Although the workload is not small, there are also many people involved. According to the current progress, we should be able to dig to the other side of the valley in about two days.
After all, by the time it gets dark today, everyone has already dug the canal to the foot of the mountain. At this rate, two days should not be a big problem, and the requirements will definitely be lower in the future. For example, the section of the canal from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain is Song Song. Xuan didn’t let everyone dig too deep.
Just dig a small ditch to standardize the route of the spring water, let it wash away slowly, and it will naturally become a very good stream.
All the luggage was carried with me, so there was no need to run back and forth. Instead, we camped on the spot, rested for a night, and started moving again the next day.
Generally speaking, everyone's speed was beyond Song Xuan's imagination. Maybe the ground here was not particularly dry. After sweeping aside the fallen leaves, they could quickly dig a small trench with a javelin.
Even including the excavation yesterday afternoon, it only took a day and a half to reach the small depression selected by Song Xuan, which was less than a mile away.
It took another whole morning to finally dig the canal into the small depression. Song Xuan took everyone to check again along the way and made sure it was smooth. Then, in front of everyone's eyes, he used a small shovel to connect the last ditch. The twenty centimeter long section of the creek was dug through.
Letting Song Xuan complete the last step is also a small habit of the Tengshe tribe now. There is no unnecessary thought, just to make it more ritualistic and to express respect for the divine envoy.
Although everyone is usually not good at words or expressions, everyone can see the changes Song Xuan brought to Teng She.
"Let's go and catch up!"
Seeing the spring water flowing in, Song Xuan quickly called for everyone to follow him.
This section was a little gentle at first, but the speed around the ridge suddenly became faster. There were a few places in the middle that slightly affected the water flow, but it only took a little digging.
A group of people followed the flowing water and ran all the way to the puddle. Now there is a little water in this small excavation. Although the ditch is not big, a steady stream of water continues to collect here. I believe it will not take long. Just a nice little watering hole.
Song Xuan also asked everyone to clean up the surrounding area. In addition to fallen leaves and branches, he also dug some soil to fill in some slightly lower places around it, so that more water can be stored when the time comes.
From here, walk about a hundred meters south to reach the north side of the valley. Generally speaking, you have to climb up a small slope, but the height difference is not big, which is about ten meters.
When the time comes, just carry the water directly and go down the path into the valley. Song Xuan even thought that he could put a few water tanks on the north side of the valley and make a few water pipes, and then pour the water directly into the valley. Just keep it in the tank, which saves people from running up and down.
Even if the water tank is unlucky, just dig a small canal. The overall goal is to save manpower. If bamboo hadn't been found around, Song Xuan would have designed the canal now. After all, the valley is the deepest place. , that is, about ten meters, two bamboos can lead water to the bottom of the valley.
It took two days to finally solve the water source problem. Although there was still a distance to walk, it was much shorter than before.
The next step is to build a few shacks in the valley. Whether it is for sun or rain protection, it is very necessary. It will definitely be sunny when everyone comes to mine salt, but no one can predict the weather. It's raining, but there's no way to refine it.
However, the soil layer here is very thin. You can dig down about ten centimeters in the valley to the bottom, and then there is hard rock. This is not something that the tribe can dig now, but you can't drive piles, and it's not completely There is no way.
Many large stones were rolled in from around the valley, and several wooden piles were surrounded by stones.
The top of the shed was simply set up with various types of wood, forming a small slope. After all, it was not used every day. It was too luxurious to build, which was a bit wasteful.
Moreover, there is nothing that can be used in the valley. Everything is obtained from the surrounding areas. Saving materials also makes everyone more relaxed. If the requirements are too high, it will embarrass our own people.
It took most of the day to build a row of small wooden sheds on one side of the valley. There was basically no rock ore on this side, at least not much was found on the surface, and the most important thing was that the area was very suitable for use. The large bluestone used to crush salt ore is here.
There are several small holes on this big bluestone. Although it is only half the size of a bowl now, it will definitely get bigger and bigger with use. When the time comes, just put the ore inside and smash it directly.
This large bluestone was simply created to refine the salt here. It is rather abrupt in nature, but its appearance is very suitable for everyone's use.
Although a lot of materials were saved in the construction of the house, a lot of wood was brought in. In addition to water, refining is also very important, and that is fire. Here, only wood can definitely be used.
Although there are a lot of dead wood around, it is definitely not enough for continuous burning all night long, and the newly cut wood cannot be used immediately, so everyone is preparing in advance for the next time they come here.
The wood is piled under the shed, and it will dry out naturally in a short time.
After a few days, the prototype of the camp was finally built. Song Xuan did not rush back immediately, but used it on the spot.
It can be regarded as a preliminary test of the results of the past three or four days. At the same time, it doesn’t look good to go back empty-handed. The two days before the two days together only amounted to a small bowl. Although there was a lot of work, it was hard to go back without bringing anything. Something doesn't feel right.
So it was not only to test the results, but also to refine some salt. More than 20 people concentrated on refining, and the speed was very fast. In half a day, enough ore had been cut out. Song Xuan did not let everyone continue to lie on the rock wall. Instead of digging, let everyone come over and crush the ore.
Mining is the easiest thing in the whole process, as long as you have strength, and everyone has learned to be smart. On the way to find water, everyone found a few rocks that were handy. Tying these rocks to wooden sticks is better than an axe. Use it a lot and you don’t have to worry about it, which is also the most critical factor.
Crush and grind it into powder, soak it in water to melt, then filter it multiple times, and finally steam it. Even if you don't stop for a moment, it will take half a day to boil a pot of water. You can cook two or three pots in a day. Although the efficiency is still relatively fast, if the only people to be crushed are Song Xuan and Shi Lin like before, the efficiency will be even slower.
Therefore, the operation will definitely be divided into two groups in the future. One group of people will knock the rock ore off the surrounding cliffs, and the other group of people will be responsible for refining it. This will definitely be faster.
Although he brought five pots, only two or three were actually cooking at the same time, and the rest had to be filtered. At first, everyone thought that Song Xuanrang brought too many pots, but they found out after they actually got involved. , even if I carry so much, it is still not enough.
At the end of the day, the final amount of salt extracted was exactly four and a half bowls, which is about five or six kilograms.
Song Xuan is quite satisfied with this result. After all, the conditions are here. As the tribe transports more and more things here, the efficiency will naturally improve a lot. For example, cooking pots will definitely have to be transported more in the future. Come here, be big and have more. More is good, and big is beautiful.
We definitely can't sit around and wait like this in the future. There are not enough pots to melt the salt in the ore, nor are there pots to filter the brine. Based on current efficiency estimates, it is estimated that there will be seven or eight more pots. Only then can we turn around.
And it needs to be bigger. The one used by the tribe for eating is still too small. This problem is difficult to solve. Just leave it to the stone. It may be a little more troublesome to transport it. After all, it has to go through the dense forest. It is too big. Clay pots that are too heavy are not easy to carry.
In the future, when we have enough manpower, we can expand the roads along the way and make personnel exchanges more convenient. However, for now, we still have to keep everything simple and make do with what we can, and what we cannot make do must be implemented according to high standards. .
After working hard for two days, I finally got out more than ten kilograms of salt, which is quite a lot. It can be said that I can have an explanation when I take it back. Song Xuan felt that it took a long time to get out this time. It took seven or eight days in total. So I decided to return to the tribe tomorrow.
