We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 143 Insect Valley Industrial Chain

Before dawn, Arnold crawled out of the pit, as did the others.

They maintained the fine traditions of the previous Huo Li rule, and were accustomed to starting work very early every day.

After Xia Minghao arrived, the first thing they did every morning was to walk to the place that used to be a stinky pond, but is now called a fishpond, and take turns picking up a dozen or so small wooden buckets from the riverbank to do something strange.

When he reached the riverbank, he found that there were already people who had gotten up earlier than him.

When it was Arno's turn, he immediately picked up a wooden bucket, scooped up a large bucket of water, and then forcefully splashed it into the distance.

This was repeated ten times.

It's like praying to the god Pushy after waking up early in the morning.

At first, they were completely baffled because Ah Hao, the former chief, had never told them what god they were praying to.

Is it the god Dick?

After doing this for a few days, they suddenly understood.

The stench from the pond had completely disappeared; only the sun-baked silt dug from the river and spread out on the ground emitted a faint odor.

It turns out it's driving away the bad stuff in the water!

"Dissolved oxygen level! Microbial activity! No odor!"

After all this was done, just like at the Pushkin Assembly, they began to bow their heads in prayer.

The same applies to others; to the Wa clan, this is a ceremony similar to the Pushi Assembly.

Of the long explanation Xia Minghao gave, only a few people vaguely remembered a few words, and in the end, only three words reached everyone's ears.

They could only understand the meaning of "not smelly," and due to their inertia of obeying the so-called gods, they naturally regarded "dissolved oxygen" as some kind of god that could dispel the odor, and "microbial activity" as some kind of god that caused the water to smell bad.

As for "not smelling bad," that's just a prayer.

In fact, there are all sorts of prayers in this format.

It involves taking Xia Minghao's words out of context through various means.

Because...they desperately need God.

The goddess of Purity died, and they wanted a new "mother" to be with them.

These past few days, even though the men of the Wa clan have been living better lives, in a better environment, and with better food, they have been feeling uncomfortable all over.

The absence of their "mother" left them feeling empty inside.

……

……

……

Behind the fishpond, deep in the valley, inside a cave.

The flames of the four small fires in the corner of the cave rose and fell rhythmically, accompanied by a series of undulating groans...

The wooden door leaning against the cave entrance blocked most of the morning light, but a few rays still shone into the cave and onto Huo Li's smooth, white back.

Stroking Huo Li's back, Xia Minghao suddenly understood why the kings of primitive times could have so many children.

The reason is most likely because there are not many entertainment options. Just like myself now, I have no choice but to choose this kind of entertainment that can quickly release dopamine.

Of course, it wasn't just for entertainment. Xia Minghao also discovered that with each intimate encounter, Huo Li's obedience and dependence on him deepened.

Looking around at the bonfires and seeing the wood about to burn out, Xia Minghao decided not to do it again.

The reason for setting up the fire was that Xia Minghao discovered one of Huo Li's characteristics.

Even during the rain and clouds, the power of the totem can leak out uncontrollably.

Of course, setting up such a bunch of bonfires wasn't for any kind of experiment; it was mainly to add some ambiance, like ambient lighting...

There's no way around it; perhaps this is human nature. Just like how, once the problem of survival is solved, one naturally yearns for a better life.

Xia Minghao stood up, and Huo Li, despite her weak legs, still stood up and began to help Xia Minghao change his clothes.

In her opinion, this was what she should do, because her mother served her father in the same way.

This reminded Xia Minghao, and he naturally enjoyed the "imperial treatment" of being served while changing clothes.

This had never happened with either Shia or Dali.

After pushing open the wooden door and then closing it again, Xia Minghao first took a deep breath and smelled the scent of the moist morning air.

Aside from the fresh scent of grass and trees and various floral fragrances, there was no unpleasant odor.

The pond management was quite successful, and now, seven days later, the mulberry-dike fishpond is also quite successful.

All that's missing is the silkworms.

It's early autumn now, and you can't see any silkworms that have already formed cocoons. All you can find are larvae and silkworm eggs.

Although a considerable number of larvae and eggs were found, it paled in comparison to the vast expanse of mulberry trees.

Logically, the number that could be found should be at least three or four times the current number.

