Chapter 1528: History Book (Part I)

"Ah~ is it really this good?" Xuanyuan sighed in a low voice, not expecting that in his own era, he had actually accomplished a great feat comparable to Shennong and Fuxi. Although he did not do it personally, by arranging and supporting them to do it, this achievement would, in any case, have a large share belonging to him, Xuanyuan.

The matter of the era name that Baifeng mentioned also gave him something to think about. Truth be told, he really wanted to use the two characters "Xuanyuan" as the era name, so that his descendants, even hundreds of years later, would still be able to know the name Xuanyuan and know his achievements; such an honor was something he found hard to abandon.

However, he still asked the others: "What do you think? What is more appropriate to use for this era name? Should we use the same one as Huaxia, or should we pick another one ourselves, using Xuanyuan? Or Youxiong?"

The crowd found it difficult to answer for a moment and could only say: "It all depends on the Tribal Chief's decision."

If Baifeng had not participated, they would have 100% chosen to use the name Xuanyuan, but now they needed to consider other issues more carefully.

After Baifeng returned to the embassy, he slept soundly and ordered people to carve a calendar board out of wooden planks, ensuring it was large enough and beautiful enough, as it would be needed for the entire coming year.

The people at the embassy did not yet know what this was. Some officials who had just returned from the Sun Observation Group and the Moon Observation Group provided sufficient explanations. They were all in the Xuanyuan Tribe, but unfortunately, they had always lived on the mountains or in the suburbs and had not even visited the embassy many times. Their lives had been arduous, but now they had finally moved into the luxurious rooms of the embassy.

According to common sense, they should be able to return to Huaxia soon; they would no longer need to stay in the Xuanyuan Tribe to suffer, and the work that needed to be done had already been completed.

Once they returned to Huaxia, they could perfectly replicate the same facilities and the same observation methods, and the resources and help that Huaxia could provide would be even greater; every aspect would be better.

Plus, since they already had results, from now on they would only need to refine them, so they would not need to be as hardworking and tired as before; they could just take it slow. The suffering of their generation was already over, and after returning to Huaxia, everyone would be able to obtain nobility and a surname, and then live out their lives in peace.

Because the merits of these people were too great, even though there were seven of them in total, their merits and hard work were equally high. Baifeng could not distinguish between them, so if he were to confer nobility, it had to be the same rank for all.

The formulation of the Agricultural Calendar had a merit greater than destroying a tribe, because it benefited the present and would benefit a thousand generations. Therefore, even if it meant seven new Marquises at once, Baifeng had to fulfill his promise. He wanted everyone in Huaxia to know that as long as you had sufficient ability and completed your assigned tasks, then nobility and such would all be given to you; he would absolutely not break his word.

However, the current conferment of nobility in Huaxia was not much different from the enfeoffment of the King of Zhou; both gave you status and honor, making you a Noble, but there was absolutely nothing on your fief.

A Marquis could at least be granted a piece of land that could be cultivated as soon as possible in the vicinity of Huaxia City or Lema City, but as for the largest fiefs, they might not even be able to see them in person in their lifetime.

The King of Zhou was the same: he enfeoffed you with a territory, you recruited troops yourself to conquer it, and then you went to cultivate and develop it. As long as you handed over a certain portion of the profits to him, he would guarantee the legitimacy of your wealth and the legitimacy of your status.

Some rulers of small states would have their states destroyed just by going out of the city to cut wheat; some even had to go to neighboring states to steal the oxen for sacrifices; some could even lose contact with the King of Zhou for decades. This was the enfeoffment of that era, a time of vast land and sparse population; Huaxia was not even as good as the Zhou Dynasty.

As for the matter of the era name, Baifeng had already made up his mind: if Xuanyuan could agree, then they would use it together; if not, then each would use their own. Baifeng still hoped to pass down the same era name forever, rather than changing the era name every time an Emperor changed—what a torture that would be for children studying history in later generations!

Early the next morning, a spirited Baifeng brought two scribes, one holding brush and ink, the other holding a stack of paper.

After meeting Xuanyuan in the conference room, the two did not waste words. Baifeng asked directly: "How about it, Xuanyuan? Have you thought it over? How do you want to use the era name, or do you already have one in mind?"

Xuanyuan let Baifeng speak first: "The era name is something you proposed first, so you should go first. I will see if we can accept it; if we can, we will use it, and if not, we will each use our own."

Baifeng immediately slapped the table: "Good, then I will say it. I think our era name should be called the Human Calendar. This year is Year One of the Human Calendar, and next year will be Year Two of the Human Calendar.

Because in the past, our human race had to fight with wild beasts for food, and at the same time, we were also the food of wild beasts; humans and wild beasts were the same.

Now we have fire, houses, and Weapons, and most importantly, we have started farming, and we are already further and further away from wild beasts. In the future, this Heaven and Earth will be the Heaven and Earth of humans, and all things will take humans as the leader. Therefore, I say we should call it the Human Calendar."

Dahong was a bit confused: "King of Huaxia, the calendar is called the Agricultural Calendar, but why do we need to create a new name called the Human Calendar? Can't this year be called Year One of the Agricultural Calendar?"

Baifeng crossed his arms and shook his head: "Of course not. The Agricultural Calendar is the name of the calendar system; the Human Calendar is the name of the year, the name of time. The Agricultural Calendar is for dividing time, and the era name is for recording time. Understand?"

"Oh... I understand."

Xuanyuan pondered for a long time, slowly chewing on the name "Human Calendar," then considered the pros and cons, and subsequently slapped the table and said: "Good, Baifeng, let it be as you say. We will use the same era name. This year shall be Year One of the Human Calendar!"

Baifeng clapped his hands, and everyone else began to applaud. Although there were no performances or speeches, the confirmation of this matter was also a very worthy thing to celebrate.

After the applause died down, Baifeng said slowly again: "Xuanyuan, now that the calendar and the era name are decided, there is one more thing that needs to be discussed."

"There is more? What is it?"

"History." Baifeng looked solemn: "If we want our descendants to know what we have done, we need to record history. In the past, we had no writing and did not know the time, so we could not record it.

But now, we have writing and we know the time, so we should record history and let specialized people write the History Book."

"The History Book, what is the use of that? What is there to write? The world is nothing more than these things, what is there to record? I don't understand!"