"Whether the truth becomes clearer and clearer depends on what the standard of the truth is, and different standards have different interests. The truth changes with the person's identity, and the more you believe, the more different the truth is. It's like treating barbarians, barbarians believe in soldiers, and soldiers are their truth. ”

"The saint said: If you live in my land, you are all my child, if you have talent, you can use it as one, and soldiers are not kings."

……

In the place of Beiping, there is a middle-aged man, riding a mule, followed by an entourage, the two are inconspicuous.

In the Huangpozi area of Gu'an County, a ditch was built connecting more than 20 villages, and the ditch was half a person deep.

"It's strange, where does the water in this canal come from?" The old attendant was amazed, he and his master had been gone for a long time.

It's not strange that there is water in the ditch, but strangely there is no water source near the new ditch, and there are no water wheels.

What's the use of a watermill even if there's a waterwheel.

The pedal waterwheel can transport water from low places to high places through manpower, and it is reliable for people to step on how much water they can step on with their feet.

The slope beside the channel was covered with grass, and a cow was grazing on the slope with its head bowed, followed by an old man.

The old man sat on the slope and looked at his cows.

"Old man, where does the water in this ditch come from?" The middle-aged man got off the mule, showed a smiling face, and asked politely.

The old man raised his head, looked at it twice, lowered his head again, and whispered: "Ten miles to the east, there is a pumping station." ”

"Pumping station?"

The old man's voice was heavy, and the middle-aged man confirmed it several times before he gradually understood the meaning, what is the pumping station?

"When the water is available, the pumping station starts." The old man couldn't say a detailed word, just these few sentences over and over again.

Seeing that he couldn't ask anything, the middle-aged man arched his hand, took his old servant, and continued to go east.

Acres of fields, ditches are not strange.

But something doesn't feel right in this place.

Fields need water.

Where there is a water source, there are acres.

In fact, the same is true on the grassland, where there is a water source, there is a prosperous pasture.

Hulunbuir grassland, there are Hulun Lake, Bear Lake and other lakes, in winter, rely on the snow to melt into water, the rest of the months, rely on the lake.

Where there is no water source, most of them are endless deserts.

There is no water source in this area, so even if you rely on your shoulders and feet on a waterwheel, you can't irrigate the fields, and it should be the most barren place.

And relying on this ditch with no end in sight, dense ditches were built on both sides, forming a large area of fertile land.

It's so unreasonable.

This is a highland, so the Lugou River in the north and the Liuli River in the south do not pass through, and the two rivers are fifty miles away.

The land here, even if it is cultivated, is the lowest kind of land, and it does not grow much.

"Look, sir." The old servant pointed to a large iron pipe in shock.

At the end of the ditch, there were two large iron pipes protruding, and from the large iron pipes, two water dragons rushed out, and the splashing sound was terrifying.

Underneath the large iron pipes, a square depression was built, where the water gathered and gushed westward in the ditch.

The mule was too frightened to go, and the middle-aged man strode over alone, and the old servant pulled the mule, and saw that the old man was frozen in the distance.

Large iron pipes are laid on the extremely high slope, with a length of one or twenty meters high, which makes people's eyes dizzy.

Below is a lake, and there is a two-story building on the edge of the lake, which makes a loud strange noise.

"Who are you?"

In the building, a few people suddenly ran out, found the middle-aged man, and asked loudly, but the middle-aged man's face did not change.

When people came forward to surround him, he took the initiative to speak, and it turned out that he was the new deputy envoy of the judge.

Several officers looked at each other.

They were originally farmers, and the local people organized civil service, and during the season of water release, the local people took turns patrolling the ditches.

Where do they know what deputy envoys are and what are not deputy envoys, and they don't know how big an official they are.

However, soon another official came, and when he learned the identity of the middle-aged man, he was taken aback and immediately became extremely respectful.

When the rest of the people saw this, they knew that it was a very big official, and they were so frightened that they didn't dare to speak anymore, for fear that their tone just now would offend the official master and whether they would be punished heavily.

The middle-aged man didn't think so, and was full of interest to go to the building to have a look, but the little official didn't dare to stop it, and took the initiative to introduce it on the roadside.

After entering, there was a heat wave, which scared the middle-aged man to take a step back.

"It's a steam engine, and it burns coal, so it's hot." The clerk explained.

The middle-aged man learned that it was not weird, but he was not afraid of sweating, endured the heat wave and walked in, looking at the steam engine curiously.

"Huh...... ......Shh Mutter...... ...... ......Shh Goo ......"

The huge iron wall is swaying, and there are unknown iron objects, which together form a group of strange objects that can move on their own.

At the rear of the building, it is semi-enclosed, with two iron pipes extending deep into the lake.

"This ...... This ......," the middle-aged man said in surprise.

Middle-aged people have not seen objects that can move on their own, such as waterwheels, windmills, hourglass clocks, etc.

But the principle of these things is not unfamiliar to middle-aged people, as long as they are not stupid, they can understand it even if they see it for the first time, so it does not arouse people's novelty.

