I am a thief in the Tang Dynasty

Chai Xueying suggested going and taking a look.

Fang Yiyi also wanted to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes quickly so that they could be harvested early, so he agreed immediately.

This time, the carriage drove out of Chang'an City quickly and arrived near the farm in less than half an hour.

From a distance, I could see some human figures on the land that was originally uninhabited, busy working with their faces to the earth and their backs to the sky.

There was also smoke from cooking near the elegant house.

When Chai Xueying saw this scene, her face was filled with a sweet smile.

Fang Yiyi looked at his wife's profile tenderly, and was infected by her happiness, with a smile on his face.

At this time, he saw a pair of gold hollow pearl earrings hanging on Chai Xueying's ears. They were very beautiful, but he had never seen them before. He couldn't help but ask:

"Xueying, when did you buy these earrings? I've never seen them before."

The soft and light earrings, the sparkling pearls sway in the hollow gold wire, lightly hitting each other and making pleasant sounds.

"My dear, this is the jewelry my second sister-in-law Princess Gaoyang gave me. In addition to these earrings, there are many more. She even had someone make several sets of clothes for me."

Chai Xueying explained with a smile, her eyes full of joy: "My second sister-in-law said that now that I have married into the Fang family and am the daughter-in-law of the Fang family, I have to pay attention to my clothes and jewelry on a daily basis."

"I was always on the battlefield before, so I didn't care about these things, bought very little, and didn't know much about them. My second sister-in-law said that if she saw suitable jewelry and fabrics in the future, she would send them to me."

"Second sister-in-law is really considerate."

Hearing this, Fang Yiyi was stunned and said subconsciously:

"I didn't expect that my second sister-in-law would be so nice to you."

Chai Xueying nodded and said, "Not only to me, but also to Grandpa and Grandma."

"My second sister-in-law is pretty, gentle, and very caring towards the servants. She is really a great person."

Fang Yiyi said a few more words, and the doubts in his heart grew.

Chapter 77 Planting potatoes and sweet potatoes

Since my second sister-in-law, Princess Gaoyang, has a good character.

How did she end up committing adultery with the monk Bian Ji?

Afterwards, she asked her second brother to guard outside the house while they made love inside.

Did you make your second brother Fang Yiai wear such a big green hat?

Thinking of my second brother’s honest, straightforward, carefree and unconcerned nature.

Fang Yiyi frowned and had to find an opportunity to test the waters.

At this time.

The carriage also arrived in front of the village.

A group of people were busy working.

Cut down trees, chop wood, and clear the land for building a wooden house.

At a glance, there were dozens of people.

Most of them were children, women, old women and old men.

There are only a few young and strong men.

Unfortunately, they are either lame or one-armed, and are all disabled.

Although these dozens of people were all dressed in rags, they all looked healthy. It was obvious that they had food to eat and were often well fed.

There are some little kids, some of them are chubby.

All of this is thanks to Chai Xueying's long-term funding.

Everyone is full of energy, with smiles full of hope for the future on their faces and bright eyes.

When they saw Chai Xueying coming.

Everyone had an expression of gratitude on their face and gathered around.

"General, thank you. We are useless people and have caused you trouble."

"General, we will work hard in the future and help you farm. We will also work harder and return all the money you gave us."

"General sister, Hu Zi likes it here. It is so beautiful. When Hu Zi grows up, he will follow you to join the army!"

"General, we will never forget your kindness and generosity. We have no way to repay you. Please accept my greetings!"

......

There were voices of gratitude coming from all directions and pairs of eyes showing sincere gratitude.

Chai Xueying pursed her lips and tears welled up in her eyes.

She can tell those brothers who sacrificed their lives to save her with peace of mind:

Have you seen from heaven that I am taking good care of your families?

Moreover, with your husband’s help, your family’s future life will only be better!

Chai Xueying called out the names of these widows familiarly and asked about their lives these days, without any sense of superiority.

Fang Yiyi, who was watching from the side, had a gentle look on his face.

His lovely wife is beautiful and kind-hearted, so nice!

Chai Xueying introduced Fang Yiyi to everyone, and pointed out that these fields and farms were specially given to everyone by Fang Yiyi.

In an instant, Fang Yiyi received countless praises and gratitude.

It felt like the time when people chased his car along the street to thank him after the earthquake relief in his previous life.

Fang Yiyi felt warm in his heart and kept smiling foolishly.

Afterwards, Chai Xueying brought an old man to Fang Yiyi and said:

"My dear, this is Mr. Zhang. He is good at farming and worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Civil Affairs many years ago."

"Greetings, Sanlang. Please let me know if you have any instructions!"

Mr. Zhang was hunched over, his dark face full of wrinkles, his dim eyes full of gratitude as he bowed to Fang Yiyi with his arms crossed.

Fang Yiyi quickly avoided the greeting, not caring about the dirt on the other person's body, and helped him up, saying respectfully:

"Mr. Zhang, you are an elder, there is no need to be so polite."

