Chapter 170: Defection

However, Baoxi's true goal was to take advantage of the trade opportunity to set an ambush and directly seize the Baifeng Battalion; if there was no chance to seize it, he would proceed with the normal trade, and after exchanging for the Weapon, he would look for an opportunity to go upstream and attack the Baifeng Battalion.

Baifeng did not know the little schemes in Baoxi's heart and agreed to him very readily; anyway, those Small Knife were just sitting there, they had no use for them themselves, so it was better to exchange them for animal skins so his tribesmen could have a warm Winter.

His goal was to give his tribesmen one Mongolian Robe and a pair of long boots each to get through the Winter this year; if there were extra materials, he could make hats, ear muffs, or gloves and the like for the tribesmen.

As for these newly exchanged people, they did not have this treatment; just give them some dry Grass, keep the stove burning bright, and they would have to strive for a good life themselves. However, if these people were willing to work hard and had good luck, most could still be promoted to official tribesmen. If the Baifeng Battalion expanded quickly in the future and could merge with other tribes instead of exchanging for Slave, then the Slave would likely find it hard to obtain the status of tribesmen. Slavery was the general trend, and Baifeng had no way to change it.

The harvest this time was quite bountiful, but Baifeng suddenly remembered something, so he tried asking Baoxi: "Legend has it that back in the day, the Shennong Clan tasted a hundred Grass, and when he encountered something poisonous, he would eat something called Tea to detoxify. In the end, he accidentally ate heartbreak grass and was poisoned to death before he could eat the Tea. I wonder if your tribe has something called Tea?"

Baoxi was very puzzled: "The matter of the first-generation Shennong is very distant, and I don't know much about him either. I only know he might have been poisoned to death, but I have never heard of such a thing as Tea. If such a thing really existed, would so many people still die from eating things they didn't recognize?"

"However, how do you know about this, and why are you clear about which kind of Grass he was poisoned by?"

Baifeng could only make up that he heard it from a Sage who came from afar; he couldn't possibly say that was how it was written in a book. However, the fact that there were no Tea Tree now might mean they didn't recognize them, or that they hadn't spread yet.

Baifeng was still thinking about getting two Tea Tree to make Tea Leaves to drink; drinking plain water or date water every day always felt unsatisfying. It seemed he could only wait until he met Xuanyuan or the Shennong Clan later; they should be clear about the things their ancestors left behind.

In the final next trade that was settled, Baoxi added one thousand Slave as cargo; they, the Suiren Clan, still had plenty of Slave, and with a wealthy household like the Baifeng Battalion, he naturally had to seize the opportunity.

Baifeng even considered this for quite a while; if he agreed, his tribe would have fewer tribesmen than Slave, and he wondered if that would cause problems.

But after thinking about it, even in later generations, slavery still existed in pastoral areas long after it had been abolished elsewhere, and there were far fewer Free Person than Slave, yet it didn't cause problems. The main point lay in ideological liberation; Baifeng didn't think these savages could develop advanced enough thoughts to resist them, and he would also give the Slave hope, letting them have the chance to become Free Person, and would not oppress them forever.

So in the end, the trade method of animal skins for Small Knife and Slave for Grass Seed was set, but Baifeng added: "When you come to trade next time, would you want to use Wine to trade instead of grain?"

Baoxi was also a bit hesitant; if the Wine was really as magical as Baifeng said, it wouldn't be impossible to pay a higher price to exchange for it. Moreover, Baifeng had also drunk the Wine, and he was fine, which showed the Wine wouldn't have any problems.

In the end, Baifeng had the final say: next time he came, he would bring both Wine and Grass Seed. If he wanted to trade for Wine, he should bring more Slave. The time was set for thirty days later, at a location one day's journey upstream from here where there was a giant pine tree; they would trade there. Within three days, if one side didn't show up, the trade would be called off. Whichever side broke the appointment, if they wanted to trade again, they would have to compensate the other party ten percent of the trade value first.

The two sides finished the handover, and it was already quite late. Although it was still early before dark, if they set off now, they wouldn't be able to go far before having to set up camp, so it was better to spend the night in this relatively safe place.

The Suiren Clan thought the same. Baifeng was not afraid of Baoxi launching a night raid this time because there were indeed no tribesmen of theirs lying in ambush nearby. After all, the Qiexin Clan had received the goods, so even if they were just putting on a show, they had to do it properly; these scouting matters had been done.

After sending off the Suiren Clan, other tribes with scattered Slave or those wanting to exchange their own stronger tribesmen also ran to the Baifeng Battalion to inquire. Because the numbers weren't large and the quality was decent, the Baifeng Battalion took them all, mostly in exchange for salt.

Now the trouble was on the Baifeng Battalion: how to manage so many Slave? Added together, there were nearly two thousand people, and they only had forty people; no matter what, they couldn't watch them all.

At this time, that group of women and the labor force that were not Slave spontaneously stood up and began to watch over these Slave, which finally allowed Baifeng and the others to breathe a sigh of relief.

What could restrict the Slave was nothing more than the ropes binding them. Fortunately, Baifeng and his group had brought many ropes this time, and with the ones gifted by the Suiren Clan, they were completely enough.

Throughout the night, the Slave did not have any restlessness because the Baifeng Battalion gave them a meal that was relatively filling, letting them fall asleep without having to endure discomfort in their stomachs.

Of course, Baifeng wasn't giving it to them for free. Even if they were thin and weak, they still had some strength, not to mention there were so many of them. Baifeng wanted to use them as trackers to pull the Boat; not only could it save the strength of Baifeng and his men rowing upstream, but it could also restrict the movements of the Slave for better management.

Just as they gave everyone a meal in the morning and were preparing to set sail, a tribe of about a hundred people came hesitantly to the Baifeng Battalion's encampment. The person leading seemed to have something to say, but didn't dare to come forward.

Baifeng intended to leave immediately, and seeing their appearance of wanting to come forward but not daring to was uncomfortable, so he shouted directly for them to come forward and just say whatever was on their minds.

The person leading heard Baifeng's words and only then dared to take big steps forward. When they walked to a spot about ten steps away from Baifeng, they knelt on one knee directly, and the people behind them all knelt down as well.

Baifeng was a bit stunned by this scene: "Why are you kneeling? Get up and speak!"

The person leading remained kneeling, but he raised his head: "Tribal Chief Baifeng, we are a small tribe from downstream, we have no surname. My name is Shi, and this is everyone in our tribe. We have brought all the tribe's property. We want to merge into the Baifeng Battalion, and we hope the Tribal Chief can take us in!"

Baifeng did not feel surprised by this; attaching oneself to the strong was human nature, it was just that most tribes didn't have the courage. A glance over showed the number of men and women was basically balanced, and there were also some children; the tribe was relatively young and could be considered a very healthy tribe.

Accepting such a tribe was completely fine, and this was originally one of Baifeng's goals.

"Accepting you is no problem, but I will make it clear: you can be tribesmen of the Baifeng Battalion, not Slave. However, your treatment will not be the same as our current tribesmen. If you want better treatment and a better life, you must strive for it yourselves. Can you accept that?"