Chapter 1593: Tuomao

So, quite naturally, when Zhang's team set out, they also brought a considerable amount of salt. The Soldiers had to eat, and with so many people, the salt consumption could not be low, especially in such hot weather where they sweated a lot; it was absolutely impossible to do without salt.

Furthermore, it was for the cattle and horses to eat; salt had to be added to the water they drank so that they could also have more strength.

On the first day of taking over the Tuomao Tribe, when feeding the cattle and horses, a Huaxia Soldier grabbed a handful of salt from a wooden bucket and threw it in, and he even let the people of the Tuomao Tribe see it. How could they not be shocked by this?

That handful of salt was something they would have to trade at least two sheep for in the Shenhu Tribe. Just when they thought the water was for the Huaxia Soldiers to drink, they never expected that the person would turn around and give it to the horses to drink.

The people of the Tuomao Tribe were now able to eat one meal a day, and the content of the meal was still their own stored grain. However, Zhang's intention was to let them eat more at once, rather than being stingy like before, and he also planned a portion of their military rations into the rations for these Slaves.

The main reason was that the Huaxia Soldiers were now almost sick of eating Compressed Military Rations, and since they happened to have mutton soup to eat, there was naturally no need to eat these Compressed Military Rations.

As for subsequent food replenishment, they could just return to the Western Development Group. It would take them less than ten days to return now, so there was no need to worry about food, which was why they could afford to be a bit more generous.

The Western Development Group was also not short on Compressed Military Rations because it was not only military rations but also emergency rations. Herdsmen needed them very much; they were easy to carry, had a long shelf life, and could be eaten dry or reprocessed—anything worked. Therefore, the herdsmen of the Western Development Group who needed to go out for long periods were in great need of this stuff.

Among the supplies transported over, there was a considerable amount of Compressed Military Rations. They even had several warehouses of this stuff there; wooden crates were lined with salt, and after being filled with Compressed Military Rations, they were topped with more salt, so there was absolutely no fear of them spoiling.

For normal eating, the focus was certainly still on rice and flour. They also had a certain amount of grain production of their own; although it was not yet enough to be fully self-sufficient, it was still a certain guarantee.

The stored food of the Wulenge Tribe savages consisted of various wild vegetables, dried vegetables, and jerky made from various meats. The source of the meat was truly impossible to determine; it was said that rat meat was included, and anyway, there was everything—whatever they caught, they made. And because of the lack of salt, they only used smoking, air-drying, and sun-drying. Not to mention the taste, because well-made cured meat actually tasted quite good, and Huaxia also had people specifically making cured meat.

But the problem was that the jerky of the Wulenge Tribe savages had already been infested by insects. It wasn't maggots, but some kind of small insect that couldn't be clearly seen. In any case, one could see small particles of excrement and insect holes. The Huaxia Soldiers absolutely would not eat this stuff, and furthermore, they still had cattle and sheep; this fresh meat was certainly much better than that meat.

Letting these Wulenge Tribe people eat their stored food was better if they could finish it. After all, after arriving at the Western Development Group, food would be uniformly rationed by the Western Development Group, and it was unknown how to deal with this messy food, so it was better to let them finish it now. But the quantity was quite large, and according to their previous way of eating, it was estimated that it would take a month to finish.

Now with Huaxia as a guarantee, they dared to eat freely. It was expected that by the time they reached the Western Development Group, they would be able to finish it. These Wulenge Tribe savages also truly experienced what it felt like to be full and to have food every day.

It was just that the things they ate were not very good, especially that ground fungus. It was already soggy from being soaked, and eating too much at once meant their stomachs could not adapt to so much food, so at the beginning, many savages had stomach aches and even vomited, mixed with undigested ground fungus, which looked exceptionally disgusting.

This situation also slowly improved, and Huaxia gave them salt—enough salt—so that all the savages could eat salt.

This treatment made those savages start to be unwilling to leave, feeling that following Huaxia was truly not bad. Regardless of whether they could be full in the future or how long they could live, right now, they could actually eat their fill and also eat salt. A tribe that was willing to give salt to Slaves like them must be very wealthy; going there to be their Slaves was absolutely no problem.

Tuomao, who had harbored a glimmer of hope and prepared to find an opportunity to take his clansmen to steal Huaxia's wealth and flee, leaving behind the cattle and sheep he couldn't take, no longer had the thought of escaping when he saw Huaxia handing out salt by the handful. Because he had been trapped by salt his whole life, wasn't a tribe that could treat salt like dirt exactly his goal?

The closer they got to the Western Development Group, the more obvious the traces of human activity became. The current Western Development Group was constantly practicing its name on this land: developing the west.

In addition, the further south they went, the more humid the climate became. In fact, the geographical span was not particularly large, and logically speaking, the climate should not have such obvious changes. The only explanation might be related to the terrain and the like, plus the rivers formed by the existing snow-capped mountain water, which made the local climate here relatively humid, the Grass greener and more lush, and the forests relatively denser, unlike the dry and desolate places where they had been active before.

Such land was a dream for the Tuomao Tribe because it was too suitable for grazing. With such lush water and Grass, how could they still think about constantly moving the cattle and sheep? They only needed a smaller piece of land to raise more cattle and sheep, and there were abundant water sources, which also made it much more convenient to water the cattle and sheep.

Of course, the best news was that they learned that after arriving in Huaxia, they would most likely still be doing the job of grazing. It was simply the place of their dreams; they just liked grazing and didn't want to do anything else.

However, this was also an arrangement of Zhang's for the time being, because the number of Slaves brought this time was still a bit large. Even if the Western Development Group was in great need of population, they dared not keep too many. Too many un-tamed Slaves brought more threats than help. But like the Slaves of Huaxia, they would take as many as came.

The Slaves of Huaxia had been thoroughly reformed and had a quite accurate understanding of their status, knowing what they should do and what they should not do. Being a Slave of Huaxia was far better than betraying Huaxia; if they betrayed Huaxia and seized a city, they would soon lose everything.

Not to mention the combat power of Huaxia, the main thing was that they did not have the ability to manage and develop such a city. They lacked knowledge, and even farming was not something they were proficient in; it wouldn't be long before they turned back into their primitive selves.