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Chapter 240: Meat for food, bamboo for home

This is the second time a man from the River Tribe has built a house. He had built a small wooden house for the wizard before. Although the building materials were changed this time and the area of ​​the house was increased, the method remains the same.

Considering that the others were all novices with no experience, Zhang Tian took the lead in building the first house, teaching the men step by step how to raise a tall building from the ground.

The children dug a total of forty foundation pits and arranged them neatly on the open flat land in a five-by-eight pattern. They were about two meters apart from each other. Building them more densely would also help reduce heat loss in the entire building complex.

Zhang Tian led the men to start building from the southwest corner.

Bury the load-bearing columns first, using relatively thick bamboo. In addition to burying one column at each of the four corners, add one column in the middle of each of the four sides to ensure the load-bearing capacity of the house.

There are eight load-bearing columns in total. The six load-bearing columns at the front and rear are made of two-meter-long bamboo, and the two load-bearing columns on the side are made of three-meter-long bamboo to form the slope of the eaves to facilitate drainage.

Minus the half-meter deep foundation, the minimum height of the house is 1.5 meters and the maximum height is [-] meters, which is enough to meet the needs of most people.

Thin bamboos of different sizes were then buried between the load-bearing columns to form an enclosure structure, leaving space for the fireplace and chimney on one side. The gaps in between were then filled with clay.

Then backfill the foundation.

Since the primitive ancestors walked out of caves and forests and settled on the vast plains, they have gradually realized that tamping the soil layer can increase the bearing capacity of the soil and improve the stability of buildings.

People first used plain soil to ram the foundation. Later, during the continuous construction process, they discovered that adding a certain amount of burnt earth products such as red clay, ceramsite, rubble, brick slag, etc. to the foundation soil would improve its strength after tamping. It is significantly improved compared to plain soil, and it also has great advantages in water resistance and moisture resistance.

The Lingjiatan site has a red-burnt earth foundation with a total area of ​​more than 3000 square meters. It is considered a relatively large discovery in the archaeological world recently. Because it happened not long before Zhang Tian traveled through, he was deeply impressed.

Just recently, a large amount of pottery was fired, and many of them were defective, so the men broke them and mixed them into the soil.

Under Zhang Tian's command, the men first backfilled a layer of composite soil about twenty centimeters thick, and then asked a group of tough men to step hard on it, then backfilled the second layer, stepped on it, then backfilled, and then stepped on it...

This kind of transitional house could have been built perfunctorily. In order to demonstrate the correct method to the tribe, Zhang Tian deliberately implemented it according to high standards and strictly implemented every step.

When filling in the last layer of foundation, Zhang Tian ordered the men to leave a tunnel running across the house at the front and back of the house, leaving room for the construction of a simple fire pit later.

After filling the foundation, the beams are then erected. The beams are about five meters long. Naturally, they are made of thick bamboo and are connected to the load-bearing columns with a mortise and tenon structure.

To put it bluntly, the mortise and tenon structure is to insert the protrusions into the concave holes, which is the same principle as drilling holes in stone and inserting wooden sticks to make spinning wheels.This technology can be simple or complex. If it is complex, it can build a hundred-foot tower without half a nail. It is more than enough to build a simple frame of a house.

It doesn't require too much precision. It's better to be looser than too tight to ensure that the tenon can be inserted smoothly.

Bamboos cut into half are used to alternately buckle them together to form the eaves. The upper and lower ends are fixed with ropes, so that they fit tightly and there is no risk of leakage.In order to increase the heat insulation of the house, Zhang Tian built a thick layer of thatch on top. They are all lightweight building materials, so there is no need to worry about being overweight.

At this point, it took a whole day to complete the external enclosure structure.

"How? Have you learned it?"

"It's over!"

The men clapped their chests and shouted in unison.

"Then you will follow the method you learned today, work in groups of three to four, and each group will be responsible for building a bamboo house."

Everyone responded in unison.

Someone asked: "Isn't it finished yet?"

Zhang Tian said: "The food must be eaten one bite at a time, the road must be walked step by step, and the knowledge must be learned bit by bit. You build the skeleton first, and I will teach you the subsequent methods."

Everyone thinks so,

The women who were out collecting saw the bamboo houses that were beginning to take shape and ran over to watch.Although it's not finished yet, the skeleton alone looks much more advanced than the cave houses of the prairie people!
What will it look like when completed?What would it be like to live in it?
Everyone's eyes were gleaming with anticipation.

