Chapter 457: Xiong's Report (2)

After Xiong finished speaking about this, he put down the leopard skin, but still added a word of advice: "This kind of skin is truly an exceptionally good thing. If everyone goes to the west in the future and sees a tribe trading this, you can definitely trade for it; you certainly won't suffer a loss, as it is, after all, too rare."

A chorus of agreement rose from below, and then Xiong took out the next item, a piece of rhinoceros horn. Baifeng had never seen this thing before, but it looked very similar, and after grinding a little powder and lighting it, it did indeed have a very peculiar fragrance, and it was different from the horns of all the animals they had seen, so Baifeng guessed it was indeed rhinoceros horn.

One cannot say there is any profound principle behind this thing, but its value and efficacy are high, especially for reducing fever; it is simply the best choice.

Baifeng's intention was to take it out and tell everyone about it so that if they saw it in the future, they would collect it, which would never be wrong. He did not expect that among the people sitting below, there was actually someone who had seen a rhinoceros, though it was alive, and he did not have the courage to run to the side to see what the creature's horn looked like, but it could prove one point: that in this era, the distribution and number of rhinoceroses were still relatively large. Baifeng himself had not seen one, so he could only say his luck was bad.

The final highlight was the new crop Xiong had traded back, Immortal Rice. Baifeng had never seen this thing; it felt a bit like goosefoot, but it was different, and Baifeng could only say his knowledge was limited.

However, according to what Xiong said, the people of those tribes all said this thing could be eaten, and the people of the newly joined Twelve Tribes also repeatedly guaranteed that there was absolutely no problem and it could be consumed, so Baifeng decided to try planting this thing.

The task of researching and planting the Immortal Rice was handed over to the Agriculture Department. Although Geng was specialized in researching soybeans, he was also very interested in this new crop that looked like it had a particularly high yield. He immediately asked for some, placed it on his own table to observe it, and even pinched a few grains to put in his mouth to taste.

Seeing Geng's contemplative expression, Baifeng did not know what he had actually tasted, but he did not ask further; in any case, the task had been assigned, and they would try planting a season next year.

The quantity of seeds brought back was not too large, which meant it would not occupy too much land or labor, so they would handle it according to the standards of an experimental field. They also did not know what the growth conditions for this Immortal Rice were, whether it could be cross-bred, or what it should be cross-bred with; these were all unknowns.

The most important things were the taste and the yield. The yield was already very clear, but Baifeng estimated that the taste might not be very good; otherwise, it should have been popularized long ago in later generations. Just like Gujiao, which was once one of the main food sources for the Baifeng Tribe, it had now been replaced by the higher-yielding and better-tasting rice of Huaxia. They would not deliberately plant it, but if they encountered it by the water, they would still collect it; eating it occasionally was also fine.

After Xiong finished explaining these things, he began to talk about the current distribution of power in the west. There was no telling how many small tribes there were; they were numerous and widely distributed, but there were only two main large tribes: one was the Wulenge Tribe, and the other was the Jiangshui Tribe.

Judging from their brief contact, the Jiangshui Tribe was more civilized, and they could try to have friendly exchanges and trade communication with the Jiangshui Tribe first.

The Wulenge Tribe was a completely barbaric tribe. The language barrier was one thing, and their behavior was savage, having already caused conflict with Huaxia, but what made them unable to stand it the most was the smell of the Wulenge people. In any case, Xiong, as someone who had been tortured by it, would absolutely not consider letting those savages get close to Huaxia.

If they absolutely had to keep the people of the Wulenge Tribe, Xiong believed they could only be used as Slaves to herd livestock for Huaxia, and they must never be allowed near Huaxia City.

After Xiong's continuous explanation for a period of time, everyone had a preliminary understanding of the power distribution in the west. In addition to what Xiong had seen with his own eyes, there was much that came from the accounts of the Twelve Tribes. Finally, the Shangshu Department sketched out a rough map of the west and the human settlements on the blackboard.

For Huaxia, the biggest problem at present was the distance; it might take them several months to conquer a few tribes and then bring them back to expand Huaxia's population, but the main problem was that the land would still be left desolate.

Baifeng had been listening from the side for a long time. When everyone started to discuss, Baifeng tapped his table to indicate he had something to say, and everyone immediately fell silent, carefully preparing to record.

Baifeng pointed to the tribal powers on the blackboard and said: "Based on what has been explored so far, for these small tribes, the cost of war for Huaxia is too high and the benefits are too small. To be honest, I think it is not very necessary. It would be better for us to advance steadily, develop for a few more years, and then build a city in a more distant place."

Baifeng stopped here, wanting to see everyone's reaction. Yu was the first to stand up and express opposition, saying: "King, I think this plan is not feasible. We have only this one New City, and it took so many years to build, and now the population is not yet fully filled. To build a city in such a remote place—not to mention whether there are people who can go to live there—the cost of construction alone is an incalculable amount. This... in any case, I think it is completely unworkable."

The others also showed expressions of agreement with Yu's point of view.

Baifeng was not angry at all, because this was not his intention at all; he just wanted to let everyone express their own opinions. However, everyone had always been very conservative on such major matters; if Baifeng did not speak, they would not say anything themselves, which was not good for the overall development of Huaxia.

Baifeng smiled and asked Yu to sit down, then continued: "What Yu said is not wrong at all, but what should we do now? War has too high a cost and too little benefit; building a city is even more unreasonable. Does anyone have any other ideas?"

The crowd's expressions were heavy. Yishang, however, after pondering for a while, stood up and said: "King, what if we directly launch a major war all at once and conquer this Wulenge Tribe? Then we keep the majority of the people, treat them as Slaves, and don't fear casualties; let them build the New City and repair roads for us. In any case, we are not short of food; what we are short of are Workers who can be ordered around constantly. Other costs are not high either."

Yishang did not have much confidence when saying this. After finishing, he sat down and waited for Baifeng's approval. However, Baifeng instead asked Xiong: "Xiong, you are the person most familiar with the west right now. What do you think of Yishang's proposal?"

Xiong patted his own head and then slowly said: "I think there is no problem. I have already seen the combat power of the Wulenge Tribe, and it is not strong. How powerful the entire tribe is, that still needs further investigation. However, I think that building another city in the west is absolutely necessary. If you, King, think it is feasible, I am willing to serve as the vanguard to investigate the strength of the Wulenge Tribe."