Chapter 57 - Elves, Coins, and Irrigation (2/2)

After Amber left, Gawain turned his attention back to the issue on the cultivation of the land.

Norris, the old farmer, had kept his head down quietly and waited, unlike the ordinary poor people who would fidget, glance around, and rush to speak. Instead, he seemed as if he was waiting for Gawain to ask questions.

“Is there any other problems in this land?” Gawain asked. “It is best to bring up any problems that might arise as early as possible.”

“If I must say, I would say that the land is higher than the river bank, making it hard for the water to be channeled into the canals. We would have to dig ditches from upstream or wells,” Norris replied. “But the good thing is that during torrential rains, we don’t have to worry about flooding of the land.”

Channeling water… If there was a pump or some lifting machinery, this would be an easy problem to solve. Or perhaps, they could rely on the “characteristic technology” of this world by finding a mage specializing in water elements to perform the irrigation. But obviously the second way is unreliable. Once the the camp starts normal operation, there would only be increasing amount of responsibilities on Herti’s plate. She would no longer have the opportunity to come over and serve as a human water pump. If they were to hire an official mage to be responsible for irrigating the land… Not even the Violet Kingdom in the north or the elves in the south would do something so extravagant. Besides, even if there was no limit to Cecil’s monetary resources, how many mages would be willing to do “dirty work” that only the lower class would do?

They would rather take half the compensation to set off fireworks for banquets at the King’s or nobles’ castles to please those aristocratic madames and misses who stuff themselves with pills to the extent of getting the deathly pale complexion that made them look neither humans nor like ghosts.

Thus Gawain immediately dismissed the idea of finding a mage to be a human water pump, and instead considered the solution from a mechanical perspective. Of course, if he were to do things the way that was usually done in this world, the way that the nobles would solve such problems would be to put more serfs to work. But in Gawain’s opinion, it was too much of a waste to use manpower on such matters.

Just then, an ancient and effective machinery came to mind. “Have you ever heard of something called a waterwheel?”

Herti, Norris, and Knight Philip were all dumbstruck.

Sure enough, no one had heard of such a thing.

Gawain looked at Herti. “Do you have pen and paper?”

After getting the pen and paper, Gawain began to make a simple sketch. It was a tall wheel-like structure supported by spokes. On the outer edge of the “wheel” were fixed neatly arranged inclined drums and wooden boards. On the side of this “wheel” was drawn a water channel that extended outward.

Due to limited time, he only drew a part of the waterwheel’s structure, and it was a rough drawing. But this simple yet astounding machine had an amazingly simple principle. He only needed to give a brief explanation. “This thing is a waterwheel. The river water flows underneath, pushing these wooden boards, driving the rotation of the waterwheel. Then the waterwheel will carry the water-filled drums to the top, and the water is poured into this channel. This process will continue, resulting in the water being raised to a higher ground. How high it can go depends on how big the waterwheel is, and as long as the materials are strong enough.”

With that said, he added, “Of course, this is just a sketch. The principle is also very simple, and many different models can be built based upon this principle…”

Herti was speechless as she was totally enthralled by this simple yet incredible contraption.

She could easily deduce that this machine would absolutely be useful. But before seeing this sketch, she really never thought that such a thing could exist.

It did not need manpower, nor did it require any extraordinary powers. It could work around the clock, perform work that would otherwise require lots of serfs, and it was driven by the power of nature.

She suddenly experienced “beauty” upon seeing such a machinery, a word that would normally not be associated with such a crude structure.

However, Gawain still sighed. “Unfortunately there is no bamboo here, otherwise it would be much easier to build…”

Herti did not catch what he said. “Ah? What did you just say?”

“No, nothing.” Gawain waved his hand. “Do you have any thoughts about this machine?”

Herti was about to say that it was a genius design when she saw Norris pick up a pen and draw something on a blank piece of paper. The old farmer said as he sketched. “If we were to set it directly at the river bank of the White River, it would be prone to be affected by the river’s condition. It would not be useful during the dry season. If another channel could be dug from the river, during the dry season…”

Noting the sudden silence around him, Norris quivered and immediately threw the pen away fearfully, trembling as he stepped back, “Lord, I was only…”

However, Gawain’s response surprised him. “Can you write?”