Volume 1: Farming Chapter 17 Befriending the Patriarch
Quartz, also known as silica, is one of the common rock-forming minerals. It is a translucent or opaque crystal with a hard texture and an oily luster on the fracture.
Xiao Yun turned over the long strip of quartz stone in his hand, held one end with his fingers and scraped it hard on the stone. White scratches appeared on the stone and a little stone powder was brought out, but the quartz stone in his hand was not damaged at all.
"That's right, this is quartz." Xiao Yun nodded silently. Quartz has a very high density and hardness. In the Stone Age on Earth, the primitive people used quartz as weapons in addition to obsidian. Obsidian can be found near volcanoes, while quartz is more common.
"Are you ready to go?"
Warrior Hongye lifted the door curtain and peeked into the house. Being young and strong, Hongye had no habit of wearing fur clothes before the snow. She was still topless and only wore fur shorts. Her strong muscles were exposed without reservation... At this moment, she had a fur roll tied around her waist, which was a must for snow werewolf warriors when going out, a longbow made of animal tendons slung across her shoulder, and a handful of bone arrows on her back. She was ready to lead the team out.
"We're ready." Xiao Yun quickly stood up and put the animal skin roll he had packed and made into a backpack on his back. "Let's go find some green grass and a big river. By the way, let's ask the tribe leader if he wants to go."
"Clan leader?" Hongye didn't understand.
"We are looking for materials that can be used to make ceramics. In the future, ceramics may become an important commodity for our tribe to trade with others. Of course, it is necessary to let the tribe leader join us," Xiao Yun explained.
The two mud-brick houses side by side were now the "collective bedrooms" for the tribe to spend the night, and the tents of each family had now become small private warehouses. The Snow Wolf people had not yet developed the habit of sleeping in a fixed room, and they slept on which side they wanted. When Xiao Yun entered the door of another room, he saw the tribe leader had just woken up the sleeping Wool and the others, and was folding animal skins to serve as quilts.
"Pottery...porcelain?" The patriarch had great difficulty saying this new word and almost bit his tongue.
"The shiny bowl, as Dahe named it, is made of porcelain. The kiln that produces pottery can produce porcelain when the temperature is raised to a certain level. Porcelain is smoother than pottery. Since everyone likes the shiny bowl, why don't we try to make better pottery? The stone that Hongye used as a stone knife can produce better porcelain. Let's go find more of this stone today."
Xiao Yun took out the quartz and handed it to the clan leader. The clan leader did not take it, but frowned and thought: "Ayun, are you saying that you can indeed make a better... bright bowl?"
"We work hard to find stones suitable for firing, and we will definitely be able to make better ceramics." Xiao Yun emphasized the word "we". Anyone who has work experience and has led a team knows the difference in meaning between the two words "I" and "we".
The chief's hands on his knees were trembling a little. Whether Xiao Yun could make better pottery was not just a matter of proving himself, but also a matter of whether the tribe's wealth could be improved. The degree of material scarcity in the grassland tribes was self-evident. Many tribes had to work hard to buy the necessary pottery from the caravans every year... After all, pottery was a consumable and would be damaged during use.
Xiao Yun thought that the chief did not value his opinion enough, but in fact, the chief could no longer value Xiao Yun... Since Xiao Yun proposed to make pottery, the chief no longer let him take on daily work like other young people in the tribe, because the chief knew that if the tribe could produce pottery by itself, it would save the tribe members several months of time to collect various furs every year. Fortunately, Xiao Yun reflected on himself and stopped the urge to slap him in the face, otherwise the chief would not know how aggrieved he would be if Xiao Yun really targeted him to seize power...
"Okay, let's go find some stones that can be burned together." The patriarch said solemnly.
