Now that it has been determined that the stones here can extract salt, the purpose of this trip has been basically achieved. Song Xuan refined another pot of stones. Although the ores were selected from different places, the output was not much different. A large pot of salt ore, weighing more than thirty kilograms, can produce three or four taels of salt in the end.
After all the hard work, it was already sunset. A dozen people hammered and hammered all afternoon, and the results were very remarkable. The stones they knocked down finally piled up into a small hill. These stones alone can probably be extracted to a weight of twenty or thirty kilograms. So salty.
Even though it was already dark, everyone still seemed quite excited. Some people even lay down on the rock wall after eating. In the end, Song Xuan got them down. They all came at night, so they should have a good rest. Sleeping is a habit. If you go to bed too late, it will be difficult to work tomorrow.
The next day.
Today's task is not to mine ore and refine salt.
Although this is the main purpose of this trip, in addition to determining whether the ore here can be refined and researched, there is something that everyone needs to do, that is, find out the situation in this area clearly, and at the same time build the camp here. A prototype emerged.
The first thing to bear the brunt is naturally the water source. The terrain in this area is relatively flat. At least when everyone came here, there was no obvious water source. Shi Meng and the others also hunted around and found nothing yet.
Therefore, everyone's task is to find a relatively stable water source in this area. No matter how far or near it is, we must first find out the location, otherwise we will have to run to a small lake five miles away to get water.
This would be fine if we were hunting in normal times, but refining salt requires a large amount of clean water. If we fetch water from such a far away place, the loss of manpower will be too great, because the tools we use to fill water are not big, even if we use pottery The pot couldn't hold much water at that time, and it was also extremely heavy.
So now everyone takes this valley as the center, wandering from the inside out, slowly searching for water sources.
"Meng, what should you do if you can't find water when you go out?"
Song Xuan, who was looking a little bored, asked Shi Meng. Although the surrounding forest is dense, the water source may not be near your hunting place. This situation should happen from time to time.
"I usually rest not far from the water source, and I always bring water with me!"
With that said, Shi Meng also patted the empty water bag.
There are generally two tools for filling water in tribes, one is the traditional leather water bladder, and the other is a kettle modified after the discovery of bamboo.
The water capacity of a kettle made of bamboo tubes is slightly larger. Although it is not convenient for individuals to carry it, it will be easier if one person carries it on his back.
However, people like Shi Meng and others generally prefer water bags when hunting outside. They are easy to carry and will not affect their usual running and various actions.
This kind of water bladder is usually made of very complete animal skins, and both ends are tied with ropes and wood. Previously, the plugs were made of solid wood.
After getting the bamboo, Song Xuan also slightly modified it. The drinking end has now been replaced with a slightly thinner bamboo.
Then use cork to make a stopper, which will be much more convenient when drinking. Just pull out the stopper. Before that, you have to untie the rope and then take out the cork. After drinking, you have to tie it back again. The whole set of actions is very It's cumbersome, and if it's not tied tightly enough, water will leak out.
As for the bamboo kettle, there are usually two or three sections on the back of a dedicated person. Each section is thirty or forty centimeters long. One kettle can hold three to four liters of water. This is usually the job of the person in charge of the baggage.
In order to have the strongest combat effectiveness after departure to deal with various emergencies, after all, in the wild, a group of wild beasts may pop out at any time, so most people only carry their own weapons and a small amount of Water and food, such as fire, tents and cooking utensils, are generally the responsibility of dedicated people.
However, going out doesn’t require that much attention. In a small team, it’s usually enough for two people to carry these things on their backs.
This is the operation with the most supplies. Song Xuan's team of 20 people alone used four people to carry the things, but the main thing was that there were a few more pots, and the other things were not much. At most, they were given to Song Xuan alone. A smaller tent was prepared, and Song Xuan carried this tent by himself.
After coming to Tengshe for so long, Song Xuan is no longer the "unable to restrain a chicken" before. He has been eating meat for many years, so it is naturally easier to grow stronger, and he is not usually in the tribe. Lying leisurely, his body is now full of muscles, and his lines are pretty good-looking, at least that's what Song Xuan thinks.
Shi Meng then said:
"If you really can't find it and don't have any water, you can just find some grass to eat! If that doesn't work, just drink some blood. Hey, no matter what, you won't be thirsty!"
Hearing these words, Song Xuan was still a little shocked, but then he thought about it, isn't it the best way to describe a primitive man?
The people of the Tengshe tribe were already quite civilized. At least Song Xuan had never seen them eating raw meat or animal blood even after he had been here for so long.
These behaviors are usually done when there is no other way. There is a clump of grass not far away from Shi Meng. Although the taste is a bit bitter, the water content is indeed very high. This kind of grass is distributed in this forest. It's quite wide, so it's usually not easy to get thirsty.
"Wow~"
"stop!"
Although they were chatting along the way, Shi Meng's ears were still very useful. Halfway through, he suddenly stopped everyone and listened.
