Chapter 1512: The Covenant in the Wilderness

Baifeng adjusted his expression slightly, coughed lightly, and said: "Xuanyuan, I know that you are now preparing to migrate to the lands of the Shennong Clan, because it is a plain, suitable for your development, and even more suitable for reclaiming boundless farmland."

Qingqiu City is of no use to you, but that does not mean it is useful to our Huaxia either. It is so far away from our Huaxia; not to mention whether I can manage it, even if I truly could, are the buildings and houses inside Qingqiu City of any use to our Huaxia?

The best building in all of Qingqiu City is probably our Embassy. If we took over Qingqiu City, we would still have to tear everything down and rebuild it. What is useful to us is nothing more than those cultivated lands. Therefore, I do not want this Qingqiu City, and it cannot support that many people."

Xuanyuan was a bit speechless. Although he was not prepared to prioritize Qingqiu City, he had not intended to let it go to waste either. Besides, they had invested so much in the construction of Qingqiu City; although it could not compare to Huaxia City, it was not as unbearable as Baifeng described. Baifeng said this wouldn't work and that wouldn't work—was he purely making things difficult for him? If it really came to it, his Xuanyuan Tribe would just slowly fight for it; if they fought for two more years, they would still be able to take it down.

"Baifeng, then why don't you say what you want? Tell me, and see if I can meet your conditions. If I can, we can continue to talk; if not, I might as well go attack the Shennong Clan myself. Whether it is the Shennong Clan's land or their population, if I lack either, it will be difficult to develop."

Baifeng did not open his mouth like a lion; he counted on his fingers and said: "I want a mine, whether it is a copper mine or an Iron Ore mine, I want one regardless. Then, I need some of the plant seeds and seedlings that you Xuanyuan have."

"Third, I want your silkworm seeds."

Xuanyuan tilted his head: "Just this? Isn't the condition I offered better than what you are asking for? In your eyes, is Qingqiu City not as valuable as these things?"

"Also, as for the mine you mentioned, I am afraid it would be difficult for you to excavate it. I could give you a mine, a copper mine, but its distance from your Huaxia is very far; you would have no way to mine it."

"I will send people to find this mine myself. In any case, as long as it is found in the area north of your Qingqiu City, it counts as given to our Huaxia, is that okay? Then, add the partitioned territory of the Shennong Clan."

"If, after the territory is partitioned, we haven't reached the location of the mine, my requirement is to circle the location of the mine into our territory. If it exceeds the location of the mine, I won't ask for anything else; at that time, aside from the population, just give us two more tenths of the other spoils from the Shennong Clan."

Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan felt this was a giveaway deal. Why had Baifeng suddenly become unusually easy to talk to? He felt there was a trap and had to ask clearly.

"Those are your only conditions, and then all the population goes to our Xuanyuan Tribe?"

Baifeng laughed: "How could that be? If I gave them all to you, you wouldn't be able to handle them. I am doing this on the basis of an equal split, giving you a larger share."

"If you can agree to these requirements of mine, when we divide the population, I can agree to a three-seven split with you—I take three, you take seven."

"But for wealth other than the population and territory, it will also be a three-seven split—I take seven, you take three. Are you willing?"

"In any case, once you obtain the Shennong Clan's land and population, you will be able to reclaim vast amounts of farmland and plant crops. In a few years, you will not lack food at all. There must be copper mines already discovered in their territory; once you take over, you can use them directly. How good is that? Xuanyuan, don't you agree? How are these conditions of mine?"

Xuanyuan calculated in his heart and felt it was indeed very favorable to him. The current Shennong Clan probably had no wealth left. Huaxia certainly wouldn't care for things like grain. What Baifeng could take a fancy to was nothing more than animal skins, jade, gold, copper, etc., which were dispensable to the Xuanyuan Tribe. As long as he had the population and land, he could fully make up for it in a few years. Therefore, Xuanyuan ultimately chose to agree to Baifeng's proposal.

Baifeng's Boat had everything, so right there in the wilderness, the two of them took up pens to fill out the terms, recited them once to inform Heaven, signed and pressed their thumbprints, made three copies, each kept one, and burned one. This was considered reaching the final agreement.

No longer scheming against each other, the two felt much more relaxed after sitting down again. Xuanyuan was also quite anxious, so he asked Baifeng: "I plan to return to the Xuanyuan Tribe tomorrow, then lead the troops to set out, pave the way in advance, and occupy good positions while waiting for you to come over. Then, shouldn't you also hurry back to arrange for your Soldiers to come? Shall we take advantage of their spring famine this year and launch a fierce attack on them?"

"Of course, no problem. Before I left Huaxia City, I had already explained it to them, and everything that needed to be prepared has been prepared. I will send word back later, and tomorrow their main force will be able to set out from Huaxia City; they won't fall too far behind the Xuanyuan Tribe. Or, you can wait a moment, and we can set out together."

After hearing this, Xuanyuan was not so anxious anymore. He asked curiously: "Who will you send to command this year? Xiong, or Lu? Xiong's son, Shaoyin, is actually quite good; he is a brave Soldier and also a talent. This year we must treat it as the final battle and must take it seriously."

Baifeng smiled leisurely: "I will come to command in person this year."

This time, it was Xuanyuan who was shocked: "You? How can you come? Can Huaxia do without you? Besides, have you ever been on a battlefield?"

"I have already made arrangements for Huaxia. With Yulong and Changle there, there is no need to worry. They have long been qualified rulers; their abilities are sufficient. I also need to delegate power to them, letting them try and figure out how to manage the country themselves. I cannot manage Huaxia forever."

"As for war, I built the entire Huaxia into what it is today from a few hundred people, so what is wrong with war? Everything you have seen related to war in Huaxia was created by me. I am the teacher of all of them, so you can be completely at ease about this."

"I haven't held a Knife for many years, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to fight. Commanding a war and killing the enemy in person are different. Xuanyuan, as a commander, one should stand at a high vantage point, using the Soldiers to sweep away everything just as one uses their own arm, rather than being like a single finger, holding a Knife and hacking at the enemy oneself. Aside from boosting morale and showing off personal martial prowess, it is of no use at all."

Xuanyuan suddenly felt that Baifeng's aura had risen by a large margin; he truly had that feeling about him. If Baifeng was as formidable as he claimed, then this war would likely have to be led by Baifeng.