In order to support the gathering and development of several tribes near the Qia tribe, Xu Chen said that before the autumn harvest, he would arrange for people to help each tribe build a batch of wheelbarrows and carts, and would also provide a batch of urgently needed bronze tools such as knives, axes, hoes, etc. at low prices.
Xu Chen's promise immediately made the chiefs of several tribes even more excited, and they squatted on the ground to express their gratitude.
After several years of development, pottery and linen are no longer scarce items, but the most scarce thing is still production tools.
Sharp and strong bronze knives, axes, hoes and other production tools are what all tribes want most.
With an ax in hand, I have the world.
As long as a tribe has a few more bronze axes, almost anything can't be solved.
Because with an axe, it will become extremely easy to cut down trees, and you can also cut the wood into any tool you want. Even if you don’t have a copper hoe, you can still make a large number of wooden hoes, wooden picks, wooden shovels, and copper for farming.
The difference between the tools is not very big. At most, they are less durable. However, compared to the trouble and difficulty of making stone tools, wooden tools are simply much simpler.
In addition, with an axe, it is also convenient and simple to make furniture, rakes and other large agricultural tools.
But copper axes are too expensive. One weighs several kilograms and is worth dozens of dollars. Most tribes were building roads a few years ago. Xu Chen bought a few half-sold and half-gifted. However, with the continuous development of each tribe and the settlement of different tribes,
, these tools are seriously insufficient for distribution.
In the past few years, a large number of tools and copper nails have been produced for the construction of the royal city. In addition, Xu Chen has also been using copper accessories to manufacture wooden objects such as carriages, boats, doors and windows. The most important thing is that the demand for copper coins has increased in recent years.
, more and more copper is consumed in coining money.
The Uzbek people only produce more than 1,000 kilograms of copper per month, which seems like a lot, but after all the messy consumption, there is basically nothing superfluous.
Not only that some tribes cannot afford bronze wares, but even if they can afford it, they still can't buy it. This is the biggest problem.
In addition, in addition to the severe shortage of copperware, salt is also a commodity that various tribes are currently competing to purchase.
"Your Majesty the Witch King, we are short of bronze, but we are even more short of salt!"
"Yes, the salt is delicious, but there is too little, so I can't buy it!"
"It's good to change it, we have money and gold!"
"We can also exchange grain and linen!"
When a group of clan leaders thanked Xu Chen, someone mentioned salt, so almost everyone became excited and expressed the hope that Xu Chen could help provide more salt. Of course, it was not in vain. It could be bought with money or with animals.
Skins, linen, grain and other wealth were exchanged.
But Xu Chen could only smile bitterly at this request.
Several years later, only the salt mine occupied by the Nanman tribe near the Mongols has been found.
The scale of this salt mine is very small, with a monthly output of only a few hundred kilograms. For a country with tens of thousands of people from nine major ethnic groups, it is a drop in the bucket.
In fact, the lack of salt has now become a stumbling block hindering the further development of farming.
Although eating whole grains can make you full, if you cannot get enough salt, your body will inevitably weaken. Although primitive people did not know the specific effects of salt on the body, the body is able to respond to the need for salt on its own, and responds to salty substances.
Tasteless food will create a great dependence on you. If you don't eat salt for a long time, you will feel tired and lethargic. In fact, this is a disease caused by salt deficiency, and you will want to continue hunting to obtain fresh blood food to supplement the salt.
If there is not an adequate supply of salt, hunting will continue and farming will stagnate.
What's more, with the promotion of salt, the role of salt goes far beyond that, because salt is also an important preservative and food additive for storing food.
The thousands of years of Chinese farming civilization have invented and passed down countless methods of using salt to store food, and countless delicacies have also been produced.
For hard-working women in rural areas, everything they eat can be salted and preserved, and then used as a reserve when there is no harvest. It has even become a tasteless meal for many people without taking a few bites a day.
At present, under the leadership of the Ba people, pickling and preserving food has gradually become a method favored by all tribes, and salt has become the most scarce commodity for all tribes.
Only the more food is stored, the more stable the tribe will be.
But unfortunately, salt is now scarce enough to give Xu Chen a headache.
This is not just a problem for tribes such as the Qia tribe, but is actually a problem for the entire country of Pakistan.
Even the Ba people cannot now occupy and monopolize as much as before, but can only distribute according to certain needs, otherwise the fairness of his Witch King will be questioned.
He has also been arranging for the Mongols and even the Yu Gong clan to explore and search for new salt mines on the south bank of the Wulong River. Unfortunately, after several years, they have still found nothing.
Therefore, in the face of the Qia tribe and other tribes asking for help, Xu Chen could only explain the difficulties at hand, saying that he would find a way to solve the salt supply problem as soon as possible, but he would still have to wait for a while.
