Chapter 446: Trading Soybean Oil

Xiong's group also made contact with the New City group. Xiong felt a great sense of relief; if they hadn't arrived, they would have truly starved to death. Their Dry Rations were completely gone, there was no Grass to eat on the ground, and those large herbivorous animals had disappeared to who knows where, making it very difficult to track them. As for the small animals, they couldn't catch many, and even if they did, with so many people, it wasn't nearly enough to eat. Many people had already been starving for several days.

The two groups trailing behind were almost in despair. They didn't know if their choice had been right or wrong, but just as they were about to turn into a Cannibal Tribe, the group sent by Huaxia to meet them arrived. Although the food brought was not too much, it was enough to ensure they could return to Huaxia safely.

Xiong first let his own Soldiers eat their fill, then the Soldiers of the twelve tribes, and only after that the women. As for the two trailing tribes, they were only given enough food to keep them from starving to death.

Only now did everyone realize the strength of Huaxia more clearly, because they had not only brought various Grass Seed and Salted Fish, but also oil contained in Bamboo Tube. Fat is more important than protein; although people of this era did not understand these distinctions at all, they knew very well what their bodies needed.

Bland porridge, added with pieces of Salted Fish, and then poured with some Soybean Oil, made them feel a great sense of satisfaction.

Because of the lack of food along the way, Xiong's originally sturdy body had now become loose and sagging. All the flesh on his body was gone, and even his Leather Armor no longer fit. The women were even more miserable; they were not sturdy to begin with, and were already skin and bones back in their own tribes, unloved by their people. Now they were so thin it was unbearable to look at, giving one a sense of revulsion.

With the support, their marching speed increased a little. They no longer needed to spend half a day hunting every day; they could march all day long. It didn't matter even if the food ran out; the remaining distance could basically be covered in four or five days to return to New City.

The traders from the Xuanyuan Tribe traveled by water to Huaxia at the fastest speed, day and night. Because they didn't need to worry about attacks from wild beasts, they only needed to be careful not to hit the shore while in the water. Therefore, the people on the Boat took turns, traveling day and night without stopping.

Xuanyuan, in order to avoid the Suiren clan and Huaxia, traveled on foot, waiting at the agreed-upon place for his tribesmen to deliver the food they had traded for before continuing on his way.

Baoxi also dawdled along the way. Although he really wanted to see what Baifeng's reaction would be after seeing Wangzuo's head, he always felt a bit uneasy, so he kept his speed very slow. Moreover, he didn't consider at all what impact this would have on Huangpin; he felt that Huangpin would have his own decisiveness.

Huangpin did not collude with the Tribal Chief, but he was also unwilling to move forward, only covering a very short distance each day. His explanation to his subordinates was that for the sake of safety, they had to observe the surrounding situation well to avoid running into people from Huaxia.

He had brought over fifty people this time, and everyone was not very willing to face Huaxia because they knew that once they clashed with Huaxia, they would definitely die. Therefore, they were very satisfied with this behavior of their Leader and were secretly happy inside.

The final result of these few groups was that the Xuanyuan Tribe, which was the furthest away, was actually the first to arrive at Huaxia. Because they had no malicious intent and were only there for trade, they were very confident in sending envoys to Huaxia to request trade.

After verifying their identities, the people of Huaxia, although they did not understand why the Xuanyuan Tribe came to trade at this time, still agreed to the trade after reporting to Baifeng. Because Xuanyuan did not come, Baifeng naturally would not leave the city to trade, and since the trade volume this time was not too large, he sent an official from the Ministry of Revenue to discuss it.

They originally had no expectations, but what they didn't expect was that the Xuanyuan Tribe actually used people to trade for food, and the ones they brought were all whole-limbed and looked healthy. There were more than two hundred Slaves, which caught the official from the Ministry of Revenue off guard, because in their impression, the Xuanyuan Tribe would only send Slaves to Huaxia for trade when they were about to die. In order to control the population growth of Huaxia, they had never been willing to trade Slaves with Huaxia.

The requirements of the Xuanyuan Tribe were also very simple and clear: they wanted bean dregs, and other food that was hunger-resistant and easy to carry was even better.

The trade volume was not large, and the people from the Ministry of Revenue could make the decision themselves. In the end, he decided to exchange bean dregs and Soybean Oil for these Slaves from the Xuanyuan Tribe. They were actually a bit short of bean dregs now because the demand for animal husbandry was very large; it was considered a concentrated feed. To raise livestock well, to make them fat and big, bean dregs were indispensable.

Although the demand for Soybean Oil was also high, their storage was still very large. After all, one person couldn't eat much oil. It was just that now every household had an Iron Pot, so they could stir-fry vegetables when there were many vegetables in the summer, using more oil. In winter, they basically just boiled porridge or ate Salted Fish with dry rice to get by. Oil was just dripped in, and the usage was not large. By comparison, Soybean Oil was a better trade commodity.

After hearing that there was food that was easier to carry and could make people feel fuller, the person in charge of the Xuanyuan Tribe showed great interest. However, when the people from Huaxia brought something that looked like water, they felt it was unreliable.

Although the color and appearance were very similar to honey, the taste was wrong. If it really were honey, they would have made a huge profit. However, honey was also a scarce item in Huaxia. Several years ago, Baifeng found a way to have people lure and capture a few queen bees and set up beehives in Huaxia.

The bees successfully settled in Huaxia, but the yield was really too low, not enough to supply Huaxia at all. Expanding production was also impossible; after all, Huaxia's nectar sources were limited, and the largest nectar source was soybean flowers.

Honey could only be half-supplied to the high-level officials of Huaxia, and half placed on the market for fixed-quantity supply to ordinary citizens. They still had to leave more for the bees to survive the Winter; they couldn't bear to use Maltose to feed the bees, as even for ordinary families, eating Maltose was considered a luxury.

After all, although their food production was high, soybeans accounted for the vast majority. The production of Rice and Wheat was only enough for human consumption, seed retention, and storage; there was not much left to use on by-products.

It was not that Baifeng did not want to expand the planting area, but that their population and labor force could only cultivate so much. Food feeds people, but food also needs people to cultivate it.

The Soldiers of the Xuanyuan Tribe did not recognize Soybean Oil and remained skeptical. The people from the Ministry of Revenue performed stir-frying and porridge-making on the spot and treated the people on that Boat of the Xuanyuan Tribe to a meal for free.

The people of the Xuanyuan Tribe ate with great relish and clearly felt a sense of fullness, which felt completely different from drinking the same amount of porridge. Thus, after waiting for another half a day and confirming how long they could last before getting hungry, they happily agreed to use Soybean Oil for the trade.