The air is cool in the early summer morning.
A layer of white water vapor like gauze was diffused over the wide river. After water plants such as reeds and calamus put on beautiful white gauze, they suddenly became a lot more mysterious.
The morning breeze was blowing gently, the river was sparkling, and small waves were lapping against the shore. The river water poured into the holes made by fish, shrimps and eels on the shore and flowed out again, making some strange sounds.
The voices came from a distance and were getting closer and closer. Some birds that were waiting for food on the river bank or in the shallow water were frightened. They stretched their heads to look at the source of the sound for a while, and finally spread their wings and flew away, to be quiet and beautiful birds somewhere else.
Not long after the birds flew away, a group of people appeared by the river.
The person walking in front was carrying a large bamboo raft with uneven edges.
After arriving at the river, these people seemed to be very skilled in lowering the bamboo raft and pushing it into the water.
There are not just one such bamboo raft, but five or six.
So after these seven or eight bamboo rafts were pushed into the water, this relatively flat bay on the river was suddenly covered by a group of bamboo rafts.
Then someone came and put the bamboo raft into the water and fixed it to the shore, and placed several thick wooden sticks vertically on the raft with even gaps between the sticks.
After finishing all this, some people started to load the cloth they brought onto the bamboo raft.
The linen is placed horizontally on several tree sticks to prevent it from getting wet by water splashing from the gaps in the bamboo raft.
Amidst the busyness, a big, round red sun rose slowly and quickly from the northeast and leapt into the sky.
As the color of the sun in the sky faded from blood red, the sky gradually brightened, and the morning mist floating on the river became lighter and finally dissipated into nothingness.
And the people busy on the shore also packed their things.
After a simple and quick farewell, the people on the shore removed the rope that was tied to the wooden stakes on the shore from the top of the bamboo raft.
The person standing on the bamboo raft shouted a signal and pushed the oar in his hand towards the shore. The bamboo raft then left the river bank and headed towards the center of the river.
After being a certain distance away from the center of the river, it turned around and headed upstream.
The sunlight fell on the water, creating a dazzling sparkle.
The leader of the Fire Tribe and the people of the tribe stood on the shore, watching the bamboo raft team that was connected in a line in the sparkling river and moving farther and farther away. Apart from the vague worries, they were more filled with expectations.
I look forward to these people leaving, using the linen loaded on the bamboo rafts to exchange for delicious salt, soft fur clothes, and yellow millet that is extremely delicious after adding water and boiling in a clay pot...
Thinking of these things, the leader of the Fire Tribe couldn't help but think of the extremely wealthy, powerful and kind tribe living upstream of the river, and the wonderful changes that had taken place in his own tribe since he met them.
Apart from the extra children born by the women in the tribe in the first year of meeting this tribe, the changes in other aspects were also particularly gratifying.
What made the leader and everyone in the Fire Tribe most pleased were the hemp and linen cloth in the tribe.
Because of the emergence of things like hemp and linen, they could still obtain food for the tribe when it snowed heavily, instead of having to hide in caves and survive on the food they had stored once winter came, as before.
Now, they can spin the fermented hemp skins into hemp thread in the caves in winter, and then weave the hemp thread into linen cloth.
At this time, some people were sent out to paddle bamboo rafts carrying linen to the rich and friendly tribe, and exchange the linen for many good things.
My tribe really needs to thank that wealthy tribe. It is because of their presence that the life of my tribe has become much better than before...
Standing here and watching the people rowing the bamboo rafts go away and disappear at a bend in the upper reaches of the river, the leader of the Fire Tribe stood here for a while, then led the rest of the people who came to help carry things and see them off, all the way back to the tribe.
Near the cave, there are patches of green hemp growing, which are about waist-high.
Looking at the green hemp fields, all the people of the Fire Tribe, including the tribe leader, showed happy expressions.
When walking along the hemp fields, one must be very careful, for fear of accidentally stepping on the hemp seedlings...
At the same time, a small-scale farewell ceremony was also taking place in the Qingque tribe.
The scale of this farewell was indeed small, as there were only eight people being sent off, and only five or seven people seeing them off.
"You must tell Junior Brother Sha what I said to him..."
Han Cheng looked at the eight tribesmen who were about to return to the Tongshan residential area and gave them some advice.
After several people nodded repeatedly, they started their journey towards the Tongshan residential area.
Looking at these eight people who kept looking back every few steps and gradually disappeared from his sight, Han Cheng did not feel much reluctance to part, because he had already experienced many separations of this scale.
Not only was he not too reluctant, on the contrary, Han Cheng felt somewhat happy.
