From Robinson Crusoe

The matter of slaying the snake on Sunday troubled Chen Zhou for several days.

It wasn't that he was paranoid; it was just that he was the only "outsider" on the island. Even if the other natives belonged to different tribes, they were at least from the same place and spoke the same language.

This made Chen Zhou always wary of all the natives, fearing that they might unite to overthrow his rule.

On Sunday, the day the snake was slain, amidst the cheers of the natives, Chen Zhou seemed to see a possible ending where "slaves unite to overthrow the rule of slave owners."

……

Of course, subsequent investigations proved that he was worrying unnecessarily.

The indigenous people have a very short history. They have only developed a language, not a written script, and their history is recorded entirely by oral tradition.

Throughout the short history of their civilization, there was never a cry like "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"

Without this first rebellion, subsequent uprisings such as the Red Eyebrow Rebellion, the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Huang Chao Rebellion, and the Fang La Rebellion, which overthrew the rulers, would have been impossible.

Even if Chen Zhou ruled with such "gentleness," and the Spanish and subsequent colonists treated the natives like livestock, they never had any thought of resistance.

Chen Zhou believes that the reason why the indigenous people living in isolation overseas do not have this awareness is partly due to their short history.

On the other hand, it is also related to the fact that their archipelago has never been unified, forming a stable and long-lasting regime, or developing a religion that everyone agrees on.

The Incas of South America were also oppressed. After their king was extorted and executed by the Spanish, they spontaneously organized an uprising to counterattack the Spanish.

The Incas' ability to gather an army of 100,000 was inextricably linked to their shared belief in the sun god.

The indigenous tribes were scattered and disorganized, with differing beliefs, vague histories and writing systems, and small populations, making it extremely difficult for them to generate the idea of ​​rebellion.

If you want to "drive" this group of people who have come from hellish living conditions insane, you have to be at least ten times harsher than their leader would be.

Chen Zhou couldn't possibly be that strict and oppressive; after all, he was a modern man.

……

In fact, the indigenous people are quite satisfied with their current lives; they even feel that this place is "heaven," or a place second only to heaven.

The two natives, Saturday and Sunday, remained loyal to him just as they had been initially rescued, treating him with even greater respect than they had for their father.

This pure and selfless affection is the same as Friday's attitude towards Robinson.

Compared to these simple and honest natives, modern people, with their complex minds and seemingly endless schemes, seem like a completely different species.

After carefully observing Sunday and the natives for several days, Chen Zhou finally realized that he had been judging others by his own petty standards.

Perhaps the natives' loyalty to him wasn't quite to the point where they would risk their lives for him, but the two boys, Saturday and Sunday, were ready to die for him at any time.

Because the average lifespan of the indigenous people is very short, and they have not experienced much of the good things in the world, but have only suffered oppression and endured the pressure of survival.

In addition, most of the male natives had experienced the battles of war at a young age and struggled between life and death, which made them not very afraid of death and not so appreciative of their own lives.

In this respect, the indigenous people are completely different from modern people who are afraid of death, injury, and cherish their lives.

……

It was from this moment that Chen Zhou truly realized how different his way of thinking, his understanding of the world, and his comprehension of life were from those of the indigenous people.

However, recognizing this is not a bad thing.

Knowing people and making good use of them requires knowing them well. Only after understanding the local people can he confidently utilize them.

On the other hand, the principle of "if you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't doubt them" has led Chen Zhou to trust Sunday and Saturday even more after this incident.

He felt that since he had chosen to rely on the strength of many people instead of taking on all the burdens and enduring the long challenge alone, he should be more open-minded.

Jealousy of talent and ability is clearly not a quality a wise ruler should possess.

……

The grass cut down by the natives became food for the sheep, even though the sheep were reluctant to eat the grass that was no longer tender, but it was beyond their control.

Because they were in estrus and ran around with wild goats, indirectly causing the "python-slaying incident," Chen Zhou has decided to restrict their free and unrestrained lives.

The indigenous people fenced off a piece of land below the shepherd's hut on the hillside to keep their sheep.

Before the end of the estrus period, rams can only mate with specific ewes within the herd, and ewes can only mate with studs within the herd; neither can stray.

As for bulls and cows, there is no such restriction. There are only two cows on the island, so even if they wanted to find their own kind, they wouldn't be able to.

……

The sheep's wooden fence was made of thin planks, not high, not sturdy, and not durable; it was just a simple project to barely cope with the rainy season.

