Chapter 1112: Pigeons or Eagles

"It's next year now. I think we should let the King send more people over. You are young right now and your seniority isn't enough. Even if you have the ability, you cannot take on such a heavy burden all at once. Even if the King allowed it, there might be some gossip back in Huaxia."

"Wait until this war is over, and your merits will be sufficient; perhaps then you can be promoted a bit more."

"Your father here isn't doing so well now. In front of Xuanyuan and the others, I don't quite measure up. It would bring shame to our Huaxia. I had better go back and recuperate."

"Besides, having been away from Huaxia for so long, I don't know what our Huaxia is like now. I always feel that many major events have happened in our Huaxia during this time—the kind that are bigger than anything before—but I don't know, and it makes me very uneasy."

"Shaoyin, this is my last battle here. Try to fight it beautifully. I am also afraid that if something happens, I won't be able to answer for it when I go back, so I am a bit scared now. Sigh, you should worry more and perform well; this is just a good opportunity."

Shaoyin did not feel sad because of his father's pessimistic remarks; instead, he hoped his father could return to Huaxia to recuperate, because he saw that every day his father needed to roast by the fire for a long time, and at night he needed to apply a lot of medicinal wine to slightly alleviate his pain.

It is hard to imagine how difficult his father's life must have been in the past. Once the weather turned cold, he would feel pain in his legs and waist. This did not seem to be because of old age, but rather something worn out from overwork in the past. Too many people in Huaxia are like this. In the past, the Shaman was unwilling to go out and wanted to lie on the heated kang every day; perhaps that was the reason, but in the end, he couldn't even use the medicinal wine.

Judging by the current intensity of the war, there is no need for his father to suffer so much. His father coming here is more to hold the line and negotiate with Xuanyuan, because only his father has a right to speak comparable to Xuanyuan and the others. If he were to go and talk to Xuanyuan and the others, he would already be a cut below in terms of status and position, making it difficult to guarantee the interests of Huaxia.

"Alright, Father, I will definitely strive to fight this battle well, and then let's return to Huaxia early. There really isn't much time left to continue advancing this year, and there isn't that much need to keep pushing forward either."

Xiong patted Shaoyin's shoulder: "You are stronger than me now. Give me more ideas and help me more. My legs are hurting terribly now, so I'm going to roast by the fire. You go to the front and keep watch."

Shaoyin watched his father leave, then immediately went to the front line to keep watch. The scouts were also reporting the situation back and forth incessantly at this time. According to the latest news just now, those Jiang Surname Tribe members had already begun to set up camp.

The number of enemies had also been scouted; there were many, at least over fifty thousand. The soldiers they could field, in a situation of total war, could also exceed ten thousand, which was a great threat to their alliance.

Fenghou and the others were still discussing, and the focus of the discussion at this time had shifted to carrier pigeons. Regarding whether they should use Huaxia's pigeons, they still had not reached a clear answer.

Fenghou persisted in his own idea: "Carrier pigeons are a very good thing, the fastest way to transmit messages. Letting the letter grow wings is very important. I think it is very necessary to use pigeons."

"Just as Huaxia says, if we catch pigeons ourselves to raise, it might take a very long time to raise them to be usable. But using Huaxia's pigeons just means paying some price now. We won't need many, so I think the price is completely bearable."

"At the same time, we can also raise our own. After a few more years, won't we no longer need Huaxia's pigeons? But we can also ensure that we always have pigeons."

Limu, however, had different thoughts about this method, or rather, he thought more deeply: "Huaxia's pigeons are not good, and raising them ourselves is also not good. If Huaxia mixes their pigeons in with ours, what then? We tie letters to the pigeons, and what if they are sent to Huaxia? Especially some relatively important messages?"

"You have all seen that Huaxia was able to raise pigeons in front of us for so long, and we didn't even know what they were used for."

"Moreover, pigeons all look exactly the same; who can tell which are Huaxia's and which are ours? If they mix some in, or if they have some way to lure the pigeons back to their Huaxia, then that would be even worse. Our security cannot be guaranteed."

"Tribal Chief, although we say we are an alliance and allies, as long as something is not written in the agreement, Huaxia doesn't have to care about it."

"If you ask me, we should just raise eagles and owls. They are birds anyway. Huaxia says pigeons can work, but I think these birds can too. And they are the most powerful in the sky; they aren't afraid of other birds catching them, and sending letters is safer."

"Maybe we can even catch Huaxia's pigeons. By then, Huaxia's letters will be even harder to send. If they want to send letters, they will have to use our eagles. Wouldn't they be suppressed by us then?"

Fenghou just shook his head faintly, not offering much defense. He felt that Limu's thinking was a bit too intense. He could think of it, so Huaxia could naturally think of it too. Since Huaxia didn't use them, it meant they might not be easy to use. Huaxia could domesticate cattle, dogs, and pigeons, which meant they could domesticate many things and had tried various different attempts. Perhaps these birds of prey were among the things they had once domesticated, but they just weren't easy to use.

Xuanyuan also thought for a long time. After all, this thing had too much appeal for him. Who wouldn't want to grasp the dynamics of distant places at all times? But Huaxia's pigeons indeed lacked strong security. In the past, he wouldn't even have thought about this thing. Now that Huaxia had offered them to them, should he take them?

Now Xuanyuan had made his final decision: Yes!

"Pigeons are too important to us. We will raise them ourselves, but not in Qingqiu City. Let's raise them in the surrounding tribes. Tell them to find a way; they must raise pigeons. This way, Huaxia won't know we are raising them, and they won't be able to mix their pigeons in. We will use Huaxia's pigeons for a few years, and once we have our own, we won't need theirs."

"And as for what you said, Limu, raising eagles is also fine. But how to catch them is a problem. Since you thought of it, then after we return to Qingqiu City, you find a way. Arrange for people to look for smaller ones, then catch them and raise them. Also, raise them further away so they cannot discover them."

"Our Xuanyuan Tribe doesn't have much of an advantage compared to Huaxia. The Large Ship hasn't been successfully built yet; it's too difficult. If it can't be built for a day, we will always be suppressed by Huaxia. On the water, we just can't compare to Huaxia."

"And iron. We must reach a cooperation with Jiuli as soon as possible and learn from them how to find Iron Ore and smelt iron. No matter how high the price, it is worth it. No matter how much copper there is, it is not as good as iron. What should be abandoned must be abandoned."

"As for the Bomb, I still haven't figured out what it is even now. I estimate that Huaxia won't tell us about this."