Chapter 1367: The Recognized Boundary (Part 3)

"More or less."

"More or less?" Lu asked, very confused. "That means a tribe of exactly the same strength has come, but how did you see that they were different? Did you see their Tribal Chief?"

Xuanyuan smiled and shook his head. "Of course not. As long as you fight a few more battles with an enemy and know how they fight, you can know what kind of person they are. Once you know what kind of person they are, you naturally know how they do things and manage their tribe.

Look at them now. In this tribe, there are many tents and an especially large number of campfires, but there are hardly many Soldiers, nor are there many tribespeople.

It is certain now that they have already dispersed a portion of their tribespeople to relatively distant places to search for food, and even the Soldiers have gone.

If they didn't know we were coming and did this, it would mean this person is too reckless, not careful enough, and prone to mistakes. But if they knew we had already arrived and still did this, it would mean they are very confident; they have sufficient confidence in their own Soldiers and abilities."

Xuanyuan suddenly put down the Telescope, scanned the surrounding environment slowly, and said, "Of course, there is another possibility: that what is being shown to us in front is a facade, and the greatest danger is right around us."

Lu was also startled and hurriedly turned around to look everywhere. "Around us? We are currently occupying the highest place; it is the safest, most advantageous spot. What other danger could there be?"

"This is just a guess for now," Xuanyuan continued. "Behavior like this would not have been seen in Jiang Ming and Jiang Cheng, whom we met last year. Look again: those Soldiers are quite far from the largest tent, and their movements are very cautious, which shows their Tribal Chief is very strict and harsh toward them. Jiang Ming and Jiang Cheng were not like this, which shows this is another tribe.

Look at their Weapons, numbers, clothing, and fabric; they are all the same as the Shennong Clan, which shows they are indeed people of the Shennong Clan, not some other tribe."

At this, Lu was even more astonished. "Even the fabric has differences? How did you see that?"

Xuanyuan pointed at the Telescope and said, "If it weren't for this thing of yours, I wouldn't be able to see it either. But as you know, in our two tribes, the fabric is basically woven from hemp; the color is darker and it is also a bit stiffer.

In your Huaxia, people like you wear clothes sewn from a mix of various materials—there is leather, Hemp Cloth, and also Silk. Such attire exists only in your Huaxia in the whole world.

As for the Shennong Clan, most wear Ramie Cloth, as well as ramie fabric; the color is lighter and it is a bit softer. Looking through the Telescope, one can see it quite clearly. Also, their Soldiers wear a lot of tattered leather. As long as you look more, you will always be able to see the differences.

Even if they are all from the Shennong Clan, the more central tribes wear more Hemp Cloth, and even if they wear leather, it is quite neat. But the peripheral tribes, the tribes that are not valued, wear more leather, and the leather is often dirty, tattered, and the sewing is not well-fitted.

Because the hemp and ramie used to make cloth are cultivated in the Shennong Clan, but they are not grown as carefully as we do—they don't even turn the soil. All the harvested hemp and ramie must be sent to Changyang Mountain. The cloth woven from it is a reward. Important tribes, especially those of the Jiang Surname, who are brothers to the Shennong, naturally get the most.

The more peripheral the tribe, the less they can get. They can only wear leather, and they wear tattered, inferior leather that is poorly tanned, and the cutting and sewing are rough. You can see the difference at a glance. Do you understand now?"

After hearing Xuanyuan say this, Lu felt greatly shocked. He had never thought that one could judge what a tribe was like through such details. He could judge which tribe it was based on the differences in clothing, but he was unable to judge the status of that tribe.

Now Xuanyuan had just poured it all out to him. Not just this, but also how to infer the situation of the Tribal Chief and Leaders based on the tribe's circumstances. He hadn't even learned this in Huaxia, yet Xuanyuan had just explained it to him like this. How could this not shock Lu?

Of course, he was even more shocked by Xuanyuan's unreserved teaching. Although he didn't know if Xuanyuan had held anything back, it sounded very comprehensive right now, and it felt like a branch of knowledge that could continue to be developed.

If he could take back a few clues, Huaxia could definitely have specialized people to study it. The main thing was that Lu had basically lived in Huaxia; some concepts and common knowledge came from Huaxia, so he naturally didn't know what the interior of the Shennong Clan's tribes was like.

The Xuanyuan Tribe was once considered an affiliated tribe of the Shennong Clan, but the Xuanyuan Tribe was too large and too far away, and the Shennong Clan could not govern it, so it naturally let it be independent. The Sanmiao tribes were all the same; they once belonged to the rule of the Shennong Clan, except for the Suiren Clan.

Because the Shennong Clan was previously a tribe of the Suiren Clan, but later a powerful Shennong appeared within the Suiren Clan, who led his own tribespeople to strive and build a tribe as great as the Suiren Clan, breaking away from the Suiren Clan and gathering more tribes that belonged to himself.

Tribes like the Fuxi Clan and Nuwashi were just powerful, but not that massive, and coupled with rapid integration, these two tribes no longer exist; there are only some people who claim to be descendants of the Fuxi Clan and Nuwashi, but the tribes no longer exist.

The Xuanyuan Tribe used to have trade with the Shennong Clan, so they naturally knew the Shennong Clan very well. Later, after this generation of Shennong succeeded, due to issues with ability and character, the Xuanyuan Tribe developed a repulsion toward the Shennong Clan. Coupled with the obstruction of the Lieshan Clan, the connection between the Xuanyuan Tribe and the Shennong Clan was basically severed.

The emergence of Huaxia made trade for the Xuanyuan Tribe no longer a problem, and the produce was far richer than that of the Shennong Clan, the trade speed was faster, and the profits were greater. Xuanyuan naturally chose Huaxia between the two tribes.

If it weren't for the fact that Huaxia was unwilling to trade Ironware and Weapons, Xuanyuan might not even have traded with the Jiuli. Trading with Huaxia was very stable and very painful, but Baifeng was too cunning, which made Xuanyuan both love and hate him.

This time, he didn't know what came over him, but he suddenly started talking to Lu about his own views. He vaguely felt that saying this might reveal a bit too much to Huaxia; after all, this was also knowledge, a summary that belonged to him personally.

Whenever it involved knowledge, it needed to be taken very seriously between Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe. After all, as long as one side revealed even a little bit, the other would immediately go and study and expand upon it themselves. Of course, the Xuanyuan Tribe did this the most.