These joys come from the development of the tribe and the growth of all the people in the tribe.
After nearly ten years, Han Cheng has developed very deep feelings for the Qingque tribe. After all, it was he who built and gradually developed the tribe.
There is less noise here, no intrigue or deception, but the tribesmen are working together and are particularly united.
There is the "shameless and disrespectful" witch, the mother of a girl who is far from the beauty made by makeup, beauty filters and photoshop, who even she herself is amazed by, and the naughty child in her own family...
I have already taken root here...
It is also because of this that when Han Cheng sees something beneficial to the tribe happening, he is so happy and laughs like the Maitreya Buddha who weighs no less than 500 kilograms.
After standing here for a while, Han Cheng, who seemed to be in good spirits since Bai Xue's sister became pregnant with her second child, perhaps because of excitement or some other indescribable reasons, returned to the tribe in the same good mood.
Some women in the tribe were working on the silk process there, and Snow White, who had the best skills, was of course among them.
Han Cheng went over, took Sister Bai Xue to rest for a while, and after giving her the usual instructions, he came to the hammock woven with thick hemp ropes and tied between two trees. Ignoring Little Pea's protests, he picked her up from the hammock and lay down on it himself.
As for the barefoot little pea, Han Cheng placed him on his belly.
The little pea, who was originally a little reluctant, suddenly became happy. He sat on the soft leather sofa called "Dad's Brand" and smiled happily.
Little Pea, who was sitting on the leather sofa, was holding a long, thin stick in his hand, and was lying there, clumsily poking the ant nest under the tree.
After poking with great interest for a while, there was gradually no movement and the stick in his hand fell to the ground.
Han Cheng looked up quietly and found that the little guy had fallen asleep.
Last night, Han Cheng told Little Pea the story of the crow drinking water, and the little guy fell asleep in the middle of the night. It was normal for him to be sleepy today.
After smoking there for a while, Bai Xuemei also began to rest as Han Cheng had instructed before.
He looked around and then walked towards the hammock where Han Cheng was.
At this time, Han Cheng was lying on the hammock looking at the clouds in the sky. Little Pea was lying on Han Cheng's belly, drooling in his sleep.
As Han Cheng breathed, his belly bulged and fell, and the little pea on his belly swayed along with it, making him look like he was sleeping in a soft cradle.
Seeing this scene, Han Cheng suddenly understood why the little guy fell asleep so quickly. If he were in such a good external environment, he would definitely fall asleep too!
Sister Bai Xue, who was walking along the way, looked at the father and son hanging from the bed, stopped, and after a moment, a silent smile appeared on her face.
She looked at it for a while, reached out and gently touched her slightly bulging belly for a while, then tiptoed to the edge of the hammock.
After looking at Han Cheng for a few seconds, he reached out to pick up Little Pea and prepared to put it on the kang in the room to sleep.
She was worried that Han Cheng would become uncomfortable if he slept like this for too long.
"It's okay, just sleep like this. Go to the kang and get a thin sheet of leather."
Han Cheng waved his hand slightly to stop Bai Xuemei's actions, and spoke softly.
Sister Bai Xue turned and went towards the room where they lived. After a moment, she came out with a piece of fur that had been nitrated and looked soft.
This piece of fur is made of several pieces of skin sewn together, which is equivalent to a small thin quilt in later generations. It is just right to cover the body at this time.
Sister Bai Xue pulled open the animal skin blanket and gently covered Little Pea and Han Cheng with it.
Then he didn't say anything, just stood there quietly, looking at Han Cheng and the sleeping Little Pea, the smile on his face could not be wiped off.
After standing here for a while, Sister Bai Xue continued to reel in the silk.
But unlike before when she was so focused, now she would look up at the hammock every once in a while...
Han Cheng was lying on the hanging bed, feeling very calm. This kind of time away from mobile phones and computers, without having to worry too much about anything, was really beautiful.
Reaching out and gently pulling up the thin quilt that had slipped off Little Pea's body, Han Cheng moved his body slightly a few times to make himself sleep more comfortably.
During this leisurely and peaceful time, Han Cheng, lying on the hanging bed, felt very distant in thought.
It's a very comfortable feeling to not think about anything deliberately and just let your thoughts drift aimlessly between being half awake and half asleep.
What Hu Luanpiao was thinking about the most was the things happening in the Tongshan residential area, because this was the most important thing that had happened in the Qingque tribe in recent times.
It's time to start thinking about the donkey cart.
Han Cheng, lying on the hammock, thought this in his heart after his thoughts drifted for a while.
