Chapter 47: The Shame of Making a Kang

In the eyes of his tribesmen, Baifeng exists in a state of chaos, being both a genius and a lunatic. Some things he does are truly remarkable, beyond what anyone could imagine, but other things he does are completely baffling. For instance, right now, Baifeng is digging a hole in the wall of his own house, and the tribesmen feel that the Tribal Chief has been having his episodes quite frequently lately.

Baifeng huffs and puffs as he digs the hole in the wall; this is the flue for the kang he is building. After a simple model simulation, Baifeng has gained some confidence in making the kang. At worst, it will collapse, and he can just rebuild it. But the flue must be done right, otherwise, once the wall is dug out, there is no way to fix it, and the house will be ruined.

Sui carries soil back and forth in a bamboo basket. After adding grass stalks, she pours in water to mix the mud. Xiaoniu stands to the side, wanting to help by peeing, but is ruthlessly rejected by Sui. After nudging Baifeng's stuck-out butt with her head, she runs off elsewhere to frolic.

The iron-smelting workshop, with Baifeng leading the apprentices to watch over it, is currently only refining iron ore into Iron Ingot, then storing it for Baifeng to use directly.

In the future, it is impossible for all work to stop in winter. Making pottery, smelting iron, and building walls cannot stop for a single day. If it snows, they can get a Heaven-sent holiday, allowing them to rest without worry until the snow melts and work resumes.

Baifeng's outlook for winter is to replicate the Iron Smelting Blast Furnace to the greatest extent. The problem now is not a lack of resources—iron ore and coal are available for use—but that the output is not increasing.

If there were enough iron to equip every one of the more than one hundred men in the tribe with a large iron knife and Iron Sword—though Iron Armor is a luxury—even if they just had Bamboo Armor or Leather Armor, Baifeng's two hundred men would not fear five hundred men from other tribes in battle.

There is about a month left until the start of winter. Getting up in the morning, one can already see a thin layer of frost on the ground. Even the most robust people have to struggle mentally before going out in the morning at this time, then shiver as they go out to work.

The Baifeng Tribe does not have enough fabric to make many clothes. After making clothes for himself, Baifeng plans to reward the remaining fabric on the first day of winter to the group of people who have contributed the most to the tribe.

The clothes the tribesmen make from fur are just cut directly, or even just draped over their bodies as they are; the warmth-retaining effect is very poor, and it is a waste of the material itself.

For clothes made of fur, the Mongolian Robe is naturally the best. Baifeng once went to see the snow-capped mountains and grasslands in the pastoral areas, and in some souvenir shops in the scenic spots, the Mongolian Robe and boots were very eye-catching, though most people wouldn't buy a robe as they had no chance to wear it.

Many people buy boots; boots can be worn daily and are very good-looking. The most purchased item is the hat. The hat Baifeng bought in the Tibetan pastoral area actually had English on it, clearly wholesale from the mainland, for which he was mocked by friends for a long time.

Baifeng once custom-ordered a set of Mongolian Robe, which is very suitable for wearing in the northwest winter. It takes six lambskins to make one, but unfortunately, Baifeng's entire tribe only has a dozen or so sheepskins, all of which are brownish, not the white sheep common in later generations.

The productivity of the entire tribe is too low. Baifeng, following the image in his memory, lets those few Zhinu make a set of Mongolian Robe for himself and Sui each. By the time these two are finished, it will be winter.

There are too many people, and Baifeng cannot manage them all. He can only let them collect dry thatch, smash it soft with stones, and then spread it in the houses as mattresses. It is soft and warm. If they can't grab a quilt, they just hide their whole bodies inside. It is everywhere in the mountains and plains, and very easy to collect.

As a pioneer, Baifeng used Brick and mud to build the kang walls. When it came time to make the kang surface, he was troubled. The area was too large, and there was no way to spread mud on top without it falling through. The inside of the kang could not have too many fire walls, otherwise, when burning the kang, the fuel would be blocked on the outermost edge and couldn't go anywhere else, and the kang would be burned in vain.

Only then did Baifeng regret why he hadn't asked more about how a kang was actually made in the past, even though the kang he slept on before often collapsed, or was too hot and burned the bedding.

Baifeng was very irritable, punched the mud, and then went out angrily to clear his head. Sui followed behind Baifeng with small, quick steps, not daring to say a word. When the tribesmen saw Baifeng coming out in a foul mood, they guessed that the thing he was working on during his episode had failed. No one wanted to touch that bad luck, so they pretended not to see him and turned away.

Lu, that silly boy—while everyone else had quietly turned and walked away, he hadn't reacted yet and was caught red-handed by Baifeng.

"Kid, just in time. I'm worried sick right now. Come and take a look for me. My brain can't figure out what to do. Let me see if yours is better than mine. If you can't do it either, let's see if you dare to laugh at me in the future."

Lu was pushed by the back of his neck into Baifeng's house. He didn't dare to resist Baifeng's might at all. When he saw what Baifeng had built, he was also very confused, not knowing why he wanted to pile up a circle inside the house.

Baifeng explained his worries: if he didn't add fire walls, the kang surface couldn't be made; if he added too many fire walls, the firewood wouldn't be able to burn to the inside.

Lu took a simple look at the structure of the kang and understood what Baifeng said. In fact, Baifeng didn't expect anything from Lu; he was just venting. Lu was just unlucky to have been caught.

Lu pretended to be thinking, and Baifeng didn't disturb him. Soon, Lu took a Brick that was placed horizontally and set it vertically, parallel to the kang door, then squatted down and looked up at Baifeng. Baifeng went from being completely confused to thoughtful, then from sudden enlightenment to embarrassment and anger. Lu stood up and fled.

Baifeng was naturally not really angry; he was just scaring Lu. Watching Lu run away in a flash, he laughed until he couldn't straighten his back. Lu was good at everything except being a bit stubborn, and he was also Baifeng's lucky star. He hadn't realized such a simple principle himself.

By making several fire walls parallel to the flue, Baifeng had the support to make the kang surface, and he didn't have to worry about the kang not being able to burn. Baifeng had almost used wood for support like building a roof; if he had done that, he might have fallen into the fire and been roasted tonight.

It seems Lu's Small Knife can be changed into a Dajian again, and it can also be made for him in advance.

Baifeng's kang was successfully built. It was just that without good tools, the surface was uneven, and it was too wet to sleep on now. Baifeng used fallen leaves found everywhere, mixed with soil, filled them into the kang, and lit them, using the fire to slowly dry the kang.

The fuel for filling the kang must be mixed with soil so that the fire is a smoldering fire that burns slowly, rather than an open flame that burns out instantly. It burns for a long time, and the temperature is comfortable. Baifeng is quite clear about this; after all, the experience of the kang being so hot that it hurts your butt is really not very good.

The tribesmen didn't know what Baifeng had done; they only saw the Tribal Chief mixing mud and laying bricks in his own home for two and a half days. Now there was another hole in the house emitting smoke. One Fireplace is enough; why make two?

Once he confirmed that his kang was stable and safe, Baifeng would teach everyone. As for now, he would keep it a secret. It was just that half of the house was occupied by the kang, and it couldn't be slept on before it was dry.

Thus, Xiaoniu lost the qualification to sleep inside. The tribesmen took the thatch they had prepared, team by team, and each team was given a handful. Baifeng didn't labor, yet he possessed the thickest bed in the entire tribe.