Naturally, we picked a lot of mushrooms this year, but because we still had to dig bamboo shoots, we didn’t have as many people as last year. Fortunately, after last year’s test, we have gained a lot of experience this year.
In addition to knowing where the most mushrooms are, I also know which mushrooms are more delicious.
Naturally, there was a lot of fun when eating mushrooms last year. Many people picked strange and colorful mushrooms. Although most of them were eliminated by Song Xuan, there were still some that he didn't recognize, even though the content was relatively high. Small, everyone will only eat a little bit of unfamiliar mushrooms, but they are still somewhat toxic.
Especially when he was in the wild, Song Xuan couldn't help. People in the hunting team often suffered from diarrhea due to eating poisonous mushrooms. However, everyone was relatively strong and didn't eat that much. In most cases, it was not harmful to the body. The impact was too great, just a few days of weakness, but diarrhea was inevitable.
It was also under such circumstances that we figured out which mushrooms were poisonous one by one. The ones we picked back this year were all confirmed to be non-poisonous.
And everyone has also invented a new method, which is to crush the picked mushrooms and force-feed them to the rabbits in the tribe. If the rabbits do not have any serious problems after eating them, then basically people will not eat them either. The problem is, although a few rabbits will be lost as a result, it is much safer than using people to test the water.
Therefore, although there are not many people invested this year, the harvest is not much different from last year. It is not a big problem to meet the consumption of the tribe. Originally, this is not a staple food on the dining table. In the Soaring Snake tribe, it is more like A kind of condiment for making soup, with it, the taste will be rich and delicious.
The manpower dispatch among the tribe was still very fast. Several leaders had already notified the people that night, and everyone also knew what needed to be done next, which was to cultivate the rice fields on the other side of the river with all their strength.
Although there are still some fungi in the wild, the number is no longer particularly large. However, Song Xuan asked Shihua to arrange for a few people to go out to find mushrooms. It would not be a bad thing to get some more while there is still time. There are five or six people on the left and right. It's just a hand, and it doesn't have much impact on the overall arrangement.
After eating early the next morning, everyone began a new phase of the task.
Song Xuan did not arrange all the plows in the new rice fields, but arranged four of them on the small rice field that was reclaimed last year.
It is also time to raise seedlings, so that when the rice fields are reclaimed, the seedlings here will mature at about the same time and can be connected. This small piece of rice field has been simply treated, and the weeds on it have been cleared. It's clean, and it was planted last year, so there aren't too many tree roots inside, and most of them have rotted.
After the plow was introduced this year, the speed of plowing has been significantly improved. Especially this small piece of rice field that basically meets the requirements was plowed over in one day. Although it has not yet reached the standard for planting, the speed is still very impressive. Yes.
You must know that this small rice field was not dug with grass in advance. Some water was poured into it in advance. After the soil became soft, it had such an effect.
The next day, Song Xuan used the plow to pull back and forth several times, basically loosening the soil. Then he filled the ground with water and then used a rake.
However, Uncle Deer is not qualified for this task. After their little feet sink in, the resistance will become very great, which is far less brisk than walking on a dry rice field. Therefore, this task can only be given to a few cows. In this way The advantages over cattle become more obvious. Not only are they stronger, faster, and more durable, they are also adaptable. The most important thing is that the meat tastes exceptionally good.
Of course, for the few cows in the tribe, no one would be willing to eat them, and it is also very difficult to breed cattle. The female and the male in the tribe don’t know when they will be able to give birth to new cow babies for the tribe. For the time being, If you want to expand the scale, you can only exchange it with the Wagyu tribe.
The progress of paddy field reclamation is also quite good. Although there are tree roots in the way, we have encountered obstacles. Even if we go around directly, we will not collide with them, so we just need to adjust the plow for some time. Overall efficiency It's not slower than before, but the disadvantage is equally obvious, that is, after a piece of land is plowed, at least one-third of it is still intact, and these parts can only be dug out bit by bit with grass.
Generally speaking, the speed of paddy field reclamation is somewhat beyond Song Xuan's expectation. I thought it would take at least a month and a half to complete, but now it seems that it should be about a month at most, and the manpower is also larger than expected. Use less.
Although Teng She has invested a lot of manpower in this, it seems to be quite worthwhile at present. The sprouted seeds have also been scattered in the rice fields. They should be ready in about twenty days. The rice fields should be almost tidied up and can be planted immediately.