"You're quite capable, and you have a good look!" Lin Yu couldn't help but praise him. It's really worry-free to have a capable and reliable teammate.

The next day, the men formed teams, each selected a foundation pit, and hummed to build a bamboo house according to the method taught by the Sky Priest yesterday.

Zhang Tian sent the children to collect clay in preparation for later "painting the walls" and building fireplaces and chimneys. He put his hands behind his back and patrolled the entire site like a contractor, answering questions for each construction team, giving guidance, and observing at the same time. Everyone, let's see who has more architectural talent, and he may be entrusted with important tasks in the future.

Each construction team also worked hard and secretly competed.Everyone studies from the same teacher and learns the same knowledge. Whoever does better will be smarter. This is a very simple logic.Everyone is aroused to win and lose, and they want to prove that they are smarter than others, not dumber.

Zhang Tianle saw men competing with each other. Only with competition can they be motivated, and only with motivation can they be efficient.

However, there are differences between people after all. Talent cannot be forced. If you have it, you will have it. If you don’t have it, you will have it.

Everyone claimed to have learned it. Some people really learned it, without asking Zhang Tian a word from beginning to end, and they got along quickly and well. Some people only knew a little about it, and asked Zhang Tian again and again, but still stumbled.

After a day of observation, Zhang Tian had a general understanding of everyone's abilities. Among them were Jing from the Valley Tribe, Black Snake from the Snake Skin Tribe, and Qingque from the Cave Tribe. The performance of these three people was particularly outstanding, which impressed him. profound.

When the women returned at dusk and saw the many houses in the camp, it felt like the game had been down for a day. When they went online again, they found that the base camp had been successfully upgraded. They couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.

Of course, the women are not idle. They have been busy storing food for the winter. Collecting resources from all over the mountains and fields is much more time-consuming and laborious than blocking rivers for fishing.

On the third day, Zhang Tian continued to teach in practice.

Today’s task is to build the underground kang.

Some stones have been prepared before this, mainly flat stone slabs.

This matter was left to Wu Wu. He once "furthered training" among the mountain tribes and learned the techniques of stone mining from red earth and other masons, such as the fire-water stimulation method and the wedge cracking method. Now it comes in handy for Zhang Tian. Share some work.

As for the mining sites, there are many exposed hills along the Xiaonan River, so there is no need to go to the mountains.

At this time, Zhang Tian spread the quarried stone slabs on the reserved tunnel and smoothed them with clay. After the clay was completely dry, he spread thatch and animal skins on top, and a simple kang was formed.

There is a kang on each side of the house at the front and back, occupying most of the space in the house, leaving only a corridor of about [-] centimeters in the middle. Ten people sleep in it, so it is definitely crowded, but the tribesmen do not mind it. They have survived many severe cold weather. Today, we have long been accustomed to hugging each other for warmth, and squeezing together will make us feel even warmer.

Light a fire on one side of the kang and let the smoke escape from the other side.The men touched the gradually warming ground and marveled.

Even though the clay was still damp, it didn't stop them from fantasizing about sleeping on it.

The warm ground must taste great!Even on the coldest days, you can have a good night's sleep!

As soon as the women came back, they were eager to ask about the progress.Listening to the men trying their best to exaggerate the magic of the kang, the women couldn't wait to sit still and couldn't wait to go into the house to check it out.

At this time, the moist clay had been dried out by the hot smoke. They lay down one after another to experience it. They couldn't help but moan in extreme comfort. The fatigue of a busy day seemed to be relieved at this moment. Once they lay down, , I simply don’t want to get up again, and I wish I could take my baby to stay tonight.

On the fourth day, it was the men's turn to do it.

Zhang Tian reorganized them into groups, dividing those who were good at construction and strong hands-on skills into teams with those who were a little clumsy to improve work efficiency.

The stone has been mined and the process of building the underground kang is relatively simple. All teams completed it within the morning.

Take a break at noon and continue teaching in the afternoon.

The next task was to paint the walls with clay and build the fireplace and chimney.

The clay used for firing pottery needs to be filtered out of gravel and plants to improve the yield; the clay used for painting walls, on the contrary, needs to add some dead plant stems and leaves, and mix it with the clay at a ratio close to [-]%. , the resulting mixed material is stronger and tighter and will not crack easily.

If you are building a house in spring, you can also use grass, but you must do a good job of anti-corrosion, otherwise it may cause mold on the wall.

