Chapter 541: Commendation (1)

Huaxia harvested the remaining wheat as quickly as possible; other crops were not far from maturity, but the final yield was basically just enough to recover the seeds. After a year of hard work, they had at least not lost money.

The harvest at Lema City was slightly better than at Huaxia City; at least when tallied, there was some surplus. For this year, in terms of Huaxia's grain reserves, they could fully get by without any problems. The fear was that if this happened again next year, they would truly have to return to a life of fishing and hunting.

The Ministry of Agriculture had pinned all its hopes on soybeans. As of now, soybeans had almost not been affected, and the yield should still be very large. If Huaxia truly ran out of grain, they would have to rely on soybeans to pull through.

Everything Baifeng had the Ministry of Works produce was now fully prepared. Baifeng looked at the clouds in the evening and concluded there would be no rain tomorrow, so he decided to hold the awards ceremony tomorrow.

The firecrackers were already made; they were nothing more than smaller bombs. Although the process was tedious, it was not difficult. The workers had put in the effort and made many. Previously, there was not enough Sulfur and Saltpeter, so Gunpowder had to be used sparingly; even the little bit of Gunpowder used for firecrackers was too precious to waste. Now that they basically had a sufficient source of raw materials, Baifeng had made the firecrackers.

By the calendar, it was time to go to the Sishia Tribe to get Sulfur; it was even a bit late. However, because the flood had been so fierce before, Baifeng truly did not dare let everyone take the risk. Now that the water flow was nearing stability, what he hoped for most was that the river channel would not change.

The Xuanyuan Tribe also discovered the abnormality in the water volume. The water volume of the Dahe had suddenly increased and become turbid. Although there had been no heavy rain where they were, Xuanyuan still relied on his own experience to guess that there must have been a heavy downpour upstream. He just did not know if Huaxia had been washed away.

But as soon as this thought emerged, it was denied by Xuanyuan himself. With Huaxia's city walls, what kind of great flood could wash them away? In any case, he could not imagine it.

However, how Huaxia was doing now had little to do with him, because with the knowledge imparted by Guangchengzi, he felt there were many, many things he needed to do. He already had some clues on how to calculate and observe the movement of the sun and the moon. He was in an open space, wanting to use stones and mud to build several high walls to try to verify some things through shadows.

But this would absolutely be a long process, and it would take several winters and summers, or even more than a dozen, because the first few winters and summers were needed to improve this device of his until it was truly correct and useful; the subsequent winters and summers would then be used for summarizing.

Xuanyuan and Jinyun were working on this device together, while Cangjie was still constantly improving and simplifying the characters he created. Fortunately, there was paper traded from Huaxia; otherwise, caves and walls would only make people more and more confused, and mud tablets and pottery shards were very inconvenient and too fragile.

The progress of the medicine learned by Qibo was also growing greater. Both Xuanyuan and Qibo had learned the Longevity Technique taught by Guangchengzi. It was a peculiar cultivation method. Xuanyuan only felt a hot current flowing within his body, while Qibo felt it flowing in different locations within the body, as well as the magnitude of the flow at different times, where it started to flow, and where it entered.

Qibo slowly began to summarize and finally named the hot current "Qi," and the locations and paths of its flow were called "Meridians." He even taught it to many people, and then based on their sensations, he concluded that the locations of the Meridians were the same for everyone.

He began to think again: why was this "Qi" produced, what was the function of Qi, and why did each Meridian have specific places with different sensations? He was still constantly researching. Later, he tried using sharp stones to prick those places and actually made some very peculiar discoveries.

In order to judge more clearly and effectively, Qibo had people forge many Bronze needles of different lengths and thicknesses for him. He would also normally use wooden needles and bamboo needles to experiment. The deeper he researched, the more marvelous he felt it was.

At the same time, he was also tasting a hundred types of Grass just like Shennong. He did not let a single type of Grass go. Now he had summarized the patterns and felt that one day, he would discover the uses of all Grass.

Because time had been tight last time, Xuanyuan felt there were still many, many things he had not learned. He was already preparing to go to Kongtong again, though not within these two years; he had to first turn everything he had learned into practical things.

Huaxia now had a mess to clean up: a shortage of grain, trade with the Xuanyuan Tribe and the Suiren Tribe had been cut off, and no one knew when trade would resume. The inventory of Tea Leaves was about to hit bottom, Sulfur needed to be collected, and the road to Xiao Town had not even been one-fifth cleared. Added to the fact that they had lost so many Soldiers, Huaxia urgently needed something to stir up people's enthusiasm.

This morning, the military camp selected Soldiers who were of similar height and looked handsome and spirited, had them change into clean clothes, tidy themselves up, and divide into many teams. The first team, under the guidance of the Ministry of Rites, received the "Pillar of the Nation" plaque.

Those returning Soldiers and the families of the Martyrs had all returned home the previous night. Now they no longer needed to hide or cover things up; they could talk to whoever they wanted. The family members, who had been nervous for several days, were already excited to the point of madness upon learning that they actually had surnames.

Not to mention that there would be a grand awards ceremony the next day, which would be reported to the gods above and the people below. From then on, no matter who they were, they could hold their heads high when going out, manifesting their status and identity.

The first family to visit was naturally Chi's home. The one now in charge of the household was Wujuxiang. His mother and concubines had to listen to him because those women were illiterate and understood nothing, knowing only how to eat. Juxiang at least could read and write, and with Chi's simple guidance, he understood much more than those older women, even if he was also half-dull and half-silly. But who else could it be, as he was the Legitimate Son of the family?

Juxiang had everyone clean and tidy up the courtyard and house overnight, then waited quietly for the morning ceremony.

Although it was an award, because Chi had already sacrificed his life, everyone could not be happy and could not smile. Although they envied Chi from the bottom of their hearts, it was still difficult to show excitement and joy.

The Shaman had two Soldiers carry the plaque and march in step. The Soldiers on both sides held the military flag and the national flag of Huaxia, also solemn and grave. The other two officials from the Ministry of Rites, upon arriving at the entrance of Chi's home, timidly lit the firecrackers and then immediately ran away, fearing they would be blown away. Only after seeing that there was no real power did they hurriedly straighten their posture.