Growing rice in this era when planting has not yet developed is not without its benefits, that is, there are not many diseases and insect pests. Although it may be because the insects have not yet developed, one thing is very important, and that is that every rice field They all came out after being burned.
Even in the rice fields that have been planted, most of the rice straw has been turned into ashes and burned every year. Moreover, there are extremely cold weather in winter. Relatively speaking, it is not that easy for pests to survive. This climate in this era is actually a very good thing for rice cultivation.
Although the output is not high, one acre of land can meet the needs of one person for more than half a year. Song Xuan is quite satisfied with such a harvest.
And I believe that through continuous selection and breeding, the yield will slowly increase. Song Xuan does not expect to be able to produce one or two thousand kilograms like later generations. As long as the rice yield in the tribe can reach four to five hundred kilograms, he will be quite satisfied.
However, Teng She still has a long way to go to achieve this output, and it will even take several generations of efforts to achieve it. However, as long as rice planting can be successful this year, it will definitely be able to alleviate the pressure on tribal food. As for the more distant problem , but there is no need to think too much.
Working hard in the muddy rice fields every day, after a busy day, everyone has a mud-legged figure. What makes Song Xuan most satisfied is that even with such hard work, the usually lively and active Uncle Lu did not make too much noise. The most I complained about was that I would strike for a while when I was tired and had no rest, but as soon as I recovered, I would actively devote myself to the next step of the work.
But Song Xuan is also a little worried about Uncle Lu's mental state. After all, spring is the time when animals are in heat, which can be seen from the sheep in the tribe.
Song Xuan was a little uncomfortable with the fact that Uncle Deer, who was always very active, was so obedient. After working hard for a while, he gave him a day off, and the daily working hours for the deer were also reduced.
Try not to squeeze out their daily physical strength as much as possible. Song Xuan didn't want Uncle Lu to completely lose hope in life because of this matter. As expected, after life became easier, Uncle Lu also returned to his wretched nature. Every time he took a break, Sometimes he would ask Shi Yan on the side to untie the noose, and then go harass his wife.
As for the few fawns, although they are not very helpful at the moment, they are not impossible to move things back and forth. They are still small animals.
These days they are responsible for carrying fodder and helping the children transport fish. Although they are smaller in size, everyone has low requirements for them and arrange things according to their load-bearing capacity, so it does not count. Make things difficult for them.
Several fawns look like they are over a year old. Although they are still some distance from maturity, it should not take too long. Although Song Xuan is not familiar with their species, they are not familiar with them in terms of size and growth rate. I can tell a thing or two.
In just half a month, the rice fields have been plowed, so the next task will be relatively easy.
After all, the soil has been turned over, and everyone knows where there are tree roots and where there are no tree roots. This step alone saves a lot of detours.
And if it is just for planting rice, there is no need to be as meticulous as the rice fields. As long as the soil is slightly loose, it is good, especially now that the water in the rice fields can cover the top of the feet, and the soil inside has been soaked and is very soft.
The rice seedlings in the rice field looked like they would be planted soon, so Song Xuan asked everyone to speed up the pace so as not to delay the time of transplanting.
Although only half of the rice fields were ready for planting five days later, Song Xuan still decided to start planting rice tomorrow.
After Shi Meng and the others came back yesterday, Song Xuan didn't let them go out anymore. He let them have a good rest and recover their strength this day. After all, they came back from hunting outside, which took a lot of physical and mental exertion. What follows next is It was a big battle. Except for the twenty or so people who were responsible for continuing the battle, no one else was doing much work today.
For the relatively fresh prey brought back by the hunting team, Song Xuan did not let everyone process it further, but placed it in the shade.
Tonight is the final preparation. Before the official planting of rice, it is obvious that everyone must have a hearty meal, and Song Xuan also knows that in some areas in later generations, there will be special rituals for the annual rice planting. Obviously Teng She's side Such conditions are also met.
The witches in the tribe can come in handy at this time. Although the presence of witches is not low, there are not many opportunities for them to offer sacrifices. Except for the fixed winter sacrifices every year, most of the others can only be left to chance. Tribe, it’s only once a year.
