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

Chapter 42 The Birth of Writing! (Seeking monthly votes! Please continue reading!)

"What is this?"

Xia Minghao stared at the drawing for a long time but still couldn't figure out what it was. He could only roughly make out that it was some kind of animal with horns.

So he simply asked Una for the answer.

"Yes, it's big, black, with horns on its nose pointing to the sky."

As she spoke, Una gestured and pointed to her simple drawing on the pottery jar.

So it was a single horn growing on its nose? It's just that the horn has forked.

If Una hadn't said that, Xia Minghao would have thought that the "Si" in this other world was an animal with two horns.

It has dark skin and a large size, but a single, forked horn grows on its nose.

What is this?
Xia Minghao searched through his memories but found no corresponding information.

"It can make a sound, moo moo!"

"Moo moo moo?"

Just then, Una began to imitate the cry she had heard when she first saw the great black unicorn.

Xia Minghao's eyes lit up immediately; it sounded just like a cow's moo.

Could this thing be a primitive cow?

He was immediately filled with great interest, but Xia Minghao forcibly suppressed his urge to go and see the "Si" in the other world under Una's guidance.

We're not an agrarian society now, and people will have to migrate eventually. Even if it were a primitive cow, and we could actually get our hands on this big guy, it wouldn't be of much use.

Moreover, the journey there is dangerous; encountering a pack of wolves or being bitten by a venomous snake while walking could cost you your life.

We can't put ourselves in danger just to satisfy our curiosity and have a good look at things.

It's enough to know they exist; they won't go extinct in a few days.

"Chief, the pattern is beautiful, paint it on."

Then, Una's voice rang out again.

Xia Minghao looked up and saw that Una had a pleading look on her face.

nice?

For normal primitive people, the aesthetic value of being good-looking is useless.

In order to survive, everyone has become a pragmatist.

Don't be fooled by how much the women of the Wa tribe were intrigued by this just now; once the novelty wears off, they'll probably become indifferent.

They might even experience negative emotions because adding patterns would increase their workload and make the pottery more difficult to produce.

Of course, Xia Minghao figured out the situation of the Wu tribe yesterday.

Now, it's not hard to understand why Una, who is different from other primitive people, is so obsessed with patterns.

I was about to refuse, but then a thought suddenly popped into my head.

Adding some patterns might actually be of some practical use.

For example, distinguishing between them.

Later, when resources became abundant, the things that were put in these pottery vessels became incredibly diverse.

The pottery pieces do not have any obvious differences in appearance.

If we start classifying things by patterns now, it would be like presciently preventing potential future problems.

But what should I draw?
Xia Minghao looked at the "si" and his eyes immediately flashed with a sharp light.

Word!

Inscribe words directly on the pottery jar!
In fact, Xia Minghao had thought about teaching these primitive people to read and write before.

Written language is also one of the three essential elements for judging civilization.

It is not only a tool for recording language and transmitting information, but also means that humans can systematically preserve knowledge.

And, in Xia Minghao's view, its most important function is to regulate social order, such as through legal codes.

But after being discouraged by teaching this group of primitive people math, Xia Minghao was actually prepared to temporarily give up the idea of ​​teaching them to read.

But if we teach writing in this way, it might have amazing effects!

It's like integrating abstract knowledge into concrete practice.

Practice is the source of knowledge and, more importantly, the driving force for the development of knowledge.

Like those primitive people, it's not difficult for them to master addition and subtraction within ten, but when the number of them is large, they just can't be taught no matter how hard they try.

Because the quantities of things we usually acquire are not very large, we don't need to use dozens of digits to calculate them, and thus we lose the impetus for this kind of understanding and development.

But if you write words on pottery, like writing "meat" on a pottery vessel for meat, or "fish" on a pottery vessel for fish.

Naturally, through practice, abstract words and expressed meanings are integrated together.

Looking up, Xia Minghao saw that Wu Na was still looking at him with expectant eyes. He smiled faintly and nodded to Wu Na.

Una cheered happily as the "special" demand for patterns that had formed in the U tribe was about to be met.

“You, carve this on this batch of pottery blanks.”

Then, Xia Minghao wrote the simplified Chinese character for "meat" on the ground and said it to the women of the Wa tribe.

"This is meat, the meat we eat, all meat. Not including fish. After these pottery jars are fired, they will all be used to store meat."

The women looked at the simplified Chinese characters with puzzled expressions, but still nodded with great certainty.

Una looked at the pattern with surprise, and her little mind began to connect the "pattern" with the meat she was eating.

After confirming that the women of the Wa tribe had learned how to carve the character for "meat" on pottery blanks without affecting the quality of the pottery, Xia Minghao went to the Li tribe.

The efficiency was within expectations; it took half a morning, a noon, and half an afternoon for nearly twenty men to knock down a large tree.

Xia Minghao was already very satisfied.

While nodding inwardly, Xia Minghao shouted loudly to the burly man whose head was shining in the sun.

"Don't do the big one. Do the small one."

Smaller pieces are naturally unsuitable for shipbuilding, but they can be used as firewood.

It wasn't that Xia Minghao didn't want to gather the materials as soon as possible, but rather that he had to consider the practical situation.

Without additional salt replenishment, and given that this is heavy physical labor, it's definitely impossible to keep doing it all the time.

If they were made to keep working, the people of the Li tribe would probably finish their three days of work, get their pottery, and "go home for a holiday," and then never come back.

Upon hearing Xia Minghao's words, the men of the Li tribe instantly grinned; these small trees were much easier to grow than the large ones.

The look of hunger that had been there vanished instantly, replaced by renewed energy.

Xia Minghao went back to check the first embryo carved by the Wa tribe with the word "meat" written on it. After confirming that there were no problems, he was about to return to the cave with peace of mind.

But then, they heard Una's joyful voice.

Una, who had been staring at the character "meat" that Xia Minghao had written on the ground, suddenly jumped up and called out towards the distant woods.

Xia Minghao followed Una's gaze.

They saw that the women from the Wu tribe had arrived.

But they didn't apply anything to their bodies anymore, just like the women of the Xi tribe.

The women carried baskets, which were filled with all sorts of things.

Xia Minghao couldn't see it clearly, but it was indeed a wide variety.

"I don't know if I'll be able to find anything useful."

For a moment, Xia Minghao felt as if he were playing a game and opening a treasure chest.

I just don't know if I'll be able to get any legendary gold or SSR characters...

　Dear readers, future world champion! I'm begging for your monthly tickets! My editor just told me that this book is at a crucial stage of its advancement, so I'm desperately asking for your monthly tickets. Thank you all!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)