The History of the Plow's Development

As before, I used the same testing method. This time, I simply used the new plowshare to turn the soil the other way.

How should I put it?

You could think of the first plowshare as turning the soil to the left, and this one as turning it to the right.

More or less the same thing.

So Lu Mingyuan quickly finished testing it.

The results were just as he expected: there was basically no difference between the two.

Not only was there no difference in how well they plowed, but the amount of effort required to use the plowshare at different angles was also about the same.

Of course, since he had no precise tool for measuring force, Lu Mingyuan could only judge by feel.

So Lu Mingyuan wasn't sure whether there was any real difference between turning the soil left and right, or how much of a difference there might be. He could only make a rough judgment that they should be the same. And logically speaking, there should be no difference between turning left and turning right.

Unless this world was divided into left and right on a macroscopic level. Otherwise, there was no difference.

After testing the two plowshares, one that turned the soil left and one that turned it right, Lu Mingyuan joined them together using the small rings he had deliberately left at the back of each one.

That turned the two original plowshares into one larger plowshare with two wings. Between the wings was a ridge-shaped point for breaking the soil. Now the double-winged plowshare could turn the soil to both sides at once.

At that, Jing Zhi's astonished voice rang out from the courtyard. "This can turn the soil too?"

Lu Mingyuan glanced at the girl beside him. "Why wouldn't it? And let me tell you, this double-winged plowshare is actually the most primitive kind of plow."

"The most primitive? That can't be right."

Hearing that the plow in front of her was still the most primitive version, Jing Zhi sounded unconvinced. Was Mingyuan trying to pull one over on her again? He loved doing that.

"What? You don't believe me?"

One look at Jing Zhi's "don't try to fool me" expression told Lu Mingyuan what she was thinking. "A-Zhi, do you know what the earliest plows looked like?"

"The earliest plows?"

Jing Zhi searched her memory with her eyes closed, but couldn't find an answer. It seemed that people had been using the curved-beam plow for a very long time. No, there had also been the straight-beam plow. But she didn't know about anything earlier than that. She'd never really cared about the question.

Seeing Lu Mingyuan's eager expression—"Go on, ask me! Ask me!"—she knew he was showing off his knowledge again. Jing Zhi found it amusing, but she wanted to know the answer as soon as possible, so she humored him. "Then tell me. What did the earliest plows look like?"

Seeing Jing Zhi play along, Lu Mingyuan was instantly satisfied. He stopped teasing and answered directly:

"In the earliest days, back in the time of primitive people, seeds were simply scattered on the ground. Whether they sprouted or grew well was all up to luck.

"Then one day, a primitive person discovered that seeds were more likely to survive if they were buried in the soil. They were also less likely to get sick or be blown over by the wind.

"And so, the labor of farming came into being.

"After that, do you know how they farmed?"

"How did they farm? Did they invent the plow?" Jing Zhi pressed him at once.

"Not that quickly. At that point, people would find something to dig a hole in the ground, or make a hole by chipping at it, then toss a seed in and cover it up. That was it."

"Dig a hole, then cover it up..." Jing Zhi was dumbfounded. "It was that simple?"

"What did you expect? People learned and developed things little by little. They couldn't get everything right in one go. Don't you agree?"

"What happened after that? What came next?"

Jing Zhi was full of curiosity now. She desperately wanted to know what the next step had been, and how plows had developed to their present form.

"After that, someone realized it was far too slow to dig holes one by one. So what did they do?

"That was when the most primitive plow appeared. They sharpened a piece of wood or ground a stone to a point, then tied a rope to the other end and pulled it along from the front.

"When that sharp piece of wood passed over the ground, wouldn't it leave a shallow furrow behind?"

Jing Zhi picked up the thread. "Then they put the seeds in and covered them with soil afterward. That would do it?"

"Exactly! This kind of plow must have existed for a very long time. I'm no archaeologist, so I only know the general outline."

Jing Zhi didn't care how long that stage had lasted. She wanted to know what came next. "And after that?"

"After that, a long time passed. The population gradually grew, and people didn't have enough to eat.

"Then someone discovered that after plowing deeply and turning over the soil, more seeds survived and the wheat seedlings were less likely to get flattened. So gradually, deep and careful cultivation developed.

