The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 305 Visiting the Fields (Second Watch)

Chapter 305: 305 Visiting the Fields (Second Watch)

Li Xianyun and Sang Yanlin discussed the details and then came out of the house.

Sang Yanlin personally selected five or six capable and meticulous individuals for Li Xianyun, who also had some knowledge of geology and irrigation.

When Li Xianyun arrived in the Northern Region with his party, he saw the group from the day before digging canals; they were using spades that appeared to be brought from their own homes rather than being uniformly supplied.

A smile curved at the corners of Li Xianyun’s mouth; Yelu Yan really did have a way with managing people.

These people hadn’t committed any unforgivable errors; imprisoning them was a waste of the food in the jails. It would be better to punish them by having them do something practical, allowing them to redeem themselves by digging canals—thereby saving on the labor needed for digging.

The group had been captured by the Ironclad Soldiers and locked up in the jail for an entire night, which terrified them. When they learned at dawn that there was an opportunity for them to redeem themselves, they couldn’t have been happier and dared not slack off or play any tricks again.

Each of them worked very hard, digging the canals both wide and deep.

The farmers who had received new spades were also busy building and solidifying dikes in their fields, each taking responsibility for their own land.

This must have been an order from Yelu Yan through Jinwu.

People are often like this, indifferent towards others’ affairs but immensely concerned with their own.

In this way, there was no longer need to worry about the dikes.

With these concerns out of the way, Li Xianyun could start having people build norias and waterwheels to deal with the watering and irrigation issues.

He led his party to survey the fields and took notes on paper as they went along.

Using the Khitan script, he clearly recorded the land’s area, distribution, and topography, and also detailed the surrounding rivers’ course and flow.

His drawing was exceptional—with just a few strokes, he had produced a precise and meticulous map.

They walked a great deal that morning.

Being utterly exhausted from the walk, Li Xianyun let everyone rest for a bit on the dikes or by the river.

While others rested, Li Xianyun kept writing and drawing on the drafting paper, frequently inquiring about the observations of his party to make adjustments based on the actual situations.

Although they stopped frequently, the entire party was quite tired.

The official from the Department of Equipment who accompanied them was very tired, but seeing that Li Xianyun, who appeared delicate and refined, had neither complained of weariness nor expressed tiredness, how could they allow themselves to lag behind?

Moreover, Li Xianyun’s skill in writing and drawing, his meticulous thinking, and the fact that, though a Han person, he could write beautiful Khitan script, demanded respect.

Working under such a convincing person, they felt fully energized.

After visiting throughout the morning, Li Xianyun identified several locations to build the norias and waterwheels.

The Northern Region covered a vast area, but the terrain was flat, making watering not troublesome at all.

Li Xianyun returned to the Department of Equipment with his party and thoroughly explained his findings to Sang Yanlin and a few other in-charge officials; then he discussed his next steps.

"To build the waterwheel and noria, we need to lay a foundation. Let’s tackle this from both ends—you’ll be responsible for making the parts, and I’ll ask the Khan to assign men to lay the foundation," he said.

Yelu Yan had plenty of people at his disposal, and laying a foundation for such minor work could be completed in a day or two.

Sang Yanlin said, "Good."

Li Xianyun then reviewed the parts that the Department of Equipment was making and had already made, pointing out a few minor issues.

He was quite satisfied with the people of the Department of Equipment as a whole.

They came from a background of craftspeople, detailed in their work and adept at research. What they lacked most was professional guidance. Now with technical guidance available, their work flowed smoothly and swiftly like a fish in water, invigorated by the wind.