Liu Dexiao heard Xu Fang's suggestion and showed a half-believing expression.

"Mr. Xu is saying that the well water on the mountain will be brought down with Nanzhu? Is this possible? ”

Xu Fang nodded firmly and said:

"I wrote to ask Senior Brother Momen Li about the water diversion, and he replied like this. As long as all the bamboo joints in the bamboo pipe are opened, and the bamboo tail is connected to the bamboo head, one by one, the water can be led down the mountain. ”

After opening a well in the Xishan Ridge, he was worried about the water diversion, so he specially wrote to Li Ziqiu of the Mo family to ask for help.

Regarding Li Ziqiu's proposal in the letter, Xu Fang thought about it for a while and understood.

It is a simple truth that people go to high places and water flows to low places.

The terrain of Xishan Ridge is more than 200 zhang higher than that of Liujiazhuang, and according to Senior Brother Li's method, it will definitely be able to lead water down the mountain.

As a farmer's disciple, Xu Fang is very familiar with Nanzhu.

The bamboo that grows into Nanzhu is not only hard, the bamboo pole alone is seven or eight zhang long, and the pole thickness is also six or seven inches, which is the most suitable as a water diversion tool.

Moreover, it is certainly unrealistic to divert water from the West Mountain Range into the village, and it is definitely unrealistic to want a completely straight line.

Nanzhu can be roasted by fire, and the bamboo pole can be roasted and bent, which solves the problem of steering.

It can be said that a single bamboo can solve most of the problems.

"Mr. Xu is so sure, there is nothing to say about the decay." Liu Dexiao hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to believe Xu Fang's judgment, "The old man will let all the young men in the village obey the assignment of Mr. ”

He stroked his beard and smiled: "Although the old man is old, he thinks that he can still see the right person." What Mr. Xu is doing now is for my Liujiazhuang. If Mr. Xu needs anything, he will tell the people in the village. If those bastard boys don't listen to Mr., Mr. comes to the old man, and the old man himself goes and talks to them. ”

"Thank you, Old Farmer."

When Xu Fang heard this, he was immediately overjoyed.

Before the previous success in finding water sources and opening wells, Xu Fang raised his arms and summoned dozens of sturdy guys.

In the early morning of the next day, everyone came to the foot of the West Mountain Ridge and cut down Nanzhu.

Due to the severe drought, most of the bamboos in the bamboo forest at the foot of the Xishan Ridge have also died, and only a few are left to survive.

Xu Fang divided the people into two groups, one group to cut down the bamboo, and the other group to remove the branches and leaves of the bamboo.

The two are exchanged for each hour.

Soon, the bamboo with only the main trunk left was stacked more than half a person high.

After picking the bamboo, everyone began to open the bamboo knots inside the bamboo.

As the bamboo joints are opened one by one, the bamboo with a length of seven or eight zhang becomes a bamboo pipe that runs through the middle and can be used to divert water.

The preparations were completely completed, Xu Fang carried a bundle of bamboo pipes by himself, and led the people who were also carrying bamboo pipes to the direction of the new well in Xishanling.

Looking at the spring water that keeps bubbling out of the well, even if I have seen it once before, people's faces still can't hide their excitement.

The newly dug wells on this ridge are the hope of the entire Liujiazhuang for a period of time in the future.

Xu Fang said to everyone:

"Two channels are drawn from this well to serve as water for everyone's daily life. The rest of the water from the wells is diverted to the farmland. ”

People's domestic water should be put in the first place, but the crops in the farmland must be saved.

Xu Fang had been to the field before, and if there was water to irrigate those crops, they would not be completely lost, and at least there would be some yield, which was enough for these farmers to hold on for a while longer.

In this way, the pressure on some imperial courts and government can be relieved.

Xu Zaozhuang already has a lot of prestige in Liujiazhuang, and now when he says this, none of the people present have spoken out against it.

"I'll listen to Mr. Xu."

Under the guidance of Xu Fang, people inserted two bamboo pipes into the spring water, and along the slope of the mountain, the bamboo pipes were lowered all the way down the mountain.

The people in the back connect the bamboo pipes one by one with the bamboo tails.

When you encounter a place that needs to be bent, the bamboo pipe is slowly roasted and bent with fire.

The crowd gathered firewood and the flame was high.

With the concerted efforts of the people, it only took one day to erect the two water diversion pipes to Liujiazhuang.

After erecting the two water diversion pipes, Xu Fang removed the bamboo strips used to block the flow of water in front of the bamboo tube used as a water outlet in the eyes of everyone.

However, to people's surprise, even though the bamboo strips were removed, there was no water flowing out of the bamboo pipes.

At this moment, people suddenly became not calm, and they all whispered about it.

The young men who went up the mountain with Xu Fang all looked at Xu Fang with worry in their eyes, they knew how much effort this Mr. Xu had spent on this.

If you really mess up and don't get out of the water, then it's going to be a problem.

Xu Fang, who is the center of everyone's attention, is much more relaxed in his mentality.