"As people needed to plow deeper, plowshares slowly appeared...

"After that, animal power replaced human labor...

"Then the curved-beam plow replaced the straight-beam plow...

"And that brings us to today."

"I see!"

After listening to Lu Mingyuan explain so much, Jing Zhi finally had a clear picture of the plow's development. The way he told it, this double-winged plowshare really was quite similar to the most primitive wooden plowshare. It wouldn't be wrong to say they belonged to the same lineage.

But how did Mingyuan know so much? He'd never taught her any of this.

Was he keeping it to himself?

Thinking of that, Jing Zhi gave Lu Mingyuan a long look, then demanded, "Why didn't you teach me this before? Was it because we weren't engaged yet?"

For some reason, Jing Zhi suddenly felt like crying. "Lu Mingyuan, I never thought you were this kind of person. You actually treated me like an outsider."

"Wah! Wah! Wah!"

The more she spoke, the more upset Jing Zhi became. By the end, her eyes had reddened, and tears were welling up. Her heart ached as she thought, I've always regarded you as the person closest to me, and yet you kept this from me?

That was just too hurtful.

Seeing her suddenly like this, Lu Mingyuan panicked. How had she started crying out of nowhere?

And it wasn't as if he'd done anything to her.

He had no experience with this sort of thing. After a flurry of fumbling, Lu Mingyuan finally explained, "Hey, hey, hey, can we be reasonable? This is all written in the Zuo Zhuan and the Book of Documents. You've read them, haven't you? It's not that I didn't teach you. Don't get the wrong idea."

"Really?"

As soon as she heard that it was recorded in the Zuo Zhuan and the Book of Documents, Jing Zhi immediately dropped her heartbroken expression and replaced it with curiosity. Had she misunderstood Mingyuan?

Lu Mingyuan replied, "Of course it's true. Want me to find the passages for you?" As he spoke, he got up to go inside and fetch the books, ready to prove it to Jing Zhi.

Seeing that, Jing Zhi was convinced he hadn't lied to her. So there was no need to check the Zuo Zhuan and the Book of Documents after all. She'd only gotten upset because she didn't want Lu Mingyuan to deceive her.

"No need. I believe you wouldn't lie to me."

"I've told you to read more, but you never listen. Now you see what happens. And you were blaming me..." As he spoke, Lu Mingyuan tapped Jing Zhi's smooth forehead with his index finger. That girl was always pushing the blame onto him.

Besides, she'd been crying so sadly just a moment ago, and now she'd recovered in the blink of an eye. Honestly, Lu Mingyuan couldn't tell whether she'd been putting on an act.

After all, he was always hearing people say, "Women are born actresses." By now, he couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't.

Jing Zhi, on the other side, had no idea what Lu Mingyuan was thinking. But she knew she'd been in the wrong and had misunderstood him, so she lowered her head slightly and looked at the patterns on the table as she said softly, "I did read them. I just didn't read them that closely."

Seeing Jing Zhi admit her mistake, Lu Mingyuan decided to let it go and didn't keep teasing her. But there were still some things he needed to make clear to avoid misunderstandings later. "A-Zhi, if something's on your mind in the future, just say it. Ask me directly. Don't do what you did just now, understand?"

"Mm, got it."

Since she could ask him directly, Jing Zhi didn't hold back. She asked the question that had been bothering her. "Then, Mingyuan, what's the difference between your double-winged plowshare and the single-winged one? Which is better?"

"About that, let me test it first."

Lu Mingyuan didn't answer directly. He decided it was better to try it first. After all, the facts spoke for themselves.

About half an incense stick later, Lu Mingyuan finally sat back down.

He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then began, "It was just as I thought.

"The double-winged one can't plow as deeply. Or rather, it doesn't dig as deep as the single-winged one.

"When I tested it just now, I found that the double-winged one tended to ride up. Even if it started out deep, it would easily come back up. I don't know why.

"Likewise, the double-winged one takes a little less effort to use than the single-winged one."

"No wonder everyone uses the single-winged kind now. So the other one is useless?"

"Uh, actually, it's like that hand-pulled plow. It's not really essential, but it can serve as a supplement. It depends on the situation."

"All right!"