Chapter 1200 Ancestral System

Chapter 1200 Ancestral System

Chapter 1200 Ancestral System
"Your Majesty, I...I have something to say." A young man at the table suddenly spoke.

"Who are you?" Shao Xun looked at him and asked.

This man looked like a teenager in his teens. According to others, he was the son of Shizhong Yang Man. It seemed that he did not take up an official post like his brothers, but stayed at home to study.

"Taishan Yang Ben." The young man stood up, bowed and said.

"Sit down and talk." Shao Xun came to Yang Ben with a wine glass and said gently.

Yang Ben sat back down, looking away from the busty Hu Ji in front of him. A teenager was still a little immature, which also showed that he was not reckless. Some 14 or 15-year-old sons of the noble families had even been ruined before they had fully developed because of excessive indulgence...

"Your Majesty, I—er, no, my family built a farm in Zhukou and rotated rice and wheat. The rice harvested every year is easy to husk, but wheat is very difficult, so we can only use stone mills. When it was first built, we couldn't find enough livestock, so it was difficult to grind flour. We could only make wheat rice and porridge for servants and farmhands, and everyone complained about it." Yang Ben said, "Because Zhukou is low and wet, it is in urgent need of drainage, so my family built a dragon bone waterwheel, which is the 'turning cart', which is available in Luoyang. There are foot-operated, hand-turned, and wind-blown turning carts. I suddenly had an idea that I could use the wind to blow the stone mill to make it rotate and grind flour."

Oh...wind mill, what an idea! Shao Xun secretly praised it in his heart.

Wind-driven watermills do exist, but they are not the large windmills commonly seen in the West, but vertical-axis windmills.

Simply put, there are eight pillars on the shaft, each with a sail hung on it, and then the water is lifted by wind power.

It sounds a bit like the sail on a ship. In fact, it was originally inspired by sailboats and transplanted to the ground.

Each column is a mast, and each mast has a sail. When the wind is too strong, the sail surface is lowered to reduce the windward area, or the direction of the sail is turned to adjust the angle of force.

The operation method is almost the same as that of a sailboat, and even the size is not much different: because it has as many as eight "masts", the waterwheel is too large as a whole and occupies a large area, so the bottom has to be raised and the main body of the windmill has to be placed in the air to avoid affecting land use.

As you can imagine, this kind of windmill is not competitive at all.

Compared with pedal-operated and human-powered machines, they are larger, more expensive, more complicated to operate, and take up more space. Most importantly, the initial investment cost is huge, which means they are unlikely to become popular.

He looked at Yang Ben calmly and said, "Have you ever made a dragon-bone waterwheel?"

"I've only made water puppets." Yang Ben said.

When these words were spoken, not only Shao Xun was somewhat surprised, but everyone at the table was also quite interested.

During the reign of Emperor Ming of Wei, someone presented a set of puppets of various kinds, which were carved to be very lifelike and very delicate. Unfortunately, they were inanimate objects and could not move, so the emperor ordered the Imperial Secretary Ma Jun to make them move.

After Ma Jun's research, he used water power to make puppets beat drums, dance, roll, and stack people, which amazed Emperor Ming of Wei. This is the origin of the "Water-Powered Hundred Performances".

"What kind of puppet?" Shao Xun asked.

"This puppet was carved, lacquered and painted by my own hands, it's... it's..." As he said this, Yang Ben glanced at the graceful dancers.

Shao Xun laughed loudly, pulled over a beauty from the Western Regions, pinched her chin, and asked, "Is this a puppet?"

Yang Ben nodded and his face suddenly turned red.

"You are indeed talented." Shao Xun pushed the Western Region Hu Ji in his arms into Yang Ben's arms and said, "Young man Mu Ai, this is ordinary, I reward you."

Yang Ben let out a light cry and subconsciously hugged Hu Ji.

Hu Ji was older than her, about twenty years old, and trembled slightly when she threw herself into his arms. A body odor came towards him, but Yang Ben was actually drunk, his face flushed, and his body changed uncontrollably.

This kid has good teeth and has a bright future.

Shao Xun's voice was still ringing: "Small families cannot afford to use windmills to grind flour, but it is very suitable to use in the manor. At least it is better than donkeys and mules pulling the mill, and it saves a lot of trouble. If you make this thing, I will give you a set of 'puppets'."

"What...what kind of puppet?" Yang Ben asked dazedly.

Shao Xun smiled mysteriously, clapped his hands, and asked the remaining eleven dancers to line up behind him. Then he pointed at them and said, "How about this set of 'puppets'? Some can dance, some can sing, and some can play the flute. I am willing to give them up. Are you willing to make the windmill?"

"Yes!" Yang Ben almost blurted out.

Shao Xun laughed out loud.

Yang Ben was interested in making a wooden sculpture of a beauty himself, which shows that young people really like “hand-made figures”.

But how can a dead figure compare to a living one? Not to mention a complete set.

"Your Majesty, are you really willing to give it up?" Yang Ben seemed a little unconvinced and asked.

"It's just a toy for leisure time. I haven't used it yet, so I'll give it all to you." Shao Xun said, "But the windmill is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. Which is more important, what do you think?"

Yang Ben looked at those Hu girls of different colors. He felt that these were better, but he didn't dare to say it. At the same time, he also felt a little admiration. He was worthy of being the Son of Heaven. He was so bold.

Seeing him like that, Shao Xun smiled and waved his hand, saying, "You all go and serve him."

