Chapter 1579: Life Must Have Something to Look Forward To

Heshuo and the others had already grown accustomed to the terrain and topography here; running and sliding, their forward speed was still quite fast. Following the slope to accelerate, then tilting their bodies slightly, they could slide down the earth slopes covered in short grass, kicking up a cloud of dust.

After crossing two small hills in succession, they could already see scattered sheep; those were the sheep that were not very obedient, wandering far from the flock to forage on the periphery.

Because they had the protection of humans, these sheep were almost never threatened by wild beasts during the day. Compared to surviving freely in the wild, they were actually more at ease under human domestication.

As for being killed by humans for meat, that was nothing; in the wild, once they were older and their running speed slowed, they would still be eliminated by Nature and eaten anyway. Humans could at least let them breed steadily for a few generations before they died.

Looking at the population numbers alone, one knew that human domestication was more advantageous for them than their own survival.

Heshuo and his group would not bother with these sheep, because there were other people wandering around. Besides searching the ground for edible plants and ground fungus, they were responsible for watching these sheep, ensuring they did not run too far, while also serving as an early warning system; as soon as they discovered enemies or wild beasts, they could immediately notify the other tribesmen to come over.

Even the children had not a moment of leisure; as soon as they could understand speech and had a little strength, they had to work for the tribe, which was also a means for them to survive in the tribe.

Picking up ground fungus of all sizes scattered everywhere and packing them into pockets or baskets—this food looked small, but it was very dry. It only needed to be soaked in water and then boiled to become more; a handful was enough for these children to eat a meal.

Moreover, there was no need to worry about not finding it; on the land here, ground fungus was almost everywhere, just differing in quantity. Furthermore, it grew extremely fast; one did not know when it would sprout, but in any case, after they had picked a piece of land once, it would be full again the next time they came.

And after it rained, it was the best time to pick it, because it would become larger and easier to find; a single grab with the hand would yield a large handful. However, it had to be dried again to save carrying space and make it lighter.

This thing was almost a type of food that many of the Wulengebu could not escape; they had long since grown tired of eating it. Unfortunately, besides this, it was truly difficult to find more food. Of course, they would kill cattle and sheep, but where would they get so many cattle and sheep to let them kill them every day?

Only when they felt they were about to starve to death would they begin to slaughter cattle and sheep in an attempt to tide over the difficulties. As long as they could ensure they would not starve to death, they would leave the cattle and sheep untouched if possible.

The prey caught during ordinary hunting was also only for the Leader and the main Soldiers to eat. The Wulengebu did not lack meat or dried meat; they could use dried meat to trade for things with other tribes, but the wealth belonged to the Leader, and ordinary people did not have such good treatment or conditions.

Yet they still remained in the tribe with single-minded devotion, because they felt that after leaving the Wulengebu, they would soon die in this wilderness. Without the protection of the tribe, a single human was very fragile.

Unfortunately, they did not know that the tribesmen they thought were suffering as Slaves in Huaxia were now living a prosperous and good life.

Life for a Lowly Slave in Huaxia was of course not easy, but this was relative. They had already profoundly recognized their own status and had not the slightest heart for rebellion. Huaxia was very powerful, very wealthy, and treated them very well.

Although they were often scolded or beaten, it was about the same when they were in the Wulengebu. But in Huaxia, they would not starve or freeze to death, and herding was also much easier.

In the absence of arrangements by Huaxia, they could look for edible food themselves during the process of herding—wild vegetables, ground fungus, and the like—and then, every day after driving the cattle and sheep back into the pen, they would turn in all the collected wild vegetables and food, leaving nothing behind.

This operation initially made the Huaxia people a bit confused; they had not expected these Slaves to be so obedient. According to the Slave team leader, they had not hidden a single bit.

Why? Because they were not that hungry, ate quite well, could eat their fill, and had even grown fatter than when they were in their own tribe. With no lack of food, why would they hide it? Mainly, if they hid it and were discovered, they feared they would be punished and lose such a good life.

Now the Huaxia people were quite at ease with these Slaves and could use them boldly. Plus, they were herdsmen who used to herd in the past; when it came to herding, most of these people from the Western Development Group were not as good as these Slaves.

After Ce studied the current situation, they also began to gradually implement reforms, which was to gradually delegate the work of herding to the Slaves. In the herding teams, there used to be many people from the Western Development Group and few Slaves, for fear that the Slaves would revolt.

Now the ratio had been gradually balanced, and more people from the Western Development Group could return to the Regimental Headquarters to engage in other work.

It was not that Slaves could not work in the Western Development Group, but going out to herd meant they could not return home for a long time. According to the current rotational grazing plan, a herdsman would take about three months to return once; overall, they could not go home for half the year.

For a Huaxia person who had just obtained a stable residence and a stable home, this was a quite painful thing. Therefore, letting them return to work around the Western Development Group Regimental Headquarters was the best reward for them; whether they were doing labor or farming, it was better than herding.

However, it was currently impossible to hand over all the herding matters to the Slaves. For one, the number of Slaves was not enough and was relatively small. Furthermore, they dared not let go completely; in half a year or a year, it was impossible to thoroughly understand and control a group, let alone with the language barrier—if they were really plotting something, Huaxia would be unable to find out in the fastest way.

Another thing was that when herding outside, one must have a Weapon to resist wild beasts. Handing a Weapon to a Lowly Slave was not a rational approach. Therefore, for these few years, herding would still be dominated by Huaxia people.

This was the future plan Ce had for the two groups: Huaxia people would be able to stay in their hometowns to work in the future, without having to go out for long periods.

As for the Slaves, even if they were Lowly Slaves, they had to be given something to look forward to so they would be easier to control. Therefore, they should be assigned female Slaves to form families, letting them be tied down by their families. Furthermore, there was promotion; a Lowly Slave would not be a Lowly Slave forever. Although the chance was small and it was difficult, there was still a great opportunity to become a Slave who could keep their hair and have better living conditions.