The approachable attitude made Mr. Zhang look more grateful.

Fang Yiyi continued, "I got some grain seeds from the Hu merchants who were staying here temporarily."

"I would like to trouble you to help me choose a piece of land to plant. I don't come here often, so I need you to take care of it on weekdays."

As he spoke, he moved closer to Mr. Zhang and whispered:

"This matter can only be entrusted to a few trusted people, and it must not be made public."

"Especially the Hu merchants who are temporarily staying here. We must not let them know before they leave."

Chapter 78 Development of Waterwheel

There is no doubt that these widows can be completely trusted.

However, I still have to give you a few words of advice.

Originally, Mr. Zhang thought that growing some crops was not that important.

But after hearing Fang Yiyi's instructions, and considering that he had been a minor official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs in his early years, he was responsible for grain cultivation.

He instantly felt that the crops to be grown must be extraordinary.

Mr. Zhang immediately said seriously, "Don't worry, Sanlang. The people in this village are all trustworthy."

"The old man will find a few people with tight mouths to plant the seeds, and then take turns guarding them, and no one will be allowed to get close!"

Seeing this cautious and serious attitude, Fang Yiyi immediately felt relieved and quickly asked Fang Liu to bring over the two small bags of potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Fang Yiyi demonstrated to Mr. Zhang and the three women how to cultivate seedlings while explaining it.

After they did it without any deviation, Fang Yiyi breathed a sigh of relief.

He praised: "Mr. Zhang, the three ladies, you are really smart. I only demonstrated it once and you already knew how to do it."

Zhang Weng and others laughed embarrassedly.

Cut the potato into small pieces according to the eyes, wrap the cut surface with wood ash, and place it in a cool place to wait for it to sprout. It is not difficult at all.

As for the sweet potatoes, you don’t even need to cut them. Just dig holes according to the distance and bury them.

That's it. If they don't understand it after seeing it once, they might as well just run into a wall and die.

It's really embarrassing that Fang Yiyi praises me like this.

However, they also felt the approachable and kind attitude of this noble young man Fang Yiyi.

Hiring them as tenants, there was almost no tax, and the land was no different from their own.

He even found such a good place for them to build houses. He is such a nice person!

They all had one thought in mind, that they must complete what Sanlang had asked them to do!

Fang Yiyi watched them plant sweet potatoes, and when he saw them fetching water for watering, he immediately frowned.

He walked to the river and looked at two one-armed men who were supporting a wooden beam with one hand and stepping laboriously on a wooden crutch that was similar to a pedal. The crutch drove the gears, which pulled the keel waterwheel, and led streams of crystal clear river water into the canal on the shore.

Without the support of one arm, the two one-armed men had to maintain their balance while stepping hard on the crutches. They were already sweating and panting.

As a last resort, one person has to step on it while the other takes a rest.

Although the women who fetched water from the river had been farming for many years and were quite strong, they could not compare with men. Helping to pedal the waterwheel was not as efficient as drawing water from the river.

Fang Yiyi couldn't help but step forward and ask, "May I ask you two gentlemen, this pedal waterwheel is labor-intensive and easy to use, why don't you make a waterwheel that can be turned by water power?"

As far as I can remember, the automatic rotating drum wheel that utilized rapid water flow had already been invented during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Although this stream is only about ten feet wide and the current is not too fast, it should be possible to use a waterwheel.

The two one-armed men, seeing Fang Yiyi coming, began to question him.

The two men came down immediately. As they were missing an arm, they could not do the cross-arm salute, so they could only bow respectfully.

One of them said:

"Let Sanlang know that the bearings for the drum wheel are difficult to make, and only the nobles and officials know how to make them."

“We only make these pedal water wheels and hand-cranked water wheels.”

My goodness, such a good thing that benefits the people is actually controlled by the wealthy families and the imperial court.

Now the Tang Dynasty is building water conservancy projects to facilitate irrigation.

However, in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, princes, nobles, and wealthy families controlled the water conservancy projects in order to establish military farms and did not allow ordinary people to use them.

Chapter 79: Go to the Director of Construction to Create a Waterwheel

The people rely on this laborious pedal waterwheel to fetch water, and they can only plant 50 acres of land out of the original 100 acres.

Getting water for irrigation is too time-consuming and laborious!

The seeds have been sown, but without water to irrigate the soil, the seeds will have no chance of survival!

Unable to cultivate much land and unable to pay taxes, they could only work for the princes, nobles, and wealthy families, and finally became their hidden slaves!

Fang Yiyi was stunned. He knew the general history, but he didn't expect that such a result would be caused by the control of waterwheel technology.

He looked at the old, weak and disabled people around him, and then at the hundred acres of fertile fields in the distance.

His brows were furrowed.

The water truck problem must be solved, otherwise, it will be a big hassle for these widows to get water when they farm.

You can easily get a few drum carts by finding Duan Yan or Yan Xuansui.

However, the drum wheel must have fast water flow to exert its great efficiency, which is not the best choice.