After all, people like Teng She are still in the minority. Who told Teng She to keep adding new people? It is obviously unjustifiable not to offer sacrifices at this time. From today on, Teng She has added a new item on this basis. The fixed sacrificial ceremony is to "open the rice seedling gate" on the day before rice planting every year.
The content of the sacrifice is nothing more than hoping that the weather will be good this year and that there will be a good output. As for the rest, I will leave it to Shi Jiu and Shui Wu to arrange it.
They are more professional when it comes to sacrifices. At the same time, compared with ordinary sacrifices, Song Xuan does not want the time to be too long. After all, planting will last for several days, and he will waste all his energy on sacrifices. Not a wise move either
In the afternoon, everyone finished their work early and returned to the tribe. All food was fully stocked. Although Song Xuan told them to keep the time as short as possible, the grandness was not inferior to any sacrifice. The altar was also filled with cooked meat. The meat was basically uncut and very complete.
Of course, when Song Shimeng and the others brought them back, except for one wild boar that was untouched, the others were divided into pieces of meat. Fortunately, there were livestock in the tribe. Song Xuan was cruel and asked everyone to kill a sheep and several rabbits directly.
Although there are no animals in the tribe, such tributes are already very grand. At least in the past sacrifices, few have reached this level.
This time Song Xuan did not continue to sit on the altar, but stood at the front of the crowd.
After all, the main purpose of this ceremony was to inform the gods, and Song Xuan was the leader, so all of this was done at his request.
Shi Jiu and Shui Wu had no objection to Song Xuan's idea, but when they really came down there, Song Xuan also knew that a sacrificial ceremony was not easy, especially for him. Unlike most people, he spent most of his time It is to stand in place and make some changes in posture.
Shi Jiu and Shui Wu arranged a lot of actions for him. Although it was not too complicated, there was basically no time to stop, especially the sacrificial ceremony which lasted for nearly two hours. At the end, Song Xuan was also sweating profusely and his legs were sore.
Although I regretted causing trouble for myself, it can still be seen from the expressions of the people around the tribe that after experiencing the sacrificial ceremony, everyone must pay more attention to the next planting. If it was just to fill their stomachs before In other words, now some spiritual attributes have been added.
So even if you are a little tired physically, it is still relatively worth it. Life also needs a sense of ritual.
After the ceremony, it was naturally a meat carnival. The director asked everyone to take out the meat that they had saved, and also fished out several large fish from the river, each weighing more than 20 kilograms. This one alone The fish is enough to feed a dozen people.
Although I don't treat everyone badly in normal times, such a sumptuous dinner is rarely seen, especially since the meat that the tribe usually eats appears in everyone's bowls at this time. The quantity may not be bad at ordinary times, but the richness can be. It’s just beyond your reach.
Song Xuan also allowed everyone to eat freely. The captives who usually had a slightly stricter control did not impose any requirements. They were the same thing as the Soaring Snake God Pond. After a winter of re-education, the status of these captives was also slowly improving. As they were promoted, although they were still prisoners in name, they no longer treated them as slaves.
After the beginning of spring this year, with such busy work, the prisoners did not show any dissatisfaction. They all worked very hard. It can be seen from the beatings and scoldings given to them. Compared with last year, almost no one was seen this year. There was no urging sound of beating or scolding.
But even so, the food they usually eat is naturally worse than that of Teng She people. Although it can fill their stomachs, the quality is definitely not as good. It is rare to have such a feast, and Song Xuan also allows them to eat with open stomachs. Naturally, the captives lost their restraints and feasted on them after they were given to them.
At this time, there were still more than a dozen people who were actually prisoners. Although most of them performed well, Song Xuan had never been able to find a reason for them to become regular prisoners.
However, if there is a successful harvest this year, the contribution of these captives will still be quite large. After all, the dirty work will still be mainly done by them. At that time, another group of people can be selected to join Soaring Snake.
Of course, although most people seemed to have their hearts on Teng She's side, Song Xuan could still vaguely feel that there were always two or three people who seemed to care about Teng She but not Teng She. Although they worked equally hard, they always felt that they were different from Teng She. There is a barrier on the Snake side, and they always keep some distance from other captives.
Song Xuan couldn't do anything about such people. Maybe he was too attached to the Wuyu tribe, and they usually worked well. Song Xuan couldn't find fault with him. He could only put it aside for the time being. If there was really something If something happens, it won't be too late to react.
