Chapter 647: Huaxia's Criteria for Selecting People

The officials did not scold these Slaves; after all, since they were all crying now, if they were to insult or reprimand them, it might provoke some unfavorable reactions.

As for Xi, out of a desire to cherish talent, the official stood up immediately and said to him with a smile, "Good, good, good. Now it is confirmed that you have your own skills. Huaxia needs people like you. How about this: keep this thing of yours safe, and I will arrange for someone to take you to another place; you won't need to live here anymore."

"According to our current policies in Huaxia regarding you, in your current situation, it is highly probable that you will not need to be a Slave. If you work well, you will not lack houses, land, grain, or women, so don't worry too much."

Xi was startled by this sudden kindness and preferential policy, and for a moment, he was at a loss. Just because he could play the bow Flute, he could receive such preferential treatment?

Before he could react, an official with a kind expression pulled him over from the side: "Alright, come with me now. Everything here has nothing to do with you anymore."

Just like that, Xi was completely separated from his tribespeople. It was a matter of an instant; his life would never intersect with these people again. Perhaps, in the future, among these people, some would become Xi's Slaves.

Because of Xi's appearance, the mood of the registering officials improved a lot; after all, finding such a person could be counted as their merit.

Just as the registration work was about to continue, the official in charge of registration discussed it with several others and then announced loudly: "Now, those who have other skills can come directly here. We will register you directly here. As for things like hunting, forget it; Huaxia is not lacking in that."

To avoid anyone not hearing, the Soldiers began to walk around to spread the word, ensuring that everyone could hear.

The Slaves who heard this began to rack their brains to see if they met any of the criteria. After thinking for a long time, feeling that they did have some special skills, and giving themselves a pep talk, they finally chose to step out and go to the new line.

Soon, this line had over a hundred people. The officials were also very surprised: does this tribe have so many capable people?

Subsequently, they specifically assigned an official to go there and verify them one by one. The first one called up said he was a person who crafted Weapons for the Jiangshui Tribe, specifically stone Weapons. The official asked him to demonstrate on the spot, but that Slave said eloquently: "That won't work. There are no suitable stones here. Not all stones can be used, and my tools are gone, so I cannot demonstrate right now."

Having said that, he lowered his head somewhat nervously, his hands rubbing constantly, waiting for fate to pass judgment on him.

After thinking for a moment, the official felt that this Slave did understand something. He could not verify the truth of it himself, but he could send him to the Stonemasons, where there would naturally be professionals to verify these things.

So, he took a bamboo tablet, asked for his other information, and after registering it, wrote the two characters for "Stonemason" on the back, then handed it to the Slave, telling him to wait a while and that after there were more people, he would take them together.

The Slave who had this special bamboo tablet was suddenly exceptionally happy. He felt that he had already passed the approval, that he would not have to be a Slave, and his face even had some color.

The official did not discourage him; this was only the first step, and the part behind was the main thing. If he knew nothing, he would still be sent back, and even if he knew something, he could not immediately shed his Slave status; it was just better than his other tribespeople.

After settling this one, the next person came up. He said excitedly: "I can imitate the calls of all animals, any animal at all."

Black lines immediately appeared on the official's face. This, too, counts as a skill? However, he still chose to give him a chance and let him demonstrate.

This Slave was not shy at all and began to imitate the calls of animals. Although it was very similar, it was of no use at all. This skill was something many hunters knew, and there were plenty who were better than him.

Now the other Slaves were also watching. The official helplessly held his forehead and said directly to him: "Stop, stop. You don't need to demonstrate. Do you call this a skill? There are plenty of people here who can do this, and not a few who are better than you. If you don't have any other skills, go back obediently."

Then his voice grew a few decibels louder: "Those who are the same as him do not need to come over; go back yourselves, including others related to hunting. We do not need them."

After the official finished speaking, the Slave's face had already turned pale. He was somewhat unwilling, but after a glare from a Soldier, he quickly retreated and returned to the position where he had just been queuing, and he could only stand at the very end.

At the same time, dozens of people left this skill-verification line one after another. In an instant, it was reduced by half. The official thought to himself, that's more like it; it turns out half of them were just here to make up the numbers.

Afterwards, he continued to verify. He verified a few people one after another; they either had other useless skills or were currently unable to be verified. Two people said they knew how to make Pottery, but because they had been wandering on the road, they had no opportunity to make any, so no one knew they could.

Although Huaxia's pottery-making technology could be said to be the most powerful now, because they could even make Porcelain, thinking that they still lacked many manual laborers—such as those to make molds or those to make Bricks and Tiles—he still chose to let the two of them stay and give them a chance.

The Ministry of Works, having received the news before coming, had already been to the office of the Ministry of Revenue, repeatedly emphasizing that they must find some suitable people to bring over. Even if their technology was not up to par, if they had a foundation, it would be easier for them to teach.

It could be said that the Huaxia Ministry of Works was extremely short of people. Apart from training them through their current methods, they had to rely on craftsmen from other tribes to supplement them. If the number of people was large enough, they could always find a few.

Later, another person came who said he knew how to weave bamboo. He also could not explain clearly what it was, but the general meaning was that he could split bamboo into strips and weave them into things that could hold items.

Once he said this, the official understood immediately. Huaxia also had people who specialized in weaving bamboo baskets and bamboo crates; now, under the request of Baifeng, they were even starting to weave bamboo mats.

Huaxia had many such people, but looking at the current population scale of Huaxia, it was still not enough. Thus, in a state of extreme lack of self-confidence, this Slave passed.

He himself could not believe it, but the official gave him a tablet and told him to go wait. Even the other Slaves were very shocked: they didn't want people who could hunt, but they actually wanted someone who could weave bamboo?