Chapter 54: Iron Casting

I do not know why, but the Northwest region of the present is vastly different from the Northwest region in Baifeng's memories of later generations. Even in later generations, many places retained large areas of forest. What puzzles Baifeng is the precipitation; in later generations, once winter arrived, it would be so dry that one would doubt life itself, whereas now, once winter has arrived, no sooner has one snowfall melted than the second one falls.

Most of the outdoor work of the Baifeng Tribe has stopped; only work like pottery making, kiln firing, and iron smelting and forging continues, regardless of whether it is snowing or sunny, because the great fires burn incessantly, and the temperature is far higher than that inside their own dwellings.

The other tribespeople stay in their houses almost the entire time, occasionally going out to sweep or shovel snow when the weather clears. Because work has decreased, the corresponding food supply has also decreased slightly. Everyone understands the reason, and no one expresses dissatisfaction; under such conditions, the tribespeople are even visibly rounding out.

Xiaoniu has no green grass to eat, only harvested hay. This condition is actually already very good; otherwise, at this time, it would have to use its mouth to push aside thick snow and gnaw on grass roots underneath. Eating only hay has made Xiaoniu, which was originally growing rapidly, become even thinner. The only better thing is that its wooden shed is relatively warm, so it does not have to waste energy hardily enduring the cold winter.

Sui's body has also gradually rounded out. The intake of sufficient nutrition and a peaceful living environment have allowed Sui to enter a period of rapid development. Her skin has become firm and elastic, and her hair has also become smooth and lustrous, no longer like hay. It is estimated that she will also shoot up in height next year.

In the smithy, Baifeng has brought in a few more tribespeople who possess the Qilin Arm. Since they are usually idle, they might as well come to forge iron and contribute to the tribe. After becoming proficient, the tribe's output of ironware has doubled, but there is also more scrap iron, which has to be returned to the furnace to be remade.

After the few months of winter and the still-cold early spring pass, the nearly two hundred Soldiers of the Baifeng Tribe will each be able to possess a Changdao. In this era, this can be considered the top-tier combat strength.

The production of bows is also proceeding in an orderly manner. A few tribespeople who lack self-awareness also wanted a super Strong Bow like the one Xiong has, feeling that only by using that kind of bow could they display their own bravery. After very reluctantly borrowing the bow from Xiong to let them try, they obediently chose bows of normal strength.

In the past, Baifeng only thought about forging iron, but never thought about casting iron. While smelting iron, an apprentice accidentally dropped a piece of clay into a mold for iron bars that had just been poured. Everyone thought the iron bar was useless, but when he brought the scrapped iron bar to Baifeng to admit his mistake, Baifeng saw the iron bar with a pit in it after the clay was removed, and did not blame the apprentice, only telling him to be careful and pay attention to safety in the future.

This mistake reminded Baifeng of a more ancient method, which is casting. He had been walking into a dead end of thinking about forging. Ever since coming to this world, Baifeng's brain has often been unable to turn the corner; only when others bring things up can Baifeng suddenly understand.

Actually, Baifeng also knows the reason for this matter. Previously, the IQ of the owner of this body was only slightly better than Chi's. Tribespeople who were once familiar with Baifeng even inquired why Baifeng had suddenly become so smart. Baifeng could not tell them that he had transmigrated into this "Baifeng," could he? He could only use that old line about the Heaven and Earth and parents to fob them off.

The current Baifeng possesses high-level source code, but even if it is open-sourced, he has no way to continue building the architecture; he cannot even copy well. Baifeng is also a bit afraid: what if he has a child, and the child is as stupid as Baifeng? Should he hand over the tribe's power to him, like other large tribes? Or should he abdicate to someone smarter who can lead the tribe further?

Another point that troubles Baifeng is, if he has a child, is it the child of "Baifeng," or his own child? Is the inheritance of physical genes more important, or is the spiritual aspect more important? Does he count as a successor who took over for the former "Baifeng"? Although he perfectly controls this body, he understands that this body is not his own true one.

When this thought first appeared, it almost made Baifeng collapse. After all, he had to think about such tricky matters while his brain was not working well. Baifeng, who was about to fall into an obsession, was startled awake by a clap of dry thunder. Looking up, he saw the potter holding a child and basking in the sun.

Only then was Baifeng relieved. As long as the process of creating the child is something he experiences, and it continues the genes of the former Baifeng and his own soul, he will just consider the child to have two fathers. As for the ethical dilemma, let the philosophers of later generations solve it.

Rather than thinking about unnecessary things, it is better to do something more meaningful, such as casting an iron pot. Hammered iron pots were also made popular by a documentary, but in reality, most are cast iron pots.

Baifeng used clay mixed with iron sand to make iron molds, which are the molds, and then poured the melted molten iron into them. After removing the mold, he could obtain the desired cast iron ware. The famous Simuwu Tripod and the Four-Ram Vessel, these large and exquisite Bronze ware, were all cast using the Lost-Wax Casting method. Unfortunately, Baifeng has no beeswax, otherwise he could also cast things faster and better.

The first thing Baifeng made was an iron pot. Ceramic pots conduct heat slowly and are thick, making it difficult to stir-fry; all one can do is boil, stew, and braise. With an iron pot, one can pan-fry and stir-fry.

Sui keeps thinking about the delicacies Baifeng makes, and Baifeng also likes to tease her, often telling her about various delicacies and different ways of cooking, talking until he is blue in the face. Sui's saliva simply cannot stop, and by the end, Baifeng's own saliva is also flowing profusely. Both of their stomachs are growling. They want to make delicacies, but they only have heavy ceramic pots, simple ingredients, and the salt is somewhat bitter. Baifeng often says that it is so salty because the person selling the salt was beaten to death.

With an iron pot, an iron spatula is also arranged. In order to save iron, only the head of the spatula uses iron; Baifeng can just use wood for the handle.

Of course, this technology cannot only be used to satisfy Baifeng's gluttony. Casting iron can more quickly cast arrowheads. One only needs to prepare a row of molds, then pour in the molten iron, and after taking them out, grind them one by one. One does not need very good arrowheads; in an era without armor, stone arrowheads paired with a Hard Bow can pierce a human body.

The arrow shafts and arrow tails are mostly made by the women. They can sit at home, slowly whittling wood round, and then stick feathers on them. Feathers are never in short supply; in this era, everyone has the habit of collecting feathers, especially bright and gorgeous ones. Wearing them on the head is the best decoration. The character "beauty" in oracle bone script is the best proof: a person wearing feathers, that is beauty.

Although infrastructure is almost at a standstill, the armed forces of the Baifeng Tribe have reached an astonishing level, especially with enough bows and enough arrows. Xiong takes them out every day to shoot at targets and practice archery, and everyone's technique is improving rapidly, except for Baifeng.

The Baifeng Tribe now possesses over a hundred Hard Bows, dozens of Changdao, and arrows piled densely in the warehouse. The Soldiers carry Long Bows on their backs, have Arrow Quivers hanging from them, and hold Changdao that glint with a cold light in their hands. No matter who sees them, they will feel terrified, and by spring, there will be nearly two hundred Soldiers equipped like this.