Chapter 364 - 158: Charcoal Kiln, Part 2
Seeing this scene, Chen Zhou only gave a faint smile on the surface, yet he felt a warm sensation in his heart.
He could sense the feeling from the two indigenous youths towards him as if treating him like a father, or someone they respect and trust even more.
However, their identity as Cannibal Tribes made him hesitant to fully trust them, much like Robinson had a long period of mistrust towards Friday in the book.
To demonstrate loyalty, beyond the respect and obedience during peacetime, there is a need for courageous acts and sacrifices in wartime to prove bravery and a willingness to risk everything for their leader.
...
After the new year began, Chen Zhou led the indigenous people to the beach only twice, on January 3rd and January 18th, to claim his fifty-fifth and fifty-sixth mysterious rewards.
The appearance of these two rewards was not as shocking as the last, brought by the Iron Massacre, as they were small cardboard boxes.
The fifty-fifth reward contained a pair of exquisite outdoor gloves, designed to be windproof and warm.
As it was unbearably hot on the island, Chen Zhou couldn't use these gloves, so he stored them in a wooden box.
The fifty-sixth reward box was slightly larger, containing a pair of sneakers suitable for summer.
But to Chen Zhou's annoyance, the shoes were three to four sizes smaller than his feet, making it impossible for him to wear them even if he tried his hardest.
However, the feet of the two indigenous youths seemed as if they were made for these shoes; at a glance, it was obvious they fit them perfectly.
But having just given a gift for New Year's, Chen Zhou wouldn't easily give away such a precious pair of shoes, even if they fit the indigenous youths' feet.
Moreover, there was only one pair of shoes, but two youths; it wouldn't do to have one wear the left shoe and the other wear the right!
He could only store the shoes silently, observing the performance of the two youths, planning to reward the shoes as a divine gift to whoever excelled or made a significant contribution.
...
For the rest of the month, he confidently entrusted the crops and sheep to Saturday and Sunday. Apart from compiling teaching materials at night and occasionally teaching the two indigenous youths how to write, he wholeheartedly devoted himself to building the charcoal kiln.
It took Chen Zhou a full two days just to choose the site for the charcoal kiln.
Initially, he planned to establish the charcoal kiln near the cave.
After reconsidering, he realized the smoke and dust from the kiln would be harmful to health.
Moreover, the rising smoke is like a beacon, easily revealing the location of the cave.
He chose the shaded area for the cave in the first place to find a sufficiently hidden spot to avoid potential enemy attacks; building a "beacon" would contradict that purpose.
Aside from pollution and smoke, another drawback of the shaded area is its poor ventilation and lack of dryness.
The wind tends to blow on the sunny slopes, and poor ventilation hinders combustion within the kiln. The damp and absorbent soil would also affect the quality of the charcoal.
After searching around, Chen Zhou finally decided to build the charcoal kiln on the mountainside, below the sunny slope, near the rubble heap.
The land there is dry, close to the white earth, saving much effort in transporting building materials. Additionally, the rubble heap's proximity to the forest allows for easy transportation and storage of logs beside the kiln, facilitating production.
The requirement for ventilation is also perfectly met by the rubble heap.
...
Before formally starting, Chen Zhou built several small charcoal kilns near the site based on his experience in constructing soil grinding and water mills, experimenting to understand how to build a qualified charcoal kiln.
The process of building a charcoal kiln isn't actually complicated.
The first step is digging a pit, a deep pit enough to accommodate the wood.
The second step is constructing the kiln wall with bricks or rammed earth; it needs to be thick and solid enough to withstand the burn and resist damage from wind and rain.
Once the kiln wall is built, a chimney must be opened at the back, extending from the pit to the ground.
A crucial structure is the fire pit for ignition.
It's located at the front of the kiln, lower than the kiln bottom, allowing the fire to directly ignite the wood above.
Another key structure is the vent left at the top of the kiln, used to observe the fire and assess conditions inside the kiln.
Without this vent, one would be groping around in the dark during charcoal burning, relying only on experience to judge the wood's condition inside, greatly reducing success rates.
Another essential structure is the kiln door.
The kiln door's primary function is to ensure the kiln's airtightness; otherwise, once oxygen floods in, charcoal might burn to ashes instead of carbonizing.
After addressing these key structures, various factors come into play for producing high-quality charcoal, including the choice of wood. Where Chen Zhou is from, pine is typically used, but other hardwoods can suffice in its absence; generally, the denser the wood, the better it burns.
Additionally, there's how the wood is stacked.
Inside the kiln, wood is typically upright or slanted, with the thick end facing up, forming an arch around the center.
If arranged by zones, quality wood is placed at the back, and inferior wood at the front.
In Chen Zhou's grandmother's village, there was a charcoal kiln relic from the Republic of China era, where he often played with friends as a child and heard elders talk about how charcoal kilns worked.
But many details have sunk deep into the sea of his memories.
He only remembers that after igniting the wood inside, the key is to control the oxygen; first ventilate well to let the wood burn sufficiently, then gradually seal the kiln door to reduce incoming oxygen, leading the wood into an oxygen-free carbonization stage.