In fact, shortly after the Spanish landed on the island, Chen Zhou had already planned to build sheep pens, cattle pens, and more robust and fully functional shepherd's cabins.

But plans can't keep up with changes, and who could have imagined that the anniversary gift package would include so many building materials?

Faced with the immense allure of the factory project, smaller projects like livestock sheds were naturally put on hold.

Of course, this is partly due to a lack of manpower, and partly due to the inconvenience of construction during the rainy season.

However, before the shed was completed, Chen Zhou successfully completed another long-delayed project—the watermill.

……

The rainy season of 1663 was exceptionally cooperative, sometimes with several days of heavy rain, and sometimes with only a light drizzle in the morning, which would clear up by noon.

Taking advantage of the occasional and brief sunny day, Chen Zhou led the natives to build a wooden and stone house by the river.

……

The official start date for construction is February 22nd.

Chen Zhou originally planned to build the foundation directly in the water and then construct the entire mill.

However, he walked along the river several times but couldn't find a suitable place to build.

For a waterwheel to be powerful, the water flow needs to have a drop, be deep and fast enough. However, the Yanhe River channel is mostly wide and flat, and the overall water flow is relatively slow. Although it can power the waterwheel, it does not meet Chen Zhou's needs.

As for other rivers, they are too far from the farmland.

Of course, the island has many rivers, streams, and creeks of all sizes, and there are indeed several suitable locations for building watermills.

For example, the mountain stream rushing down above the deep pool has a flow rate that is more than enough to support the operation of the waterwheel.

However, Chen Zhou ultimately did not choose the mountain stream.

Firstly, because the mountain stream is located on a cliff, there are only rugged mountain paths on both sides for transporting supplies, making transportation inconvenient.

Both are affected by the rainy and dry seasons. During the rainy season, the water flow is rapid and prone to causing floods and breaching the banks. Once the water flow from high to low in the mountains becomes too large, it can easily converge into a flood that washes away everything on both sides of the river. Therefore, it is not safe to build a watermill here.

During the dry season, especially the long dry season from mid-April to mid-August, the mountain streams will enter a state similar to the dry season. At that time, the watermills will basically be unable to function, and grain can only be processed by manpower.

These two fatal flaws forced Chen Zhou to abandon the mountain stream and instead choose a more laborious method—artificial irrigation canals.

……

At Chen Zhou's request, the local "construction team," which already had some construction experience, dug a water channel with a drop, sufficient depth, and appropriate width at the selected location beside the Yan River with extremely high efficiency.

The canal is shaped like the letter "C" and connects two sections of the Yanhe River.

After finishing the excavation, Chen Zhou did not immediately dig away the soil blocking the canal and the river. Instead, he chose to build a mill and assemble a waterwheel first.

The mill's base is made of pure stone bricks and white mud, with the entire stone wall base exceeding 1 meter in height, ensuring the mill's sturdiness and durability.

Above the stone wall base, a wooden frame was constructed, and finally, a 45° inclined wooden plank was laid on the roof for drainage.

The mill is quite spacious and square, simple to the point of being crude, and looks like a short, stout, and clumsy man.

Inside this "short and stout" body is the waterwheel that Chen Zhou had forged long ago, and which was only able to be installed today.

The mill is divided into two areas, one of which is the "waterwheel area" submerged in the aqueduct, located on the lower level.

The other is the work area where grains are ground using a transmission device, located on the upper level of the mill.

Time was of the essence, and Chen Zhou only had time to make a millstone for grinding flour. The grains still had to be hulled slowly by the locals using earthen millstones.

The hulled wheat is poured into the milling area through a chute above and into the continuously rotating millstone below. After being ground for ten or even twenty hours, it flows out through a flour collection trough and is collected into a pre-placed container.

The watermill rotates slowly, limited by the force of the water flow, and is expected to only drive the millstone to rotate 15 to 20 times per minute.

However, its advantage lies in its durability and ease of use. As long as the river water is flowing, the millstone will keep turning. After a long period of grinding, the flour it produces is no worse than flour ground by hand.

Furthermore, when designing the stone mill system, Chen Zhou also referenced traditional Chinese watermills and added a structure to adjust the gap between the upper and lower millstones in order to control the fineness of the flour. If one wanted to eat coarser grains, one only needed to adjust the gap between the millstones.

