Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 98: Delight
From the outside, the scale of the Snow Wolf Tribe's buildings seemed staggering, unlike a tribe on the grassland. When they entered, the eyes of the five snow elves, including the two wounded who were lying on the sled and unable to move, widened... Why was the style of this tribe so wrong? !
People who like to plan things out perfectly and clearly before taking action have some obsessive-compulsive disorder. Xiao Yun's obsessive-compulsive disorder is reflected in the construction of the tribe. He ignores the so-called geometric aesthetics and plans the buildings in the living area, greenhouse area and industrial area in a standard way. All the houses must be in rows, just like standard soldiers. When he built a temporary earth kiln to burn cement, he had to build them in a row. You can imagine...
There is absolutely no market for any disordered, unexpected and irregular beauty in Xiao Yun's opinion. His aesthetic is always minimalist and pragmatism: simple, refreshing, neat and orderly. Everything must be arranged in rows and columns. Any disorganization will be an eyesore!
When you finish your work and put away the farm tools, make sure they have the same side facing outwards, the handles are straight, and they are lined up neatly!
Hmm… This arrangement of buildings seemed very cool to Xiao Yun, but it was quite antisocial in the eyes of the snow elves who were particular about the elegant layout. Wouldn’t it be depressing to live in such a square arrangement of houses? Was this a residence or a military camp? Even the tents in the military camp were not so rigid!
The strong impact of the difference in aesthetics caused this group of snow elves to temporarily ignore the architectural skills possessed by the Snow Wolf Tribe...
The wounded were moved into the warm mobile home. The furnishings with traces of the green dragon finally made the snow elves, whose aesthetics had been violated, breathe a sigh of relief. The simple and elegant vine pattern on the carpet on the ground barely met the eyes of the elves. The tables and chairs with a primitive flavor could be considered to have a kind of rough beauty. The white animal-shaped ornaments on the windowsill were also qualified to be in the snow elves' study.
Sergeant Selina was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around and bowed her head, her hair falling to the windowsill, her mouth wide open, her chin dropped... What material is this ornament made of? How can it be so transparent, white, round and smooth? !
Xiao Yun helped Qing Yan lie down, and turned around to see the three snow elves gathered around the windowsill. He turned to look at Balk in surprise: "Did you put the porcelain out?"
Logically, Balk didn't need to come to the mobile home, but he thought that he was not given due attention as a wounded soldier, so he squeezed in no matter what. When Xiao Yun asked, he immediately forgot his previous depression like a child, and said proudly: "Of course my Balk's works should be placed in a conspicuous place... Ah Yun, let Baru build a bookshelf, copper-plated one is fine, you have earned a lot of copper coins, right?"
"Where do we get the books to display? Are we going to build a bookshelf just to show off to you?" Xiao Yun said unhappily.
Selina heard what they said. She reached out and picked up the palm-sized white wolf figurine. She came closer with a surprised look on her face and said, "Is this a work made by Lord Balk?"
"Well……"
"Yes, it's me." Balk raised his chin, his eyes and eyebrows full of pride, "A one-of-a-kind white porcelain ornament, based on a river, with an outstanding demeanor, aloof and noble, more perfect than this wolf of the Snow Wolf Clan..."
"You can make a human-like figure of Da He and then brag about it." Xiao Yun said expressionlessly.
Balk turned his face away and looked at the ceiling.
"In terms of shape, this ornament is not outstanding." Sergeant Selena played with the small white wolf porcelain. "But this material is indeed something I have never seen before. Lord Balk actually has such talent. It is really eye-opening."
This time, Balke didn't respond, but instead pouted his chin and rolled his eyes at the female warrior in disgust... You don't understand aesthetics, and Uncle Balke won't bother with you!
Xiao Yun had originally planned to use porcelain trading to improve the Snow Elf's favorability. Seeing Selena's praise for the porcelain material, he immediately took the Snow Elf to visit the tribe's porcelain warehouse...
"At present, the more mature technology in our tribe is to process porcelain into tableware, such as plates, bowls, saucers, and cups. Larger vases and basins, etc., cannot be made for the time being due to technical limitations." Taking a set of samples out of the basket and handing them to the three people, Xiao Yun introduced them very humbly... This can't be considered a lie. Making large items is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the scrap rate is high. We don't have that much manpower to waste.