The eleven people saluted in unison and then surrounded Yang Ben.

Some people rubbed his shoulders, some pounded his legs, some poured wine, some picked up food, and some sat in his arms, looking at him lovingly. The people around Yang Ben stood up with a smile, making room for him, and looked at the boy with some envy.

"Your Majesty, I will definitely do it. Give me one year... uh, two years... three years at most, and I will definitely do it." Yang Ben promised.

It was quite funny to say this while being surrounded by beauties.

"Don't joke around in front of you, my Lord." Shao Xun said with a smile, "I believe you now. This team of Hu Ji, a total of twelve people, can be taken away in a while."

After saying that, he picked up the wine glass and drank it all, then looked at the others and said, "Are you envious?"

"I'm envious." Many people said with a smile.

This is the truth, I'm so fucking envious.

As they were talking, some people looked up at Li and Yan. They were also very beautiful.

When Yan saw this, she was shocked, and then a feeling of despair emerged from the bottom of her heart.

Yes, just like Shao Zei said just now, they are just toys for entertainment. Do you really think he will care about you?
"What's the use of just being envious?" Shao Xun said, "What can you offer that can benefit the country and the people? If so, why should I be stingy with official titles, wealth, and beauties?"

After that, he turned around and sat back, saying, "If you think this is too difficult, then fine, you can just make me interested. For example, if someone writes a book that I find interesting, that can also be rewarded."

After these words were spoken, some people in the room became more interested.

If I can't do anything else, I can write a book. Thinking about it, I looked at Yan and Li again.

Li was young and timid, and after feeling the burning gazes of those people, his face turned extremely pale.

Yan's situation was even worse than hers. She also had a daughter. If she was given away as a slave, who knows what would happen to her. Thinking of this, tears started to flow.

"I really love these two beauties and cannot let them go." Shao Xun embraced Li and Yan with both hands and said with a smile, "You can choose any others."

After saying this, he signaled with his eyes, and the Shaofuqing Cai Cheng who was standing at the door ordered the female musicians to go to each person's table and serve wine.

The atmosphere suddenly became lively.

When Yan was first held in his arms, her body was stiff, but later it softened. She just shed tears silently but stopped struggling.

Li quietly stretched out a hand and tightly grasped the corner of Shao Xun's robe, obviously a little scared.

Shao Xun was still talking: "I have said before that there are some things that ordinary people cannot do, but you can do. Ordinary people can't even afford three meals a day, let alone make wooden beauties. If you do it, you will only be considered as not doing your job properly."

Yang Ben felt Shao Xun's gaze and smiled shyly.

The teenage boy was surrounded by older sisters and no longer knew east, west, south or north.

Shao Xun continued, "To make a windmill to pump water, the main body needs forty pieces of good wood, and also needs mulberry, willow, elm, bamboo, hemp rope, canvas, tung oil, cattail, iron, and stone. It should be as high as a building and draw wind from all directions. The cost is so huge that it is not affordable for ordinary people. Only your manor needs it."

Because the estate is engaged in large-scale intensive agricultural production, machines with huge initial investment costs can be widely used.

For example, when Jingu Garden was in the hands of Shi Chong, there were dozens of water mills that rumbled continuously when in operation. The grain processing capacity was huge and the cost was very low.

However, the investment cost of these more than 30 water mills was unaffordable for even the wealthy and powerful, let alone ordinary people. Only a "rich family" like Shi Chong could afford it.

After the water mill was built, the cost of grinding flour and pounding rice was actually lower than that of small households, and the grain could be processed in a short time. However, it was this huge cost that was a threshold that ordinary people could hardly cross.

It is difficult for small peasant economies to accumulate capital, and in this respect they cannot compare with large estates.

"None of you have entered officialdom yet. Some of you are managing your family business, while others are idle at home. You have a lot of free time. Use it well." Shao Xun said, "This is not the first time I have said this. You must listen to me. Follow me, listen to me, and you will enjoy endless benefits."

"I promise you Jiangnan. No matter how big the manor is or how many people are employed, I will not care and will not measure the land. Windmills and waterwheels are also beneficial to your family business. Spend more money at the beginning to build a better and stronger windmill. As long as you repair it regularly, your children and grandchildren can still use it. After decades, what will the initial money cost be?"

"If you are more thoughtful, when you build a windmill, you should think about the problem in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art: Weight Difference, and how to turn the sail to make the wind stronger and more useful."

"If I had a better brain, I could record what kind of wind blows every month, how strong it is, and which months have weaker winds and cannot be used. This way, I can plan everything in advance."

"Also, if you think that windmills are exposed to the wind and rain and are easily damaged, then why not build a house? The house can not only protect the windmill shaft, millstone or water pump from wind and rain, but also store items so that nothing will go to waste."

"After understanding all this, windmills are more useful than you think and can save you more money."

"The windmill is just one thing. I won't list the others one by one. You can think for yourself. We are all people who manage the family business. We plan every day and night, and we will not let go of every penny. Some ways to make money should be used. If you have any experience, write it in a book and bring it to me for reward. I will never break my promise."

"Even if I am no longer around, you can still ask my descendants for rewards. This is the ancestral rule. Any unworthy descendant who dares to break his promise is unworthy of being a king."

"That's all." Shao Xun let go of the two girls, picked up the wine glass, and said, "In the future, whenever I have time, I will come to have a few conversations with you gentlemen about things that benefit the country and the people. You can also exchange your experiences in private, I am happy to see it. Come, drink this cup!"

(End of this chapter)