……

Besides being labor-saving and worry-free, the waterwheel, whose important structure is made entirely of metal, is also relatively easy to maintain.

After each grain processing, the residue remaining between the grinding troughs needs to be cleaned. After one or two months of use, a small amount of animal fat should be applied to the waterwheel bearings to prevent them from rusting.

With such maintenance, the waterwheel can maintain normal operation.

As for the wear and tear that occurs over time, that is unavoidable.

If the transmission gears or the wooden teeth submerged in water are damaged, the waterwheel area will have to be disassembled and the parts replaced.

However, since the waterwheel had only just been built, Chen Zhou estimated that the first replacement of parts would not be until at least August or September of 1664, and if it was well maintained, it might not be until the beginning of 1665.

……

On February 27, the watermill was officially completed thanks to the efforts of Chen Zhou and the local people.

The natives crowded on the upper level of the mill's working area, which was still without water, examining the millstone that had been adjusted, their faces filled with confusion.

It's not difficult to make them understand that simple tools like shovels and picks are easy to use.

But when faced with various transmission gears, bearings, and some simple mechanical structures, their brains are a bit insufficient.

At this moment, Chen Zhou was standing next to the flour collection trough of the stone mill. Standing beside him were the natives' "idol" Sunday and the natives' teacher Saturday.

Everyone on the island except the herding natives gathered together, but with the chief and Sunday present, the atmosphere was serious, and even though the others had their own questions, they dared not discuss them.

They could only stand there dumbfounded, staring at Chen Zhou's back and everything in the room, as if trying to see something extraordinary in it.

……

Chen Zhou had no intention of wasting his breath explaining to the natives the working principle of the waterwheel and the function of each part; he knew it would be like casting pearls before swine.

He carefully inspected the structure of the upper work area and, after confirming that there were no problems, led Saturday and Sunday down the indoor staircase to the lower level.

During this process, he explained the principle of the waterwheel to the two of them in a low voice and as carefully as possible.

Having seen the waterwheel design drawings and played with the model on Saturday and Sunday, the two of them, being quite intelligent, already had a pretty good grasp of it. After seeing the real thing, they quickly understood the key points.

After explaining to the two men how to disassemble and repair the waterwheel parts, Chen Zhou led them back to the upper level and announced that the last "barrier" separating the river and canal had been breached, allowing the mill to officially enter the working stage.

……

The man-made ditch was nearly two meters deep. To prevent the river from washing away the soil prematurely, several large wooden planks were placed at the bottom of the ditch.

Three indigenous people with excellent swimming skills were tasked with this dangerous job.

They took off their shoes, went shirtless, tightened their belts, and jumped into the shallow water of the ditch with pickaxes.

After removing the stakes holding the wooden planks in place, the three men used pickaxes to chip away at the earthen wall bit by bit.

As streams of water gushed out from the gaps at the base of the gradually collapsing earthen wall, the three men quickly threw their pickaxes over the ditch, then grabbed the ropes thrown down by the other natives, braced themselves against the ditch wall, and nimbly climbed out of the ditch.

Although they were panicked, the earthen wall was not actually collapsing that fast.

After four or five minutes, the small gaps gradually connected to form a hole the size of a bowl.

Subsequently, more and more soil was washed out by the river and floated inside the ditch.

Immediately afterwards, the vulnerability expanded at a visible speed, triggering a chain reaction that caused the earthen wall above to collapse.

Once a clear gap appeared in the earthen wall above, the water that had been held back for five days suddenly poured into the ditch with unstoppable force.

Yellow and brown clods of soil tumbled in the rushing water.

The breach was quickly submerged by the water, and people on the bank could not see how high the earthen wall was left; they could only see the water level in the ditch rising rapidly.

The natives ran along the ditch, and under the impact of the water flow, the huge and ingenious vertical waterwheel began to slowly turn.

As if a dead monster had come back to life, the entire watermill was instantly filled with vitality and began to breathe like an animal.

The sound of water is pleasant, and the meshing transmission structure drives the grinding stones in the working area.

……

When the natives re-entered the upper working area of ​​the mill, they were astonished to see that the huge millstone, which required four people to lift together, was moving on its own.

At this moment, the chieftain and Sunday/Saturday, standing in front of the millstone, showed no shock or fear whatsoever. On the contrary, they were all beaming with joy, chatting and laughing, completely unfazed by the situation. (End of Chapter)