88: Chapter 81 Divine Vine Asleep 88: Chapter 81 Divine Vine Asleep Hydropower is one of the earliest natural forces harnessed by mankind.
People only need to utilize the drop in water levels to obtain strong and continuous power, replacing so tedious and repetitive labor.
Among the devices that use hydropower, the most typical are the water wheel for irrigation, the water mill for grinding grains, and the water beetle for crushing various things.
Of course, although these devices have relatively simple structures, they require high standards for tool making and woodworking skills, which soone like Jiang Xuan, who is only half-skilled, definitely couldn’t produce.
However, that’s okay, Jiang Xuan only wants to make a hydropower device to grind dicine.
He only needs to make the most primitive and simple hydraulic pounding device.
Patiently grinding the dicine in the stone mortar, Jiang Xuan said to Chi Shao, “I suddenly thought of sothing that can automatically grind dicine.
If we can make it, you won’t have to work so hard in the future.”
Chi Shao asked curiously, “Really?
What does it look like?”
Jiang Xuan casually picked up two sticks and explained, “Look, we use sturdy wood as a beam, carve one end into a hollow and attach a pestle to the other end.”
“Then, I only need to prop up the middle of this wood and place the end with the hollow under a stream of water bamboo.”
“The water will fill the hollow, causing the beam to sink on that end, while the other end with the pestle will rise.”
“When the water automatically drains away, the hollow rises, and the pestle-bearing end descends onto the stone mortar to grind the dicine.”
This uses the simplest lever principle, replacing manpower with hydropower, enabling continuous dicine grinding day and night.
In fact, it’s not just for grinding dicine; if needed in the future, things like grains or other items can be ground too.
Chi Shao said, “Sounds pretty good, is there anything I need to do?”
Jiang Xuan replied with a smile, “It’s a simple thing, I can do it myself, you go about your work.”
“Alright then, if you need help, just let know.”
Jiang Xuan nodded and sent Chi Shao off to her tasks.
He left the bamboo grove and entered the forest south of the tribe.
After searching for a long ti, he found a suitable big tree with a diater about the size of a face basin.
Then, he called over two Wanderers and used a stone knife to dig two holes on the tree trunk close to the ground, laying down so red-hot charcoal in those holes.
The Wanderers then used reed tubes to blow air onto the charcoal, speeding up the combustion process.
This is the thod commonly used by the tribe to fell large trees.
Using the Stone Axe on smaller trees is slow, and on big trees, it’s even more tiring.
This thod of blowing air to burn charcoal can quickly burn through the heart of the large tree, and then a few chops with the Stone Axe will bring it down.
The two Wanderers desperately blew air for a long ti, and finally burned through the tree’s heart.
Then Jiang Xuan swung the Stone Axe and chopped down the now hollow tree.
Next, he removed the excess parts of the large tree and carried it back to Chi Shao’s yard.
First, he found a very thick deadwood and chopped out an indentation in the middle to serve as the lever support point for the hydraulic dicine grinding device.
Then, he took the biggest end of the felled tree and burned a very deep water trough into it.
While burning it, he covered the surrounding areas with moist mud, leaving only the part that needed burning exposed.
This thod ensures that other parts of the tree don’t get burned, only the required section is burned.
After burning the water trough, he carved a small hollow in the thinner part of the tree, placed charcoal inside, blew vigorously with a reed tube, and burned out a large hole.
Afterward, he found a segnt of a smaller trunk and used the Stone Axe to carve it into a pestle shape, and embedded it into the tree hole.
He then gathered a lot of resin, heated it into liquid state with a Pottery Jar, added ash and mixed them together to make adhesive, and poured it into the hole connecting the wood pestle and the tree, bonding the two firmly together.
Finally, he placed the tree with the water trough and the wood pestle onto the supporting stump, with the end carrying the pestle longer and the end with the water trough shorter.
After continuous adjustnts, Jiang Xuan found the most suitable support point and carved out an indentation at that position, making it interlock with the support point’s indentation, thus preventing displacent.
Jiang Xuan also brought over the large stone that Chi Shao used for grinding dicine and placed the wood pestle into the stone mortar.
Finally, he positioned a bamboo tube above the water trough, and a primitive and simple hydraulic dicine grinding device was complete!
“Splash…”
Water from the bamboo tube filled the water trough, causing the trough to sink due to gravity, while the end carrying the wood pestle rose.
As the water trough descended to a certain point, the water naturally flowed away, lightening the weight, allowing the trough to rise again, and the wood pestle end to heavily drop onto the stone mortar.
“Bang!
Bang!
Bang…”
Every once in a while, the wood pestle would strike the stone mortar, and as long as this device doesn’t malfunction and water continues to flow, it can keep pounding continuously day and night.
“Sister, what do you think of this hydraulic dicine grinding device?”
After finishing everything, Jiang Xuan showed Chi Shao, his face beaming with pride.
Chi Shao inspected the device and was pleasantly surprised to find it truly practical.
The most important thing is that humans need rest, but this device doesn’t, it can continuously grind dicine, while humans just need to check it occasionally.
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