Chapter 213 Hunting Song and Fleet
May 6th, breeding area.
“Huluhulu…”
Under Dajiao's careful breeding, more than 30 wild boar cubs have grown up successfully. Especially those boars that have gotten rid of vulgar interests have grown fat and are a pleasure to look at.
"When it's autumn, you can kill it. Pick a fat one as a sacrifice to the vine god."
Dajiao patted the back of a wild boar and was quite satisfied with the thick meat.
The wild boars in the mountains are very ferocious, but the domesticated wild boars are used to seeing people and are more docile.
Of course, it is only relatively docile.
As these wild boars grow larger, the pigpens can no longer hold them. If they are forced to stay inside, they will break the door down.
Therefore, Dajiao has now specially fenced off a piece of land to raise these wild boars. He usually does not close the pigpen door and allows them to roam around there.
Strangely enough, after the door is opened, these wild boars will stroll outside during the day, and when it is feeding time and at night, they will consciously return to the pigsty.
This made Da Jiao feel very relieved.
In addition to these wild boars, the Teng tribe has also domesticated more and more wild beasts and birds.
For example, birds of prey.
When the raptor tribe was destroyed, Big Horn picked up some raptor eggs and brought them back to the tribe, letting the unicorn hatch these eggs.
Now, this group of little birds of prey have grown up and are beginning to show their ferocity.
The colorful ducks, pheasants and unicorns did not dare to approach these birds of prey because they were too fierce.
Strangely enough, the tribesmen liked ferocious beasts and birds. These huge and ferocious birds of prey soon attracted the attention of many warriors.
These warriors begged Jiang Xuan to let them try to tame the birds of prey as mounts.
Although birds of prey cannot fly, they have a pair of long legs and can run very fast in the forest. They also have great endurance and attack power, making them suitable as mounts.
Jiang Xuan thought about it for a moment and agreed to their request.
Anyway, the Teng Tribe already has several kinds of mounts, so it doesn’t matter if they have one more kind of raptor.
…
Rattan tribe, shipyard.
“Clatter…”
Another wooden boat was launched.
Unlike other wooden boats, this one is larger, ten meters long, with a watertight sealed cabin inside and a bronze anchor at the stern.
Most importantly, this wooden boat has a mast and a sail in the middle.
The sails are made of treated animal skins and are very tough and can withstand strong winds.
By the artificial lake, Jiang Xuan said excitedly: "The Teng Tribe finally has its first sailboat!"
Compared with wooden boats that rely entirely on oars for propulsion, the advantages of sailboats are obviously very obvious.
It can sail with the help of wind, and if there is favorable wind and current, it can sail very fast.
With a sailboat, the warriors of the Teng tribe can truly try to get out of the Teng tribe's river basin and head to wider waters and more distant places! Beside Jiang Xuan, the soldiers of the shipyard also cheered. They had put a lot of thought into this sailboat.
"Let's go up and test sail!"
A soldier placed a long wooden board on the hull, connecting it to the shore.
Jiang Xuan walked up along the wooden board and asked several soldiers from the shipyard to go up as well.
"Raise the sail!"
At Jiang Xuan's command, a soldier immediately took the wooden board back into the boat, while the others walked under the mast and began to pull the sail.
The sail made of animal skins rose up little by little. When it reached the top of the mast, the soldiers tied the rope connecting the sail tightly to the boat.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
The sail was very large. When the wind blew, it immediately swelled up and caused the entire ship to move sideways to the left.
"Chief, the boat isn't moving forward, what should we do?"
Except for Jiang Xuan, no one in the Teng tribe had ever seen a sail, let alone knew how to operate it, so when faced with this situation, they could only ask Jiang Xuan for help.
Jiang Xuan said calmly: "Pull the rope and change the direction of the sail."
"yes!"
The sail didn't just have ropes in the middle, there were also a lot of ropes on both sides. The soldiers pulled the ropes of the sail hard to change its direction to face the wind.
When the sail is adjusted to a certain angle, the hull tilts slightly, and the sailboat slowly moves forward under the push of the wind.
“Success!”
Although the soldiers were not very used to the tilted sailboat, they were still very happy to see it moving forward.
