novelnext Chapter 37: Two-Story Pit Courtyard
Chapter 37: Two-Story Pit Courtyard
After Ron settled Thun in, he joined Old Hall and Thun in studying the rock potatoes.
The rock potato was dug up by Thun from a weathered cliff. According to Novia, it prefers dry, sandy soil, is drought-resistant but susceptible to waterlogging, and has a short growing season, with a harvest every three months.
Ron held one of the ground potato pieces in his hand, turning it over and over for a while. After cutting it open, milky white juice seeped out from the cross-section. The texture was between that of a potato and a yam, and it had a very faint earthy smell.
"The fact that De Gea uses this to make potato starch and potato cakes means it has a high starch content." Ron placed the cut potato chunks on the table, dipped his fingertip in the juice, and rubbed it between his fingers. "The juice isn't sticky, unlike yams. The cut surface doesn't change color quickly, and it oxidizes slowly, making it suitable for processing. I just don't know if it can be cut into chunks and sprouted like potatoes for use as seeds."
"That's not difficult," Tang En said. "Thun mentioned spring and autumn sweet potatoes, which means that this stuff has a fixed planting season. It's early summer now, and if we can catch the autumn sweet potato planting season, we can harvest the first batch in three months. However, the planting requirements are very high. It needs to be planted on a cliff 25 meters high and allowed to grow downwards to produce fruit."
Old Hall asked, "Can't other methods of cultivation be used?"
As an agricultural official, Tang En naturally learned about the cultivation methods of ground potato from Tu En and his colleagues long ago.
"No way!" Thun said. "Thun's mother had studied the cultivation of ground potato, and all other methods failed except for this one."
Old Hall couldn't help but sigh, "Thun's mother was truly a remarkable woman. What a pity!"
Tang En said, "Our biggest problem right now is that we don't have a 25-meter-high cliff. Even the city wall is only 6 meters high, so we can't plant anything there."
Ron was deep in thought when suddenly a brilliant idea struck him.
"I've got an idea!"
Ron led Old Hall and Thon to another pit house; now the territory only had three pit houses.
Two were built by Ron, and one by Old Hall.
After completing the pit-house, Old Hall completely abandoned his plan to build more pit-houses.
Ron can build a pit dwelling in just over two hours and less than thirty points of magic power, while Old Hall would need nearly three hundred points of magic power and four days.
It would be better to use that time to solidify the material.
Ron led his men to another pit courtyard.
"Those inside, please leave!"
Old Hall immediately made the arrangements.
Soon, all the original inhabitants of the pit-shaped courtyard were cleared out, and Ron led Old Hall and the others down there.
Ron walked around the courtyard twice.
"Sweet potatoes need a vertical height of 25 meters because they need to grow downwards. What if we artificially created a vertical space 25 meters high?"
Old Hall was taken aback: "How is it made?"
"Dig downwards," Ron said. "Dig a hole deep enough that the walls become 'cliffs.' Then plant it on top and let the tubers grow downwards, isn't that the same thing!"
Tang En's eyes lit up: "Does the lord mean to turn 'Cliff' upside down?"
"It's not upside down, it's about building one," Ron said. "Come on, let's give it a try."
After walking around the courtyard area, Ron began his work, first reinforcing the arched roofs of all the cave dwellings with red bricks, and then continuing to dig downwards with the courtyard as the center.
Ron's civil engineering work was fast, and when he dug to a depth of twelve meters, he suddenly encountered a hard object.
He squatted down and used his hands to dig away the soil.
It was a stone slab with indistinct patterns carved on its surface.
Old Hall leaned over for a look, and his expression changed slightly.
"Young master, this isn't natural."
Ron cleaned the dirt off the stone slab, and the patterns gradually became clear. It was a symbol, like some kind of writing, or part of a magic circle.
"Something from Gu'Oster?" Ron asked in a low voice.
Old Hall didn't answer, but his expression gave the answer.
Ron was silent for a moment, then put the stone tablet away and let Old Hall put it away.
