In the next few days, Xu Chen focused on the kiln factory at the foot of the mountain.
With a group of men working from dawn to dusk, in more than ten days, the main body of a row of five stone huts has been completed.
Next is the installation of doors, windows and roof.
Dozens of pieces of wood as thick as calves were simply trimmed with stone axes according to Fang Yun's requirements. There were a lot of long and short pieces.
In order to get this wood, a group of men responsible for carpentry work were as tired as dogs every day, and they used up dozens of stone axes just to chop down trees.
Fortunately, the stones for making stone axes are everywhere, and it is not too difficult to make. Otherwise, this huge project would not be completed at all.
Under Xu Chen's command, the beams were hoisted up one by one with ropes and placed in place, and then wooden sticks as thick as arms were used as purlins and tied tightly with rattan at intervals.
The next step is to install the door frames and window frames.
Because there are no nails and tenons cannot be made, these door frames and window frames are simply assembled from four slightly flattened logs. The joints are chopped into a dent or slightly pointed round head and pushed together.
As long as no displacement occurs.
This kind of joint can be regarded as the simplest tenon, but it is still in a very primitive form.
In fact, from the beginning, the houses Xu Chen requested to build were very advanced.
Many tribes in Africa build houses by using wooden sticks to build a house frame, and then apply mud on top. After smoothing it out, it dries almost like a wall.
However, this kind of mud house is obviously not what Xu Chen is satisfied with. The walls are too thin and not strong, and it may collapse in wind or rain.
Although it is difficult and time-consuming to repair a stone house, it can last for decades or even hundreds of years after repair.
Especially now that there are only a few people in the tribe, and in this era of lack of medical treatment and medicine, he doesn't want someone to be collapsed inside one day, or that he himself is half dead and paralyzed.
It took four or five days to install the roof, window frames and door frames. Then the inner and outer walls were roughly smoothed with lime mud. At the same time, the inside and outside of the house were leveled, and several houses were built with stones and clay bricks.
A bed frame one foot high will be placed on top of the bed planks made of wooden sticks, covered with hay and animal skins, and then you can sleep.
The other room is a place for heating and cooking.
A fire pit and stove were built in it. The layout is similar to that in the cave. Eating, cooking, warming and warming are all together.
However, because the room is not big and the fire pit is also very small, it can only accommodate seven or eight people barely squeezed in.
After these indoor and outdoor decorations are completed and allowed to dry for a few days, roofing can begin.
From the time he started planning to build a house, Xu Chen had arranged for the workers in the kiln factory to cut some thatch and bring it back to dry in the sun. Now there are several piles of thatch.
In addition, he also asked people to go to the nearby canyon to chop back dozens of huge taro leaves, dry them and prepare them for later use.
When covering the roof, these wide leaves will be placed among the thatch, which can not only improve the rainproof effect, but also use its toxicity to repel mosquitoes.
In short, the conditions are difficult, and we must use all available materials as much as possible to let the tribesmen see that living down the mountain can be more stable and comfortable, so as to trick them into living down the mountain.
Because the next project to build the courtyard at the foot of the mountain is too big, more than ten times larger than the five small houses now, without the concerted support of the whole family, this project will be difficult to complete.
In addition, it is best to complete the construction of all the houses before spring, so that you can start farming after spring.
Although a group of women are busy spinning and weaving on the mountain almost every day, they are also always paying attention to the changes in the kiln at the foot of the mountain.
In particular, a group of men in charge of kilns and house construction watched this strange stone house being built day by day. Under Xu Chen's command, they slowly installed beams, doors and windows, built bed frames and firepits, and then used thatch and leaves to
The covered houses finally turned into a row of neat stone houses that I had never seen before. I was even more excited. Every day when I went back to the cave, I discussed this matter with a proud face. Mother and a group of women would naturally come down the mountain every now and then.
Go check out the progress.
Therefore, as these houses are gradually completed, the tribesmen are becoming more and more excited.
This kind of house has a square shape, a flat floor, not only doors and windows, but also a roof to protect it from wind and rain.
According to Xu Chen's arrangement, each house can sleep four people, and they sleep on beds, which is far more spacious and comfortable than the stone and grass nests in the cave.
Therefore, on the day when the roof of the house was put up, a group of men couldn't wait to move in, and even almost got into a fight because there were not enough rooms.
Don’t worry about scarcity, but worry about inequality.
