We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 20 Making the Bone Plow

Now that they have wooden spears and spear throwers, they can treat women as men, so Xia Minghao decided to further conserve the existing workforce.

“Shifa, today you will be the only one leading the other women with spear throwers into the woods to complete the mission.”

At the cave entrance, Xia Minghao spoke to Xifa, but Xifa seemed hesitant.

"I……"

"It's alright. You have spear throwers, and you're even more powerful than men now. If you encounter any danger, as long as you work together, you'll definitely be able to solve it."

Even without spear throwers, wooden spears are sufficient for seven or eight people to deal with most dangers.

Do you really think the terrifying upright ape is just a joke?

However, just to be on the safe side, even after giving each person a wooden spear, Xia Minghao still didn't rush to make such an arrangement.

He dared not gamble; if he did, he might lose his life. In primitive times, survival was the only viable strategy.

Only now that we have spear throwers can we finally relax.

These days, women can throw spears with all their might that can pierce through trees, let alone flesh and blood!
Previously, women would set off in groups, resulting in a significant waste of labor.

With this division of labor, labor was saved, and the remaining dozen or so women could do things according to their own requirements.

"Yes, man... no, chief..."

Chief, that's the new title the women came up with last night before bed.

It was inspired by the men of the Li tribe last night.

After hearing that Bald Liba had a separate term for "leader," they decided to create a term to refer to Xia Minghao as well.

Because there will be other men in the tribe in the future, even if they can't exchange their flesh for a man, the children will grow up and, when they migrate again and encounter other tribes, they will become men after group marriage.

Upon hearing this new title, after a moment's thought and recollection, I roughly understood its meaning; it was probably a title for a chief or something similar.

Xia Minghao was naturally happy to accept this, as it helped him maintain his dominant position in the tribe.

"Chief, what are we doing?"

Hima then spoke up, explaining that they had just gotten used to no longer gathering food themselves, but instead using fish traps and snares to obtain it.

Now that things are going to change again, they feel inexplicably panicked once more.

Seeing the women's uneasy expressions, Xia Minghao frowned.

Change is never easy, in any era or at any time.

Just look at the reactions of these women now; you can see the resistance to change.

Fortunately, I am now their chief; otherwise, it would have been just as difficult as when I first got them to build the fish traps.

Thinking of this, Xia Minghao couldn't help but feel grateful that he had chosen to gain power from the beginning instead of working quietly behind the scenes.

"Hima, where are the animal hides and large bones from before?"

"I'll get it."

Hima immediately led the other women to bring out a drying rack with four animal hides hanging on it. Three of them were clearly wild boar hides, and the remaining one was the hide of a creature that looked like a deer.

All three wild boar hides were incomplete, and Xia Minghao was furious every time he saw them.

It was all that damned saber-toothed tiger's doing.

The wild boar caused quite a commotion after being caught, pulling on large trees that shook violently.

The commotion was so great that by the time the women arrived, either the saber-toothed tiger had gotten there first, or the cicada had arrived behind them.

The women dared not compete with the saber-toothed tiger; they could only wait for the tiger to finish eating first, then clean up the battlefield and bring back half a wild boar.

This was a wise decision. After hearing about it, Xia Minghao also advised women to stay away from such situations.

Even now that we have spear throwers, it's still the same.

This is a top predator; if a real war breaks out, it can certainly kill a saber-toothed tiger, but it will inevitably pay a heavy price.

Given the current situation, even the death of one person would be unbearable.

It's not just a matter of labor shortage; what Xia Minghao fears even more is that death will make women hesitant and timid, thus affecting his leadership.

Besides, the saber-toothed tigers have now been fed and pose no threat to the women of the tribe.

It seems even less worthwhile to go to such lengths for this.

Looking at the three wild boar hides, Xia Minghao thought to himself, "In the Stone Age I was timid and submissive, but in the Bronze Age I'll strike hard."

Brother Tiger, your tiger skin is worth much more than a wild boar's, so don't be stingy with it when the time comes.

Without thinking further, Xia Minghao carefully examined the wild boar hide.

At this point, the three wild boar hides had shrunk and deformed, and their texture changed from soft to dry, hard, and brittle.

Besides, even from a distance, Xia Minghao could smell a bloody, rancid odor mixed with the smell of blood.

Indeed, this animal hide still needs to be processed.

But where would we find the manpower to do that?
They are busy with all sorts of things every day, especially Xia Minghao, who is even more tired than when he was working.

We can only wait until the tribe's population grows larger.

Anyway, these animal hides aren't meant to be worn, but rather used as containers to carry water and mud back from the river later.

Soon, the remaining women brought eight shoulder blades and placed them in front of Xia Minghao.

This is the most important thing. As the saying goes, "A skilled craftsman must first have the right tools." To make pottery, we need to dig clay, and digging clay definitely requires tools.

These eight scapulae of even-toed ungulates are key to tool making.

The scapula of even-toed ungulates has a distinctive feature: it is narrow and thick at the top and wide and thin at the bottom.

You could say it's a natural "shovel".

Simply by tying the shoulder blade to a tree branch, the most primitive "shovel" was born.

In fact, the scientific name for this kind of "shovel" is bone spade. The last time I saw it was in a museum. At that time, Xia Minghao never thought that he would need to make it himself one day.

"Come here, I'll demonstrate it for you, and then you can do it yourselves."

First, he took two tree branches and, while studying and experimenting, finally tied them into the shape of a "cross".

After confirming that the binding was secure and could provide support, Xia Minghao then began to study how to bind the shoulder blades.

Tying up the shoulder blades is much more complicated than binding them into a cross; even if you manage to connect them, it's hard to get any leverage.

After studying it for a long time, the one that was finally tied up with vines was the only one that looked decent.

Stepping on the short, thick crossbar, I tried to insert the bone hoe into the soil, then pried it up, and a small patch of soil was turned over.

We'll find clay by the river. The soil there is much softer than this. Since it works here, it should be fine too.

After confirming that it could be used, he wiped the sweat from his neck and looked at the women who remained.

"Alright, that's how it's made. Do you understand?"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the women slowly nodded.

"Very good, then you can go and make it."

Finally, the task of making the bone hoe was handed over, and a dozen women, led by Hima, began to get busy.

Xia Minghao didn't rest either; he took out his entrenching tool and prepared to dig out a pottery kiln.

Unlike earthen or charcoal kilns used for barbecues, the pit Xia Minghao dug this time was particularly large.

The purpose, of course, was to fire more pottery at once.

As soon as he got his hands on it, Xia Minghao immediately experienced the convenience of modern technology.

This shovel stroke is equivalent to four or five strokes with a bone hoe, and it's much easier to dig.

The entrenching tool was made of iron, but unfortunately, Xia Minghao's body, which was used to sitting in an office, couldn't handle it.

I'd dug out a rough shape, and when I stood up, my lower back was incredibly sore.

"Chief! We've finished making all of ours!"

"Is it finished?"

Turning to look at the women, they all held bone hoes with cheerful expressions, some of them already trying to dig the soil like Xia Minghao.

"Let me see."

Walking into the group of women, Xia Minghao tried out each of the bone hoes. To his surprise, they all worked, and some were even sturdier than the one he had tied.

"Great! Let's go to the river now and dig some clay!"

(End of this chapter)