Chapter Six: The Illegitimate Branch of the Wei Family

On the way back from the fields, the Dowager said not a single word. Upon returning home, she kept Wei Renshi behind and only then asked, “What was it you were telling the village head earlier? What’s truly going on?” Before Wei Renshi could answer, she continued on her own, “These days, your words and actions seem as if you’re a different person altogether!”

Wei Renshi grinned, tapping his own head. “Nothing much, I’ve simply come to my senses. One must live life with both feet on the ground.”

The Dowager frowned and pressed further, “What you spoke of just now—can it truly be done?”

“There’s an eighty to ninety percent chance,” Wei Renshi replied. “It’s all thanks to the low-lying land in Changgu, and, just as it happens, there’s a slope higher than all the village’s fields.”

“If you really succeed, it would be a revolution in farming tools. If you could find a way to present it to the court, it would be a great merit,” the Dowager said. “You shouldn’t have shared your method so freely with the village head.”

Wei Renshi was struck by the thought—these Tang people had sharp insight. Whether it was Li He’s mother, the village head, or his own Dowager, they could instantly grasp the utility and significance of improved tools and immediately think of presenting it upwards for credit. This perspective made Wei Renshi look at the common folk of this era with renewed respect.

“The key is improving the waterwheel,” said Wei Renshi. “And the structure isn’t actually complex. Once it’s built, anyone can understand it at a glance. Besides, even if I wanted to present it, we have no connections. If the village head and county office take it up, they may share some of the credit, but it saves us the trouble. Actually, I’m still waiting on another item these days—an improved plow I’ve designed. Li He paid to have a prototype made. If it works, perhaps it could be submitted together with the irrigation system. With credit for two new farming implements, would the court not reward our family with a few oxen, some silk, or a bit of capital?”

“Foolishness!” The Dowager stomped her foot in frustration and said urgently to Wei Renshi, “Why didn’t you tell your mother beforehand! Presenting farming implements is a great achievement. Now, passed down layer by layer, by the time it reaches your hands, the merit that might have revived our household will be reduced to mere material reward!”

“Material reward is practical! With it, our life will improve,” Wei Renshi replied unconcerned, smiling. “Maybe we can even hire a few long-term laborers. After all, we have no connections of our own. I can hardly run to the capital myself to tell the Emperor I’ve improved farm tools, can I?”

“What sort of talk is that! If it truly concerns the rise of our household, your mother would find a way no matter what!” The Dowager, exasperated, turned and went into the inner room, quickly returning with a wooden box. She strode over to Wei Renshi, opened it, and carefully unwrapped a bundle of silk to reveal an ancient book.

Pointing to it, the Dowager declared, “This is our genealogy. Our family descends from the Wei clan of Jingzhao. Though your grandfather was not born to the main wife and settled elsewhere, our ties with the main branch have always been cordial. If you’d entrusted these new tools to me, I could have taken them to the main house. With their influence, how could they not find a way to present them at court? It might even reach the imperial ear itself! Though the credit would belong to the main family, you could return to the main branch by virtue of it, becoming a true Wei clansman. Whether taking the exams or navigating officialdom, it would afford you great convenience! Alas—how muddle-headed you are!”

Wei Renshi was startled to hear this, surprised that this body still harbored such a background.

“The Weis and Dus south of the city, only five feet from Heaven”—this saying alone reflects the flourishing of the Wei and Du clans in Tang times.

“This… Mother, you never told me any of this,” Wei Renshi said.

The Dowager sighed deeply. “I feared you’d feel resentful, or else curry favor with the main house and rely on them instead of striving on your own. That’s why I kept it from you.”

Wei Renshi regarded his mother, thought for a moment, and asked, “I suspect that’s not the whole story. The ‘cordial ties’ you mentioned—perhaps they aren’t quite so cordial?”

The Dowager’s expression faltered, her voice weakening. Still she argued, “The main branch… Your grandfather was born of a concubine, but the main house gave him land and a place to settle—that’s already generous! The Wei clan is vast; one can’t trouble the main house over every little thing… Still, for this matter, I could travel there myself. I ought to be able to make it happen…”

Wei Renshi shook his head with a smile. “We have no need to return to the main house. Even if we did, we’d still be of the secondary line. Better to make our own way here in Changgu. If we can trade these improvements for some capital, that’s more than enough. Mother, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go draw up the designs. The craftsmen will need them to get started.”

The Dowager opened her mouth, but said nothing more. At last, she nodded and let Wei Renshi leave.

Back in his study, Wei Renshi spread out paper and immediately took up his brush.

In the Eastern Han, Bi Lan invented the chain pump; in the Three Kingdoms, Ma Jun refined it further. By the time of Cao Wei, it was already used for irrigation—ingeniously designed, able to lift water continuously, greatly improving efficiency. Even children could operate it, making a notable contribution to agriculture.

Later came water-powered versions, a further advance.

By the Sui and Tang, the tube wheel appeared, capable of raising even more water, making irrigation much easier than before.

In the late Tang, the high-speed tube wheel emerged—likely already present by now—though it relied heavily on water flow and required animal power, functioning as a sort of conveyor belt prototype.

After the Song dynasty, there was an upgraded water-powered chain pump—the Song water-driven chain pump. Through several interlocking gears, it greatly improved energy conversion, enabling not only irrigation but also other uses, such as rice hulling.

Compared to the high-speed tube wheel, the Song water-driven chain pump used water flow to turn the gears, freeing up both human and animal labor for other productive work. The interconnected gears increased the amount of water lifted, and since it was powered by water, it could operate day and night. Its weakness was that too strong a current could break the paddles, making it less robust than the tube wheel. For this reason, several types of waterwheels coexisted, with localities choosing according to conditions.

But the gentle current in Daoyuan River was perfect for the Song-style water-driven chain pump.

The key to the Song water-driven chain pump was the interlocking gears.

First, dig a deep, narrow channel along the riverbank and install the waterwheel within it.

Then extend the treadle axle of the pump to form a vertical gear wheel.

Next to this, erect a wooden post as an axle, mounting two horizontal gear wheels—one above, one below. The upper gear meshes with the vertical gear.

The current turns the lower gear; as it turns, it drives the upper gear, which in turn meshes with the vertical wheel—thus, through this linkage of gears, the pump set in the channel is driven, and water is continuously delivered up to the irrigation canal.

A high frame can be erected at the end of the paddles, just higher than the rear slope. From here, bamboo pipes serve as conduits, stretching across to the earthen mound. Water lifted by the paddles flows into the canal, then into a holding pool atop the mound, and from there, through bamboo pipes, pours down into the fields.