(The previous chapter may have involved some sensitive words, so it was blocked. It may take two days to be released...)
There are basically two key issues that need to be resolved now.
One is how to make a bigger wooden hole on the wood that can accommodate more things, and the other is to solve the problem that the wooden wedge cannot be pulled out after being nailed into the wooden hole.
Especially the latter question about the wooden wedges.
If this problem is not solved, the oil pressing work cannot be carried out.
Even though time and energy were not valuable in primitive times, it took so much time and effort to make a disposable product, and this disposable product could only produce about ten pounds of oil.
Even though Han Cheng has become accustomed to a slow-paced, inefficient life, he still cannot accept the disproportionate effort and hard work.
"Son of God, can you dig a hole along the trunk of the tree?"
After hearing Han Cheng say that in order to create pits that could hold more tung oil fruits, they might have to cut down thicker trees, Mao Er's childish face twitched a little.
Because it was already very difficult to fell the current tree intact. If we were to fell a tree thicker than this one, it would be even more troublesome. Not to mention anything else, the tribe's bronze saw was not long enough and needed to be remade into a longer one.
Because he didn't want to cut down any bigger trees, Mao Er stared at the thick tree trunk lying flat on the ground and began to think about how to make a bigger tree pit without cutting down any bigger trees.
After thinking about it for a while, he actually came up with a solution.
After hearing what Mao Er said and looking at the thick tree trunk lying flat on the ground, Han Cheng was suddenly enlightened.
How could I have forgotten this method!
If you dig a wood pit perpendicular to the tree trunk, the thickness of the trunk will greatly limit the size of the pit. However, as long as you dig the wood pit from one end to the other along the direction of the trunk, the pit can become much deeper as the length increases, and the capacity will naturally increase.
"Good! Good! Cat Ear, your idea is really great!"
Han Cheng, with a smile on his face, patted Mao Er's shoulders vigorously, not sparing any praise.
Mao Er, who was a little nervous at first, now saw that the Son of God was not only not angry, but also praised him so much. The little bit of nervousness in his heart had long disappeared, and what remained was only deep joy and excitement.
I have solved a problem myself!
"But once it was erected, it was too high, and we had to stand on the wall and hammer wooden wedges in."
The witch, who was standing aside and had figured out what to do, scratched his head and spoke out.
"You don't have to stand on the wall. You can build a scaffold and stand on it to smash it, just like when we were untying the wooden planks."
After receiving the praise, Mao Er's mind became active and he was quite excited. He immediately came up with another solution.
When the tribe used a large saw to saw tree trunks into planks, if they encountered tree trunks that were too high, they would need to set up a rack on both sides of the trunk, and two people would stand on the rack and pull the saw hard.
So it's not surprising that Maoer came up with such a solution now.
Han Cheng smiled and waved his hand. There was no need to stand the tree trunk upright to pound the wooden wedges inside. The wedges could be driven in just as long as the trunk was lying flat.
After all, this is something that can be done by one person, unlike a saw that requires two people to pull it.
After Han Cheng proposed this idea, the eyes of Wu, Bo, Mao'er and other people who were surrounding Han Cheng for a hundred years suddenly lit up. This was indeed a good idea.
So Han Cheng began to arrange people to dig a wood pit along the intact end of the thick oak tree, and at the same time had people saw off the other end that was destroyed after a wood pit was dug out.
When we chose this tree, in addition to the right thickness, another reason was that the tree was handsome and tall enough.
Now, even if another section is cut off, the remaining part is still nearly six meters long, which is enough for use.
At this time, Big Foot's body was no longer in danger. Because he discovered the tung oil fruit, Han Dashenzi freed him from his slave status and made him a second-class citizen of the tribe. Now he was full of energy and wanted to devote himself to the great construction of the Qingque tribe.
So as soon as he felt better, he came to find Han Cheng and said that he wanted to go back to repair the road.
Seeing that he was fine and still so enthusiastic, Han Cheng told him to get more rest and then agreed.
After the people who brought Big Foot back saw that Big Foot was not in danger, they left the tribe the next day and went back to repair the road.
Even so, Big Foot would not be alone on this trip, because in addition to some people from the trading team, he would also be accompanied by some women and minors from the tribe.
They went there to pick up as many tung oil fruits as possible and then bring them back.