Jiang Xuan said: "Controlling the sail is a technical job. You need to keep trying and summarizing your experience. Right now our ship only has one sail, so the wind power we can use is relatively limited."
"In the future, our ships will become larger and larger, with two sails, three sails, or even more sails."
"By that time, as long as you can skillfully control the sails, the Vine Tribe's ship will be able to sail to a farther place!"
Jiang Xuan's words made the warriors on the boat excited. They had even begun to imagine the scene of the big ship of the Teng tribe sailing on a wider water.
The artificial lake was too small, and when the soldiers on the boat gradually figured out how to use the wind direction to drive the sailboat forward, they drove the boat directly into the Feiyu River.
The Feiyu River is wider and has more room for maneuver, allowing sailboats to turn and sail freely on it.
However, new problems soon arose.
The sailboat is indeed very fast when it goes downstream with the help of wind, but what should we do if we want to go back?
"Close to shore and lower the sail!"
At Jiang Xuan's command, the sailboat quickly approached the shore and lowered the sails.
Without the propulsion of wind, the sailboat can only be driven by the flowing water, and its speed is obviously much slower.
"Loose anchor!"
“Clatter…”
The bronze anchor was thrown into the water and quickly hooked onto the rocks at the bottom of the river, firmly fixing the boat so that it was no longer pushed by the current and continued to drift downwards.
Jiang Xuan said to the soldiers, "If the wind blows from the opposite direction of the water flow, and the water flow is not fast, we can use the wind to go upstream."
"If the wind direction and the current direction are the same, we can only put down the sail and continue paddling with oars, which can also make the boat go upstream, but it is more difficult."
"If we encounter a river section with fast currents, we will have to send some people off the boat and use ropes to pull the boat up."
"Do you understand?"
The soldiers tried their best to remember Jiang Xuan's words, but they still didn't understand them very well and no one said anything.
Jiang Xuan said: "It doesn't matter. Actually, I don't really understand it either. We should practice more, accumulate more experience, and try more. We will definitely find the right way."
"Take the oars and row!"
The soldiers picked up the thick oars, divided into two groups and began rowing.
The soldiers were very strong, and after rowing a few times, the boat began to move upstream.
When the large ship moved to the point directly above the anchor, Jiang Xuan immediately turned the capstan at the stern to pull up the anchor.
Afterwards, Jiang Xuan and the soldiers worked together to go upstream, row the boat into a river bay with slow current, and dropped anchor again.
The members of the fishing team were fishing by the river, and when they saw the new boat, everyone became excited.
In order to deal with the Black Snake Tribe, Jiang Xuan had the shipyard working day and night to build a lot of wooden boats.
Most of these wooden boats belong to the fishing teams.
Relying on wooden boats, the members of the fishing team were able to fish in deeper waters and further away, and they had a good harvest.
That's why they were so excited when they saw the new ship.
Jing Jie even came up to Jiang Xuan and started asking about the new boat, and asked Jiang Xuan to allocate the new boat to the fishing team.
"Chief, please assign the new boat to our fishing team. We have experience in boat driving."
Jingjie looked at Jiang Xuan eagerly, hoping that Jiang Xuan could assign the boat to the fishing team.
Jiang Xuan said: "Don't worry, some new boats will definitely be allocated to your fishing team, but not now."
"Why?"
Jingjie felt very puzzled.
"Because the new boat still has many problems, after the sea trial, it will be sent back to the shipyard for further improvement. Only after the improvement is completed can it be delivered to the fishing team."
"By that time, I hope you can set up a special fleet. It can go fishing in distant places or trade with tribes along the river. Both are good options."
"Of course, once we leave the territory of the Teng Tribe, danger may occur at any time. We may encounter water beasts in the river, reefs, or people from other tribes who may rob us of our supplies..."
"In short, if you want to form a fleet, you must be prepared to face life-threatening situations at any time. If you succeed, you will gain a lot, but if you fail, you may even lose your life."
Jiang Xuan told Jing Jie clearly about the dangers of the voyage without hiding anything.
Jing Jie said seriously: "Chief, hunting is dangerous, fishing is dangerous, and fighting with other tribes is also dangerous."
"Tribesmen are born to live with danger, so we are not afraid of death!"
