In the early summer of April, the rain increased day by day, and there would be a heavy rain almost every day, which was no different from previous years.
Under the abundant rain and high temperature, plants all over the mountains and plains have begun to enter the annual crazy growth season again, and they are rushing upwards like taking powerful pills.
After two years of rooting and fermentation, some fruit trees, flowers and plants planted inside and outside the compound have grown very fast this year. At first, they were only small saplings one or two meters high. This year, they have grown to four or five meters high, and their branches and leaves have spread and started to form trees.
In the shade, large and small green fruits are mixed in the dense branches and leaves, swaying in the wind, and it looks like a midsummer atmosphere.
The thorn melons planted in front of and behind the house also grow densely. The vines climb along the pergola and cover the courtyard walls and thatched roofs. The colorful flowers bloom and fade, and bloom again. In a few days, they will turn into melons.
Flowing, hanging on pergolas and vines, they look extremely fresh and mouth-watering.
A large amount of hemp was also spread around the house and near the river beach. This hemp was not afraid of water, so its growth was very strong and domineering. It reached a height of nearly two meters in half a month. The dense leaves were like cattail fans, covering a large area of the river beach.
airtight.
The farmland on both sides of the river is growing even more gratifyingly.
The effect of working in a group is very obvious. Stimulated by the rewards, each group carefully takes care of the crops and works hard to weed and drive away wild animals. It is rare to see the dense weeds in the past years in the farmland. Recently, it has also entered a large-scale bolting and flowering period.
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Although seed improvement has not yet yielded results, and agricultural fertilizers and irrigation have not made much progress, the growth trend and uniformity are expected to be much better than last year. As long as the weather is good, there should be no problem with the average yield per mu exceeding 40 kilograms this year.
After entering the summer, the work of the kiln was temporarily ended, but the bronze smelting and casting did not completely stop, because two kilns of charcoal were fired in succession. Although it was only a few thousand kilograms, it could still last for a while with only one small smelting furnace, so a group of
Craftsmen are still smelting and making various bronze wares every day.
However, the main thing currently being made is not swords and weapons, but a large number of commonly used tools.
Axes, hatchets, guillotines, boning knives, scissors, copper needles, chisels, hammers, hand drills, planes, hoes, picks, plowshares, rakes, etc.
In addition, there are long-handled pliers, short-handled pliers, copper drills, drills and other special tools.
Xu Chen guided the production of all the metal tools that Xu Chen could think of that were commonly used in later generations. It didn't matter whether they were good or not, but what was important was that they could be used. Especially the emergence of various knives, scissors, pliers and hammers, which made leather goods, woodware and metal processing techniques more advanced.
A big improvement.
Moreover, he also specially built a set of laboratory tools for himself, including various pliers, drills, knives, saw blades, etc., all of which are hung on the wall with glittering gold. Not only does it look good, but it also enhances his processing skills of gold and gemstones.
It has improved a lot and has begun to have the atmosphere of a professional studio.
After a round of weapons distribution, Xu Chen will not produce them on a large scale within one or two years, because he will not launch any large-scale exploration and conquest activities within one or two years.
Right now, he wants to popularize and popularize the resources and technologies he has accumulated in his hands, and strive to improve the production capacity and living standards of the alliance tribes. Only after each tribe enters the normal era of farming and animal husbandry and completely solves the food crisis can he truly establish
A professional army was formed that was completely divorced from production, and another round of larger-scale expansion began.
Because the distance explored by the next expansion will be farther, perhaps the journey will be measured in years.
In fact, after the last exploration expansion, Xu Chen no longer has too urgent need for longer-distance exploration.
The next trip is no longer a journey of conquest, but a journey of communication and travel.
For him, conquering ethnic groups and tribes with hundreds of thousands of people thousands of miles away is of little significance, because even if they are conquered, they will only be poor and eat dirt. Apart from capturing some of the population, they will not return.
The harvest is too big, so his main purpose is to promote advanced technology and writing, etc., to lay the foundation for further tribal integration in the future.
The whole of April and May was plunged into heavy rain and scorching sun.
Farmland has also entered the craziest growing season of the year.
Due to the hot weather and flooding, all the tribe's foreign contacts were interrupted, and the exchanges with other tribes came to a complete standstill.
Spring is sleepy, autumn is tired, winter is cold, summer is hot and it is just right to sleep.
After entering the hottest summer, Xu Chen also moved his wicker chair to the pergola outside of the metal tools, and spent most of his time lying on it to relax and relax.
Of course, it is impossible to just keep fat. After eating and sleeping every day, when the weather is slightly cooler, he will also perform regular teaching tasks, teaching a group of children to learn literacy, writing, calculation, singing and entertainment, and even teach geometry.
Art and craft courses are not only for children, but also for potters, smelters and carpenters.
