I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 364 – A Man, A Deer, and a Cart
“Yo yo…”
Deer Lord, whose face was tied with a rope, grumbled discontentedly in the seemingly spacious field.
As the commanding leader of the deer, sheep, and dog tribes, the mighty and invincible Deer Lord felt aggrieved to have fallen to this point.
He, the mighty leader, would now have to toil as a laborer, plowing and harrowing the land here.
Unfortunately, Deer Lord was a deer from ancient times and knew nothing of Han Yu, who wrote “A Song of the Horse.”
In this world, animals were not allowed to become spirits. Otherwise, they would surely turn their heads and speak, uttering something like ‘Only humiliated by the hands of slaves…’ to the despicable bipeds who were leading them and laughing.
The soil was in perfect condition thanks to the autumn rain a few days ago. The rain made it easy to break up the clods of earth that had risen from the ground, making it the perfect time to sow rapeseed.
Deer Lord, who had been living in the Green Sparrow Tribe for so long, enjoying free food and lodging with someone serving him every day, naturally could not escape this fate. Now, those physically strong individuals were all harnessed up and, under the guidance of the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe, were imitating the appearance of their leader, Deer Lord, plowing and sowing here.
Deer Lord was treated differently from ordinary deer because, while other deer pulled harrows, he pulled a plow.
A wide piece of leather was draped over Deer Lord’s back at the end of the plow beam, covering half of it.
Underneath the leather, a rope was tied around Deer Lord’s waist, passing through his belly. Together with the leather above, it tied Deer Lord around the waist.
In this way, as he moved, the plow behind him would move forward with him.
Unlike oxen, deer’s necks were not as thick as oxen’s, nor did they have the strength to bear thousands of pounds like oxen, so Han Cheng had to imitate donkeys and mules and place the weight on their backs.
Behind Deer Lord, a hobbling individual was supporting the plow.
The three plow legs, bound with triangular bones, parted the finely tilled soft soil, leaving three parallel lines on the ground no matter how they turned, with a spacing of twenty centimeters in the middle.
Inside the hopper, black rapeseeds leaked down from the bottom of the hopper and, about three centimeters from the hopper, split into three, each going down one of the hollow plow legs and falling into the furrows opened by the plow legs.
“Wait.”
Lame suddenly spoke, and Han Cheng, leading Deer Lord forward, stopped as instructed.
It wasn’t that Han Cheng enjoyed “helping with the plow,” but Deer Lord would only work properly when led by Han Cheng. No one else could make it work properly.
“What’s wrong?” Han Cheng asked.
“The eye of the hopper is blocked.”
As he answered, Lame let go of the plow handle, bent down, and pulled out a wooden piece inserted into the blocked connection between the funnel and the three plow legs, making it clear again.
He quickly inserted the wooden piece back to its original position. Otherwise, if too many seeds were sown, it would become too dense over time.
While Lame was doing this, the individuals nearby were earnestly watching with their heads stretched out.
Lame was a carpenter, and sowing was not his responsibility. After teaching the individuals with the balloons and bottles, he no longer got involved in sowing.
After the adjustment, Han Cheng continued to lead Deer Lord forward, leaving shallow furrows on the smoothly harrowed land…
In the distance, the mountains were tinged with varying shades of yellow and red, while the nearby water flowed clear and calm. A few wisps of smoke rose slowly from the burning dry grass on the ground, where farmers were scattered, plowing and sowing…
There were no gunshots, wars, or much fighting, only a tranquil and enchanting scene of autumn farming…
The efficiency of the plow was unmatched by human labor.
Fifty mu could be plowed in a day with one deer, two people, and one plow.
This is still under the condition where both humans and deer are not very familiar with each other.
If the deer is trained well and people master the use of the plow, one person, one deer, and one plow can plow more than twenty mu in a day without the need for someone to lead the deer and help with the plow.
Controlling the deer’s direction can be done in two ways, one directly and the other indirectly.
The direct method is to tie another rope around the deer’s head, in addition to the leather rope fixed on the deer’s waist, like tying shoelaces, passing through the deer’s faceplate, and tying the ends of the rope behind the deer to the handle of the plow, within reach of the person supporting the plow.
Pull the left rope when a left turn is needed; pull the right rope when a right turn is needed.
Because the rope is tied to the deer’s head, a strong pull will cause it to turn around.
The so-called voice control is a method based on this: When pulling the deer to the left, shout “da da,” when going right, shout “lie,” when urging the deer to move forward, shout “ha,” and when stopping it, shout “two.”
After doing this repeatedly, the deer will develop a conditioned reflex. Instead of needing to pull the rope, just shouting a command will let them know what to do and how to cooperate with humans in farming.
Such commands are not only for deer; when the time comes to find oxen and horses, they will also be trained similarly.
This year, fifty mu of rapeseed were planted, mainly for eating. The rapeseed was used to feed deer, rabbits, and chickens, and it was mixed with chicken feed.
Han Cheng has not yet tried using rapeseed for oil extraction. On the one hand, he has too many other things to worry about, and on the other hand, so far, just animal-fat oil is enough to eat.
So, the use of rapeseed for oil extraction has been postponed, and there are signs of further delay.
After planting rapeseed, Han Cheng also planted the ‘Big Cabbage’ and ‘High-Quality Rapeseed,’ which he had cultivated for two years.
The appearance of the plow significantly increased the efficiency of planting. After planting these lands in three days, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe set off with baskets on their backs towards the orchard.
It was time to gather and store the fruits.
Many hands make light work. With everyone’s efforts, piles of fruits appeared in the tribe and quickly increased.
Tonight’s meal in the Green Sparrow Tribe was strange. There were no roasted meats as usual, nor was there steaming fish soup. There was only a large pile of fruits stacked together.
Han Cheng was a bit puzzled, not understanding what the Eldest Senior Brother in charge of preparing food meant.
He was puzzled, but the other tribe members were not, especially those from the Bone Tribe who had joined just this year. They felt it was only natural.
Food was always so precious to primitive people. Even in the affluent Green Sparrow Tribe, people still hesitated to waste.
These fruits were all damaged, bruised, or had ruptured.
Such fruits were not durable for storage. If not eaten in time, they would quickly spoil.
Understanding the reason, Han Cheng couldn’t help but give a thumbs up to the Eldest Eldest Senior Brother. Eating the perishables first and saving the good ones was a suitable method that could reduce food waste.
However, after praising him, Han Cheng immediately asked the Eldest Eldest Senior Brother to take out some meat and let people add water to the pottery jars, preparing to start boiling soup.
The weather had already cooled down, and at this time, unlike in summer, not eating some hot soup or just relying on these cold fruits to satisfy hunger wouldn’t do. First, it wouldn’t be filling enough, and second, it could easily upset the stomach.
In this era where catching a cold and fever could be thrown into the fire and burned to death, no illness could be underestimated.
“Divine Child…”
The Eldest Senior Brother seemed a little anxious. With this arrangement, these fruits would be wasted.
Han Cheng smiled and waved his hand to reassure him, indicating he didn’t need to worry.