The seventh day of the seventh month.

Today is the "Begging Festival", also known as the "Daughter's Day", Xiuxiu ran to Lin Suniang's house after breakfast, and Lin Suniang Su'er and the three of them were busy preparing for the festival in the evening. This is the first time in her life that she has passed through this festival exclusively for girls, and she is more serious than anyone else.

Yesterday afternoon, Xu Ping took Zhuang Ke to build a "begging shed" in the courtyard of the Lin family. As for the decoration on the shed, the three girls did it themselves, and a group of big men neither understood nor could do it.

At this time, it was the hottest time of the year, and when the sun rose, it was as if it was about to burn the things on the ground.

Taking advantage of the cool time in the morning, Xu Ping called Gao Daquan Sun Qilang and a few other Zhuangzi to go out and test the newly made harvester in the field outside Zhuangzi.

Stepping on the morning dew, Xu Chang led the big yellow cow to accompany Xu Ping in front, Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang walked behind with the harvester, and Sang Yi supported on the side.

In the past few months, Sang Yi's patience has also worn out, and he no longer pays attention to Fang Shi and Ke Wulang, who smelted medicinal silver, and only focuses on these strange new gadgets on Xu Pingzhuang. Xu Ping sent his seeder and cultivator shovel to bring back to Longxing's home, and the effect of returning is very gratifying.

Ruzhou is also part of the poverty belt around Liangjing, and wasteland is everywhere, otherwise Sang Yi would not be so easy to settle down in Longxing. Moreover, Ruzhou is not affected by the flooding of the Yellow River, and the land is much better than here. Sang Yi also took the name of the township tribute jinshi, became a little local tyrant in the countryside, and lived a happy life.

When they arrived at the alfalfa field, Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang put the harvester on the ground, Xu Ping came up to debug it, and asked Xu Chang to lead the ox into the field.

According to Xu Ping's instructions, Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang opened the field, straightened the harvester in the field, and hung it on the sleeve of the big cattle.

Xu Ping wanted to look at the effect on the side, and said to Sun Qilang: "Qilang, you hold the machine, pay attention to your eyes and look ahead, go right, don't go astray!" ”

Sun Qilang got the order, stepped forward to hold the handlebar, with a serious face, staring at the butt of the scalper in front of him, for fear that he would be led astray by accident.

Xu Ping saw that everything was ready, and said to Xu Chang, who was taking charge: "Take care of it, take two steps and take a look!" ”

Xu Chang shouted at the ox, walked forward slowly, tightened the noose, and the cutter on the harvester spun rapidly, and Sang Yi and Gao Daquan, who were watching from the side, were startled.

It didn't take long to walk, and after passing the field, the harvester entered the alfalfa field. The big yellow cow paused, slammed the noose tightly, "moo" twice, and his steps became faster.

As the harvester passed, the two rows of alfalfa were cut and laid out in unison in the ditch next to them, more neatly arranged than a human would. And the stubble is neatly cut, which is pleasing to the eye.

Sang Yi followed behind, and his eyes were hot.

As long as there is a cow, with this thing, I am afraid that it will be faster than ten or eight strong men, and the effect will be good. Now in the countryside around Liangjing, there is a lot of land, but there is a shortage of people, with this machine, although the land is opened, as long as it takes a few years, it is not a matter of being rich and rich.

It's a pity that although this thing is good, it is not something that Sang Yi can have now, even if Xu Ping is generous, he doesn't dare to ask for it if he wants to give it to him.

In this era, there were no engines, and the only way to do this was to rely on the power of large animals. The specific structure of the harvester, whether it is the rotary type for harvesting forage grass or the reciprocating type for harvesting grain, Xu Ping is ripe, and the difficult thing is the power and that set of transmission mechanism.

This harvester is powered by the traction of the big scalper. The traction force is converted into rotational power by means of two large, special iron power wheels at the rear. What is the speed of a scalper? The rotary cutter mounted on the harvester can turn one or two thousand times a minute.

It's all about the speed of the gearbox attached in the middle.

Even Xu Ping, in this era, was unable to make steel gears, so he had to press them with brass. The mechanical properties of brass were like that, and they had to be made large and bulky. Although the castor-iron gearbox is lubricated with castor oil, it does not reduce the volume much.

That's a box of glittering brass! What is the price of brass in this era? That's so precious that the imperial court wants to monopolize it! In order to refine enough brass, Xu Ping bought all the calamine in the Zhongmu County Pharmacy was not enough, and found Jingshi Pharmacy to solve the problem.

Sang Yi estimated that he would have to work honestly for many years before he could buy that iron box.

After walking fifty or sixty steps, Xu Ping asked Xu Chang to stop, stepped forward to look at the big scalper, he was not sweating yet, and he was relieved. What he is most afraid of is that a yellow cow can't pull a machine that harvests two rows, and that machine will have to be equipped with several cows, and the machine will have to grow, and finally become a behemoth, which will be annoying.

The oxen were unloaded, and the people gathered together to see the effect of the harvest.

After looking back and forth, it was all "tsk" and sound, and I couldn't think of any words to describe the scene I saw for a while.

In the end, it was Sun Qilang who said: "A few months ago, the little officials took us to plant 1,000 acres of land in one go, and I still thought that when it was time to harvest, all of us would become cattle, and I was afraid that we would not be able to keep busy." Now that I have this machine, I am not afraid of anything in my heart! ”

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

With Xu Ping working a lot, they also learned to use the word machine, and also deeply realized that as long as they use machines, the more work they can do, the better.