After the Qia tribe rested for a night, early the next morning, hundreds of men, women, and children from the Qia tribe and other tribes reluctantly bid farewell and left. Xu Chen led the team to continue northward along the Bagong Avenue of the Jicang River.
Half an hour later, the team arrived near Yinlong Gorge.
This section of the road is the last pruned Cangqia section of Bagong Avenue. Because the terrain is flat and most of the road is river beach, the road condition is very good.
Near the boundary monument of Yinlong Gorge, several wooden houses and sheds left over from the original road construction are still there, and not far from the roadside, an adobe-thatched hut courtyard was built, where a group of Cang people have settled here to reclaim wasteland for two years.
The Cang tribe is the second largest tribe in Bameng. It originally had a population of more than 200 people. However, after several wars and marriage exchanges, the population has exceeded 300 in seven or eight years, and they have given birth to dozens of children in succession over the years. If they are male and female,
Adding up all the young and old, the population is close to 400, making it a large tribe.
As loyal supporters of the Ba people and Xu Chen, the Cang people have been actively responding to Xu Chen's call for dispersed living in recent years. They are constantly dividing their clans to find flat and suitable places to build houses and reclaim wasteland along the Bagong Avenue. Now, in addition to their ancestors, the Cang people
In addition to the native tribe near the land, there is also a settlement of forty people near the royal city, and they are scattered into four large and small groups along the Bagong Avenue.
This ethnic group near Yinlong Gorge is one of them. It has a population of about fifty people and is a family within the Cang tribe.
On the river beach near the house compound, ditches were dug and six to seven hundred acres of farmland were cultivated. Now the wheat and beans are booming, and the land is lush and green, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.
Xu Chen has only walked through this section of road once since it was opened. He passed it again after two years. The desolate look in front of him was no longer the same as before. Instead, there was a rural scenery of later generations, which made Xu Chen sigh with emotion.
Faced with Xu Chen's arrival, the Cang people who settled here were very excited. Women, old and young, cheered and welcomed Xu Chen and others into the compound. The men hurriedly rode horses and carried nets to go hunting and fishing, while the women hurriedly prepared food and arranged for eating and drinking.
Xu Chen is like a god to all tribes, full of gratitude and respect.
Everyone is able to live the happy life of being well fed, clothed and warm in the spacious house of their ancestors, almost all because of Xu Chen's guidance and help.
Originally it was still early, so Xu Chen wanted to go directly to the Ji Clan of the Cang Clan if he wanted to just stop by and take a look. As long as he didn't delay for too long on the way, he should have enough time to get to the Wu Clan today.
But in the face of the enthusiastic efforts of a group of Cang people, old and young, who settled here, we had to stop temporarily. I'm afraid that if we don't eat this lunch, they will be collectively sad.
Therefore, Xu Chen simply did not mention leaving, stayed and had a cordial conversation with a group of men, women, old and children, and then led a group of people to inspect the farmland conditions here.
If it were before, the Cang people would definitely not dare to settle here.
Because there used to be an evil dragon in Yinlong Gorge, but since it was killed by Xu Chen in his sneak attack on the Gonghuo tribe, the place has become much safer.
Moreover, the river water flowing out of Yinlong Gorge will wash out gold.
Therefore, the river opposite is also called the Golden River.
The Cang people settled and farmed here, and another task was to collect gold.
Gold was originally of no use and could only be used as a simple decoration, but since it was known that throwing gold gems into the prayer pool of the Ba Clan's Mother Goddess Temple could obtain the blessings of the Mother Goddess, gold has become a good thing and the Cang people collect it.
The gold is basically carried to the Ba people and thrown into the pool every year, and then it becomes the private wealth of the Ba people.
Of course, it's still useless and can only be used to make some decorations.
However, for Xu Cheng, gold has a sense of wealth that he cannot let go of.
So since he couldn't leave, Xu Chen simply took Ye, the three witches and others to look for gold in the Golden River on the other side. It was also a rare spring outing.
It's already March in spring, and the mountains, rivers and fields are blooming with flowers, full of green color, and there is a hint of midsummer atmosphere.
A group of Imperial Guards all took off their clothes, some wore a pair of linen shorts, and some simply swam and had fun in the clear Jicang River without any clothing. Those who were good at swimming even dived into the water to fish and catch shrimps in search of gold.
A group of middle-aged and elderly women and patriarchs were chatting and watching the fun on the river bank.
Xu Chen took Ye, three little witches and others on a raft to the other side of the Jicang River. He rolled up his trouser legs and skirts and looked for traces of gold in the crystal clear Golden River.
After year after year of rummaging by the Cang people, gold is actually not easy to find. Even if it is found, it is only some very small particles mixed in the gravel, even as big as a mung bean.
However, it was the first time for Ye, the little witch and others to come here, and it was also the first time in their lives to play like this. They were all very lively and happy. The girls were laughing and playing in the river in groups, looking for gold, and occasionally found it.
A bigger one will immediately attract a burst of excitement.