Rome Must Perish-Chapter 318 - 197: Making Charcoal and Firing Bricks

"There’s nothing we can do about it. Right now, we can’t build the blast furnace, and we can’t build the Water Hammer either (since all the carpenters have been drafted to build the bridge). We don’t even have a source for iron ore... Without these things, we can’t do anything but help others with their work. It’s not like the carpenters who can work as long as there are trees.

But we don’t need to worry. The leader and Capito value the Iron Workshop highly, and they’re anxious too. I believe it won’t be long before we can happily forge like we did in Sarabia."

"Forging happily in Sarabia?! I don’t think so. That heartless guy paid poorly, the living conditions were bad, the food wasn’t good, and he urged us to work more every day... It’s not like here, where the tribe allocates land and houses, even distributes wives, has people to help farm, and we get paid for forging. If we do well, we could become Nobles in the future. The Nix Tribe is practically an Elysian Paradise for us blacksmiths!"

"Absolutely right!" everyone loudly agreed, except for one person who stood there in a daze.

"Sistos?"

"Sistis!"

"Hmm?"

"What are you thinking about? Was it that your young wife from last night made you exhaust your energy, and now you can’t focus on work and just want to sleep?"

"Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.

Sistos ignored him.

The blacksmith continued to ask, "Sistos, am I right, is the Nix Tribe an Elysian Paradise for us blacksmiths?"

These days, their companions often teased Sistos, and he had gotten used to it and was too lazy to respond. Changing the topic, he said, "You’re all busy chatting, but this side of the dirt mound hasn’t been dug out yet."

With that, he squatted down and scooped out a piece of earth from below the dirt mound, revealing a palm-sized hole connecting to the wood inside. Then he turned back and shouted, "Sefaroyis, this dirt mound is ready!"

Sefaroyis, thin and dark-skinned, ran over, walked around the dirt mound, nodded, and said, "Not bad." Then he brought a handful of dry grass, stuffed it into the open round hole at the top of the dirt mound, lit it, and lay on the ground to check the situation inside through the small hole below.

Sistos and the other blacksmiths, as craftsmen, quickly learned to make these dirt mounds following Sefaroyis, but determining when to seal the hole after the wood inside was ignited wasn’t something they, as outsiders, could accurately judge because sealing it too early or too late would result in less charcoal production.

Experienced Sefaroyis lay on the ground, intensely focused on looking inside, not blinking even when a flame fluttered out of the hole.

After a while, he said, "It’s ready."

The blacksmiths immediately used river mud to seal all the holes at the bottom of the dirt mound and finally sealed the round hole at the top. Then they carefully checked the entire mound, covering even the slightest smoking spots with a thick layer of river mud.

Sefaroyis inspected it again and then pointed to the back, saying, "That mound over there can be opened."

Everyone rushed over and broke open the hardened clay from the fire, revealing the wood that had been stacked inside. Now, not only had all the wood turned black, but most had also broken into pieces...

Sefaroyis squatted down, flipped through the wood, occasionally picking up a few pieces to tap, and then said, "It’s alright, about ninety percent of the wood has turned into charcoal."

The blacksmiths all showed delighted expressions.

........................

On the other side, Pessianaxis and Pasipidas were working with other craftsmen on making mud bricks.

The raw material was clay dug out from five or six meters underground. After removing the impurities, it was kneaded and pounded repeatedly like dough. Then these clay balls were packed tightly into wooden brick moulds, the excess clay scraped off with a scraper, and a layer of river sand applied to prevent sticking, allowing the bricks to be turned out onto a leveled ground nearby to be sun-dried...

Not far from the brick drying area, a large wooden canopy had been erected, with a large round pit dug into the ground beneath it, six meters deep.

Some craftsmen were compacting and leveling the bottom of the pit, while others were digging a deep tunnel beside the round pit. The end of the tunnel had a square window, connecting it to the round pit. This would later be the channel for stuffing straw, dried grass, and kindling into the round pit for firing bricks.

Capito stood by the round pit, watching the busy people, and asked, "How long do those mud bricks need to dry before they can be placed into the pit for firing?"

Killerbus, a bricklayer from Sarabia, held a low and looked-down-upon status in the commercial town. But now in the Nix Tribe, he was a Second-class Tribe Member, with 60 acres of land and a thatched house, and had been appointed as the overseer of the tribal brick kiln. He cherished all this greatly, tirelessly overseeing everything.

At this moment, he waited beside his superior and respectfully replied, "About two months."