When he was happy here, Gao Daquan suddenly said: "Hey, look at the officials, there are a few people from the government there, I don't know what to do in our field!" ”

Xu Ping stood on the ridge of the field, raised his eyes, and saw that not far from the edge of the reservoir he had built, three horses were tied to the side of the road. Some distance away, two errand officers, escorting an official in a green robe, were bent over in their own fields, looking at something carefully.

Different backgrounds will create different personalities. Xu Ping came through and has always been respectful of the government of this era, and it is best not to get along with each other in old age. Now that someone from the government suddenly came to his field, he felt a little uneasy in his heart and felt uncomfortable.

After hesitating for a while, Xu Ping still decided to go over and take a look, what should come is always coming, since this person has already arrived in the field, he can't hide by shrinking his head.

Leaving Sun Qilang to watch the machine, several people walked along the path in the field towards the three of them.

Walking nearby, the three of them also found Xu Ping and a few people, standing up and waiting on the ground.

Walking forward, Xu Ping saluted and said, "Down here is Xu Ping, the owner of this Zhuangzi, I don't know where you officials came from?" What do you have to teach me in my Zhuangzi? ”

The green-robed man stepped forward, looked at Xu Ping, and asked, "You are Xu Ping?" ”

Xu Ping's heart froze, and his face showed a look of vigilance. How did this man know his name? said in his mouth: "Xiaomin is Xu Ping." I don't know who the official is—"

The green-robed man said with a smile: "This official is Guo Shi, the chief secretary of Zhongmu County, and when I walked to the road, I saw that you have a law for cultivating the fields here, and the dams and ditches are very organized." I was happy for a moment, so I stopped and looked. ”

After a pause, he said: "Your name, but I heard Li Tisha from the Tijucang Grassland. These days we are going to do something together in the neighborhood, and he said you can settle down in the village. ”

Hearing this, Xu Ping's heart relaxed. Li Yonghe has been friends with his family for more than ten years, and he will definitely not harm himself, he introduced this person, it must be reliable.

Guo Shi turned around, looked at the field and said: "The reeds you planted here, there are no traces of hoeing, and there are no weeds in the field. Look at the field, think about it, you must have ploughed with a shovel, I don't know if it is or not? ”

Xu Ping said: "Officials are clear, that's exactly the case. ”

Guo Zhi said appreciatively: "You are so ingenious. By the way, I see that a dam has been built next to your land and a ditch has been opened, why do you still grow worthless things like reed millet instead of rice and wheat? ”

Xu Ping replied honestly: "Originally, I was going to plant rice, but unfortunately none of the villagers in my village had planted it, so I had to use reeds to transition the season, and in the next year, I hired people who knew how to plant to plant it." ”

When Guo Shi heard this, he laughed: "Why are you stumped by this kind of thing? This official is the chief bookkeeper of this county, and he is in charge of supervising the agriculture and mulberry. If you come to the county to find me, I will naturally help you hire someone. In addition, the fields dig their own ditches and control the ditches, and the court has rewards, so you are too honest. ”

When Xu Ping heard this, he didn't know how to answer. How could he never have imagined that there was such an official in his land, and there were really people who worked for the people in this era?

This can only be blamed on Xu Ping's unfamiliarity with history.

This era has left a name in history, and the most distinctive figure is Guo Zhi. It is said that he did not learn to speak until he was eight years old, and when he could speak, he was extremely intelligent, and more importantly, this guy was a rare invention maniac in ancient China.

Guo Zhi is good at perfecting tools, improving weapons and crossbows, and is more proficient in calculations. If Xu Ping knew the deeds of Guo Shi's life, he would have other small calculations in his heart, this brother is incompatible with his contemporaries, and he can speak so magically at the age of eight, isn't it also time-traveling?

After Guo Zhizhong Jinshi, he first went to Tongli Army as a manager to join the army, and at this time he was transferred to Zhongmu County to be the chief bookkeeper. During the Song Dynasty, the county master was a very unpopular petty official, and generally did not let Jinshi be wronged by this official, except for Kaifeng Mansion. The main book of Kaifeng Mansion not only requires most of them to be Jinshi, but also has to be a staff officer and have practical experience. Of course, the treatment of the master book level here is also incomparable to other places, and after the first term is done, it is the county of the big county, and it is a key step to step out of the career. Guo Zhi still performed well in the army as a manager, so he got this opportunity.

Seeing Guo Zhi's kind expression, Xu Ping also slowly let go and asked him, "Is Li Tizhi coming too?" ”

Guo Shi sighed: "Yes." The Xiang army of the group pastor division south of your Zhuangzi has had a lot of trouble recently, and the imperial court sent the deputy envoy of the group pastor, Li Taiwei, to rectify it. Li Tiha and I were both sent by our department to assist, and speaking of which, Li Tihar was personally asked by Mrs. Li to come, but I was sent by my superiors. ”

Seeing Xu Ping's blank face, Guo Shi asked, "You don't know Taiwei Li?" ”

Xu Ping shook his head.

Guo Shi said: "Taiwei Li is now the defense envoy of Jeju, and he is actually the deputy envoy of the herdsmen. You just need to know one thing, his mother is the eldest princess of the current Hubei country, and her status is noble, if you see it, don't be abrupt! ”

Xu Ping listened, and then suddenly it was realized.

This is a big man in the court who doesn't like the Ma family and wants to clean him up.

The queen mother's relatives, as a relative, no one dares to provoke, so send a more ruthless relative. The eldest princess is the daughter of Emperor Taizong, the sister of the previous emperor, and the queen mother herself must be respectful when she sees it. Sending her son out will not give the Ma family face at all.