Chapter 64

Chapter 65: The Harvester

Three days later was the day of the funeral procession. Two funeral corteges moved slowly, with paper money flying like white moths in the wind. The mournful sound of the suona made people's hearts ache, and the bereaved family members walked in a line, men on the left and women on the right, their cries shaking the heavens. Zhao Cheng held the ropes and supported the coffin, walking in the middle.

"May the soul of the departed rest in peace," Li Yannian's dirge was mournful and sorrowful, and Zhao Cheng sang it over and over again.

"Brother, may you rest in peace."

"Brother, may you rest in peace." Every time they passed a construction site, the laborers would set out offerings and perform roadside rituals, forcing the funeral procession to stop repeatedly. Zhao Cheng would also bow with the bereaved family.

"Brother, the Prince is personally seeing you off, you should rest in peace!" a middle-aged man shouted loudly.

"Brother, the Prince has already arranged for your family's future, you can go with peace of mind!"

Hearing the villagers' sincere words, Zhao Cheng felt both ashamed and moved. His fellow villagers had passed away, and he had only done what he should have done, yet these villagers not only did not blame him but were grateful. A little bit of kindness had made them content.

Zhao Cheng accompanied the deceased laborers to the cemetery and did not return home until sunset. "Zheng Lu, we have taken the land of the tenant farmers for the canal and road construction. What do they say about it?" After changing his clothes and washing up, Zhao Cheng called him in to ask.

"Second Master, most people think we are doing this for their benefit and have not said anything. Only a few are dissatisfied!" Now, Zhao Cheng had established his authority in the manor, and no one dared to treat him like a child. Zheng Lu carefully answered, watching his expression.

"How did you handle it?" Zhao Cheng asked, his face expressionless.

"Second Master, the land is ours, and we can take it if we want. Besides, the road and canal are next to their fields, which will be convenient for them in the future. How could they dare to blackmail us!" Zheng Lu replied.

"Hmph, you are being shortsighted. Although the land is ours, it is not entirely ours since they have rented it. Now that we have taken their land, it will affect their harvest. You are also threatening them. Is this the way of the world?" Zhao Cheng slapped the table and said.

"Second Master, we have already invested over ten thousand strings of cash in the road and canal construction. If we compensate them, it will cost a lot more, and it will take many years to recoup the costs. Please think carefully, Second Master!" Zheng Lu quickly explained.

"I know you are loyal and thinking of the manor and me. A few strings of cash may be a small matter to us, but to these tenant farmers, it is the income from one mu of land. They also have to pay various taxes, leaving them with very little. This land is their livelihood!" Zhao Cheng said, "Tomorrow, you must make a detailed inventory of whose land we have taken and how much. Reduce their rent according to this year's harvest, and compensate for the destroyed seedlings. Don't let people curse us behind our backs for being rich and unkind!"

"I understand, Second Master. I will do as you say immediately!" Zheng Lu bowed and said.

"Zheng Lu, you are now the acting chief steward. When making decisions, don't just look at the short-term gains. We may suffer some losses now, but if no one cultivates our land, even with more land, it will be just a wasteland, and we won't earn a single coin. Only by keeping the people and making them genuinely work for us can we develop!" Zhao Cheng saw that Zheng Lu was somewhat不服气 (unconvinced) and had to explain further to prevent him from just going through the motions or being消极 (negative) in the future.

Finally, the issues at the construction site were resolved. The two super assassins were handed over to Huang Jingchen, and the brewery was supervised by Jianxi and his uncle. Zhao Cheng finally had time to focus on his other project. In two months, it would be the wheat harvest season, and he needed to complete his other 'invention'—a semi-automatic harvester.

Zhao Cheng was now researching a harvesting machine powered by animal labor. This harvester was not only simple in structure and easy to pull but also mostly made of wood, using animals as the power source. It was fast, efficient, and relatively easy to maintain, making it particularly suitable for the current era.

"This wheel should look like this, right? Why didn't I study it more carefully back then?" Zhao Cheng painfully recalled the thing he had seen in his previous life. It was a pile of junk he had seen in the warehouse when he was the farm manager. It was the most advanced agricultural equipment introduced during the farm's early days but had long been replaced by more advanced machinery. He had to thank the previous managers for their persistence in maintaining the farm's tradition of frugality, which prevented the equipment from being discarded as scrap, allowing him to see it.

There was no regret pill to take, so Zhao Cheng could only rely on his mechanical engineering background to try to recreate the old animal-powered harvester. Without a physical reference or any documentation, and with completely different measurement standards, Zhao Cheng drew the rough shape of the harvester on paper based on his memory, then broke it down into several major parts. Fortunately, he was familiar with modern mechanical principles and knew which major components were needed. Finally, he dissected the major components into more small parts.