Selina, Ed, and Xiu all looked at it in amazement. Sergeant Selina winked at Xiu, who then spoke first, "Ayun, are you trading tableware like this?"
Sergeant Selina didn't say anything because she was worried that Ayun's offer was too high and she would not be able to bargain. Some things were more convenient for the subordinates to say, and the snow elves were well aware of such social etiquette.
Xiao Yun smiled innocently: "Of course, our tribe doesn't need so much. In fact, we traded a batch to the forest elves last year. The forest elves were very generous and exchanged with us for the same weight of sun cloth, and also gave us a lot of fruits."
Xiu shuddered and almost lost his grip on the white porcelain cup, and Sergeant Selina stumbled...
The snow elves exchanged glances, with only one thought in their minds: Those greenskins are so black-hearted and shameless!
Xiao Yun pretended not to notice their misbehavior and tilted his head to ask, "Do you like these tableware? Will the snow elves be willing to trade with us?"
"Ahem, well!" Sergeant Selina said seriously... pushing Xiu aside, "Ayun, we are indeed very interested, but the Snow Elves do not produce Sun Cloth. What do you want to exchange, gold?"
"Well... we don't plan to exchange porcelain for gold." Xiao Yun smiled innocently. Sergeant Selina's heart tightened. Then she heard the cub say, "If possible, I would like to exchange some of the paint on the inner layer of your armor. Is that okay? Even a little is fine."
This time it was Selina who was surprised: "You want to exchange for magic iron ore powder?"
Xiao Yun's eyes flashed, as expected... the name of aluminum silicate in this world has been changed to a more localized name.
The temperature on the grassland is indeed too low. Even in spring, summer and autumn, the temperature difference between day and night is around ten degrees, not to mention winter. If you want to take root on the grassland and make a fortune by farming, you cannot do without the research and development of thermal insulation materials.
The first thing that came into Xiao Yun’s mind was the soft porcelain that is indispensable in the home decoration industry.
Soft porcelain can be said to be the most economical and affordable type of thermal insulation material. Inorganic substances such as urban construction waste soil, cement blocks, porcelain slag and stone powder can all become the main raw materials for soft porcelain. Unfortunately... the processing procedures are too demanding. After pressing Balk for so long and conducting experiments again and again, the processing technology of soft porcelain can only be limited to the laboratory and cannot be mass-produced at all. The advancement of science and technology requires the technology tree to advance in tandem. If the overall industrial level does not reach that level, it cannot be made.
The research and development of soft porcelain was put on hold, and Xiao Yun turned his attention to aluminum silicate... Then, he encountered the same problem as soft porcelain: there was no industrial support, and its processing could only be completed in the laboratory, and it was impossible to mass-produce it.
The arc furnace melting relies on Balk's material mimicry magic to form, and the filtering, washing, drying, and air flow crushing processes also require Balk's dragon workers to operate. If you want to implement these steps in mass production industrial manufacturing, it is difficult...
With no other options, Xiao Yun could only plan out the production plan for tiles for next year on paper. This thing certainly couldn't replace soft porcelain, but it could be more or less useful...
After meeting Ed and Xiu, Xiao Yun came up with a new idea. He took the risk to keep the two snow elves to make friends with them at the beginning. Another important reason was that he found that there was a layer of aluminum on the inner paint of the snow elves' armor.
The raw materials of aluminum silicate are not uncommon. The common garnet, kyanite and sillimanite in metamorphic rocks are all composed of aluminum silicate. The difficulty lies only in the processing technology. Since it is impossible to produce it at home, now there is a chance to purchase it from outside, and Xiao Yun naturally has to give it a try.
"I don't know if this is the name, but this one looks good to me. Can I change it?" Xiao Yun asked pretending to be very nervous.
The Snow Elf's eyes met again...
"Of course... it can be exchanged." Sergeant Selina's eyes wandered, and her voice was a little dry. "Then... I will also follow the trading model of the forest elves and exchange with you for porcelain of equal weight? The processing of magic mineral powder... is much more difficult than that of sun cloth..."
Ed and Xiu looked at their boss with great admiration. Good job, sergeant. Very courageous!
"That's great!" Xiao Yun nodded happily, "Thank you for agreeing to trade with us. I will tell the two clan leaders this good news!"
Then he ran out happily...
The snow elves watched him go away silently and all breathed a sigh of relief.
