After building the shed and the smelting furnace, while smoking the furnace, Xu Chen directed the men from poor families to start learning how to mine and process tin ore, which ones can be used and which ones cannot be used, and use rattan baskets to pick out the usable ones.
They were carried and stacked under the wooden shed. If the pieces were too big, they would be smashed with rocks.
Some poor tribesmen knew that doing this would bring much-needed pottery, salt crystals and other good things to the tribe, so they did not need to be urged by the shaman or the chief of the tribe, so they worked hard and honestly. So in half a day, hundreds of people came.
I got several thousand kilograms of tin ore back and forth.
On the third day, Xu Chen officially started smelting the first furnace of tin.
In order to teach the poor tribesmen, he did every step very carefully and conscientiously, trying to make the men arranged by their great witches to learn from them understand and understand.
These simple techniques have no problem at all for some men from the Ba tribe or the Alliance tribesmen who know how to burn kilns. They can do it at a glance, and they can even do it better without Xu Chen having to say anything.
For example, burning firewood in an earthen stove is the simplest action, but these savages have never used this kind of artificial stove, so they don't know how to set up firewood to make the fire burn more vigorously instead of firewood.
There was too much stuffing, and it collapsed inside, blocking the fire hole and flue.
As for the proportion of ore and wood chips placed in the smelting furnace, Xu Chen himself had no idea. These primitive tribesmen were even more confused when looking at the stars.
Faced with such a group of apprentices who had zero starting point, Xu Chen could only take the trouble to demonstrate and explain over and over again. After slowly filling the smelting furnace, he sealed the furnace and started to light it, and then explained over and over again how to do it.
The most basic kiln burning skills include how to keep the fire from going out, how to make the fire burn more vigorously, how to poke the furnace with a wooden stick to maintain air flow input, etc.
For the whole day, Xu Chen was doing this fire-making procedure that everyone in the rural aunts of later generations was proficient in.
After a long time, the fire was successfully lit, the thick smoke from the smelting furnace slowly turned into green smoke, the sun completely set, and another day passed.
The four major hardships in life are: burning a kiln, forging iron, punting a boat, and grinding tofu.
These jobs last for many years, and the movements are monotonous and boring, and they are also extremely tiring physical work, especially kilns and blacksmithing, which are scorched by smoke and fire all year round, and the heat and poison can kill you quickly.
Among them, kiln burning is the most painful. When the kiln fires, you must stay by the kiln day and night without any slack. Once the kiln fire is unstable and changes significantly, the goods in the kiln will basically be useless.
Therefore, Xu Chen did not dare to close his eyes that night. Instead, he stayed beside the smelting furnace, constantly adding firewood and fire, waiting for the temperature of the smelting furnace to rise. He stayed there until nearly midnight, watching the tin filled in the inner furnace.
The ore began to collapse continuously, and then turned into a half-furnace red fire like red-hot coal. Then he took a few hunters and apprentice workers from poor families, stirred them up with wooden sticks, and picked out the slag on the surface.
, and then continue to add ore and wood chips inside.
This was done over and over again until the sky was slightly bright. Looking at the half-pot of red metal liquid in the smelting furnace, Xu Chen couldn't hold on any longer. He personally pried open the stone sealing the furnace, and then a stream of red tin water flowed down.
The grooves flowed out.
Because there was no long pottery spoon prepared for casting, nor the casting mold carefully prepared, the tin water flowed directly into a few square pits that were randomly pulled out of the sand.
After all the tin water in the smelting furnace had flowed out, Xu Chen had people quickly pick out all the remaining slag and anneal it in the furnace.
Then he didn't bother to check the smelted tin, so he went back to the wooden shed, wrapped himself in a thick animal skin and fell asleep.
By the time he was woken up by loud talking and noisy sounds, it was already dark.
The weather was gloomy, the valley was freezing, the air turned into ice, and the ground was covered with frost.
In the past, it was such a cold day that primitive people would not get up and go out so early according to their urine habits. However, as soon as it dawned today, a group of poor people who had stayed up late to smelt ran back to report to the big witch that they were smelting.
A shiny Pokémon came out.
So the great witch brought a large group of people to see what mysterious object Xu Chen had burned for several days and all night.
The tin water flowing in the mud has long solidified into silver-white metal, and a large area exudes metallic luster.
A poor witch and a large group of men, women, and children gathered around this large pool of metal, pointing and discussing loudly in amazement.
No one would have thought that Xu Chen had such a miraculous ability to burn some useless stones into juice, and then solidify them into such magical shapes and colors.
This kind of thing burned from stone naturally has a metallic beauty. Not only is the silver light shining, it can also reflect people's faces, so a large group of people squatted or stood around the open space in front of the smelting furnace.
There were constant exclamations and noises, but no one dared to touch it.
Being afraid to touch does not mean that you are not curious.
So when Xu Chen came over with yawning and eyes closed, he saw a group of savages wearing furs, just like a group of curious wild cats, stretching out their claws to constantly test the tin blocks on the ground. Occasionally, they didn't dare to touch them.
, and quickly retracted his hand.
Seeing Xu Chen coming, a large group of people suddenly jumped away like a nest. While making way, almost everyone looked at him in awe.
The big witch made signs and spoke to Xu Chen with excitement on his face. The two Lapp and Cha hunters next to him also hurriedly made signs for three-way interpretation. Xu Chen roughly understood that the witch was praising him for being very powerful and asking him questions at the same time.
