Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

At dawn, the clatter of horse hooves approached outside the door. A moment later, there was a knock on the door. The little girl was startled awake. "Mom, horses!" Li Ru got up, dressed, and dressed the little girl. She tucked her into a small blanket. Li Ru carried her out of the house. In the courtyard, Old Lady Li, Chai Zhen, and Chai Ping'an were all up. Chai Ping'an opened the west gate, and Escort Captain Li called out, "Hello, Brother Chai!" Chai Ping'an flung the door wide open. "Why are you here today? Come in! All the brothers from the escort agency are here!" "Yes." Another kid said, "We've made arrangements at home. We're just waiting to leave for the front." "We're all carrying our bags." Hahahahaha... The fourth kid laughed out loud, "I'm waiting too, to go to the front and kill the enemy." Chai Zhen slapped the fourth kid on the head. "Grandpa!" The fourth kid scratched his head, wanting to talk but holding it in. The fourth son said, "Take the horses to the east stable and feed them first." "Grandpa, the stable is small." Jiaxing and Jiahe went to help. They erected a few more stakes and tied the horses to them. They filled large baskets with horse feed and basins with water for the horses to drink, but it still wasn't enough. Chai Zhenrang brought in the large pots they had just bought and laid bricks on them so the horses could eat comfortably. Old Mrs. Li had already called in the women in the house to make breakfast. Li Ru asked her mother to help with the cooking. Xiaojuan also came to help. Zhang Ying looked after the children. The whole family was busy. The weather was getting warmer, and the children, both young and old, were up early to play in the yard. They couldn't be kept indoors. The children changed into thin cotton clothes to keep them warm. The strong laborers were busy with spring plowing and clearing land. The young people were making bricks and repairing roads. Everyone washed their faces and sat down. A large shed had been built in the main yard for eating, drinking, and resting. Breakfast was ready and served on the table. Fortunately, the Chai family had plenty of tables and stools. The food was laid out under the canopy, where the men sat. The young men brought the food to the table: baskets of large yellow flour buns, leavened scallion pancakes, sour, sweet, and spicy pickled white radish, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, and stir-fried meat and mushrooms. The women and children went to the west room. The men ate in silence, their heads buried in their food. The bodyguards, in particular, were craving such delicious food, having never tasted it before on their last visit.

After dinner, the boys took the dishes to the kitchen, and the fourth brother wiped the table and cleaned up. Then they talked about what to do now. Chai Zhen said, "Wait for notification. We can only leave when the general's housekeeper comes to notify us. For the time being, we are training." Ma Hua said, "Train with me, practice horseback combat, learn culture, close combat, group fighting, and individual fighting. I have been on the battlefield. Do you have weapons?" "I have a knife." Someone said. "Weapons used on horseback are not for close combat." "Bring out all your weapons so I can see."

Twenty bodyguards, all with their short knives. "Hey, let's figure it out," Chai Hua said. "Second Uncle," he said. "Let's all go get some work today." Chai Zhen added, "We don't have all the tools. I'll go to the county tomorrow to see if the work is done. Let's all go build the road; they need manpower. A few of you, come with me to open up the wasteland." "Let's go"—he went to work...

Old Lady Li saw that everyone had to stay here tonight, and there were no quilts. "If it gets warmer, the floor will do." "Let's spread out our straw fans, and all the women can squeeze into the fourth room, and the other rooms can make do." "Let's make quilts today, as many as we can." Zhang Ying, who was looking after the children, took the younger ones away, leaving only the baby to be carried. The others, who could walk, all ran off to the east courtyard, laughing and giggling. Juanzi filled a small teacup with water and left with the kettle. She later brought back bread.

Zhang Ying ran with her little baby in her arms, followed by three other children. They were having a blast, and soon Wang Wang and Mu Mu also arrived, making the group even bigger.

The doctor also taught cultural courses. The school was divided into two classes, with the younger children in his class. Every day, they learned a large number of characters, first by recognizing them and then writing them. They studied idioms, poetry, and allusions from "Three Character Classic," "Hundred Family Surnames," and "Thousand Character Classic."

Sun Gui taught relatively quickly because the children were older and some had to take exams, such as the Four Books and the Five Classics.

At the Chai family's house, the new daughter-in-law, the eastern daughter-in-law, the handsome daughter-in-law, and the Pai daughter-in-law had all arrived, making quilts on the kang and on the floor in several rooms. Old Lady Li and Runiang cooked lunch, and with so many people around, they had to start early. The fields were also bustling with activity, clearing the land, first mowing the grass, then plowing the land with hoes. There was a lot of wasteland in the north, clearing large plots and plowing with oxen. They dug out toilets from the houses and used them as fertilizer in the fields. Chicken and pig manure were fertilizer, as were horse and cow manure. They brought back grass to feed the horses and cows when they got home. The fields were full of treasures. Chai Zhen worked for a while, but the land was dry and lacked water. He looked up at the sky. The river in the distance to the west was full of water, but it was far away. How could he bring water here? He had to go back and ask his little granddaughter. The wheat was growing well, so it was time to water it. Everyone in the village knew it was wheat, and it was white flour steamed buns. He saved seeds for the villagers. I thought I would let the villagers plant vegetables first, and those with smaller plots closer to home who need to carry water should plant first. ...

