After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 606 - 600: The Watermill

The Old Lady Beigong slightly bowed to Zhao Hanzhang, then, supported by Beigong Chun’s arm, got into the carriage. She turned her head slightly, gazing outside at Zhao Hanzhang standing on the steps, smiling as she saw them off.

Not until the carriage had traveled a long distance did Zhao Hanzhang turn back inside, and only then did the Old Lady Beigong retract her gaze and remark to Mrs. Beigong, "I never expected her to be so young. Central State has indeed produced such a fine lady."

Mrs. Beigong was equally envious, "Lord Zhao is quite remarkable."

The Old Lady Beigong nodded slightly.

The next day was the Dragon Boat Festival, a holiday the Xiliang Army hadn’t celebrated with their families for years.

Traditionally, the Dragon Boat Festival wasn’t a significant event for Xiliang. To them, it was just an ordinary holiday, but today, they deemed it a grand festival.

Zhao Hanzhang sent them a batch of grain, distributing it to all military dependents who sought refuge, regardless of rank or position.

The grain wasn’t abundant, but it was sufficient to help each household through the month. By June, the beans in the fields would be ready for harvest.

Moreover, she had known since last night that Zhao Erlang was planning to collaborate with Beigong Chun to eliminate bandits.

Since they were going to rid the area of bandits, there would naturally be some gains. Knowing Beigong Chun’s character, he surely wouldn’t shortchange his soldiers.

Thus, she reduced the amount of grain she sent, but even so, the Xiliang Army was overjoyed to receive this gift as a holiday gesture.

The newly arrived families began to feel a sense of belonging to Luoyang, and to Zhao Hanzhang.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, the city was bustling with people selling sachets and lucky eggs. Whoever bought a sachet would also receive a bundle of wormwood from the vendor girl.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan were heading out of the city to view the watermill and were handed many sachets, eggs, and wormwood along the way.

Eventually, she couldn’t carry anymore, so she had her trusted aides block the gifts, expressing that greetings for the festival were enough—gifts were unnecessary.

A little girl glanced at the sachets she held, the lucky eggs gathered in her clothes, and even the wormwood hanging from her horse, unwilling to see her gift fail to be given, so she grabbed her egg and called out, "Lord Zhao!"

Zhao Hanzhang looked over at the sound, and the egg in the girl’s hand flew toward her face, startling Zhao Hanzhang, who instinctively raised her hand to catch it.

The freshly boiled lucky egg was still hot. As Zhao Hanzhang squeezed, the shell cracked, and the red dye on the lucky egg smeared all over her hand, turning her palm red.

Zhao Hanzhang looked helplessly at the self-satisfied little girl and accepted the egg.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang take it, the other onlookers became eager too. Fu Tinghan, fearing they would indeed throw eggs, quickly rode his horse to shield her side.

Zhao Hanzhang turned to him with a smile, gathered the eggs in her clothes, and dismounted.

She strode towards the corner where a few children stood, clutching bundles of wormwood. Their clothes were tattered, and they were so thin that their eyes looked large, leaning against the wall watching them with bewildered eyes.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang approaching, the children became both excited and afraid, instinctively straightening their backs but retreating, pressing themselves tightly against the wall.

Zhao Hanzhang laughed and tousled their heads, then stuffed the eggs from her clothes into their hands—two for each—and hung her sachets around their necks.

"Happy Dragon Boat Festival."

At this time, the Dragon Boat Festival was still about warding off evil, bringing peace and happiness, so the children who received her gifts immediately shouted in joy as soon as Zhao Hanzhang finished speaking, bursting forth with blessings: "Happy Dragon Boat Festival, Lord Zhao, may you have peace and delight during the Dragon Boat Festival, Lord Zhao, take this wormwood, hang it on your door, it wards off evil and brings peace."

The younger girl beside them anxiously jumped up and down but could only repeatedly follow, "Lord...Lord..."

Then fervently tried to thrust the wormwood in her arms toward Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang distributed most of the eggs and sachets she had, leaving only two, then after patting the young girl’s head, she embraced the wormwood given to her.

She waved to the eager crowd, saying, "That’s enough. Let’s all disperse. I’ve received plenty of lucky eggs and sachets today. You should gift them to others, or to the children at Yushan Hall."

Smiling, she carried the wormwood, ceremoniously bowing in all directions, "Wish you all joy during the Dragon Boat Festival."

The crowd responded with bows of their own, "Wish you delight during the Dragon Boat Festival, Lord Zhao."

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang mount her horse, they cleared the road, allowing them to depart.

Only a few people remained at the watermill, most workers had gone home for the holiday.

The watermill was built along the Luoshui, and when Fu Tinghan previously inspected the Luoshui, he found the location excellent. The water flowed with a slight drop, and there was plenty of empty land along the shore. Now, three tall waterwheels had been erected in the water, with water falling from upstream hitting the blades, slowly turning the wheels, and splashing the raised water into a large nearby canal.

A total of three large canals extended toward the watermill, and after reaching the watermill, the flow was divided, and the water, dropping somewhat, struck smaller wheels, turning them and thereby moving the grindstones inside the building.

Fu Tinghan personally fixed the grindstones for her to see the effect.

Weighing over two hundred jin, the grindstone began to turn, and Fu Tinghan scooped a little soybeans with a big spoon to put in; the grindstone crushed the beans, which slowly overflowed, "It’s enough to move the grindstone, and can even interlink. I’ll try out how many grindstones a house can drive in upcoming days, but it’s not strong enough for a power press."

He said, "There are some issues with the crankshaft of the current power press, which often disconnects, so further research is needed. Are there any updates from Yun City?"

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head, "Not yet, but I expect something soon. Zhao Zhongyu must send me an answer eventually, whether successful or not."

She looked around and asked, "Is the linked watermill difficult to make?:"

"Not difficult," Fu Tinghan said, "Not only can watermills be linked, but water treaders can also. Currently, it’s all in the experimental phase, and I still don’t know how much wear there will be, but if they can all be made interconnected, just this one watermill could supply enough rice hulled, wheat and bean flour milled each day for the entire population of Luoyang City."

This way, they could free up a large amount of labor. Lacking both money and grain, Zhao Hanzhang desired to utilize everyone to their fullest.

Moreover, the water-driven grindstones and pestles initially worked on the principle of electricity, and once they developed the water-powered press, Fu Tinghan’s research on hydraulics would become even more profound, with much broader applications in the future.

"I’ll send another letter to urge Zhao Zhongyu, and have Gao Hui look for related talents in the Northern Land," Zhao Hanzhang said, "We not only need them to collaborate on research but later will require them to guide the construction of watermills elsewhere."

Fu Tinghan, contemplating for a moment, said, "We can start training related craftsmen now. Once this watermill is completed, they can be dispatched elsewhere to construct new ones."

The craftsmen here are skilled. They may not need to understand the theory; with the blueprints and having built one before, they could replicate it and even make adjustments based on practical needs.

Sometimes Fu Tinghan, too focused on the data, would overlook realities, and it was the craftspeople who helped correct him.

Zhao Hanzhang agreed, thinking this method was good, "This is very practical. Once you’ve worked it out, they can head to Yu State and build one in each county of the prefectures, preferably any town with a suitable water source—this would save considerable manpower."