Chapter 28: Skillful Management
"Mr. Lang is different from the rich men I have seen before!"
Zhou Changming was holding a steaming bowl of mutton soup, sipping on the chopped polygonum on the surface of the soup, and looking at Li Tai, who was sitting in a pile with his colleagues and chewing on the leg of mutton, he couldn't help but say.
After hearing this, Li Tai chuckled: "It's true that I don't look good when I'm eating, but every time it's time to eat, the crowd is as hungry as tigers. I'm afraid I won't have enough food to eat!"
When the surrounding troops heard this, they all winked and laughed, and chewed their food faster.
"It's not just about appearance and manners. Take the plow as an example. There is nothing new like this in Kansai, but the husband doesn't hide his secrets."
Zhou Changming took a big sip of soup, and his expression turned to reminiscing: "I was married at home. My eldest brother died at a young age, and my second brother barely grew up. When I was a child, I was a glutton. I loved to hang out outside the wall of the big house next door, hoping that he would come back inside the wall. When I picked up the fallen apricots and took a bite, I thought they were delicacies in the world. One day, my second brother saw them and couldn’t bear that I only had rotten apricots, so he climbed the wall to pick them and ended up in someone else’s yard...
"When I saw my second brother again, he was already a corpse, and his belly had been cut open!"
As he spoke, Zhou Changming lowered his head and made gestures on his belly, his eyes were already red: "From then on, I realized that good things hurt people! That family was well-fed and well-fed, and they didn't want to give up a few apricots, but they were afraid of my second brother. He swallowed the apricot fruits and took them out, so he opened them up and examined them. It turned out that the overripe apricots I picked up outside the wall had all been punched through by his family members..."
When Li Tai heard such a story, he was so shocked that he didn't know what to say. Just because he was afraid that people who had swallowed apricot kernels would spread, would they arrest and disembowel people?
He opened his mouth and said harshly: "Then, after that..."
"After that, there were no more Hexi apricots in Shangyuan. The strongest old plant was cut down and made into a coffin for my brother!"
Zhou Changming wiped the moist corners of his eyes, smiled at Li Tai, and then said: "I don't ask where you are coming from, Sir, or where you are going. I just rely on your willingness to give good weapons to my countrymen. Although Wednesday is only a low-quality material from the country, but I will keep this grace in my heart for the rest of my life!”
When Li Tai heard this, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. Originally, he thought that if he dedicated Qu Yuuli directly to Daxingtai Yuwentai, he might be able to get an official title, but when he saw Zhou Changming's dark and sincere face, he suddenly felt that this was not a bad idea.
"Words must be dangerous, and I am not a good person who is as good as I am on the outside. The clever plow saves labor and improves plowing. The more people use it, the more success they see, so I dare not hide my secrets. But if I have other private affairs, I will not I’m willing to teach my countrymen, Lord Zhou, please don’t blame me for being unjust!”
Feeling the heavy atmosphere, Li Tai smiled again and said.
Zhou Changming also laughed when he heard this: "Of course, of course. If you manage your business well, you should be rich!"
After dinner, it was already getting late, and everyone went to their tents to rest. Li Tai also returned to his small tent where he lived alone and lit an oil lamp.
Back in ancient society, the most unbearable thing was the boring nightlife.
If the world is at peace, Qinhuai and Qinhuai can still be in peace and beauty, and the red sleeves can add fragrance to while away the long night. But now he has to cut through the thorny road and overcome obstacles, and he really doesn't have the conditions and mood to direct construction during the day and draw up plans at night.
Holding the bamboo ruler made during the day in one hand and the sharpened charcoal strip in the other, Li Tai drew the structure of the large spinning wheel in detail according to his memory, and began to draw and mark the shape and proportion of the components next to it.
I stop writing, and sometimes I get stuck and have to think about it for a long time. It is true that he has a deep memory of the structure of the big spinning wheel, but the specific dimensions of the components have gradually become blurred over time, and he can only fill in the details first with half-guessing, and then make adjustments after actual work.
The smoke from the oil lamp was so strong that Li Tai's eyes became red after staying up for a few days. During the day, his vision was a little blurry and he was afraid of photophobia, but he finally restored the structural sketch.
After a few days, the open fields have been plowed and millets have been planted. During the time when the seedlings are growing up, we still need to be diligent in weeding to prevent the new crops from being competed for nutrients by weeds.
Li Tai saw all the tedious work in his eyes, and couldn't help but feel that it was not easy for the ancients to survive. Even if there was no force from war, they still stopped talking.
After the sowing was completed, the garrison leader Zhou Changming led his troops to leave, leaving only a dozen village carpenters behind. Li Tai also fulfilled his agreement and disassembled the functions of each component of the Quyuan Li and explained them in detail.
In addition to the necessary personnel for hoeing and mowing the fields, other tribesmen were also busy cutting down trees, setting up piles, and building shacks. Within a few days, rows of shacks were erected along the fence. Although their shapes were still rough, But it also temporarily meets the housing needs.
There were many people in the camp, so Li Tai circled a pass in the valley and built a wall with newly fired green bricks, and no other people were allowed to enter at will.
Just as he said to Zhou Changming, he was not a good person on the outside, and he also had his own calculations. He was willing to share the curved plow with the masses, but not so much the big spinning wheel, a tool that directly improves textile efficiency.
"A small household can use the windmill plow, but a large spinning wheel requires many people to work together. Dispersing it will only benefit the big households with many private companies. I am not stupid!"
He thought to himself that whether it was the drawings or the construction of components, he would only leave it to his confidants to try and assemble it in the blue brick courtyard.
