At the same time, they also reclaimed a large area of land beside the reservoir and planted the sprouted sweet potatoes.
Shan Helu believed that even if there was a severe drought this year, the water in the reservoir would at least last until summer. The yam was hardy and drought-tolerant, so there would definitely be a harvest by autumn.
Traps, snares, bows and arrows, and spears made hunting easier. They also expanded their hunting ranges, working in groups of thirty or even fifty, from a single day to two or three days. So, although there were fewer prey animals in the mountains, and the remaining ones were mostly ferocious beasts, they still managed to harvest a lot, and casualties were minimal.
Furthermore, despite the drought, there was still vegetation in the mountains and forests. The animals raised by the tribe were all herbivores or omnivores, and animals such as rabbits and goats continued to reproduce at a rapid rate.
So although everyone is worried about the weather, they are still full of hope for the future of the tribe.
"Don't worry, Yu has arranged everything. Even if the drought continues until next spring, our tribe will be able to hold on."
Shan nodded, looking at the scattered houses at the foot of the mountain, and smiled. "Yu is more powerful than me, and more powerful than all the other chiefs. If it weren't for her, not only would we have faced the drought, but also last year's floods and epidemics, and many people in the tribe would have died."
"Yes." Lu Wuxian sighed, "Who would have thought that in just a few years, our tribe would have developed to this point? It's all because of Yu."
In the office at the foot of the mountain, Qiao Yu took the jar that Xiaoxi handed to her and looked at it carefully.
Xiaoxi was extremely excited: "We just saw that the clay was different from the others, so we tried to make a jar and put it in the kiln to burn. We didn't expect to produce such a beautiful jar."
"Not bad." Qiao Yu nodded and smiled.
Xiaoxi looked at Qiao Yu's calm expression, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on her, and her excited mood subsided a lot.
"No, isn't it good?" she stammered.
"Okay, why not?" Qiao Yu laughed. "This is porcelain, a more advanced and beautiful container than pottery. If we could trade with other large tribes, porcelain would be a valuable commodity that could be exchanged for a lot of dried meat. But right now, our tribe doesn't interact with other tribes, so its value can't be realized for the time being."
Although Qiao Yu didn't know everything, she had a certain level of knowledge and common sense, and was able to guide the tribe's talents in the right direction, allowing them to explore. The tribe was now fully capable of making paper, burning bricks and tiles to build better houses, and even better boats and more sophisticated cars.
But these are not practical for the Dragon Tribe, which is still at the stage of having enough food and clothing.
Mud brick houses are not strong, but they are easy to build. As long as the required mud bricks are prepared, and then the beams, doors and windows are prepared, a dozen men can build a few houses in a few days.
Moreover, the tribe is developing and the population is increasing. Although this place is nice, it is not a long-term place to live due to the terrain.
In the future, when the tribe becomes prosperous and people no longer have to worry about food and have higher aspirations, brick and tile houses will be built, paper books will appear, and even silk will be worn by people.
Thinking of silk, Qiao Yu asked Xiaoxi, "How are the insects I asked the women to raise?"
Xiaoxi blinked: "Not bad."
She couldn't understand why Qiao Yu wasn't thrilled by the exquisite porcelain the pottery team had created, yet was so concerned about the squirming bugs. What was she thinking?
Last year, with constant fighting, followed by floods and epidemics, Qiao Yu hadn't had time to raise silkworms. This spring, she led a women's hunting team up the mountain, catching silkworm-like insects from mulberry trees and assigning them to several women in poor health to raise.
She had never raised silkworms before, so she didn't know if the worms on the mulberry leaves were silkworms, nor did she know if the silkworms of this time were the same silkworms of later times. So she could only grope around and try to get everyone to raise them, letting time be the only way to sift through the worms.
The addition of the Sun Tribe and the God Tribe gave the Dragon Tribe more hemp. The women in the tribe now spun hemp yarn using spinning wheels. But because Qiao Yu didn't know how to make a loom, she could only teach the women how to knit with needles, allowing them to weave individual garments.
But linen clothes are too rough, and children and young women cannot wear them because their skin is too delicate.
So Qiao Yu wanted to raise silkworms and make silk to improve everyone's clothing conditions.
Xiaoxi was promoted by Qiao Yu some time ago because of her steady work, strong character and strong ability. Her status is equal to that of Man and Liushui, and she is in charge of matters related to women and children for Qiao Yu.
So she is also very concerned about silkworm breeding.
"Don't worry, Zhi and the others are very dedicated. If you tell them to take good care of the silkworms, they won't dare to slack off for even a moment. They'll even get up in the middle of the night to check on them."
The silkworm breeders are several older women whose husbands and sons have died, leaving them unable to remarry and without support. Due to poor health, they can't go up the mountain with the others to gather silkworms, nor can they help with the breeding team. They usually survive by relying on the subsistence allowances provided by the tribe and by foraging for wild vegetables.
Now that we have this job, everyone cherishes it and takes good care of the insects.
Qiao Yu nodded and was about to speak when suddenly a hurried voice came from outside the door: "Qiao Yu, Qiao Yu..." Before Qiao Yu could speak, Qiang rushed in.
The expression on Qiao Yu's face became serious.
Qiang was always calm and composed. Everyone in the tribe knew her rules, so they usually knocked on the door first and got her permission before entering.
Qiang barged in like this at this moment, there must have been something big happening in the tribe.
"What is it?" she asked.
"The third and fourth hunting teams came back and said they encountered people from other tribes in the mountains."
Qiang said this and moved to the side, revealing the two team leaders Cang and Chen standing behind the door.
Because Qiao Yu asked the hunting team to expand the hunting range, the two teams went out the day before yesterday and stayed outside for two nights before returning.
Without waiting for Qiao Yu to ask, Cang said, "We traveled north for two days and set a trap there. As we were about to turn back, we saw a group of people. There were twenty-five of them, wearing animal skins and speaking a language we couldn't understand. When they saw us, they were very scared and ran away."
Chen added: "They are all very thin, and their animal skin clothes are very tattered. They don't seem to be living well. I feel like they are from a small tribe."
"North?" Qiao Yu frowned.
To the north lay the Sifang and Jiangyuan tribes. Qiao Yu had once searched that direction in search of iron ore. But her route was only one line. The area was so vast, and there might be other small tribes hidden in the mountains and forests, and those people might not necessarily be from the Sifang or Jiangyuan tribes.
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