Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

"Will this work?"

Looking at the newly built reservoir, the craftsman in charge of improving the equipment had great faith in the young master's blueprints, but since he had never actually put it into practice, who could guarantee that this thing called "water hammer" would really work?

"You guys, measure the height again."

Wang Jingui, who came to supervise the construction, looked up at the reservoir, which was surrounded by wooden planks, lined with clay, and rose about three to five zhang above the earthen slope. While having someone measure it, he picked up the water hammer drawings that Li Yuanheng had suggested and that he had drawn.

On the picture, a pattern marked in red is gradually becoming a reality in front of Wang Jingui.

Because it is not built near a river, this water hammer device, currently tentatively named "Iron Ox," uses a more technically demanding water storage device. The water storage pool, which stands on an artificial earthen slope and uses inertia to create pressure, actually looks more like a square furnace to many people. The middle is made of a wooden trough that has been thickened by an unknown amount, combined with the forging area below, forming a water hammer device that looks very simple.

"Release the water----"

As soon as Wang Jingui gave the order, water began to flow down from the reservoir above. The flow was not slow at all; at least from the perspective of the time, the flow was as fast as a flood.

It was this water force that caused the water hammer below to rise instantly, much to everyone's surprise and anticipation. The huge wooden lever on it was lifted up, and the hammer head on it also came into the air. As the water bucket flipped, it was like a strong adult man's arm clenching his fist. The moment that fist slammed down, almost everyone present felt their hearts tremble.

"Thump!!!"

A sudden roar erupted in everyone's ears, as if the ground and even the air around the water hammer were trembling. The iron billet that was being crushed was flattened, and sparks flew everywhere.

"It's done! It really worked!!"

"This hammer is really powerful; it'll probably save us a lot of energy in the future."

The craftsmen surrounded the water-powered hammer device, which was still being used, cheering in amazement. After all, with this device, they would have much less work to do in the future. But soon, someone noticed a problem:

"But having to refill the water every time it runs out is both wasteful and laborious, isn't it?"

"If we could create a device to place here, allowing the water to flow down from here and be sent up from there, wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone?"

Wang Jingui recognized this apprentice, named Hursai. The reason he remembered him so clearly compared to the other Han Chinese apprentices was that his Turkic origins were completely out of place in this workshop full of Han Chinese workers.

Hursai, who was born into the Turkic people, should actually be called Hursai. This is the common choice among the Turkic people in Jinshan Prefecture. Many of them even dropped their Turkic names in the next generation and were addressed by their Han surnames and given names. If it weren't for the slight difference in appearance between them and the Han people, it would be hard to tell them apart by their accents and names.

"If we follow your idea, how should this be resolved?"

Wang Jingui's question initially stumped Hussein, but he quickly recovered, his expression becoming excited, like a child who had discovered some treasure, and he replied with great enthusiasm:

"Oxen and horses are needed to pull it—"

"The student's family used to be herders. The strength of cattle and horses is greater than that of people. If we were to use people to deal with this steep slope, it would be both tiring and costly. I'm afraid that people would be less capable than cattle and horses."

"But if we use oxen or horses, what will control them?"

Wang Jingui's words were both a discussion and a test, and Hu Sai, who had already come up with a solution, immediately picked up paper and pen and started drawing in front of everyone.

"This is----"

Looking at the waterwheel, which was drawn somewhat distorted but whose shape was still clearly visible, as well as the oxen and horses hanging beside it, the crooked levers on the sides of the oxen and horses, and even the "water bucket" hanging on the waterwheel, after only looking at it twice, a wonderful picture popped into Wang Jingui's mind.

"The water used in the water hammer was pulled back to the water tank by an animal-powered waterwheel, so it could be used repeatedly without worrying about having to laboriously refill it when it ran out."

"Wonderful, wonderful, absolutely wonderful!!"

Wang Jingui snatched the drawing sheet, which looked like a child's drawing, completely disregarding the other party's clumsy drawing skills. Instead, he repeatedly praised Hu Sai as one of the few good apprentices in the fire workshop who could inherit his position in the future.

As for why he went from being a student to a "son-disciple," nobody needs to know. After all, there is a gap between master and disciple. If the disciple is smart and capable, he will naturally be treated like a son. If he is incompetent and stupid, he will naturally be a student. Perhaps in the master's heart, he is not even considered an observer.

A few days later, Hussein became the foreman of the new waterwheel because of his status as an apprentice. This could not be considered nepotism, since he even made the blueprints himself. However, it is debatable whether he later became the chief foreman of the entire hydraulic machinery.

-------

The horses galloped past, kicking up clouds of dust. A few neighed and fought, but were stopped by the shepherds standing guard nearby with their long whips.

