Chapter Thirteen: Drawing Water with a Pulley

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“Master, everything has been cleared,” Liu San reported to Fang Han, panting heavily. At this moment, Fang Han was sketching the general shape of the terraced fields, estimating the area to be about twenty acres. As dusk approached, Fang Han ordered everyone to return to the city.

In truth, if they stayed out in the wild, they could have set off early the next day to continue reclaiming more land. However, since this location wasn’t far from the city and the mountain had little game, feeding such a large group would pose a significant problem.

Therefore, they had no choice but to return first. Besides, Fang Han wanted to check on Old Wu’s progress with crafting the water plow.

That night, in Lin Qingwei’s room, her maid Hongye handed her the carefully prepared medicinal herbs.

“Princess, I’ve consulted with the city’s herbalist. These are all herbs used for treating illnesses. Should we show them to Master?”

Lin Qingwei looked excited; the remedy for her ailment might be among these herbs. Yet, she also knew Fang Han was busy with the land reclamation and couldn’t afford distractions. She eventually suppressed her urge.

“Right now, there are more important matters. We’ll discuss this later.”

“Hongye, make sketches of these herbs’ shapes.”

Embarrassed, Hongye replied, “Princess, I—I don’t know how to use a pen.”

Only then did Lin Qingwei realize that her maid came from a common family outside the palace. Unlike palace attendants trained from childhood, Hongye had only recently learned basic service skills, let alone writing.

Lin Qingwei sighed helplessly and decided to do the sketches herself.

The following morning, Old Wu, the blacksmith, prepared to begin forging early. Liu San gathered the team from yesterday, awaiting Fang Han’s orders.

“Fang Yuan, take half the men here to survey the terrain and clear the weeds,” Fang Han instructed, handing the map to Fang Yuan.

“The rest will follow me back to yesterday’s site.”

The group split into two. Fang Han led his men to the previous location and ordered Liu San to dig at the marked spots. He needed to verify the soil depth on the hillside. If it wasn’t thick enough, they would have to fetch soil from elsewhere.

Several servants wielding hoes began digging while Fang Han’s gaze drifted toward the distant river. There was some distance between here and the river, so to avoid unnecessary waste, they had to maximize the use of river water carried uphill.

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If the water carried up in a day wasn’t enough, it could delay the overall ripening of the rice.

“Should we reduce the planting area or increase the workforce?” Fang Han pondered.

If this were at the foot of the mountain, they could build waterwheels to save labor. But since they were on the mountain, everything had to be carried uphill.

Caught in this dilemma, Fang Han realized reducing the planting area would solve the problem but require more planting sites, demanding enormous manpower and resources—conditions they clearly didn’t meet now.

“Master, what are you thinking about?” Liu San asked with concern.

“Nothing much, just how to solve the irrigation issue for the rice fields,” Fang Han replied casually.

Hearing this, Liu San also began to think. After a long while, he found no good solution and sighed helplessly.

“If it were downhill transport, it would be easy. But uphill, unless carried on the shoulders or by hand, it’s difficult. If only there were a way to draw water directly from the river...”

“Draw water directly from the river?” Fang Han suddenly slapped Liu San on the shoulder, excited. “Liu San, you’re a genius! How did I not think of that?”

“We can draw water straight from the river. Then, don’t talk about twenty acres of terraced fields—even two hundred acres could be cultivated.”

Liu San was bewildered. “Master, what exactly are you talking about?”

Fang Han’s idea was to use pulleys to fetch water. By setting up two fixed pulleys—one by the river and one on the mountain—and using ropes, the water drawn up could be transported directly uphill.

At that moment, a servant digging soil came to report, “Master, we dug down at the designated spot. The soil layer is a full foot thick.”

Fang Han was somewhat surprised. However, such a soil depth was still insufficient for terraces. The drop from the terrace boundary to the mountain body was much greater than a foot.

Building terraces would require a large amount of soil to be carried up from the foot of the mountain.

Fang Han ordered some men to stay and collect soil while he led soldiers to another site prepared for terrace construction.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Fang Yuan finished surveying the terrain and ordered his men to clear the weeds.

Maid Hongye continued collecting various herbs under Lin Qingwei’s instructions, while Lin Qingwei stayed home sketching the leaves of the herbs.

When Fang Han arrived, Fang Yuan had just finished drawing the terrain map and handed it to Fang Han.

This site was a small hill, not large in scale. According to the map, after building terraces, it would only be a few acres. The weeds were quickly cleared, and then they measured soil depth and began digging to create the fields.

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At dusk, Fang Han returned to the manor but heard no sound of blacksmithing outside.

Frowning, he said coldly, “Liu San, go and call Old Wu for me.”

Time was tight and the task urgent, yet Old Wu wasn’t working on the water plow.

If there had been more than one blacksmith, Fang Han would have reprimanded him by now.

Soon, Liu San brought Old Wu over, who was followed by someone pushing a cart.

“Master! Master!”

Seeing Old Wu’s excited expression, Fang Han wondered what had gotten into him.

When he saw the water plow on the cart, his breath caught.

“You finished it?” Fang Han asked in disbelief.

Old Wu proudly said, “Master, I’ve eaten meat for two days straight and feel strong all over. My forging speed has improved a lot.”

“Master, what do you think? Does it meet your requirements?”

Fang Han ordered the water plow lifted and placed on the ground for careful inspection. It looked quite good, but its effectiveness was still unknown.

He then commanded someone to lift a stone slab from the ground and placed the water plow on it. Fang Da pulled hard at the front.

With a sudden force, the ground cracked open a huge fissure.

Everyone gasped in shock.

“This power is incredible,” Liu San said.

Old Wu couldn’t believe such a tool came from his hands.

“Master, this thing is a hundred, no, a thousand times sharper than the latest hoe.”

“This is practically a divine weapon,” Fang Da declared.

Fang Han was very satisfied with the water plow’s power. If it was this strong on dry land, it would be even more effective in the paddies.

“Good. Old Wu, I order you to make five more of these tools,” Fang Han commanded.

Old Wu’s eyes glittered with pride. Crafting such a powerful farming implement was the highest honor for a blacksmith.

“Yes, Master,” Old Wu said firmly.

That night, Fang Han took out the terraced field maps and planned to expand on the original foundation.

However, as the original map had already been traced once and was hard to read, he had to redraw it.

After several failed attempts to replicate it himself, he had no choice but to seek Lin Qingwei’s help.