Chapter 1595: The Disposal of Slaves

Although it is unknown just how high the "gold content" of this Wulengebu's top Soldier is, or how he came by this title and whether it is authentic, with Tuomao saying so, Wulian can at least be considered a contribution.

Moreover, Wulian has such a fine, sturdy build that as a Slave, he still has considerable utility, so Zhang also decided to have him sent to Huaxia City to let the King decide his use.

As for the people who will ultimately lead the way to the Shenhu Tribe, they are naturally the other few Soldiers by Wulian's side; in any case, they also know the way, and they can also be considered relatively important Soldiers of the Wulengebu.

As for Tuomao, it has not yet been decided whether to take him along or send him directly to Huaxia first; now that there is a guide, whether Tuomao goes or not does not seem important. As for an interpreter, the Western Development Group still has a few, and finding one or two is enough.

But what Zhang is thinking is that as they continue on this road, there is no guarantee they won't encounter other Wulengebu tribes. With Tuomao, the Tribal Chief, present, perhaps if they meet acquaintances, he can act as a lobbyist to repeat the previous situation of surrendering without a fight, reducing a bit of trouble for Huaxia.

But as for how to specifically proceed, it is better to return to the Western Development Group to rest and reorganize first; all situations must be sat down and thought through slowly.

By the time they arrived at the Western Development Group camp, everything had already been prepared. Ce gave Zhang a warm welcome; of course, this also had to do with Zhang's position being higher than Ce's. At any rate, a leader had returned, and Ce had to show his attitude.

The Soldiers set up the camp in the designated area and were finally able to unload their Weapons and equipment to get a good rest. At the same time, they were told that there would be good food and drink in a while to reward them.

As for those Slaves, they were taken over immediately upon arrival. Several Slave leaders had long been familiar with how to treat their own tribesmen; they had been trained extremely well, and with the language being the same, there was no trouble in handling these Slaves.

They were driven into the same sheep pens as last year, and then the wooden fences were closed. It would be quite simple for these savages to climb over and leave, but the Slave leaders and the Slaves under them had been telling these new Slaves about Huaxia's policies and what life was like here all along the way, telling them not to harbor thoughts of running away and to just stay here and enjoy the blessings.

Furthermore, they were also talking about what the real Huaxia City was like, because a portion of people had been taken to Huaxia City last year. After a Winter of learning, some were brought over this time; they were the most loyal Slaves of Huaxia, and their greatest wish was to return to Huaxia.

Naturally, they also had to tell the people of the Western Development Group about what they had seen and heard in Huaxia, almost describing Huaxia as the real place where the gods of Heaven would live. Shenhu was nothing compared to Huaxia City; if it were given to Huaxia, Shenhu would just be a place for recreation, at most used for grazing. What kind of bullshit "where gods live"? How could the place where gods live not even have a high-rise building? How could it not even have a road?

In this way, it spread from one to ten and ten to a hundred, and the stories became more and more outrageous. The height of the buildings went from the initial three stories to almost ten. Although they had never seen buildings and could not imagine what they looked like, they said it was just houses stacked one layer on top of another, so they each drew the appearance of Huaxia in their minds based on their own imaginations before telling others.

For these Slaves, the greatest reward was to be able to go to Huaxia and take a look. If they could live in Huaxia City as Slaves, they could work day and night without stopping; living in such a place, working would surely be a happy thing.

It is just that these new Slaves here find it hard to believe and accept those new things that are too far away. They only believe that this place will not kill them, which is also something they must make themselves believe so that they will not feel afraid.

As for being able to eat their fill here, they all held a skeptical attitude. Although it was their own tribesmen saying it, there was no guarantee that these people were specifically cultivated by Huaxia; perhaps these people were not originally from their Wulengebu at all.

Otherwise, why was it them who closed the fence at the end and used a crossbar to lock the fence gate? Why did they not live together with them?

Such questions, they would not ask out loud. This was their first day arriving in Huaxia, and they must have all spent it in confusion and panic. The task of guarding the Slaves was handed over to those Slave leaders and some herdsmen holding Weapons; they had to be kept under close watch at the beginning.

However, because Zhang's Soldiers were there, there was no need to worry about them; as long as they dared to riot, they would immediately be suppressed.

This was the first day, and Ce had already arranged it. Tomorrow, these Slaves would have their heads shaved and be cleaned uniformly, and then they would be separated and locked up. Men and women would be locked up separately, and the locations would be very far apart, unable to see or hear each other. The men would also be divided into several areas for detention, which could minimize the possibility of them causing trouble.

As for the arrangement of these Slaves, Ce said that he could only temporarily accommodate about seven hundred people here for now, and it had to be mainly women and children. He did not have enough Soldiers to guard the men, and he was afraid of problems arising.

Therefore, the remaining Slaves must be sent back to Huaxia City, though those Guizu Muchang could also absorb some. This was the power Baifeng gave him, allowing him to dispose of Slaves in the best way within a reasonable range. It did not necessarily mean they all had to be sent back; giving them to the Nobles was better than killing them. It takes more than ten years for a person to grow into a labor force; how difficult that is.

But it could not be given away for free. Once they reached the Western Development Group, there would be time and energy to count the number of Slaves clearly, then register them, and write down how many were given to the Guizu Muchang in a document. After the person in charge of the Guizu Muchang received them, they would sign and press their thumbprint, then the document would be handed back to the Ministry of Revenue, and finally, fees would be collected from the Nobles.

The Nobles needed Slaves to graze, and Baifeng also needed more stable means to handle these Slaves, so this was a win-win situation. According to Ce, the scale of the Guizu Muchang had already expanded quite a lot; there were already more than 1,300 people this year, and some fixed dwellings had been built on their pastures to live in during rotational grazing. The children had all been sent to the Western Development Group to receive education and training.

According to their current population ratio, receiving three to four hundred Slaves was completely feasible, without too much risk.