Visiting the Workshops
The next morning, Yan ate something and then wandered around the tribe alone. He had many feelings after returning from the Valley Tribe and felt that he had to keep a close eye on the foundation of his "old professions" at all times.
He went to the pottery workshop first. Nowadays, pottery is one of the most valuable commodities that the Fire Tribe trades with other countries, and everyone in the tribe cherishes it. The workshop is managed by Yan's three uncles and aunts—the wives of Jianya, Dali, Dazhuang. The three aunts are all efficient and capable people, and they manage the large workshop in an orderly manner.
The workshop was more than ten times larger than when it was first built, and it was bustling with activity and people coming and going. But Yan knew that as the volume of trade with the outside tribes increased, the workshop would have to continue to expand.
He went inside and carefully observed the process. The pottery-making process is now much more specialized and skillful. Selecting the clay, mixing it, and kneading it are all handled by specialized personnel. The clay must be kneaded until it is smooth and even, without any lumps. The craftsmen are very steady, their potter's wheels (which they invented not long after they started making pottery) spinning rapidly, and the clay blanks quickly take shape. The air-drying pottery pieces are arranged densely, the glazed semi-finished products gleaming.
Yan stopped in front of a pottery jar that had just come out of the kiln and picked it up to examine it closely. This was the latest innovation from the Fire Tribe —glazed pottery. The glaze was made by Yan and his men using wood ash, extremely fine mud, and ground limestone in a specific ratio. After firing, the surface of the pottery was smoother and shinier, making it not only beautiful but, more importantly, durable, easy to clean, and not very water-permeable.
He tapped it with his hand, and the sound was crisp. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride: as far as he knew, the pottery of the Tiger Tribe downstream didn't have this glaze. Just in this respect, the Fire Tribe's pottery was already far superior in quality. Of course, this had to be kept secret for now; the glaze formula and firing temperature were secrets, and production hadn't fully increased yet, so he couldn't be too ostentatious.
"Aunties, you've worked hard." Yan said with a smile to the three uncles and aunts who came to greet him. "These glazed jars are of really good quality. But as usual, we'll prioritize our own use and storage first. For those we sell, we'll mainly focus on ordinary pottery, with a small amount of glazed jars mixed in as a trial run."
The three aunts all nodded. "Yan'er, don't worry, we know what's important."
After spending some time in the pottery workshop, Yan headed towards the shipbuilding workshop on the other side of the valley.
Even before getting close, a strong smell of wood mixed with tung oil filled the air. In the open space surrounding the workshop, piles of thick tree trunks, like Little Mountain, were stacked – timber intended for building the hull of large ships. Thanks to the abundance of forests in this era, high-quality timber was not difficult to find. More importantly, since the widespread use of bronze tools such as bronze axes and saws, the speed and precision of logging and timber processing had increased dramatically. What used to take dozens of people several days to complete could now be done by just a few people in a few days.
Yan stroked a large log that had almost completely dried and was now hard and sturdy, and nodded in satisfaction. With these good materials as a foundation, the fifty large ships with a carrying capacity of five thousand catties each planned for this year should be completed around the time of the autumn harvest without much problem.
Stepping into the workshop, the atmosphere was even more bustling. Some craftsmen were planing wooden boards, some were assembling the framing, and some were preparing waterproofing materials. Wood shavings flew in the air, and the clanging and banging of tools filled the air.
"Uncle Fumu," Yan found a shipwright leader who was discussing something.
"Young Master Yan is here!" Fumu hurriedly greeted.
"Let's check on the progress and chat," Yan said, getting straight to the point. "It seems like we've secured fifty ships with a carrying capacity of 5,000 jin this year. Next year, we need to work on even bigger ships. We don't dare dream of the Valley Tribe's 50,000-jin giant ships yet, but we absolutely must get the 10,000-jin ones! As for the timber, are our reserves sufficient? Are there any structural difficulties?"
Fumu rubbed his hands together and pointed to the pile of timber outside. "There's plenty of timber! We've been intentionally storing a lot of usable giant logs over the past few years, drying them in the shade. It's just that the structure of this massive ship... the keel needs to be thicker and stronger, how to assemble the planks to prevent leaks, what the appropriate draft should be, how to hang the sails securely... all of these things need to be tested little by little. But we have the foundation, and we'll definitely have the ship built for you next year!"
