Chapter 1640: Returning the King Seal

"Baifeng, I can agree to what you have said. If we do this, shouldn't we also coordinate with the Jiuli regarding the investigation and determination of the borders?"

Baifeng nodded: "I certainly need to confirm our respective borders with Chiyou. Otherwise, Chiyou doesn't yet know that I have merged with the Suiren Clan, and if he were to come and attack me again, that certainly wouldn't do."

"As for the territory of your tribe, it would be best to negotiate with Chiyou as well, so that we won't have unnecessary conflicts over land matters in the future."

Xuanyuan slapped the table: "Good, Baifeng, then let's discuss a time. I'm afraid I can't do it this year; there isn't enough time. You also know about the situation with the Shennong Clan; I still need to handle that, otherwise, I won't be able to distribute the population to you in time."

"Therefore, if we are to talk about an alliance with the Jiuli, the earliest it can happen is next year. Moreover, I'm afraid you will have to go and see first whether Chiyou even has any thoughts in this regard."

Baifeng also took on this task: "No problem. I will make the pros and cons clear to Chiyou. If he is determined to enter into an alliance with us, then we shall discuss it further. If he is unwilling, it would be best if our two tribes could unite; after all, we are good friends and good allies."

Xuanyuan had no objections to this either; being able to unite with Huaxia to attack the Suiren Clan actually aligned more with Xuanyuan's own ideas.

After Baifeng stayed at the Xuanyuan Tribe for a few more days, he began his return journey. However, this time he did not take the water route, but traveled by land, because these lands would basically become Huaxia territory in the future, so Baifeng needed to inspect them roughly first to determine the future development of the area.

Meanwhile, at the Suiren Clan, the goods from the Jiuli had already been delivered. After being transported through various tribes, they had reached Suiren City. The quantity of goods delivered this time far exceeded last year's, which was related to Chiyou's gratitude toward Huaxia.

For such a large amount of goods this time, the condition Huaxia used for the trade was the Sun-Drying Salt Method. However, it was only the preliminary method of drying sea salt; how to refine it was not explained. Such sea salt was, of course, edible; it was salt, after all.

However, it contained many impurities, and it was harmful to people if eaten for a long time. But in this era, people could not even fully obtain toxic salt, let alone hope for fine or high-quality salt; as long as they could obtain salt, it was enough.

Because the salt production method was not exactly simple, but relying solely on word of mouth was prone to errors. If something were said wrong and led to a failure in salt production, the Jiuli might develop grievances against Huaxia. Therefore, this time, they brought the people from the Jiuli all the way to the Suiren City that was currently under construction.

They were settled at a distance from Suiren City, and Huaxia officials went over to explain it in detail. Because the Huaxia people were literate, a detailed production process could be read out, ensuring that everything was explained clearly to their group before sending them off.

As long as the Jiuli could obtain enough salt, their strength would increase by a large margin. At the same time, they might establish a good alliance and trade relationship with Huaxia because it was made clear from the beginning that the production process was not yet perfect. They could only produce salt, but for quantity and quality, they would need to deepen trade with Huaxia and continue to send sea vegetables and ginseng for a few more years before the technology could be fully handed over.

The Jiuli naturally had no objections to this. After all, it was such an important thing; even if Huaxia had just asked for their goods for ten years for free, they would have felt it was deserved. Moreover, it was because of Huaxia that they began the exploration and development of the ocean, which also solved a great deal of food pressure for the Jiuli.

The good news about Ayuduo was also brought back to the Jiuli with them. It was unknown whether Chiyou cared about Ayuduo, but Baifeng had to let Chiyou know that they in Huaxia valued Ayuduo highly.

By the time Baifeng returned to Huaxia City, it was already past the twentieth day of the ninth month of the Agricultural Calendar. It was almost the tenth month, and the temperature was dropping sharply. The daytime temperature was fine, but at night, it was already necessary to heat the kang and cover up with quilts.

Especially in this era without cotton, everyone's requirements for keeping warm were quite high. Without thick quilts, most families did not have sheepskin quilts and could only use straw quilts or reed-flower quilts, which had very poor heat retention. The heated kang was their great savior.

Although the wool production was large and the supply was abundant, the population growth of Huaxia was simply too fast, making it impossible for all Huaxia people to use quilts filled with wool. The imbalance between the supply and demand of materials in Huaxia was also becoming apparent at this time.

Having been away for more than half a year, Yulong had managed Huaxia very well without any problems. Baifeng was even more reassured about handing over power to Yulong in the future. After undergoing a transformation, Yulong also possessed a more imposing manner.

On the first day of Baifeng's return, all the citizens and officials welcomed him, and Yulong was the first to return the King Seal, preparing to let his father resume governance; after all, he was only governing on his father's behalf.

However, Baifeng did not agree, but instead prepared to let Yulong manage things until the end of the year and have him preside over the year-end meeting. This made Yulong a bit worried, because he felt that his father was still in good health, so why would he suddenly hand this task over to him?

Baifeng indeed had no intention of stepping down now, because to be honest, he was not old and could work for another dozen years without a problem. It was just that he had been a bit lax this year and was no longer clear about many government affairs. Having him preside over the meeting would be a bit tiring; it was better for him to grasp the general direction and let Yulong preside.

By next year, he would distribute more power to Yulong, letting Yulong slowly begin to take over all his power over the next dozen years.

At the same time, he also wanted to go to the surrounding towns to walk around and see for himself, to provide guidance on the work; it could be considered a royal visit. After all, if a king didn't even know what his own territory was like, it would be too pathetic.

Furthermore, if things went smoothly next year, he would have to leave for more than half a year again to negotiate the alliance with Xuanyuan and Chiyou. At that time, he would have to hand things over to Yulong again, which would be too troublesome. It was better to just let Yulong continue managing it for now, and wait until he had finished all these troublesome matters.

Even if Yulong really wanted to usurp the throne, what could Baifeng do? He only had these two sons, and it had been said from the beginning that the throne would be given to Yulong. If Yulong usurped the throne now, it would only break Baifeng's heart; he couldn't punish Yulong. Once Yulong was punished, the future of Huaxia would instead be in trouble, because there would be a problem with the successor.