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

Chapter 79: They actually dug up this thing?

With no signs of any carnivorous predators around, Xia Minghao reinforced the fence around the ewes as usual.

I thought everything was foolproof, but I never expected that saber-toothed tiger would actually show up.

The saber-toothed tiger had to die. After all, the only suitable place for animal husbandry was outside. With this damned saber-toothed tiger around, catching and eating one after another, how could we possibly manage?

Moreover, saber-toothed tigers could also threaten the lives of the Xia tribe.

Looking at the ewe's carcass, Xia Minghao couldn't help but feel helpless.

Since things have come to this, all we can do is have an extra late-night snack...

The next morning, Xia Minghao told Daka that the trip to the Da tribe would be postponed by one day.

Upon hearing this, Daka showed no displeasure; instead, he nodded happily.

Because this means he can eat his fill of meat one more time.

Xia Minghao then began to devise a plan to kill the saber-toothed tiger.

Last night, Xia Minghao also noticed the characteristics of the saber-toothed tiger after just one encounter.

It has explosive power, great strength, and is also agile.

No wonder Earth's saber-toothed tiger relatives were called the "Saber-toothed Dynasty"!
Besides, the saber-toothed tigers in this world are enhanced versions...

Therefore, if they want a direct confrontation, they will still run away.

Naturally, the method of using traps to lure prey is still necessary.

Xia Minghao directly ordered the men of the Li tribe to go hunting; the prey could not be small and had to be alive.

At the same time, it also prompted everyone to start digging the deep pit traps again.

The deep pit trap was dug at the entrance of the cave, but no longer next to the old tree, but in an open space.

The old tree was surrounded by intertwined roots and dense soil, and since a bone hoe was used, the digging was extremely difficult.

After everyone had settled their tasks, Xia Minghao also joined in, bringing his entrenching tool.

A pit that can trap a saber-toothed tiger must not be shallow. Even if everyone came to dig, Xia Minghao was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to finish digging it all.

The soil here is hard, and the effectiveness of the entrenching tool was immediately apparent.

An entrenching shovel can dig as fast as ten bone hoes.

With over twenty bone hoes and an entrenching tool, the group worked enthusiastically.

Xia Minghao's wrists ached from digging, but he didn't put away the entrenching tool. Instead, he gave it to the others, and they took turns using it to increase the speed of digging.

As the pit grew deeper and deeper, reaching about two or three meters, Xia Minghao suddenly remembered the slope support issues during the excavation process from his textbook.

If we dig even deeper, shouldn't we also install slope protection?

What if the pit collapses while we're digging and buries the people inside?

He turned around, intending to find a twig to draw some calculations on the ground.

But then they heard the voice of Shia, who had also come to help with the excavation, coming from the pit.

"Chief! Look at this stone, it's so strange!"

Stone?

Xia Minghao walked to the edge of the pit and saw that Xia Ya looked curious, so he picked up a clod of dirt.

After wiping away the mud, Xia Minghao examined it carefully.

The soil was mixed with a reddish substance that looked like rust...

I touched it, and it didn't feel like soil at all; it really felt like touching rust!
iron?
iron ore?!
“Chief, I found this when I was digging for clay in the mountains.”

You dug one up too?
Previously, Shia had not participated in the clay digging work, but had been teaching the children.

“Yes, I dug one up too, isn’t this a clod of earth, Chief?”

"After we dug it out, we just threw it aside."

More and more people who had participated in digging clay began to speak up.

"Keep digging."

Xia Minghao was already extremely upset because of the death of the ewe.

But at that moment, the gloom on his face vanished instantly.

Back in the mountains, without even using the water in the earthenware jar, they went straight to the salt spring and began to rinse themselves.

As the outer soil was washed away, a stone inside finally came into view.

But the stone gleamed with a metallic sheen!

A quick lift reveals that this stone is considerably heavier than ordinary stones.

It's definitely iron ore!
To confirm this again, Xia Minghao thought of his compass.

