Chapter 137: Back on Track

Now the tribe can finally do some things, no longer restricted to sitting idly in narrow, dim houses; although it is still cold outside, the sun does not feel like it has any warmth.

Last time, to return, they broke the axles, and the thirty-some handcarts are now useless; they must make new axles, and the wheels, having been buried in the snow for a winter, are likely unusable and must also be remade.

The only benefit is that the elephant meat brought back was not processed and was just thrown into the storeroom without fear of spoilage; now it is frozen solid, and to process it, they must set up several stoves in the storeroom to melt the ice.

Baifeng had not eaten elephant meat before, so he first arranged an elephant meat feast for everyone to get a taste, but it was not very delicious; the taste was very ordinary, not as good as beef, though everyone except Baifeng liked it very much—when there is meat to eat, what is there to be picky about?

The elephant skin is indeed thick, basically half a finger thick, with the thickest parts even being a full finger thick; this is really a bit too thick for making armor, so it was split into layers, which makes the armor protective enough without being too heavy, and most importantly, allows for more to be made.

And the thickest parts are used to make breastplates, which can protect the most important areas.

But because it is so thick, the process of tanning the skin is also very troublesome, far more so than boar skin or sheepskin; it will take at least a month to finish before it can be used.

Because there is so much armor to make and their time is tight, especially since Baifeng plans to start preparing for war after the spring begins—as soon as spring plowing ends, he will march into the surrounding areas to annex small tribes and strengthen himself.

However, Baifeng's grasp of the current situation has fallen behind; this heavy snow has left the tribes around Baifeng Territory dead or injured, and the few who were lucky enough to survive have chosen to risk crossing the mountains to go behind them due to the impact of the accumulated snow.

In other words, this river basin has almost become an empty land, with only the Baifeng tribe left; even the animals have either died or fled, and if they are lucky, the Baifeng tribe might be able to scavenge a considerable number of various animal carcasses that have been frozen for a winter as soon as the snow melts.

Likewise, the prey the Baifeng tribe can hunt next year will drop off a cliff, and it will only be after a year or longer, when animals from other places gradually migrate here, that it can return to its previous state.

Baifeng did not foresee these things because the terrain here is complex; perhaps a few days' journey away, the disaster was not as severe as it was here, and perhaps there are tribes as wealthy as theirs—Baifeng's goal is those tribes that are neither poor nor rich and can barely survive the winter.

The vegetation next year should be exceptionally lush because the thick snow is actually equivalent to a quilt; the temperature in the soil will not be too low, but rather a bit higher than when there is no snow, and after the snow melts, it will also bring rich moisture to the land, and the seeds that were not found by various animals will all germinate together when spring begins.

The climate here is suitable for planting winter wheat, but one needs to grasp the solar terms well; if planted too late and it doesn't sprout, it has to survive the winter, which is no different from spring wheat, and if planted too early, it will grow too long in the cold and won't survive the winter. Baifeng knows he lacks that ability and judgment, so he chooses the safer spring wheat.

The Dahu is frozen over, but fortunately, they shut off the water before the weather turned cold, otherwise the pipes would have been completely ruined; pottery pipes cannot withstand the pressure of ice.

However, Baifeng is already preparing to rebuild the water diversion pipes; the production of cement is still not enough, not enough to build a purely cement waterway, so it will still be primarily made of pottery.

But this time, they are making very wide, square pipes, which are easier to shape than round ones, and the joints are easier to fit together; cement can only be used to seal the joints so that the entire pipeline does not leak.

The renovation time is set for those few days when the soil has thawed but the temperature is not yet high enough for sowing; a team of several hundred people can finish the renovation in a few days, as the original canal is already there, so the engineering workload is not too great.

The tribe's fish pond is certainly frozen over, but the snow is still piled on top, very thick, already far exceeding the pond base, and the water is that deep; the fish should not freeze to death in the deep water, the only fear is that they will suffocate from lack of oxygen.

What makes the Baifeng tribe feel convenient about this snow is that there is no shortage of water; if they need water, they just walk a few steps, find a piece of unpolluted snow, take some, and it is very clean after being boiled.

At this time, the Baifeng tribe's water is relatively scarce; although they built many water cellars to store water, the capacity is not too large after all, and there are many people, so they must use it sparingly, otherwise, if they use up the water before the ice melts, they will only be able to go to the Dahu to dig for ice.

Water wells can also be dug, and they don't need to be very deep to reach water, but the problem is that the well water from this water vein can be used for daily life, like washing one's face, but it is completely unsuitable for drinking; Baifeng thinks it could be used to boil well salt.

The tribe's life has gradually returned to normal; everyone continues to train as they should and work as they should. Baifeng has repeatedly requested that the Pottery Team continue to increase the production of cement, even if they don't fire pottery it doesn't matter, as the tribe is not lacking any.

Glass is the same; it can be left undone for now, just fire a kiln every once in a while to make some things so that their hands don't get rusty, anyway, the tribe doesn't need it for now, there are no windows installed so how could they use it? This is all part of Baifeng's long-term plan.

Now Baifeng is in a state of having no work to do, and he is unwilling to train, so under the pretext of needing to research weapons, he moved a woven rattan chair to the doorway to bask in the sun, but in reality, his mind is empty, enjoying the hard-won leisure time.

The sun is shining and he cannot fall asleep, just feeling warm and comfortable all over; after a while, Baifeng heard the "ah-ya-ya" sounds of a baby.

Squinting his eyes to look, he didn't expect it to be Xiong holding his son Shaoyin for a stroll, and it was a scene of fatherly kindness and filial piety; there was not a trace of impatience on Xiong's face.

Baifeng was quite shocked by this because he had never seen Xiong have so many intimate interactions with his son, although he also feels quite happy when he sees his son.

The last time he went to Xiong's room, Baifeng didn't see Shaoyin in the dim room because he was in a hurry and forgot about Shaoyin's existence; it was excusable for Baifeng to forget, but the parents actually didn't pay any attention either.

There were several women there, yet not one of them thought to hold the child; fortunately, the child is very well-behaved, never crying or making a fuss, eating and sleeping, so he is growing very fast and can already crawl now.