Chapter 682: Slave Auction (1)

The Slaves were divided into very meticulous groups according to their skills and quality; even the groups to be sold in bundles had already been organized. This time, several thousand Soldiers were dispatched to maintain the scene, which could be said to be a very grand event.

Zhigui had done very well in the activities of presiding over weddings, and Huaxia could be considered to have recognized his ability. The Shaman could now also rest easy at home and had completely entered a retired life. However, the Shaman almost never went out now; he would just walk around his own courtyard every day and bask in the sun, not very willing to go out.

Including this auction, he did not come; only his sons came to participate. Although the Shaman had retired, the Wu Family was now a top-tier Noble family of Huaxia, and it was impossible to leave their family out of such matters. Moreover, his several sons were also constantly climbing upward, and their current positions were not low. Their future achievements might not reach the level of their father—after all, their father had occupied the right time, the right place, and the right people—so they could only look at their own abilities and the foundation the Shaman had laid for them to continue to vie for power in the fiercely competitive Huaxia.

The grand event had not yet begun, and the instructors finally told the Slaves what they were going to do now.

"Today, you are going to be distributed to the homes of various Nobles to do the work you should do as a Slave. This also means that from today on, you do not need to live here anymore, you do not need to listen to our orders, and you do not need to learn the things we teach."

"However, the things you learned here and the abilities you displayed are what will determine what kind of family you will go to in the future and what kind of work you will do. Those who perform well will certainly be able to live more easily. In Huaxia, the wealthier the family, the better the treatment for Slaves, and the work you need to do will be relatively less; your housing and food will also be much better than here."

"But those who know nothing and whose brains are not good will certainly not have many good opportunities. They might be bought back to do some farming or firewood-chopping work—in any case, just using brute force. The gap between you will also be completely widened today."

"At the same time, I will also tell you a piece of good news: as long as you work diligently in Huaxia for twenty years and do not violate the laws of Huaxia during this period, then you will be able to have your Slave status lifted. And during these twenty years, you can also marry and have children after obtaining your master's permission. As long as twenty years pass, you will be able to obtain freedom together with your children and will not need to survive in Huaxia with the status of a Slave."

"Alright, I will say this much for now. What you need to do now is to stay quietly and not move around. If you need to go to the restroom or something, report it first."

The instructor finished speaking concisely and then immediately went to coordinate with Zhigui. This time, it could be said to be the first time the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites cooperated to hold such a large event, so it had to be done well. Not to mention, this time it would also involve a very large amount of wealth. The officials of the Ministry of Rites were already in place, and they also had designated personnel responsible for calculating the grain and property for this auction settlement; they did not mobilize people from the Ministry of Revenue.

Officials arrived from the city one after another, and each of them brought their wives; some even brought one of their children. They sat in ox carts or human-pulled carts, one after another, making the Residents in the city stop and watch. They did not know what exactly was happening; was there something good to see outside the city?

In the past, there had been such situations, which were nothing more than the lotus flowers by the Dahe outside the city blooming on a large scale, and only then would they take their families out to watch during holidays. This trend was started by Baifeng.

There was a lot of beautiful scenery around Huaxia—mountains, forests, Grass, trees, giant rocks, waterfalls, and so on—all very primitive and wild. In Baifeng's view, it was still very beautiful and worth seeing. However, to these people who faced these things every day, they could not see any beauty and would only feel that it was dangerous in such an environment, with no sense of security.

After all, there was no art education in this era. Baifeng had studied painting for a period of time, but his level was not very good. Coupled with the fact that so much time had passed, the paper was not good, the ink was not good, and the pigments were even more monotonous and lacking, so the painting of Huaxia still remained at a very primitive stage. Even with Baifeng's drive, there was still no major progress at present.

Lacking painting art, the appreciation of beauty was out of the question. Poetry and the like were even more non-existent. In Baifeng's view, ancient poetry could not even be counted as poetry; it was too primitive and had no aesthetic sense to speak of. Baifeng could not play a big role in promoting it either, so he had to let the era drive these things to emerge by itself.

And what Baifeng could do was nothing more than find some beautiful flowers, trees, and the like to plant, to decorate his home and decorate the city to achieve some beauty. The large patches of blooming lotus flowers were also an essential viewing activity for him every year. As time went on, others followed suit to watch. Baifeng did not know if they understood it or not, but at least it looked a bit more elegant.

In order to avoid riots and maintain order, ordinary people were restricted from leaving the city today, unless there was something relatively important. The people of Lema City had received a carrier pigeon message from Huaxia early in the morning, so when Baifeng announced the news to this side of Huaxia, they had already set off, just to be able to participate at the same time.

One ox cart after another stopped in the wilderness. The Soldiers had even long ago let the Slaves use white lime to draw parking spaces on the ground. Regardless of status, only following the principle of first-come, first-served, when a cart came, they would lead them to a parking space to stop, and they also had to let their drivers stay behind to keep an eye on their own oxen.

Not long after, the parking lot was already full of carts, neat and tidy; it actually looked somewhat shocking. The prosperity of Huaxia was also reflected at this moment.

As an honored guest of Huaxia, Zhishou was also invited to participate. The Slave serving Zhishou was still a Slave of Huaxia, not one he owned himself. However, this time, Baifeng told Zhishou that as long as Zhishou could afford the price, he could buy up to ten Slaves from these Slaves of Huaxia, and he could take them away from Huaxia and take them to the Xuanyuan Tribe. If Zhishou did not have grain at the moment, he could lend it to him, and let Xuanyuan return it when the time came.

Zhishou was of course very happy. After all, the Slaves of Huaxia served indeed very well. What he mainly thought about was buying one or two Slaves who could cook to take back. Having eaten in Huaxia for a long time, he looked down upon the food of the Xuanyuan Tribe more and more. If he could take a few such Slaves back, then he could also live a life at the same standard as Huaxia in the Xuanyuan Tribe.