"This is really... too difficult." Sergeant Selina's face flushed and she raised her hand to wipe the sweat off her face. "Fortunately, there are forest elves standing in front of us, otherwise it would be too embarrassing."
"Yes, Sergeant. We are at least more sincere than the forest elves." Ed stroked the elegant white porcelain plate with a happy look on his face. "The white porcelain tableware we exchanged can be distributed first to our army. Sergeant, I remember that there are still several thousand kilograms of magic iron ore powder in the logistics inventory."
"What are you thinking? We have to hand it in." Selina rolled her eyes at him. "It would be good if our army could keep 20% of it."
Ed and Xiu both lamented...
Xiao Yun took a stroll outside, talked to the grassroots chieftain who was busy in the earthworm greenhouse, and then came back happily...
It's impossible not to think about it. This business is very profitable. It can make money even on Earth - a ton of aluminum scrap costs several thousand dollars!
Of course, the processing technology in this world is not so sophisticated, and the quality of the finished product is not as good as the waste on Earth, but it is still a huge profit! With so many defective aluminum silicates, the inner layer of the greenhouses in the tribe can be coated with them. When the temperature is low, there is no need to worry about the temperature in the greenhouse being too low and the crops freezing. It is simply wonderful!
Coming back to receive the snow elves, Xiao Yun's smile couldn't be more sincere. He first used five Q-version flower elf ornaments that he had made by hand and painted as sugar-coated bullets, and then treated them to delicious food. Various special snacks of the Snow Wolf tribe were openly supplied. After the snow elves had eaten and drunk their fill, he took them to visit the production labor of the Snow Wolf tribe - this step was the most important and must not be omitted!
Xiao Yun took them on a tour when the forest elves came!
This is certainly not to show off wealth, but to let the elves intuitively feel the Snow Wolf Tribe's determination to get rich through production... Our tribe's energy is all used in production. We are obedient citizens like lambs and have no ambition at all!
Well... it's a bit hurtful to say it so bluntly, but this is really not the time to save face - you are gathering together like the tiger tribe, with so many adults and warriors gathered together, what do you want to do?
Even the saintly Tauren are annoyed by the Tiger Tribe, so how can the Elves treat the Tiger Tribe? You, the Snow Wolf Tribe, also want to follow the Tiger Tribe's path of gathering and dominating. Let's guess with our knees, can the Elves just sit back and watch you grow bigger?
Currently, there are about 600 people living in the tribe, which is less than an elf village. Maybe the elves don't look down on it for the time being, but what if you gather 1,000 people? 5,000 people? 10,000 people?
Instead of waiting until others start to doubt you and then beat your chest and cry and say, "I still believe in love..." Ahem, it's better not to be in the melon field from the beginning and not give the soil for doubt to grow. The saying that details determine success or failure and that a good warrior has no glorious achievements is applicable to this point. Otherwise, why would Xiao Yun take the initiative to lower the price and sell the goods produced here as cabbage? Apart from other things, doesn't he know that porcelain can be priced at a high price?
After all, in addition to accumulating precious metals for the tribe through trading, Xiao Yun also had to give the elves the impression that "the Snow Wolf tribe values stable production and loves peaceful trade"... Qualified producers and businessmen would not like fighting and killing. No matter how many people the Snow Wolf tribe gathered, it was all for production. They were definitely not the same kind of people as the Tiger Tribe.
It is worthless to just say these words lightly; they must be demonstrated through actual actions to others...that is, the famous life guidance theory: do as well as talk.
"...You can actually think of using glass instead of the ceiling for lighting. No wonder you can get a lot of fresh vegetables in this kind of weather."
In the vegetable greenhouse, Staff Sergeant Selina looked up in amazement at the roof made of steel frames and glass panels for a long time, and said admiringly: "It is true that we don't have to worry about the crops being crushed or frozen by the heavy snow when growing in the greenhouse. But how do you maintain the temperature in the greenhouse?"
Xiao Yun smiled and patted the thick wall: "There is a layer inside the wall, and there is a circle of brick chimneys around the ground. The hot air from the burning black stone passes through the wall layer and the ground, which can raise the temperature... We are a race that prohibits magic. We can't use magic arrays to maintain a constant temperature, so we have to use this stupid method."
