Chapter 3, Land and Fields

After having dinner, Wu Anguo also came to the riverbank to help Old Man Yang. The scene by the river was bustling with activity, as nearly every household was pushing water. In some families, the young people had already returned, and upon seeing Wu Anguo, they all greeted him respectfully. Wu Anguo had no choice but to respond to each one. However, the crowd was unwilling to disperse, continuously gathering around him to watch. It turned out that Zhang Wuge, known for his quick tongue, had already spread the tale of the reincarnation of Xuanwu multiple times. He embellished his encounter with Wu Anguo by the well, adding details such as seeing a person in the distance, stepping on lotus flowers, and radiating a halo of Buddhist light. When he found Old Man Yang by the river, he seized the cart to push water. After just one round, Wu Anguo was already sweating from exhaustion. The cart, made of wood and a single wheel, was quite heavy. Those who had never pushed it before truly found it difficult to adapt.

Seeing the river water rushing rapidly, Wu Anguo asked the old man Yang and others why they did not divert a channel for irrigation. Upon hearing this, the crowd, forgetting about his identity as a reincarnation of Xuanwu, burst into laughter. It turned out that the river water was more than a person's height from the bank, and even if a channel were constructed, drawing water bucket by bucket as they did, it would likely not be enough to even moisten the channel, let alone reach the fields.

The next day, when he got up, nearly half of the fields in the village had been irrigated. The villagers gathered around Wu Anguo to express their gratitude. Those with surplus grain ground wheat and steamed buns to show their appreciation, turning a Guandi Temple into a veritable hall of buns. Wu Anguo looked on with concern, wondering how many lifetimes it would take to consume all these buns. He felt grateful for the villagers' kindness and sketched a water mill, calling upon Old Yang to find someone to build it. After a day, it was completed and installed by the river, with the waterwheel turning and the grinding stone continuously in motion. The process of grinding rice and flour was the most labor-intensive and time-consuming; families with livestock fared better, as they could blindfold the animals and grind a bag of flour in half a day. Those without livestock relied entirely on human effort, which was quite taxing. With the water mill in place, everyone could see how much work had been saved, and they surrounded Wu Anguo, continuously chanting praises. That year, with these two treasures, the craftsmen's camp opened up an unknown amount of wasteland and saved countless labor hours.

Currently, the carpenters are working overnight to construct the waterwheel. Wu Anguo has divided everyone into groups, with each group focusing on a specific type of component while he supervises from the side. The brackets for the blades and similar parts do not pose a challenge for these skilled craftsmen; however, the gears for the transmission are particularly difficult to make. Fortunately, Yang Tiezhu devised a method: he first drilled square holes in the wooden blocks, threaded them with sticks, and then roughly shaped them into circles. He then set up a plane at a distance approximately equal to the radius and rotated the wooden block back and forth against the edge of the plane. Once the circle was formed, he outlined the profile of the teeth on the circle and then carved them out with a chisel. The wood used for making the gears, as per Wu Anguo's requirements, is the hardest hardwood. This added to the difficulty, but the craftsmen, who were already inclined to learn new skills, found these fresh tasks very interesting and showed no signs of fatigue. In contrast, Wu Anguo could not withstand the fatigue and went to sleep first. The carpenters, however, were full of energy and continued to work through the night.

The next day, they all got up late. After getting up, they went together to Old Man Yang's house for a meal. It turned out that Li Shanping had his three meals a day at the homes of the villagers. He would calculate accounts for the villagers and teach the children a few characters, mostly without asking for any compensation. The rural customs were simple and honest, and no one disliked him; on the contrary, they were happy to listen to him recounting stories of the past and present at the dining table

Wu Anguo laughed and said, "As for the books, feel free to leave your vehicles behind. Just focus on repairing the canal; I have my own way to divert the river water to the fields." The crowd listened, half believing and half doubting, but considering that this person had already subdued mountain spirits and water monsters, it was possible he could indeed make the river flow backward. One by one, they returned home to fetch tools, and soon even those working in the fields came rushing over

The crowd gathered around the waterwheel, filled with admiration. Some people asked Old Man Yang to make one for their village as well. Although there was no intellectual property protection during the Ming Dynasty, stealing techniques was still frowned upon. Therefore, Old Man Yang came to consult Wu Anguo. Upon seeing this, Wu Anguo decided to draw designs for a windmill and a wind grinder, to be used in villages that were not near water. He advised Old Man Yang and the carpenters that for any work done for others, aside from the cost of materials, they should charge a reasonable labor fee, and the earnings should be distributed according to the effort contributed, so as not to harm their relationships. Everyone agreed, and then Li Shanping suggested that they all become shareholders and jointly open a carpentry shop, specifically to produce these items. Although the villagers were simple, they understood that this was a highly profitable venture and all voiced their support. Thus, Li Shanping drafted a written agreement outlining each person's share and the profit-sharing method, and had Old Man Yang, Tie Zhu, and the other carpenters sign it. Those who could not write simply drew a circle on it, with Wu Anguo holding the largest share among all the shareholders. It turned out that since Li Shanping met Wu Anguo, he believed he was not an ordinary person. Coupled with Wu's praise of him as a tough man, the grievances he had harbored for years were swept away, and he had long since resolved to dedicate his frail body to achieving a great endeavor for this close friend. Coming from an accounting background, he naturally understood the importance of money. Therefore, when the opportunity arose, he would not let it slip by.