A group of more than twenty people walked along the newly built road, heading west.
There were also four donkey carts traveling along the way.
The minors were sitting on the donkey carts, full of curiosity and joy. Some of them lay on the donkey carts and looked through the gaps in the cart boards to see the ground moving backwards very quickly. (I am not kidding. Just looking through a small gap, the things on the ground were moving backwards very fast. Back then, we were sitting on slow ox carts.)
Some people lay on the donkey cart and looked at the cloud that they could not get rid of and was moving forward with them. Some minors pointed at the scenery they had never seen before on both sides of the road and were very excited.
The donkey cart moved forward, leaving laughter along the way...
Within the tribe, the work of digging holes was once again stopped, and problems arose again at the work.
The problem this time is still more difficult.
At the beginning, the drilling of holes in the tree trunk went smoothly. After all, Bo and the others had been tempered into experienced carpenters, and drilling such holes was not a problem for them. However, as the holes continued to deepen, problems gradually emerged.
As the cave deepened, it became more difficult to dig. When Bo and his team had managed to dig the pit to a depth of nearly two meters, there was no way to dig any deeper.
At this time, there was still nearly four meters behind the thick tree trunk that had not been chiseled.
Even if a section at the tail end needs to be left uncut, there are still three meters left to be chiseled.
"Son of God, forge a longer tool..."
Lame, who aspired to become a man like Lu Ban, became anxious this time and made up his mind to chisel the hole in the tree trunk.
Han Cheng thought about it and shook his head. It was too troublesome to do this.
Moreover, even if a five-meter-long chisel could be made, it would be very difficult to use it to chisel out neat holes. This requires too high a level of skill and physical strength from the carpenter.
"Saw the trunk in two, from end to end."
Han Cheng looked at Bo and said.
"this..."
Lame seemed hesitant. He was worried that after sawing the tree trunk in half, he would not be able to extract oil from it. After all, when he was digging the wooden pit for extracting oil, the Son of God had specifically instructed not to break it.
Moreover, they themselves felt that if this thing was opened, it would probably be impossible to use it to extract oil, because when nailing the wooden wedges into it, the force was very strong.
"It's okay, just try sawing it open."
After understanding Bo's concerns, Han Cheng smiled and waved his hand.
Han Cheng had never come across this kind of oil press before, but now he could try it out and learn while fighting.
We were facing difficulties in digging the tree pit, to the point where we couldn't dig deeper without breaking it.
At this point there is nothing else to do except get it open.
As for how to put the two pieces of wood together after breaking them apart, that is something that needs to be solved after breaking them apart.
He followed the order and walked.
So, before long, the battered tree trunk stood up again with everyone's efforts. Then two people who often pulled the big saw stood on the built frame and started sawing from top to bottom with one push and one pull...
After the tree trunk was broken into two halves, it became easier to start chiseling. Several carpenters worked in batches according to the lines drawn by Lame. The progress increased by four or five times compared to before.
However, although the progress has improved so much, the people who were working did not feel much excitement, because they were all worried about what would happen next. They were afraid that the tree trunk that had been sawed in half would not be easy to use after it was closed again.
After more than two days of polishing, the two halves of the trunk were completely hollowed out, each with a semicircle on top. When put together, they became a hollow cylinder inside.
"How about trying some tung oil fruit?"
Bo wanted to find a way to glue them together as much as possible, but Han Cheng thought about it and didn't let him do so. Instead, he asked people to put tung oil fruits in them and conduct experiments.
Because the tree was thick enough, even if part of it was taken away, the remaining part would still be very heavy.
Now one is pressing on the other, which is much heavier than the legendary coffin lid.
Han Cheng wanted to try whether he could withstand this force with just his own weight. If he could, that would be great and would save him a lot of trouble.
The people who went to the road construction site to collect tung oil fruits have returned, pulling as many as four donkey carts. The people who followed them did not return empty-handed either, as they had more or less things in their hands and on their bodies.
If the 'oil press' can be fixed properly, the oil squeezed from the tung oil fruits brought back by the tribe this time can basically be used to paint rattan armor.
Under Han Cheng's instructions, after the processes of stir-frying, shelling, crushing and wrapping, the packages containing the fried tung oil powder were stuffed into the oil press that was placed horizontally here, although it was not yet known whether it could be used.