What's the use of burning this kind of thing?
Naturally, Xu Chen would not say the use. He only said that this thing could be used to make some items. In the future, the Ba and Gonghuo tribes would need to burn as much as the poor tribe could burn.
The wizard was very happy and asked if he could touch this thing.
Xu Chen naturally fulfilled her little wish, and asked someone to find a wooden stick, dig out the whole piece of tin from the sand, and then bend it with his hands to break off a small piece and hand it to Da Wu.
Seeing Xu Chen break off the tin with his hands, the surrounding savages let out another cry of surprise.
Xu Chen tried to pick up the whole piece of tin and weighed it, but found that it was very difficult. It was estimated to weigh sixty or seventy pounds.
In this way, he can probably estimate the output.
As long as these poor people are skilled in the future and the supply of ore and wood is ensured, a smelting furnace can smelt at least hundreds of kilograms of tin metal a day, and more than a ton a month. Production may be suspended in the spring and summer rainy seasons, but
In half a year in autumn and winter, we can make seven or eight tons.
Of course, this is only a theoretical output. If the smelting furnace and mining speed are increased, the output will be doubled, but this will also consume more manpower and material resources. When the food supply is insufficient, the poor will also find it difficult to
To continue.
However, stimulated by items such as pottery and salt, Xu Chen believed that poor people would work hard to smelt.
Therefore, after Xu Chen determined the output, he needed to give an appropriate exchange ratio, so that the poor would not feel disadvantaged, but also to give them enough enthusiasm to work.
So after careful consideration, Xu Chen found a stone ax and slowly chopped the large piece of tin in his hand into six pieces of about the same size in front of everyone, each weighing about ten kilograms.
Then Xu Chen began to explain the future exchange ratio with Dawu. In this way, each of six pieces of tin can be exchanged for two pottery bowls or a large pottery plate. Two pieces added together can be exchanged for a small pottery pot or pot. Four pieces can be exchanged for
For a medium-sized clay pot or pot, six pieces can be exchanged for a large pottery pot or pot. If you want to exchange salt, three pieces can be exchanged for a small bag of salt, which is about a pound.
Da Wu was not dissatisfied with Xu Chen's exchange ratio.
Because she didn't know how complicated and hard smelting was, she only knew that when she woke up from her sleep, her tribe had learned how to smelt stones into this magical metal. It looked very easy, and it could be replaced by working day and night.
A lot of pottery is still a good deal in her opinion.
Because the tin mine is near the tribe, and the wood is not valuable. It is all over the hillside. Just pick it up. As long as Xu Chen needs this metal all year round, almost everyone in the poor tribe will have pottery to use in a year. Among them
Then use some to exchange for other items such as salt crystals and fishing nets, so that poor people can quickly become rich.
Although she doesn't understand mathematics, she understands that increasing wealth depends on accumulation.
Animal skins need to be accumulated, food also needs to be accumulated, and even the population needs to be accumulated over a long period of time to form such a huge tribe.
Xu Chen was able to help them turn this useless stone into an exchangeable wealth, which actually filled her with surprise and gratitude.
In addition, it is inconvenient to come and go here. Xu Chen proposed that if there are poor people who can help transport the tin to the Qia tribe outside the mountain or the Gonghuo tribe downstream, the exchange ratio can be doubled or tripled.
Faced with this proposal, a poor clan shaman and a group of clan leaders expressed their willingness to accept it after a brief discussion, but they hoped that Xu Chen could teach the technique of weaving rattan baskets so that they could carry it easily.
Xu Chen naturally readily satisfied them with this condition.
After the transaction terms and methods were agreed upon, Xu Chen arranged for a group of hunters to teach the poor people how to make baskets, and also taught them how to make straw sandals and twist ropes.
Ordinary ropes are bark ropes, which are not strong or durable. They can be used to make fishing nets, but they are very easy to damage. Nowadays, almost all the Ba tribe alliance and Gonghuo tribe alliance tribes have replaced them with hemp rope fishing nets. Daily bark ropes
It is only used in temporary life scenes such as simple binding.
Xu Chen didn't want these neighboring tribes to use prostitution skills for free, but for the common progress of mankind and future transactions, it was still very necessary to teach some low-level and superficial skills.
Xu Chen will not teach the skills of picking hemp and soaking hemp for the time being. After all, spinning and weaving is still the core skill of the Ba people, and weaving is needed to gain more benefits for the Ba people.
When the bronze knives are produced, the Ba people will have another core wealth-increasing tool, and then they can promote spinning and weaving to more alliance tribes.
However, simple trading tribes like the poor will not enjoy this kind of shared technological progress.
If they want higher-level items, they can only exchange them.
Otherwise, they must submit to the Ba tribe and become the new alliance tribe.
Xu Chen has no time to take care of this difficult-to-travel tribe at the moment. For the time being, he only needs to be able to coexist peacefully and continue to provide tin. After all, there are poor tribes who are really poor and eat dirt. Even if they surrender, it will still take a lot of effort.
Come and help guide the construction.
Once a poor tribe delivers goods to the Qia tribe or the Gonghuo tribe and comes into contact with the outside world, it is estimated that it will be much easier to recover them in the future.
It only costs a few more pottery and some salt.
But in fact, for him, the current exchange ratio is almost the same as robbing, and the other party even delivers the goods to his door, so why not do it.