The reason why this idea came to his mind at this time was because he thought of the eight people carrying copper ingots and tin ingots back, and by the way, he remembered the feeling of leading people to transport the ore back when he discovered the copper mine in Tongshan.
Transporting things over long distances by land is not a very good job.
Nowadays, when the Qingque tribe transports large quantities of food and copper and tin ingots from the Tongshan residential area, they mostly wait until the winter when heavy snow falls and use sleds pulled by deer to do the transportation.
Because people are relatively free at this time, and there are things like sleds, which not only have a large transport capacity but also make things easier for people.
But due to seasonal restrictions, such delivery is not very convenient.
At least after the snow melts, the sled will no longer be used.
In such a situation, there is no other way to transport goods between the two except carrying them by hand or on shoulders or using livestock for transportation.
Of course, this amount of transportation is far less than that of a sled.
There is a way to solve the current dilemma, which is what Han Cheng wanted to do, which is to make donkey carts and deer carts.
Given that they had sleds and the technology to make wooden wheels, it was not difficult for the Qingque tribe to make a two-wheeled donkey cart.
Because there are two large wooden wheels installed underneath the sled, it is the basic structure of a donkey cart.
The rest, such as how to make the 'sled' and wooden wheels fit more firmly, how to make the axles and wooden wheels stronger so that they can carry more weight, can all be slowly explored and are not too big of a problem.
The real problem lies not with the donkey cart or the donkey pulling it, but with the road.
Master Lu once said that when more people walk, a road will be formed, and it doesn’t seem to be too difficult.
However, at this time, this path made by walking on foot is only suitable for people walking, and is not suitable for wider donkey carts.
In order to allow donkey carts to pass, a wider, flatter and more solid road must be built. Otherwise, the donkey carts will not be able to go far and their wheels will get stuck.
Building roads is not an easy task. You only need to look at how much manpower and material resources were mobilized, how much money and grain were consumed, and how many people died in order to build the Chidao during the Qin Dynasty.
The Qin Dynasty built a highway that connected the entire country, which was far superior to Han Cheng's small-scale project. The two cannot be compared.
However, as long as we compare the current human and material resources of the Qingque tribe and the scale of the tribe with those of the Qin Dynasty, we can immediately conclude that this kind of small-scale path will be a huge project for the current Qingque tribe.
Even compared with the high wall built around the Qingque tribe to expand it two years ago, it is not much easier.
It was also because of this that he had intentionally or unintentionally ignored the matter of building deer carts or donkey carts with wheels for transportation between the Qingque main tribe and the Tongshan division.
Now thinking about it again and pondering deeply, in addition to the eight people who returned from Tongshan as an inducement, the most fundamental reason was that he conquered the semi-agricultural tribe years ago and obtained a large number of manpower.
With these manpower, it becomes feasible to build a road of nearly two hundred miles between the Qingque main tribe and the Tongshan residential area.
Moreover, after such a road is built, it can not only be used to transport copper ingots, grain and other things, but another important function is that it can greatly shorten the time required to travel between the two.
The distance between the Qingque main tribe and the Tongshan residential area was artificially "shortened".
This function is even more important than transporting between two places.
Because in this way, the connection between the Qingque main tribe and the Tongshan residential area will become closer.
This is not only beneficial for the main tribe to control and govern the sub-tribe, but also, when encountering danger, the two tribes can rely on this road connecting the two tribes to support each other.
It can be said that as long as there is such a road, the relative isolation between the Qingque main tribe and the Tongshan residential area will be broken, and the two tribes can be better connected, making the entire Qingque tribe more united and close.
After Emperor Zulong unified the six kingdoms, he paid great attention to the construction of the Qin Chi Road. The main purpose of this was to use this road to firmly control the recovered territories of the six kingdoms, closely link the six kingdoms with the original Qin Kingdom, and form a complete country.
This purpose played a big role in Emperor Yang of Sui's construction of the Grand Canal.
Han Cheng, lying on the bed, thought about these things slowly and leisurely. The sleepiness he had felt at first gradually disappeared.
As a person of later generations, whether from history or from the era in which he lived, he could deeply appreciate the importance of roads or transportation.
It seems that this road must be built!
After it was completed, it was called the Bronze Highway, leading from the Qingque tribe to the Tongshan residential area.
Well, it is indeed an exaggeration to call such a road, which is destined to be completely inferior to the cement roads connecting every village in the future, a highway. It is suspected of being a boast that does not live up to its name.
But it is undeniable that such a road does have epoch-making significance in this era, so it is not an exaggeration to call it a bronze highway.
Of course, the biggest reason for this is the bad taste of Han Dashenzi, a time traveler from later generations, or it is a way of reminiscing about life in later generations.
