldest girl and the little daughter-in-law who were washing clothes on the bank of the river were busy with their own work, and before leaving, they all filled a small half bucket of water with a bucket they carried, carrying a basin in one hand and water in the other, and went to the village with great difficulty.

The barrels they were carrying were all made of solid wood, and the barrels were very thick and heavy. Perhaps because of perennial malnutrition, these women are a little short in stature, and it feels a little out of place to carry such a stupid wooden barrel.

If you don't fill it with water, you don't feel anything when you carry such a bucket, but once the bucket is filled with water, it is very difficult for men with poor physique to carry it, let alone these weak women.

Seeing the women carrying water and walking with difficulty, Liu Wei thought more and more that building a waterwheel was a wise choice.

Holding a wooden bucket in one hand and a wooden basin in the other, Tao Hu's sister glanced back at Liu Wei when she left the river.

But this glance at Liu Wei made her not pay attention to the road ahead, stepped on a round pebble, slipped under her feet, sat on the ground with her buttocks, and fell out of the wooden basin and bucket.

Seeing Tao Hu's sister fall, Liu Wei hurriedly put down the wooden trough he was chiseling in his hand and ran towards her quickly.

"It's okay, is it?" When he arrived at Tao Hu's sister, Liu Wei reached out and took her arm, helped her up, and asked with concern.

The arm was grabbed by Liu Wei, Tao Hu's sister turned red with a pretty face, shook off his hand like an electric shock, picked up the wooden barrel and basin on the ground, and did not go back to the river to clean the clothes stained with sand, and walked quickly towards the entrance of the village with her head down.

Looking at the back of Tao Hu's sister, who was still limping due to a sprained foot, Liu Wei sighed lightly, returned to Tang Ji and sat down, picked up the wooden trough that he had just thrown aside and continued to carve and chise.

Time flies, two days pass in the blink of an eye.

A huge waterwheel wheel lies quietly on the edge of the riverbank, and not far from the wheel hub are stacks of grooved sinks.

"Folks, set up the waterwheel!" Standing on the edge of the river, Liu Wei crossed his waist with his hands, raised one arm, and shouted.

"Brothers, work hard!" Liu argued that he wanted to set up the waterwheel, and Yuanfu also shouted, and led the men who built the waterwheel with them to push the wheel up.

The wheel hub was pushed up, and Liu Wei also ran forward, holding the wheel hub with both hands, pointing to the wooden frame that had already been laid near the middle of the river, and shouted to the group of men: "Put the waterwheel into the river." ”

Everyone shouted in unison, carried the wheel hub and walked to the middle of the river, and when they reached the position designated by Liu Wei, they lifted the wheel hub to the wooden frame, and shouted in unison to lift the wheel hub.

After setting up the wheels, Liu Wei turned his head and shouted to the men beside him: "Load the water bucket!" ”

On the edge of the river, there were many villagers who heard that the waterwheel was about to be completed and came to see the excitement, and even the old people who had opposed Liu Wei and others to build the waterwheel were standing far away, watching their group of people working in the river, pointing and muttering something.

The third uncle, who had the strongest opposition to the construction of the waterwheel earlier, shook his head and sighed when he was talking to a few old people, looking at Liu Wei and the others, his expression looked very helpless.

Many children and women also gathered around the riverbank, looking at the big round wooden wheels that had risen in the middle of the river.

After setting up the wheel, Liu Wei led everyone to jam the water bucket on the fan blade of the water wheel, and when all the water buckets were all stuck, he bent down and reached out to pick up the pin on the wheel.

The water flows through several barrel-shaped gears under the waterwheel, which drives the barrel gears to roll, and then drives the rotation of the entire waterwheel fan blades.

The fan blades rolled in the river, and the bucket stuck on the fan blades scooped up the river water and raised it high, splashing the men who were standing at the bottom of the bucket all over their bodies.

They were drenched with water, but the mood of the men was extremely high, and several people even turned their faces up, as if they were enjoying the water splashed by the waterwheel and drenching their whole bodies.

"It's turned, it's really turned!" The hub of the waterwheel turned, and when the bucket scooped up the river, the group of men who followed Liu Wei to assemble the waterwheel all cheered: "The waterwheel has turned!" ”

"Brothers, connect the sink!" Seeing that the waterwheel really turned, Liu Wei was also a little excited, and when he called out to the men beside him, the title was also changed from "folks" to "brothers".