Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Ox Cart
When Lynn returned to the village with the villagers, the sky was completely dark.
In Guy’s wooden house.
Lynn looked at the two wild wolf cubs in the grass nest, whose eyes were yet to open.
He asked Guy, "Are you sure you can raise and tame these two wild wolf cubs?"
The wild wolf cubs were found by Kuisi in a mountain cave.
Guy shook his head, "Master Lynn, the wild wolf cubs are too small, I’m not sure if I can raise them... They still need milk..."
Lynn said, "Well, think of a way, give it a try. If they don’t survive, then let it be."
After saying this, Lynn walked out of the wooden house.
If the two wild wolf cubs can be raised and tamed, they could be of some use.
If it requires too much effort, Lynn doesn’t have the patience for it.
After dinner, Lynn went to the riverbank for a comfortable wash.
Night had deepened.
By the warm glow of the charcoal fire in the hearth, Lynn comfortably fell asleep.
...
The next day.
The bodies of twelve wild wolves were carried back by Red and several others on their shoulders.
After being opened and cleaned, all were hung in the smoking room.
Each wolf weighed about sixty to seventy pounds, making it over seven hundred pounds of meat!
Although the meat of the wild wolves was tough and chewy, it could still fill the stomach in times of food shortage.
Seeing their return, a thought instantly popped into Lynn’s mind.
Cattle cart!
Oxen can not only pull iron plows for tilling the land,
They can also be used to transport goods!
Though slower and less suited for long distances compared to draft horses, it surpasses them in endurance.
Perfect for short-distance hauling of heavy loads.
The image of a cattle cart in Lynn’s mind consisted of oxen, a chassis, and wheels...
That’s as detailed as Lynn could remember.
But... no matter!
Lynn dragged two logs to the open field.
With several villagers watching curiously, he raised the iron axe in his hand and started chopping with abandon.
Each swing of the axe sent chunks of wood flying and falling.
After splitting the pine wood logs in half, Lynn picked up the iron saw to cut the logs into planks.
[Production experience +1]
[Production experience +1]
...
As experience accumulated bit by bit, knowledge about producing cattle carts surged in Lynn’s mind and quickly integrated.
A smile appeared on Lynn’s face.
Isn’t this good?
To build a cattle cart, the first thing is to determine its purpose, whether for carrying people or transporting goods, as well as the size of the oxen, to decide the cart’s dimensions.
For heavy hauling, it’s best to use hardwood for the cart, but with so much pine wood available, Lynn didn’t need to seek out new timber.
With all the iron tools laid out, Lynn began to create the cart.
Taking up the iron hammer and chisel, he started crafting mortise and tenon joints on the wood, determining the chassis length at three meters...
As Lynn continued hammering, the wood needed for the chassis was completed.
Two beams placed parallel, the mortises of the beams inserted into the tenon holes of the longitudinal beam, then hammered to fit tightly together.
Additionally, diagonal supports were added to the chassis bottom, also using mortise and tenon joints, to enhance structural stability...
[Production experience +1]
...
Next, the wheels.
Lynn cut the timber into suitable lengths, using the fire to bend the wood into arcs, then binding with grass rope to form circular rims measuring one and a half meters...
Then, hubs were crafted from pine wood; hubs are the support points carrying the cart’s weight and must be interlinked with spokes.
Spokes were created with tenons at both ends, one end inserted into the hub’s mortise, the other into the corresponding part of the rim...
[Production experience +1]
...
Finally, the shafts.
Lynn again used mortise and tenon joints, making mortises at the front of the chassis, the tenons of the shaft’s rear end inserted and reinforced with wedges, connecting the shaft’s rear with the chassis front...
[Production experience +1]
Lynn spent three days, finally completing the cattle cart before him!
Seeing the cattle cart in front of them, Red Kuisi and others were full of shock in their eyes.
They had certainly seen cattle carts before.
But they had never seen a Lord, with just his own strength and hands, build a cattle cart!
They knew that the Lynn before them was definitely not like the Lords they had previously encountered!
Lumbering, tilling, building wooden houses, leading them in fighting against the wild wolf pack, now even able to craft a cattle cart!
It felt, Lynn was not like a lord.
More like a leader!
With the cattle cart, the efficiency of transporting goods was greatly improved.
At least for moving decomposed soil they no longer needed people to carry baskets, one basket at a time from the forest to the farmland.
Without the wild wolf pack, they no longer had to work with constant fear, letting their efficiency rise.
Outside the small village, there were already thirty acres of cultivated land.
...
The next day.
Lynn went to the farmland early.
Green sprouts began to pierce the soil covering the wheat seeds.
Kuisi and Gavin, who were out and about, also passed by the wheat seed fields.
Looking at the tender wheat sprouts, their faces filled with wonder.
A glance showed rows of soil brimming with green.
Kuisi came to Lynn’s side, excitedly saying, "Master Lynn, the wheat has sprouted, all of them have sprouted!"
Lynn nodded.
With the quality of these wheat seeds, expecting all to sprout isn’t very realistic.
However, Lynn roughly scanned around.
With the nutrient richness of decomposed soil and the elements in wood ash, the germination rate was at least above 80%!
For scatter planting, whether seeds sprout largely depends on luck.
This was an extremely frightening germination rate.
But.
Despite the fertility of decomposed soil, expecting a bountiful harvest was still a bit inadequate.
Not just for wheat.
The cotton seeds fenced by hedges also grew sprouts.
Lynn called over Gavin and Wilbur, who were not far away.
"Cultivation is temporarily over, today’s task is fertilizing the wheat field, vegetable field, and cotton field using forest decomposed soil!"
"Fertilizing?" Gavin and Wilbur looked puzzled.
Lynn looked directly at them, "Any problem?"
The two seemed troubled, "Master Lynn, we don’t know how to fertilize..."
It was the first time they heard of fertilizing crops for enhancement!
Aren’t you supposed to scatter and wait for harvest?
Lynn called over Kuisi, "Kuisi, teach them how to fertilize..."
"You can manage the cultivation from now on."
"Inform Kuisi if anything comes up, she’ll report to me."
Gavin and Wilbur nodded quickly.
Kuisi also widened her eyes.
Master Lynn was letting her manage cultivation?
Wouldn’t she be in charge?
The amount of land planted with crops was not much, only four acres for the wheat and vegetable fields combined.
Kuisi seemed to have an inexplicable talent for management.
In a mere half day, she organized Guy, Gavin, and Wilbur into an orderly fertilizing team.
Guy and Gavin drove the cattle cart to the edge of the forest to dig up decomposed soil.
Wilbur handled unloading the decomposed soil from the cart.
Wilbur’s wife Mola and Gavin’s wife Connie evenly spread the decomposed soil on the ridge backs of the rows.
...
Patapat pat~
Spring rain began to fall.
Descending on the cultivated land, bringing the nitrogen in the decomposed soil to the wheat seedlings in the earth.
Wilbur and others, having just finished fertilizing, led the oxen, braving the rain, back to their wooden houses.
Kuisi looked at the somber sky, her face was full of amazement.
"It’s exactly like Master Lynn said! Two days later there’d be spring rain..."
The spring rain lasted for a day, until the evening when it ceased.
Lynn simply let them rest half a day in the wooden house.
The unexpected half-day rest made the villagers deeply grateful to Lynn.