Chapter 825: The Death of the Shaman

The Shaman's attitude was very firm, so Baifeng did not bring the matter up again. Since the Shaman had already come to terms with it himself, life and death were no longer anything for the Shaman to worry about, and Baifeng also believed that his own treatment of the Shaman had not been poor; at the very least, since he had taken power, he had not owed him anything.

After chatting for a while longer, the Shaman felt his energy draining away rapidly and his body could no longer hold on; he did not force himself and told Baifeng clearly.

Baifeng could not bear to let the Shaman overexert himself, and he had much work of his own, so he said, "Alright, Shaman, you go and get some good rest. In the future, just come out and walk around more; don't always be lying at home."

The Shaman sat back down on the chair and said with some difficulty, "King, in this life of mine, no matter what wrong things I have done or what nonsense I have spoken, once I die, let it all be settled."

"But Shaohe and the others are not stupid, and they work earnestly, so could you please help them more in the future? Actually, it is not that I am worried about them."

"If they truly do something wrong, I ask the King to give them a chance."

After saying this, the Shaman prepared to kneel from the chair, trembling, but Baifeng hurriedly stopped him, "That is enough, Shaman. Do not worry too much. Shaohe and the others are not children; they are grown men and know the gravity of matters. You can rest assured; I will give Shaohe and the others more patience and opportunities."

Hearing Baifeng's promise, the Shaman could finally hold back no longer, and a few turbid tears slid from his eyes, sobbing uncontrollably. They were truly turbid tears; Baifeng did not know that human tears could actually look so murky.

Baifeng thought that the Shaman likely felt he did not have long to live and feared it would be difficult to see Baifeng again, which was why he was pleading now. After all, he was a founding hero, and even if the Shaman had not said anything, he would have had to help Shaohe and the others anyway.

Baifeng left, and the Shaman sat alone on the chair under the tree. Shaohe and the others went over, wanting to carry the Shaman inside, but the Shaman said to let him lie outside a while longer; he wanted to breathe this fresh air outside.

Baifeng finally had the time to carefully study the proposals that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Revenue had delayed for a long time before submitting. After so many years of effort and his requirements for them, the proposals now submitted by the various departments were quite good; at the very least, they did not require much modification from him.

As for this plan regarding the planned production and distribution of certain materials, after his initial conception, the officials of the two ministries went to the grassroots level to conduct public opinion surveys, and then summarized and refined them after the investigation. Baifeng felt the submitted proposal was perfect. Now there was only one thing left: to unite the various departments according to this proposal and have them carry out production reforms according to this plan.

At the same time, the design and printing of various vouchers should also officially begin. He would try his best to push this plan through this Winter; this could be considered the first step toward implementing currency in the future. Compared to currency, various vouchers under a Planned Economy were still easier for them to accept.

Furthermore, there was no need to consider the feelings of tribes like the Xuanyuan Tribe regarding these vouchers, as they were not involved in these transactions. Of course, if it ran smoothly and the exchanges between the two tribes became closer, then the various vouchers could be spread to the Xuanyuan Tribe through the interactions between the people of the two tribes.

Once the Xuanyuan Tribe discovered that these vouchers could be used to exchange for supplies in Huaxia, even if they were not people of Huaxia, the seed of accepting currency would be planted in their hearts.

Huaxia was not afraid of the vouchers being forged, because printing technology only existed in Huaxia. Let alone other tribes, even most people in Huaxia did not know that printing existed.

Things like vouchers certainly could not be made too large; they had to be relatively small. The paper used for production also had to be remade; it had to be thicker and of better quality. Paper that was too poor was not suitable for making vouchers.

At the same time, the master plate used for printing could only be a carved woodblock, not movable type. The copper-carved plate was the master plate and had to be strictly stored; it could only be brought out when it could be used for printing each year.

As for the denominations and design patterns, that could only be done by Baifeng himself. The people of Huaxia now were still very primitive in terms of design; their technology was very lacking, and they had no concept of design in their heads.

Baifeng did not have the time to teach them design or art, and ordinary people had no use for it. He could only teach what he knew to his own children and then leave something behind in books. Plus, he was only a half-baked amateur enthusiast, so it was difficult for him to have any major promoting effect on the painting art of this era. Instead, there were some paintings on those Pottery items that he thought had quite an artistic feel, but they were not suitable for use on things like vouchers.

Baifeng was still thinking about what to design on the vouchers—should it be Grass, trees, and flowers, or people? If it were flowers and grass, what flowers and what grass? If it were people, that would be very simple: Shennong, Suiren, and Fuxi—these figures could absolutely be used as the images on the vouchers. Of course, he felt his own image could also be used.

He could not make up his mind for a moment, and his mind was wandering. Just then, a Soldier came in to report, looking somewhat flustered.

Baifeng told him to speak, and the Soldier opened his mouth and said, "Changping Marquis, the Shaman, has just died."

Baifeng sat up from his chair in surprise, "What? The Shaman is dead?"

The Soldier had some sweat on his forehead, "Yes, King. Changping Marquis has just died; he has stopped breathing, and his body is already somewhat stiff."

Baifeng let out a long breath and slowly sat back down, "Yes, yes. Someone who has been lying down for so long suddenly having the strength to stand up, it must have been a final burst of energy. This is the false spirit. Sigh."

Baifeng put down his pen and closed the document, "Prepare the carriage; I will go and take a look at Changping Marquis's place."

The Soldier immediately retreated. Baifeng did not care about his own demeanor; as his good friend and a top Noble of Huaxia, it was indeed necessary for him to go and take a look now that the Shaman had died.

The ox cart arrived at the place he had only just left at the fastest speed. Upon entering, he found the Shaman's family surrounding the Shaman's corpse and crying, but they did not know what to do. Baifeng shook his head and gave an instruction to the person beside him, "Go, call Zhigui over, and tell him to dress solemnly."

The Shaman's death was also an opportunity. Baifeng could set down some rules and etiquette for funerals and promote them; this was a thing that had to be done. And even if he did not do it, other tribes, or Huaxia in the future, would inevitably have them; this was the inevitability of history.

Moreover, funeral etiquette had another benefit: in addition to promoting the culture of Filial Mourning, burial objects could also record a period of history and preserve it by burying it in the ground.

Thousands of years later, when the Shaman's tomb was accidentally dug up and the things inside were found, the events of the Shaman's life could also be spread.