This time, two packages of tung oil powder were filled in, weighing almost thirty pounds.
After pushing them to the bottom with a stick, just like the unsuccessful experiment last time, a round wooden board with the same thickness as the inside was filled in.
After doing all this, they started putting wooden sticks in one by one. When a certain number of sticks were stuffed in and it became difficult to stuff them in with just the hands, they started using bronze hammers.
“Boom boom boom…”
The sound of hammers hitting wooden sticks and nailing nails inside rang out continuously. There was silence all around. Everyone was looking at the modified oil press, waiting for a miracle to happen.
People like Bo and Mao'er, who participated in the entire production process, didn't even dare to breathe. They stared without blinking, their hearts hanging in their throats, fearing that something might go wrong.
However, mistakes still occurred.
It turns out that the coffin lid cannot be fastened tightly without nails.
At the beginning, the supporting force was not very strong, and relying on its own heavy weight, the half of the trunk on top could remain motionless. However, as the sticks were continuously nailed inside, the supporting force inside became stronger and stronger, and finally a gap appeared in the upper half of the trunk.
"Alas~"
Bo and the others all sighed, feeling very disappointed with the result.
Although Han Cheng was somewhat disappointed, it was not a big disappointment. After all, this thing was created from scratch, and any kind of mistakes could have occurred in the process.
Immediately, someone worked together to lift up the top board, take out the stick, and reload it.
This method of sawing the tree trunk in half, which was originally devised to solve the difficulty of digging a hole, accidentally solved the problem of removing the wooden stakes that had been nailed into the tree.
No matter how firmly these sticks are supported inside, as long as the upper half of the trunk is opened, the supporting force will immediately disappear and the firmly supported trunk will become loose.
After loading these things again, Han Cheng asked someone to find some tough vines and tied them up tightly, more than ten times in total.
After finishing these, continue to fill in the wooden stakes, and after filling them tightly, use a bronze hammer to keep nailing them in.
"Oil! Oil! There's oil!"
This time, with the vines used for restraint, as the tree stumps were continuously driven in, the upper half of the trunk was not stretched open.
After smashing it for a while, someone with sharp eyes pointed at the bottom of the simple oil press and shouted in surprise.
Han Cheng and other people around him looked in that direction upon seeing this.
Han Cheng was immediately delighted when he saw this. He saw drops of yellowish oil flowing out from the holes drilled in the bottom of the simple oil press, and then dripping into the ceramic basin below.
This scene was not very pleasant, but Han Cheng was smiling as he watched it. Bo and Mao'er, who were all involved in the manufacturing of this simple or crude oil press, jumped up and down and cheered loudly.
The second senior brother, who was holding a bronze hammer and hitting the tree stump again and again, looked down at the drops of oil dripping down, grinned, then held the bronze hammer with both hands, increased the strength, and hit it again and again.
As the squeezing pressure increased, more oil came out. It started as a few drops dripping down, and then turned into a thin line, continuously dripping into the ceramic basin below, from a small amount to a large amount.
There was cheering all around, and everyone had a happy and excited smile on their face.
This is the taste of success!
Before success, it often takes a lot of effort, a lot of pain, and endurance of suffering. But when all this is over and success really comes, all the efforts made before will turn into heartfelt joy.
Moreover, the more people give and the more suffering they go through, the greater the joy they will get at this time.
You can deeply understand this by just looking at the lame people who are happy and jump higher than those who are more nimble.
Because of the appearance of this oil, the entire tribe suddenly became a sea of joy.
Under the hammering of the second senior brother, the tung oil fruit powder was squeezed more firmly, and the oil contained in it kept flowing out, gathering into an amber color in the pottery basin.
“Fry the tung oil fruit, peel it, mash it, and then squeeze out the oil!”
Han Cheng howled with excitement, and the people around him also shouted excitedly: "Pressing oil! Pressing oil!"
Then there was a joyous and busy scene. People were frying tung oil fruits, peeling them, and crushing them, all in high spirits.
On this side, after no more oil dripped out of it, Han Cheng began to pour the tung oil collected in the ceramic basin into the jar.
Then we used a scale to weigh it, and after subtracting the weight of the can itself, we found that the amount of oil we got was a little over five pounds.
This time, about 35 kilograms of tung oil fruit powder were put in. In other words, the oil yield of tung oil extracted by this method is about one-seventh.