This group of primitive people has always lived a harmonious and loving collective family life. The women are responsible for collecting and taking care of women, children, the elderly and the weak, and the men are responsible for hunting to obtain carnivorous animal skins and maintaining the safety of the tribe.
Everyone is busy struggling to meet the most basic survival needs. Because resources are extremely scarce, all food and clothing can only be distributed equally according to the needs of the group. There is no problem of eating more and occupying more.
But things are different now. Food and clothing are becoming more and more abundant. After basic needs are met, higher-quality needs begin to appear.
Houses like these at the foot of the mountain are sturdy and novel. They also have windows for ventilation and are comfortable to sleep in. Everyone wants to live in them.
However, it is obvious that there are not enough houses. The group of people responsible for building the kiln believe that these houses were built by themselves and should be lived in by their own group of people.
Feng and a group of other hunters thought that since they went out early and returned late every day to hunt and climb mountains, it was most convenient to live at the foot of the mountain, so they should live there first.
Then the tribal group conflicts emerged first, and became as fierce as a tense situation.
Fighting among tribesmen is definitely not allowed.
Mother Ba severely criticized the two groups of men and stopped the conflict.
But this emotion was suppressed on the surface, but in fact the conflict was not resolved.
Xu Chen understood more clearly that as the tribe continued to develop, there would be more and more conflicts like this.
Although they are simple in nature, the fight is not just about occupying these houses, but the starting point may be for the survival and development of the tribe.
But human sociality and complexity have long surpassed all animal groups.
When a groundhog digs a hole, he has to fight for a good spot.
When penguins build their nests, they steal beautiful stones from their fellow penguins' nests.
As advanced intelligent creatures, humans cannot have any selfish motives.
This kind of selfishness will eventually evolve into a conflict of interest, eventually promoting the gradual disintegration of this primitive communist tribal system.
The only way to solve this current contradiction is to build more houses and meet the conditions for equal distribution again.
In fact, Xu Chen had anticipated this situation from the beginning of building a house at the foot of the mountain.
In fact, the situation was almost exactly as he expected.
This kind of contradiction is actually what he wants to see.
As the leader of the tribe, Muba is a kind of equality maintained by blood relationship, relying on the dignity of the parents.
But in order for tribes to truly develop and grow, only by continuously expanding and acquiring more people and resources can humans truly gain a foothold in this wild and primitive era.
The Ba tribe is too small to support his plans or ambitions.
With a small population and few resources, the ability to resist danger is very weak.
According to the simple information he has slowly obtained over the past two months, if he wants to truly stabilize his position, he must at least include all the five nearby tribes, large and small.
However, it is still too late to do so.
At least we must first solve the problem of adequate food, clothing and safe survival for the entire tribe. When men no longer need to hunt to maintain the livelihood of the tribe, they can truly form a stable combat effectiveness and have the conditions for external expansion. Otherwise, the whole tribe will be hungry before the war is over.
died.
A ceremony for the completion of a new house that should have been a joyful event for the whole family ended up unhappy due to a fight between a group of men.
Mother is very angry.
The men were also dissatisfied.
Women don't know how to comfort.
The children are still careless and only know how to run around chasing and playing in the new house.
Ye stood behind Xu Chen, holding his clothes tightly with his hands, with a trace of hope and expectation on his cheeks, and at the same time, there was a sense of loss that could not be concealed.
It would be great if Chen and I could live in such a beautiful and private little house.
But unfortunately, the foot of the mountain is the domain of men.
For safety reasons, Muba will not allow women and minors to live at the foot of the mountain.
"Chen Ga, repair... Fang Ga!"
Feng was very depressed because he had not obtained the right to live in the new house. He strode up to Xu Chen and expressed his request.
"It's ga, it's ga!"
A group of hunters usually led by Feng immediately surrounded him and responded.
Even many women are beginning to get ready to make a move. Although they dare not express it blatantly, their eyes are equally enthusiastic.
Although everyone is used to living in a cave on the mountainside, it is very different from the stone house with complete doors and windows like this.
Especially in winter, the cave is as cold as an ice cave. It is true that it is cool in summer, but it is even colder in winter.
Although Xu Chen had a sudden idea this year and built a wall at the entrance of the cave with stones and mud, which provided some protection from wind and rain, but so many people were crowded into a small cave, and it was always dark and dark no matter when they entered.
It doesn't look as tidy and comfortable as the cabin in front of me.
Moreover, they all rushed to lie down on the nest made of bricks and sticks and withered grass. It was smooth and soft. It was much more comfortable than men, women and children huddled together in a stone and straw nest.