Sergeant Selina couldn't help but reach out and touch the wall. She nodded and said, "Even so, this insulation method is not necessarily stupid. At least the energy consumption is much lower than the constant temperature array."
When Xiao Yun heard this, he once again raised his opinion of the female warrior. You know, Hailin had laughed at this kind of greenhouse for being not decent enough - before exchanging porcelain for enough solar cloth, most people lived half-naked, how could it be decent!
Sergeant Selina finished praising the rustic but practical greenhouse, then looked at the vegetables inside for a while. She hesitated before speaking, "If my curiosity has touched upon the secrets of your tribe, I apologize and take back my words... Will the temperature raised by burning black stone be good for the growth of crops? The crops in your greenhouse seem to be much more lush than those under the constant temperature magic circle in the royal city."
Xiao Yun smiled innocently, and immediately... took the Snow Elf to the breeding area of the grassroots chief.
The grassroots chief came out and looked at the elves curiously. After listening to Xiao Yun's introduction, he enthusiastically invited them to come in for a visit. In the dim breeding shed, the small creatures wriggling in the wet soil on the breeding beds separated by wooden boards made Selena and the other two feel numb on their scalps, and they dared to step in only with gritted teeth.
Xiao Yun calmly grabbed a handful of soil from the breeding bed and showed the fat earthworms in the soil (feed) to the Elf: "Half of the soil in the greenhouse is earthworm castings, which is a byproduct of our earthworm breeding. Earthworm castings are well-rotted organic fertilizers that promote the growth and development of crops. To obtain a sufficient amount of earthworm castings, a larger breeding scale is needed. The feed for breeding earthworms is... How much manpower and working hours are needed for the feed... How many people are needed to take care of the earthworm bed in a greenhouse... How many days to add feed... Moisturizing, cleaning... Shoveling manure... Separating earthworm cocoons into beds... blah blah blah..."
The complete set of earthworm breeding theory made the Snow Elf dizzy, and Xiao Yun excitedly pulled the Snow Elf to the composting area at the westernmost end of the greenhouse area.
"To raise earthworms, you need to use well-rotted bait. It needs to be fermented for more than 30 days in summer and more than 90 days in winter. The bait needs to be completely mature, odorless, and black in color... In addition to earthworm breeding, it is also used for crop fertilization. How is the compost here? How is the compost over there? How much base fertilizer should be added during the crop sowing period? How much topdressing should be added at which stage of the growth period..."
After explaining fertilizer, I pulled the snow elf, who looked doubtful about life, back to the vegetable greenhouse, squatted down and pointed at the crops in the ridges to explain further...
If Xiao Yun were to explain all the details of the cultivation of crops in the tribe, his throat would be exhausted, so he only focused on explaining the experience of applying basal fertilizer and topdressing to several crops, seed selection, breeding and planting, deep plowing to cut roots or separate seedlings when the crops are growing vigorously, and adding topdressing or increasing seedlings when the crops are underdeveloped. He did not elaborate on weed control and insect control...
But even these words were enough to make the three resolute snow elf warriors collapse. When Xiao Yun stopped to take a breath, Selina held his hand and said with tears in her eyes: "I, I understand. Thank you, Ayun, you don't have to explain it in such detail!"
Xiao Yun smiled naively: "We Snow Wolves don't have any proper knowledge, and it's hard to survive on the grassland, so we can only put all our energy into farming, so that we can maintain our lives... An adult member of the tribe will eat three or four portions of human food, so we have to work hard!"
Selina exhaled, "I can see that you guys are really working very hard."
"There's not much to do in the winter. Apart from the greenhouse, we raise pigs, sheep and cattle. Our tribe has some experience in raising them." Xiao Yun smiled naively, waved his hand, and strode towards the livestock area...
The Snow Elf followed fearfully...
From castration and separation of piglets, sow delivery and postpartum care, pigpen disinfection to Balk electrolytic disinfectant water, from ewe breeding stalls, moving pregnant ewes to greenhouses for fetal care, to alfalfa hay and acorns - the three snow elves followed Xiao Yun with numb faces and went deep into the various delivery rooms in the animal husbandry area. They saw countless snow wolf cubs and adult cats who were taking care of livestock in the wind and snow. They also saw countless new postures that they didn't want to hear but the magic sound that penetrated their brains could not resist...
