"Exactly!" Xu Shu also sighed: "I haven't been here for two years, and the scenery remains the same."
Liu Qi was excited and urged his horse down the hill and headed straight for the villa.
They dismounted at the bridge, crossed the stream, and walked through the bamboo forest, then arrived at the thatched cottage. Liu Qi personally went forward and knocked on the wooden door.
After a while, the gate opened and a boy came in. He saw that Liu Qi looked unfamiliar, but saw Xu Shu behind him and asked in surprise, "Mr. Yuanzhi?"
Xu Shu's expression changed slightly, and he said hurriedly: "This is General Zuo!"
Liu Qi clasped his fists and said, "I am Liu Qi, my father Liu Biao, and I have come to pay my respects to Mr. Kong Ming."
The boy shook his head and said, "General, you came at an unfortunate time. The master went out to visit a friend this morning."
Xu Shu's eyes flashed with worry, and he said to Liu Qi: "Kong Ming is away for an indefinite period of time, I'm afraid..."
"It's okay, just consider it as a spring outing for us!" Liu Qi waved his hand nonchalantly, looked around, saw a piece of fertile land on the left, and asked, "Is this where Kong Ming farms?"
The boy nodded and said, "We will turn the soil and apply fertilizer in the next few days. When you come back, we can plant the crops."
Liu Qi walked over and took a look. The ridges were very neat, each one as straight as a line. Even someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder would cry when seeing this.
Turning around, he saw the wooden plow in the corner, exclaimed "Huh", walked over, picked it up, and looked at it carefully.
Xu Shu wondered, "What's so special about this wooden plow?"
"This wooden plow is a bit too heavy." Liu Qi looked at it for a while, shook his head and sighed.
The boy was immediately displeased and said, "This wooden plow has been modified by my teacher. It can not only be used to plough the land, but also to sow seeds. I'm afraid that in Xiangyang and even in the entire Jingzhou, only Longzhong has this wooden plow."
This wooden plow was different from what I had imagined. The plowshare was straight and long, and the point where it touched the ground was like a machine tool. Although it had a wooden bucket for sowing, it looked heavy and rigid.
"It saves trouble, but it doesn't save energy!" Liu Qi thought for a moment, and suddenly remembered that the curved plow might not have appeared at this time, and suddenly an idea came to him.
"General, you also know how to farm?" The boy looked unconvinced and looked at Liu Qi with his chin slightly raised.
Xu Shu was also stunned. Zhuge Liang was very familiar with these machines and mechanisms. He liked to collect various ancient books and often figured out and modified them on his own, which was amazing.
This wooden plow was placed at the door, apparently to make it easier for others to imitate it. It must have been Zhuge Liang's masterpiece, but how could it be described so badly by Liu Qi
"I know a little bit!" Liu Qi smiled and asked, "Can I borrow a pen and paper?"
"Please go to the thatched cottage and rest for a while!" The boy was skeptical and took Liu Qi and others into the yard.
This courtyard is very quiet, with pine and bamboo trees surrounding the walls, fruit trees and flowers in the courtyard, and the garden is in the shape of a Bagua, with pebbles of various colors laid meticulously. It is simply a blessing for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
They sat down in a pavilion in the courtyard, and a boy brought them tea. Xu Shu seemed a little uneasy, looking around and sighing occasionally.
Soon, paper and pen were put on the table, and Liu Qi drew a rough sketch of a curved plow, while introducing: "Change this part into a triangular shape, and connect the front end with an iron ring to facilitate control of the direction..."
After Liu Qi finished drawing, it looked like a square root, with only a handle and a curved beam connected by a crossbeam in the middle. It simply minus the large part of the wooden bed, making it very simple.
"This..." The boy was full of disdain, and wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but because of his status, he changed the subject and said, "Can this be used to cultivate the land?"
Liu Qi smiled and said, "The master is very familiar with the equipment. When you come back, ask him to modify and make it. We will know after trying it."
The boy said perfunctorily: "Thank you for your guidance, General."
Xu Shu also couldn't tell whether this thing was useful or not. He thought that if Liu Qi showed off his skills in front of an expert, he would be laughed at and despised by Zhuge Liang, and there would be no hope of inviting him to come out of seclusion.
