Chapter 145 A Shocking Case Triggered by a Water Cart

Humans are strange creatures.

As a child, I longed to grow up quickly, but as an adult, I always thought about going back to the past. In ancient times, the average lifespan was thirty or forty years old, and fifty years old was considered a long life. Liu Laowu, an emperor who was originally a farmer and had lived to be over fifty, had also started to miss the past and become nostalgic at this age.

Looking at the two princes beside him with a smile, Liu Laowu looked at the people working in the fields and pointed to the harmonious scene, saying:

“When we were young, this was what Liujia Village looked like during the most peaceful years. At the time, we thought life was so bland and tasteless. But now, looking back, we realize that simplicity is the true essence of life. Look at our vast Later Han Dynasty, the vast Central Plains, which has been ravaged by war for so many years. Where else can you find such a prosperous place?”

The two sons-in-law beside Liu Laowu were also filled with emotion at this moment.

When Liu Laowu was choosing his son-in-law, there was a rather unique rule.

When other emperors chose husbands for their daughters, they would definitely give priority to those who were well-read and of noble status. They would be eager to shed their poverty and bring honor to themselves and their descendants. Only in this way could they appear respectable and glorious.

Especially those emperors, after ascending the throne, would find a famous historical figure to be their ancestor, and even claim that they were born from their mother and a dragon, and were not ordinary people by birth.

But Liu Laowu was different. The prince consort had to be someone whose family had farmed before. They had farmed, suffered, and knew what kind of hardships the common people had endured.

Seeing the scene before them, and considering that the three of them came from very similar backgrounds, they felt a deep sense of empathy.

"Alright, let's take our time and explore as we go. We'll put off settling scores with Lao Ba for now."

As Liu Laowu spoke, he walked to the edge of the field.

"Hey brother, your crops are growing really well."

Liu Laowu greeted him as soon as he came up. The man in the farming family was about forty or fifty years old, and looked a few years younger than Liu Laowu.

"Where are you going, brother? You don't look like a farmer at all. You can tell my crops are pretty good though."

The man who was working stopped what he was doing and squatted down next to Liu Laowu to chat with him.

Upon hearing the question, Liu Laowu immediately said smugly:

"Don't underestimate us. Back when we were farming, our family produced the most grain in the village every year. We took such good care of our few acres of land and crops, and the harvest was always the highest. Everyone was so envious of us."

At this point, Liu Laowu, wanting to offer a few words of advice to the old farmer in front of him as someone who had been through it all, thought:

"Hey buddy, you're a seasoned farmer, look how neatly you dug these plots, how could you make a mistake in such an easy spot?"

The old farmer was stunned. He hadn't figured out where he had planted the crops wrong again.

Then Liu Laowu pointed to the ditch in the distance and said:

“Look at that ditch, it’s more than a meter lower than your farmland. Your farmland is too high. This is dry land, only suitable for crops that are easy to grow. How can rice survive? Rice needs a lot of water, but your field is too high and the water can’t reach it. You can’t keep carrying water to irrigate all these fields by yourself, can you? That would kill you.”

To everyone's surprise, upon hearing Liu Laowu's words, the old farmer's tense expression immediately relaxed, and he instead said to Liu Laowu with a smug look:

"Brother, you're not a local, are you new to Liaodong?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Liu Laowu asked.

"That's right. Mr. Zhuge has created the design for the small waterwheel. The design was sent to the village, and we can make the small waterwheel by following the design. No one needs to do it. Even though the irrigation canal is more than a meter lower than the ground, if we use this small waterwheel, we can pump water from the low place to the high place. And we don't need to do it manually at all. The waterwheel is ready in no time. It's very convenient."

"What???????"

Liu Laowu thought he had misheard:

"Waterwheel?"

What kind of car is that?

"If you don't believe me, I'll show you."

After saying that, the old farmer led Liu Laowu and the other two to other people's fields, where an elderly couple was irrigating their fields with a waterwheel in the distance.

Their situation was the same as here. The irrigation canal was built in the past and was much lower than the fields. However, by constantly turning the waterwheel on the water surface, it was able to continuously pump water from the canal below and irrigate the farmland above. This scene truly opened Liu Laowu's eyes.

After all, there are no waterwheels in this world, and once Liu Laowu saw this magical sight, he couldn't take his eyes off it.

"This...this thing, what's it called, a vehicle, can really irrigate fields without any human intervention?"

When Liu Laowu learned that the old couple's son had been conscripted and died on the battlefield in his youth, and their daughter had married far away, leaving only the old couple to spend their twilight years at home, he felt that this invention was simply too great!

These elderly people are also disabled. If it weren't for this tool helping them a lot, they probably wouldn't even have the strength to farm and would starve to death.

But this small waterwheel brought about such a huge effect, which is truly astonishing.

At this moment, only one idiom came to mind to describe the merits of this Mr. Zhuge: immeasurable merits! Immeasurable merits indeed!

"By the way, where is this Mr. Zhuge now? Could you take us to see him?"

Liu Laowu was extremely excited. He was eager to meet this Mr. Zhuge. This waterwheel alone had already amazed him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Liu Laowu uttered these words, he was ridiculed by several old farmers in the fields:

"Brother, you really don't know anything about Liaodong. Mr. Zhuge is the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of our Eighth Prince's fiefdom."

Liu Laowu suddenly realized:

"So he was the prime minister! This person is a good choice. The Eighth Prince knows how to use people well. Not bad, not bad."

But Liu Laowu quickly realized what was going on:

"That's not right! Why didn't that rascal Lao Ba tell us he appointed such a good prime minister? He's a real talent! That damn Lao Ba, he keeps everything from this old man. Am I really that annoying?"

Further on, Liu Laowu discovered a large number of people gathered in one place.

Then, three gongs were struck, followed by a loud voice shouting:

"The water's out! Everyone come and get some!"

About a hundred villagers lined up to fetch water from the well, as it was located at the village entrance. After fetching the water, they immediately carried it back, which was very convenient. The well water was indeed very readily available.

Liu Laowu was stunned again. What was going on this time?