Seeing that it was noon, Chai Zhen shouted, "Let's go home." Everyone took off their clothes and threw them on their shoulders. They were too hot to wear them when working.

tools, chatting and laughing as we walked home.

After lunch, everyone went to rest. Chai Zhen picked up Little Naibao and walked to the front door, sitting on the threshold. "My dear grandson, Grandpa has a question for you. It hasn't rained, and the fields are dry. Our wheat is growing well, but we're short of water, and we can't irrigate the fields. Do you have any ideas?" "Yes, Grandpa. Let's make a tool that harnesses the power of water to move it from low to high. Dig a canal and divert it to the fields." "Right," Chai Zhen understood, but he didn't know what kind of tool. "Grandpa, let's go back to the house. I'll try my hand at painting. I'll draw the blueprints and have my uncle do it." "Okay, okay, you're my treasure. Let's go inside." Chai Zhen carried Little Naibao to the east end of the new house, where the wine was stored. There was a separate room with pens, inkstone, paper, and inkstone. Little Naibao took out a pencil and said, "Grandpa will sharpen it. Let's spill the lead, and then we can use it." "Okay." "Can you sit?" Grandpa, I can sit now. There's a pencil sharpener. The little hand flipped open, revealing a beautiful object in the palm. Grandpa put the pencil in and turned it around. Chai Zhen tried, and it was, "Hey, this is a pencil sharpener," the little girl told her grandfather. After the pencil was sharpened, the little girl picked up the pencil, sat on her grandfather's lap, spread out the paper, and slowly drew with her little hands, slowly drawing the overall picture of the waterwheel. Chai Zhen stared at her intently, this was his fairy-like granddaughter. The corners of Chai Zhen's mouth curved more and more. Watching his granddaughter draw. The little girl drew the waterwheel as a whole. She took out another piece of paper and broke down the drawing part by part. "Make it one by one, and then assemble it. This way you can put together a waterwheel." "Grandpa, make the small one first, and then make the big one when it's right." "Okay." The drawing was finished, and it had been an hour later. The little girl was sleepy, and her eyes blinked shut. Chai Zhen picked up the child and took her back to the west room. Ru took the child and put her on the kang, covering her with a thin quilt.

Chai Zhen returned to the east room and examined the blueprints. Every part was clearly visible, the dimensions clearly marked. He constructed dozens of drawings and put them together. This was called a waterwheel. It could bring water from low places to high places. With this device, the fields could be irrigated, and the entire village could grow crops, even without worrying about a lack of rain.

Chai Zhen didn't sleep at noon. He took the blueprints and went to the school to look for Sun Gui. Sun Gui was in class, arranging the students' studies when Chai Zhen came out and went to his room. He said, "Uncle, what's up?" Chai Zhen didn't say anything. He took out the blueprints and handed them to Sun Gui. Sun Gui examined them one by one, "Is this a waterwheel?" Great. "Uncle, you go and take a look. No, I'll go with you. Let's go." He went to tell Chen Jun to keep an eye on it for him.

Second Uncle, "Let's go and see how much wood we have. If it doesn't work, we'll arrange for more woodcutters." The two men chatted as they walked. "If this is done right, it's no small matter. The whole country can use it. It's a national priority!" Sun Gui said excitedly. "Indeed," Chai Zhen said. "Let's try it first. Once it's done and works, we'll report it." Sun Gui thought, and it was true. The two men hurried to Li Dong's house and walked in to see eight or nine people busy at work. Chai Zhen called Li Dong over and handed him the blueprints. "Take a look," Li Dong took the blueprints and examined them carefully, from the overall view to the details, marked with serial numbers and dimensions. After reviewing them, Li Dong said, "It can be done." "Good," Sun Gui and Chai Zhen shouted "Good" at the same time. "You do it now, and the others will be on hold." "How about the wood?" Li Dong looked at the pile of wood. It was about right. Chai Zhen said, "Let's try one first. If it works, we'll make more." "Okay." With six apprentices, there were eight people in Jia He.

Chai Zhen said, "I'm going to the county town tomorrow to see if the carpentry tools I ordered last time are ready, as well as a bell and some farm tools." Sun Gui said, "I'll go too, to see if there are any seeds and buy some for the students to use. I was thinking of going to my relatives' house to see if they have any horses and armor. Quan wants to join the army, and I can't stay. If you want to go, go ahead. Second uncle, I'm so sad. I don't want my child to leave. I'm scared!" Chai Zhen was also sad. His fourth son, that bad boy... "Support him. These past few nights, Quan and my fourth son have been with Chai Hua, learning martial arts and practicing mounted combat. I've seen them, they're quite good. There are twenty more people here at home, from the escort agency, all going to join the army, hoping to make a living. Gui, you go." "Okay." I'll stay and watch, and then go to the kiln to check. I'll go check on the road construction later. "Okay, okay."