We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 53 Mortise and tenon structure
Looking at the uprooted tree with its dense, muddy roots, Xia Minghao gave another push to the not-so-thick tree next to him.

Sure enough, I could feel that the base was not stable.

In the past, it would have been completely impossible to move even a fraction of a particle.

It turns out the soil was loosened by the rain!

Xia Minghao quickly understood why a tree could be pushed down by more than a dozen men using brute force.

I've never encountered such heavy rain before, and it's been raining for so many days in a row.

Moreover, having never actually lived in such a primeval forest, it was naturally unexpected.

As expected, we still can't detach ourselves from practice...

Xia Minghao estimated that if he had participated in cutting down the trees, he would have felt the abnormality with just one cut, and after a couple of cuts, he would have immediately noticed a huge change in the density of the soil.

“Very good, Lipa, now go and tell Liba to do the same for them.”

Looking at Lipa, Xia Minghao said.

Lipa, on the other hand, wore a smug expression because he had shaken the tree.

"and many more."

Just as he turned to leave, Lipa heard the chief's voice behind him again, and turned back in confusion.

Seeing the chief looking thoughtful.

Xia Minghao was looking at the big tree, and he was indeed thinking.

The question I'm pondering is: can we be even more efficient?

If... let these people climb the tree and then jump down, using their own weight to exert a force on the tree.

In this way, the force of its own weight is definitely greater than the force it exerts on the tree when standing on the ground!
Because when standing on wet soil, the coefficient of static friction is mostly less than 1.

Moreover, the lever arm of the force will also increase significantly.

The torque applied to the tree roots would be much greater! And it would also be much more effortless.

"You, take this thick rope, climb up, and then do this."

Xia Minghao gave a brief demonstration, but didn't actually climb the tree; however, Lipa understood what he meant.

Although his eyes were full of doubt, he was still prepared to listen to the new leader and give it a try, though he was not entirely convinced.

Finding a large tree of similar thickness, Lipa climbed up in just a few steps.

The men from the Lipa group who were resting nearby also came over, not knowing what they were up to.

Until... Lipa jumped down from the tree, two heads taller than Xia Minghao, and pulled hard on the thick rope.

Splash! The leaves trembled, and water droplets fell, as if it were another light rain.

Lipa felt the tree leaning and his eyes widened.

The other men from the Lipa team gasped in surprise.

This tree is leaning!
Although it was only slightly off-center, it took their combined efforts—one pushing and the other pulling—to achieve this effect.

But now, one person can do it!

It works!

Xia Minghao's eyes shone brightly. Judging from the situation, if one person was responsible for one tree and did it back and forth twenty or thirty times, they could definitely knock down a tree like this!

“Lipa, go and tell Liba to do the same thing as before.”

"Also, each of you find one tree like this."

"Yes, Chief!"

Lipa immediately realized what was happening, and his eyes showed a newfound admiration for Xia Minghao.

The two "certain" statements that the woman from the Xi tribe casually mentioned yesterday suddenly echoed in my mind.

Xia Minghao then had a dozen or so women from the Li tribe who made ropes come over and carry the tree that had been knocked down back up.

Looking at the tree trunk that had been carried back, and the Li tribe men climbing up and down like monkeys, Xia Minghao felt a surge of joy.

The timber problem has been solved; now the challenge is how to build safe, reliable ships that meet the requirements.

If you want to build a larger ship, thick ropes probably won't be enough.

With more thick ropes, the issue of their own weight must be considered, and the material strength is often insufficient.

It will most likely fall apart if it goes into the water.

After a moment's thought, the core concept of mortise and tenon joints from a traditional timber structure elective I took in university came to mind.

Yes, mortise and tenon joints can solve this problem very well.

Not only will it not increase its own weight, but once it is soaked in water it will expand and enhance the tightness of the connection.

As I recall, during a summer vacation, my roommates and I went to Shanghai and saw a replica of a Ming Dynasty Fujian ship at the China Maritime Museum. It was built using traditional mortise and tenon joinery techniques.

If you only have stone tools, it would be incredibly difficult to create something like this.

