I Became The Chief Of A Primitive Village

Chapter 644, The Professional

Translator: Silavin

Su Bai drank a sip of tea and continued holding the pencil, drawing patterns. The construction of the city walls would be extremely rigorous.

Therefore, the design drawings and analytical diagrams also need to be particularly clear and comprehensible, so that those who build can understand them.

He first sketched out a rough perimeter of the Flame Dragon Tribe, then drew a deep trench around the surrounding area.

This deep trench maintained consistent depth and width throughout.

After finishing the trench, he took out another sheet and continued drawing, because what the workers needed was simplicity and clarity.

If all the things that needed expressing were expressed in one drawing, they would not understand it.

One step must be drawn per sheet of paper, then the overall steps must be drawn across several sheets.

This way, when the design drawings were given to them, they would understand more clearly, and would not be at a loss or need to come and ask questions later.

“This trench’s depth must be deep for the city walls to be built with great stability.” Su Bai muttered to himself.

He still had some understanding of these matters. Back on Earth, he had read plenty of history books and watched plenty of documentaries. So he was not completely helpless in this regard.

“Next is the selection of stones. They must be harder stones, so they won’t be easily broken through.” Su Bai muttered, shaking his quill pen.

Stone differed from each other, some were very hard, while others were brittle.

Brittle meant that after a few impacts, they would shatter into several pieces. Using such stones to build city walls would be horrendous.

Any Ferocious Beast with sufficient strength could smash a gap in the wall with just a few blows.

“Xiao Yu, have someone fetch Shan Qiu. I have something to ask him.” Su Bai immediately raised his head.

Rather than pondering here by himself, it would be faster to directly call a professional to ask.

Shan Qiu was the Tribe’s renowned stonemason, so he certainly had an understanding of such matters.

“Yes,” Yu Ying immediately nodded.

*Step step step…*

Half an hour later, Shan Qiu arrived at the second floor of the Yong’an Building with his apprentice’s support, and was arranged to sit on a stool.

This was his first time coming to the Yong’an Building. His surprised eyes swept around the surroundings, his face full of amazement.

Shan Qiu quickly brushed the dust from his body, all of it accumulating on his clothes, afraid of soiling this place.

He collected his thoughts, his face still covered with dust, and asked. “Shaman, is there something you need me to do?”

He knew the Shaman would not send someone to call him unless it was something important, especially to come to the Yong’an Building.

“Look at this first. I’ll speak with you after you’re done.” Su Bai handed over those sheets of paper.

“Understood.” Shan Qiu’s callused hands took the sheets and began browsing through them.

Su Bai quietly drank his tea on the side, observing what kind of expression the other would show.

After more than ten minutes, Shan Qiu’s expression grew increasingly serious, almost bringing the papers close to his eyes.

He set down those sheets and asked in surprise. “Shaman, you plan to replace the wooden walls with stone walls?”

With his seasoned experience, he naturally knew what was drawn on the paper. The reason he looked for so long was because he was not quite certain what those trenches were for.

Could they be drawn traps, so that in future anyone approaching the Flame Dragon Tribe would have to avoid these traps?

But that did not make sense. If they were traps, what about the Flame Dragon Tribe people? They also needed to go out.

“Yes, I want to replace all the wooden walls with stone walls. This wall is called a city wall.” Su Bai said word by word.

He knew that Shan Qiu, being a stonemason, would definitely understand. Indeed, the result did not disappoint him.

“Shaman, may I ask how high and how thick you want to build this city wall?” Shan Qiu asked, suppressing his previous question.

“Seven metres high, three metres thick, wide enough for four people to walk side by side,” Su Bai explained.

Hearing this, Shan Qiu had a sudden realisation. Looking at the drawings in his hands, he said excitedly. “Shaman, building city walls according to these measurements would require digging a very deep trench to stabilise the upper part of the city walls, so…”

He excitedly pointed at the trenches on the drawing. Now he finally understood what these trenches meant.

“Yes.” Su Bai smiled and nodded. Indeed, professionals understood immediately with just a hint, without much explanation needed.

“This trench needs to be even wider to better stabilise such high stone walls.” Shan Qiu said, frowning in thought.

He continued. “Shaman, this way, just digging this trench alone will take considerable time, and require substantial manpower.”

“But, I can definitely have this deep trench dug before the next eternal night arrives.” Shan Qiu continued without waiting for a response.

“This trench alone cannot block the attacks of Ferocious Beasts,” Su Bai set down his teacup.

“Precisely because of this, if the city walls are built entirely with stone, they will need much longer time. I think if it’s just to resist those Ferocious Beasts, there’s no need to build them so high.”

Shan Qiu thought seriously and continued. “The height and width could both be reduced somewhat. Then assign more personnel, and I can guarantee completion of everything before the next eternal night arrives.”

His expression became particularly serious, as this concerned the safety of the Flame Dragon Tribe.

“No wait, Shaman, we’ve forgotten one major problem. We still have to deal with the rainy season. If the rainy season arrives before we can finish building, then this trench will have been dug for nothing.”

Shan Qiu paused, his expression grave. “After prolonged soaking during the rainy season, this trench would basically be rendered useless. I suggest waiting until after the rainy season to undertake this project.”

Su Bai shook his head, feeling this would fail, and asked. “If we reduce the height and width as you suggest, how long would you need?”

“If we do that, just over thirty days would be enough to dig this trench.” Shan Qiu immediately replied.

“Let’s proceed according to your method. This trench must definitely be dug before the rainy season, and wall construction must proceed simultaneously. No matter what, this trench must be filled.” Su Bai instructed.

“Understood.” Shan Qiu nodded.