Wu Anguo could not refuse and had no choice but to agree. Feeling somewhat guilty, he racked his brains to think of wooden utensils that might be made in this era. Within a few days, hand-cranked bellows, swivel chairs, folding tables, and other items appeared vividly on paper. He also designed a wheelchair for Li Shanping, and after the wheelchair was completed, every household in the carpenter's camp coincidentally sawed off their door thresholds to facilitate Li Shanping's entry and exit. The simplicity of this gesture left Wu Anguo in admiration. He also designed a wheelchair for Li Shanping, and after the wheelchair was completed, every household in the carpenter's camp coincidentally sawed off their door thresholds to facilitate Li Shanping's entry and exit. The simplicity of this gesture left Wu Anguo in admiration.

In the summer, the soil is loose, and with the recent influx of young people returning, all of them are strapping lads sent away by their parents to seek refuge elsewhere. They haven't gone far, so their return is swift. The number of people building the canal continues to increase. By the third day, Zhang Wu arrived with his three sons to report that the water channel had already been completed.

Within three to five days, the young people in the village all rushed back from outside. Occasionally, a few outsiders also came to join the excitement upon hearing the news. Zhang Wu had long become the center of attention, introducing to the newcomers how Wu Anguo had killed tigers and defeated dragons, detailing the techniques he used and the tools he employed, all of which he fabricated as if he had experienced it firsthand. As for the incident on the day they met, when he was frightened into a sitting position by Wu Anguo, he naturally employed a subtle narrative style, omitting it from mention.

During his internship in drawing, Wu Anguo once created a design for a waterwheel. This was a private project commissioned by his teacher for a model in a scenic area, and he vaguely remembers its general appearance. However, at that time, there were not many tools available, so he had to make do with a T-square, triangle, compass, and other basic instruments. Even so, it left a group of carpenters astonished. Fortunately, although the waterwheel consisted of over 200 components, many of them were repetitive. Despite this, he completed all the drawings by the time the lanterns were lit. The carpenters, seeing his artistry, were so delighted that they went an entire day without eating or drinking, not even feeling hungry.

The components of the waterwheel were only completed at night. They brought the parts to the riverbank and assembled them on the pre-built stone platform. When the mechanism was activated, the waterwheel was lowered. As the blades touched the water, they began to turn continuously with the flow, drawing water ashore, which splashed into the stone trough, creating a spray of droplets. The crowd was already stunned into silence, and after a while, a cheer erupted as they grabbed their shovels and rushed to their fields to release the water. Ultimately, it was Li Shanping who calmed everyone down, appointing Zhang Zhengxin, Zhengwen, and Zhengwu to supervise in turns. The villagers lined up according to the distance of their homes from the shore, with those farther away irrigating first, taking turns to water their fields.

From a distance, one could see Old Man Yang hunched over, pushing a wheelbarrow with a large wooden barrel placed horizontally on it. Wu Anguo hurried forward to help, but Old Man Yang refused, insisting that he first go inside with Mr. Li to have breakfast. The food was already hot in the pot. The two had no choice but to enter the house for breakfast. When asked about the wooden barrel, Li Shanping explained that Old Man Yang did not need to personally push water to irrigate the fields, as the young people in the village had all been sent away by their elders and were expected to return in a day or two. Now that the water monster had been dealt with, the farmers could not bear to see their crops suffer from drought any longer. Therefore, the old man had to push water to irrigate the fields. This year's harvest was likely ruined, but any additional yield would be better than none. When asked about the wooden barrel, Li Shanping reiterated that Old Man Yang did not need to personally push water to irrigate the fields, as the young people in the village had all been sent away by their elders and were expected to return in a day or two. Now that the water monster had been dealt with, the farmers could not bear to see their crops suffer from drought any longer. Therefore, the old man had to push water to irrigate the fields. This year's harvest was likely ruined, but any additional yield would be better than none.

That summer, villagers arriving from afar to queue at the blacksmith's camp to buy water carts and windmills, along with merchants purchasing wooden items, became a unique sight in the village. Zhang Wuge and the other blacksmiths envied this, claiming that Wu Anguo was biased and disregarded them. Fortunately, the merchants were already well aware of the blacksmiths' renowned skills at the camp, and the small transactions allowed Wuge and the others to earn a little extra money.

The three sons were originally disciples of Li Shanping, and their names were all given by him: Zhengxin, Zhengwen, and Zhengwu. The three brothers had studied for a few days, learned to read, and had much greater knowledge than the old man. Upon seeing the blueprints, they were very interested and immediately wished to learn from Wu Anguo, performing the formalities of apprenticeship. Wu Anguo, however, was hesitant to accept them, but unable to resist the earnest requests of Zhang Wuge, he reluctantly agreed to teach them as a senior uncle. He first taught them the basic surveying techniques, and regarding meters, decimeters, and centimeters, he claimed these were measurements commonly used by Western craftsmen, while he was too lazy to ascertain whether there were standard measurements in the West at that time. After teaching for a while, he instructed the three to find a way to measure whether the water channel was constructed evenly, to avoid one end being higher than the other, which would prevent the water from flowing through. The three took a wooden ruler and happily went off. Shortly after, a group of young people followed Yang Hongyi, the youngest son of Old Man Yang, to seek apprenticeship. Wu Anguo decided to accept them all as apprentices as well, not adhering to the original crafts of carpentry or blacksmithing, and told them that after this matter was completed, they would start learning from the counting method of the Hui people (Arabic numerals, as a way to adapt to local customs)

Wu Anguo instructed Zhang Wuge to lead the villagers in constructing a water channel that would run through the entire village, ensuring that every household's field could connect to the channel through branches. He then asked Old Yang to select a few skilled carpenters to join him in creating mechanisms. Having witnessed his expertise in making crossbows, the villagers readily agreed and returned home to gather their tools, then assembled at Old Yang's house.