HBWnovel Chapter 256 The Great Failure of Livestock Farming
Chapter 256 The Great Failure of Livestock Farming
Jiang Luoluo was unaware that she had almost caused a "riot in the Fish Cave." She smiled and waved goodbye to Little Fish King Biao, then turned around and cooked a pot of fragrant fish soup and water chestnuts to eat.
While eating, Jiang Luoluo suddenly remembered something: eating fish long-term is unhealthy; it's necessary to supplement with sufficient dietary fiber, vitamins B, C, D, E, carbohydrates, minerals, etc.
Carbohydrates are simply sugary foods, and the newly emerging jams in the tribe are enough to make up for this. Although there isn't much jam in the Fish Cave, we can always have some every now and then.
Meanwhile, the various fruits in the jam are rich in vitamins A, B, C, D, E, F... Jiang Luoluo didn't know exactly what they contained without doing any experiments, but she was certain that they were present.
The only thing to worry about is getting enough minerals.
Minerals are essential micronutrients for the human body. The main minerals include calcium, iron, and so on. Jiang Luoluo couldn't remember the rest.
The reason I can remember these two is because I often talk about calcium and iron supplementation, while other trace elements are not mentioned much and don't leave a deep impression.
The main way to supplement iron is by eating meat. Some animals are rich in heme iron, such as beef, mutton, and pork liver.
Jiang Luoluo wasn't quite sure about the specifics of the wild animal meat eaten in the tribe, but with so many different kinds of wild animal meat they ate every day, even if it was just a lucky coincidence, they were bound to find some meat that was rich in iron.
After much thought, only the most crucial issue remained: calcium supplementation.
Jiang Luoluo has a very deep impression of calcium supplementation. From elderly people in their eighties and nineties to newborns, there are calcium tablets specially made for them.
Television commercials frequently feature calcium supplements, with lines claiming that calcium supplements can help you grow taller, in order to boost sales of milk powder and calcium tablets.
So much so that when Jiang Luoluo thought about calcium supplements, all she could think of was milk powder.
Oh wait, there's also milk.
It seems there's no difference.
So, halfway through the meal, Jiang Luoluo turned to Xing and asked, "Does anyone in the tribe keep wild animals?"
There's definitely none in the Milk Tribe; we can only try to find it by looking for animal milk first.
"Raising wild animals? Luo, how could you even think of such a thing?" Xing appeared quite surprised.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Luoluo asked, puzzled.
"If we don't raise wild animals, how will we feed and raise newborn children in the tribe who have lost their mothers?"
Isn't it usually the case that you find some docile female animals and use their milk to replace breast milk?
"Of course, we'll see if anyone in the tribe can help feed them for a while," Xing said matter-of-factly.
"Once they get through the first two months, you can start feeding them meat broth."
Generally speaking, those who still have breast milk will not refuse to help take care of a baby for one or two months temporarily, unless they have their own physical reasons or too many babies to feed—such as twins or multiple births.
Jiang Luoluo was stunned. It turned out that the selection of the strongest in the tribe started from birth.
"Shouldn't weaning begin gradually after six months to one year of age?"
“We still have to hunt, how can we stay here to feed the children for so long?” Xing asked in confusion.
Generally, it's already quite good if the mother continues to feed the baby for two months; many start resuming hunting activities after just over a month.
Newborn cubs should not be exposed to wind or light, and cannot participate in hunting with their mothers. They must stay at home and be cared for by their fathers or older siblings, and feeding them meat broth is the only way to care for them.
Of course, it doesn't mean weaning after one or two months. Instead, they are fed meat broth while their mothers are hunting, and they will continue to breastfeed when their mothers return from hunting.
“This, this…” Jiang Luoluo wanted to say that this was not good, but then she realized that for most tribal families, if the mother did not participate in hunting, there would not be enough food, and the mother herself might not be able to survive, let alone raise the children.
"No...then why not raise some female animals in the tribe and use their milk?" Jiang Luoluo brought her thoughts back.
"Because I can't raise them," Xing replied bluntly.
The tribe didn't "never have" this answer; rather, they had to abandon the idea after trying it.
In order to survive, the tribe hunts and fights so desperately to become stronger, and naturally they will try other methods to increase the tribe's food supply.
