Chapter 500: A Hasty Alliance

After the small boat docked, they began to carry the grain, bag after bag, onto the shore. How the price of sulfur was calculated had long been decided; how it was calculated during the time of the Suiren Clan was how it was calculated here at the Sixia Tribe. Sixia also understood this rule; he had no ability to coerce Huaxia into a high price, and he was even willing for the price to be a bit lower.

Fortunately, in order to stabilize the Sixia Tribe and keep them willing to collect sulfur for Huaxia, Huaxia did not change the price. Moreover, in this era, apart from metal and salt, other things that could not be eaten were far less valuable than food; food was the most important thing in this world.

Furthermore, Huaxia had become accustomed to using Bean Dregs—something every tribe liked very much—as a bargaining chip for trade. It tasted good, could be eaten as soon as it was picked up, and could be boiled or eaten raw.

For Huaxia, the yield was large enough and the quantity was high. The most important oil—the oil that could make people grow fat—had already been extracted, and the Bean Dregs were merely a byproduct with very low value. However, the other tribes did not know this and would still trade at a price higher than other Grass Seed. Not to mention, at the same weight, the volume of Bean Dregs was much larger, which made it look very substantial.

One boat of grain could be exchanged for three boats of sulfur. Therefore, after the grain was unloaded, the people of the Sixia Tribe continued to carry the sulfur up for Huaxia. However, the quality of the Sixia Tribe's bags was somewhat poor; they were all bags that had been used repeatedly many times, brought over from the Suiren Clan, and were products of Huaxia from previous trades.

Seeing that some bags were leaking, the Huaxia Soldier immediately called a halt, then had a Boat rush back to get empty bags. They did not want to increase their own unnecessary workload because of a single Hemp Cloth bag.

Putting a new bag directly over an old one was safer and more reliable. The Huaxia Soldier would also check the bags one by one, and only after confirming that all bags were undamaged would they be carried onto the Boat. If there was any damage, a new one had to be put on immediately.

When all tribes traded, the bags were not considered part of the trade; they would either be taken back, or their value would be calculated and extra paid for the bags. However, when trading with large tribes like the Suiren Clan or Xuanyuan, the bags were ignored for the time being—you use mine, I use yours. If I used more of your bags than you did of mine, then just make up for it with empty bags.

To avoid this situation from happening again next time, Huaxia generously gave the Sixia Tribe nearly one hundred empty hemp cloth bags. The value of these bags could be said to be very high, because hemp cloth bags were equivalent to cloth, and hemp cloth was very expensive. Other tribes either reused animal skins or used bamboo or wooden buckets; only large tribes could use hemp cloth bags.

Because Huaxia planted hemp on a large scale, Hemp Cloth was not in short supply. Even Silk clothing was gradually entering the homes of ordinary people. Wealthy commoners were also willing to make themselves a set of fine Silk garments to wear on important days; usually, they wore Hemp Cloth in summer and wool in Winter.

At the same time, Huaxia clearly warned the people of the Sixia Tribe that the bags were for holding sulfur. If they dared to use them to hold other things, and the next time they came, there was not enough sulfur to fill these bags, then they would not get enough grain, and the grain would be used to offset the cost of these bags.

Sixia was very obedient and quickly agreed. Although he was tempted by the brand-new hemp cloth bags, he was even more afraid of Huaxia's threat to his food supply and their show of military force, so he could only quickly promise that he would absolutely only use these bags to hold sulfur and would fill enough sulfur.

After all the sulfur was loaded, Huaxia also transported the equivalent amount of grain over, and also brought along those weapons. Looking at the weapons thrown all over the ground, the people of the Sixia Tribe were somewhat puzzled.

The Huaxia people said: "We have already formed an alliance. As allies, we cannot give you other things, but we can provide you with some Weapons to let you protect yourselves. These Weapons do not require you to pay any price; they are a gift from us to you."

The people of the Sixia Tribe thanked them repeatedly. They had not expected that there would be such a good thing; this was something they had never heard of before. Although there were no ironware that they didn't even dare to dream of, the weapons here were all stone tools, which were still very laborious to polish and make. It wasn't as simple as just finding a stone and grinding it; some even had to be drilled to be firmly fixed onto wood.

Now, the soldiers of the Sixia Tribe were basically all using stone tools and no longer using wooden weapons.

Finally, the Huaxia soldier pointed out a bright path for the Sixia Tribe, telling them where they could find more and higher-quality sulfur, and explained the route and precautions clearly to Sixia.

Sixia was also stunned as he listened. He had truly never been to the place the Huaxia soldier mentioned, because why would he go to a place where there was no prey? But why did he feel that this Huaxia soldier was so familiar, as if he had really been there? That was impossible, unless he had also escaped from the Suiren Clan.

However, what he didn't expect was that this soldier had indeed been there, though a long time had passed. Although a long time had passed, the terrain and landscape of that place should not have changed, and the experience he shared was something Sixia could definitely use.

Ensuring that everything had been explained clearly, Huaxia prepared to return. They told Sixia that the next time they came would be in sixty days; the exact date could not be determined, but they would come many times this year. They told Sixia not to be lazy and to be sure to dig for Sulfur diligently. Only if enough Sulfur was dug would they have an endless supply of grain.

Sixia blushed with excitement and agreed repeatedly. This was a heaven-sent opportunity. Having an endless supply of grain was something that only existed in dreams, but now it could be achieved just by digging for Sulfur every day. How could he not be happy?

The Huaxia people did not care how the Sixia Tribe went back. In any case, their mission was successfully completed. The Sulfur from this trade alone was enough for two years at Huaxia's rate of consumption. However, Huaxia's strategic plan was that the more, the better. For a long time in the future, they would not be able to control the Sulfur Land, so all they could do was stockpile.

It was now highly likely that a Saltpeter Mine had been discovered. Whether it was true or not could be thoroughly confirmed this year. If it really was a Saltpeter Mine, then Huaxia would truly bid farewell to the fear of insufficient firepower, and the Bomb could also be used continuously in war and in all other aspects.

After Sixia left, Yishang also hurriedly took off his clothes and jumped into the river to take an ice-cold bath, shivering. Everyone just thought that Yishang wanted to show off his strong physique and cheered for him one after another.

However, Yishang just swam a simple lap and hurriedly got back on the Boat, changed into his last set of clothes, and then sat by the fire to restore his body temperature.