Chapter 1404: Another Half-Year Passes

Nearly half of the year has passed, and Suiren City will not have any output that Huaxia can value this year, or even next year.

There is no arable land, not even a small patch; it is currently only in the planning stage, as the entire forest surrounding Suiren City must be cleared before those lands can be cultivated.

However, cutting down trees is relatively easy because Huaxia has provided them with enough tools; now, more than half of Huaxia's iron production is used to make tools, and with large saws—saws taller than a person—felling trees is no longer as difficult as it used to be.

All the felled timber, as long as it is not crooked or twisted, is hauled back to be saved for future use; on the open ground next to Suiren City, the timber is almost piled into a mountain, waiting to be air-dried before use.

The people of the Suiren clan also know that they are building a city for themselves and all want to live better, so they are working exceptionally hard at the clearing.

But the difficulty lies in the fact that after the trees are cut down, the remaining roots are buried deep underground, and digging them out is very strenuous; if they are not dug out, the land cannot be cultivated, and those trees will also sprout again from the roots.

Therefore, the Suiren clan has also invested a great deal of effort into digging up the tree roots they deem unnecessary; this is entirely in response to Huaxia's requirements, otherwise, they would never do such a thing.

Moreover, ever since the Huaxia officials arrived, they have built toilets and cesspits, requiring them to go to the toilet in a unified place; this is something they do not understand, as they used to go wherever they pleased in the wild and could not smell any stench at all, but now that it is concentrated, it is foul-smelling once they go there.

Coupled with the extremely large population, the number of toilets is high and the scale is large; it does not take long before they have to be cleaned out collectively, and once cleaned, it cannot be discarded at will, but must be hauled to the places they have planned, which is said to be in preparation for future cultivation.

Even the ash left after they burn firewood is not allowed to be discarded; it must also be collected, mixed with the excrement, and hauled away, which is one of the few things the people of the Suiren clan feel is unnecessary and complain about.

However, the Huaxia officials cannot worry about the complaints of the Suiren clan; if they want the land to become fertile early and turn from wasteland into rich fields, they must make full preparations now, as all that excrement is fertilizer in their eyes, and letting it be dropped anywhere in the wild is a waste!

Some farmers in Huaxia now have to hold their waste until they get home to relieve themselves, and if they encounter a pile of cow dung on the road, they have to shovel it up and bring it home; if you don't pick it up, someone else will, and if you do, it will be applied to your own fields as fertilizer.

As the saying goes, "Fertilizer water does not flow to outsiders' fields"; what is fertilizer water? Excrement water is fertilizer water, and even a single urination must be done in one's own fields.

The Suiren clan currently does not understand cultivation, nor do they know what excrement means for planting, but the people of Huaxia do, so they cannot bear to see such waste and must arrange it now.

If Baifeng had not provided guidance, it is unknown how long it would have taken for the fact that excrement can fertilize fields to be discovered; the West did not know about this in the past, otherwise, why would their cities be full of excrement and urine everywhere? Someone would surely have collected the excrement to use as fertilizer, as this could even be turned into a business.

Those dug-up tree roots that can be chopped into firewood are chopped and brought back, and those that are difficult to carry, along with those that were shaved off and cannot be used as timber, are finally gathered together and lit with a fire; in the end, it is also fertilizer, which can be considered an advanced version of slash-and-burn agriculture.

Because they learned of the construction of Suiren City, the surrounding tribes also began to migrate toward Suiren City; although this will shrink their space for survival, there is a great benefit, which is that they can receive aid from Huaxia, and by comparison, the speed of obtaining food is faster.

Although Huaxia has no way to support the entire Suiren clan and can only provide subsidies as much as possible, it has clearly reduced the mortality rate of the Suiren clan by a great deal.

Deaths in the past were all due to starvation or being bitten to death by wild beasts, but now labor accidents are actually more frequent; the number of people crushed to death while cutting trees is far greater than those who starve to death; of course, deaths from hunting are still about the same, because Huaxia's food is not yet enough to let them all eat their fill, and they must still find food themselves.

It is also because of the successful establishment of the Gold Bank that Huaxia has its current strength to be able to take out so much food to provide to the Suiren clan; otherwise, with two new cities under construction, the Western Development Group also needing food, and those who migrated over also needing food subsidies, the various expenditures would be enough to cause Huaxia's National Treasury to run low in a short time.

The construction of new villages and towns does not require too much of Baifeng's worry, because it is already spontaneous construction; those who want more land need to move their residences to places more convenient for cultivation, and for individual families, it is too lonely and relatively dangerous, so it is more appropriate for everyone to gather together.

Such matters are naturally decided by the town level, and village affairs are basically no longer sent to Baifeng's hands, letting them decide for themselves; currently, the most obvious construction at the village level is Lema City, and with Yu's ability, there is no need for Baifeng to worry too much, as Yu is proceeding smoothly according to his own plans.

And the policies that Baifeng promised to Yu are also being implemented as scheduled; the university is under construction, and the Middle School is also under construction, so in the future, the children of Lema City will find it easier and more convenient to go to school, without needing to be too far from home, and they can also easily find a good job.

The degree of integration of those newcomers into Huaxia is also very high; they have already fully identified with their identity as Huaxia people, after all, life is better now, and who doesn't like that?

Regarding Huaxia, another piece of good news is that the cat that ran away has returned; it has not been seen for a long time and has grown much larger, but it is not as fat as it was when it was in Huaxia City, and there are some small wounds on its body, which is enough to show that life outside is not stable.

It has returned with a bit more wildness, but at least it is still close to people and has not shown aggression toward humans, and it still recognizes Baifeng's family; although the women are quite happy, Baifeng does not think so, as he feels this little creature just came back to heal its wounds, and once it recovers, it will have to leave.

It should be an adult now and needs to go out to find a mate; it cannot stay here forever, and there are likely no more wild cats like this in the vicinity, so it might be hard for this little cat, and if it really doesn't work out, he will have to lock it up when it returns again and send it to the Western Development Group, where there are definitely enough wild cats in the surroundings for it to breed.