There is also a gap in it, and the strength is not the same.

"This is the steam engine? How can you move on your own? The middle-aged man has a strange face, he doesn't believe in ghosts and gods, and he doesn't offend on weekdays, but he stays away from these remarks.

The little official couldn't help laughing, "In fact, the principle of this thing is the same as what you see every day, but it is more obscure. ”

"What's the matter?"

"The kettle boils water, and when the water boils, the lid will keep moving, which is the reason for steam, so it is called a steam engine."

"This pumping steam engine can pump more water in an hour than 500 strong laborers, and the pumping station has two pumping steam engines, which is equivalent to thousands of tireless strong laborers, carrying water day and night."

"No wonder." The middle-aged man was sweating profusely and his face was full of incredulity.

Hearing is false, seeing is believing, and when I saw it today, the middle-aged man was shocked without words, and he couldn't describe the shock in his heart.

"Who bears the cost of pumping?" The middle-aged man put away the shock in his heart and asked carefully.

The little official complained secretly in his heart.

This workshop is very hot, he usually stays on the second floor, but the official does not move, and he is embarrassed to leave.

So he patiently said: "The cost of pumping water will be shared equally by the local people." ”

"Isn't it a nuisance to the people?"

The little official shook his head, "The acres of land here can actually be counted as farmland, but the government only collects taxes according to Zhongtian or Xiatian, and in this way, the local people still earn." ”

The middle-aged man nodded, this method is not bad.

After inquiring a few more things, I learned that this lake is a tributary of the Lugou River, with abundant water, and that 780,000 acres of fields have been cultivated and irrigated on both sides by relying on pumping stations and canals.

The middle-aged man suddenly realized, and thought to himself, "No wonder Yan Fantai dared to propose to reclaim one million acres of fertile land in the Northern Parallel Province." ”

Everyone knows that cultivating acres of land is the greatest political achievement, but why do many local officials not do it?

Because there is no land to cultivate, and there is no water source, even if countless acres of land are cultivated on the wasteland, what is the use?

"The steam engine is really a weapon for the benefit of the country and the people." Thinking of this, the middle-aged man couldn't help but admire.

"Not really." The little official boasted proudly: "Now in the mining area of Beiping, which one can do without the steam engine, I heard that the iron factory is also using this thing to forge iron, as well as the rails used for the railway, how to build it easily without this thing." ”

"However, this thing is a bit more coal-consuming, and the government and the coal yard owner will organize negotiations with the little prince, and the coal yard will provide the government with affordable coal to supply all localities with affordable coal instead of the taxes to be paid by the coal yard."

"Coal?" The middle-aged man is keenly aware of the key.

……

Leaving the pumping station, the middle-aged man and his servant turned to Zhuozhou, where the two were separated, and the servant rode a mule back to Beiping, where he tried to ride the railway.

At the station, he reported his destination, and the people at the station asked him if he had food stamps, and food stamps could also be used to buy tickets.

The middle-aged man shook his head, he didn't have food stamps, so he bought a ticket to Beiping with copper coins, a thin piece of tooth yellow paper with patterns on it.

"Jingle bells."

When the railway carriage entered the station, the middle-aged man stood in the station, asked the people around him, easily figured out the process, and got on the railway carriage to Beiping.

In the carriage, looking at the scenery of the regression all the way, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart.

The quiet changes in Peking are unimaginable.

……

On the straight road of the palace, Zhu Di, who came back from the guardhouse, sat in a sedan chair, and the eunuchs and the little yellow men were sent to the attic of the carrier gate.

In the attic of the carrier gate, Ge Cheng and the others were already waiting, and when they saw the prince's solemn face, people stopped talking.

Zhu Di had a cold face and ordered: "Pass the boss over." ”

Seeing this, Ge Cheng on the side stepped forward and comforted: "This matter has not spread yet, and the impact is not big, so the prince is angry." ”

Some people took the lead, and the rest spoke.

"Shut up." Zhu Di scolded, people kept silent, and the attic immediately fell silent.

"You have to assist the boss, instead of seeing bad signs and not admonishing him, I have heard this matter in the guard, do you still have to spread it to Yingtianfu."

Soon, several small yellow doors led Zhu Gaochi to the hall, and when they saw that the atmosphere was not right, their attitude was very respectful.

Zhu Gaochi read the content of the seventh issue of the technical newspaper in advance, thought about it, and made people throw it out.

Zhu Di asked angrily, "What do you want to do?" Ge Cheng and the others on the side also felt a little shocked.

The technology newspaper talked about technology, and talked about politics well, which made the whole of Beiping pay attention, and many new officials came to the third division, and everyone was shocked.

"I didn't want to do anything, I just wanted to see how people think today." Zhu Gaochi said calmly.

The seventh issue of the technical newspaper was stopped by Zhu Di.

The debate on whether the truth became clearer and clearer was suddenly ended, causing many people to have complicated thoughts, and a group of new members of the Third Division were also quietly understanding the situation in Beiping.

(End of chapter)