Chapter 93: Weaving wooden walls, erecting crossbeams, binding rafters, and weaving fences.
Due to the arrival of these deer, the Green Sparrow Tribe was filled with joy, but along with the joy, there was also some concern in the hearts of the three leaders of the Green Sparrow Tribe: Han Cheng, Shaman, and the Eldest Senior Brother.
This concern stemmed from the Pig Tribe. It had been ten days since the visit of the Pig Tribe, and Shaman, who was highly concerned about this matter, had marked ten lines on a clay tablet to keep track of time.
The food provided by the Eldest Senior Brother would last them five or six days at most. According to calculations, the Pig Tribe should have arrived at least three days ago. However, as of now, Han Cheng and the others haven't seen any sign of the Pig Tribe.
This made those who were eager to integrate the Pig Tribe into the Green Sparrow Tribe feel anxious. They wondered if the Pig Tribe had found prey or secured food from other tribes.
The possibilities were numerous, and all Han Cheng and the others could do was anxiously wait.
As for checking on the Pig Tribe, they decided against it. Spending the night outdoors, especially in winter, was dangerous. Not many tribes were willing to stay overnight outdoors unless necessary.
While waiting for the Pig Tribe, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe didn't remain idle. They had their tasks, led by the Han Cheng, to continue building the deer pen.
Han Cheng initially considered covering the entire deer pen with a roof. However, after careful consideration, he abandoned this idea due to poor lighting and the work required.
After much thought, Han Cheng decided on a compromise: covering one-fifth of the deer pen with a roof and leaving the rest open.
This way, when the weather was good, the deer could bask in the sun and roam freely in the open area. On bad weather days, they could seek shelter under the roof, providing a dry place even during rain or snow.
The construction process wasn't too difficult. They started by drawing a north-south straight line ten meters east of the deer pen's east end. This line would serve as the dividing wall, splitting the deer pen into two parts.
Once the line was drawn, they dug pits along it at one-meter intervals, planting thick posts. These posts were thicker, about the size of a bowl rim.
These posts were higher than the elevated areas at the edges by over a meter. This height difference created a slope for better drainage when constructing the roof.
After the posts were erected, they began weaving with branches. However, this weaving was taller than the previous ones, reaching from the ground to the top.
This kind of weaving was deemed necessary since this was intended to create a wall that could shelter from wind and rain. However, the weaving this time wasn't as dense as before, as later on, Han Cheng planned to apply mud on both sides of the fence. Therefore, there was no need for it to be as tightly woven.
Of course, not all gaps between the posts needed branch weaving. If they did that, there would be no way in or out. At the southern end, Han Cheng deliberately left three openings for the deer to move between the two areas.
They began weaving with branches for the top part of these openings, starting from a height of 1.6 meters above the ground.
A horizontal post, which could be called a beam, was laid at the top of this row of posts. This was done to make the structure more robust between the posts and also prepare for the later placement of rafters.
Because they didn't have screws shaped like the letter "" (gng), fixing the wooden beams was a bit tricky. They could only use tough vines to tie and fasten them as securely as possible.
For the Green Sparrow Tribe, this was already considered high-altitude work.
However, under Han Cheng's guidance during the enclosure wall construction, they erected many stands made of wood for stepping. Han Cheng was naturally unwilling to destroy these stands, so they came in handy now.
This wall on the west side, let's call it a wall, was ten meters away from the one previously built on the east side. The span was too large, making it difficult to put rafters when building the roof.
One reason was the difficulty of finding suitable and long enough branches for rafters, and the other reason was that the gap was too large, making it less stable. After building the roof, it could easily collapse due to the large opening. That is, the roof was prone to collapsing.
So, Han Cheng planted two rows of additional posts inside and erected another horizontal beam on each. This way, these two horizontal beams divided the original ten-meter gap, creating three spans of over three meters each.
Of course, the posts supporting these two beams didn't need to be as closely spaced as before. They were erected at intervals of three meters, forming a north-south line.
The wall on the easternmost edge of the deer pen also had a horizontal beam installed.
After these four beams were set up, they began tying rafters between the four beams.
In the standard sense, rafters were made by cutting wood into boards.
This way, it was lighter, saved wood, and because the specifications were the same, it looked more beautiful.
At this point, the Green Sparrow Tribe didn't have this capability. However, thanks to an ample supply of wood and Han Cheng's arrangements, the people in the tribe made many tree branches as thick as a baby's arm. They then tied these branches to the horizontal beams every thirty centimeters, from top to bottom.
Considering that it would wet the mud wall when it rained at an angle, Han Cheng deliberately made the ends of the rafters extend thirty centimeters outward during the tying process.
This way, when the roof was built later, it could prevent rainwater from hitting the wall and provide some cover during slanting rain.
After tying the rafters, the next step was to make something called "" (zhzi), which they called it in Han Cheng's hometown in his future life. He didn't know the official name.
The specific method was to first lift a round log with a diameter of five centimeters and a length exceeding four meters. Then, tie a tree branch, as thick as a little finger and longer than two meters, to the round log.
Three ropes were tied to the tree branch, each at the ends and the middle.
There was a certain technique for tying the ropes. The places where the ropes were tied needed to be tied with two at once.
Making "" required a lot of ropes, so the extra ropes were wound around appropriately sized stones. Leaving about half a meter for future use, the remaining length was wound around once and tied to the stone to prevent it from loosening.
When the half-meter rope was used up, it was untied, and it was released for further use.
The stones with ropes, one on the left and one on the right were hung on either side of the suspended round log.
Then, a tree branch as thin as a little finger or thinner was added to the first tree branch. The positions of the six ropes hanging stones were exchanged in sequence. This meant shifting the original left to the right, the right to the left of the horizontal beam. This way, the tree branch was bound.
Another tree branch was then placed, and this process was repeated. When enough tree branches were added, the "" was formed.
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