Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Waterwheel is the most energy-efficient irrigation tool. There are several types. The ones that impressed Bai Tu the most were the water-powered waterwheel and the keel waterwheel. The former relies on the water flow as power to bring water to a higher place, while the latter relies on footwork or pushing and pulling to transport water.

Bai Tu plans to do the first one first, using the power of water flow to turn the water wheel, pouring water into the trough at the appropriate location, and connecting water pipes under the trough, so as to achieve the purpose of irrigation without manpower. As for water pipes, pieces of bamboo are the best material, as long as you break through the diaphragm in the middle. It happened to be the rainy season and there was no need to worry about watering the crops, so Bai Tu did not waste any time and started making the work immediately.

Of course, it is impossible to make a large waterwheel at the beginning. He plans to try the small one used next to the fish pond first. Small waterwheels are easier to make and adjust later. After making a waterwheel that can rotate normally, it will save a lot of time to scale it up. After all, the larger the tool, the greater the workload and the more difficult it is to adjust.

The most important thing for making a waterwheel is wood, and it must be moisture-resistant and not prone to rotting or deforming, after all, it will be soaked in water all the time. The thing that was most abundant around the tribe was wood, both hard and soft, light and heavy. In addition to the common tree species in his previous life, there were also several species that he had never seen before, so he could choose any of them.

Bai Tu didn’t know enough about the wood types of several unfamiliar trees, so he went to ask Tu Bing. The orcs who had been in the picking team for a long time knew more about the plants. They didn’t dare to eat unfamiliar plants, but everyone knew which trees were the strongest. In addition to seeing a lot of them when picking, they can also be used for burning firewood. In addition, when making various tools, the orcs can easily tell which trees are the strongest.

There are a large number of branches in each cave, many of which are as thick as wrists. It didn’t take Bai Tu long to collect most of the materials. For some branches that were not available in the caves, Bai Qi directly took people out to cut them. Hunting is only difficult in the rainy season, but it is not so difficult to move in the early stages. It is not a problem for them to cut down a few trees close to the tribe during the rainy season.

It is much easier to have someone help you than to work on your own. Bai Tu recalled the structure of the waterwheel while leading everyone to make parts. Without iron tools and adhesives, he planned to make it by splicing, using the mortise and tenon technology to splice different parts together. This work takes a lot of time, and he only knew the principles before, and had almost no chance to do it himself. Now he is just crossing the river by feeling the stones.

Bai Qi was helping on the side, busying himself in confusion. What was Bai Tu doing by making this mess of wood chips?

“Tu, what do you want to cook?” Bai Qi looked at them for two days but still couldn’t figure out how to use them. Could it be another new way of eating? But it takes two days to make one meal, and that involves cutting trees and bamboo. It’s too troublesome. In the past, it took so long to make the food that everyone ate it, but this time, we haven’t even started making it for two days.

“Waterwheel.” Bai Tu looked at the various parts in front of him. The main problem was that the tools were not very powerful. Using stone knives and bone knives to chop trees, especially thick trees, was very slow. Fortunately, there were many people, otherwise he might not be able to complete it even after ten or two days.

After the parts are made, you can try to assemble them. Be extremely careful in the last step, because after all, this is something that everyone has worked hard to make, and if it breaks, you have to start over.

The central axle, spokes, water baffles, buckets… It took Bai Tu most of the day to assemble the waterwheel, and he carefully placed it next to the small pool together with the water trough. In order to better test the performance of the waterwheel, he had someone dig a U-shaped waterway next to the pool, which was slightly wider than the waterwheel to imitate a river.

Digging a hole in the stone is not a problem for the rabbit tribe. After setting it up firmly, Bai Tu slowly poured a bucket of water into the upstream of the waterwheel.

The water flow pushes the baffle to rotate, and the bucket is lifted to a higher place. The water inside slowly pours out due to the inclination, flows into the water tank below, and is brought back upstream through the water pipe, circulating over and over again.

Bai Qi, who had never seen such water play, stared at it: “This is fun!” No one has ever done it this way, Bai Qi took back his previous idea, he used to think that two or three days would be too long, but after seeing the finished product, he didn’t think it was a waste of time at all. This is such a fun thing, he can play with it for a whole rainy season!

Bai Dong and several other kids were lying on the ground nearby, staring at the spinning waterwheel without blinking. When they saw that the waterwheel was slowing down, they reminded Bai Tu to add water: “Tu, it’s not turning anymore! Add water quickly!” They had just seen that adding water to the ditch in front of the waterwheel would make it turn faster. If Bai Tu hadn’t repeatedly told them not to touch it, they would have started pouring water.

Tu Shi looked at the motionless Bai Tu and wanted to help pour it, but he didn’t dare.

Bai Tu: “…”

“It’s not for playing with.” Bai Tu picked up the bucket and poured some more water upstream. Seeing that the waterwheel had returned to its previous speed, he put down the bucket and explained, “The one I’m making now is a small one. I plan to make a large one and put it in the river, and then get the water out to irrigate the fields.” Now this is just a simulation. There is no continuous flow of water upstream of the small ditch, and the waterwheel loses energy during the rotation process, so it is impossible to maintain a speed all the time. But it is different in wild rivers. As long as there is water flowing upstream, the waterwheel can keep turning.

The success of the small waterwheel gave Bai Tu great confidence, but the difficulty of making the small waterwheel and the large waterwheel was not on the same level.

