Chapter 719: A Generous Compensation

The people of Huaxia used the ox carts of the Xuanyuan Tribe this time, not letting them carry things on their shoulders or in their hands; otherwise, carrying so much grain for such a long distance would not have been an easy task.

First, Dahong took them to the home of the first person who had been killed. The composition of their family was very complex, not like in Huaxia, where a family consisted of a man, a woman, and their children.

In this household, besides the one who had died, there were his three brothers, two women, and children whose parentage was unknown; in any case, those seven children of various ages were the offspring of these four men.

The men did not seem to be born of the same father either. According to what they said, only two were certain they shared the same mother, though who their father was remained unknown. As for the remaining two, they were brothers who had grown up together since childhood and had an excellent relationship; it was not highly probable that they shared the same mother, and the probability that they shared the same father was also not high.

Yanggou and his men were naturally a little surprised, but upon reflection, apart from Huaxia, wasn't this the normal state of other tribes? Dahong and his men were accustomed to it. Wanting to change this status quo was a very difficult thing, at least impossible to change in this generation. One could only wait until these children grew up to see if it would be possible to use a mandatory form to make them live in the manner of a single household, knowing who the father and mother were.

This family was still very resistant to the arrival of the Huaxia people. The main reason was that Huaxia had caused their family to lose a strong laborer, leading to greater pressure on their survival and the raising of offspring. Even with Dahong and his men accompanying them, these people still did not have a good attitude.

It was not until Yanggou said to them: "We have come this time to compensate you, not to look for trouble. Everyone was at fault, but because the people of our Huaxia Construction Team acted on their own initiative and violated the orders of our Prince, it caused your family member to receive excessive punishment. Therefore, to make up for your family's loss, we have brought you some grain."

Upon hearing this, the family immediately looked toward the back of Yanggou. They were all supposed to go to work today; if they didn't work, they wouldn't have food to eat and couldn't earn grain. The Xuanyuan Tribe did not have a Work Point System; they all performed collective labor and received collective distribution. If you went to work every day, you could have food to eat; if you didn't go to work, then you would go hungry that day, or you would have to use the family's stored grain.

Every year after the Autumn Harvest, grain would be distributed to them, but it was only distributed to the men and women, with women receiving even less. The grain distributed also depended on how the overall harvest for the year went. In the past, when there wasn't enough grain, they could only ensure the men could successfully survive the Winter, while the women would have a harder time. In the last two years, with the great development of agriculture in the Xuanyuan Tribe, not only were the men not afraid of going hungry in the Winter, but the women were the same, and there was even a portion of grain left over after the Winter ended.

They had no concept of rest days and had to work every day. Only when the weather made it impossible for them to work could they rest, but that also meant they wouldn't get to eat that day. Therefore, everyone was very proactive in their work and didn't need anyone to supervise them. However, doing more didn't bring rewards; perhaps if one was lucky, one could demonstrate some talent and gain an opportunity to move up, becoming a minor leader or the like, which would allow one to receive a bit more food.

The overall mechanism mainly relied on people's self-discipline. Everyone had almost no excessive fantasies about the future; as long as they could survive the current year, that was a happy enough thing. If they could eat their fill, that would be even happier.

Therefore, when Yanggou mentioned bringing them grain, they were exceptionally excited. Grain obtained in this kind of situation would not be confiscated by the Xuanyuan Tribe. For example, when hunters went out to hunt and made an unexpected catch, the hunters who contributed the most effort during the butchering could receive more.

Yanggou did not keep them in suspense; he waved his hand to signal, and two Soldiers immediately brought a bag of pork cracklings and a jar of oil, placing them in front of them.

Yanggou opened the bag of pork cracklings: "This is pork cracklings. I don't know if you have ever eaten it. It is tastier than wheat porridge and keeps you full longer. You can even eat it directly without cooking it. A bag like this is enough for one man to get through the Winter."

Dahong also said at the side at the right moment: "Hmm, pork cracklings are a good thing. Our Xuanyuan Tribe doesn't get much from trading with Huaxia every year, and most people have never eaten it."

One of the men immediately rushed forward, took out a piece, and said to his family in surprise: "It's pork cracklings! I know, I know! The Leader at the Matou told us about it. He got a little bit last year and said the taste was especially good."

Afterwards, he stared at the full bag of pork cracklings, his eyes holding a look more tender and greedy than if he had seen a beauty: "There is so much."

Yanggou did not mind this and pointed at the oil jar: "What is inside is Soybean Oil, which is even more precious than pork cracklings. If it were exchanged for grain, it would be enough for your whole family to get through a Winter."

Dahong asked Yanggou: "Can the jar be opened for them to see?"

Yanggou said: "Of course."

Then the mud seal of the jar was opened, and the family only saw a jar of something like water, feeling very strange. Could this thing be worth that much grain?

The two men who worked at the Matou had previously been responsible for moving oil jars, but unfortunately, they had never seen what was inside. They had only heard their Leader say that this thing was very precious, and if the jar were broken, they wouldn't be able to pay for it even with their lives.

Now, the few men who were the decision-makers of the family could no longer suppress their excitement. With trembling hands, they didn't dare to touch the jar, their eyes staring straight at Yanggou as they asked: "Is this... all for us?"

Yanggou gave them a definite answer: "It is all yours. I don't know if you think this compensation is enough?"

They naturally did not dare to be greedy, especially with Dahong accompanying them, which meant that this compensation had already been agreed upon. Originally, they had thought that since the person was dead, they were dead, but they hadn't expected such an unexpected surprise. If the death of one person could be exchanged for so much grain, they felt that if another one died, it didn't seem like such a big deal.

"Enough... enough, hehe."

Yanggou was very satisfied. Dahong looked at the state of his tribesmen, and I don't know what he was thinking; perhaps he felt that compared to Huaxia, the lives of the ordinary people in his tribe were still a bit too poor.

Before leaving, Dahong gave instructions to the family: "Make sure to put the jar away properly and don't let it get broken. If you want to eat oil, just put a small spoonful into the water when you are cooking porridge. If you want to exchange it for grain, that is also fine; just come find me when the time comes."