I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 347 – Standardize measurements
The scorching sun descended beyond the mountains, painting the sky with red clouds, while birds chirped joyfully for reasons unknown.
As the heat dissipated, a chill crept in.
The leader of the Green Tribe walked with a somewhat vacant expression, carrying some pottery on his back.
Not only him, but the others accompanying him also wore similar expressions.
Before they arrived, they had imagined countless times what it would be like to walk back with pottery exchanged for wild grass seeds.
Surely, there would be laughter and joy all the way.
However, now that they had successfully exchanged wild grass seeds for pottery, there was no laughter as they had imagined.
The reason for this drastic change was what they saw in that tribe.
Recalling the scene, the leader of the Green Tribe felt a strong sense of unease, his mind dizzy, as if he were dreaming.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t bear it, but the scene was just too unbelievable!
Wild grass seeds everywhere!
Who knows how many more wild grass seeds they had than they did?
No wonder they laughed after hearing what he said.
Seeing this scene, the leader of the Green Tribe also laughed, but it was a bitter laugh, and his face felt a bit feverish.
Did this tribe receive blessings from the gods?
They always seemed to have countless astonishing things, and every visit left people amazed.
And it seemed like they could obtain whatever they wanted, and in such vast quantities…
After thinking for a while and seeing the dusk gradually descending, the leader of the Green Tribe decided to stop and rest in this open area.
Someone produced a fire starter and struggled to make a fire.
They used the fire to cook food and keep warm.
The leader of the Green Tribe drank water from a pottery bowl, feeling somewhat calmer.
This bowl was obtained from that tribe today, along with a large jar and other bowls.
The outcome was almost exactly as he had anticipated, even more so as they ended up with an extra bowl.
At first, he found it unbelievable, much like when he learned that the tribe suddenly had many wild grass seeds.
After seeing so many wild grass seeds drying on the ground and coming to his senses from the shock, the leader of the Green Tribe thought he would return empty-handed this time.
After all, the tribe already had so many wild grass seeds. Why would they trade precious pottery with them?
Even if they were willing to trade, the pottery they could obtain would be greatly reduced.
He had a deep understanding of the cunning of that tribe’s leader.
When the leader of the Green Tribe proposed exchanging the wild grass seeds for pottery, as he had expected, the leader of that tribe only brought out a few bowls, not even a larger pottery jar.
The leader of the Green Tribe felt angry, as well as disappointed.
The tribe had put a lot of effort into gathering these wild grass seeds and even missed out on two days of hunting opportunities.
Before they came, including himself, everyone was excited and eagerly anticipating each person having their pottery bowl, but now…
The leader of the Green Tribe took another sip of water, looked at the pottery bowls and large jar before him, and sighed.
A figure appeared in his mind, the person from that tribe known as the Divine Child.
The tribe leader had clearly expressed his unwillingness to trade and seemed to imply that they should carry the wild grass seeds back with them.
Under the eaves, one must lower one’s head.
Faced with such a situation, even if unwilling, the leader of the Green Tribe had to accept it reluctantly.
Because if he disagreed, they wouldn’t even be able to bring back a single pottery bowl.
They could only return to the tribe carrying the undesirable wild grass seeds.
At this moment, the Divine Child of that tribe appeared, intervening to stop the tribe leader’s actions and offering the pottery they had anticipated exchanging…
He had previously thought this so-called Divine Child was foolish, but now he had completely changed his mind.
For the underage person known as the Divine Child, he felt genuine admiration.
And it wasn’t just him who witnessed this; the other members of the Green Tribe who witnessed it also felt admiration for the Divine Child of that tribe.
Upon careful consideration, if the positions were reversed, they would never be able to act to the same extent…
Of course, this was a play prearranged by Han Cheng and the Eldest Senior Brother.
Since it was a play, there needed to be antagonists and protagonists. Without antagonists, how could the protagonists’ noble image be highlighted?
And how could the Green Tribe feel the great favor bestowed upon them by the Green Sparrow Tribe?
Recalling the various performances of the Green Tribe leader, the three giants of the Sparrow Tribe gathered together, revealing a smile of successful deceit.
Han Cheng, the mastermind, smiled the most cunning and sly among them.
The Green Sparrow Tribe’s external policy was a combination of benevolence and authority.
The main purpose of doing this was to facilitate the future integration of these tribes…
The second batch of grain was also harvested, and this time, they obtained a total of one hundred and ninety-eight pounds of grain.
Don’t doubt why Han Cheng knew this precisely because he had already made a scale.
It was a simple construction, and anyone who had seen a scale in modern times could make one with some effort.
The difficulty in making a scale wasn’t in these constructions but rather in accurately depicting the scale on the rod.
Han Cheng put in a lot of effort to find the correct position for the scale of this balance.
After much thought, he adopted a method similar to when he made the ruler.
First, he found a relatively neat stone, estimated to weigh about the same as a pound, and used it as a standard.
Then, he tied this stone with a rope and hung it on the scale’s hook. Holding the rope on the scale, he lifted the stone off the ground with one hand.
With the other hand, he moved the rope of the weight hanging on the balance arm.
After moving the weight to parallel the balance arm, he used an iron knife to carve a mark at this position, marking it as one pound.
Then, using this one-pound standard, he weighed out many small bags of sand, each containing one pound.
By hanging these bags on the scale’s hook together with the original stone used as the standard, he could then obtain markings for two pounds, three pounds, four pounds, and so on.
After the scale was made, the stone used as the standard was solemnly preserved with the ten-centimeter wooden stick used as the ‘standard.’
As long as these two standards were preserved, his measurements and weights would remain accurate.
It was essential to establish standards for weight, length, and other daily accessible items.