Chapter 1519: Grain and Fodder Move First

The trade in the wilderness concluded, and Xuanyuan and Baifeng returned to the Xuanyuan Tribe quickly by boat. After arriving at the Xuanyuan Tribe, Baifeng naturally moved into the Embassy. The conditions in every aspect of the Embassy were very good, just like before leaving Huaxia, and Baifeng lived there very comfortably and at ease.

It was just that the temperature in the Xuanyuan Tribe was much higher. Huaxia had only just sown the wheat seeds, but the wheat in the Xuanyuan Tribe was already growing lush and green, and the time for it to mature in the future would naturally be earlier than in Huaxia.

Huaxia was also attempting to plant winter wheat, and it was already being planted in some areas. Of course, they were very confused by this planting method, because spring plowing was an inevitable process; why plant in early winter? Wouldn't the wheat be frozen to death? It was not only a waste of energy but also a waste of grain seeds.

In reality, Baifeng also did not know where the advantages of winter wheat over spring wheat lay; perhaps it was just that it was harvested a bit earlier? Baifeng himself was not clear, but since it existed and was widely spread, it meant it had its own advantages. One could not guess it; it was like doing a high school geography problem—the true answer might very well be quite absurd. Now, it was necessary to use time and practice to obtain the true answer.

Spring in the Shennong Clan should arrive a bit earlier than in the Xuanyuan Tribe. Xuanyuan being able to go to Huaxia to find Baifeng at this time must have taken into account the situation of the different arrival times of spring, so he chose a relatively late time to leave. This knowledge had already been communicated and exchanged when Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe joined together to measure the timing of Heaven, so those who should know all knew this knowledge.

Xuanyuan did not set off for the Shennong Clan immediately either, but prepared to wait a few days first, and walk a bit slower on the road, so that the two tribes would not be too far apart, making it easier to join up later.

However, as the saying goes, before the troops and horses move, grain and fodder must go first, so the first team of the Xuanyuan Tribe responsible for transporting grain and fodder had already set off with tools. They not only needed to transport the grain over but also had to repair the roads.

If one were to say "open a path through mountains and build a bridge across water," that would certainly be unrealistic. Although they had many hands, they did not have such powerful strength to do such complex things, not to mention the distance was so far. How much labor and how much time did it take to build just one road in Huaxia?

They were just clearing away the vines, dead trees, and such on the essential path, clearing out a road that at least allowed people to pass. If they encountered a large pit, they would fill it if they could, or just make a mark to let people go around it.

They also held the task of finding the path. They needed to find an optimal route while the general direction was fixed. The road from last year could naturally be walked, but Nature is ever-changing. The road you were familiar with last year might have had huge changes after one Winter due to various reasons. They also needed to find the most suitable places on the road to spend the night and set up camps, find water sources, and make marks.

This time, the ones coming behind were tens of thousands of Soldiers. If they could not determine where there was an abundant water source, that would be playing with the lives of the Soldiers. Water sources must be investigated clearly.

Their marching speed had to be slow, so they were let go first, but it was impossible for Xuanyuan to just leave Baifeng, such a walking encyclopedia, alone. Every day he dragged Baifeng to stroll and wander all over Qingqiu City, under the guise of sightseeing, but actually to fish for information. By asking about some important information, as long as Baifeng leaked a little, the Xuanyuan Tribe could avoid many detours.

Baifeng naturally understood this too. Fortunately, speaking in official jargon was Baifeng's strength. In this era, where would there be such a way of speaking? It seemed like everything had been said, but in reality, nothing had been said.

Xuanyuan was also not discouraged in the slightest and continued to take Baifeng to see various places in Qingqiu City, but Baifeng instead deduced Xuanyuan's future plans from the current situation of Qingqiu City.

Compared to last year, the city construction had almost no changes. This did not differ from the intelligence of the Embassy, indicating that Xuanyuan had already begun to stop valuing Qingqiu City and was preparing to relocate to other places.

However, this matter was still a bit troublesome for Xuanyuan, because the Xuanyuan Tribe currently did not have a single qualified Artisan, not a single true craftsman who could build a house independently. The joint education between Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe had indeed cultivated a batch of Artisans for the Xuanyuan Tribe. Now they had already taken grading exams in Huaxia, and the vast majority were already at the third level, and there were even some Fourth-level Engineers.

But, they had not yet finished their apprenticeship. Huaxia's standard for their graduation was the fourth level; that is, only after they passed the fourth level could they be considered to have finished their apprenticeship. Finishing the apprenticeship was considered graduation, but what they faced next was working for Huaxia. This was the contract with the Xuanyuan Tribe: these Artisans, after being cultivated, had to work for Huaxia for free for a few years before they could return to the Xuanyuan Tribe.

This also compensated for Huaxia's labor shortage problem to a certain extent, and since they were apprentices from other tribes, the masters of Huaxia could naturally toss them around as much as they wanted. Even if you finished your apprenticeship and were supposed to work, Huaxia would still arrange the most bitter and tiring work for you; otherwise, how could you pay off Huaxia's cultivation costs? Learning the technology was the most profitable part.

Being bitter and tiring was not the point; the point was that Huaxia would not give you the opportunity to build independently. Even if you passed the level, you still did odd jobs and tiring work. They would not give you the opportunity to practice or train in Huaxia. After you returned to the Xuanyuan Tribe, what you could build independently would still be small houses and Resident dwellings. For anything slightly larger, you would have to consider whether you had the ability.

Of course, Huaxia did not have the ability for pure wood structures either; they still had to rely on Cement and Brick, using brick-concrete-wood structures to build larger and sturdier big houses. It was useless for the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe to learn this; they did not have Cement, so everything else was nonsense. They could use yellow mud to replace Cement, but the strength would naturally be greatly reduced.

The construction industry in Huaxia, because of the existence of Cement and Brick, had led to a problem: the development progress of wood structures had somewhat stagnated. This was not a good thing. For pure wood structures, you could say their practicality was not as good as brick-concrete, but their artistic component was high, and as long as the technology was good enough, they were also extremely durable.

Huaxia's Cement and Brick did not dare to build buildings higher than three stories, but if wood construction developed to a certain degree, buildings higher than three stories could continue to be built.

Baifeng also preferred that kind of beautiful and grand architecture. His dream once was to own a large courtyard made of pure wood, with Green Brick on the ground, spacious, grand, and elegant.

Now he only occupied the "spacious" and "ancient and simple" parts. After all, the stones paved on the ground were all carried back piece by piece from the mountains, and the tables and stools were wrapped in animal skins—how could they not be ancient and simple?