The soldiers around Jing Jie echoed, "That's right, leader, we are not afraid of death!"
Jiang Xuan looked at these brave soldiers and a smile appeared on his face.
The tribesmen may be barbaric and uncultured, but they have the courage to face death, a courage that many civilized people do not possess.
Jingjie was right. The tribesmen were born to live in danger. They had to fight hard to obtain all the supplies they needed, such as food and clothing. Being afraid of death would not solve any problems.
"Okay, after the new boat is improved, I will set up a special fleet, and the personnel of the fleet will be selected from your fishing team."
"I only have one request, that the entire Southern Wilds, and even places further away, recognize the totem flag of our Teng Tribe!"
Jiang Xuan's words made Jing Jie and the soldiers of the fishing team excited, and they couldn't wait to set out on the boat.
However, one warrior whispered, "Chief, what is a totem flag?"
Jing Jie glared at him and said, "You are the only one who talks too much. Won't we know when the time comes?"
Jiang Xuan waved his hand, signaling Jing Jie not to scold the warrior, and explained in person: "The totem flag is to paint the totem pattern of our Teng tribe on a large animal skin with special paint, and then hang it in a very high place."
"This way, others can see the totem pattern on the flag from a distance and know that people from our Teng tribe are coming."
In fact, it is best to use cloth to make totem flags, because cloth is light and soft and can flutter in the wind.
However, the Teng tribe has no cloth now, so they can only use thin and soft animal skins as much as possible.
"So that's how it is."
Jingjie and the soldiers of the fishing team suddenly realized and nodded.
"Okay, you guys keep fishing, we'll continue the test run!"
Jiang Xuan boarded the new ship again, and the shipyard staff also got on board. Afterwards, they raised the sails again and kept shuttling in the Feiyu River, testing the performance of the ship, recording any deficiencies, and making improvements later.
While fishing, Jingjie and others looked at the new ship from time to time, hoping that the fleet could be established as soon as possible.
…
The residential area of the Teng tribe.
The old witch did not continue carving the Great Wilderness Herbs Map today. In his hand, he held a golden bronze broadsword coin and a gemstone knife coin made of high-quality stone.
Although the gem knife coin was far sharper and harder than the bronze knife coin, the old witch's attention was attracted by the bronze knife coin.
Because this was a material he had never seen before and a use he had never imagined.
He exchanged these two types of knife coins in the trading area using the tusks and bones of wild animals.
He was just thinking about going to the trading area, but he found that the trading area of the Teng tribe had changed a lot.
First of all, the types of goods have become more diverse, and most of the goods are marked with the totem patterns of the Vine Tribe.
Secondly, there are more and more shops. There is even a kind of shop called "inn" in the trading area, where people can eat and stay overnight, which is very convenient.
Last but not least, are these knife coins.
Over time, nearby tribesmen and tourists discovered the benefits of knife coins.
Whether it is used to cut meat and peel animal skins, or to trade with others, it is very popular.
The most important thing is that once a stone-sharpened knife is broken, it can only be sharpened again or discarded.
As for the knife coins of the Teng tribe, even if they are worn out, the Teng tribe is responsible for recycling them, but the value will be discounted! Now most people who come to the Teng tribe trading area to trade will first exchange the goods they bring for knife coins, and then use the knife coins to buy different things for trading, or to eat and stay.
"It's terrible, terrible. How much benefit can a small knife coin bring to the Teng tribe?"
Ever since coming to the Teng Tribe, the old witch felt that he, a witch from the big tribe, seemed to have suddenly turned into an ignorant bumpkin.
He saw so many new things in the Teng Tribe that he had never seen in other tribes.
If he could still barely understand the things before, the knife coins launched by the Teng Tribe now became difficult for him to understand.
“Is it really because I’m old?”
The old witch looked at the knife coin in his hand and felt a sense of heroism.
Before he could finish thinking about the knife coin in his hand, he heard a lot of noise near the Feiyu River, so he put away the knife coin and walked towards the river.
When we arrived at the Feiyu River, there were already many people standing on the river beach, all of them looking at the sailboats sailing on the river.
After the old witch came over, the crowd made way for him so that he could walk to the front.
(End of this chapter)
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