A Valley Full of Grain, a Clever Solution to Food Worries
After unloading their mountain of cargo at the mouth of the stream, the two giant sailing ships of the Fish Tribe set sail for the Fire Tribe. What remained was an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and busyness.
The entire tribe was like a efficiently functioning anthill, with men, women, and children all pitching in, using baskets, backpacks, or even carrying the rice directly on their shoulders and in their hands, to transport bags and baskets of golden rice back to the valley along the pre-cleared paths. The sounds of footsteps and children running and laughing mingled together, creating a hopeful symphony of labor.
It took two whole days to transport all 40,000 jin (about 400 dan) of rice back to the tribe's square. Fortunately, Wang Yan had foreseen this and had the tribesmen make a large number of rattan baskets and hampers, and clear out several empty shacks to use as temporary warehouses; otherwise, there really would have been nowhere to store the grain.
Looking at the mountains of rice piled up in the square, the faces of all the Fire Tribe members were filled with satisfied and relieved smiles. With this grain, they felt at ease! Even knowing it was stale grain, it was still a life-saving treasure!
While everyone was busy moving things, Wang Yan, along with several skillful clansmen, had already tinkered with a few new items.
He used the abundant bamboo resources around the tribe to create two rice hullers. These machines weren't particularly complex; they consisted of two toothed millstones woven from bamboo strips, joined together with a central axle. By manually cranking the upper millstone, the friction of the bamboo teeth removed the hard husks from the rice. While not as efficient as later rice milling machines, it was more than ten times more efficient than pounding rice bit by bit with a stone mortar!
He also made a simple wooden windmill. He made a box out of wooden planks, installed a fan blade that could be shaken inside, and had a funnel on top. He poured the milled rice mixture into the funnel, shook the fan, and the lighter husks (chaff) would be blown out by the wind, while the heavier rice grains would fall from the outlet below, thus achieving a preliminary separation of rice and chaff.
When Wang Yan personally demonstrated, pouring a basket of rice into the rice huller, cranking the handle, listening to the "shush-shush" sound of the bamboo teeth rubbing together, and watching the golden grains mixed with broken husks flow out of the outlet, then pouring it into a wooden windmill, and shaking the fan blades, blowing out swirling chaff while white rice grains flowed out from below, the onlookers were all stunned!
"My God! So fast!"
Look! Rice! So much rice!
"This thing is amazing! How did Yan come up with it?!"
Even the well-informed shaman excitedly stroked the two new tools, exclaiming repeatedly, "Divine tools! These are divine tools bestowed by our ancestors! With them, we will never have to worry about going hungry again!"
Jianshi looked at his son, his eyes filled with pride. Although he didn't quite understand the underlying principles, the effect was undeniable. He waved his hand and exclaimed, "Yan, this thing is excellent! Immediately arrange for people to make eighteen more of these bamboo mills (his name for the rice huller) in this style! And make four more windmills too!"
Wang Yan nodded in agreement and added, "Father, this is just the initial stage. I'm also thinking about a wooden threshing machine that can thresh the grains directly from the rice ears when the rice is ripe, which is more efficient and less likely to damage the grains. Using the current method, we estimate that we can get about 20,000 jin of rice from this 40,000 jin of rice." (He estimated the rice yield to be around 50%)
Twenty thousand catties of rice! This is still enough to keep the tribe safe for many days! Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed.
With the rice huller and windmill, the processing speed of this batch of old grain was greatly accelerated. Wang Yan specifically instructed that those obviously moldy and shriveled bad grains be sifted out and ground into fine chaff using the tribe's original stone mill.
"This bran isn't edible for humans, but it can be mixed with wild vegetables and fodder, boiled, and fed to the pigs and cattle in the pen. It will help them grow fatter and stronger," Wang Yan instructed the tribespeople in charge of feeding them. This ensured that what might otherwise have been wasted was put to good use, further convincing the tribespeople of Yan's wisdom.
Looking at the poor-quality rice, Wang Yan couldn't help but shake his head. The Fish Tribe's method of preserving grain was far too backward; they simply piled it up in a well-ventilated warehouse, letting it get damp, infested with insects, and moldy. If they could build more scientific granaries, such as elevated, moisture-proof, and sealed storage, the quality of this batch of grain would certainly not be so poor.
"No wonder they were so quick to trade their old grain for our pottery," Wang Yan said to his father, Jianshi. "For them, this grain would have really gone bad if left any longer. Trading it for useful pottery and cleaning out their warehouse is a win-win situation. I bet they're already hoping we'll come back to trade again next time."
Jianshi snorted coldly, "Next time? Next time won't be so easy! Once we grow our own grain, who will care about their old, rotten grain!"
That being said, this transaction did serve as a wake-up call for the Fire Tribe.
"Father," Wang Yan said solemnly, "We must build our own granaries! We can't just pile them up haphazardly in the shacks like we do now. We need to build special, dry, and well-ventilated wooden warehouses to store our grain. Also, good seeds must be sealed and stored in large, well-fired earthenware jars to ensure a high germination rate."
Jianshi wholeheartedly agreed, "You're right! This is crucial! I'll arrange for people to build five large wooden granaries immediately! Also, have Uncle Taobo prioritize firing a batch of large pottery jars!"
With food stored up and new tools put into use, the tribe entered a new phase of operation. The pressure of food was suddenly relieved, and people could devote more energy to construction, craft improvement, and training.
Wang Yan did not stop. While organizing people to expand the production of rice hullers and windmills, he began to draw sketches of wooden threshing machines and also thought about how to improve the structure of the granary. He also went to check on the wild vegetable seeds and fruit tree seedlings that had been exchanged and instructed "Sui" and "Houtu," who were in charge of farming, to take good care of them, as these were the hope for the tribe's future food diversification.
As night fell, the valley was filled with the long-lost, rich aroma of rice. Although the rice grains were slightly less palatable due to their age and carried a hint of the characteristic stale taste of aged rice, it was an unparalleled delicacy for the Fire Tribe people, who were accustomed to eating coarse grains and wild vegetables. Holding steaming earthenware bowls and eating the soft, sticky rice, everyone's face was filled with happiness and contentment.
"The food problem has been temporarily alleviated. But the gap with the Fish Tribe is still huge. Especially that sailboat... We must strengthen the tribe's foundation as soon as possible!"