He said, "Since Kong Ming is not here, why don't you leave a letter and come back another day?"
"Okay!" Liu Qi nodded slightly.
Without looking for a piece of paper, he wrote a poem under the curved plow and left.
In the evening, two people were strolling on Wolong Hill, one with fluttering long sleeves, and the other wearing a long green gown and carrying a bag. They were Zhuge Liang and his third brother Zhuge Jun.
When they returned to the manor, the boy came out in a hurry to greet them, and asked in surprise, "How come the two masters returned in just one day?"
Zhuge Jun smiled and said, "Mr. Cui is not at home, and it is spring planting time, so go home first."
The boy welcomed him in and said, "Today we have a distinguished guest, Liu Qi, the son of Liu Jingzhou. Mr. Yuan Zhi is also here..."
"Yuanzhi is leading the way?" Zhuge Liang frowned slightly and asked unhappily, "Does Xu Shu want to sacrifice me?"
"That Liu Qi is too young and frivolous!" The boy also chimed in, "He actually said that the wooden plow that you modified was heavy and bulky, and he even showed off his skills in front of an expert and left a sketch."
"Hmph, you ignorant fellow!" Zhuge Liang was originally walking towards the pavilion, but upon hearing this he snorted slightly and walked into the thatched cottage with a flick of his sleeves.
Zhuge Jun was a little curious, so he walked over to take a look and exclaimed, "Second brother, there is a poem here that fits your previous sigh of worrying about the people."
"Read it to me." Zhuge Liang was washing his hands in the corridor without turning his head.
Zhuge Jun read aloud:
“In spring, plant a grain of millet, and in autumn, harvest ten thousand grains;
There is no idle land in the world, but farmers still starve to death! "
"Hmm?" Zhuge Liang turned around, shook the water drops on his hands and said with a smile: "This must have been made under Yuan Zhi's instruction."
"Brother, please take another look at this picture." Zhuge Jun took the paper.
"This is..." Zhuge Liang was smiling calmly, but suddenly his expression changed slightly and his eyes fixed on the sketch.
He wiped his hands on himself, took the drawing and looked at it carefully. The poem below was written in a vigorous and flamboyant style, and was written by the same person as the one he saw at Shuijing Villa.
Zhuge Jun was surprised: "Brother, is this wooden plow useful?"
Zhuge Liang would only lose his composure like this when he saw fragments of ancient books and extremely sophisticated mechanisms.
"Prepare the materials immediately!" Zhuge Liang handed the blueprint to Zhuge Jun and walked quickly to the back hall: "Change clothes!"
Zhuge Jun was stunned for a moment before asking the boy to prepare. Soon, the yard was filled with wooden beds, axes, chisels, saws and other tools.
Soon Zhuge Liang changed into a set of coarse cloth clothes and wrapped his hair with a green scarf, looking neat and tidy, in stark contrast to his previous elegant temperament.
Zhuge Jun advised: "It is getting late, why not try again tomorrow."
"Let's build this curved shaft first!" Zhuge Liang was a man of swift and decisive actions. Once he made a decision, he would never delay.
Zhuge Jun had no choice but to ask the boy for help and find a similar wooden stake to start working.
Zhuge Liang pointed out the problem and said, "The original plow frame often broke. If it is changed into a triangular shape, it will be much more stable, save a lot of materials, and be easier to promote."
Zhuge Jun was puzzled. The previous four-sided plow frames always had one side deformed or broken. They had tried many ways to improve it but could not. Liu Qi simply removed one side. Wouldn't it be more likely to fall apart
Zhuge Liang sighed: "The curved plow is not only simple, but also convenient and labor-saving. The land can be cultivated by the user, and there is no need to lead livestock to lead the way."
Zhuge Jun was a little skeptical: "Cutting corners can have a miraculous effect?"
Zhuge Liang stroked his beard and sighed, "This is a work of genius. After this transformation, we can cultivate three acres of land instead of one acre in the past. It's twice the result with half the effort!"
Zhuge Jun was surprised and asked, "What a coincidence?"
"Yuanzhi is not familiar with weapons. What kind of person is Liu Qi?" Zhuge Liang frowned.
Liu Qi might have been prepared when he left the poem, but the modification of the wooden plow was definitely not a pre-planned one. If it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, this person would be too mysterious.