As the only government-run horse farm under the jurisdiction of Jinshan Prefecture, this horse farm, named "Jingu", has raised more than 2,000 military horses, including dozens of stallions specially selected for breeding.

The entire horse ranch is surrounded by fresh grass everywhere. This is also the warmest place in the entire Altai region. Although winter has not completely passed, due to the special geographical conditions, the area has formed a valley and sheltered climate, so the weather is slightly warmer than other places and spring has arrived earlier.

To the west, there is a stream of moderate size. The most important task for the horse herders every day is to drive the horses to drink and bathe, to prevent them from getting infested with parasites and damaging the lord's fine horses.

"I just measured it this morning, and it's already over four feet tall. In a few more days, it'll probably grow to five feet, and then it'll be a fine horse."

The dimensions of Jinshan Prefecture were 33 centimeters, one centimeter larger than the Qing Dynasty's 32 centimeters, making it close to modern dimensions.

A shepherd wearing a black and gray felt hat led over a horse that wasn't too strong, but had exceptionally muscular physique. He brought it to Li Yuanheng, who had come to inspect, patted the sturdy horse's back in front of him, and said with a shepherd's unique pride:

"Such a fine horse is hard to find even if you search the entire grassland, and it is rare even in this Golden Valley. I usually feed it a mixture of bean bran and eggs, which costs me a lot of money every day."

As for judging a horse, although the people of the grasslands do not have the "horse judging manual" that has been passed down from ancient times in the Central Plains, Li Yuanheng, who has been dealing with horses since childhood, could tell how good this horse was with just a few glances.

The calves are strong and thick, not as thick as those of Mongolian horses, but thicker than those of ordinary fast horses. Combined with the thick waist and abdomen, this means that this still-adult horse will be a fine warhorse in just a year or two with a little training.

It's quite large, fast, and has good stamina. It can break through and run fast. The herdsman's words, "It's hard to find even if you search the whole grassland," weren't exactly an exaggeration.

This horse is truly a fine steed capable of traveling a thousand miles.

Li Yuanheng became increasingly interested as he looked at the herdsman, and then spoke to him in Turkic:

"Let's name this one Yunman. It means 'walking among the clouds,' which suits the name perfectly. I'll come back to get it when it's grown up."

Li Yuanheng immediately demanded it from the herdsman.

"Being able to follow the young master is already an immense blessing for this beast, to be given a name is a rare opportunity that he might not have in several lifetimes."

Though he said this, the shepherd was actually extremely reluctant to part with the horse. After all, he had raised this fine steed with spoonful after spoonful of the finest feed since it was a foal. Of the more than one hundred horses he managed, this one was the one that was bathed the most frequently and had the shiniest coat.

Perhaps sensing the herdsman's reluctance, Li Yuanheng took out a silver ingot of about five taels from his pocket when he took the reins. With the herdsman kneeling in fear, he stuffed the silver ingot into the herdsman's pocket, and then rode the still-growing steed toward the largest herd of horses in the distance.

Compared to the mature horses, this fine steed, newly named Yunman, was probably spoiled by the herdsman. Not long after I mounted it, it started running in the opposite direction, and I almost lost my grip on the reins.

"What a beast! How dare you!!"

Although it was cursing, the movements were exceptionally gentle, yet exceptionally irritating. Sometimes it pulled, sometimes it struck the horse's belly, making Yunman extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to resist, but in the end she couldn't resist the immense force coming from above, so she had to give in and follow the other party's rhythm, galloping towards the herd of horses.

Those who have never seen horses may not be able to grasp the sheer density of thousands of horses gathered in one place. Even Li Yuanheng, who had grown up surrounded by warhorses and commanded cavalry in numerous battles, was momentarily stunned upon witnessing the sight of a thousand horses gathered together, and even subconsciously uttered:

"No wonder that successive dynasties of the Central Plains were helpless against the nomadic empires that occupied the grasslands after losing their horse-breeding lands. This is only a thousand horses; if it were tens of thousands, the country would truly be shattered and countless people would be displaced!!"

"Some people say that whoever wins the heart of a horse wins the world, and that's not entirely untrue."

Although he said that, his mind drifted to the West, to the continent of Europe, which was almost entirely armed with firearms. It wasn't that Europe didn't need warhorses at this time, but the advent of firearms had greatly limited the charging space of warhorses. When a cavalry composed of "two wings" appeared in his mind, he could no longer hold back.

In the end, even the so-called dragon riders became objects of Li Yuanheng's fantasies.

This fantasy was like a tickling itch, especially when he saw the herd of horses in front of him. The neighing in his ears and the rumbling under his feet made the impulse in his mind like an instinctive temptation that he could not stop no matter what.