This oil yield rate is not high. There must be a lot of oil that has not been squeezed out in the oil residue of the two balls poured aside. However, this doesn’t matter to Han Cheng now.
As long as most of the oil can be squeezed out, there will be no problem. As for the rest, it's okay to waste a little. Who made the oil press so crude, and the tung oil fruit resources there are so abundant? !
At this moment, four words appeared on Han Dashenzi's face as he looked at the tung oil in the jar in his hand, looking particularly generous, that is, being rich and willful.
After everyone's busy work, more tung oil fruits were processed. This time, more were put in, a full 350 kilograms!
In order to pack more tung oil powder in, this time the tung oil packages were not packed in loosely as before, but were stepped on and formed into pancake shapes.
But this will give rise to new problems.
The problem is that these cakes stepped out by people's feet are of different sizes. When they are placed one next to another, some are big and some are small, leaving a lot of gaps in the middle. In this case, many places cannot be squeezed during the subsequent oil pressing, which will greatly affect the oil yield.
Han Cheng stood here scratching his head for a while and then came up with a solution.
He called Bo over and asked him to weave circles of the same size using bamboo strips.
These halos woven from bamboo strips are forty-five centimeters in diameter and four centimeters thick.
With these circles of the same specifications, the problem of the pancakes being of varying sizes and thicknesses was immediately solved.
When making oil cakes, you just need to spread the linen on the ground first, then put the circle on the linen, and then continue to fill it with tung oil fruit powder. When it is almost done, fold the excess linen in half, step on it with your feet, and tie the edges of the linen together.
And because there is a circle of relatively hard bamboo ring on the outside, after the pancakes are stood up, they will not be as easily deformed as before.
With the experience from last time, this time when putting the cakes inside, he did not put the 'lid' on first, tie it tightly and then put the cakes inside. Instead, he arranged the cakes one by one neatly on the lower side and placed the round wooden board against the back. After all this was done, he covered the upper half of the trunk and tied it tightly with tough vines.
“Start pressing the oil!”
Han Cheng shouted, and several people began to fill it with wooden stakes.
Because this time a lot more tung oil fruit powder was put in there than before, the wooden stakes were left outside for a long time.
"Bang! Bang!..."
After filling it tightly, the second brother cheered up and started hammering the wooden stake with a bronze hammer.
At the beginning, the wooden stakes went in very quickly, but as the number of hits increased, the speed began to slow down, but in contrast, tung oil began to drip from the bottom of the oil press.
This time, the amount of tung oil fruit powder was very sufficient, ten times that of the first time, so after the second brother continued to swing the hammer for a while, the tung oil that was originally dripping down directly turned into a trickle, flowing into the ceramic basin below.
Such a scene made Han Cheng and others smile with joy.
The second brother also cheered up and hammered down again and again, constantly squeezing the tung oil powder.
After all, human strength is limited. After the second brother smashed for a while, he was exhausted and his hammer was not as powerful as before, so the eldest brother stepped forward to take over...
Looking at the full ceramic basin of tung oil, Han Cheng and others were particularly happy.
With the tung oil, the Son of God can finally start to paint the rattan armor, and the quality of the rattan armor of his tribe can finally be improved!
Han Cheng's joy faded a little after he weighed the tung oil squeezed out this time in batches and added them up.
The tung oil looked like a lot when placed in the basin, but after weighing it, it was only thirty-five pounds.
According to the oil yield recorded in the last experiment, we should get 50 kilograms of oil this time.
Even if the fruits in this batch are not as plump as the previous batch used for experiments, the difference cannot be so huge. It's simply fifteen kilograms less!
Where did these fifteen kilograms of oil go?
"Try smashing it again."
After thinking for a while, Han Cheng said to his second senior brother who had recovered a lot, and the second senior brother picked up the hammer and continued to hit the wooden stake.
However, due to his constant hammering, the wooden stake basically stopped moving inside, with only a few drops of oil dripping from it.
"Son of God, there's no more oil in there."
Wu was talking, but Yuan did not follow suit. Instead, he looked thoughtful.
After nearly a year of shocking enlightenment in the Qingque tribe, Yuan has now been initially introduced to the world of mathematics by Han Cheng.
She also figured out some tricks from Han Cheng's weighing just now.
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