back to prehistoric savage

Chapter 25 Baicao
"A long time ago, people mainly survived by eating wild grass, drinking raw water, eating wild fruits on trees, eating small bugs crawling on the ground, and catching small fish and shrimp in the water."

As soon as Zhang Tian raised his head, Bai stared at his big ignorant eyes and said doubtfully, "It's the same now!"

After getting along with each other for the past few days, he finally discovered that this little girl is a big cheerleader. No matter who tells the story, she listens most carefully and responds most positively.

"Bai, come here."

He waved to the little girl.

Bai left her mother's arms. At the age of three, she was already walking very steadily, wearing shoes and socks woven for her by Aunt Maple Leaf.

Zhang Tian put one arm around her, grabbed a handful of brightly colored flowers and plants from the bamboo basket with the other hand, and asked her, "Do you know what this is called?"

"I know!" Bai said loudly, "This is day lily."

"Can daylilies be eaten?"

"can!"

"How did you know?"

"My mother told me!"

"Then how did your mother know?"

"Well……"

Bai couldn't answer, so she asked her mother for help: "Mom, how did you know?"

Aunt Fengye smiled and said, "Of course it was my mother who told me."

Zhang Tian then asked Grandma: "Then Grandma, how did you know?"

"This is knowledge passed down from our ancestors."

Grandma is Grandma after all, and her answer is much more level.

But Zhang Tian was determined to get to the bottom of it: "Then how did the ancestors know?"

Now everyone was silent, even Grandma was stunned for a moment, never thinking about this question.

Xiao lowered his head and thought about it, he quickly figured it out, and said a surprising word: "The ancestors don't know."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing why, knowledge is passed down from the ancestors, how could the ancestors not know?
Xiao explained: "The first person to eat day lilies didn't know whether day lilies were poisonous or not, and whether they could be eaten. He only knew after eating them."

"That's right!" Zhang Tianshun said, "Knowledge does not appear out of thin air, it is obtained through brave attempts of our ancestors. These foods that we are accustomed to, long, long ago, to our ancestors. For me, it’s something I haven’t eaten or seen before.”

These words surprised everyone, and then fell into deeper thinking.

Things that have never been eaten or seen, not only before, are everywhere now!
They never touch those things because Grandma said...

"But Grandma said that if you haven't eaten something you haven't seen before, there may be hidden dangers, so you can't try it casually."

What the tribesmen were thinking in their hearts, Bai spoke out for them.

"Mom is right."

Zhang Tian first affirmed what Grandma said, and the face still has to be given, then he changed the subject and said: "However, if everyone does not try, then we will never know which things can be eaten and which things cannot be eaten. The story I want to tell today is the ancestor who tried Baicao for us, and his name is Shennong."

Lin Yu was startled.

She didn't understand a single punctuation mark in the previous long talk, but she understood the last two words.

Shennong?

She doubted her ears very much.

But soon, she heard Zhang Tian keep uttering the word, coupled with his eloquent expression, and the day lily in his hand, no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like he was telling the story of Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs .

Is it really a primitive tribe in our Greater China Cultural Area?Even Shennong tasted all kinds of herbs?

Lin Yu was confused. She thought she knew a lot about the existing primitive tribes in Eurasia, but she had never heard of such an extremely primitive and backward tribe living in the hilly area.

She scratched her scalp, trying to remember.

When the book is used, I hate less!She regretted not studying and researching harder.

"...Shen Nong specially picks flowers and plants that he has never seen or eaten, and puts them in his mouth to taste. After tasting, he will tell everyone which plants are bitter, which are sweet, which are hot, which are cold, and which are eaten. It can satisfy one's hunger, and it is clear what is poisonous and cannot be eaten."

"People picked flowers and plants according to Shennong's instructions, and they never got sick or poisoned again."

The crowd was fascinated by what they heard. If the story of Hou Yi shooting the sun shocked and horrified them, Shen Nong, who tasted all kinds of herbs, made them awe-inspiring.

This story is very close to their lives, and the flowers and plants are eaten every day, so the image of Shennong is more specific and closer.Following Zhang Tian's narration, they seemed to be able to see the old man wandering in the mountains and forests, constantly tasting unknown flowers and plants, and they immediately felt ashamed.

Especially women, they have to go to the mountains to collect them every day, and they will see many strange flowers and plants every day, but they stick to the little knowledge passed down from their ancestors, follow the old ways, stick to their old ways, let alone taste them, and they don’t even get close to them. Dare, compared with the ancestors, it is really far behind.

Hutou murmured: "He is a warrior, a real warrior like Houyi, I am inferior to him, far inferior..."

Bai asked, "Did Shen Nong never get sick or poisoned?"

"Of course I was sick and poisoned."

Zhang Tian pushed back his thick white hair, and while catching lice for her, he told the story.

"Shen Nong was poisoned every day, the most one time, he was poisoned by 72 kinds of poisons in one day!"

"Ah!" Bai was startled, "Isn't he dead after being poisoned so much?"

The clansmen also showed expressions of worry and fear.

Zhang Tian said with a smile: "This is about another discovery of Shennong. In the process of tasting all kinds of herbs, he discovered that some herbs can make people sick, while others can cure diseases, so every time he was poisoned Or if they get sick, they will eat grasses that can detoxify and cure diseases."

There are also herbs that can detoxify and cure diseases? !

It was the first time everyone heard about this kind of thing, and the women finally couldn't sit still. Lan Hua asked, "Why didn't our ancestors pass this knowledge on to us?"

Zhang Tian was stunned for a moment, thinking that the people of the clan didn't know that plants could be used as medicine...

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and immediately said: "Shen Nong passed away before he could pass on this knowledge."

Taking this as the end of the story seems to be unfinished. Fortunately, the tribesmen are not as picky as the readers of later generations. They just feel very sorry. If this knowledge can be passed down, many people in the tribe will die every year!

Lan Hua was even more heartbroken when she thought of her children who died early due to illness. She looked at the only son left beside her, and thought that no matter what, she would let Xiao grow up healthy.

As a mother, she said without hesitation: "At least we know that some flowers and plants can cure diseases. Our ancestors have left us with enough knowledge. I will find out those flowers and plants that can cure diseases!"

Red Flower corrected: "We will find them!"

"Yes!" the women said in unison, "We'll find them!"

The men were shocked, they had never seen a woman so decisive and powerful, just like a man.

Zhang Tian is pleased with the awakening of women's power, but his purpose of telling this story is not to encourage them to test themselves, but to encourage the tribesmen to dare to try and explore unknown things.

He is not omniscient. Although he has learned some plant-related knowledge, it is limited to common varieties. To be honest, his understanding of plants may not be much better than that of women. Not much useful advice.

He thought for a while and said, "We can use birds and squirrels to try flowers and plants that we haven't eaten before. If they are okay after eating them, we will try again."

His proposal was unanimously approved by everyone, including Ah Ma.

Flowers and plants that can cure diseases are very important to the development and growth of the tribe. After weighing it a little, Grandma realized that although this matter is risky, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Only one person present remained silent.

Lin Yu was in a state from the beginning to the end. Except for the word Shennong, she failed to obtain any useful information from people's conversations.

But the word Shennong is enough.

She already knew where to start.

(End of this chapter)