After dressing up as a stepmother, I transformed the whole family into working in the fields

There is a mill in Liujia Village, which was built by the villagers together on the flat dam next to the village ancestral hall.

This place is always the busiest during harvest time.

The open space is full of grain to be dried, and the small house in the mill is full of people inside and outside.

Each household needs to line up to use the mill. In principle, whoever wants to use it first gets to use it first. Those who come late will naturally line up at the back.

There are three stone mills in the mill. Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, this mill never stops for a day, and people use it every day.

Because grinding is really a hard job, if you are not in a hurry to sell grain, everyone chooses to grind it slowly in several times, or finish the food in the tank and wait until it is gone before grinding enough for a month or two.

Qin Yao was anxious to grind because the food at home was about to run out.

The last time I bought grain was at the end of October last year. After a winter, the rice tank has almost bottomed out.

Wheat is ground with a stone mill. In fact, it only grinds the outer skin. At that time, a special wind bucket is needed to completely separate the skin and wheat kernels to obtain clean wheat kernels that can be eaten.

For the job of grinding wheat, Qin Yao didn't expect Liu Ji to be a loser. She left him to cook at home and carried the newly harvested wheat to the mill.

Farmers are most concerned about their harvest. Every family in the mill will always ask: How much wheat did your family harvest this year?

Everyone said it was okay, the climate was normal, and on average one acre could yield about two hundred kilograms.

The yield per mu cannot be compared with the yield per mu of thousands of kilograms in later generations, but in this area of ​​Kaiyang County, it is very good to be able to produce so much output under rough farming.

At this time, Qin Yao looked down at her 160 kilograms of wheat. After raising it free-range, the average yield per mu was 80 kilograms, which was pretty good.

Ms. Qin! I'm ready. Come in.

In the mill, someone finished grinding and called Qin Yao who was waiting in line. Qin Yao hurriedly picked the wheat in.

It was finally her turn.

The last family had cleaned the wheat husks on the stone mill before leaving. Qin Yao had already stood at the door and looked at it for a while, so she tried it directly and felt that it was okay.

But this efficiency is terrible even if she is as powerful as she is.

It took Qin Yao an hour to grind all 160 kilograms of wheat.

With her speed, everyone else was stunned. One can imagine how tedious this job would be for ordinary people.

Thinking of the modern rice grinding machines that could be used in just a few minutes, Qin Yao was walking home carrying the ground wheat and was thinking, is there any way to improve the efficiency of stone grinding?

Even if it doesn't improve efficiency, it's okay if it can save some effort.

Don't even think about using animals to grind the mill. Those who have cows and mules in the village treat them as ancestors, but they can't bear to let them grind the mill.

Moreover, cattle and horses need to eat grain and grass when they move, which increases the cost.

Walking across the bridge, Qin Yao suddenly paused, looking at the rushing river, an idea flashed in her mind.

The river in the village has a large amount of water in three seasons of the year. This is a ready-made power!

Qin Yao had participated in the water conservancy project of the base, and it was not difficult to design a waterwheel suitable for the river in Liujia Village.

Moreover, hadn't she been thinking about how to make some money before? There must be a market for this hydraulic stone mill in the countryside.

Thinking of this, Qin Yao was a little excited.

The villagers had little cash, so she could charge a certain percentage of grain. In the long run, Liujia Village alone would be able to earn a lot of grain.

The family doesn't have a large population. If she hunts a little by herself, will she not have to work hard to farm?

Thinking of not having to farm anymore, Qin Yao didn't want to delay for a second, so she trotted home carrying one hundred and sixty kilograms of wheat.

Feng Dou and Liu Ji had already borrowed it from the old house and started sifting it when Qin Yao got the ground wheat back.

I'm home!

Liu Ji came up to him with hot water. His wife didn't let him go grinding today. She was so kind.

Qin Yao put down the burden, took a sip of hot water, and returned the bowl to Liu Ji.

The wheat has been ground. You sift it out. I'll go to Carpenter Liu's house first and leave some food for me at noon. I may come back later.

After explaining, he turned around and walked out the door, rushing to Carpenter Liu's house.

Carpenter Liu's house is located in the center of the village, very close to Liu Dafu's house. Previously, horse bandits burned the backyard of Liu Dafu's house, and almost burned Carpenter Liu's wood as well.

Fortunately, the guy put out the fire in time and his wood was saved.

Now Qin Yao wants to make a waterwheel, which are all ready-made materials.

When Qin Yao arrived, Carpenter Liu's family had just finished breakfast. Except for him, he was still planing wood, and the rest of the family were busy drying and sifting wheat. They were very busy.

Last time, Qin Yao gave Carpenter Liu a drawing of getting on and off the bed. Carpenter Liu was very happy. When he met Qin Yao this time, he guessed that she might have something new, so he enthusiastically led her into the room and asked her what she wanted to play. furniture.

Qin Yao stepped on the fluffy wood shavings on the ground and came to Carpenter Liu's big table. She skillfully found his pen and ink, studied the ink and picked up the pen on a scrap board to roughly draw the shape of the waterwheel.

He motioned Carpenter Liu to come over and pointed at the picture and said: I want to make a vertical water truck like this to drive the stone mill. I saw the height of the water drop at the door of my house. I just need to make one as big as this.

She raised her hand and gestured, it was about the same height as her.

Carpenter Liu had never seen anything like this kind of windmill. When Qin Yao said that this waterwheel could use the water drop to create power to drive the heavy stone mill to rotate, he couldn't imagine what it would be like.

Fortunately, Qin Yao took the trouble to explain the principle to him over and over again, and used the waste wooden boards in his house to draw water, and made a small experiment to demonstrate the effect. In addition, Liu Carpenter's own understanding ability was very strong, and he immediately understood. He came over and exclaimed:

There is such a clever thing. Madam Qin, where did you see it?

Qin Yao replied: When I was a kid, I read it in a book about water conservancy.

Carpenter Liu said oh and stopped asking.

All skills must be hidden by each family. If you ask rashly, it will violate other people's rules.

What Qin Yao likes most is that Carpenter Liu will not get to the bottom of things, saving her a lot of trouble in explaining.

After understanding the principle, Qin Yao explained it again with a simplified diagram this time, and Liu Carpenter immediately understood what she wanted.

In addition to the waterwheel, it is also necessary to choose a solid piece of wood as the bearing to withstand the impact of the water flow and transfer this force to the rocker arm that drives the stone mill.

Qin Yao said: It doesn't need to be elaborate, as long as the entire power system can operate.

Carpenter Liu looked at the simple drawings on the scrap board and reminded her: To make this, a lot of good materials have to be scrapped. Mrs. Qin, you have to be prepared for the money.

Qin Yao wanted to wave her hand and don't have to worry about money!

However, my wallet was flat, so I had to ask carefully about the approximate price.

Carpenter Liu said that he would do it for her first for the sake of letting him gain experience, and the labor fee would be waived, but the materials alone would still cost one tael of silver.

Qin Yao suddenly thought, Do it!