American: Native Empire

Chapter 4: Civilization Development Start!

Chapter 4 < Civilization Development Start! >

What are you trying to do with those things spread out? Can you even eat them?

Why would you eat them?

Are you saying you didnt harvest them to eat?

Of course not.

Straight Trees eyebrows frowned slightly. 

He looked at Kim Ki-woo with a look of incomprehension.

It was a natural reaction, considering that he had worked hard to grow them in the hot weather, only to be told that he couldnt eat them.

Then why did you farm them?

To make this.

Kim Ki-woo pointed to his body.

Are you saying that a spirit is born here?

What? Hahahaha!

No?

Of course not! How can you make a spirit from a plant?

Of course, he was not a spirit, but he didnt need to break his illusion.

I mean this clothes.

Clothes? Oh!

Only then did Straight Tree understand what Kim Ki-woo was saying.

Are you saying that all of these are cotton?

Thats right. You get it right away, dont you?

There was no trace of cotton being grown here. The cotton that came in now was all from trade. And the quality was not very good either.

Thats why Straight Tree had never seen cotton wool before.

All of these will be clothes for our tribesmen. Its been hard to bring in cotton from outside, not to mention the price is high and the quantity is low, right?

Straight Tree looked back and forth between Kim Ki-woos clothes and the cotton wool drying in the sun for a while. 

Then he came to his senses and exclaimed.

Oh! If all these lumps become clothes!

At least within a few years, all the tribesmen will have decent clothes.

Kim Ki-woo had been thinking that he had to make proper clothes as soon as possible whenever he saw the naked bodies of the tribesmen.

So Kim Ki-woo taught them how to farm various new seeds during the harvest season, and in his spare time, he prepared diligently to produce cotton, make yarn with spinning, and weave clothes with weaving.

Soon Straight Tree realized that too.

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So thats what you were making with wood!

You thought right. They seem dry enough now, so lets get started.

Straight Tree didnt understand why he made those tools until now, but at this moment, he understood everything after hearing Kim Ki-woos words.

Its amazing

At the same time, Straight Tree felt his awe for their spirit chief grow even more.

Anyway. Kim Ki-woo moved the well-dried cotton wool to the place he had made for spinning with the help of the tribesmen.

He had no choice but to do the spinning and weaving processes in a traditional cottage industry way.

He removed the seeds by putting the cotton wool in a seed remover that he had made in advance and turning it by hand on both sides. Then the cotton wool and seeds were separated.

He used bowstrings to separate the remaining seed shells in a process called bowing.

Then he wound up the spindle and spun yarn with a spinning wheel that he had made beforehand. He was able to get decent yarn out of it.

He made cloth out of cotton with the weaving process using the yarn he had made.

It takes a lot of work to make one cloth.

Even the tools for processing wood were scarce, so the devices they made were crude.

As a result, the quality of the cotton fabrics they produced was uneven. It was inevitable, but the process of making cotton fabrics was also quite complicated.

He wanted to make water-powered, or even steam-powered, spinning and weaving machines, but that was still a distant dream. At least for several decades.

Mechanized spinning and weaving machines were very important in Kim Ki-woos plan, so he had their blueprints in his bag.

After all, the birth of spinning and weaving machines was the catalyst for the British Industrial Revolution. Kim Ki-woo had to think of them as important.

The location is perfect too.

This area was called a cotton-intensive production area because cotton grew well in this climate. It had all the climatic conditions for cotton production.

It was obvious that it would play a very important role in developing the industry. 

Even more important than the British Industrial Revolution in the original history.

Britain imported all the cotton and then made and sold cheap cotton fabrics in large quantities to start the industry. Kim Ki-woo didnt need to do that.

He just had to grow them in large quantities in his neighborhood and then process and sell them!

He didnt know how much longer it would be until that day, but he was very excited.

*

Kim Ki-woo had almost finished his work on this years food and cotton production. 

Cotton fabrics also required a lot of labor, but their principle was not very difficult. He had already passed on everything he needed.

Then it was time to start something else. And he had already made a lot of progress in preparing for that.

Kim Ki-woo didnt hesitate and turned his steps.

Have you arrived?

Yes. How is the work going?

Yes. We are doing as you instructed, Chief Spirit.

Hmm.

Kim Ki-woo checked carefully if there was any problem with the work. It was because a dangerous situation could occur if something went wrong.

Where Kim Ki-woos eyes met.

There were three circular furnaces built there, each about 2 meters high.

A furnace made of soil, pebbles, and wood. It was probably the first furnace built in America.

And next to it were some of the scrap iron that he had collected hard. 

He had a hard time getting scrap iron, but there wasnt much of it. But this was something.

