Traveling through various miniature worlds with a small restaurant

Chapter 263 World of Famous Works 52

In fact, the Karez system has a long history on Earth, dating back to the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, the Han Dynasty expanded its influence to the west and frequently engaged in military farming and border defense.

The Han government attached great importance to water conservancy construction. In order to solve the irrigation problem in the arid Western Regions, people brought advanced well-drilling technology from the Central Plains to the Western Regions. The key technology of well-canal method was introduced to the Western Regions at this time.

However, this technology did not spread on a large scale until the Tang Dynasty unified the entire Xinjiang and Central Asia, and began to carry out water conservancy development in places such as Xizhou, Kucha, and Shule, which led to large-scale water conservancy projects.

It can be said that the first stage of the Tang Dynasty's water conservancy development in the Western Regions was during the Zhenguan era, which was the reign of Li Shimin.

Historically, in the fourteenth year of the Zhenguan era, the Tang army conquered Gaochang Kingdom, which is now Turpan and other places, and began to cultivate land. The Tang government set up water conservancy officials in each county and Taotuo Offices responsible for building canals. Then, a large number of soldiers and civilians were organized to build a large number of canals.

The small world of Journey to the West that Lin Xiaoqian and his companions traveled to was before the Tang Dynasty began its attack on the Western Regions, so naturally there were no large-scale water conservancy projects here.

Therefore, the local people did not believe what Lin Xiaoqian said at all; they whispered among themselves, their faces full of suspicion.

"Is this girl talking nonsense? There's no water in this area."

“I grew up here. We’ve explored every inch of the surrounding Gobi Desert. Even after a rain, the water on the ground is instantly absorbed, let alone any snowmelt from the mountains.”

"That's it."

Many people thought these newly arrived Tang Dynasty officials were just daydreaming.

However, some villagers quietly tugged at their companions' clothes and whispered, "Hey, stop talking! Are you stupid? The government tells us to dig wells, so we just do it. Didn't the notice say that we'd get paid for digging wells and they'd provide us with three meals a day? If it's such a good thing, why are you saying so much? What if they don't want to dig anymore? You'll have to pay me and provide for my food and drink!"

"That's right."

Regardless of what the people thought, the machine started running, and the roar of the engine startled the locals.

"A monster! A demon!" They had never seen anything like it before. They stared at the machine in terror, and the more timid ones started backing away.

Lin Xiaoqian quickly raised his voice to explain, "Don't be afraid, everyone. This machine is specially designed for digging wells."

Before he finished speaking, the machine's drill bit began to spin rapidly, raising a cloud of dust that caused the surrounding people to cover their faces.

But when they saw that the machine could dig a big hole in the ground without human intervention, their eyes widened in astonishment.

They would have spent ages digging such a big hole themselves, but this machine did it in the blink of an eye.

"This, this is simply divine magic!"

"The gods have appeared! The gods have appeared!"

Lin Xiaoqian smiled and said, "This is not magic. Our factories in the Tang Dynasty can build this kind of machine. Anyone who has received professional training can start it."

These words left the local people utterly astonished.

Anyone can use and operate this amazing machine?

The Tang Dynasty was indeed prosperous, even capable of producing such beneficial items for the people.

But there were still many more things that would broaden their horizons.

That excavator, it's such a huge machine, scooping up the soil piled up around the well, scooping up a lot at a time, enough for them to dig for half a day. And it's easy to transport it too, just scoop up a bit, walk a couple of steps to the side, and dump it out, just like a person.

The key point is that the young girl surnamed Lin even said that she would select people from among them to learn how to operate the excavator.

Wow, they'll have a chance to drive one of these big machines later?

This is absolutely incredible.

They all saw it: the Tang Dynasty official sitting atop the excavator, driving the machine to work, head held high and chest puffed out, looking quite imposing.

Ever since they learned they might have the chance to drive this excavator, the new Datang employees have become more efficient at their work, eager to show off their skills.

Everyone hoped that their superiors would see how hard they worked and then choose them to learn how to operate an excavator.

However, even with so many machines at their disposal, the local people still didn't believe there was water underground in their area.

Once the vertical shaft was nearly finished, people were sent down to dig an underground channel. After digging for a while, no water came out, and the people began to complain.

"You definitely won't be able to dig out any water."

"I told you it was all a waste of time. We've dug dozens, even hundreds of wells, some over ten meters deep, some over a hundred meters deep, and still no water. Now they want people to crawl down and dig some kind of underground channel? How is that even possible?"

"All that effort for nothing!"

"If you ask me, with such a good machine, why not dig deeper? Maybe we can find water. What's the point of digging horizontally like this?"

Initially, they had high hopes because of the advanced machines Lin Xiaoqian brought, but the greater their hopes, the greater their disappointment. They had been digging the well for so long without finding any water. They spent every day in the dark shaft, and they were almost depressed.

If it weren't for the daily wages and three meals a day provided, they would have quit long ago.

And this damned God, He really doesn't give people a way to survive! We've been digging for so long and still haven't found a single drop of water.

The resentful people slammed their shovels into the soil in front of them, but this time the sound of the shovels hitting the ground was different from before. It made a muffled "plop" sound, as if it had been inserted into something soft but resilient.

The man, who had been full of resentment, froze instantly. He instinctively pulled out his shovel, only to find the shovel head covered in wet mud.

"This, this is..." His voice trembled, filled with disbelief. He quickly squatted down and used both hands to pry open the spot where the shovel had been inserted. The soil was getting wetter and wetter, and soon water seeped out between his fingers.

The cool, refreshing touch jolted him awake from his initial irritation.

"Water's coming out! Water's really coming out!" The shouts instantly broke the silence in the shaft and echoed throughout it.

People nearby quickly gathered around, asking, "Is water really coming out?"

The villagers who had dug out water were so excited that their fingers trembled, and they shouted incoherently, "There really is water! Look at this soil, and my hands!"

Everyone crouched down and approached the dug-out soil, where muddy water was slowly seeping out and gathering into a small puddle.

Someone couldn't wait to reach out and touch it, then took a handful and put it to their mouth, stuck out their tongue and licked it, their eyes widening, "Sweet, sweet!"

The others pushed him aside, saying, "Let me have a taste."

When everyone tasted the sweet groundwater, their eyes welled up with tears.

Unexpectedly, there was actually a large amount of water in the barren land beneath their feet.

"Thank God!"