Chapter 49
The snow on the copper mine began to melt a little, revealing some grass.
Lawrence was also able to work, so he took the initiative to do something.
It was a nice day and Lawrence chose a good spot for digging a hole near the house.
It was one or two o'clock in the afternoon. The noon sun melted the snow, and the snow water moistened the ground.
Lawrence inserted a wooden spade that looked like a large spatula into the ground, stepped on the upper edge with his feet, and used his own weight to insert the sharp end into the soil.
Soon Lawrence lowered the handle and dug out a shovel of dirt.
Today I am going to make charcoal.
Making charcoal does not require a pit, the soil is dug for the fire extinguisher and the soil to weigh down the wood.
The soil pit will not be wasted, and the soil will be used as compost.
Manure needs a long period of time to settle before it can be used as fertilizer, and fresher is not always better.
And it requires a certain amount of neutralization, the thinner the better.
This was Lawrence's first attempt. He had never tried this backward method of fertilizing the fields when he was on the farm.
First, there is not much farmland at home, and everyone handles it very casually. The most important thing is the management of livestock.
Second, sometimes the fertilizers used are too high-end, and Lawrence always stays away from them.
What the savages cultivate and water is not human excrement.
It's human blood!
Barbarians do not like to keep prisoners, and they do not have extra manpower to take care of prisoners who do not understand the language.
After killing people, the blood and corpses will be used to fertilize the fields, especially the fodder for large wild boars and long-haired cattle, which use this high-end fertilizer.
This kind of high-end game is not something Lawrence can advise at all.
Lawrence knew what a savage was from the first day he entered this world.
There are also many simple waste materials, such as green manure made from wheat straw, grass roots, green plants, etc.
Lawrence didn't want to think about red fertilizer and green fertilizer, and he also maintained a cautious attitude towards the use of waste materials. He planned to find a place to conduct an experiment first.
"Can you make a flush toilet?"
Lawrence thought about how to make his butt more comfortable, but quickly shook his head.
"It's not possible for now, let's talk about it next year."
Nowadays, going to the toilet is mainly done by squatting in a pit. Traditional farmers will feed pigs with excrement, but Andrew doesn't like this practice and does not raise pigs.
Lawrence's three little pigs eat grain and are much happier than the domestic pigs down the mountain.
"First burn a hundred kilograms of charcoal, and then eat mutton-boiled in a hanging pot when it snows in winter!!"
Lawrence set a goal that was very easy to achieve, and soon continued to work hard to dig a hole.
Charcoal burning is done outdoors. A pile of wood is piled together, leaving a gap for air in the middle. After burning for a period of time, it is quickly extinguished with soil. After smoldering for a period of time, the charcoal inside can be taken out.
This kind of thing is very simple and not difficult. The only trouble is time control.
Only experienced charcoal burners can skillfully master the heat and know when the charcoal burns best, and there will be no defective products that are half charcoal and half wood.
While Lawrence was concentrating on his work, Sophia's shouts were heard in the distance.
"Master! I picked up something good!"
Lawrence raised his head full of confusion and looked around. After a few seconds, he saw Sophia wearing a simple linen dress at the foot of the distant hillside.
Sophia stood fifty meters away waving her hands at Lawrence, with Salil standing next to her. Lawrence dropped the wooden shovel and walked over there. He looked carefully, but still didn't see what Sophia had gotten.
As the distance got closer, Lawrence finally saw the stone Sofia was stepping on two meters away.
A green stone?
"What is this?" Lawrence couldn't understand Sophia's abilities.
Saril next to her looked at Lawrence strangely, "Lawrence, don't you even know copper stone? This is the raw material for making copperware, and it can be turned into copper blocks in the blacksmith's furnace." Saril said affirmatively:
" I used to find this kind of stone nearby, and my father took it to the blacksmith in exchange for wine and meat. Such a large piece of copper stone should be able to be exchanged for a chicken."
Copper ore?
Only then did Lawrence think of copper ore. Looking at the green stone in front of him, he felt that he could also burn bronze.
"Of course I know him. We are not short of food now. I will process this and try to make a copper pot!"
Lawrence wanted to eat hot pot. After getting the bronze ore that was easy to process, he did not choose to make weapons. I want to make a copper pot for eating mutton.
Sophia said happily: "I discovered this! Today I changed the pasture to graze the sheep and discovered this!"
Lawrence knew exactly what was going on.
The snow melted today, and the sheep went to eat on their own where there was grass. Sophia just followed them and stood guard.
"Well, you did a good job." Lawrence complimented perfunctorily, squatting down and lifting the big stone with his hands.
After moving it, I roughly determined the weight, which was thirty to forty pounds.
Seeing how hard Lawrence was struggling, Salil said directly: "I'm here to move in. Your hands are not healed yet, so don't do something that can easily hurt you." Lawrence knew that
Salil was very strong, and wanted to show off, but Salil I had already snatched the stone without any explanation.
Perhaps inheriting Andrew's strength, Salil put the stone on her shoulders with both hands, and then while holding the stone with one hand, she also carried the bucket towards the house on the hillside.
Lawrence thought he didn't have the ability, so he followed behind in a low-key manner.
Sophia quickly followed over and said, "Master, there are a lot of green stones there, can we move them all over?" "
No, this one will do." Lawrence warned: "Don't tell others that there are a lot of copper stones here. It will be troublesome if you know it."
Sophia was confused for a while and quickly explained: "But Salil has known it for a long time. Didn't I just say that the blacksmith in the town knew it?"
Lawrence thought for a moment and sighed: "Oh , I forgot about Andrew."
Worried that Sophia didn't understand, Lawrence explained: "I thought that after others knew that there was rich copper ore here, they would come and rob it, and seek wealth and death." "
But Andrew is obviously the one who is qualified to rob it. As a group, with him here, others will choose to buy rather than rob."
Lawrence felt that Andrew was the one collecting protection fees. If he built a house here, then the copper mine here would be named Andrew.
It’s not that the village doesn’t know that there is copper ore here. Firstly, the demand is not high, and secondly, the people who collect copper ore are also friends of Andrew, so they don’t dare to take the idea here.
It's like a place where martial arts masters live in seclusion, and occasionally they can be productive.
Sophia nodded, "Then I will continue to herd the sheep."
"Go." Lawrence felt that there was no change in his life, so he continued to dig holes to make charcoal.
Lawrence used to think that Andrew was a powerful hunter and a powerful man who could speak well in the town of Pumexiu.
But today I thought about many things, especially the iron axes, iron swords, iron daggers, shovels, and sickles hanging in Andrew's house.
Lawrence found that Andrew was more like a village bully and a wealthy man in this era.
Salil is probably the village beauty, right?
Lawrence continued to dig the hole with his wooden shovel.
If you marry a village girl, you may save ten years of detours! !
(End of chapter)