I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 398 – Cold bucket of water
At the smoky riverside of the Green Sparrow Tribe, a large grass shed was erected. Underneath the shed were five sets of bricks, arranged alternately in rows and columns, forming walls one meter wide, one and a half meters high, and over ten meters long.
The brick walls were oriented east to west, with gaps of over half a meter between each wall. This arrangement was made because east winds often blow after winter. This layout allows for good ventilation and better preservation of the bricks.
These numerous bricks were the result of the hard work and mood of the Green Sparrow Tribe people during this period.
After finishing excavating the circular foundation, Han Cheng placed the final brick. The arch, spanning two meters, was also completed.
He then called the Second Eldest Brother over and had him jump fiercely on top to test the strength of the brick arch.
After some jumping, the brick arch remained as strong as ever, and Han Cheng smiled.
Then, he spent another two days with Hei Wa, building the internal structure of the kiln elsewhere using bricks and some brick blanks, considering things like airflow and smoke exhaust.
After waiting a few days, they began piling soil continuously around the kiln once it was sturdy enough, slowly covering up what had been built before.
The soil was compacted using the tools previously used to tamp the walls.
The thick layer of soil covering the outside of the kiln served a purpose, primarily insulation.
This was a considerable amount of work and took half a month to complete.
By this time, the rapeseed seeds had also matured.
Han Cheng instructed most people to harvest the rapeseed seeds while he and Hei Wa wandered around the kiln with shovels, doing some repairs.
Practice makes perfect. This phrase was reflected vividly in Hei Wa. He was passionate not only about making pottery but also about various types of kilns.
Now faced with this kiln, which felt spacious even when a person entered it, his anticipation was stronger than that of Han Cheng, the advocate himself.
A kiln this big was something he had never dared to think about, yet here it was, right in front of him!
If this kiln worked well and was used to fire pottery, how much pottery could be fired in one kiln?
Looking at the bricks emitting smoke from the top as they were ignited from the inside for drying, Hei Wa was full of longing thoughts…
After harvesting all the rapeseed from several hectares, the newly built brick kiln was completely dry. Under Han Cheng’s command, 500 bricks made for a long time were sent into the kiln.
Then, the firing began.
The kiln’s capacity, which had been painstakingly built, was naturally not just this much. However, this was the first time a brick kiln was used in a true sense to fire bricks. People, including Han Cheng, were unfamiliar with the firing process, so they needed to explore and experiment.
Firing such a kiln required far more wood than other small kilns. Bundles of wood were directly added to the fire mouth.
The flames roared beneath the kiln, and smoke billowed upward.
The large fire lasted two days and nights before no more wood was added.
The fire mouth was sealed shut, and the people, prepared according to Han Cheng’s previous instructions, began to carry water in pottery jars from the nearby stream. They poured the water, jar by jar, down from the top of the kiln along the designated opening.
The thick layer of soil outside the brick kiln insulated the heat, so even though the temperature inside the kiln was terrifyingly high, the people climbing up and down with water around the kiln only felt the soil slightly warm.
The cool river water poured into the kiln from above, mingling with the hot air and other elements inside, generating a large amount of even hotter gas, which permeated the soil kiln…
After pouring a jar of water, Hei Wa was still slightly stunned. He couldn’t understand why they suddenly had to pour water into the kiln during a proper firing.
Wouldn’t this cause all the bricks inside the kiln to be damaged?
Apart from this outcome, he couldn’t think of any other result as someone who dealt with pottery all year round.
The Divine Child should be clearer about such matters than he was, yet he still let it happen…
This was precisely what puzzled Hei Wa even more.
Could there be other changes he was unaware of by doing this?
Squatting there, he accepted the water handed to him by others, silently pondering this seemingly illogical and confusing matter.
Of course, there would be other changes. For example, bricks could not be fired without the step of pouring water.
Han Cheng insisted on firing green bricks not because the Green Sparrow Tribe’s color was also green and he wanted these green bricks to match the tribe but because, under these conditions, green bricks were stronger than red bricks.
The common red bricks in later generations were all mechanically pressed, resulting in a much higher density of brick blanks. However, the brick blanks of the Green Sparrow Tribe were made entirely by hand.
Even if great force was applied during the brick-making process, the density of the resulting brick blanks was far lower than that of later generations.
Bricks made in this way were prone to fragility, but under the same conditions, green bricks were more durable than red bricks.
Red bricks gradually replaced green bricks in later generations and were almost on the verge of extinction, unrelated to the difficulty of firing them.
With various machines in later generations and changes in kiln-firing technology, it only took three to four hours to fire a kiln of red bricks.
It was impossible for green bricks, which required watering and a sealed kiln, to achieve this speed.
Moreover, due to the movement of machines, the red bricks fired were no worse than green bricks and were even more durable, so replacing green bricks became inevitable.
However, under the current conditions, green bricks were still the preferred choice for the Green Sparrow Tribe.
“Bricks made this way will be stronger and more practical.”
Han Cheng touched the bricks mixed with sand and gravel and told Hei Wa, who had sealed the kiln.
Stronger?
Are you sure they won’t fall apart?
Hei Wa was puzzled but didn’t ask any further because he knew that the Shaman’s words were generally not wrong.
But what was the reason behind this?
Hei Wa scratched his head, looking somewhat distressed.
After firing the kiln for two days, on the third day, after watering and sealing the kiln, in the eager anticipation of the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe, the kiln was finally opened!
Seeing the hot air from the kiln mouth, Han Cheng also felt nervous and clenched his fists.
Although he knew what the final product fired from the kiln would look like, he still wasn’t sure if the kiln he had built could produce qualified products. After all, this was the first kiln.
Han Cheng stopped Hei Wa, who was eager to know the results and wanted to enter the kiln. After waiting for a while here and ensuring ventilation, he put on a mask made of several layers of linen and went into the brick kiln.
Hei Wa and the others were also dressed similarly.