Chapter 454: The Chaos of the Suiren Clan

Xiong had the detailed process of the war with the Suiren Clan explained to him bit by bit; the more Xiong listened, the more excited he became. He had not expected the combat power of Huaxia to be so strong. Although he had always imagined Huaxia's combat power to be at a very high level, this intensity was beyond what his imagination could comprehend.

In the carriage, Baifeng patted Xiong on the shoulder and made a promise to him: the position of Minister of War was still Xiong's, and Chi was merely an acting Minister. It was not that Baifeng favored Xiong and looked down on Chi; it was mainly that Chi's brain was not sufficient to handle the position of Minister. Chi could be a good Soldier who led the charge, but he was not a good general who could command an army. However, his advantage was that he was sufficiently loyal.

Xiong also had no complaints about the previous matters; this was something he had to do to atone for his sons, and also so that Huaxia could become even stronger.

As for the matter of expanding territory, there was no need to discuss it while in the carriage. This was a very major matter; the specifics would still need to be discussed together with the other several departments. Moreover, he would also convene a meeting regarding what he had seen and heard during this long journey to explain it in detail to everyone.

Those people brought back by Xiong were arranged by the Ministry of Revenue to be registered place by place. The people of the Twelve Tribes and others all successfully obtained the status of Huaxia Citizens. At the same time as obtaining their status, they also received enough food to eat for a very long time.

Their people were overjoyed, especially when they heard that this was not food for the entire Winter, but that whenever they finished eating it, they could continue to file reports and continue to receive more; as long as they did not waste it, there was no upper limit. In an instant, the shock regarding the entire Huaxia Old City was not as intense as these rations.

Those women exchanged back from the Jiangshui Tribe were settled uniformly. They first needed to nourish their bodies. While receiving food, they also obtained an extra quota of Soybean Oil, just to allow them to quickly increase their fat; after all, they were already so thin they were almost skeletons.

Their living quarters and all daily necessities were arranged uniformly. They lived in collective rooms and needed to be assigned to various handicraft departments to learn. Only after learning a craft and being able to obtain food through their own labor would they consider granting them better conditions.

Regarding marriage, independent choice was the primary method, and state arrangement was secondary. If they did not find a suitable partner within a year, the Ministry of Revenue would forcibly betroth them. After all, Huaxia had not yet developed to the point of allowing people to be DINKs; it would not happen now, and it would be the same for the next few hundred years. But a humanistic point of Huaxia was giving you a chance to choose freely, letting you fall in love freely.

The remaining people were, without surprise, treated as Slaves. When they first heard this news, they were very puzzled and clearly expressed their dissatisfaction, starting to protest. But they did not even need the surrounding Soldiers to suppress them before they were hammered by those people from the Twelve Tribes. If they were also given Citizen status, it would be the people from the Twelve Tribes and others who would be protesting.

However, as Slaves, they also received an equal amount of food. Huaxia treated them as free labor that did not need to be cherished too much, but would ensure their physical health and stamina; after all, only with strength could they do more work. Huaxia did not lack food, but it was very short on labor.

On the side of the Suiren Clan, after Baoxi was carried back by the Soldiers, his physical state was already extremely poor. This might also be related to the fact that he had started drinking large amounts of Wine for a long time since he was a youth. Although Wine was also very precious to the Suiren Clan, Baoxi never treated himself poorly; as long as his Wine was about to hit the bottom, he would definitely go to trade with Huaxia.

Originally, Baifeng wanted to use the heads and tails of the Wine to kill Baoxi, but after doing it for a period of time, he gave up this plan; after all, Baoxi's body completely collapsing was only a matter of time.

But Baoxi did not die; he was just bedridden. He was not paralyzed, just purely physically very weak. They had no doctors, let alone the concept of medical treatment; they could only wait and offer sacrifices to pray to the gods.

When Baoxi's state was known by the high-level members of the tribe, many people developed ideas. However, they did not intend to kill Baoxi to replace him and take charge of the Suiren Clan; after all, from the first generation until now, the Suiren Clan had always been passed down by bloodline. For them, these outsiders, to go, would only bring unnecessary trouble upon themselves.

But this did not mean they could not do other things. The Suiren Clan was in a state of having no leader, and no one could guarantee that Baoxi would be able to survive.

For three days, Baoxi's state did not improve. Some people could no longer wait. A great Leader directly led several thousand Soldiers who were willing to follow him, and after taking a great deal of the Suiren Clan's supplies, he left the tribe directly and went to the location of the territory of the tribe he had previously belonged to. It was now the territory of the Suiren Clan, but it was not before, and in the future, it would not be again.

With someone taking the lead, leaders big and small also gained courage and began to split off. It was just that because there were differences in ability and character, the number of people each person took away varied. The first leader took the most people, while others only averaged about a thousand people; it was not a small number who ran off with a few hundred people.

Another reason why they took fewer people was that there were not many people left in the Suiren Clan tribe; they accounted for less than half of the total population of the entire Suiren Clan.

People in the villages around the center of the tribe dared not have any unusual thoughts because they had nowhere to go even if they wanted to run; they could only wait quietly for the development of the situation. As for those who left, they could only go to very distant places to develop their own new tribes.

Baoxi's consciousness gradually cleared, and he also heard his personal guards tell him about these matters. Although Baoxi was very angry, he was powerless. However, he had already secretly made up his mind that as soon as he recovered and regained control of the Suiren Clan, he would completely exterminate all those disloyal tribes again; those he could not finish exterminating, he would sell to Huaxia.

Huangpin's escape route was considered smooth. There were no people behind him bringing wolves to catch them, and no one in front blocking them. Even Huangpin felt it was somewhat unbelievable.

He returned to the tribe and learned that Baoxi was seriously injured, feeling it was unbelievable and also panicking from the bottom of his heart. Because it was his own idea to let Baoxi go to Huaxia, and as a result, this time, the Tribal Chief was seriously injured, and he himself had not found out any useful information. Plus, his own Soldiers could not be seen even now; it was almost certain that they had been captured or killed by Huaxia.

Huangpin was afraid that Baoxi would punish him, but he did not dare to flee. Mainly, he had nowhere to flee to, and he was also reluctant to give up the status and preferential treatment he had obtained with such difficulty. To just let him give it up was impossible.

But he also quickly understood that this was a risk and also an opportunity, because many other leaders had run away. This meant that his own chances were greater; if he could successfully survive, his status would go even further.