Standing in front of the pig pen, watching Xiao Yun holding up a newly castrated piglet and explaining the details of the castration operation, Sergeant Selina showed a look of doubt in her life - who am I, where am I, why am I standing here listening to others tell me how to cut off a piglet's balls neatly? !
The two male elves, Ed and Xiu, had pale faces and were trembling. They wished they could get hurt and lie down with Yarlin and the others.
After visiting the livestock area, next is the gray dwarves' industrial area, the woolen mill that operates even in winter, the cement factory, the river dams, the artificial canals, the two bridges built with prefabricated cement blocks... and so on.
The following visiting projects were much better than the greenhouse area and livestock area. After going around in a circle, Sergeant Selina, without Xiao Yun saying anything, began to doubt whether their staff could handle so many kinds of work.
"We really don't have enough manpower. In fact, the only fields our tribe has reclaimed before autumn are the two plots on both sides of the river. The newly reclaimed wasteland above was turned over in autumn, and we are waiting for the snow to melt before sowing." The group stood on the stone arch bridge, and Xiao Yun pointed to the land on both sides of the north bank of the river and said, "Our tribe wants to reclaim fields from this river and the south bank of the river we dug, and grow more food so that everyone will never have to worry about hunger again. To achieve this goal, we certainly can't rely on our original manpower alone, so we found the Li tribe and several other tribes and discussed with them that we should farm together..."
Xiao Yun turned around, smiling with hope in his simple smile: "We will open up the fields and reclaim the land to a place close to the River of the Earth, then we can migrate some of the population there and build a water-blocking dam upstream of the River of the Earth, so that we don't have to worry about floods rushing into our homes. I heard from the elders of other tribes that this area of the southwest grassland will be washed away by floods every ten or twenty years, washing away their cattle and sheep. This is terrible. If we can do a good job of water conservancy work to prevent floods in advance, then we won't be afraid of water, right? After we repaired the dam of this tributary and dug another river channel, it has never been flooded. The dam of the River of the Earth may be more difficult to repair and the river channel may not be easy to dig, but I think if more people can work together, it can be done."
The upper reaches of the River of the Earth, located in the northwest, is a channel between two relatively long mountain ranges. It is fine when the water volume is small, but if the water volume is large, it will definitely overflow and spread to the southwest where the terrain is lower. After rushing to the upper reaches in the wind and snow to check, Xiao Yun had this thought in his mind.
Ed and Xiu looked at him in shock. Although they already knew that this cub was extraordinary, they were still shocked to hear Xiao Yun say such bold words.
Sergeant Selina was shocked by Xiao Yun's calm and confident aura, and her expression became serious. She could not help but straighten her originally relaxed posture. She suddenly understood why this strange Snow Wolf tribe regarded an underage cub as an important core figure, and why the tribe leaders confidently entrusted him with the important task of foreign trade, because she now also admired this unique cub.
"The ancestors of the snow elves spent more than three hundred years of hard work to transform the Samal Snow Mountain into a home suitable for living. Do the snow wolves have such determination?" Sergeant Selina said seriously.
Xiao Yun smiled, pretending not to understand the deep meaning of Selina's words, and said calmly: "As long as there is a way to make everyone in the tribe live a better life, we should always try it. At the beginning, we only had more than 30 people working together, then more than 100 people, and then almost 600 people. So many people came together to transform our home. Although I don't know how long it will take to see the results, now we have at least turned this tributary into a 'friend' that will not easily destroy our home."
Sergeant Selina couldn't help but smile. After a pause, she laughed out loud, patted Xiao Yun's shoulder, and said with a laugh, "Of the two big rivers on the grassland, the one that has changed its course the most times in the past thousand years is the Earth River. If one day the Earth River becomes a friend of your Snow Wolf tribe, then you who first proposed this approach will definitely become a hero on the grassland."
Xiao Yun followed with a silly smile, and made a scissors hand gesture in his heart... It was worth all his singing, reciting, acting and fighting, and the snow elf was also settled~
This performance was not a deception. The Chinese have never lacked the courage and determination to move mountains and fill the sea since ancient times. Since Xiao Yun, who has the soul of a Chinese in his bones, stood on this land and became a member of the grassland people, he certainly has the confidence to spread this spirit of fighting against heaven and earth to other grassland people - there is no such thing as a perfect utopia, and the nest you build yourself is called home!
