Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 161 Liu Jianjun's Cotton Plan
The morning mist obscured the view, and Li Xian could only vaguely make out a woman standing by the Yellow Canal, dressed in coarse linen clothes and with her head wrapped in a cloth.

Several women dressed similarly nearby also turned their heads and looked in this direction.

Liu Jianjun stood there awkwardly.

But soon, the standing woman made a somewhat awkward bow, and said in a frightened tone, "Sir, I was blind and mistook you for a thief. Please forgive me!"

Li Xian thought to herself that she must have seen the horse that she and Liu Jianjun were leading.

This time, Liu Jianjun reacted quickly, nimbly leaping to the riverbank, walking to the woman's side, then waving the radish in his hand and asking, "Auntie, are those radishes on the other side of the embankment yours?"

Li Xian felt that perhaps it was because of Liu Jianjun's dark skin that he seemed to have an innate ability to be approachable.

Anyone who sees him will only think of him as a simple and honest farm boy.

That old lady was no exception.

After seeing Liu Jianjun's face clearly, the old woman suddenly laughed and said, "When I saw those two tall horses, I thought it was soldiers patrolling the Yellow Canal! Whose child are you, leading horses out like that? Don't your parents say anything to you?"

Then she waved her hand again: "Two radishes, it's fine if you pick them... Oh, by the way, you can use these radish leaves to feed the horses, don't throw them away! I won't say anything if you pick a couple of radishes because you're greedy, but if you waste them, I'll spank you!"

Li Xian couldn't help but chuckle as he listened from the riverbank.

Liu Jianjun, however, didn't care at all. He chuckled and then nimbly jumped downstream where several women were washing clothes, and rubbed the radish in the water again and again.

The other women also took it as a minor incident, and turned back to beat the clothes with mallets, the "bang bang" sound echoing on both banks.

Li Xian simply jumped off his horse and squatted by the roadside to watch all of this.

The old woman smiled and said to Liu Jianjun, "You little rascal, you're quite polite. If you hadn't been washing mud upstream, I would have kicked you into the river. It's not a pleasant early winter day!"

Liu Jianjun looked at the women for a while and asked, "Auntie, why don't you ask your husband to carve some marks on this stone slab? It would make washing clothes easier!"

The woman said irritably, "My husband died long ago! Besides, what man do you need to carve a washboard? Which woman in Guanzhong is weaker than a man?"

At this point, the woman glanced behind her, making Li Xian think she was looking at him, but then she said, "Look, that bluestone slab up there, I carved it myself, but the water has dried up this year, so the washboard I carved earlier is no longer needed."

Li Xian then realized that the woman must have been gesturing towards a stone slab.

Li Xian looked ahead and saw that there were indeed many bluestone slabs stacked on top of each other. The bluestone slabs looked extremely heavy, probably requiring two adult women to lift them.

No wonder it was abandoned here.

only……

The bluestone slab was eight or nine feet away from where the women washed their clothes, and the vertical drop was nearly four or five feet. In other words, the water level of the Yellow Canal had also dropped by four or five feet.
Li Xian suddenly felt worried about the impending drought.

Then, Liu Jianjun said, "By the way, Auntie, when you're tilling the land later, be careful when you dig. I didn't pick these radishes for nothing; I put some money in your hole!"

It seems he has already finished washing the radishes.

The old woman quickly scolded, "You child! What money do you need for picking two radishes! Take them now, or I'll report you to the authorities and say you stole my radishes!"

Li Xian chuckled to himself.

Why is it that paying money makes me accuse you of stealing radishes? Liu Jianjun laughed and said, "Auntie, I don't need your money for those two radishes!"

As he spoke, Liu Jianjun lifted his coat, revealing the brocade trousers underneath, and said, "Look at this, the fabric from the East Market! It's incredibly expensive!"

This time, it was the old woman who remained silent for a while before finally laughing awkwardly, "I thought the young man was just like us, a poor fellow, but I never imagined he would be..."

“Auntie, you’re being too polite. You just said you were going to kick me into the river!” Liu Jianjun interrupted with a grin. “I love hearing you talk like that!”

The old woman smiled again and said, "Whose young master are you? Your temperament is so endearing! Alright, it's not easy to meet such a distinguished person, so I'll accept the money you left behind! But I'll have to check if you've given too little!"

Liu Jianjun laughed and said, "There will definitely be more. By the way, ma'am, do you know where there's a place with a fast-flowing stream if you go up this Yellow Canal?"

The old woman thought for a moment and said, "The water level has dropped a lot this year, and many places with rapid currents have become calmer. How rapid of a current are you looking for?"

"The more urgent, the better!"

"Then you'll have to go quite a distance ahead, preferably all the way to Dayi Valley!"

Liu Jianjun thought for a moment and then stood up: "Okay, thank you, ma'am!"

After saying that, he ran back to Li Xian's side, placed the radish leaves in his hand in front of the Whirlwind Charger's mouth, shared some with Jinghong, and after the radish leaves were eaten, Liu Jianjun, with a radish in his mouth, mounted his horse and tossed another radish to Li Xian: "Here you go, Xianzi, we need to go a little further and check out Dayi Valley."

Li Xian took the radish; it was cool to the touch and carried the scent of clear river water.

The two horses rode side by side, slowly making their way upstream along the dirt road on the bank of the Yellow Canal. Jinghong seemed to have fallen in love with the taste of radish leaves, and kept turning its head to reach for the radish in Li Xian's hand. Li Xian slapped it on the back of the head, and it finally calmed down.

"Why did you ask that old woman what she was looking for, a place with a fast-flowing river?" Li Xian asked.

Liu Jianjun finished the radish in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and said directly, "Water power, I want to try using water power to drive the spinning wheel."

Li Xian was stunned.

Liu Jianjun explained, “Think about Aisha’s spinning wheel. Is the foot pedal part complicated? It’s just stepping at a constant speed. It’s not difficult for water. As for the force… the force of a large flood is much stronger than that of a person. A mountain that a person can’t move can be leveled in the blink of an eye when a flood comes. So it is entirely feasible to use water power to replace human power.”

Li Xian frowned and asked, "You mean, like a watermill, using water power to drive the spinning wheel?"

"clever!"

Liu Jianjun's eyes lit up, and he gestured in the air with his riding whip, "That's about the same idea, but it's much more complicated and intricate than water milling."

"The water mill simply rotates a stone disc to grind grain; it requires great force but also demands a rough approach."

"The spinning wheel needs a stable and continuous rotation, and the speed cannot be too slow. We need to design a waterwheel, a drive shaft, and a suitable gear set to convert the violent force of the water into the even and gentle force required for spinning..."

"That's why I said earlier that I wasn't sure if I could pull it off."

"In short, it's troublesome, but worth a try!"
"Zhongnan Mountain is right there. How will we know if it's okay if we don't go climb it? You said it yourself!"

……

(End of this chapter)