Chapter 1478: A Necessary Trade

In Huaxia, the mission of the Xuanyuan Tribe within the Shennong Clan was also nearing its end, and they were preparing to withdraw. This time, they were taking a newer, closer route; since so much territory had already been seized by them, there was no need to take such a large detour again.

For the Logistics Team transporting grain, this could also save more time and transport capacity, allowing them to deliver grain to the battlefield more quickly.

Jiang Ke and the Jiang Yuwang Tribe also upheld their promise to Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Alliance; they did not attack, but they did not retreat either. After all, they still had to keep up appearances. Since it was a state of mutual checks and balances, Jiang Yuwang and his people would wander into Huaxia's territory from time to time to mooch some of Huaxia's delicacies. It had already spread throughout the Jiang Surname Tribe that Huaxia's food was delicious.

A group of people who found it a struggle just to eat their fill would never consider how to make food taste better; what they thought about was how to tinker with those poisonous foods until they were no longer poisonous.

Only those like Jiang Ke and his people, who could actually eat their fill, would think about eating better things. They could also take the prey captured by their tribesmen to Huaxia to trade for food. In this era, eating for free or mooching meals was a very detestable thing.

After spending a long time together, Jiang Yuwang and his people had even less intention of fighting the Huaxia Xuanyuan Alliance, because they had thoroughly felt the combat power of the Huaxia Xuanyuan Alliance. The true elite soldiers, those weapons and equipment, and the discipline and style of the Soldiers were not something they could compare to.

The most important point was that Huaxia did not lack grain, which seemed to be a fact. Every time he went, he discovered that Huaxia and Xuanyuan still had so many Soldiers, and he had never seen their Soldiers go out on operations to hunt for prey in the surroundings. Yet, they were able to eat every day and eat their fill with a very stable quantity. This was not something that could be done casually; if they did not have enough confidence in their own grain reserves, would they dare to do this?

The two Jiang Surname Tribes had so many people that they had now sent many out to set up camps and survive in the surrounding areas. Living separately and searching for food separately was equivalent to opening up a new territory. Fortunately, it was autumn now, which was a good season for harvesting, and food was relatively abundant. They were not only able to satisfy their current survival but also collected some food to keep for the Winter.

However, compared to the Huaxia Xuanyuan Alliance, they still had no confidence in their hearts. Not only did they not dare to fight this year, but they also would not dare to fight next year. Although there was no fighting this year, the migration and stationing had already consumed a lot of their tribe's grain reserves. By next year, the stockpiles of their two tribes would be empty. Originally, after getting through a Winter, the tribe would be in great difficulty, let alone having to face such a powerful enemy.

The first problem they would encounter would likely be food shortages, and the tribesmen would starve to death. Fight the Huaxia Xuanyuan Tribe? That was absolutely impossible. They should prepare now; this year, they would keep a portion of the tribesmen, especially the Soldiers, here, let them hide, and find food for themselves.

Then they would take the remaining tribesmen back and say that they had driven the enemy out, only the losses were quite heavy, and they had not obtained much in the way of spoils.

Spoils were something that had to be had. After all, last year, when Jiang Ming and Jiang Cheng were beaten like that, they still brought back a few things. If he went back empty-handed, how could Shennong not be suspicious? Therefore, he was also working hard to negotiate, wanting to get a few pieces of Ironware from Huaxia to take back.

It was just that every piece of Ironware was very precious to Huaxia. If there was not a sufficient price, they would certainly not make this trade. Furthermore, as of now, the Jiang Surname Tribe did not have anything that could make Huaxia's heart flutter. As for what they said about ceding another three days' distance of territory, those were all empty words. After all, they were not Shennong, and their words did not count; they could only decide whether to fight or stop the war while being so far away from Shennong.

Xuanyuan was also unwilling to provide this guarantee for Huaxia. After all, the territory ceded by the Jiang Surname Tribe was still ceded to Xuanyuan, and in the end, this ceded territory would be calculated for Huaxia. When it was all added up, Xuanyuan would suffer a huge loss. In any case, Xuanyuan was unwilling to make this purely loss-making, non-profitable trade.

If they said they would trade with other things, what wealth could a tribe have after leaving the tribe and coming out with their tribesmen? They did not even have enough food for themselves, and now they had to save tightly to get through the Winter. There was no need to say how precious Ironware was; everyone knew it in their hearts.

Huaxia did not have any interest in those animal skins and such. In the end, helpless, the Jiang Surname Tribe could only use their Bronze ware to exchange for Huaxia's Ironware, and it was at a ratio of two to one.

The Jiang Surname Tribe was, after all, the central tribe among the largest tribes in the world today, and the quantity of their Bronze ware was still quite large. Their main elite Soldiers were basically equipped with Bronze ware.

The Shennong Clan was also a tribe that had known how to smelt and forge Bronze ware for a very long time; otherwise, it would have been difficult for them to build a massive tribe in such an era.

Weapons were a very important point, and then there was the fact that they could do simple farming. Their hunting skills were also the strongest of this era, as well as their knowledge of plants—after all, the Shennong Clan was in the business of doing this—so their food quantity far exceeded that of other tribes, which was why they could develop to the level they were at today.

It was just that the Shennong of this generation was cruel and incompetent, which led to the current situation of disintegration. Because of the existence of Baifeng, Huaxia began to develop rapidly and surpassed these ancient tribes.

In the barbaric era and the feudal dynasties, there was actually not much difference. An incompetent leader could quickly cause a powerful dynasty to head toward decline rapidly. If a new force that was more civilized and powerful in military strength appeared at the same time, it could replace it.

Throughout the entire history of China, the only mistake was at the end of the Ming Dynasty, when new ideas and new culture appeared, but there was no corresponding powerful military force. Instead, it was defeated and ruled by a barbaric nomadic people that could not be called civilized in the slightest.

New ideas and new culture did not develop the strength they should have; otherwise, it might have changed the increasingly closed and dogmatic Confucianism and created a brand-new country. Who could have imagined that the barbaric people were not only powerful in military strength but also suppressed thought and culture? Chinese culture failed to transform it like it did with the Wei or the Yuan.