Zhou Qingfeng took a fancy to a lumberyard owned by Beizi Dashan outside the city. This lumberyard was across the river from Ehekulun. It was near the city's ferry, and the terrain was open and convenient. It was also accompanied by a large mountain forest, which was a good property.
However, due to the lack of metal tools, the lumberyard's output was very limited. Beizi Dashan was willing to use it to exchange for Zhou Qingfeng's house. However, Zhou Qingfeng did not move immediately. He still faced a huge problem — food. Without enough food, he could not do anything.
The lack of food was a common problem in the entire Liaodong area, and malnourished people were everywhere. In this era, it was a miracle for a person to live to adulthood safely, because even the emperor's children would die young.
Faced with the predicament of food shortage, the Han people relied on irrigation and intensive farming to obtain a stable source of food. The Jurchen of Jianzhou were also thinking of ways to develop agriculture, but places like Ehekulun were full of deep mountains and old forests, and they relied on fishing and hunting for a living.
The trouble with fishing and hunting was that the source of food was not regular. There was a lot of food in the wild in the summer and autumn, and it was slightly easier to collect or hunt. However, in the spring and winter, food was scarce, and they had to rely on reserves to survive. If they did not have reserves, they would either starve to death or go out to rob. The reason why the barbarians could not develop was because the environment was not good, and they lacked food and clothing.
After treating Beizi Dashan's injuries, Zhou Qingfeng received some food from her. It was actually some jerky, smoked fish, wild fruits, and the like. After clicking on the elementary skill of firing pottery, all the wild girls in Ehekulun were full of praise for the pottery, but they could not take out many goods to trade.
In a slave society with low productivity, everything was lacking.
At present, Zhou Qingfeng's situation was temporarily stabilizing in Ehekulun, but he could not eat his fill or starve to death. Old Man Sun specially reminded him that if he wanted to spend the winter in Ehekulun, he had to take advantage of the fact that there was plenty of food in the wild to stock up. Otherwise, when winter came, the snow would seal the mountains and the rivers would freeze, and people would really starve to death.
"Little Zhou, I wanted you to exchange for more Jurchen slaves who can fight. One had to know that hunting also required territory. If you couldn't beat others, you wouldn't even have a place to hunt. When you first arrived in Herkulen, Guna ambushed you in the wilderness because he thought that you were going to steal his territory. "Old Man Sun grumbled as if he didn't listen to his elders.
Abahai also reminded Zhou Qingfeng, "Our food supply is barely enough, but it's definitely not enough to get us through the winter. The food and drink of fifteen slaves is enough to give us a headache. If you recklessly recruit people to expand, we won't even be able to protect our own lives. Not only did they need food for the winter, but they also needed clothes and firewood.
Even in Hetuala, many weak slaves would freeze or starve to death every winter. That's why I've warned you that your days in Ekulen won't be easy. It's going to be September soon, and the weather will turn cold in October, and it will snow in November. You have no more than two months to stock up on grain and wood.
There's one more thing. I sent my servants to inquire about Chu Ying's whereabouts. Other than sending people to keep an eye on us to prevent us from escaping, that guy is desperately expanding his power. He borrowed five hundred people from Uța to train, but he doesn't know how to manage his servants at all.
It's autumn now, so Chu Ying's life can still be maintained. But once winter comes, everyone will lack food. I'm worried that he might come to rob us when he runs out of food. What should we do then? "
This was the cruel reality. Everyone was poor and lacked food. There was no way to trade goods, so the only way out was to rob. No wonder the Central Plains government was worried that the northern minorities would go south every winter. If they didn't go south, they wouldn't be able to survive.
"Sigh …" Zhou Qingfeng scratched his head and said, "Looks like we can only expand the army."
"What?"
"My plan remains the same. I want to expand the army." Zhou Qingfeng gritted his teeth and said, "I'm an outsider. If I go to fight with the natives of Herkulen for territory and hunting, I won't be able to win. It'll even cause conflict. It wasn't easy for me to build a good relationship with the nobles in the city with medical services. Why don't they go and collect food, and we'll find a way to expand the army?
I bet Chu Ying has the same idea as me now. No matter what, we'll take control of an army first. When winter comes, we'll rob whoever has food. Otherwise, so what if we have food? Are we just going to wait for others to rob us? "
Abahai and Old Man Sun were stunned and couldn't refute.