There are magnets inside a compass.

It wasn't much, but it was definitely enough. When I took out the magnet and held it close to the iron ore, sure enough, it attracted it!

In an instant, I thought of the clay here and the refined salt from the salt springs.

No wonder everything is red; it turns out there's iron ore in these mountains. The iron elements mixed in are what give the salt and clay their reddish hue.

Upon arriving at the clay excavation site, Xia Minghao began searching for the clay that the others had mentioned digging up.

Because bone hoes are not suitable for deep digging, they are only used for shallow digging of clay, and the area and scope of clay digging is not small.

Even so, Xia Minghao still easily found the iron ore that had been casually tossed aside and would not have been noticed without careful observation.

Fortunately, Xia Minghao had the keen eye for detail, otherwise it would have taken him quite a while to learn that there was actually an iron ore deposit beneath the salt spring.

The quantity of these small iron ore deposits is quite substantial, indicating that the iron resources of Yanquan Mountain are considerable.

Xia Minghao collected a large pile and washed them one by one.

Seeing the metallic sheen shimmering in the sunlight filled me with joy.

But after the initial euphoria, Xia Minghao regained his senses.

Iron ore is not difficult to find in nature. The reason why iron is more widely available than copper is because its natural reserves are much larger.

The Yanquanshan Iron Mine will indeed save a lot of effort in finding iron resources in the future.

However, this does not mean that we can skip the Bronze Age and jump directly into the Iron Age.

Smelting technology and smelting temperature are not really the problem.

In terms of smelting technology, although Xia Minghao is not a professional, he has a modern way of thinking, so it is not difficult for him to make improvements and make it mature.

As for smelting temperature, with charcoal and leaves acting as a blower, it's not a problem at all.

But does that mean there's no problem?

However, there is a very serious problem: the materials.

Iron needs to be forged and refined through repeated hammering; otherwise, what is produced is just sponge iron, which cannot be molded into useful ironware.

To mold sponge iron into truly useful ironware, you need two things.

Hammer and anvil.

Using stone tools to make anvils would be too difficult due to their inherent strength, and making hammers would be even more impractical.

I remember when I was slacking off at work, I saw a wilderness survival show filmed by foreigners.

A white woman, shirtless, was using a stone hammer to smash sponge iron. The sponge iron didn't change at all, and the hammer shattered instantly.

Only bronze could provide sufficient strength to lay a solid material science foundation for blacksmithing.

This is why no civilization has been able to skip the Bronze Age and directly develop iron tools.

Now that iron ore has been found, the Xia tribe can indeed seamlessly transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

Moreover, it can be described as an accelerated transition, a rapid forward run!

As long as we can make hammers and anvils from bronze and figure out the technology of iron smelting, we can immediately jump to the Iron Age.

But the prerequisite is that we must first enter the Bronze Age!

But the problem is, malachite, where the hell are you?!

……

……

……

"Chief, the people from the Sacred Tree Tribe are here again. They want us to exchange salt for them. They're willing to give us more game in return."

Wolfskin walked up to Damon and said.

Damon then had the wolf skin refuse again.

Where can you find salt now?

The salt springs already belong to the Xia tribe, and even the salt-gathering team hasn't returned.

Wolfskin went to report, but unexpectedly returned after a while.

Damon looked over, and then Wolfskin spoke up.

"Chief, the Divine Tree Tribe has brought a blue stone, claiming it's a divine stone bestowed upon them by the Divine Tree. They want to trade it with us."

"They also said that if we don't exchange it with them, the sacred tree will bring disaster upon us."

Damon was no longer going to pay attention to the arrogant Tree of Gods tribe. He once again told Wolfskin to refuse and not to reply to anything Wolfskin said.

After the wolfskin left, Damon also went outside and looked at the reeds in the distance.

Then his gaze turned to the riverbank, which was in the direction of the Xia tribe.

Why hasn't the chief of the Xia tribe arrived yet...?

(End of this chapter)