Sure enough, there was a faint sound of very small water flowing from the hill not far away.
"Angel, go over there and have a look!"
In terms of survival in the wild, Shi Meng can be said to be the best person in the Soaring Snake Tribe, which is also an important reason why he can become the leader.
In addition to tracking prey, finding safe campsites and water sources is also an important skill.
So I calmed down and searched carefully, but after most of the day, I found a place with water.
This is the hill to the north of the valley. The mountain is not very high. It only looks like a hundred meters, but it is not too close to the valley. It is probably three or four miles away.
But what exactly is going on can only be known after actual inspection.
With the goal in mind, we walked quickly. In about ten minutes, everyone had reached the foot of the mountain. Although we hadn't seen the source of water yet, the sound of water flowing was getting louder and louder. It didn't sound like it was a small stream. , because the sound was too loud.
Sure enough, we followed the sound and climbed to the other side of the mountain. A small natural waterfall appeared in front of everyone halfway up the mountain. The waterfall was not big, only three or four meters high and half a meter wide.
Downward is a small stream carrying water to the north. Not far from the top, there is a spring with gurgling water flowing out.
Song Xuan quickly took a sip with his hand. As expected, it was as sweet and refreshing as ever. There was almost no dirty water in this era. As long as it was flowing, it was generally very clean and could be drank directly. Of course, it was like the kind in a river. Song Xuan still likes to drink it after boiling it. After all, there may be some parasites and the like in it.
People in the Tengshe Tribe didn't have this habit before. Ever since Song Xuan came, everyone has followed suit and become accustomed to drinking boiled water. However, everyone is still not as particular as Song Xuan. It doesn't matter whether they drink it or not. .
Mountain springs like this are very safe. Everyone hurriedly filled their water bladders and bottles. There was not much water around here. If you didn't fill it up even if you ran back and forth, you would lose a lot of money.
Although the distance is not far, it is still very laborious to carry water back and forth. It takes more than half an hour to walk on the three or four miles of mountain road.
Walking to the open space next to the waterfall, I could see that although it was on the north slope of the mountain, I could still see the valley area through the ridge. I carefully checked the nearby terrain to see if Song Xuan could divert a section to divert the water to the south. .
At that time, even if the flow is not far from the foot of the mountain, it can save some energy. Climbing the mountain is not easy, and it must be led as far as possible.
Seeing Song Xuan jumping up and down, Shi Meng was waiting patiently at the side. As expected, Song Xuan started discussing with him not long after.
The tribe still has some experience in diverting water. After all, the water in the rice fields and the current domestic water in the tribe is also diverted from the upper reaches of the river.
Song Xuan even had a few pottery pipes made from stone, but the current output was too low to satisfy his slightly bigger idea. Song Xuan wanted to use pottery pipes to directly use water in the tribe in the future. Bring it upstream to avoid impurities in it.
But the current water quality is pretty good, except for the occasional fallen leaves at most. Song Xuan will have people inspect this water channel every day. It's not far anyway, and it only takes half an hour to go back and forth. The main reason is to worry about whether there will be any in it. Something dead.
The same idea was used here. A diversion channel was dug along the lower end of the waterfall, slowly going around the ridge, and finally heading south.
The amount of the project is not large. The waterfall is only forty to fifty meters away from the ridge. It would be much simpler as long as the water is diverted to the back of the south side of the mountain.
In order to make it easier to collect water in the future, this canal must be built. I and my group can simply build it at once, and when we come back in the future, we can just mine and refine it on the spot.
The only inconvenience is that everyone came out in the name of hunting and did not bring any farm tools. They only brought two small shovels so that they could easily dig out a place to put the pot when cooking. After all, not all places have it. There are stones, so you have to get a small underground stove.
Without suitable tools, I had to use the most convenient thing at hand, such as javelins, stone axes, etc., which came in handy. Although I felt a little distressed, I couldn't care about so much at this time.
After Song Xuan planned the sixty-meter route around the ridge, everyone started taking action. After careful exploration, they all chose ground that was easy to dig.
Moreover, Song Xuan's requirements are not high. As long as water can flow through here, twenty or thirty centimeters wide is almost enough. It doesn't need to be too deep. Just dig about seven or eight centimeters into the ground.
Judging from the appearance of the springs and waterfalls, the water here should be flowing all year round, so there is no need for a large channel, just let it flow slowly.
Twenty or more people worked together and dug the ditch to the other side of the ridge at sunset. If the top was dug at this time, the water would flow directly along the small ditch.
However, this alone is not enough to satisfy Song Xuan's idea. Song Xuan has taken advantage of this period of time to observe the terrain. Although the water cannot be directed into the valley, it can be kept in a depression only a hundred meters away from the valley. .
There are no big undulations in the terrain along the way, it is basically a curve, so from here on, everyone only needs to dig the canal in the direction of the valley.