"Keep digging, and don't tell anyone about this."
Old Hall nodded, while offering a reminder.
"Young master, I know what you're planning to do. If we dig another ten meters or so, we might find water."
Ron naturally knew this, so the second-level pit courtyard was only seven meters deep, not as high as the first level of eight meters, and the cave dwelling was also one meter lower.
However, in this double-layered pit courtyard, the cave dwellings are all reinforced with red bricks, and there are three reinforcing pillars in the central area of the second cave dwelling.
The ventilation duct was a small channel dug out from above the cave dwelling, leading directly outside. To increase brightness, a row of translucent glass windows was installed above the cave dwelling. Even so, the light transmission was not as good as the first floor.
When Ron finished working on the second level of the pit courtyard, Old Hall and Towne were also dumbfounded.
You can even play like this!
Tang En walked in and out of the several cave dwellings, and he seemed to enjoy it very much.
The newcomers mainly lived in adobe houses, while the pit-houses were more comfortable. Tang En had known this for a long time, but the lord was building city walls during this period, and Old Hall felt that building pit-houses was not cost-effective, so he stopped building them. Therefore, he had been envious of the pit-houses for a long time.
If a two-story pit-style courtyard house is built, then these newlyweds can also live there.
Old Hall quickly made a judgment: "Young master, the two-story pit courtyard is only 15 meters high, and there is still some distance to go before it reaches 25 meters."
Ron, of course, knew this and said, "We can build a building on the remaining ten meters!"
Building?
Tangen and Old Hall looked at Ron with puzzled expressions.
Ron checked the magic consumption. Although the second-level pit courtyard was smaller, the magic consumption had not decreased at all.
The first floor of the pit-dwelling courtyard has a railing around the cave dwellings, which is also the only passageway to the first floor. The original cave dwelling on the first floor that led to the gate has also been converted into a spiral staircase leading down to the second floor.
Old Hall stood outside the pit courtyard, his hands gripping the wooden railing, looking down at the second-floor pit courtyard below, and couldn't help but sigh.
"This does save a lot of space. If space allows, we can even build a third or fourth floor."
Ron nodded: "Old Hall, take a good look at the terrain within the territory, try to avoid the underground river as much as possible, and see if there is any space where you can build several more floors."
Tang En suggested, "My lord, if we reduce the gaps between each floor, can we build another floor?"
Upon hearing this, Old Hall immediately shook his head: "Impossible. Without a sufficient layer of soil to increase its strength, the cave dwelling will collapse in no time."
But Ron fell into deep thought, and Ton's suggestion gave him a wake-up call.
Ron's face lit up as he said, "Great idea! Let's go, let's dig another cave. This time, Old Hall, you help me with the civil engineering and dig the cave all the way to the bottom in one go."
He even temporarily abandoned the construction of buildings to increase the height, and instead found a dugout and began digging deeper.
Ron's civil engineering work is fast, digging three sides, while Old Hall's civil engineering work is not as fast as Ron's, digging only one side.
Soon, they dug to a depth of ten meters. Fearing a collapse halfway through, they would occasionally use the red bricks mixed with volcanic ash and lime mortar to build walls to reinforce the cave walls.
By the time the giant pit was finished, it was nearly evening, and Old Hall was exhausted.
Looking at the huge crater in front of him, Old Hall subconsciously said, "Falling from that height could kill someone."
Ron stood at the edge of the pit and looked down. The bottom of the pit was pitch black, and he couldn't see the bottom.
"Old Hall, put a wooden plank over this pit, cover it with soil, and make it look like flat ground."
Old Hall paused for a moment, then said, "Young Master, what are you going to do...?"
"This is for the enemy to prepare for when they attack the city later." Ron turned and walked back. "If anyone breaks in from the east wall and runs into this area, suddenly there's nothing beneath their feet. Fifteen meters. If they fall, they'll be crippled or killed."
Old Hall shivered.
"Young Master, just how many harmful things are swirling in your head?"