The traditional large water-spun spinning wheel consists of four parts: a water wheel, a conductive belt, a rotating spindle and a twisting wheel. However, Li Tai wanted to modify the water wheel, the most important source of power, and replace it with an ox-pulled grinding wheel. Add one or more sets of wheel and axle structures.
The spinning and twisting parts are basically an enlargement of the traditional spinning wheel. Although the components are a little more complicated, it is not difficult to make and assemble. It can be completed after a few attempts.
"With so many spinning spindles, how much force can be used to spin them?"
Seeing more than twenty spindles on the spinning wheel, Li Xiaoyong, who was in charge of assembling it, clicked his tongue. His widowed mother was no stranger to spinning wheels. Hebei Wudeng's pedal spinning wheels were already extremely labor-intensive. When he saw After spinning for a long time, my mother was so tired that she could no longer walk.
"That's why we have to drive harder!"
Li Tai answered casually, squatting aside and fiddling with several small models. Because there was not enough water power available and animal power was needed instead, these spindles had been reduced.
His idea was to replace the water wheel with an ox-pulled millstone, which would require a set of kinetic energy conversion from horizontal to vertical, which could be accomplished with bevel gears. The structure was not difficult, but the materials were a bit troublesome.
At present, there are no conditions for making cast iron and steel, so it needs to be replaced by wood with fine, tough wood and sufficient oil content. Otherwise, no matter how exquisite the structure is, it will be troublesome to replace parts with wear and tear every three days.
Although his family's manor has two hills, because it was previously part of public land, the high-quality timber on the hills has been cut down countless times, and there is not much suitable wood.
When he made this request, Li Yantou, the oldest but also the liveliest man, raised his hand and said: "The day before yesterday, I and a few of my disciples were hunting wild animals in the mountains. We strayed into Yuandong Yuanye and saw a man at the head of his house. A thick and oversized Thuja tree. This tree is as tough as gold and iron. Do you think it is suitable for you?"
"Thuja?"
Li Tai was overjoyed when he heard this term. It was such a good thing. In later generations, a fan of his gave him a half-meter-long thuja cane. It was really beautiful when coiled, and some related knowledge was popularized.
As the name suggests, wild Thuja cypress mainly grows in the ridges of high mountains and isolated cliffs, in large mountain ranges such as the Qinling Mountains and the Taihang Mountains. Li Tai did not expect it to grow in low mountains and hills like Shangyuan. Perhaps Thuja was not as scarce in ancient times as it was in later generations, but why didn't it grow on his own mountain?
"Is it true that blessings are so great that everything is beautiful?"
To the east is the manor of Dugu Xin, the most awesome father-in-law. After Li Tai traveled here, he did not dare to say that he was not superstitious. Thinking of how wealthy Dugu Xin's family would be in the future, he made up his mind.
"Is the Thuja japonica under strict supervision? If not, dig it out at night!"
He probably couldn't count on Dugu's Wangfu's BUFF, so he simply dug up his Feng Shui tree!
After hearing this, Li Yantou chuckled: "Alang, just wait. I remember the location clearly. It's inaccessible. I'll cut it back tonight!"
Before dawn the next day, Li Tai was drowsily asleep when he heard Li Yantou whispering outside the tent. He quickly got up and walked out of the tent. Li Yantou came up and whispered: "We got it. A Lang!”
Those who didn't know thought that the two were conspiring to assassinate Dugu Xin. Li Tai was so happy that he lost sleep and walked straight to the Nanpo compound.
This thuja has indeed grown for many years. Although its branches are bent, it can still be used upright because of its thickness. The wood is not as good as Li Tai imagined. After all, it needs a little more tempering than the good wood on the cliff, but it is still far better than ordinary pine and cypress wood.
The tribesmen were busy processing accessories, while Li Tai dug a hole in the yard with a hoe and inserted the pruned thuja branches into the soil one by one. Even if you can't add the Dugu Xinjia BUFF, stealing some Feng Shui to get some glory is better than nothing.
After the important power parts were chiseled and ground, Li Tai began to try to assemble the spinning wheel. His big spinning wheel is mainly used for spinning flax, so the structure is taller, several times larger than the average pedal spinning wheel.
As the oxen pulled the wheel and the power was transmitted, the more than twenty spindles on the spinning wheel also rotated simultaneously. Several tribesmen around them suddenly widened their eyes in surprise: "With so many spindles, no matter how much flax you have, it's not enough!"
"Add hemp stuffing and give it a try!"
Li Tai had already asked someone to collect dozens of kilograms of soaked and degummed linen material. When he saw the machine turning, he excitedly asked someone to add the materials.
As the machine rotates, more than twenty strands of linen fibers are pulled, twisted, and gathered into threads at the other end. Everyone, including Li Tai, held their breath and concentrated, fearing that their breathing would break the twine.
But even so, as soon as the twine was pulled out for a few meters, it snapped one after another.
Everyone felt sorry again, but Li Tai bent down to pick up the broken thread and inspected it carefully. He walked around the spinning wheel for a long time and looked at the broken gear teeth before he concluded: "There is something wrong with the new wooden wheel." During the running-in process, the force is not even enough and the thickness of the thread is uneven, but the method will work. If you continue to adjust it, you will get it right!”
Although he said this, he was secretly melancholy. The model and the real thing were different after all. If it was just a big spinning wheel turned by water, the current materials would be enough. However, due to the need to add a transmission device, the wood material was still insufficient.
The more than 400,000 yuan of waste money at home can be put to good use!