"Good!" Yan patted Fumu's shoulder forcefully. "If you need any support, just tell us. Building a large ship is a major event for our tribe's future, and we can't be ambiguous about it."
Leaving the shipbuilding workshop, Yan turned and headed deeper into the valley to a secluded spot. This heavily guarded place was the Fire Tribe's "secret workshop"—the bronze ware workshop.
Compared to the hustle and bustle of the pottery and shipbuilding workshops, this place was much quieter, but the stifling heat and the faint clanging of metal carried a different kind of power. The workshop had expanded considerably, and the number of workers had increased significantly. Several kilns burned day and night, and the craftsmen, shirtless, worked tirelessly, drenched in sweat.
Thanks to the stable ore supply from the Deer Tribe, bronze production increased rapidly. Yan saw a large number of cast and polished bronze tools piled up in a corner of the workshop—axes, chisels, saws, etc. These basically met the tribe's current production needs.
On the other side, craftsmen were making spearheads and short blades with a clanging sound. The finished bronze weapons gleamed coldly and were neatly stacked on wooden racks. Yan walked over, picked up a bronze spearhead, weighed it in his hand, and tested the blade with his finger. He was satisfied with its sharpness.
The person in charge of the workshop was named Tongchui. When he saw Yan, he quickly came over.
"Uncle Tongchui, how's the weapon forging going?" Yan asked.
"Young Master," Tongchui wiped his brow and pointed to the racks, "As you and the Chief instructed, priority was given to ensuring that every warrior was equipped with a spear and a blade. It's almost complete now, enough to equip over two thousand four hundred men. We'll continue manufacturing and stockpile as much as possible, just in case."
"Very good." Yan nodded, pondering to himself. Once the stronghold in Small Gathering Valley was firmly established, the safety of the Deer Tribe would be more guaranteed. Perhaps the core of bronze smelting and casting could be moved directly to the Deer Tribe's original camp. It would be closer to the mine, saving a lot of manpower and resources for transporting ore, greatly improving efficiency, and also being more concealed and secure. However, there was no rush; they would wait until the situation in the north was more stable.
After spending a while in the bronze workshop, Yan went to see the clothing workshop. Inside, a dozen improved manual looms creaked and groaned, and women deftly spun the threads. The production efficiency of linen was many times higher than it had been a few years ago when the most primitive methods were used. Although it was not as soft as cotton, it was strong and durable, enough to meet the clothing needs of most people.
Finally, Yan arrived at a cave located in the most remote corner of the valley. This was the most heavily guarded place, the salt-making workshop of the Fire Tribe.
The cave was damp and stuffy. Several large pools were filled with rock salt, which was dissolved, filtered, and boiled multiple times to finally obtain coarse salt. In the smaller rooms further inside, they were trying to purify fine salt using more complex methods, but the yield was extremely low.
Salt, in this era, was a hard currency comparable to gold and an important strategic resource. Although the Fire Tribe had mastered rudimentary salt-making technology, its Fire Tribe decided, after discussion, not to sell it publicly for the time being. Firstly, their own production was still low, and the fine salt was only enough for a small supplement to core personnel and high-intensity laborers; secondly, and most importantly, once the outside world knew that the Fire Tribe could produce salt, it would inevitably attract unimaginable greedy eyes, and there were already larger tribes outside, the Fire Tribe could not withstand such covetousness.
Therefore, the Fire Tribe currently only sells dried fish and dried meat cured with coarse salt to the outside world, and the salt itself is carefully hidden and stored away. This is another core secret that the Fire Tribe must keep secret.
Emerging from the salt-making workshop, the sun was already setting. Yan stood on the hillside, looking back at the wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, the bustling crowds, and the faint sounds emanating from the various workshops in the valley. Pottery, boats, bronze, cloth, salt... these seemingly ordinary things are the solid foundation upon which the Fire Tribe has grown from a few hundred people struggling to survive to its current size of nearly ten thousand, and also its most reliable source of confidence when facing even greater storms in the future.
"Only with a solid foundation can a tree grow tall and not be afraid of the wind," Yan muttered to himself, then turned and walked towards home.