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

Chapter 22 I Played in the Mud in the Cave

To achieve efficient and rapid pottery making, one should logically start by developing a prerequisite technology like the potter's wheel.

However, it would take several days to make a potter's wheel that meets the requirements, and there is currently a shortage of wood and charcoal, which does not meet the conditions for large-scale firing.

Let's skip that for now and instead use a more primitive pottery-making method—coil casting.

The clay strip casting method involves rolling clay into long strips, then coiling them into the shape of the vessel, and finally making adjustments.

The disadvantages are naturally many more compared to using a potter's wheel, such as insufficient symmetry and difficulty in making thin-walled or delicate objects.

If not carefully repaired later, the surface will also become uneven.

However, Xia Minghao doesn't plan to make anything too elaborate right now; the first batch he can make will be pots, vats, and earthenware jars.

Earthenware pots are for cooking meat, earthenware jars are for storing water, and earthenware pots are for drawing water.

He was kneading a "mud snake," but the more he kneaded, the more Xia Minghao felt something was wrong.

The texture is quite rough, especially after adding some water, you can clearly feel how many impurities are in the mud.

Impurities are a decisive factor in pottery making. A little bit is fine, but if there are too many, the pottery will definitely not be fired.

Putting down the mud strip in his hand, Xia Minghao stroked his chin, lost in thought.

It seems that won't work; we need to filter it further.

But what should we use to filter it?

The women in the tribe now lack not only weaving skills, but also the necessary materials.

The most likely source of fiber today is plant fiber, but to weave linen from plant fiber, there is a process called "retting".

Retting hemp... and another ten days or so have passed.

The difficulty in achieving rapid technological leaps lies precisely in this: many prerequisite technologies have not been properly planned.

Even if the arrangements were made clearly, the existing workforce wouldn't be able to support it.

After a moment's thought, Xia Minghao suddenly realized that he still had a lot of modern equipment.

It's okay if I can't make it; I can just remove the mesh pocket from the backpack.

As soon as the idea came to mind, Xia Minghao quickly got up and tore off the mesh bag from his outdoor backpack.

The mesh is so fine that it can filter clay with ease.

The women watched Xia Minghao bustling around with curiosity, but couldn't figure out what was going on. Under Xima's arrangement, they set off again to fetch water.

The children watched with great interest, as if they were looking at a favorite toy, their eyes filled with eager anticipation.

Xia Minghao focused all his attention on making pottery, filtering it several times with a net until he finally removed most of the impurities.

Then, when I picked up the clay strips again, the feel was finally right; at least there was no grainy texture anymore.

At this moment, Xia Minghao realized that the women had already left, leaving only the children gathered around him, eager to play.

Looking at the longing in the children's eyes, Xia Minghao suddenly realized that although they were too young, it would still be fine to let them play in the mud.

"You guys, come here and play in the mud, but you can't pee."

He spoke to the children, and the older ones, who could already understand the language, initially thought they had misheard him.

After hearing it a second time, he excitedly came over and started playing with the mud.

This can be considered as helping Xia Minghao a little. With these kids helping to mix the mud and water, it saves him the trouble, and he can just use it directly later.

Once the "mud snake" is shaped, the leaves are laid on the ground, and the mud strips fall in circles, completing half of the "pot wall".

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Xia Minghao noticed that the children were also learning to sculpt clay strips.

Moreover, some of the pieces were quite well-made.

Yes, we can have these kids help with the kneading!

Because these children were so young, Xia Minghao had never thought of asking them for any help before, but now they have come in handy.

"You guys have a competition. Whoever makes the best one, I'll use!"

Xia Minghao spoke again, and the children who understood nodded repeatedly. What was originally just play had now turned into competition, arousing their innate competitive spirit. They worked even harder and more carefully.

Just as Xia Minghao was about to continue shaping the pot after the second clay snake was finished, the four oldest children, their eyes shining, took over their own creations.

I must say, two of the clay strips, each less than half a meter long, were actually quite well made.

"Good, good, very well done."

The children who received clay strips beamed with joy, while those who didn't get any were a little anxious and immediately started mixing clay again to make more strips.

