Chapter 215: The Tribal Plow-holder

The Baifeng tribe is now a tribe of several thousand people, with a population nearing ten thousand. Excluding some small children and tribespeople responsible for logistics and guarding, almost everyone else has entered the fields to begin spring plowing.

Due to various issues, they cannot turn all the land into paddy fields, even though the yield of paddy fields is much higher than that of dry land. They can only wait until after a year of planting, when manure enters the soil and rice stalks return to the fields, to build up the soil fertility. Then, they can build waterwheels to see if they can expand the area of paddy fields. For now, they can only plant them as dry land, even though the Dahe is right at their doorstep.

Building a waterwheel is not a difficult task; the structure is relatively simple. But the problem is that they only have a few Carpenters, and they are already working beyond their capacity. They are in a worse state than a spinning top; a top only spins when whipped, but they have to spin day and night without being whipped.

So many houses have been built in the tribe, and they need doors and windows. Even if they don't have to install them, the production is solely their job. There are also the Boats and Weapons that the tribe urgently needs, all lined up in a queue, not to mention the strange things Baifeng arranges for them to make every few days.

Before spring plowing, they were rushing to make Curved Plows, as well as various wooden farm tools and ox yokes that were needed. They rushed and hurried, only finishing just before the spring rains arrived.

On the first day, everyone went to their respective farmland sections. The land plowed by oxen was connected together; this was done to ensure all the oxen could feel at ease. If they were separated and could not see their companions while doing this work, they might become quite terrified.

Sixty-two oxen were lined up neatly. They were all fitted with halters and muzzles, and nose rings had been put in as well. The nose rings were put in very early, when the oxen were basically fully grown, to prevent them from being disobedient during plowing. Putting them in at the last minute would result in blood everywhere, which is not good for the oxen.

These oxen were carefully selected. Besides having a gentle and friendly temperament, having a body that is strong enough is also a very important point. Thinner oxen might not be able to sustain this high-intensity spring plowing. It should be known that human endurance ranks first in Nature; if working together, humans could likely exhaust animals that appear particularly robust, such as oxen and horses, to death.

The few oxen that plowed the land last year came first to demonstrate. The memory of the oxen is decent enough; when they arrived at the field and saw the familiar farm tools, their mood began to turn fearful, and they instinctively resisted a bit. However, the people of the Baifeng tribe would not let them leave, so all the equipment was put on amidst the sound of high-pitched ox bellows.

Several oxen plowed the land separately, but at a distance where they could still see each other. For the first few ridges of land, the coordination between the people and the oxen was poor; no one was skilled. After working continuously for over ten minutes, they got on the right track. The turned-up soil became deeper, and the entire process ran smoothly.

Seeing that the demonstration was successful, the remaining oxen were also brought out with equipment and headed toward the fields. From being uneasy and uncooperative to resigning themselves to their fate after getting used to it, most of the oxen obediently began to plow the land. It is just that there was truly no aesthetic to speak of; a strong man who did not know how to handle a Plow and a strong ox that did not know where to go made them miserable at the beginning. If there hadn't been people in front leading the oxen, it likely wouldn't have been able to proceed.

Later on, there were scenes of oxen dragging people and plows running wildly across the fields. Sometimes people were still holding the plows and running along, and sometimes the people didn't even know where they had gone. Fortunately, there was no news of anyone or any ox being injured; there were enough people in the fields, and in the end, those causing trouble could be controlled.

After working for an entire morning, everyone was physically and mentally exhausted. Work cannot be stopped halfway; once stopped, one would not want to move again. Thus, they worked from the morning until lunchtime, with at most a gap to drink some water.

The food provided to them was of the highest standard of the Baifeng tribe, and it was quite rich in oil and fat. In this era, it was completely unimaginably sumptuous. Even the Slaves could eat relatively dry rice.

This time, the amount of grain seeds sown alone was an extremely huge number. The Shaman looked at the empty warehouse, feeling very uneasy in his heart. He asked Baifeng if they needed to plant less land and keep more grain, fearing that so many people would run out of stored grain before the Autumn Harvest.

Baifeng did not agree with his idea. The land must be planted; one should not eat the seed grain even if starving. Furthermore, they had not reached the point of starving to death without grain. In the past, they never farmed and had no stored grain, yet they still lived. Having farmed for two years, is it possible they cannot survive without stored grain? What did they rely on to eat before? Can't they continue to do that now?

The Shaman was enlightened by Baifeng's words. Dealing with grain and supplies for a long time, his mind was always on the grain coming in and out, and how much grain the tribe had left, instead forgetting where the grain came from. It had only been two years of farming, but their food sources had completely shifted in proportion, making him forget that fishing and hunting were their original way of survival.

He did not speak to Baifeng again about reducing the grain seeds. The grain seeds that passed through his hands were all in sufficient quantity. Since the harvest began last year, the largest and fullest ears were picked and threshed for grain seeds to be used in the most fertile land, while ordinary grain was used for newly reclaimed land.

This year, Baifeng did not go out to plow the land himself. There were many tribespeople, and even more Slaves. With a tribe of several thousand Slaves, there was no need to force a Tribal Chief to the point of having to personally hold the Plow. However, the first ridge of land this year was indeed plowed by Baifeng. Xiong, Chi, and Yishang were in front replacing the oxen to pull the plow, and Baifeng held it from behind. This was just a ritual, meaning that Baifeng is the Plow-holder of the entire tribe.

Perhaps these things seem very unnecessary, or even unreasonable, but they are essential for stabilizing power and uniting the tribespeople. Even the Emperors of later generations would personally plow during spring plowing to reflect their emphasis on agriculture and love for the people. Baifeng doing this was telling everyone that his command is everything; only when he orders the spring plowing can everyone follow behind to plow.

Plowing one ridge only takes a few minutes and won't delay things for long. After finishing, Baifeng and the others separated to get busy. They all had areas they were responsible for; they didn't need to plow personally, but they had to coordinate everyone's work, ensure logistics, and arrange specific working hours. Baifeng went around watching to coordinate the overall situation and solve problems.

Regarding logistics, steam was rising continuously from dozens of large stoves. The grain was piled together, and the prepared food was kept in wooden barrels. When it was time to eat, someone would use a Handcart to pull the food and tableware to the resting area. Some people distributed tableware, and some served the food. The food was rationed; one person could only eat that much, but they would definitely be full. After eating, they would take a short nap to rest.

Besides the three meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, water would be delivered twice in between. The water contained all the remaining Maltose and honey of the Baifeng tribe, and refined salt was also added, which could minimize the fatigue of the tribespeople to the greatest extent. Once the spring plowing was over, the Baifeng tribe would no longer have any sweet food, even for Baifeng himself.

The oxen also ate the best. Usually, they ate a mixture of dry Grass and silage, but now it was directly silage and rice husk bran. The amount of salt in the water was also increased a lot, just to ensure the oxen could have enough physical strength and energy to finish the spring plowing. If the food was not up to standard, they really might go on strike; after all, the oxen of today are not as docile and hardworking as those of later generations.