Chapter 811: Establishing Order (3)

The place they spoke of as suitable for the gathering was very close to the foot of She Shan, because they had camped there before, so they were relatively familiar with it; moreover, in terms of the flatness of the ground, it was even better than the area at She Shan, but because the soil was deeper, unlike She Shan where the ground was mostly stone, the vegetation in this place was somewhat dense.

Most importantly, there was also a small lake here, so water was absolutely no problem; Xiong observed the area, and as a location for the gathering, it was no worse than the site at She Shan, it just needed some of this vegetation cleared.

However, if every tribe cleared the vegetation for the place they intended to camp, it would not count as any major project; if there were many people, they could clear a large area, and if there were few, they would clear less; for the place used for the gathering, everyone could clear it together. The main problem now was, would those tribes be willing to move over here?

Xiong first asked the few tribes that had followed him: "If you were asked to come here, would you be willing to come?"

Those few tribes were very clear now that Huaxia wanted to come here, and Huaxia had already promised them benefits; this place was not bad either, and there were not so many corpses here—let alone the smell, just the wild beasts that those corpses would attract could pose a threat to them, so they nodded one after another without hesitation: "Of course we can come here."

Xiong was very satisfied with their performance, then asked again: "Do you know roughly how many tribes have come this time, and how many might continue to come, regardless of the size of the tribe?"

As small and medium-sized tribes, these people were either Tribal Chiefs or relatively major Leaders of a tribe; in terms of intelligence, they were not bad, and counting was no problem for them; plus, they had frequent exchanges with the Jiangshui Tribe and also used the decimal system, so there was no problem communicating with Huaxia regarding familiarity.

A few tribes said forty-something, some said fifty-something; one even combined the previous number with the current time and felt that perhaps another dozen or so tribes might still come. Calculating it all together, Xiong felt that the number of fifty tribes should be about right.

Of course, many tribes only brought a dozen or so people; tribes that could bring a thousand people at once were really not small in this era, but compared to a large tribe like Huaxia, they were completely unworthy of notice.

Throughout history, tribes with more than one hundred thousand people would certainly leave something behind, whether it be legends or ruins; such tribes were too few in history, but there were also many large tribes that, because they lived in very remote areas far from the center of the Kingdom, could not leave behind any information or legends, and not a single record could be found in history.

During archaeology, it was also impossible to infer their range of life through their activity tracks; upon excavation, perhaps one day a farmer would strike with a hoe and suddenly dig up some Pottery Jar or jade artifact, and only then could such a relatively prosperous civilization suddenly appear in the world.

And the main tribes coming to the gathering were those small tribes with only a few hundred people in the entire tribe; it seemed like many tribes came to the gathering, but the total number of people was not very high.

Xiong knew the approximate number of tribes, added to the supplies he had brought, and then had his own plan. Since he wanted to establish a foundation on this land and build his own reputation to lay the groundwork for future expansion here, then the current expenditure was inevitable; it would only be profitable and not a loss. Every small tribe would be a help to Huaxia in the future.

So Xiong said to those few tribes: "In order to let the gathering proceed smoothly, I think moving the location here is a must, and we must also throw the corpses under She Shan further away, so as to avoid everyone encountering danger when they return."

"Now we, Huaxia, are preparing to re-manage this gathering, but we are not like the Bairong Tribe, so, not only will I not collect anything from you, but as long as you are willing to come here for the gathering, I will give every tribe a piece of salt; if you are willing to come, you get it, if you are not willing, you don't."

"Regarding this matter, after you go back, you can tell all those tribes and promote it; as long as one tribe comes here, I will issue it to one tribe."

"Ah??? Just give it directly? Give it for free?" Those few tribes were so shocked they could hardly speak; these words from Huaxia were almost on the same level as the shock they felt watching Huaxia fight last night; it was all a bit too outrageous.

Xiong smiled and asked in return: "Why, don't you believe it? To tell you the truth, if it weren't for the fact that our Huaxia is a bit far from here and transporting things here is too troublesome, otherwise, I could give you even more salt. Huaxia is rich enough, and we have more grain than we can eat; in our Huaxia, salt is as worthless as water. Most of what I brought on the ox backs this time is salt; even if I give it away to you, I won't lose out, and instead, it can lighten our burden on the way back."

"If we haven't finished trading the salt by the time we are about to return, I might give the remaining salt to the tribes that are more obedient and follow the rules. The salt our oxen drink in a day is more than what you can earn from this trade, so do not doubt the ability of our Huaxia."

The few tribes nodded repeatedly, and one of them even took the lead in pledging loyalty: "Our tribe will move, we will move immediately; I will also tell the surrounding tribes when I go back and persuade them all to come over."

"Good, when the time comes, I will give your tribe a little more salt." Xiong promised a reward, which was also a temptation for other tribes.

The other few tribes also hurriedly said the same thing, and Xiong was not stingy, even saying: "No problem, when the time comes, the more tribes you bring, the more salt I will give you. It just depends on who among you can persuade more tribes to come. I will ask at that time which tribe told you; as long as those tribes mention one of your names, that tribe will get an extra reward."

Once those few tribes heard this, they were immediately anxious to go back; if they went late, everyone would scramble for it, and the salt they could earn would become less. Under the temptation of major benefits, they would not even consider what Huaxia's purpose was in doing this.

This model was already similar to the pyramid schemes of later generations; under the temptation of huge profits, you would no longer consider whether this matter was reasonable or not, you would only want to make money, not to mention that the salt Xiong gave had a value no different from gold in later generations, and Huaxia's strength was visible to the naked eye, not some shell company. For the sake of Huaxia's reputation and his own credibility, Xiong naturally would not break his word; what he owed, he would certainly give.

With so many tribes brought over, the salt he gave would only be the amount a couple of oxen could carry, or even less, which would have absolutely no impact on Huaxia's acquisition of other things. And looking at the situation this year, the things they brought to sell at a high price were probably useless; on the way back, we will just throw them away, or give them to some tribe as a reward, and can even use them to attract them to go to Huaxia.

However, bringing them back to Huaxia again is impossible; after all, those things have no value in Huaxia, and it is really better to throw them into the lake than to expend the effort to bring them back.