Chapter 1410: Nomadism

Now it is not just Xiaohe, but the entire Western Development Group who are staring at cats; as long as they see a cat in the wild, even if it is just a fleeting shadow, they can be excited for a long time, even more excited than seeing an ambushing tiger, because if they see a tiger, as long as it does not pounce on them all at once, they have a chance to kill it.

But a cat means Nobility, it means wealth; a tiger skin is certainly valuable, but once a group of people splits it, how much can one get? Can it be compared to a title of Nobility that provides fixed income forever?

The Western Development Group has already had many false alarms; mistaking lynxes for cats is one thing, but even mistaking yellow-throated martens for cats shows they are crazy for cats.

However, there are also times when they are not mistaken; after all, there are indeed quite a few cats in this territory, but they hide too well and are too fast; even when people see them clearly, they do not have the ability to catch them.

The last time they caught a cat and skinned it, that was good luck; now they want to catch cats, but they are reluctant to use Weapons, as a living one is far more precious than a dead one; you might even be complained about by the whole group if you kill a cat, saying you lack the skill to catch it yourself and ruined the opportunity for others.

So, it seems the biggest opportunity now is to rely on those few cats of Xiaohe to go out and use the "beauty cat trap"; as long as the season arrives, they will definitely go out to find mates.

Xiaohe's few cats are raised to be sleek and shiny, never worrying about food, sleeping in clean places, with bright fur and sturdy bodies; wild cats might have better survival and fighting skills, but just looking at their physique, they can outshine other cats.

For those wild male and female cats, the first priority is naturally physique; cats that can grow fat and large indicate good health and strong ability, meaning they can find sufficient food, so their genes are naturally better, and they will of course be prioritized.

Now they all belong to the same Genus, all the same kind of cat, without varied coat colors, so there is no color discrimination and they won't be picky about patterns; what Xiaohe hopes for now is that the female cats can get pregnant outside and bring the kittens back, and definitely not run off with wild male cats.

Male cats have no way to lure female cats back; after all, wild beasts are too vigilant toward humans, and this is almost impossible to succeed; Xiaohe does not understand the habits of cats, and Baifeng did not explain that much, so Xiaohe is just guessing about cats based on human thinking, and whether everything will succeed is unknown.

And the Western Development Group has another very important matter, which is that a group of "Professional Herdsmen" has arrived in the territory of Yishang not far away; they can be said to be employed by the Nobles of Huaxia, but that cannot be said entirely.

They have no farmland, so they do not need to pay taxes on farmland, but they must pay taxes on livestock; the costs are all covered by those Nobles, and what these herdsmen need to do is graze, let the cattle and sheep herds multiply continuously, expand the scale, and just make sure they are not eaten by wild beasts.

Also, because the number of their livestock is too large—after all, it was funded by many Nobles together—and for the sake of safety, everyone was arranged on Yishang's territory, so the number of cattle and sheep is a bit too high.

If they only stay in one place, the cattle and sheep will soon eat up the Grass in that same place, so they chose to follow the advice given by Baifeng and let them practice nomadism.

In this way, the territories of several Nobles can all be utilized, but for the time being, they are still on Yishang's territory; they do not need to farm, and food is transported by the Nobles from Huaxia.

And the Yurt—no, at this time it is called a Nomadic Tent—naturally became their house, because none of them know how to build them, and there are not even many people in Huaxia who know how to build them, so the Nobles promised them to the herdsmen, but the items have not been made yet, so they can only let the herdsmen continue to live in simple, small Tents.

Their previous plans were not perfect and were temporarily rejected when they were about to be implemented, but with the matter at hand, the Nobles could only let the herdsmen they recruited suffer for a while; plus, having told them that those cattle and sheep belong to the herdsmen's own wealth, this allowed the herdsmen to graze on the grassland without any complaints.

And the Nobles can only wait for the livestock to start breeding before going to collect taxes on the livestock produced, which must also include a portion for Baifeng.

Among these people, there are also herdsmen who are truly "hired," who are Huaxia herdsmen going to teach the newcomers how to graze; their homes are in Huaxia, and the contract signed is to lead these herdsmen through one Winter, and when the Grass grows in the second year, the contract ends, and the employment relationship ends as well.

Another reason they chose nomadism is that without the support of Huaxia, it is difficult to build a city; relying solely on these Nobles, this is almost an impossible task.

The Western Development Group can graze but not practice nomadism because they have the support of Huaxia, and the Western Development Group is also to be built into a springboard city for development to the west; it is impossible to let them go nomadic.

As for how to let these nomadic people see a doctor or let their children go to school in the future... I can only say let's live like this for now; they are not yet proficient in grazing, so don't talk about such distant problems.

And this is related to the Western Development Group because Ce discovered that if they want the animal husbandry of the Western Development Group to develop vigorously, this current grazing mode will not work after a few years; although the pasture is large, the number of cattle and sheep is increasing, and they will soon eat it clean within the range of a day's activity.

If they really want to expand the scale, there are two choices: either pen-raising, where people harvest and transport fodder for the cattle and sheep to eat, or choose nomadism; by comparison, nomadism seems to have become the most suitable choice.

Therefore, under Ce's planning, he divided the territory of the Western Development Group into more than a dozen Pastures of various sizes; every once in a while, he would drive the cattle and sheep to the next Pasture, but every Pasture must also be like the current Western Development Group, with sufficiently sturdy pens and houses that can accommodate enough people, which, besides living in for a long time to avoid rain and Snow, can also resist wild beasts.

In this way, it feels a bit like a Village, but because of the population size, it is impossible for anyone to live in that one place for a long time; it can only be that the Professional Herdsmen live there for a short time for a few dozen days, and then move to the next Pasture.

During this period, their children can also continue to study in school, and the distance between each Pasture and the Western Development Group's station is not particularly far; riding a cow, one can arrive in two days, but it is a pity there are no horses, otherwise it could be faster.