With the children's help, the first clay model was finally completed!
Looking at the somewhat irregularly shaped clay pot-like embryo, a sense of accomplishment welled up inside me.

Although it was only a rough prototype, just by looking at it, Xia Minghao seemed to smell the aroma of meat broth.

Then the women returned with water, but they walked much more slowly.

When Xia Minghao got closer, he noticed that the women's wheat-colored thighs had begun to tremble involuntarily.

Today, I dug a hole with a bone hoe and carried water back and forth. I'm sure I'm exhausted.

The amount of exercise wasn't actually that much, but the problem was the lack of salt. Why has salt been so important in the history of any civilization? It's not just its economic value, nor its ability to extend the shelf life of food.

And the most crucial one is its effect on the human body.

Eating salt can give your body greater endurance and make you more energetic when you do things.

If these women had enough salt to eat right now, they wouldn't be so tired that their legs are spinning.

However, as long as the pot is cooked, even though we haven't found salt yet, it will alleviate the shortage.

Compared to roasting, boiling meat was a superior cooking method in this primitive era.

Boiling meat not only preserves the nutrients of the ingredients to the greatest extent, making it taste more delicious, but also retains the trace sodium in the bones and meat, and promotes its absorption.

This has alleviated the salt shortage to some extent.

The women saw the little ones playing in the mud again and angrily went over to scold them once more.

Upon seeing this, Xia Minghao quickly offered an explanation.

The women's angry expressions instantly turned to joy, as if they were very happy that their children could contribute to the tribe.

"You don't need to go. Come here and watch me do it."

There is enough water now, since the amount of clay we brought was not much to begin with, and these two trips of water transport have been sufficient.

If you add water to the clay, it will turn into muddy soup and won't be able to take shape at all.

So Xia Minghao decided that the women could rest from now on and take the opportunity to learn how to make pottery.

The children can handle the clay strips, but making pottery definitely requires the adults.

Xia Minghao doesn't plan to focus on pottery making; he has too many things to do, too many to count.

It is of utmost importance to pass on the pottery-making techniques to everyone.

When the women heard that they no longer needed to fetch water, they didn't cheer, but their faces clearly relaxed.

He sat down next to Xia Minghao and began to examine the clay pot blank.

"Look, shape the mud like this, then like this, and then like this."

Xia Minghao demonstrated, and several women also started working with clay strips, then followed suit and started coiling them.

However, the plates are all quite irregular, and even if they can be fired, they will be unusable.

Seeing this, Xia Minghao was not in a hurry. He hadn't expected these primitive people to learn it so easily.

After I taught you the basics, you can start focusing on doing it yourself.

As the sun was about to set, Shifa and the others returned.

Looking at the novel objects made of clay, they became curious and started talking to other women, asking them all sorts of questions.

After Xia Minghao finished preparing the clay pot, he placed it in a corner of the cave to air dry.

If I hadn't actually tried making pottery before, I wouldn't have known about the air-drying step.

If you bake the whole thing right away, it will ruin everything; it's guaranteed to fail.

That's the advantage of having experience: you avoid detours and get straight to your goal.

Compared to shaping the vessel, drying is the most time-consuming part, which is estimated to take three to five days.

As dusk approached, Xia Minghao thought of the new members of the tribe in the future.

I wonder if those primitive people have returned to their tribe yet, and whether we'll have new labor force tomorrow.

With five adult women in place, there's a lot more that can be done.

He took a big gulp from his military water bottle and thought to himself, "Should we hold a welcome party or something?"

……

……

……

"No, my daughter, I cannot leave."

"mom!"

Inside the cave of the Li tribe, a scene that could be described as a life-or-death separation is taking place.

Chief Liba had just returned to the tribe when he told the women that they had to exchange people for a black fish that would make women stronger than men.

There was bound to be controversy. Although he was the leader, Liba did not have the absolute authority.

But when everyone learned that only a few people from the tribes that had been annexed needed to leave, the voices of opposition almost disappeared.

And that's how the current situation came about.

The selected women did not want to experience separation from their families again, and they cried out in anguish.

Only that petite, fair-skinned figure showed no reaction, remaining huddled in the corner, her eyes sparkling as if lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)