Although these learning contents are very simple, after accumulating slowly, there are still some gains. At least after more than a month, a group of carpenters can complete basic ruler and compass drawings, and can draw some good-looking shapes on the ceramic board.
Geometric shapes, and even two simple structural diagrams that can be completed independently for a wheelbarrow and a carriage.
As for the two people, Little Witch and Ye, who are already at a relatively high level of education, Xu Chen has already begun to teach them some more complex learning content, such as multiplication and division, writing and recording what they see and hear in the daily life of the tribe, and sorting out and transcribing a large number of things he leaves behind in daily life.
Essay records, etc.
Under his constant education and guidance, the two little female savages of similar age made great progress and helped him complete a large number of notes and materials that he was too lazy to organize on weekdays.
These compiled and transcribed materials were punched with copper awls and bound into volumes with hemp ropes, becoming the most mysterious and valuable knowledge wealth of the tribe.
These things will be what the witches of each tribe need to learn in the future.
Of course, the content of the Witch King's Dictionary is also constantly increasing, and new words are added to it every now and then. Today, there are more than 500 independent words recorded in the dictionary, covering almost every aspect of what is seen and heard in daily life.
, basically able to meet daily learning and recording requirements.
Although the entire tribe fell into the slack of farming in the hot summer.
But everyone still has their own duties to do.
Agricultural production remains a top priority.
The two clan chiefs, Muba and Amu, still lead a large number of men and women to patrol the fields every day, driving away birds and beasts and weeding. At the same time, they must always observe the rising speed of the river water and carry out flood prevention and drainage work in the farmland in advance.
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The situation close to the compound is better because the terrain is higher and commuting is more convenient, but management on the other side of the river is much more troublesome, as you need to row wooden rafts and bamboo rafts back and forth.
After entering May, there were more thunderstorms and the river surged, flooding a large number of river beaches on both sides of the river. Even many farmlands on the opposite bank were repeatedly flooded. It was a foregone conclusion that the production of some low-lying farmland would be reduced. Mother, Ba, Amu and other women were worried.
Seeing it in her eyes, she was anxious in her heart, but Xu Chen was helpless and could only reassure them not to be anxious.
After all, this production cut was actually what he expected.
Without agricultural infrastructure such as ditches and embankments in place, droughts and floods are inevitable.
The four hundred acres of farmland on the other side of the river were developed in a hurry, and he was not in the tribe at the time. Muba and others had to burn the wasteland in the winter to reclaim it. Some places were obviously unreasonable.
But when Xu Chen came back, it was already the end of December, and almost all the farmland had been cultivated, so he didn't pay much attention to it.
Because this kind of sowing and harvesting is completely dependent on the sky, and sowing in such a large area, as long as there is no large-scale disaster, there will still be a harvest.
What's more, the situation on the other side of the river is complicated, and it's difficult to come and go. The management was originally relatively extensive, and the area affected by the current disaster is only 20 to 30 acres, so it is not serious.
What's more, it's now the hottest and rainiest season, and the water level in the river has reached its highest level in the year. It's too late to dig ditches, build canals, and build dams. With this year's experience, a new round of farmland foundation can be started in autumn and winter.
Build and improve ditches and dams, and the situation will be much better next year.
Therefore, Xu Chen basically didn't worry much about farmland management this year. At most, he would visit the nearest experimental field every now and then.
The growth trend of the experimental fields was just like that. Although it was slightly better than other fields, it was still very limited and not as strong as last year.
Agricultural production cannot make a leap overnight.
Chinese history began when Shen Nong tasted hundreds of herbs and discerned grains. It was not until the Qin and Han Dynasties that farmland farming truly entered a mature stage after the widespread use of livestock farming tools such as oxen, horses, and rakes.
Until the early days of New China, more than 2,000 years later, grain output was still very low. One hundred pounds per acre was still the mainstream. At that time, what fed the Chinese people, especially the poor farmers, was not grains, but grains.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes are two supplementary grains with huge yields and rich starch content.
Therefore, for the current level and status of farming, Xu Chen only needs to stabilize it and keep it in a state of guaranteed harvest due to large-scale droughts and floods. It is a great success to allow these primitive tribes with a population of only dozens or hundreds of people to have enough food reserves for several months to half a year.
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After all, in such a primitive era when the land was sparsely populated and animals and plants flourished, gathering and hunting could still meet daily needs, and with a certain amount of reserves, part of the productive forces could be freed up to develop production.
Therefore, for now, Xu Chen's main task is still the development of other aspects of the tribe, and he can only take his time with regard to the domestication of grains.
Because this kind of thing cannot see obvious results in ten or eight years, it is a long process that consumes a lot of time and energy.
The evolution of animals and plants over hundreds of years is just a snap of the fingers.