"Damn, this isn't imitation; it's pure redesign!" Zhao Cheng looked at the pile of drawings on the table and the scattered waste paper on the ground, feeling helpless and frustrated. Mechanical engineering required precision, and all parts had to fit together perfectly. If one part was wrong, he would have to start over. After three sleepless nights, he finally completed the initial design, but he still needed to see if it would work by building a prototype.

"Ah," Zhao Cheng yawned, his eyelids drooping uncontrollably. "I'm still a child; I need plenty of sleep to grow tall. Forget it, I'll sleep now and test it tomorrow. Practice makes perfect, right!" Unable to resist the call of sleep, he climbed into bed fully dressed, comforting himself as he drifted off to sleep.

Another seven days passed, and on a sunny morning, Zhao Cheng returned to the manor's workshop. He instructed everyone to bring the completed parts together and assemble them according to his requirements. The structure was not complex, and soon a strange-looking contraption, over seven feet long, five feet wide, and four feet high, appeared before everyone.

"Is this a sedan chair, Second Master?" Zhang Liujin whispered to the foreman, Zhang Erbao.

"No, it looks like a cart. Didn't you see the wheels underneath?" Zhang Erbao shook his head.

"Um, the boss is right. I've been thinking it's a cart designed by Second Master. Look, I even carved flowers around it!" the carpenter Qian Zhuang smiled.

"You guys are clueless. This is clearly a war chariot. See those circular blades in front? They can cut off horse hooves in battle!" the blacksmith Cao Shuangcheng sneered.

"Old Cao, you can't stop boasting. If you use this in battle, where will people hide? They'll be shot like porcupines!" Zhang Liujin said, looking at him as if he were an idiot.

Zhao Cheng didn't care about their wild guesses. He checked the harvester's components again: the reel, the divider, the cutter, the conveyor belt, and the transmission rod. Everything was connected, but the craftsmen had added their own creative touches, making the harvester look even more bizarre. The wooden frame was painted and decorated with large peonies and gold outlines. Zhang Liujin, who had done the least work, had added some small copper bells to the front and decorated the wheels with copper sheets. Cao Shuangcheng, who had done the most work, had polished each iron part to a shine, making them look like mirrors. Zhao Cheng wiped his sweat, thankful he hadn't called in any silversmiths or jade craftsmen, or they might have added even more.

"Stop arguing. You'll see what this is in a moment. Come over and push it a few steps!" After checking everything, and seeing that the main components were in place, Zhao Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and called out to the group.

"Sure, I said it was a cart, didn't I? It can be pushed!" Zhang Erbao called out, and the workers took their positions, pushing the harvester around the courtyard. After a while, the initial creaking and groaning subsided, and Zhao Cheng, lying on the frame, observed the components' coordination. Everything seemed to be working normally, and the parts that should move were moving.

"Jianxi, go to the stables and bring a horse to the garden. Let's take this thing to the garden!" The initial test went smoothly, and Zhao Cheng felt confident, immediately instructing a practical test.

"Yes, Second Master!" Jianxi, who had been watching from the side, had not approached. Although he didn't know what the Prince had created, he knew it would make a lot of money, or the Prince wouldn't have put in so much effort.

The group carried and pushed the harvester to the garden. Zhao Cheng looked around; it had been over half a month since he had been there, and the garden was now a riot of flowers and greenery, full of springtime charm. However, he had no time to admire it. After walking around, he chose a patch of 'scarlet sage,' which was about the same height as wheat and planted in a large area, perfect for testing.

"Second Master, what are you doing?" Seeing the Prince lead a horse and a strange contraption into the flower bed, the gardener Old Wang blocked the way.

"Old Wang, these flowers aren't very nice. I'll cut them down, and you can replant them!" Zhao Cheng smiled, pushed Old Wang aside, and patted the horse's rump.

Old Wang, who had been stomping and sighing in distress, opened his eyes wider and wider. As the contraption entered the flower bed, a three-foot-wide swath of flowers was cut and fell onto the conveyor belt, forming a neat row on the ground.

"Yay! Success!" The harvester made two rounds in the flower bed, cutting down a large area of flowers. Zhao Cheng checked and found that by adjusting the height of the cutter, it could be used for wheat harvesting.

"Second Master, what is this?" The craftsmen finally understood but didn't know what to call it. Zhang Erbao stammered.

"This is called a rice and wheat harvester!" Zhao Cheng grinned proudly, marking the beginning of the mechanized agricultural era in the Song Dynasty.