Later, I asked Huoli and learned that in recent years, the men of the Wa tribe have loved to eat silkworms, which has led to the silkworms encountering their greatest natural enemy: humans.

At this rate, Xia Minghao felt that if he had arrived a year or two later, the silkworms here would probably have been eaten to extinction.

However, it's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost, and Xia Minghao immediately launched a rescue plan for the silkworms.

There is a certain level of expertise involved in silkworm farming.

The main reason is that I raised silkworms when I was a child and witnessed the normal life cycle of a silkworm. Through extensive practice, I also learned the key points of silkworm raising.

In fact, raising silkworms is about solving the problems of food and shelter for them.

The problem of food is not difficult, after all, there are many mulberry trees. Although the old leaves have turned yellow, there are very few tender leaves that are most suitable for silkworms to eat.

But since there were so many mulberry trees, they could always manage to gather enough.

As for the living conditions, it's not complicated; it's simply a matter of building small greenhouses for the larvae to live in.

Xia Minghao first had someone weave a bowl-shaped basket out of rattan, line the inside with plenty of dry grass for insulation, and then place it in a crack in the rock where it could be exposed to the sun.

When night falls, they cover him with burlap and uncover him when the sun rises, in order to keep him warm.

Actually, because it's in a valley, the temperature is naturally warmer than outside, which is a natural advantage for silkworm farming.

As for the leaves with insect eggs that were collected, Xia Minghao put them all into a large piece of wood filled with dry leaves, mainly to keep them moist.

With the larvae and eggs in place, as long as they are carefully monitored, it is estimated that the "peeling back the cocoon" will be possible next year.

I think I'll be able to wear silk clothes around the time of the one-year anniversary celebration of my arrival in this primitive and ignorant alien world...

Upon reaching the edge of the pond, Xia Minghao did not stop but went directly to the entrance of the valley.

"Haven't they come back yet?"

Xia Minghao looked at Liba and the others who were stationed there and asked.

Liba and the others naturally shook their heads.

After estimating the time in his mind, Xia Minghao figured it was about time, and that they had probably already reached the shore and were heading towards the valley.

Since it wasn't time yet, Xia Minghao decided to proceed directly to the final step: beekeeping.

Once this step is completed, the "Insect Valley Industrial Chain" can be fully arranged, serving not only as a transit point for goods from Yanquan Mountain to the plains, but also as a breeding ground for honey, silk, and, subsequently, chickens.

Pheasants, this was one of the things Xia Minghao had Lipa bring back to the Insect Valley.

"Come with me, you too, Liba. Bring a stick and a cane. Are you all ready?"

"All done, Chief!"

Xia Minghao nodded when he saw Li Ba take the vine out of the haystack.

Aside from being a bit stupid, the men of the Wa clan are obedient. However, the women in this area are quite complicated. Whenever you make eye contact with them, they immediately avoid your gaze, as if they have some ulterior motive.

When he and Huo Li leave, the locals won't have fully developed a habit of obeying him yet, and those dozens of women might cause trouble.

Then someone has to do it for them. Just give them a good beating with a cane dipped in salt water. Since we can't touch their souls and teach them what rules are, we can only touch their flesh.

Liba led an armed team to prevent any accidents, while the remaining craftsmen were to build something: a beehive.

However, all the elders of his Xia tribe had to be taken away and couldn't stay behind. So, in general, Xia Minghao's plan for making beehives this time was to teach a small group of people from the Wa clan how to make them.

Gathering the men from the nearby Wa tribe, forty or fifty men arrived in no time, including Arno, who had just finished his work.

"Does anyone want something sweet? You'll be able to eat sweet honey from now on."

Upon hearing that they could eat honey, everyone's hearts were stirred.

Everyone has experienced times when they couldn't find a dead animal to feed or water, and that's why they all went looking for bees.

Removing the beehives hurts your body, but your hands taste sweet.

The pain of being stung by a bee is quickly forgotten, but the sweetness of the honey can linger in the memory for a long time.

They certainly wanted to eat honey, but in the past it was given to Huoli, who would then deliver it as an offering to the god of Pushi.

"Chief, are you really going to let us eat honey?"

Someone asked incredulously.

"Of course you can eat it, but only a little bit."

Xia Minghao intends to completely control beekeeping and monopolize honey production, and he won't just give it away to others. But these beekeepers can't be left without getting anything out of it.