But what Song Xuan didn't know was that this time's soft-heartedness would actually cause Teng She a lot of trouble later.
Fortunately, the work ended early today. Even after partying for a while, the sky had just darkened. Since the next task was very heavy, Song Xuan didn't let everyone have fun for too long. Seeing that it was getting late, he let everyone go. Everyone packed up and went back to rest.
The next few days are destined to be a hard battle.
The weather is already very hot at noon, which is not a good thing for the seedlings, especially after they are pulled out.
So in order for everyone to have ready-made seedlings after starting work in the morning, Song Xuan asked Shi Meng and Shi Hua to select more than twenty people before dawn and rushed to the rice field to start pulling out the seedlings.
In addition to the two dozen people and children who plow the fields, there are nearly a hundred people left. The next task is to transplant rice seedlings. This demand is not small for the time being. Although most of them may not be familiar with it, even if The movement is slower, but the number of people is here.
By daybreak, these twenty people had planted nearly half an acre of seedlings, and each small bundle of seedlings was tied up with grass. Some people have already started carrying burdens to transport them to the rice fields.
Breakfast is naturally the meat that I didn't finish yesterday. Even though it was cooked overnight, it still tastes pretty good.
Next is the official planting time.
"Let's go!"
Song Xuan gave the order and then took the lead and went straight to the rice fields.
Most people don't need to carry extra supplies, but in order to save everyone from running back and forth, Song Xuan also asked people to carry three large pots and a lot of firewood.
Nowadays, after working for a day, you will naturally sweat a lot. It is definitely very important to replenish water. It is okay to let everyone walk back and forth while working. This is the time to race against time. Although you can also rest, it is better than When running back and forth, you need to save more energy.
Although you can drink the river water directly now without any problems, people like the tribe have gradually adapted to boiled water when it comes to drinking the river water directly.
After the water is boiled, adding some salt to it can also replenish the salt content, so the first thing Song Xuan asked everyone to do was to set up the big pot, then fill it with water and let him burn it first.
However, although Song Xuan had considered this aspect, it was obvious that he was not very meticulous. He should have prepared the salt water in advance, but he did not do it on this day. Later, he could let everyone prepare things in advance.
If you are thirsty today and the water has not cooled down yet, you should go directly to the river to drink water. Relatively speaking, it is more pleasant to get water from the river, but there is no way to replenish the salt.
The preparations before transplanting the rice seedlings have been basically completed at this time, but the newly joined Heishui and Sheep Tribe people naturally have to be retrained. They have no experience in rice transplanting.
In fact, even many people in Teng She have forgotten how they did it last year. Fortunately, Song Xuan's half-filled bottle of water can continue to slosh. Although the efficiency level of rice transplanting is not very high, among these primitive people Human beings also have an existence that stands out from the crowd.
It's still the same steps as last year, but it can't be repeated again, but this year there are relatively more people, so those behind will naturally not be able to see clearly, so they can only be taught in batches.
Relatively speaking, it took a little more time, but fortunately, Teng She and the others were able to recall it quickly when they were taught by Song Xuan.
"Oh, I seem to remember..."
"Angel, is that so?"
"..."
Seeing Song Xuan's affirmation, Shi Hua and others started teaching it to everyone around them. With their help, the pressure on Song Xuan's side was relieved a lot.
But even so, it took more than an hour for everyone to master how to transplant rice seedlings. As for how well everyone learned, it can only be determined by the next time. It was still the same as last year. Song Xuan did it for everyone first. One horizontal column and one column are used as a demonstration.
And for the few people who were relatively proficient in rice transplanting last year, Song Xuan first asked them to demonstrate in advance. Seeing that most of them still retained their hands, he didn't let them lead the team by themselves.
With so many people and so much land, it is obvious that Song Xuan alone is exhausted and cannot cover everything. It is quite necessary to let everyone share his pressure, and transplanting rice is a matter of good and bad. It is easy to see that after plugging in for a while, you will know it in your mind, and you can make adjustments next. This is nothing more than a technical job, and it can be gradually improved through long-term practice.
And even if the planting is not good-looking, it will have an impact on the yield, but this is not absolute. Fortunately, after some adjustments, although it is still a bit crooked, it is no longer a problem to successfully plant it in the field. .
