The Princess of Northern Land
Chapter 364: Prosperity (4)_1

Chapter 364: Chapter 364: Prosperity (4)_1

Hong Zhong’s vehicle was the first to descend onto the barren land, and the tractor churned the soil deeply. Lin Ziyin observed carefully for a moment, and a sense of satisfaction quickly filled her. It appeared that this steam-powered tractor worked effectively. The only drawback was that the tractor required additional coal fuel after a certain period.

Fortunately, there was a large nest next to each vehicle, and the coal added each time was enough to plow the field back and forth.

"This thing is much better than oxen." Someone yelled.

"Absolutely, it’s amazing."

Others, out of curiosity, started running after the tractor non-stop.

The outsiders who came from afar to help with the reclamation were even more stunned. These people were old-fashioned, always contracting reclamation projects and bringing their whole families with them. Everyone had thought that helping with the reclamation for a spring and summer season would earn them several months’ wages, freeing them from living worries for a year.

But looking at what they saw now, oh my, it was frightening!

A plow pulled by oxen couldn’t compete with the amount of land this iron contraption could reclaim in one day, let alone the land reclaimed solely by human labor.

"Ziyin, how many acres can this iron contraption plow in a day?" At the edge of the field, Lou Zheng voiced the common concern on behalf of everyone.

"Approximately less than thirty acres." Lin Ziyin watched the busy tractor with a smile, "From morning till night."

"Even if it works from dawn to dusk, this iron thing doesn’t know what exhaustion is. It’s way more efficient than an ox." Bai Chunsheng commented in awe.

"Hurry up and clean up the roots inside. It’s a social practice course, ten copper coins a day." Qian Xuan brought a group of young recruits along.

The children watched the tractor run "putt-putt" delightedly, each and every one of them overjoyed. They had seldom participated in practical classes; up until now, they had only attended four days, each of which paid them. Jobs like picking up grass behind this iron contraption were too easy; it was essentially playing and also earned them pocket money. It wasn’t only the young recruits who wanted to do it, the villagers who came to work were also envious.

"Brother, Brother Dayou." Lin Ziyin stopped the two from going to reclaim the land, "Just wait for Tie Niu to run a few laps for you, you don’t need to go down."

"How can that be?" Guo Huiniang waved her hand in refusal, "There’s a lot of wasteland you want to reclaim. Don’t delay things because of us."

"It won’t be delayed." Lin Ziyin looked at her with a smile, "It’s just a little while, besides, I don’t plan to reclaim many acres all at once."

Mechanical reclamation had an additional benefit, which was that it could measure the area of land to be opened in one place. Based on the coal burned in one run by the machine, Lin Ziyin calculated that a piece of land with fifteen acres as one unit would be optimally used for digging ditches and laying roads in a single effort.

Before long, people from all the surrounding villages knew about the Lin family’s treasure for reclamation and farming. Some people even made a special trip to see the legendary iron contraption.

After the tour, everyone was taken aback.

Chu Suifeng and Si Jinhan received Hei Yi’s report and arrived promptly the next day to see the novelty.

"It’s indeed very fast." Si Jinhan walked around the machine and came back satisfied.

"Prince, if we reclaim the land at this speed, there will be no fear by the time autumn comes." Sima Gong was extremely overjoyed. On this side, they were worrying about how to encourage the people to reclaim and farm the land, and how to get through the autumn crisis. They did not expect Lin Ziyin to bring them a huge surprise immediately.

"You have to prepare two vehicles for me as well." Chu Suifeng stared at the tractor and instructed Lin Ziyin in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hearing that, Lin Ziyin breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Chu Suifeng was trustworthy and did not have any intentions of seizing her tractor. Considering his honesty, she decided to put in more effort to assemble two more tractors for him.