Thinking of these things, Han Cheng did not get up immediately and rush to find Wu and his senior brother to discuss.
Because this is a very big thing for the Qingque tribe, Han Cheng needs to consider it carefully and take all aspects into consideration as much as possible. He cannot make a decision rashly.
Besides, Little Pea hasn't woken up yet, and if I get up, I will wake up the little guy.
Han Cheng thought so in his mind, lying on the hammock, continuing to think about the Bronze Highway.
Compared with the leisurely and contented state of mind not long ago, Han Cheng's mood was no longer as peaceful at this moment.
Is this what they mean by 'the sea embraces all rivers, and is vast because of its tolerance; the cliff stands thousands of feet high, and is strong because of its lack of desires'?
It's a pity that Bai Xuemei has chosen this name, and it's not too interesting. Otherwise, changing her name to Yourongmei would be a good choice...
Han Cheng thought about this and gradually fell asleep. During this time, Bai Xue came over and saw that both father and son were sleeping soundly, so she did not disturb them.
He gently pulled the thin animal skin blanket over the two of them, sat on the side and tilted his head to watch with a smile on his face for a while, then quietly left the place and continued to draw silk...
Little Pea woke up from his sleep, slowly sat up, rubbed his eyes with his chubby little hands, then reached out to wipe the saliva from the corners of his mouth. He looked a little dazed.
"dad……"
After a while, Little Pea started calling out to Han Cheng who was sleeping...
Putting Little Pea on the ground, Han Cheng, who was hanging down from the cliff, stretched his body hard, and there was some crackling sound of bones coming from his body.
This hammock woven with thick hemp ropes is fine for lying on and playing for a while, but it is not suitable for sleeping for a long time.
This is the lesson Han Cheng, who suffers from back pain, learned from his personal experience.
After standing there hysterically for a while, Han Cheng shook his dizzy head, scooped out half a basin of water and washed his face. Only then did he feel a lot more sober.
Without wiping his face, he walked to the space between the inner and outer walls with water droplets all over his face and looked towards the rabbit circle. After not seeing the figure of the witch, Han Cheng did not ask anyone, but walked straight out of the yard and walked towards the surrounding fields.
Sure enough, not long after walking, Han Cheng saw a witch squatting in a field, weeding the millet field with a small bronze shovel with a wooden handle.
The small grass that was dug up was left on the ground without any care, while the big grass was picked up by the witch and put together.
You can take these back and feed the rabbits later.
Seeing Wu's diligence, and recalling his behavior of taking a nap on the hanging bed not long ago, Han Dashenzi's face actually felt a little hot, which was a rare feeling for him.
But the fever disappeared quickly.
Because Han Cheng comforted himself in his heart - this short nap was actually worth it. After all, he thought about the donkey cart and the Bronze Highway before going to bed. This was a much greater contribution to the tribe than squatting on the ground and weeding.
Thinking of this, I suddenly felt at ease and even a little justified.
How can this son of God be sleeping? He is working hard for the development of the tribe!
Sure enough, if people want to live a peaceful and comfortable life, in addition to being able to think, they also need to be shameless...
The millet seedlings in the field were taller than the ankles. Han Cheng walked to a place not far from the Wu, squatted down with one foot on each ridge, and pulled weeds with his hands while talking to the Wu about the donkey cart and the Bronze Highway.
As Han Cheng continued to talk, Wu's weeding movements gradually slowed down and finally stopped.
Han Cheng knew that this matter would not be able to be explained in a short time, so he and Wu found a place with shade from trees, sat on the edge of the field and continued to talk with Wu.
There was a look of joy on Wu's face from beginning to end.
It was not that he immediately understood what Han Cheng said, but because in the past, whenever the Son of God spoke to him in such a serious manner, what was to be done next must be very important to the tribe and would bring huge benefits to the tribe.
Wu's experience was absolutely correct. After spending quite a bit of time and roughly understanding what Han Cheng said, Wu couldn't help but smile with his toothless mouth, looking very happy.
"Son of God, this road needs to be repaired quickly..."
The way Wu does things is very characteristic of this era, that is, he does things as soon as he says he will, and is very decisive and resolute.
After understanding the road Han Cheng was talking about, as well as the huge benefits that the donkey carts and deer carts could bring to the tribe, the grinning witch wanted to start building the road immediately.
However, Han Cheng did not do as Wu said. He immediately gathered people to announce the matter and then started working in a hurry.
Because building such a wider road is not something that can be done easily, it requires a series of preliminary preparations.
For example, determining the width of the road, determining the route, preparing the tools for road construction, and the raw materials for road construction all need to be determined first.