Fearing he might not have explained it clearly, Xia Minghao pointed to the wooden bucket again.

“If you had a barrel of honey this big, you could eat it in a clay pot.”

“Honey from an earthenware pot!” the Wa clan men exclaimed, some of them eager to try, but Arno’s next question dampened their enthusiasm.

"Chief, will I get stung if I eat honey?"

Upon hearing Arno's question, Xia Minghao glanced at the expressions of the others, thought for a moment, and finally nodded.

Actually, no, as long as you follow your own methods, but beekeepers shouldn't be afraid of this.

If you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet; if you hover around a swarm of bees often, you're bound to get stung.
If you get stung and then quit, that won't do.

Xia Minghao wanted someone who wasn't afraid of being stung.

The group of people who were initially eager to try all lost their nerve, but a few still stepped forward after some thought.

"Chief, I'm willing, I want to eat honey."

"Me too!"

Many of these people looked familiar; they were the ones who started digging wells after seeing Xia Minghao dig out water.

But Arno still chickened out; he was afraid of being stung, and the stings were very painful.

"Okay, you guys go and get those fish bladders and swim bladders first."

Pointing to the edge of the pool, Xia Minghao spoke to the group.

Xia Minghao then led the craftsmen to begin processing the wood placed in the open space.

What needs to be done now is to build beehives.

The purpose is to provide bees with a better living environment and increase their carrying capacity, so as to significantly increase the number of bee colonies. Then, placing the beehives near the flowers will make honey collection much easier.

With this kind of artificial intervention, the growth rate of honey production will be many times higher, and the honey yield will be greatly increased compared to the wild environment.

This is equivalent to shortening the bees' commute time to work and providing them with better housing, so that they can "live and work in peace and contentment".

While the craftsmen were working on the wooden planks, several men from the Wa clan brought over fish bladders and swim bladders that had been soaking in water.

Xia Minghao brought over the earthenware pot and was about to scoop the food out when he heard Huo Li's voice coming from afar.

"I come."

When the Wa clan members saw Huo Li, they immediately pushed her aside. Some even tried to continue the old tradition of kneeling down to lick Huo Li's feet, but after being glared at by Huo Li, they immediately retreated in fear.

Although Huo Li is no longer their "mother," they are still incredibly afraid from the bottom of their hearts.

"You can come? That's fine too."

When Xia Minghao saw Huo Li looking like a virtuous wife and loving mother, he immediately understood that Huo Li probably thought he wanted to cook.

In reality, Xia Minghao wasn't going to cook rice; what he really wanted to do was cook glue!

It's still fish maw that's being cooked.

Actually, not many fish have swim bladders. The snakehead fish we found earlier didn't have them, and even among the miscellaneous fish we found here, only a few species have swim bladders.

Therefore, collecting enough fish bladders and swim bladders to make fish maw was quite difficult, taking a full three days.

Fortunately, in a fish farming experiment a few days ago, Xia Minghao discovered that a type of fish with a swim bladder could survive in fish ponds that had been cleared of silt and then dug to a certain depth.

If we can carry out large-scale aquaculture through mulberry-dike-fishpond systems, we won't have to worry about food in the future.

If the fish raised in the mulberry-dike-fishpond are capable of producing swim bladders, then the weight of the mulberry-dike-fishpond is simply raised to a whole new level.

Fish maw glue may not be well-known in modern society, but it was a famous and valuable product in ancient times!

Everyone knows about tea and silk, but few people know that in ancient times, fish glue, along with tea and silk, constituted the three pillars of trade in the East.

Fish glue is water-resistant, low-temperature resistant, and highly elastic. It was not only an invisible support for ancient wooden structures, but also one of the foundations of ancient shipbuilding.

For example, during the construction of Zheng He's treasure ships, fish glue mixed with hemp fibers was used to fill the gaps in the wooden planks, which enabled the fleet to withstand the winds and waves of the open ocean.

The boats Xia Minghao is currently building use mortise and tenon joints and bronze nails. With the existing technology, they can only be built to sail on relatively calm rivers.

If there is enough fish glue in the future, the boat can be made bigger and will be more resistant to wind and waves.

After making certain improvements to their shipbuilding technology, they were not only able to move towards the turbulent waters of the upper reaches of major rivers, but it was even possible to build ships that could sail on the open sea.