Accompanied by the warriors Hongye, Niujiao, the tribe leader, Qingcao and Dahe, no tribe member would raise any objection to the cub Ayun going to a place hundreds of kilometers away from the tribe. After the tribe leader joined, the preparations were more complete than before. Before setting off, the tribe leader specially brought a small bag of green salt, half a bag of bean sprouts, a clay pot and other items, which were prepared for a meal halfway to prevent everyone from returning hungry.
Hongye picked up the quartz stone near the goblin's cave. That place is more than twice the distance from the edge of the forest that Niu Jiao had taken Xiao Yun to. After setting out, they could not walk slowly but had to jog all the way. It was okay for others, but Xiao Yun was a little out of breath after running for about an hour... There was no other way. The original owner's body was indeed weak among the snow werewolves, otherwise the original owner would not be depressed to the point of mental problems.
After running for more than an hour, Xiao Yun really couldn't bear it anymore. Even though he was wearing rattan straw sandals padded with animal skins, he still felt the pain in the soles of his feet. After all, there were no asphalt or cement roads on the relatively flat prairie. There were gravel, low-lying areas soaked by stagnant water, and overgrown vegetation on the road, which increased physical exertion.
Fortunately, Niu Jiao and Hong Ye, brothers who were also considered as animals among the Snow Wolfmen, were also traveling with him. The two of them carried Xiao Yun one by one, and finally carried him to the destination before noon...
On the back of a beautiful mountain range, a semi-circular area of bare ground similar to alopecia appear in the ocean of vegetation more than one meter high. Some wood and rotten felt cloth are scattered around. At the foot of that particularly delicate mountain range, you can also see a lot of broken pottery debris and animal bone residues.
"Is this the place where the driven-away goblin tribe originally lived?" Xiao Yun, who had recovered a lot of energy after carrying the goblin for half the journey, was curious when he saw the abrupt open space from a distance.
"Some small tribes from the underground world occasionally escape to the surface and live quietly in corners." The chief nodded. "If the ones who come out are gray dwarves or black dwarves, it's fine. But the goblins must be driven away in time, otherwise their cattle and sheep will be stolen."
"Is that so?" Xiao Yun sighed. It seemed that no matter which world the goblins were in, they were not doing well. They were treated like rats crossing the street and everyone wanted to kill them... Even the simple and honest snow werewolves didn't like them.
"The cat tribe and the minotaur tribe are often stolen by goblins. The minotaur tribe we met when we migrated here warned us to be careful of the goblins in this area." Warrior Hongye said, "Those goblins can't deal with larger beasts, so they can only live around tribes that can drive away beasts. But they like to steal, and no one wants such neighbors."
"Okay." Xiao Yun immediately no longer sympathized with those little greenskins. Even the Holy Mother Minotaur of the grassland couldn't be friends with them, so he better not be so self-righteous.
The goblins probably knew that they were unwelcome, so they didn't dare live in tents when they came to the surface to survive, and still dug holes to live in. When they entered the "Alopecia Areata" area, near the vegetation of the mountains, they could see a cave half covered by various vines. There were also a lot of stones and mud piled on one side of the cave, probably what was dug out when the hole was dug.
"I found my stone knife here." Hongye walked to the pile of stones and kicked them twice. "Ayun, take a look and see if these are what you are looking for."
Xiao Yun was already shocked by the pile of stones that looked like a building demolition site... Damn, the snow wolf's claws couldn't even dig out so many stones, how did the goblins do it? !
When he walked in and took a look, he found that there was a lot of quartz mixed in with the rocks of all sizes. He came here for this in the first place, so he immediately squatted down, spread out the animal skin, and dug out the quartz from the gravel and soil. It was not easy to make such a trip, so he carried back as much as he could.
“Hey, this is…”
After digging for a long time in a pile of rocks that looked like construction waste, Xiao Yun discovered a small layer of quartz sandwiched between a larger rock. Under the cover of rocks and soil, a little bit of bright yellow crystal layer could be seen on the surface of this quartz layer.
Xiao Yun quickly took another piece of quartz and smashed it. Quartz stone is hard and brittle. After smashing off the surface, a bright yellow fault the size of a ping-pong ball was immediately exposed.