I saw that he bent down without hesitation, aimed his mouth at the water outlet of the bamboo tube, and took a deep breath.

After only a few breaths, people noticed that the bamboo pipe began to tremble slightly.

After a while, suddenly there was the excited shouting of a child from outside.

"Aye, Aye, I hear the water!"

Before the words were spoken, the clear well water bubbled out of the bamboo tube with the sound of "whooshing" water and flowed into the water tank that had been prepared below.

Looking at the well water that kept flowing into the water tank, Xu Fang showed a relieved expression.

As long as you can bring the water down the mountain, then everything else will be easy to solve.

After all, I will live up to Your Majesty and the trust of the court. ’

Xu said secretly in his heart.

"Old Farmer Liu, everyone, in addition to this daily water, you also need to dig pits and set up wells next to the stream, divert water and store it, and wait until such a big drought year to get water to irrigate the farmland."

After some explanation, everyone realized that the so-called "stream well" in his mouth was similar to a water cellar to store water, which was used as a backup water source for irrigation.

The stream well is laid along the direction of the river, between four and five zhang long, about one or two zhang wide, and about one zhang deep, which can irrigate several acres to dozens of acres of farmland in disaster years.

The four walls of the creek well are stacked with stones and pine, and the base is built into a well-shaped, with pine as the beams and columns, and the openings are covered with pine and strip stones to prevent the siltation of river sand, and the top is covered with wooden boards to reduce water evaporation.

In drought years, the stream wells were opened, water wheels were erected, and water was carried to irrigate the farmland.

Hearing Xu Fang's explanation, the old men in the village nodded one after another.

This brook well is a precautionary move.

Originally, there was a water cellar in the village, but there was no drought year for several years, so that everyone unconsciously relaxed, the water stored in the water cellar was only half of the previous year, and the village increased nearly 100 dings compared with previous years, and the water stored in the water cellar was naturally insufficient.

After this catastrophe, they Liujiazhuang, regardless of men, women, young and old, must remember this lesson.

In addition to Xijing, Liu Fang also taught the crowd a farming method called the Mu method.

As the name suggests, the mu method is composed of two parts, the ditch and the mu, the mu is the ridge (a row of ridges cultivated on the cultivated land). The requirement of this method of planting crops is that in the high field, the crop species is planted in the furrow, not on the ridge; In low fields, crop species are planted on ridges rather than in furrows.

The biggest effect of this method is to make perfect use of the law of water flowing downward.

If there is a year with more rain, planting crops on the ridges can play a role in draining water; On the contrary, in drought years, crops are planted in furrows to play the role of water retention and drought resistance.

Looking at Xu Fang, who was demonstrating to everyone with his own hands, Liujiazhuang, led by the old owner Liu Dexiao, knelt on the ground one after another and kowtowed to Xu Fang a few times.

This time, Xu Fang was immediately confused.

"Old Liu, why is this? I can't help it, everyone! ”

Xu Fang said, not caring about the dirt on his hands, and reached out to help the kneeling people up.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!"

Liu Dexiao, who was supported by Xu Fang, stared at Xu Fang's eyes and said word by word:

"Mr. Xu, you can afford this gift."

As an old man who has seen the ups and downs, he knows very well in his heart how important it is for ordinary people who want to teach them these days, whether it is the water diversion of Nanzhu, or the storage of water in streams, or the method of cultivating acres, for ordinary people who watch the sky and live their lives.

It can be said that with these three methods, not to mention whether they can produce more food, in this year of drought alone, they can also keep food and clothing, do not have to give up their family business and fields, and help the old and young to escape the famine and become homeless.

This, even if it is a life-saving move, is not an exaggeration!

Therefore, their great gift, Mr. Xu, who was sent down by the imperial court, can afford it!

And the imperial court, which can send such talented officials, seems to know the people's sufferings and wants to do practical things.

The young man who was sitting on the dragon chair and carrying the golden burden was also ready to make a difference.

Even, for the current Chu State court and the young son of heaven, people gradually have a sense of identity in their hearts.

Something like Xu Fang and Li Ziqiu didn't just happen in Liujiazhuang and Lingxi County.

Dozens of peasant and Mo family disciples, on the orders of Zhao Yu and the imperial court, went to the disaster-stricken six prefectures to help the local government and strive to find a way for the people of these six prefectures to survive.

However, human nature is complex.

In the face of catastrophes, there are people who are willing to relieve the people of their suspense, and there are always some people who want to take advantage of this opportunity to hoard and buy and sell, so as to make a fortune.

Ningyuan Mansion City, Haochang City.

"There are few shopkeepers, the price of food outside here has risen like crazy, especially the Zhang and Li families, who are wantonly hoarding grain, but they are sitting there watching the wind, probably wanting to make a profit."

A guy with a towel on his shoulder walked to the counter and complained to his shopkeeper.

However, the young man sitting behind the table did not seem to hear a word, holding a brush without ink, writing and drawing on the paper, as if he was deducing something.