Where is the sea?
There's no need to even think about this; such a large river, if it flows downstream, will inevitably end up in the sea.

Xia Minghao longed to see the ocean in this world, and even more so, he wanted to see if there was a new continent on the other side of the ocean.

To satisfy such curiosity and the desire to conquer the world, a sufficiently large and sturdy ship is necessary as a foundation.

The emergence of fish maw glue constituted a necessary condition to satisfy Xia Minghao's ambition.

The fire was already lit, and the earthenware pot was filled with fish maws that Huo Li had scooped out. Then, the flames of the fire danced even more intensely.

It was Huo Li who was using the power of the totem to speed up the burning process. As soon as the water in the pottery pot began to boil, Xia Minghao immediately patted Huo Li.

"Okay, no need to continue. Just keep the heat low, and then stir it with this."

"Ah."

Huo Li responded, then picked up a short wooden stick and began to stir.

As the mixture is stirred, the swim bladder and bladder quickly dissolve in the water, and as the water evaporates, it becomes increasingly viscous.

Xia Minghao looked at the number of wooden boards his men had made and felt that it was almost done. He then gave some pointers on which parts should have which type of mortise and tenon structure.

At the same time, he also summoned some members of the Wa clan. He couldn't explain the principles to them, but he told them how to assemble it and how to fix it if any problems occurred.

Looking at the large box and listening to Xia Minghao's words, the members of the Wa clan all frowned and struggled to think.

Meanwhile, Huo Li was still simmering fish maw, looking at the cloudy white water in the pot, sticky and with a fishy smell...

It looks just like the kind of mess he made all over me...

Thinking of this, Huo Li couldn't help but steal a glance at Xia Minghao's back, and then she thought of the memories of their trip to Wushan together. She couldn't help but lick her red lips.

"Just right."

Seeing that the fish bladder had already gelled, and that seven or eight beehives were basically formed, all that was left was to reinforce them with the fish bladder glue.

Xia Minghao took a shovel and started dipping it in fish maw glue.

He wiped it a few times, then looked at the men of the Wa clan.

"You should do this from now on. If there's a leak or a crack, just make this yourself and apply it."

Applying glue is naturally much simpler than understanding how beehives are made, and the group nodded in agreement.

Xia Minghao then had everyone take a small shovel and start applying the fish maw glue.

"Yes, and here too."

"Don't touch this part. This is the lid. We'll need to take it off to check on the bees inside."

And so, seven or eight coffin-like boxes were completed, which would become the bees' eternal little home.

"This... can it have bees and honey?"

Huo Li finally understood that her man didn't want to eat, but rather to cook something to make a home for the bees.

With bees, there will be honey.

Thinking of the deliciousness of honey, Huo Li couldn't help but swallow. The sweetness wasn't everything; more importantly, when she thought of her father's tragic death and felt sad, eating honey would alleviate the pain in her heart.

She hasn't eaten honey in a long time since Xia Minghao came...

"When will there be bees in here?"

When will it be available?

Upon hearing Huo Li's question, Xia Minghao noticed that the other men of the Wa clan were also looking over, showing great interest in the matter.

No, I actually think bees might grow out of here?

Xia Minghao was amused by the group's thought process and then explained to everyone.

"It won't grow here. You have to catch bees, then you can get bees, and finally you can get honey."

"Oh."

Huo Li didn't react much, she just nodded.

But others are different.

Catch the bees!
Fear was evident on everyone's faces, and some even hesitated, as memories of their "close interactions" with bees flooded back.

"You go find a place first, where there are beehives, and I'll tell you how to catch them."

This was the first time this group of people had ever done something like this before.

However, once they've completed the first time, this fear will naturally disappear.

Seeing everyone leave in fear, Xia Minghao began to direct his craftsmen to use bronze chisels to carve small holes in the wooden box.

This is to provide an entrance and exit for the bees.

Just as they were about to arrange for people to start laying out the burlap and make the final arrangements, they suddenly heard the voices of armed men behind them.

"Chief, Lipa and the others are back!"

"came back?"

Xia Minghao's eyes lit up when he heard the good news brought by the armed team.

Leading Huo Li towards the valley entrance, they indeed saw twenty or thirty men and sixty or seventy women.

These women were all large and robust, and almost all of them were from the Li clan.

(End of this chapter)