Chapter 98: Camp Supply Office and Craftsmen

Four difficulties; the first three, in Xia Hong’s view, were manageable.

Such a massive wooden structure would require an enormous quantity of Jinlin trees;

Mu Dong understood basic mortise-and-tenon joinery, so he’d need a set of specialized iron tools to match;

Given the sheer scale of the wooden structure and its multiple functional zones, supplementing key areas with a certain amount of iron was essential.

“The hardest part is driving the foundation piles, right?”

“Fifteen meters high, with entire Jinlin logs used at structural points—the foundation piles must be at least two meters deep. At two hundred meters per side, that means digging a trench eight hundred meters long, three meters wide, and two meters deep.”

Hearing Mu Dong’s answer, Xia Hong’s vision darkened slightly.

During this time, he’d dug pit traps for hunting, each only half a meter deep and one meter in diameter—and even that took over an hour.

A trench three meters wide, two meters deep, eight hundred meters long—if he dug it alone, even without sleep, it would take him one or two years.

The idea of building this new wooden structure was based on the radiation range of the iron-smelting furnace; in his estimate, once completed, it could house eight to ten thousand people, and he never expected it to be built immediately.

But several years of work? That was excessive.

“Chief, there’s a way to shorten the time needed to drive the foundation piles!”

“What way?”

Mu Dong pointed to the iron-smelting furnace and said, “The high heat from burning coal stone softens the ground. Once softened, even those at the Woodcutting Realm can dig it. We can place the furnace along the planned path of the piles, move it after a while, dig a section each time we move it. If we can keep the coal stone burning nonstop, I’ve calculated it would take just over four months to finish.”

Xia Hong realized this was indeed the only viable method, and his brow tightened.

It wasn’t that the method was bad—the problem was it created another coal stone shortage. The iron-smelting furnace consumes twenty units of coal per day—that’s four hundred jin of coal stone.

In fact, burning wood only requires five units per day, and the furnace’s radiation range and temperature increase are identical whether using wood or coal stone.

But softening the ground relies on the heat emitted by coal stone, just like melting iron ore—wood simply cannot achieve this, so coal stone is mandatory.

【Resources: Wood 2690 Coal 290 Iron 430 Silver 0 Gold 0】

In recent days, wood reserves had accumulated quickly; during hunting trips, he’d visited the coal mine several times. As before, his current strength allowed him to extract at most two hundred jin per day—iron was even slower.

Mu Dong’s proposal—consuming four hundred jin of coal stone daily without interruption—was utterly unrealistic, yet it was the only way to speed up pile driving.

He couldn’t possibly dig the piles alone!

He needed enough Woodcutting and Earth-Digging Realm cultivators.

Without strength, without resources, nothing could be accomplished.

“Let’s proceed with this method for now. Cheng Feng, while leading the Woodcutting Team on excursions, prioritize Jinlin trees. Discuss the required size and thickness with Mu Dong—I won’t interfere for now. Any iron tools needed, Mu Dong, tell me anytime—I’ll forge them when I have time.”

“Yes, Chief!”

Mu Dong and Cheng Feng nodded and turned to leave together.

Driving the foundation piles was certainly the hardest task; the other preparations were manageable. Living in a spacious, large house was impossible in the short term.

The moment the two left, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng approached again.

“Chief, the Frost Beast meat has been distributed tonight. Our current reserve is now 11,300 jin, all stored in the mine cave on the southern side of the valley.”

In six days, plus the extra 1,640 jin from the first day, the Frost Beast meat reserve had reached over ten thousand jin—exactly as Xia Hong had anticipated.

Over these six days, the hunting team returned with two or three kills each night, consuming only six to seven hundred jin—surplus was normal.

In the extreme cold, preserving Frost Beast meat long-term was no issue.

But considering future increases in Frost Beast meat reserves, Xia Hong paused, then looked at Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng and said, “From now on, all camp necessities—wood, Frost Beast meat, coal, iron, tools, and weapons—must be managed by designated personnel. I plan to establish a Camp Supply Office, with only two positions: Chief and Deputy Camp Supply Officer. Can you two handle it?”

Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng exchanged glances, both faces lighting up with excitement. They nodded in unison toward Xia Hong.

Xia Hong didn’t hesitate—he summoned everyone and announced their appointments: Xia Chuan as Chief Camp Supply Officer, Yuan Cheng as Deputy.

Managing the camp’s essential supplies was a critical task—he naturally entrusted it to his most trusted men. Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng were the only choices.

Seven consecutive nights of Frost Beast meat distribution had fully established Xia Hong’s authority. Even ordinary camp members, let alone Luo Yuan, Hong Gang, Huang Yong, and others, showed no dissent upon hearing his appointment.

“Additionally, besides the Camp Supply Office, establish a Craftsmen’s Workshop, with Mu Dong as Master, responsible for all construction matters in the camp. In addition to your hunting and woodcutting team rations, you three will receive a position allowance: thirty jin of Frost Beast meat per month.”

The others had shown little reaction to the appointments, but when Xia Hong mentioned the position allowance, everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Chief, can we join the Camp Supply Office or Craftsmen’s Workshop?”

Xia Hong turned and saw a young reserve member asking. He shook his head. “Only members of the Woodcutting Team may apply to join these two institutions. Whether you’re accepted depends on two things: confirmation by the institution’s head, and my approval. The Craftsmen’s Workshop may relax the requirement—if you possess special manufacturing talent, you may apply. Mu Dong will review you, then submit your case for my approval.”

With the current resources of Great Xia, the Camp Supply Office needed only Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng—no additional staff required;

The Craftsmen’s Workshop didn’t matter much—even without Woodcutting Realm cultivation, with iron tools in hand, one could still make wooden implements.

Hearing the Craftsmen’s Workshop’s conditions, many ordinary camp members immediately perked up. If they couldn’t break through to the Woodcutting Realm soon, but could find another path into the Craftsmen’s Workshop, they’d gain extra Frost Beast meat monthly—helping their cultivation speed was worthwhile.

Special manufacturing talent.

Everyone began straining their minds.

Seeing everyone lost in thought, Xia Hong felt a quiet anticipation.

The camp’s current iron tools were only saws and iron knives; they’d already produced many wooden items, but the camp was newly united and had suffered severe losses recently—wood was still insufficient.

So beyond small essentials like wooden buckets and spoons, no large items had been made—not even wooden beds, which only the hunting and woodcutting teams possessed.

But as the Woodcutting Team continued to return with more and more timber, and with the Craftsmen’s Workshop system in place, more and more wooden goods would inevitably emerge.

“Ten saws are currently in use by the Woodcutting Team; three iron knives are mostly used for cutting Frost Beast meat. I’ll need to forge a batch of iron woodworking tools. Let me think—what woodworking tools did I remember from my past life? Measuring tools, small hand saws, planers, files, chisels…”

Though Xia Hong wasn’t a carpenter, he could recall some tools from memory and replicate them using grinding stones—no problem.

These things only needed a starting point.

With these tools, so many people in the camp would naturally innovate and improve.

(End of Chapter)