Raising wild animals is one such method. After all, hunting is so difficult, who wouldn't want to raise a group of wild animals in the tribe and kill a few to eat when they're hungry?
The reasons for the eventual failure are complex and involve many factors, and cannot be explained by a single answer.
Fortunately, Xing and Jiang Luoluo had a long time, so Xing told Jiang Luoluo, like telling a bedtime story, about the various reasons why wild animals could not be kept in the tribe.
To explain this clearly, we must first understand the characteristics of the Taz Forest and the wild animals that live in it.
Most wild animals possess an extraordinary ability, such as the earth hare moving freely underground, the wind-chasing weasel moving freely in the wind, and the snow rat being able to control wind and snow...
So the first challenge is how to control the captured wild animal, preventing it from escaping and confining it to a space.
Otherwise, it would be too tragic to raise a wild animal for a long time with great care only to find it has escaped when it's time to eat.
Fortunately, while this is somewhat difficult for the tribal people, it is not entirely impossible.
Once we find a species of wild animal that can be completely kept in captivity and will not easily escape, we will face the next problem.
food.
Although the purpose of keeping wild animals in captivity is to provide more food for oneself, certain sacrifices must be made before the wild animals can grow and reproduce.
But for the tribe, they didn't even have enough food for themselves, so where would they get the wealth to feed those wild animals?
Even if they find food that doesn't overlap with their own diet, they can use it to feed wild animals, allowing them to reproduce and continue to grow.
Then we face a serious problem.
There is a pattern to the reproduction of wild beasts in the Taz Forest: when a wild beast population reaches a certain size, mutated individuals will emerge.
That is, the "Beast King".
The Beast King possesses powerful abilities that other members of its race do not have, and its intelligence far surpasses that of its kind. It can also command other members of its race to do things for it.
The appearance of the Beast King is completely random and unpredictable; the tribe members cannot prevent its appearance.
Furthermore, the Beast King will conceal his identity and wait for an opportunity when he realizes that he cannot resist.
The only way to prevent the appearance of the Beast King is to do everything possible to curb the increase in the number of beastmen.
But what is the purpose of raising wild animals? Isn't it to raise more wild animals to fill the stomachs of the tribe?
And that's how the conflict arose.
If we want to breed more wild beasts as food, then the appearance of a beast king is indispensable.
The appearance of the Beast King means that the beast pack will inevitably riot. Either most of the beasts will run away, or most of the beasts will die in the riot, wasting the effort of feeding them.
Of course, the tribespeople still managed to solve this problem—when Jiang Luoluo heard this, she felt she couldn't think of a solution at all, never expecting that even this most serious problem could be solved.
"By carefully observing the changes in the beast pack, finding the beast king that emerges, and then subduing and controlling the beast king, we can not only prevent the beast pack from rioting, but also better control them."
Xing answered.
"No... then why can't we keep them?" Jiang Luoluo couldn't understand.
Xing remained silent for a long time before sighing and replying.
"Because it will attract more wild animals to attack the tribe."
“Lo, you’ve already seen what the Snow Season tribe looked like when it was attacked.”
Jiang Luoluo also calmed down, recalling the roars of beasts that still echoed in her dreams, and even now, she still felt lingering fear.
However, compared to the pure fear she felt back then, Jiang Luoluo now harbors a "desire to fight."
She longed to tear open the throat of a beast with her weapon, just like in her dreams, and feel the joy of "victory".
At the same time, she also truly understood why the tribe could not develop animal husbandry.
None of them are the influenza-like infectious diseases that cause blood pressure to rise in farmers.
Even the frozen carcasses of wild animals in the icehouse behind the mountain could attract so many beasts to attack the tribe. It's unimaginable how many wild animals would be attracted to a large pile of live, delicious food.
Xing's sudden silence must be a consequence of that incident, which caused the tribe to suffer great losses again.
"At that time, the tribe's population had exceeded five thousand..."
Sure enough, Xing spoke softly.
Originally, everything was thriving, but under the constant attacks of wild beasts, tribesmen continued to die. Only when the beasts realized that there was no longer an abundance of food in the tribe did they reduce the frequency of their attacks, allowing the tribe to return to peace.