"Two months!" Capito frowned and said discontentedly, "Too long!"

Killerbus quickly said, "I’ll find a way, find a way to shorten the time, hopefully controlling it to... thirty... uh, no, about forty days."

"Forty days... is still a bit long."

"It can’t be any shorter. If it’s shorter, the bricks won’t dry enough and would easily warp and crack in the fire. These bricks are meant to build kilns, so they must be of good quality." Killerbus gently persuaded.

Capito sighed, "Seems like we haven’t timed this well. If we made the bricks in summer, when the weather’s hot, we could shorten the time some more."

"It’s not like that." Killerbus quickly explained, "Summer temperatures are too high, and the mud bricks would dry out and crack. I’ve heard it often winds and rains in summer here, which would harm the drying process. On the contrary, the temperature is okay this season, with fewer winds and less rain; it’s just the right time to dry bricks."

"Oh, then we’ve lucked out." Capito’s face relaxed a bit and pointed at the pit, asking, "How many bricks can we fire in this pit at one time? How long will it take?"

"About half a month." Killerbus had already considered this matter: "Since we’re making thick mud bricks, this kiln can produce about 3... 3000 bricks."

"3000 bricks, is that enough?"

"...Enough to build two kilns." Killerbus calculated on his fingers, "One for the pottery workshop, one for the Iron Workshop. They’re both hounding us."

Capito let out a cold laugh, "From making bricks to firing them, you need two months, firing only 3000 bricks at a time, six times a year, totaling less than 20,000 bricks. With so many places in the tribe needing bricks, you say it’s enough?! Far from it! Build more brick kilns, hire more hands, and make bricks and fire them every day to meet the entire tribe’s needs!"

"Ah?" Killerbus was stunned.

"Ah, what? Just do as I say, and if there are any difficulties, come to me directly. I’ll find the leader to help you solve them, but you must guarantee to produce at least 100,000 bricks a year! Can you do it? If not, I’ll find someone else!" Capito demanded loudly without a doubt.

"I can... I can!" Killerbus answered nervously yet excitedly. Back when he was laboring tirelessly under the sun in Sarabia for others, he never imagined he could one day be in charge of a kiln with an annual output of 100,000 bricks and dozens of subordinates.

........................

In the Segestica Main Camp, Pulikas stepped into the tribal council hall, and every time he saw the empty main seat, it caused him distress.

He quickly shifted his gaze to the seat beside the main one, where he met eyes with Cabdes, and his expression immediately turned grave.

Cabdes stood up amicably and said, "Pulikas, you’re here. Come, have a seat and a cup of water first." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Pulikas didn’t do as suggested. Instead, he sat assertively across from Cabdes and mockingly said, "Congratulations, Cabdes, you’re the Great Chief now!"

Cabdes’s face changed, and he solemnly said loudly, "Don’t talk nonsense. The Great Chief of Segestica remains one - my brave nephew, Andres!"

"Oh - is that what you really think?" Pulikas glanced at him with disbelief.

"Pulikas, do you think I’m willing to temporarily take over managing the entire tribe in Andres’s place?! You know the situation within the tribe now. Those families who’ve lost their husbands and children gather and cry at this main house’s door every day;

Those tribal leaders and Nobles who’ve escaped from the Mercenaries are in conflict because their territory’s inheritance rights have been taken by relatives, even demanding Andres take responsibility for it;

We conducted two major battles against the Mercenaries, collecting substantial resources from the tribesmen. Now some tribesmen come here to complain, saying their lives are difficult and hoping for some compensation;

Furthermore, since our retreat, that group of Skodisqi bandits have re-emerged, creating disturbances in the north. The northern tribal leaders are coming here one after another to complain, hoping we’ll send reinforcements immediately to wipe out these bandits..."

Cabdes lamented, "None of these troublesome matters are easy to resolve, let alone dealing with so many at once. I’m so busy with these every day, I can’t even find time for my favorite fishing. Do you think I want to be some damn acting Great Chief? If not for those old guys pleading, saying ’If I don’t accept, the Segestica Tribe will be doomed...’ uttering nonsense like that!"

The more Cabdes spoke, the more he got angry, pointing at Pulikas, "And you! During the last tribal meeting’s election, why did you abstain instead of opposing! If you’d opposed, you might have swayed a minority with you, giving me a reason to refuse. But no, you abstained, which was like agreeing, causing me to have to stay here every day and handle these troublesome affairs! But since you agreed, stop making these sarcastic remarks from now on—"