"Old Man, help me spread the word that I want all the slaves in the city who can speak Chinese. I can treat people's injuries and sell pottery, so it shouldn't be a problem to feed a hundred people until winter. "
"When winter comes, we'll start fighting. I have to feed all my men and train them into a militia. Then, I'll take them to rob and strengthen my power to survive the winter. Maybe we can even leave this damn place of Herkulen. "
"If we want to expand the army, we might be able to barely maintain food, but we'll be in great need of armor. As for weapons, we can only use spears. That's the cheapest. It's just that the spearhead must be made of iron, otherwise, we won't be able to fight at all. But in this damn place of Herkulen, even an iron pot is a treasure. The lack of iron … It's really a headache. "
"There's also the matter of armor. There's no hope for iron armor, so we can only rely on leather armor. The furs in the city shouldn't be expensive. Let's use pottery to exchange for some. I'll think about how to make the furs into leather armor. "
"Also, we have to build a separate city. That way, we can attack and defend, and at least have a place to rest. It just so happens that we'll exchange with Dashan this time. His lumber yard outside the city is just right. When all the people are here, we'll build a small fortress there. "
"Speaking of which, I also need blacksmiths, carpenters, and construction workers who can do the technical work. Herkulen doesn't look like a place with these people. It seems that I'll have to personally guide them. But damn it, I don't know these things myself. "
Zhou Qingfeng spoke as if he was talking to himself, saying all the difficulties he could think of. It sounded like a big scene. Abahai couldn't help but ask doubtfully, "Can you do so many things in two months? Will we make it in time? What if we don't succeed? "
"When we're extremely hungry, cannibalism will happen. Armed forces might not necessarily help us survive, but without armed forces, we'll definitely die. We just need to make sure we're not the worst batch. I believe we can make it in time. " Zhou Qingfeng pondered for a long time, then asked Old Man Sun, "Old Man, are there any iron mines near Herkulen?"
"Iron mines? There are some iron mines that are mined in the open, but the quantity is very small. Moreover, no one in the city knows how to make iron. Uța has tried to make his own mine several times, but he has always failed. He wants to go to the Ming Kingdom's border to trade, but he doesn't have an imperial edict, and there's also the unreasonable Jianzhou blocking his way. He can only think of a way to rob other tribes, "Old Man Sun said.
"It's fine if the quantity is small. I'm not going to mass produce it anyway. It's fine as long as I can get some spearheads. I can make pottery, and if I think of a way to raise the temperature of the furnace, I should be able to make iron. "Zhou Qingfeng pondered for a while, and felt that if he really couldn't do it, he could get some metal from the Time Oasis. There were many good steel bars in the ruins of the collapsed buildings, which were better than any iron.
Zhou Qingfeng planned for a long time, working hard to be self-reliant and build up his business. However, Abahai, who was watching from the side, only sneered. "Actually, you don't have to go through so much trouble."
"Do you have a better idea?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.
Abahai snorted. "I'm the Grand Concubine of Jianzhou, after all, and the Great Khan dotes on me the most. Chu Ying is keeping an eye on us, so we can't escape. Can't we leak some news to Hetuala? Let the Great Khan send someone to redeem me, and then you'll have whatever you want. "
"You want Nurhachi to send someone to save you, right?"
"Even if you don't send someone, the Great Khan will send someone sooner or later. Is there a difference? Maybe you can even make a fortune. " Abahai tilted her head and tried to pretend to be indifferent. "At least let the Great Khan send my personal maid and clothes over. This won't do you any harm, right?"
However, after thinking about it, Zhou Qingfeng said bluntly, "You can ask Chu Ying about this. If he agrees, I naturally won't object."
"You …" Abahai was so angry that her face puffed up. How could she ask Chu Ying about this? She could only ask Zhou Qingfeng for help. After all, she couldn't command Zhou Qingfeng's servants. However, Zhou Qingfeng was very wise to not agree, which made Abahai leave in a bad mood.
Regardless of Abahai's sudden whim, Zhou Qingfeng felt that the most important thing in everything was to rely on himself. He arranged the current few important matters, and felt that the most urgent thing was to settle the matter of iron smelting and forging. After confirming that Zhou Qingfeng wanted to do a 'large scale iron smelting', Old Man Sun was also quite supportive.
"Little Zhou, where do you plan to put the place of iron smelting?"
"Outside the city, of course. I don't trust the wild women in the city, and it's convenient to get fuel outside the city. "
"That's right, it's better outside the city. Are you planning to use Dashanbeizi's lumberyard? "
"Yes, I have to build a few houses first."
"To build houses, I have to cut wood and process the wood, which requires tools."
"I'll take care of the tools."
"If you have handy tools, manpower is easy to handle. Just ask Dashanbeizi to borrow some slaves."
Old Man Sun accepted the order and left. Zhou Qingfeng took a few slaves out of the city to inspect the lumberyard. It was an open space on the river bank with a few piles of wood and a few huts for the slaves to rest in. He let the slaves clean up the lumberyard first, and at the same time hid in the huts to rest in. He entered the Time Island to find some tools.
The fire axe could be used to chop wood. The shovels and hoes in the school to clean up rubbish could be used to dig ditches and soil. Tape measures, pencils, and paper could be used to draw, design, and record. Although these tools were too few, it was better than nothing. Most importantly, there were all kinds of miscellaneous books in the technical school's library. Zhou Qingfeng found a book in there — "How to Make Iron Using the Indigenous Method?"
Old Man Sun was busy recruiting people for Zhou Qingfeng and was even in charge of management. Zhou Qingfeng planned the lumberyard as his temporary stronghold, and at the same time, he had to learn how to build an indigenous blast furnace? Not only did he have a blast furnace, he also had to have the ability to forge and process.
The old man saw him writing and drawing, reading a book, and asked curiously, "Little Zhou, what book is this?"
"A book on steel smelting?"
"Why do you want to read this book?"
"Because I don't know."
"Ah …. Don't you know anything?"
"I really don't know."
"You don't know anything and you're starting to do it. How dare you!"
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