Zhang Tian led the men to use mixed clay to smear the outside of the bamboo frame and fill the gaps. Then they built the fireplace and chimney in the space reserved the day before using the technique of kneading clay blanks. The top of the chimney adopts a hollow structure. The upper end is completely shielded from rain, and smoke escapes from the holes around it.

A fire was lighted in the fireplace, both to try it out and to dry out the clay.

The fireplace mainly serves the function of lighting, and the indoor heating depends on the floor kang.

The beating flames coated the closed space in the house with a layer of dark red, and the dim light added to the quiet atmosphere. Looking at the airtight walls, everyone felt a strong sense of security.

It took him a day and a half to paint the walls and build the fireplace and chimney, and the men two days.

By the ninth day, the wall Zhang Tian painted two days ago was almost dry. He smoked it again, and then began to make a simple bamboo door.

I selected a few short and thin bamboos and used a rope to measure the size of the door. I don’t have time to make the measurements now, so I’ll talk about it after I’m done.

The door frame still uses a mortise and tenon structure. Use a stone chisel to simply dig a series of holes into the two bamboos, which are the upper and lower beams of the door frame.

The remaining bamboo is carved with protrusions at one end and the other, embedded in the holes of the upper and lower beams, and a simple bamboo door is formed.

The bamboo door is not windproof, so he made it as small as possible. In addition, the house itself is not big, and it somehow feels like a Hobbit house.

After installing the door, the first bamboo house is basically completed.

When the women returned, Zhang Tian sincerely invited them to accept it.

Before them, the children had already checked in. At this time, they took their mother's hand and acted as "housing agents", chattering non-stop.

There is no courtyard or vegetation, and the bare land in front of the door is covered with intricate footprints.

The clay on the exterior walls has dried to a bright, eye-catching reddish-brown color.

The house was empty except for two large bungalows slightly above the ground. Although it was a bit cramped, it was very warm. The flames were beating in the fireplace, the smoke was exhausted from the chimney built outside, and the air was filled with soil. The sweet and fishy smell intertwined with bamboo.

Lin Yu walked into the house and took a look. Her mentality had long been adjusted to that of a primitive person. She had eaten and slept in the open air along the way. Now she had built a private bamboo house, which exceeded her expectations. She was very satisfied.

The children rolled around on the warm floor, laughing and joking, and the men slapped the ground with their hands. They had exhausted their energy and pounded the ground layer by layer. It was so solid and filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Zhang Tian himself was also very satisfied.

Su Dongpo said: "It is better to eat without meat than to live without bamboo."

Now, they not only have meat to eat, but also bamboo to live in. They have realized the pursuit of the ancients 1 years ahead of schedule. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?

Of course, such housing conditions are still very backward, but after all, it is the first time to build a bamboo house, and the construction period is short. It is very good to be able to achieve this level.

It is late autumn now, and it is easy to catch cold when sleeping in the wilderness at night. Since the first bamboo house has been completed and is empty, it is better to let a group of people move in first.

The first bamboo hut was given to ten pregnant women who were pregnant during last winter's hunting trip and were about to give birth.

On the morning of the tenth day, the pregnant women happily shared their check-in experience with everyone and were full of praise!

The men also installed bamboo doors on the remaining 39 bamboo houses and used torches and smoke to dry the clay.

Thirty-seven of them are of the same size and are used for residence; the other two cover a larger area, but do not build a floor or paint the walls with clay. One is used as a warehouse for storing winter grain, and the other is used as a bamboo Rat breeding farm.

Next comes the exciting part of allocating housing.

Men and women naturally live separately. Children under six years old live with their mothers. Children over six years old are assigned according to gender.

By mixing people from different tribes, everyone will be brothers sleeping on the same kang, which will help everyone unite into a united and friendly group.

The rules for staying in student dormitories are similar to those of later generations. Well, even the dormitory conditions are just as bad. If we make a horizontal comparison, their bamboo houses are considered ceilings in this era. Compared with modern buildings, the student dormitories are probably on the level of sewers.

Night guarding and patrols are on duty in the "boys' dormitory". There are exactly two kangs in one dormitory. The brother who sleeps on one kang is responsible for the first half of the night, and the brother who sleeps on the other kang is responsible for the second half of the night.

Everyone had never wanted to sleep so much. After eating and looking up at the sky as usual, they couldn't wait to move into their new home.

(End of this chapter)