Fortunately, the Tongshan residential area has just gotten on track, and things like food production have not yet been fully developed. The demand and pressure for transportation between the two places are not that great, and the tribe has plenty of time to do this thing that takes a long time and consumes a lot of manpower and material resources.
The route can be determined later. The most important thing to do now is to build the donkey cart first.
Only after the donkey cart is built can the width of the road be determined according to the width of the donkey cart.
However, according to Han Cheng's idea, the road to be built this time will be extended further on the basis of being able to accommodate two donkey carts running side by side.
This is to prepare for long-term development in the future.
The Qingque main tribe is close to the Salt Mountain, while the Tongshan residential area is close to the Tongshan Mountain. These two things are extremely important strategic resources for the tribe.
In other words, as long as the two resources are not exhausted, the Qingque main tribe and the Tongshan branch tribe will not decline easily. On the contrary, before the two resources are exhausted, both places will become more prosperous.
As for the depletion of these two resources, thinking back to the current mining speed and the consumption of the two resources, Han Cheng felt that this was something that did not need to be considered for decades or even longer.
As the Qingque main tribe and the Tongshan residential area become prosperous, the demand for this road will become greater.
By that time, the tribe might have already obtained livestock such as cows and horses that are larger than donkeys.
Of course, a cart pulled by a large animal can pull a larger cart than a donkey cart.
If the road is not built wider at this time, the two cars will not be able to pass each other when they meet, and they will need to rebuild the road and widen the road, which is time-consuming and laborious.
When Han Cheng and Wu arrived at the carpenter's room, Carpenter Bo and several other people who specialized in carpentry and weaving were weaving rattan armor with soft rattan in the shade of the open space outside the carpenter's room.
Rattan armor is complicated to weave, and because it is used to save lives, the quality requirements are very high, so it is not weaved quickly.
A master weaver like Bo could only weave two pairs of clothes a day at his fastest speed, and usually he could only weave one and a half pairs a day.
As for these apprentices, it is normal for them to weave one pair a day. Sometimes, they are a little slow and cannot even weave one pair.
This is assuming that there is someone dedicated to collecting and processing the rattan.
If we let Bo and the others collect vines again, the speed of weaving armor will become even slower.
However, when working, "it's not a matter of being slow, it's a matter of standing still". Although only seven sets of rattan armor can be produced every day at most, with the tireless efforts of Bo and the other five carpenter apprentices, there are now nearly a hundred sets of rattan armor in the tribe!
According to the population size of the Qingque tribe and the size of most tribes of this era that Han Cheng knew about, these nearly one hundred sets of rattan armor were enough to form a rattan armor army!
"Son of God! Witch!"
"Son of God! Witch!"
With the arrival of Han Cheng and Wu, everyone who saw the two stood up and greeted them.
Han Cheng smiled and waved to everyone, indicating that they should continue weaving here. Then he walked to Bo's side, watched Bo weave the rattan armor for a while, then reached out and patted Bo on the shoulder, indicating that he should follow him.
Bo put down the half-woven rattan armor in his hand, stood up and went with Han Cheng and Wu to the house in the tribe where sleds, wheelbarrows and other things were stored.
Well, once the donkey cart is manufactured, this place can be called a parking lot...
The reason why Han Cheng did not tell Bo these things in front of the carpenter's room was, on the one hand, because watching the sled and wheelbarrow here could better explain things about the donkey cart and give Bo a more intuitive feeling.
On the other hand, it is to prevent the other apprentices from being distracted and delaying the weaving of rattan armor.
Well, Han Dashenzi is essentially a person who loves to watch others work hard...
As Han Cheng spoke, Lame's eyes, which had seemed a little confused because Han Cheng and Wu, two giants of the tribe, came to find him together, became brighter and brighter, and in the end it was as if there was a light flashing in them.
With an excited look on his face, Bo looked at the many sleds stored here, and then at the wheelbarrow over there, and he kept rubbing his hands back and forth in excitement.
So smart!
The Son of God is truly so wise!
I once felt deeply regretful that the sled could only be used when it snowed heavily, but this regret was just a regret, and I had never thought of any way to make up for this regret.
And now, the Son of God solved the problem with just a few words.
A wheelbarrow can be pushed and run with round wheels installed, so why don't you think of installing wheels on the sled?
In this way, even if there is no snow, the livestock in the tribe can pull this sled with wheels.
And a sled can hold more things than four wheelbarrows.
Once something like this is created, then...
"Son of God!"
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He came to Han Cheng, bowed deeply to him, and shouted respectfully to express his deep respect...
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