Chapter 430 - 3: Imparting Knowledge_2
After obtaining Chen Zhou’s approval, this native became the exclusive caretaker of the cattle and sheep.
From then on, he would gradually take over all the livestock work from Sunday to free up Sunday as a valuable labor force.
As a solitary shepherd, this native had to wake up before dawn every day, braving the rain to head to the hills.
To take care of his health, Chen Zhou specially had Saturday make some flatbreads for him and gave him plenty of jerky and chocolate to replenish his energy.
In addition, Chen Zhou also gave him a handmade straw hat to help shield him from some of the wind and rain.
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The native responsible for the livestock received such preferential treatment and was naturally grateful to Chen Zhou.
What he didn’t know was that in Chen Zhou’s mind, the treatment he would receive in the future would be much better than this.
This preferential treatment was only partly due to Chen Zhou’s care for his health, and more because of Chen Zhou’s emphasis on the cattle and sheep—
For the next two decades or so, most of the meat, leather, and dairy products on the island would come from this herd of cattle and sheep. Without taking good care of them, the diversity of the diet would drastically decrease.
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To develop animal husbandry, Chen Zhou was preparing to build shelters for the cattle and sheep after the dry season, to reduce the likelihood of them falling ill from the rain.
As for the native specifically watching over the cattle and sheep, he would also benefit from their presence, receiving a "small villa" made of wood and stone, located not far from the shelter.
Inside his small villa, there would be not only a bed and a stove but also windows and various furniture, even equipped with a storage room for milk, enough to make other natives green with envy.
Of course, being far from the core residential area, with excellent living conditions inevitably came solitude and more responsibilities.
Chen Zhou planned to teach the native the skill of castrating sheep and encouraged him to practice until he was completely proficient.
Once the native mastered it, he could essentially take full charge of the cattle and sheep affairs, and Chen Zhou would only need to send someone periodically to deliver some grain, vegetables, and spices, and take back the stored milk.
Considering safety needs, Chen Zhou also hoped this native could take on the duty of observing the beaches at the northeastern tip of Shandong.
After all, with the current small number of cattle and sheep, the herder’s work wasn’t actually that heavy.
In his daily life, he had plenty of leisure time for watching over the northeastern beach.
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Metal tools were produced at a frightening speed, so much so that the natives, after landing on the island, leaped from the Stone Age to the Iron Age in just two months.
However, as more and more metal tools were forged, Chen Zhou discovered a problem—
His stockpile of scrap metal parts was becoming increasingly depleted.
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When he was originally moving supplies from the ship, he never imagined he would start forging so quickly.
As a result, many bulky and heavy metal parts were left on the ship because they were difficult to dismantle or cumbersome to transport.
To this day, most of the small metal parts had been turned into new tools.
The slightly larger ones had also been cut with precision techniques and reused. After several months of forging, there were very few usable metal parts left.
If he wanted to forge more metal tools, he would have to either remelt the iron blades and small axes from the ship or take out the Damascus patterned steel billets and other rewarded metals.
Yet, with the immature forging furnace and heat treatment techniques, handling finished steel was undoubtedly more of a destruction than a use.
Facing the scarcity of metal resources, the first idea that popped into Chen Zhou’s mind was to salvage the shipwrecks in the sea, especially the six cannons—
If he could retrieve them, it would ease the immediate crisis.
As for a sustainable way to obtain metal resources, it would likely rely on maritime transport or choosing to mine themselves.
This Big Island wasn’t small in size, aside from the volcano, there were several undulating mountain ranges, which might have open-pit copper and iron mines.
However, there was a greater possibility that exploring a whole circuit of the island would yield nothing—
Although iron ore was a common resource on the mainland, finding a quality iron mine ready for extraction on an island in the vast ocean was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Chen Zhou thought there might be this possibility but never placed the key to obtaining metal resources on finding them locally.
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Ever since he came up with the idea of going out to sea to salvage the shipwrecks and cannons, this thought had taken root in Chen Zhou’s mind.
On September 15th, after receiving a large box of portable compasses as the seventy-second mysterious reward, as the island entered the late rainy season and the rainfall intensity significantly decreased, Chen Zhou’s urge to go out to sea became increasingly active.
But after all, it was still September then.
The sea was capricious, calm one hour, and the next, it could stir up massive waves, swallowing everything on the sea surface.
Whether from the perspective of a challenger or the viewpoint of a small island leader, going to sea with such risk wasn’t a wise move.
Even if the sea held not just a pile of scrap metal but treasures worth billions, it still wouldn’t be worth risking one’s life.
To temporarily dispel this dangerous thought, Chen Zhou huddled in his cave dwelling, reading the original text of Robinson Crusoe for several consecutive days.
Through Robinson’s experiences, he reminded himself—that anything encountered at sea would be unknown.
Even an old sailor like Robinson had almost been swept into the deep sea by ocean currents, let alone someone like him with no sailing experience.