Chapter 1469.

Ye Xiangming looked at the drawings in his hand and remained speechless for a long time. Regarding the principle of the autoworking vehicle, after Wang Dust’s detailed explanation, he had completely understood it.

But whether such a large contraption could run properly, Ye Xiangming had no idea.

He had never seen it before!

If it was built by Wang Chuan, it didn’t matter if he just tossed it around or not, anyway, it was Wang Chuan’s own responsibility.

However, Wang Chen is now asking the county government to organize craftsmen to build this thing.

The situation is very different.

The government needs the county government to be responsible for and endorse the project, and once the money is invested and it fails, then Ye Xiangming, as the initiator of the project, will definitely be the first person to be held responsible.

It is normal for him to have scruples.

Hesitating again and again, the county minister said, “Why don’t I help you contact the workshop?”

“Time waits for no one.”

Wang Dust understood the other party’s concerns, but the drought was severe, so without the intervention of official forces, it would be a fool’s errand to create a working artesian water truck in the fastest time possible.

“Let’s do it this way.”

Wang Dust thought for a moment and said, “How about I pay for the cost of the first autoworking car, and if it gains success, then the county government side will be responsible for taking it over?”

Ye Xiangming’s eyes lit up, “That’s something to consider.”

Wang Dust would bear the cost of building it, then the county office side would only need to put up a name, and there would be no loss if it failed.

But he was still cautious: “This is a big matter, I have to discuss it with the county magistrate.”

Wang Dust understood his old man’s thoughts and nodded, “Good.”

Once a decision is made, Ye Xiangming’s actions are still very swift, he let Wang Duan wait in the room, and then went to find the magistrate Yu Heqian to discuss.

As a result, before Wang Duan finished his cup of tea, Yu Heqian and Ye Xiangming came together.

As the county magistrate of Qing’an County, Yu Heqian, who is over forty years old, is still very capable, otherwise it would not be possible for him to sit on the county magistrate’s throne for many years, and his position has never been shaken.

And this magistrate and the county minister Ye Xiangming relationship is not amicable, between the two people also continued to fight for several years.

However, this time he did not go against Ye Xiangming, and was very interested in the autowheeler “invented” by Wang Duan, asking the latter for a lot of details.

Then the magistrate made a decision on the spot: “That’s it then, let’s build one first to see how it works, and if it works, then the magistrate will continue to build a few more.”

The advantages of the self-watering vehicle were extremely obvious, first of all, it relied on the water flow to propel it, greatly saving labor, able to operate continuously around the clock, and very efficient.

Secondly, its water drawing height could be adjusted, avoiding the embarrassing situation of the water level dropping further and causing the water treadmill to fail.

The only drawback, I am afraid, is that the cost will be very high.

But the construction cost of the first waterwheel was donated by Wang Duan, so this problem naturally no longer existed.

Yu Heqian even exclaimed, “I have long heard that Mr. Wang has a heart for the common people with a noble character, and it is true that his name is true, on behalf of the 100,000 people of Qing’an County, this official would like to express his gratitude to Mr. Wang.”

He got up and bowed very solemnly to Wang Dust.

Wang Dust hurriedly returned the salute, “Your Honor is flattering.”

Although Wang Dust was a natural “Ye Party”, he had to admit that in terms of the level of officialdom, Yu Heqian could definitely beat Ye Xiangming – the two were simply not at the same level.

Only Ye Xiangming’s advantage is also very obvious, his own strength is strong enough, completely take up the important task of the county minister, so did not lose much of the wind.

In the official system of the Southern Li State, the main officials of the county are divided into the county magistrate, the county minister and the chief bookkeeper, of which the county minister holds the military power and is responsible for commanding the local garrison, which is enough to compete with the county magistrate.

However, in Wang Chen’s opinion, the balanced situation between the two sides was most likely the result of Yu Heqian’s deliberate creation!

However, Wang Dust was not interested in the power struggle inside the county government office, what he was most concerned about at the moment was when he would be able to build out the autonomous water truck and put it into use at the fastest speed.

Because the severity of the drought had been greatly emphasized, after the two giants of Qing’an County unanimously agreed, the drawings of the artesian water trucks were soon sent to the government workshop, where the most experienced craftsmen were in charge of their construction.

Since the autowheel was something completely new, Wang Dust not only provided the funds and design, but also stationed himself in the workshop as the supervisor of the construction.

Wang Dust of course had no problem with this, in fact it would be troublesome if he couldn’t personally participate!

In the next few days, under Wang Dust’s supervision, the craftsmen of the government workshop put their best foot forward, working overtime day and night, and finally constructed the first autoworking car.

At the same time, the site for the erection was also completed, so this new waterwheel was soon pulled to the edge of the Qingshui River for assembly.

When the waterwheel was being assembled, both sides of the riverbank were crowded with people, and nearby villagers and farmers came in droves after learning the news.

In these recent days, the water level of the Qingshui River had dropped again, causing all of the newly built water treading wagons to turn into waste lumps, and the ditches connected to them were left without water, plunging the surrounding rice paddies into a severe drought.

If this situation continues, a large part of the paddy fields will go out of harvest.

This would undoubtedly be a devastating blow to the local farmers!

Therefore, these distressed townspeople are looking forward to the new waterwheel built by the government to be put to use.

Because the relationship is important, the county magistrate Yu Heqian and the county chancellor Ye Xiangming two county bigwigs have come, so that the craftsmen responsible for the assembly of the feeling of great pressure.

Fortunately, the quality of the official workshop is still very reliable, all the dimensions of the accessories have been strictly measured, so the assembly process did not have any major problems.

In the morning and afternoon, when a rather grand waterwheel appeared in everyone’s sight, many farmers let out a heartfelt gasp – it was too big.

The assembled waterwheel was fixed by the mechanism, and did not immediately carry out the water extraction action.

Instead, the step of starting it was left to Yu Heqian.

When the magistrate slammed the trigger, the tall waterwheel immediately made a “creaking” sound, and began to rotate under the impact of the water, and continued to accelerate.

At the same time, the clear river water was brought up by a branch of the water cylinder, and then dumped into the dry canal next to it.

Success!

Such a wonderful scene caused all the onlooking townspeople and farmers to let out earth-shattering cheers in unison.

Many even shed hot tears.

Because with the river water, their crops were saved and would not be extinct in the fall.

Driven by the artesian water truck, the river water was continuously introduced into the ditch and slowly flowed into the vast fields.

Ye Xiangming couldn’t help but let out a long breath, patted Wang Duan’s shoulder and said, “Good job!”