Chapter 068: Crafting a Vessel

"Give this new saw a try, and if it doesn't work, we'll make adjustments."

"Alright, let me test it."

Luo Chong picked up a bow saw nearly 70 centimeters in length from the ground. He rubbed his blackened hands on the snow before taking it. The saw's wooden frame was shaped like the letter 'H', with the saw blade on one side and a hemp rope on the other, leveraging the principle of a lever, tightening the rope straightens the blade more effectively.

The copper saw blade, perforated at both ends, was mounted on two copper pins on the frame, forming a specific angle with the wood, optimizing cutting efficiency. Luo Chong placed the saw on the freshly marked line on a log and pulled vigorously.

As sawdust flew about, a neat slit swiftly devoured the ink line, moving rapidly along the log's length.

"Good, that's the way! Make 20 more like this. Do we have enough copper?" Luo Chong inquired, setting down the saw.

The lame man counted on his fingers and pondered, "Yes, enough. The saw blades don't require much material."

"Then proceed without fear of wasting any."

The Han tribe's copper supplies were nearly depleted, with various tools, weapons, and household items all requiring metal, and many more uses for copper still pending. Currently, the tribe didn't even possess a single copper pot. Come spring, aside from spring plowing and salt extraction, mining for copper would also resume.

Speaking of mining, Luo Chong also recalled another vital element—boats, or rather, vessels.

As the saying goes, 'a vessel with a cover is a boat; without one, it is merely a vessel.' Luo Chong intended to build just that—a vessel.

With spring's arrival, the Han tribe had numerous tasks ahead, but mining copper was imperative. From the Han tribe's location along the small river, traveling upstream by foot would take half a day. Transporting ore back would require a significant number of animals, consuming time, effort, and provisions.

Using ox carts would necessitate road construction, and in the primitive environmental conditions, some areas were impassable even for ox carts, which also wouldn't greatly increase speed, only load capacity.

However, if ore could be loaded onto a vessel directly from the tribe's location and floated downstream, what took half a day by foot could be reduced to an hour. Moreover, water transport could carry more than land transport, making it essential for the Han tribe to possess a small boat.

Considering the vessel would be used primarily on an inland river for cargo, it should be a flat-bottomed boat with slightly upturned ends and a square shape.

A flat-bottomed boat draws little water, ideal for inland rivers where the depth varies unpredictably. Even in shallow waters, a flat-bottomed boat, resembling a large wooden basin, would float without grounding—a safer and more passable option.

Given the river's widest part was just over 10 meters, Luo Chong decided the boat should be three meters wide and eight meters long, achieving a length-to-width ratio of 2.7. This would ensure a decent speed and lateral stability, important for a tribe inexperienced with watercraft.

Generally, the greater the length-to-width ratio, the more streamlined the vessel, reducing resistance according to fluid dynamics, thus enhancing speed.

The boat would be three meters wide at the gunwales, tapering to two meters at the bottom and 1.8 meters at the ends. The gunwales would stand one meter high. Since it was flat-bottomed, the maximum draft was likely no more than half a meter—it was essentially a long, rectangular wooden basin.

Such a vessel would have significant carrying capacity; if transporting people, it could easily accommodate twenty to thirty adults, or two to three tons of ore per trip, along with four to five people to navigate.

With the Han tribe's limited population, Luo Chong couldn't afford to allocate many to mining—it had to be efficient, ensuring sufficient supply for a period.

Now, with the advent of the bow saw, turning logs into planks was no longer a challenge, and the issue of hull planks was resolved.

For the boat's eight-meter long flat-bottomed hull, two keels and seven U-shaped ribs were used, spaced a meter apart. The ribs were made of pine, while the hull planks were crafted from the core wood of cedar, the outer layers of which had been used for making longbows.

As for paddles, they were unnecessary; a copper shovel would suffice, serving multiple purposes as a paddle, weapon, and tool…

Curiosity abounded among the tribe about the leader's new creation. Only those from the original tree tribe had some inkling, having seen Luo Chong craft kayaks from branches and fish skins before, a similar principle to this flat-bottomed wooden boat.

As the day neared evening, Luo Chong supervised the work. A lookout on the wall suddenly shouted.

"Chief, there are about twenty people coming from the east, by the small river. They seem to be from the Black Rat tribe, heading this way."

"Oh?"

Luo Chong was taken aback, quickly climbing the wall to see. From afar, he could see Shu Da leading ten adults and ten boys towards them, puzzled why they were returning so soon for another trade, especially with so many young boys. The Black Rat tribe, after all, only numbered about 150.

The thirteen individuals traded from the Black Rat tribe during the previous exchange, hearing the shout, hurried over to see if any of their relatives were among the newcomers.

Following behind Shu Da, the ten boys from the Chestnut tribe were equally bewildered, full of questions.

They knew they had been traded by their chief to the Black Rat tribe in exchange for five red stone basins. Though they understood the value of the basins and held no grievances about the trade—after all, the Black Rat tribe was still their neighbor, and they might still see their families—the suddenness puzzled them.

After a few minutes, Shu Da reached the gate, looking up at the wall which seemed to have grown taller. Then, peering through the gateway at the densely packed drying meats and hides and the herds of large livestock grazing inside, his eyes nearly popped out. If not for the sight of Luo Chong wearing a golden crown, he would have thought he'd taken a wrong turn.

"Gurgle, is… is this the Han tribe? I'm Shu Da, here to trade pottery."

Shu Da involuntarily swallowed, his voice quivering slightly with uncertainty.