Daqin Engineering Corps

Page 221

Xu Ying nodded in response.

The reason why Shen Bing said this is because compared with the rice pounding water wheel, blowing Fengshui wheel is still somewhat technical.

The rice pounding water wheel is too simple to understand at first glance, even if Xu Ying doesn't pass it on to Chu Di, he will learn it very quickly.

Fengshui drums are relatively complicated and the production is relatively closed, so it will not be so fast to spread.

And this time difference is enough to allow the north of the Huaihe River controlled by Qin to gain some technical advantage over the south of the Huaihe River, although this advantage is short-lived.

The next thing Shen Bing has to do is to hit Chu Wangqi...

On the other side, King Qizheng of Chu and Xiang Yan were helpless in Dongting.

During this period of time, they spread spies everywhere, especially in the area of ​​Shouchun, where there were many spies from the state of Chu.

This made Chu Wangqi and Xiang Yan well aware of the situation in Huaibei.

The first thing I knew was the rice pounding waterwheel.

Even King Qi of Chu asked someone to make a waterwheel for pounding rice according to the drawing drawn by the spies.

Seeing that the rice was pounded up and down automatically without manpower, Chu Wangqi sighed:

"I also thought that Huaibei would definitely be in chaos due to lack of food in a few days."

"I don't want Shen Bing to make this thing and exchange rice for farming."

"In this way, the shortage of food in Huaibei can be solved."

Xiang Yan had nothing to say, but secretly wondered who this Shen Bing was, who knew how to make this thing.

In this way, not only Huaibei, but the Qin people in the entire Qin land can avoid the pain of pounding rice... You must know that each person has a daily amount of pounding rice.

The so-called amount of pounded rice means that everyone has to eat, and the rice must be pounded out of the shell.

But there are many people who cannot pound rice, such as dignitaries, such as the army, such as the elderly and children...

The amount of pounded rice will be concentrated on women and slaves.

For example, the army will have a large number of slaves dedicated to pounding rice, and they keep pounding day and night.

This once occupied a considerable part of the labor distribution.

But now... just set up a few waterwheels, and then use these waterwheels to do the job, which is fast, labor-saving, and good.

Among them, "good" is well-deserved.

Because, as mentioned before, military rations can be divided into "boiled rice" and "boiled rice".

They are all pounded from grains, but there is a difference, because it is time-consuming and labor-intensive to pound the rice by hand. If the rice is roughly pounded several times or some shells have been removed and can be eaten, it is called "粝米", which is eaten by soldiers with low ranks.

Continue pounding on the basis of "boiled rice" until there is almost no shell, which is "boiled rice", also known as polished rice, which is eaten by high-ranking soldiers and dignitaries.

Ordinary people usually eat "粝米".

The reason is that the housework is already heavy, and there is not much time to pound the rice, so I can only pound it roughly.

But now... If the pounding of rice can be done by water trucks, it will only take longer to pound. Is it still necessary to divide "粝米" and "粺米"?

The fact is indeed as Xiang Yan thought, "boiled rice" basically disappeared overnight in Huaibei area, especially Shouchun, and everyone can eat delicious polished rice.

After being silent for a while, Xiang Yan comforted King Chu and said:

"Your Majesty, don't worry about this."

"It's not difficult to make this thing. The Qin army can pound rice, so why can't we use it?"

Chu Wangqi just sighed and said:

"Our army has a lot of rations, so how could it be this rice-pulling water tanker that I worry about?"

"It's just that Shen Bing will have some whimsical ideas and extremely practical ideas from time to time. If things go on like this..."

Said Chu Wangqi sighed again.

Chu Wangqi's worry was justified.

If it is only one item of rice-husking waterwheel, it is okay, a large number of imitations in Chu and put into the folks to save labor.

The question is, is this the only thing made by Shen Bing?

Come one today and one tomorrow, and it won't take long for the land of Qin in Huaibei to widen the gap with the land of Chu in Huainan.

There is a saying that "no harm without contrast".

If in the past, everyone was so bitter and tired, then Huaibei and Huainan would have nothing to say.

but now……

If the Qin land in Huaibei can easily obtain more crops with less labor, while the exhausted dogs in the Chu land in Huainan can only harvest much less food, how will this make the people feel balanced?

As the saying goes, "people go to high places, water flows to low places".

Once the people's psychology is out of balance, Chu will soon face the problem of population loss... This is a bit like smuggling, which cannot be stopped, and it is like a torrent of water.

At that time, I am afraid that the Qin army will not be needed to destroy Chu, and Chu itself will perish due to a large population loss.

Xiang Yan, who is good at using soldiers, would not consider these things, he still said to King Chu:

"Your Majesty, my subordinates have contacted several nobles, and they have agreed to fight against Qin."