Take the baffle as an example. The baffle of a small waterwheel only needs to be about 20 centimeters, while the baffle of a large waterwheel needs to be several times larger. Not to mention whether it takes effort to cut it, just knocking down the tree will take some effort.

With everyone working together, the thinner trees could be cut down and transported back in two or three hours. However, it was a bit difficult for several people to hug a big tree. The largest stone knife was not even as wide as the tree. In addition, it rained most of the time, so it took three days to chop down one tree. Fortunately, the orcs had experience in making buckets and bowls, and knew how to cut trees more efficiently.

The reward brought by one tree is enough. Bai Tu estimated that this tree is enough to make a waterwheel, and even more than that, but it will take more than a day or two to cut it.

Before, there were only a few orcs helping with the small waterwheel, but this time, most of the tribe came. The cave for feeding prey could not accommodate so many people, and there were also various animals, so everyone carried a piece of wood back to their own tribe for processing.

The orcs’ claws came in handy at this time. Although they couldn’t be said to be able to cut iron like mud, they were just as effective as stone knives in scraping wood. The only pity was that their claws were not long enough. If they were longer, they could cut the wood into slices directly.

Bai Tu hardly needed to do anything himself this time. Whether it was scraping wood with the animal shape or chopping wood with a stone knife, he was no match for others. He simply watched from the top. No errors were allowed on large pieces of wood, as these tools would be used for many years.

Because there was a small waterwheel turning all the time in the water, everyone’s enthusiasm for making a big waterwheel was unprecedentedly high. Sometimes Bai Tu felt that he could take a break, but the busy orcs were still making it with great interest. Everyone wanted to see how big the finished product would be and how fast it could turn.

In the past, the rainy season was one of the most difficult times of the year, the other being the snowy season. Due to the lack of food, almost all the orcs in the tribe would count on their fingers how long it would take for the rainy season to end and when everyone could go out hunting. This year is the most leisurely rainy season in the tribe. Not only are we not hungry at all, but we also have things to do!

Helping Bai Tu make a waterwheel is one of the most popular jobs. Another job is to process food. Although the food has been cleaned and placed in the cave before, it still needs to be divided again every day. The cave only stores food. When dividing the prey, you can see the tribe’s food reserves, which is also an extremely happy job.

In addition to this, there is work like pickling and smoking meat. Although this job is not difficult, the most uncomfortable part is that you can smell the aroma of the bacon but cannot eat it. This is a sweet torture for the orcs who have a huge appetite.

In the past, more than half of the people in the tribe were idle during the rainy season. They couldn’t even sleep because of hunger, and they didn’t dare to waste their energy digging holes because they would be even hungrier after digging. They could only listen to the sound of rain outside and look forward to the end of the rainy season. This year, everyone’s mentality is just the opposite. They hope that the rainy season will never stop – there is enough food every day, and they don’t have to go out hunting. Such a life is so wonderful!

With plenty of food and things to do, time passed quickly, and before most orcs could react, two-thirds of the rainy season had passed. At the same time, the parts of the large waterwheel, which had cost half the tribe’s manpower to make, had all been completed and placed in the cave by Bai Tu, so that he could take them out and try them out after the weather cleared up. The parts are easy to transport, so assembly will not be possible until the rainy season is over.

The small waterwheel became the favorite object for children in the tribe to observe. Bai Tu then thought of a problem that had been ignored by himself and other orcs – the cubs in the tribe had no toys, not even one! No matter how old the children were, Bai Tu had never seen them play with toys. No wonder after the waterwheel was made, everyone from Bai Qi to Tu You wanted to stay in this cave all day.

To be precise, sub-adult orcs are still cubs. They are not mature enough in mentality and are childish. Some of their manifestations are not obvious enough, but some can be seen at a glance. Bai Qi became steady at a speed visible to the naked eye after Bai Chen was injured, and his true nature would occasionally be revealed. Langze is at the other extreme. Because he has his brother to protect him, he has always been like a child. If Langze saw this, he would probably have to sleep here at night.

Bai Tu thought about it and decided to take this opportunity to make some toys for the cubs in the tribe. Anyway, there were a lot of leftover scraps from making the waterwheel, and there was a lot of wood in each cave. It would be easy for the orcs to process the wood.

The simplest and most fun tool is a wooden ball. The wood used to make the waterwheel is also lightweight. It is a kind of tree that Bai Tu does not recognize. It is hard but has a lower density than ordinary wood. After being polished smooth, it can be pushed slightly and run around. Once a ball is thrown down, a basket of cubs will no longer crawl out!

It was just a big miscalculation when making the wooden balls. The wooden balls placed in the bamboo basket were bigger than the cubs. The group of cubs were pushing wooden balls that were bigger than themselves as if they had strayed into a land of giants.

Bai Tu immediately reflected on himself and together with Bai Qi made a slide with the leftover wood. This is a must-have toy for children and is available in almost every kindergarten.

The baby rabbits are too small, so the slide is of course small. Bai Tu used rough stones to grind off the barbs on the wood. In order to make it safe enough, he added a layer of fence next to the slide.

The next morning, Bai Tu saw with his own eyes the little rabbits sliding up the slide in a row.

Now look at the cubs in the white picture: adorable!

From now on, Lang Qi will look at the white picture and think: cute! ! !