Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Pulleys, Progress, and Pregnancy
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After absorbing the Fertile Land tribe, our tribe's population swelled to six thousand.
This also meant we had the manpower to develop at a breakneck pace.
The fields expanded at a ferocious rate, and we were running ten brick kilns.
With such abundant labor, the kilns were piled high with firewood like mountains.
As evening fell, bricks poured out endlessly.
Consequently, the city walls and houses went up just as quickly, and the new outer city adjoining the fortress changed by the day.
The newcomers couldn't hide their amazement at this astonishing technology.
Anyone moving from a mud hut to a brick house would feel like they'd been transported to another planet.
Brick houses were sturdy enough that bare hands couldn't dent them—and that was thanks to the mortar.
Limestone kept arriving nonstop from the quarry, and the kilns burned quicklime without pause.
No need to mention how much more efficient things became once iron-bronze was developed.
"They bake mud into stone!"
"The roads don't even get slippery!"
"The houses stay dry even in the rain!"
Whenever the new tribe members gawked at these modern wonders, Red Mane would inevitably approach them.
"All of this is the work of the spirits."
"Spirits?"
"Spirits aren't human. If we pray to them and hold gratitude in our hearts, we can live well!"
"Really!?"
"Do you think humans could achieve all this on their own?"
"No way."
"Then pray to the spirits!"
With technology that defied common sense, Red Mane reported that the followers of the spirit faith were multiplying rapidly.
As the tribe prospered, some operations were still haphazard and fist-rule affairs, but we were gradually establishing a system.
However, with so many people gathered, incidents and accidents never ceased—sometimes fatal ones.
I hurried the compilation of laws.
In response, Black Stone and the advisors gave a less-than-satisfactory answer.
"For now, we can only proclaim that anyone who kills another will be executed."
"Why?"
"There's a perception that minor injuries don't count as crimes, and with no concept of personal property, we can't finely tune a class system. We're relying solely on the chieftain's authority."
It meant the time wasn't ripe yet, with no surplus production or notion of wealth.
Even following superiors required incentives, and all that ultimately boiled down to 'money.'
Building a system from absolute rock bottom came with massive hurdles.
We needed strong laws as a foundation, but only after a market economy matured and people gained motivation to work on their own could we impose proper sanctions.
Law originally stems from morality, after all.
Every society's laws reflect its circumstances and ethics.
In modern society, killing someone in a duel is murder, but go back to ancient times and it was often permitted.
In primitive societies where civilization was just beginning, it went without saying.
In the end, we could only proclaim that killers would be executed—excluding fair duels, of course.
This was applicable enough under current moral standards.
Black Stone and the advisors believed that refining laws and institutions would resolve naturally with time.
I agreed.
"Raising labor efficiency is the key right now."
We decided to focus on letting every tribe member live like a human being.
To birth laws, institutions, and classes, we needed surplus production.
We weren't without a system now, but it was too primitive and ad hoc.
To fix that, we had to boost productivity.
Enhancing productivity with the same workforce required technological advancement.
With the war over, it was time to seriously climb the tech tree.
I pondered what our tribe needed most.
No need for long deliberation: pulleys.
Hauling bricks to great heights was such a pain; pulleys would be useful in so many ways.
Not just for walls?
Pulleys could be used in nearly every aspect of construction and everyday life.
For that reason, research had been underway since iron-bronze development.
As tools advanced, ropes capable of bearing heavy loads were being developed too, so primitive pulleys weren't that hard to make.
The ropes were made by boiling hemp and flax husks to extract fibers, then thinly splitting and weaving horsehair and cow sinews.
The outer layer of plant fibers prevented slipping and moisture, while the inner animal fibers handled tension.
It was a technique evolved from bowstring making.
Twisting the ropes was like coiling straw ropes in the Joseon era.
Twist three strands one way, then counter-twist them the opposite way— the harder you pull, the tighter they bind.
Not difficult at all.
Once the ropes were ready, Black Stone tested their tensile strength.
"I thought three people would snap it, but five hanging on and it's fine."
"Five, huh."
The average adult male weight in this era was about 60kg.
That meant it could handle 300kg no problem.
With more testing, we could make ropes enduring 500kg—this would be a massive leap.
Reinforced ropes would open doors in countless fields, so even the civil officials looked excited despite making them themselves.
The pulley wheels had been in development for a while, but iron-bronze gave them real momentum.
We weren't casting the whole wheel in iron-bronze yet; for now, bodies were made from oak or elm.
Diameter around 30cm.
Our tribe had a standardized metric system, roughly set by my estimates—not precisely modern, but close enough.
Axles used oak planks soaked in horse fat.
Considering friction heat, we shallow-milled iron-bronze sockets to fit inside.
We smeared ash-and-oil paste lubricant inside the bushings and used washers on the axle ends to prevent uneven wear.
We made fixed and movable pulleys separately, then paired them into pulley blocks.
The fixed pulley hung from a sturdy beam atop the wall via U-brackets and iron-bronze pins; the movable one hooked to the pallet's ring with rope.
Complete.
Pulleys just needed a shift in thinking; nothing impossible to build.
Ours were double-sheave.
Two sheaves halved the required force.
With prep done, we tested the first lift.
We cross-bound fifty bricks with leather straps onto a pallet.
Theoretically good for five hundred, but first run was a test.
"Pull!"
The fixed pulley spun, the movable one followed.
Fifty bricks? One worker could handle it easily.
Heck, even a hundred solo.
The pallet passed waist height, exceeded head height, and reached the wall top.
"Whoa!"
Cheers erupted.
Eyes wide in awe.
They instinctively knew this would slash labor needs.
We ramped up the load right away.
One hundred, two hundred, three hundred bricks.
Cheers grew louder; it was just too miraculous a device.
With pulleys, cranes would emerge as tech advanced.
Once iron tools fully arrived, even I couldn't predict where we'd end up.
Yellow Hand was etching this onto stone tablets again.
Black Stone watched, deeply moved.
"Humans must advance their tools!"
Pursuing ultimate efficiency with minimal effort.
That's how humanity progressed.
"Modify the pulley a bit, and we could lift loads with livestock instead of people."
"Water buffalo over horses."
"Stronger, yeah."
Eagle's Eye and the scouts were out hunting buffalo.
Success? Perfect.
Failure? We had horses anyway.
From the moment 'horsepower' entered our vocabulary, it meant we'd assigned labor to beasts.
"Pulleys we can refine later."
"What's next?"
Civil officials trailed me, eyes sparkling.
My head must look like a magic wand to them.
Whenever I chimed in, some amazing contraption popped out.
From city planning to inventions.
Sometimes I wondered if the early bureaucrats were grinding me down or vice versa.
"Time to build a waterwheel."
"Waterwheel?"
"Think of it as an automated mill."
"Automated mill?"
"I'll let you know once the design's done."
"Great! We'll install pulleys all over the walls!"
"Could work at wells too, maybe...?"
The officials were already brainstorming among themselves.
I dove into waterwheel design in earnest.
With the right tech level, it was fully feasible.
Iron-bronze made it possible; without it, I wouldn't have even considered.
In the workshop(?), I sketched blueprints on stone slabs and pondered expanded uses.
Just powering a mill? Wasteful.
A bit more brainstorming, and it could serve multiple purposes.
As I racked my brain, a familiar voice rang out.
"Whirlwind!"
"Wise Flower. Aren't you busy with training?"
"H-H-White Flame's acting strange!"
"What?"
Wise Flower trembled like she was having spasms.
If it were White Flame's body failing, she wouldn't look this thrilled.
"No way...?"
"She's dry heaving—it looks like she's pregnant with Whirlwind's child!"