He needed tools made of iron to develop iron mines. Scrap iron was enough for now.

Next to the scrap iron were charcoal made by burning wood in advance, and lime powder made by grinding animal bones.

Can I ask you one thing?

When Kim Ki-woo was admiring Americas first iron furnace, Wide Leaf opened his mouth cautiously.

What is it? Ask me anything.

What are you trying to do with these things?

Kim Ki-woo chuckled. It wasnt mocking, but because they all asked him what he was doing every time he did something.

He felt like he had answered this question several times. And he gave Wide Leaf the same answer.

What else? Im trying to make iron.

Iron you say?

Something like hard copper? If I can make it properly, its incomparable to copper.

Does such a thing exist?

Wait and see. Youll find out when its made according to my instructions.

The tribesmen knew about copper, gold, silver, etc., but they didnt know about the existence of iron. Anyway, there was no point in explaining it in detail now. They wouldnt be able to understand it.

Alright, lets get started!

Kim Ki-woo began to fill the furnace in earnest. Of course, he mostly just talked. He had plenty of men who could provide labor for him.

He stacked iron and charcoal alternately in the furnace and added limestone. Then he lit a fire.

Of course, he couldnt just leave it like that. He had to blow air through the blast pipe to raise the temperature.

Start!

Yes!

Immediately, three men in charge of blowing started to move the blower back and forth. It looked like they were rowing a boat.

To get good iron, he had to raise the temperature to between 1,300 and 1,500 degrees. 

But it was hard to get such a high temperature with the tools he had now. Inevitably, he would get soft wrought iron with low carbon content.

Moreover, it was realistically difficult to remove impurities such as vanadium or titanium mixed in scrap iron, so iron made from scrap iron would be rough.

But he decided to be satisfied with the fact that he could produce iron for now.

Wow!

The fire spirit has descended!

Oh my God!

Before long, many tribesmen surrounded him. 

They were curious about what strange thing Kim Ki-woo would make this time since he first built the furnace. 

Naturally, they couldnt help but be interested as soon as the work started.

To their eyes, the intense flames soaring into the sky looked like the fire spirit had descended. 

They seemed to accept that Kim Ki-woo had summoned the fire spirit with his power.

The fact that they were bowing down on the ground was proof of that.

Kim Ki-woo didnt deny it. It would only hurt his mouth, and he could actually raise his position because of this fire.

Keep blowing air evenly! Dont be erratic! I told you!

Yes!

Put more charcoal! More, more, stop! Stay away from the fire, its dangerous!

Kim Ki-woo managed to prevent any accidents from happening. The tribesmen were all inexperienced in ironmaking. 

Therefore, he had to keep his mind clear and control the situation.

Time passed quickly without a break. 

Before he knew it, he removed the slag from the outlet and entered the final stage.

Finally.

He was able to get the iron component that was piled up below. A smile appeared on Kim Ki-woos lips.

Im finally entering the Iron Age.

He felt his heart pounding as he thought so. He felt like adrenaline was rushing through him.

He had obtained the thing that would end the Neolithic Age. It was not for nothing that many people divided ancient times into Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. The use of bronze and iron changed peoples lives dramatically.

Of course, there would be no Bronze Age in at least North America because of Kim Ki-woo. He went straight from a limited Copper Age to an Iron Age.

Was that also the case in the original history?

If the original history was a change of era imposed by outsiders, then from now on, the era would change from within America.

Although it was thousands of years late compared to the Old World.

Wait for me. Ill catch up soon.

The technological gap between the New World and the Old World would not last long. Kim Ki-woo vowed once again that he would catch up with Europe and Asias level of civilization as soon as possible.

*

The Creek tribe was turned upside down by their own production of iron, a device they had never encountered before, and cotton fabrics.

Hunting has become easier. Oh, how can there be such a hard stone!

Is that all? The clothes made of cotton are smoother and more abundant than the ones we got before!

Its easier to harvest the children of the sacred earth (crops). This is all thanks to Chief Spirit.

Oh, how great and wise are the spirits!

At this tribe meeting, especially young and strong warriors responded differently than before. There were even warriors who sobbed. Their eyes of respect and admiration poured toward Kim Ki-woo.

It was natural. No matter how much impurities were mixed in iron, and even though it was wrought iron level for now, it was incomparable to stone tools they had been using so far.

And it was easy to refine. It was different from having to work hard to sharpen stone tools.

What about cotton fabrics? 

Although they were still in early production and there was a lack of finished cotton fabrics, most of the tribesmen realized that things would improve in the future.

In a little more time, most of the tribesmen would be able to wear upper and lower clothes.

< Civilization Development Start! > End