Chapter 355 - 154: Martial God Wang Lingguan
After two consecutive nights without much rest, on December 21st, Chen Zhou slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up.
After dressing and a quick wash, worried that the two indigenous people might ignore his warnings and play with fire outdoors, he first climbed the wall and took a look outside.
In the distance, he only saw the two indigenous people squatting beside the wooden house. In front of them was a large clay basin, with their hands in it, seemingly washing clothes seriously, but in reality, playing with the bubbles.
Shaking his head helplessly, thinking to remind them later to use the detergent sparingly, Chen Zhou returned to the cave.
Although the mysterious reward provided a substantial 400 pounds of detergent, the challenge lasted a long time. If they used it freely, it would last only about ten years.
As he reminded himself not to forget to advise the indigenous people to conserve resources, Chen Zhou had just stepped into the kitchen when he remembered that the detergent might not last ten years—
The shelf life of the detergent was only 24 months. Even if it could remain effective for another three to five years after the expiration date, it would only have a maximum effective period of seven years.
He had no reason to worry about whether the detergent would be enough because even if there was enough, it wouldn't last until then.
"Forget it, they're just kids who haven't seen much of the world, let them enjoy themselves for a while."
Chen Zhou finally chose to compromise.
...
Since rescuing the indigenous people on December 18th, Chen Zhou had been busy taking care of them for several days, neglecting the management of the fields and sheep.
Remembering that the purpose of rescuing the indigenous people was to relieve his own pressure, on the 21st, besides reinforcing the life skills the indigenous had learned the day before, Chen Zhou officially began to introduce them to important work.
...
The painstakingly drawn white clay board textbooks came into play.
Chen Zhou set up a rack beside the small wooden house, neatly arranging the white clay boards in a row, then led the two indigenous people to visit the farmland, demonstrating how to plant, irrigate, and weed.
During this process, the two indigenous people learned new vocabulary—rice, barley, wheat.
They understood the importance of these peculiar plants planted around the house through Chen Zhou's serious tone.
And from the clear diagrams on the white clay boards, they learned how plants grew from seeds, bloomed, and withered over time.
These were unprecedented knowledge in the tribe, filling them with curiosity and overturning their understanding of the world.
Previously, most of their knowledge came from the priests, who never explained these things to them.
According to the priests, everything in the world was a gift from the gods; the gods made trees bear edible fruits, and made fish appear in the water.
Gentle beasts were gifts from the gods, while fierce beasts were claws for divine punishment...
If they were hungry, it was because they did not respect the gods enough; if they were full, it was the gods' protection.
Everyone in the tribe believed in the existence of the gods, and most were convinced that the priests could indeed communicate with them. No one had ever told them that without gods, fruit could still grow.
Those trees did not need their gratitude, worship, or sacrificial rites; they only needed sunlight and water, with perhaps a little fertilizer.
...
The more they learned, the more questions they had. Doluru had a lot of things he wanted to ask Chen Zhou.
But he couldn't understand Chen Zhou's language, and Chen Zhou couldn't understand his, so he could only quietly note down many things in his heart and discuss them with Ah Tun at night.
...
Originally intending to take the two indigenous people to see the sheep, Chen Zhou found that the teaching took much longer than he had imagined.
Until nightfall, he couldn't find time to leave the farmland, only letting the indigenous people repeatedly reinforce what they had learned to prevent future mistakes.
...
Worried that the indigenous people were learning too much and might not be able to digest it all at once.
From December 22nd onwards, Chen Zhou would personally take the indigenous people to work in the fields every day, helping them cultivate proper living habits.
For the rest of the time, he would go alone to take care of the sheep near the hills and tend to the sugarcane fields by the mountain stream.
Wild sugarcane was planted in the ground, and although much thinner than the modern improved varieties and with plenty of fibers, it was tough, adaptable, and could grow without much nutrients.
So far, the sugarcane field has steadily expanded to nearly an acre.
After the two indigenous people fully grasped how to care for the farmland and sheep, Chen Zhou planned to push a cart to the River Valley Plain to bring back more sugarcane.
Ideally, he could expand the sugarcane field to three to five acres in one go, allowing for early sugar production.
...
Apart from teaching the indigenous people life skills as soon as possible, Chen Zhou was always troubled by their religious beliefs.
Clearly, since being rescued, the god the two indigenous youths once had in their hearts had completely crumbled.
Even if their priest were to come back to life and find them on the island, it would be unlikely to reestablish the idol they called "Benamaki."
After all, compared to advanced technology, the so-called god's power seemed too mediocre.
...
The indigenous youths did not know how to hide their emotions, and after a few days, from their behavior, Chen Zhou realized that they regarded him as their new god.
This feeling of blind worship might make some people feel gratified, but for Chen Zhou, it brought more trouble and discomfort.
He once thought about dressing himself up as a "new priest," then leading the two indigenous people to the Temple of Wang Lingguan he painstakingly built to create a new god for them.
However, with a modern mindset, in order to help the indigenous people properly tend to the fields and sheep, he had already taught them a lot of correct, materialism-based knowledge.
In the eyes of the indigenous people, food was arguably the most important resource in the world.
Once they realized that food was not a divine gift but something grown from the ground, building the concept of an "almighty god" became very challenging.
Furthermore, Chen Zhou knew well that Wang Lingguan held no authority related to food.
It's more credible to say he punished evil, symbolized valor and thunder.
...
"If I can't give Wang Lingguan authority over food.
Then can I grant the power of firearms and martial prowess to this Daoist guardian deity?"
On the night of December 28th, close to the year 1662, Chen Zhou had a sudden inspiration.
"Food and livestock are natural laws you can understand after observing for a few years.
But firearms, to the indigenous people, were akin to something from beyond the heavens. Even if I wanted to explain the principles of firearms to them, they wouldn't comprehend it."
"In that case, why not attribute all my rewards and personal martial prowess to Wang Lingguan?
Make these two believe that as long as they devoutly worship the new Martial God, they too can achieve invincible power."
Sitting at his desk, Chen Zhou scratched his messy hair, slapped his forehead, and decided to arrange it this way.
...
In indigenous survival, the three most important aspects, the first should be food; without food, survival is impossible.
The second should be reproduction, visible from numerous ancient artifacts with fertility worship.
The third, Chen Zhou believed, must be force.
Force is the foundation of conquest and annexation; as long as they have force, the primitive tribes could plunder others' food and women, expanding themselves.
Worshiping a new god representing force aids his rule over the two indigenous people, and if he rescues more indigenous people in the future, or even confronts Spanish raiders, it helps in convincing them to charge into battle.
As for the work aspect, in Chen Zhou's view, even if he didn't find excuses to order the indigenous to farm and shepherd sheep, they would still do it well on their own initiative.
The longing for food had long been embedded in their bones through prolonged survival.