But by then, the tribe's population had already halved.
If it weren't for the efforts of the subsequent leaders, the tribe probably wouldn't have been able to maintain its population of over two thousand.
"...It's so difficult..." Jiang Luoluo sighed deeply.
It feels like the tribe is living in a hellish, high-difficulty mode.
But why a tribe?! Jiang Luoluo was a little indignant.
Should good people be held at gunpoint?!
Why would a tribe cross the river and come here 1,500 years ago? Jiang Luoluo became increasingly curious.
After much thought, the only thing that could answer my question was a python.
Wu and Chief Jing are usually very busy and have no time to tell Jiang Luoluo stories. Besides, they are not the people who personally experienced 1,500 years ago. Many things were passed down from the previous generation, so there are bound to be some distortions in the transmission of information, and they cannot be completely accurate.
After saying goodnight to Xing, Jiang Luoluo went to train on Xiaoshi Mountain early the next morning.
Go find the python? Jiang Luoluo hadn't figured out anything new, and she wasn't confident she could defeat the python with just that. She hadn't met either of the two conditions the python had given her.
How could Jiang Luoluo possibly have the nerve to ask the python questions?
Therefore, the most urgent task is to improve one's physical fitness, because only one's own strength gives one the confidence to speak.
Jiang Luoluo was also looking forward to the day when she could pin the python to the ground.
To achieve this goal, Jiang Luoluo went to Xiaoshi Mountain to train every day with great energy, and then at night she would be dragged home by the collar by He Ban, half-dead.
Zhuang, truly worthy of being called Zhuang.
Over such a long period of time, he has not learned to "show mercy" at all.
But it must be said that it was precisely because Zhuang always went all out and held nothing back that Jiang Luoluo's progress was so obvious.
She was able to hold her own against Zhuang for several moves before Zhuang finally pinned her to the ground.
congratulations.
Even Zhuang would sometimes get beaten up by Jiang Luoluo until he was grimacing.
Jiang Luoluo's tall stature and outstanding strength are already evident.
During this time, Mang has not come to see Jiang Luoluo. I wonder if it's because Jiang Luoluo told Mang to stay away from Xing.
Because the day after the hunting party returned and Ge returned to the tribe, the python reappeared at Jiang Luoluo's house, perfectly avoiding Xing.
"How's it going? Have you made anything new lately?" Python asked, feigning ignorance.
The fact that Jiang Luoluo was training on Little Stone Mountain was practically common knowledge in the tribe, if not universally known.
This wasn't news spread by anyone; rather, so many children on Little Stone Mountain could see it, and they would occasionally take turns letting Jiang Luolu practice. If anyone went home and mentioned it to their parents, the news would spread.
Not to mention that Python was also paying close attention to Jiang Luoluo's news.
Although he knew that Jiang Luoluo had been working very hard to better deal with him during this time, Python was still very confident in his own strength.
Even if Jiang Luoluo were a genius orc warrior like Ge, it would still take a long time of training and practice to defeat him, not to mention that Jiang Luoluo's talent is not as exaggerated as Ge's.
Yes, Go is indeed one of the most talented and gifted orc warriors in the tribe over the years.
But the concept of genius is just like whoever it is.
Even a thousand years ago, when the python was still alive, he was considered a highly anticipated genius by the tribe.
It is indeed unlikely that multiple geniuses will emerge in the same era, but Python and Brother do not belong to the same era.
Ge's attitude towards Mang was relatively good; he didn't hold a major grudge against Mang because of the incident where Mang had made Jiang Luoluo cry.
Compared to Python, the person Ge actually wanted to pick a fight with more was... Zhuang.
Jiang Luoluo had sparred with the python more than ten times before, and she didn't have any injuries.
Aside from the blow to his self-esteem from the losing streak, he wasn't seriously injured at all.
During this time, Jiang Luoluo trained at Xiaoshishan, and what remained on her body were real injuries and pain.
Seeing this made Ge's heart ache. He couldn't imagine that Jiang Luoluo had spent the time he was away like this.
But since it was Jiang Luoluo's own choice, Ge couldn't say or do anything, and could only silently support her.