But now Xia Minghao has an entrenching tool and a survival knife in his hands, two things with top-notch material technology!
I took out my survival knife and tried cutting the tree trunk, finding it easier to cut than I had imagined. I guess the rain had softened the wood.

After trying it out briefly and confirming that it was completely feasible, Xia Minghao began to redraw the design drawings for the new ship.

On one side, they were drawing simple design diagrams, and on the other side, they were performing some calculations.

But the more Xia Minghao calculated, the more his brows furrowed.

"Even a boat that can carry a hundred people at once, relying on thick ropes and mortise and tenon joints, would still find it difficult to withstand such great hydrostatic pressure."

Not just a hundred people, Xia Minghao estimated that a ship capable of carrying fifty people would be impossible with current materials and design capabilities; thirty people would be the upper limit.

Since that's the case, it wouldn't be a bad idea to build a few more. Compared to before, the efficiency has been greatly improved, and there's no need to worry about encountering the second rain before the real rainy season, which is about ten days away.

At that time, the ship I am on will be the flagship, powered by the wind from the leaves, and will take root in the place first.

Then they wait to pick up the people rowing the boat from behind.

After re-verifying the feasibility, Xia Minghao stood up, his mood as bright as the sunshine at that moment.

"Chief, the trees have all been felled."

Just then, Liba's voice rang in my ears.

Only then did I realize that it was already afternoon.

Xia Minghao's smile remained unchanged as he nodded to Liba.

"You can move the tree over here and place it at the entrance of the cave, then you can rest and wait for your meal."

When Liba heard about food, his tired eyes instantly lit up.

But I still haven't forgotten the question that I've been pondering.

Not only today, but also before, the chief of this Xi tribe always made them knock down these big trees.

But why?
"Chief, why are you removing these trees? Are they for firewood?"

“To light a fire? Of course not.”

Xia Minghao was in a good mood, so he said a few more words.

"With them, we can stand on the water."

Standing on the water?!
Liba and the other men who came with him were startled when they heard this.

It's impossible for a person to stand on water, let alone with such a big tree; wouldn't they just sink?

The men of the Li tribe could not possibly have imagined Archimedes' principle.

But the image of falling into the water and being gnawed to the bone by blackfish made them shudder.

The look in his eyes as he looked at Xia Minghao carried a hint of doubt.

Kolipa, however, seemed excited, as if thrilled to witness such an unbelievable event unfold before his eyes.

On the way back, someone noticed Lipa's reaction and asked him in confusion.

"Lipa, do you know how to stand on water using a log?"

Lipa, of course, did not know, but he stated with certainty what he had heard from the women of the Xi tribe yesterday.

“The chief of the Xi tribe must be right, and he must be right.”

The men shook their heads. They had never trusted Bald Liba before, and they certainly wouldn't trust the new "leader," the chief of the Xi tribe, in the same way now.

Most people still didn't believe Xia Minghao's statement and began to think about what they should do if the chief asked them to stand in the water.

Once the timber was brought over, Xia Minghao began cutting out the mortise and tenon structure according to his previous plan, and then asked the men from the Li tribe who were resting nearby to come over and forcefully squeeze the two pieces of wood together.

Once it was almost completely assembled, Xia Minghao ordered them to stand it up upright while it was lying down, and then smash it with stones.

Once the two pieces of wood were tightly joined, leaving only a few gaps to be filled, Xia Minghao had the men start pulling them.

Unexpectedly, even with all their might, the five of them couldn't pull it apart.

Everyone else who witnessed this was completely baffled. Liba scratched his bald head, unable to understand why the two pieces of wood had grown together.

Only Xia Minghao showed a look of satisfaction.

That's right, it's exactly what we want – if it can't be pulled apart, then everything will be fine.

Just as he was about to continue processing, Yu Guangzhong saw Usa from the U tribe walking back.

Xia Minghao was about to talk to Usa about scouting the route.

When large numbers of people migrate at once, it is necessary to scout ahead, and the Wu tribe, with its experience in long-distance trekking, is naturally the most suitable.

Before he could even speak, Xia Minghao noticed something strange on Usa's face.

In his confusion, he then noticed that there were three or four women behind Usa, who looked to be about the same age as him.

It seems to be the one Usa mentioned, the new Great Mother of the U tribe.

(End of this chapter)