"What the hell! Citrine!" Xiao Yun was shocked. "Wait, quartz crystal is indeed crystal... What kind of thief are these goblins? Digging crystals and selling them is enough to support themselves, right?!"
"There are such beautiful things inside the stone?" The patriarch next to him was also surprised.
"Chief, can this thing be sold for money?" Xiao Yun asked hurriedly.
"Uh... I remember that there were indeed quite a few beautiful gems in the royal tent. Wait, Ayun, are these gems actually hidden inside the stones?" The patriarch was completely stunned.
"Minerals are of course mined from rocks, but this one is so small and has so many impurities... I can only look at it like this, as a decoration or something, it's not very useful." Xiao Yun shook his head, smashed the stone layer around the yellow crystal as much as possible, stuffed it into his waist bag and prepared to take it back. The goblins can dig up crystal veins in any cave, and the mineral deposits on the grassland may be richer than he imagined. But this is meaningless. Without a professional mining team, he can't be a jeweler. Besides, jewels can't fill his stomach, so he still chooses to farm.
It is unknown how deep the hole the goblins have dug. In addition to quartz stones, there are also a lot of gray-white feldspar in the pile of stones outside the cave. Feldspar is also a very common mineral, mostly found on rock beds. Obviously, the hole dug by the goblins has been dug under the rock layer... It's a pity that the entrance to the hole is too small to crawl in, otherwise Xiao Yun would like to go in and take a look.
They tried their best to load the animal skins they brought with quartz and the feldspar they found by accident. Their stomachs were growling. This was no problem for the hunting werewolves. Hongye went out for a walk with his bow on his back and brought back an animal similar to a robe. Qingcao and Dahe collected some wild vegetables that were already old and yellow, and added the bean sprouts and salt brought by the tribe leader to make a meal.
With Xiao Yun as a burden on the way here, the group walked for more than five hours instead of Hongye's four-hour jog. On the way back, everyone had to carry the ore, and no one could carry Xiao Yun, so the return journey was naturally slower. It was already dark when they arrived at the tribe... just in time for the big pot meal.
After a night's rest, Xiao Yun got up early the next morning and pulled the clan leader to discuss glazing - basically he talked and the clan leader listened, and he had to pay attention to the technique of speaking. He could not speak in an imperative tone, but in a consultative tone, and he had to use "we" instead of "I". He was the one who put forward the main opinions, and let the clan leader make the dispensable decisions. He made sure to make the clan leader have the illusion that "I am also the decision maker"... Well, anyone who has worked in sales and fooled customers knows this routine.
After a discussion, the clan leader naturally put down his grazing work and actively cooperated with Xiao Yun to burn the materials for the sleeves... The quartz and feldspar needed to be burned and then crushed into powder, which would consume a lot of fuel. Xiao Yun had to let the clan leader and himself bear the blame for wasting fuel.
Firing stones is not as demanding as firing pottery. Once loaded into the kiln, the temperature can be as high as possible. The stones are burned until they are brittle, and then smashed into powder. Niu Jiao avoids this tiring process, but the tribe leader, Qingcao and Dahe work very diligently. After obtaining quartz powder and feldspar powder for glazing, the next step is to think about the issue of natural pigments.
The earliest pigments were extracted from minerals and plants. Now, let's forget about minerals, but we can make use of plants... We still discussed with the tribe leader and led the team to the edge of the forest. We brought back a bunch of flowers and grasses, soaked them and smashed them to see the color purity. We selected a purple flower with a large disk whose name we didn't know, and a particularly unpalatable purple berry that even birds wouldn't eat. We boiled them in water and then mashed them with a wooden stick to obtain a dark purple natural juice. We then mixed it with quartz powder, feldspar powder and swamp mud, and the pure natural handmade glaze was ready.