"At this time, you bear the brunt of the Qin army's soldiers, and your subordinates think that they will fight the enemy desperately."

"The subordinates think that it is not easy for the Qin army to go south."

Chu Wangqi could only reply with a frown:

"I hope so!"

Having said that, Chu Wangqi was not optimistic about the situation at all.

Sure enough, the bad news came one after another:

"My lord, it is said that Shen Bing has improved the quality of ironware."

"New iron is sharper and more durable than old iron."

Chu Wangqi hurriedly asked:

"What about the law?"

The answer I got was:

"Not found yet."

So Chu Wangqi realized that what he was worried about had finally come.

Then came another intelligence:

"My lord, the spies of the Qin army went deep into our territory to distribute notices."

Chu Wangqi was surprised again:

"What notice?"

The personal guard handed over a notice sent by Flying Pigeon.

Chu Wangqi was surprised to find that the notice was actually written on paper... He knew that this piece of paper was worth ten renminbi when he was in Qin State, but it was tripled and worth [-] renminbi in Chu State.

But Qin Jun used it to write notices?

Look at the content of the notice again... I was surprised again, it turned out to be written in a simple drawing with words.

It goes without saying why it is done in this way: people who are illiterate and illiterate can understand the general idea by looking at the pictures.

But after thinking about it, Chu Wangqi heaved a sigh of relief:

There are certainly not many notices written on such valuable paper.

If there are not many notices, how can they wait to have an impact?

However, when he casually asked, "How many such notices are there?" the personal guard replied:

"It is said that there are thousands of them, and the streets and alleys will be filled overnight."

Chu Wangqi: ...

Chapter 276 Propaganda War

This is actually the propaganda war used by Shen Bing.

It is actually very difficult to fight a propaganda war in this era, because the propaganda tools are very backward in this era.

Radio station?

trumpet?

television?

……

Not at all.

If you want to distribute leaflets, you may have to work overtime to make thousands of bamboo slips, and then transport these thousands of bamboo slips to the enemy's territory... If you are lucky and not found by the enemy, you will have to distribute the bamboo slips everywhere, but they have to be stuck on the wall It's all very difficult.

However, with paper, this becomes easier.

It's much easier to write in the first place.

Shen Bing didn't want to toss out printing for the time being, so he used a simple and direct method: gather all the literate people in Shouchun, and set up a sample for them to copy day and night.

Needless to say the source of paper, Shen Bing only needs to set up another papermaking workshop in Shouchun.

Fusu is the supervisor of the Daliang Army, so he can't hide anything from him.

Just kidding, the so-called "supervising army" means the king sent to monitor this army, and you still hide it from him?That is almost deceiving the emperor and intending to rebel.

However, Shen Bing didn't intend to hide it from Fusu, and there was no need to hide it from Fusu.

Fusu is very interested in this papermaking technique. After all, he has been under the sect of the great Confucian Chunyu Yue for so many years, and he is naturally good at calligraphy and writing under the influence of his ears and eyes.

Fusu watched the whole production process carefully, and when the sheets of paper were peeled off from the copying board, his eyes widened in surprise, and then asked Shen Bing angrily:

"May I ask the lieutenant general, how much does it cost to make a piece of paper?"

Shen Bing answered truthfully:

"The subordinates have never calculated it, because there is almost no cost."

If there is any cost, it is to buy some wooden barrels, copying boards and the like.

Of course, this is also because Shen Bing is the lieutenant general and has tens of thousands of free labor, otherwise the labor cost will still have to be calculated.

Fusu said angrily:

"Since there is no cost, why does it cost ten yuan for a piece of paper in foreign markets?"

"Does the deputy general know that many people starve for half a month just to buy a piece of paper?"

This is telling the truth. Although the paper in Daliang Yuntian has been reduced to five renminbi, it still costs eighty ten renminbi or even higher in other places.

Ten qian is two catties of rice.

Eating is already tight in this era, and in order to save two catties of rice and reduce the amount of food, it is common to be half hungry and half full for the first half of the month.

Shen Bing replied:

"My son's words are wrong."

"We have never sold paper, only used it to pay off debts."

"As for the price of paper in the market, it has nothing to do with Daliang Jun."

Fu Su thought for a while and felt that what Shen Bing said was right. Because he had bought a lot of paper with a lot of money, he knew its source.

But Fusu was still indignant:

"However, the deputy general's move has become an accomplice of a profiteer."

"If the cost is so cheap, why can't the lieutenant make it convenient for the world to sell it at a low price?"

Shen Bing replied:

"My lord, first of all, I am not allowed to do business as a soldier."