Seeing that his shopkeeper did not move, the guy's face suddenly collapsed.

"I said, the little shopkeeper, the little one, did you hear it?"

A few days ago, the restaurant was still full, but with the advent of the drought, the prices in the city have skyrocketed, and the whole building is now looking at it, but not even a single guest can be seen.

If this continues, in just two or three months, this restaurant will have to go out of business!

"I said, what are you panicking about? The sky fell, and there was a tall one on top. This shopkeeper is not panicking, why are you panicking? ”

The young shopkeeper still buried his head in deduction, but replied lightly, "Let you send food to the old shopkeeper and his wife, but have you sent it?" ”

The guy nodded hurriedly and said, "It's all already sent." It's just that the lady is worried about the less shopkeeper, and repeatedly advises the little one to persuade the shopkeeper to say what kind of mountain to leave behind, and the mountain is there, and he is not afraid that there will be no wood to burn. "That guy has obviously read some books, but unfortunately he doesn't know much, and he can't even tell the allusion that the green mountains are not worried about running out of firewood.

"Rest assured, the situation in this city is under the control of the imperial court."

The young shopkeeper was obviously an understanding person, chuckled, and said with a sense of relief:

"This drought has affected the people of the six provinces, and the one sitting on the dragon chair is a promising gentleman, but his methods are quite ruthless, and the most unseen thing is that such a person who makes a fortune in the country. In this Haochang City, in addition to the official mansion, there is still the imperial history that has come down, and there are even people staring at it in the dark. You say, these guys have made such a big move, can the court not notice it? ”

Hearing the young shopkeeper's rhetorical question, the guy subconsciously shook his head.

That is, now that there is such a big movement in the city, a little guy knows about it, and if those big people don't know, then it's weird!

"This court, I'm afraid I have already had a plan to do it. Now on the bright side

There was no reaction, but secretly it was impossible to sharpen the knife. As soon as the imperial court is launched, the Zhang family, the Li family, and the Wang family, this group of hoarding strange goods, none of them have good fruits to eat! ”

He has gone to private schools and read history books, until no matter which dynasty, whether it is the court or the king, it is impossible for unscrupulous profiteers to buy and sell, hoard and make a fortune.

Because of this, it is the individual who benefits, and all the grievances of the people are concentrated on the imperial court.

The word "people's heart" is related to the society of the country.

Once the people's hearts are turbulent, then it will inevitably make the people and the court rival, if one is not handled well, I am afraid that the king will not even be able to sit on the throne.

Those who win the hearts of the people win the world, these seven words were said by the Taizu of Chu State himself, and they were also written in the history books.

He didn't believe it, and now that the rather wise young Son of Heaven would not know this.

At this moment, the idle and bored guy suddenly perked up and shouted.

"Oh, three guest officers, please come inside!"

But at this time, a customer entered the store.

The man led the three of them to their seats and greeted them with a little excitement:

"Please sit down, I wonder what you three guest officers want to eat? Our specialty ......"

Before he could finish speaking, he was glared back angrily by one of the three strong men with big shoulders and round waist: "The kid has a lot of mouth! ”

The guy was glared at by the fierce gaze, only to feel that Tianlinggai was cold, and he couldn't say a word about the next words.

Although he is a small guy in a restaurant, he is ushered in, what a rich son, a dignitary, he has not seen it on weekdays, and after a long time, he can be regarded as practicing his eyesight, but he has never felt such a strong evil aura from this man.

"Okay, old Fan, what's the matter with a fellow? Put on a portion of everything you are good at, and the money for this meal will not be less than yours. ”

Among the three, the young man with a handsome face in a brocade robe fiddled with the folding fan in his hand and said lightly.

"Yes, Childe."

Seeing his boss speak, the strong man known as "Lao Fan" glared at the guy, sat back in his chair, and said no more.

Seeing that the boy waved his hand at him, the man suddenly felt pardoned, and the cat retreated.

"You sit down first, and my son will go and chat with the shopkeeper."

With that, the handsome boy got up, stuck the folding fan behind his waist, and walked towards the counter.

"You're the shopkeeper?"

I saw him leaning on the counter and asked the young shopkeeper behind the counter with a smile.

The shopkeeper still buried his head in writing and drawing on the paper, and said without raising his head when he heard the words:

"Not exactly, after all, there is an old shopkeeper at home."

The handsome boy didn't think it was wrong, but smiled in understanding, and said:

"I just listened to what the shopkeeper said, and he is indeed a rare person who understands. It's time to clean up these big rats that eat inside and out. However, there are a lot of people under this son who can fight, but none of them can come up with ideas. How about it, are you interested in doing it here? ”

The young shopkeeper finally raised his head and asked:

"Dare to ask, Childe's surname?"

"Don't let your surname rain, name Tian." The handsome boy smiled evilly, took out the folding fan, knocked it in the palm of his hand, and said in a low voice, "It is the person in the dark that the shopkeeper just said." (End of chapter)