Next, the result of the glazing experiment. This time, Xiao Yun made a turntable that can be placed on a stone base, with a bone with a pattern (the bone grinding craftsmanship provided by Hongye) as the axis and a wooden plate that can be stably selected as a turntable. He used the movable turntable to pinch out four pottery pots, two water pitchers, and thirty pottery bowls, and put them into the cave for bisque firing, that is, low-temperature drying and taking them out after five hours; the bisque fired clay embryos are very easy to damage, Xiao Yun did not let others get involved, and glazed them himself. Half of the clay embryos were made of a small brush made of his own hair (… the wolf form of the snow wolf, the fluff under the abdomen is relatively soft and tough) and patiently brushed the glaze on, and the other half was dipped in glaze (pour glaze liquid into a larger container, carefully put the embryo into it and soak it for a few seconds before taking it out), and after the glaze liquid was completely dry, they were put into the cave at the same time for the pottery firing process.
The preparations for the pottery firing took several days, and even the tribe leader participated in the whole process, which naturally attracted the attention of the whole tribe... When the herders who returned to the tribe to spend the night went to the pasture, the first question asked by those who stayed behind was: "Is the pottery ready?"
Under such high expectations, Xiao Yun was fine, but the clan leader was extremely nervous. When the temperature started to drop, he ran to the side of the earthen kiln and squatted, staring at the stone slab covering the kiln...
Time passed minute by minute. Xiao Yun felt the temperature of the outer shell of the cave and felt that it was almost time to open the cave. Before he could call out Niu Jiao's name, the clan leader pounced on him and used his claws to dig out the mud covering the stone slabs... Then he let out a deafening cough like Ashan who had opened the cave before.
"...We should get the masks later and wear them when we open the kiln." Xiao Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he looked at the clan leader who was coughing up tears. Although he had ulterior motives in tricking the clan leader into doing the whole-time hard labor, he now felt that the clan leader was somewhat adorable.
He moved the stone slab away and waited for the smoke and dust in the cave to dissipate a little, then reached out and took out the pottery inside. Without even looking with his eyes, Xiao Yun knew that the pottery firing was a great success just by feeling the smooth touch.
Xiao Yun didn't really understand the difference between pottery and porcelain. Anyway, he didn't find kaolin, so he used pottery clay. So even if the fired objects had a smooth glazed surface, he thought they should be classified as pottery. And the pottery he fired was better than the original pottery in this world, so it wasn't too shameless to call it ceramics...
This batch of pottery, including large pottery pots and water jugs, is no longer the original earthy red color of the clay. Under the action of glaze, the surface of the pottery after high temperature densification not only has a smooth and bright , but also a layer of uniform and beautiful purple. Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the purple pottery out of the kiln reflects a faint halo. Even Xiao Yun, who is used to seeing good things, has to give 32 likes - very beautiful! A kind of rough, natural and primitive beauty!
The clan leader was completely speechless. He didn't dare to pick up the bowl with a faint purple sheen for a moment. He just knelt on the ground and gently stroked it with his fingers... It was so beautiful, even more beautiful than the shiny tableware he had seen in the king's tent. Such a magical thing was actually made by his own hands?! He couldn't believe it!
Xiao Yun was not as shocked as the clan leader. He sat cross-legged, holding a bowl in his hand and playing with it. After admiring it for a while, he suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "What a mistake. I should have used a lighter glaze to distinguish the color of the inside of the bowl from the outside. This bowl is purple inside and out. Using it to hold food will reduce the appearance of the food and reduce appetite. Oh, why didn't I think of this? What a failure!"
The patriarch looked at him in particular shock...
Xiao Yun grumbled for a long time and looked at the clan leader: "Next time, we can make perfect products and keep them as merchandise. We can use this batch of bowls together with the previous batch for the clan's own use. What do you think, clan leader?"
The clan leader’s face began to twist: “…”
If the patriarch also understood modern terms, he would definitely have only one thing to say now: You are victorious, I can't be friends with you!
