Chapter 100: Getting Promoted and Getting Rich, a Big Turnaround
Xingnong stepped on the pedal of the thresher and pushed down hard. The threshing drum inside started to rotate, making a “rumbling” sound as it spun faster and faster.
Xingnong grabbed the rice stalks with both hands and stuffed the end with the rice ears into the machine. A “crackling” sound rang out.
Grains of rice flew out, hitting the cover and falling into the rectangular wooden frame below.
She stepped on the pedal while turning the rice stalks in her hands. With a few swift movements, she effortlessly threshed all the grains from a small bundle of rice stalks!
Chu Tiankuo narrowed his eyes.
Songbai’s face lit up with surprise: “Miss Xingnong, let me try!”
Ren Zilin’s eyes brightened: “This thing is so useful, I want to try it too!”
The two rushed to get on the thresher, pushing and shoving each other, neither willing to yield.
“Master Ren, I got here first!”
“Me first!” Ren Zilin bumped him away with his hip.
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Seeing this, Xingnong said: “Two people can thresh together, one on the left and one on the right. Make sure to hold the rice stalks tightly and be careful not to get caught in the machine. The suction is quite strong.”
Hearing this, the two immediately took their positions, one on each side, and grabbed a handful of rice stalks to feed into the machine.
In the blink of an eye, two large bundles of rice were threshed clean.
Ren Zilin said excitedly: “Junior Sister, this thing is amazing! You’ve done it again! This is huge!”
This is even more beneficial to the people than the oil-saving lamp!
We’re going to be rich!
He, the county magistrate, could get promoted and get rich!
Songbai nodded vigorously.
This thing is so useful!
In this dynasty, threshing rice was done with a threshing basket. A threshing basket was a large wooden bucket, either round or oval, with a woven bamboo mat around it. People would hold the rice stalks and beat them against the side of the basket to thresh the grains. It was extremely laborious, and a grown man would be exhausted after a day of threshing.
With this foot-pedaled thresher, threshing would be fast and effortless. Even a half-grown child could do it. How much time, effort, and manpower would this save?
Old Master Kong was already too excited to speak.
He understood even more the significance of this foot-pedaled thresher for the people of Chu and for the country itself.
After a long while, he finally calmed his excitement, stroked his slightly trembling beard, and said with feigned composure: “Let’s try the manual reaper next.”
The manual reaper was designed by Xingnong herself. It didn’t require electricity or gasoline.
The sky was already starting to dim as the group arrived at the field.
Songbai carried the manual reaper to the field.
Xingnong pushed the manual reaper forward with one hand and turned the handle with the other. With a clamp of the iron plate and a turn of the sharp rotating blades, a swathe of rice about half a meter wide, two or three rows, was instantly cut down. A sweep of the crossbar pushed the cut rice ears to the side, where they fell to the ground.
All these actions were done in one smooth motion.
Xingnong pushed the manual reaper forward, harvesting as she went, leaving a row of cut rice behind her.
She frowned slightly: The speed wasn’t that fast, only slightly faster than manual harvesting.
And the operator needed to be coordinated and skilled for it to be fast.
The biggest advantage was that you didn’t have to bend over to harvest, so it wasn’t as tiring.
Not good enough. After trying it out, Xingnong felt it needed improvement.
Old Master Kong, who was watching from the side, was excited: “Let me try!”
We’re on the rise!
Chu is on the rise!
“Old Master Kong, you try it. I want to try it too.” Ren Zilin was also eager to have a go.
We’re going to be rich!
We’re going to get promoted and get rich!
This foot-pedaled thresher and manual reaper are definitely divine tools among farming implements!
Xingnong stepped aside to let Old Master Kong try.
Old Master Kong wasn’t as skilled or as fast as Xingnong.
“This thing isn’t good.” Xingnong watched Old Master Kong’s less than proficient operation, resting her chin on her hand in thought.
After all, it wasn’t electric, so the efficiency wasn’t high enough.
Hmm, is there any way to improve it?
The rotating blades need to be sped up. The faster the blades rotate, the faster the harvesting speed.
Ren Zilin’s heart skipped a beat: “What’s wrong with it?”
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He still wanted to get promoted and get rich, don’t scare him!
Songbai also didn’t understand what was wrong: “This seems very convenient and easy!”
Ren Zilin nodded: “Yes, I think even a child using this thing could match an adult’s harvesting speed. What do you think is wrong with it, Junior Sister?”
Xingnong: “The harvesting speed isn’t fast enough, and the craftsmanship is complex, so the price definitely won’t be cheap. Ultimately, it won’t be a widespread farming tool. Many people won’t be able to afford it.”
Ren Zilin breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He thought she was saying something was seriously wrong!
He said: “Ordinary commoners usually only have one or two mu of land, and they have many laborers in their families, so they can finish harvesting in one or two days. They even have time to help wealthy families harvest, so of course they won’t buy it. Most of the land is in the hands of landlords and wealthy families, and they don’t lack money. After getting the hang of this thing, it can at least replace two or three laborers, so they will definitely buy it.”
Most importantly, these farming tools can also be sold to other countries at high prices.
Heavens!
High-yielding grain varieties.
Winnowing fan.
Foot-pedaled thresher.
Manual reaper.
These super farming tools.
Each one of them is a great achievement, a tremendous achievement!
Heavens, heavens, heavens.
How many ranks will he jump?
From county magistrate to prefect?
No, more than that!
From county magistrate to Minister of Revenue?
Directly push aside that old geezer from the Ministry of Revenue!
Haha!
No, with such great achievements, the Emperor will directly grant him a marquisate, right?
Then his rank will be even higher than his father’s.
In the future, if that little brat Ren Zishan dares to swagger in front of him and say, “I’m going to tell my father!”
He’ll just put on his official hat, stand in front of his old man, and see if he still dares to hit him!
Wahaha.
Just thinking about his father’s frustrated expression made Ren Zilin happy. He was so excited that he hugged Xingnong: “Junior Sister, thank you so much!”
From now on, his status at home will be completely reversed!
Chu Tiankuo narrowed his eyes and grabbed Ren Zilin’s clothes.
“Ah~” A scream rang out.
Ren Zilin was lifted into the air and flipped over.
Xingnong: “…”
It was already late at night. If it weren’t for the fact that it was too dark to see, Old Master Kong wouldn’t have been willing to stop!
That night, Old Master Kong excitedly wrote a letter and sent it off with a carrier hawk.
He watched as the black hawk disappeared into the night sky, his eyes shining.
Blinking, he returned to his desk and picked up a piece of Xingnong’s homework from a basket.
Don’t think he doesn’t know that this girl finished the homework assigned by that baldy a long time ago.
She only handed in the homework he assigned tonight.
He’ll forgive her, considering she invented those three farming tools.
Old Master Kong lowered his head and looked at the content on a page of paper, his lips twitching. These characters were so ugly…
This question was about how to navigate by observing the sun, moon, and stars when lost at sea during long voyages.
Huh, why did he give this question to that girl too?
He was still calculating and researching it himself.
Once he figured it out, their Chu Kingdom could also lift the sea ban and send ships out to sea.
What the hell is this girl writing?
How can anyone recognize these characters?
He’ll punish her by making her copy books and practice calligraphy!
He widened his old eyes to recognize the characters, and then his eyes grew wider and wider.
Can it be calculated this way?
Huh…
Is this the Zhao Kingdom’s star-guiding technique that shocked the Four Kingdoms?
Old Master Kong stood up excitedly and ran out to find the craftsmen.
So, the craftsmen who hadn’t slept much for several days and nights, thinking they could finally sleep through the night, were called up again!
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One more chapter to go~
