Chapter 883: The Beginning of the Great Exchange

Limu accepted the order and then left to find those few envoys who had been kept under guard. The envoys were agitated at this moment; they did not understand why, when Xuanyuan had not yet returned, the attitude toward them had been acceptable, but once Xuanyuan returned, he would not let them see him.

This time, Limu's attitude was much better. He found the envoys and said to them very seriously, "Everyone, our Tribal Chief has already agreed to see you, but not now. He will come to discuss things with you this evening, because our Tribal Chief has brought back some friends who are very important to us, and it is not appropriate for them to know about your affairs. Therefore, you can only wait for a little while first. You have already waited for so long, surely you cannot wait for just a little while longer?"

Hearing a reasonable explanation, the envoys gradually calmed down: "Fine, we have come to seek your help and to pursue cooperation, so naturally we must follow your wishes. Since Tribal Chief Xuanyuan has more important matters now, then we shall wait a while longer. However, I hope you can keep your promise; after all, we have waited for so long, and our tribe truly has no more time."

Limu gave the group a final assurance: "Rest assured, our Xuanyuan Tribe will certainly keep our promise. Since we said we would see you in the evening, we will not break our word."

Although the envoys had been persuaded, Limu still did not feel at ease and continued to arrange for Soldiers to stand guard, as he could not let them rush out and cause a scene right now.

Xuanyuan was also thinking about matters in his heart. After all, going to war with the Shennong Clan was a monumental affair. The prophecy of Guangchengzi had already come true; the Shennong Clan was in chaos, and their Xuanyuan Tribe would inevitably be drawn in, as the interests involved were simply too great.

He was thinking more about how he could pull Huaxia into it. If the Suiren Clan could also be drawn in, that would be for the best. In this way, the crisis for the Xuanyuan Tribe would be out in the open, allowing them to deal with it directly without having to have too many concerns.

But how to do it would have to wait until he communicated with those envoys tonight. To what extent was the Shennong Clan's war currently progressing? How much strength should he commit, and what kind of benefits could he obtain? In any case, it was impossible to send his own tribesmen out to work for the Shennong Clan. If they did work for Huaxia that carried no danger, not only could he receive grain, but he could also increase his population.

Xuanyuan's inner thoughts were surging like waves, but his expression remained calm. He continued to converse with the people from Huaxia, and soon the others from the Xuanyuan Tribe arrived as well. The entire decision-making layer of the Xuanyuan Tribe came to this meeting place one by one.

Xuanyuan introduced these people from Huaxia to them one by one, though he still did not remember the names of some of them, as there were indeed quite a few people who had come this time.

He assigned tasks to Qingyun and Jinyun: "Qingyun, Jinyun, these are officials from Huaxia. From now on, they will reside in our tribe and work with you two to observe the movements of Heaven and define the calendar."

"In order to get the calendar made sooner, you must not hold anything back regarding your own knowledge, and you must not conceal anything. I believe Baifeng told them the same thing."

"Because we must get this done at the fastest speed possible and use the calendar to guide our lives and farming, the matter is of great importance."

"The people of Huaxia surely have things you do not know. You shall exchange with each other, and all results will be shared between our two tribes, as both will need to use them. From today on, I will arrange for others to do your other work; you two only need to do this one thing well. Just this one thing alone will likely take many years, I imagine."

Qingyun and Jinyun understood and immediately gave their assurance: "We will certainly do our best and strive to define the calendar in the fastest time possible."

The few people from Huaxia also immediately stated their position: "We also follow the orders of our King. We are truly too thirsty for a calendar, so we will not conceal anything we know. However, our knowledge was taught to us by our King, and we only know some theories, but we are not very knowledgeable about the actual observation. Therefore, at the beginning, we must first learn from each other."

Xuanyuan clapped his hands with a smile and then arranged for the two groups to work together, letting them get familiar with each other as soon as possible. At the same time, he gave his assurance: "I understand the importance of the calendar that Baifeng spoke of very well. Therefore, no matter what you need, our Xuanyuan Tribe will certainly provide support. If there is something we cannot do, we will also seek help from you in Huaxia. In this matter, we are the best of allies."

"Our King has also given us enough things to ensure the smooth progress of the mission. We believe that our two tribes will certainly succeed."

Both teams tasked with creating the calendar were full of confidence in this matter. These officials from Huaxia had also prepared themselves to not return to Huaxia for several years; after all, Winter also belongs to the four seasons, and they could not stop observations just because it was cold. They had to be uninterrupted throughout all four seasons of the year.

Furthermore, Baifeng had already given his guarantee that as long as they could formulate the calendar, they would certainly be awarded the title of Marquis, and all rewards would be provided. Baifeng was even willing to reward people from the Xuanyuan Tribe, because for the people of the world, this was an incredible act of great merit. If it weren't for the fact that Baifeng had no time and lacked the ability in this area, he would have wanted to step in and do it himself.

But he could not, so he could only teach the astronomical knowledge he remembered in his mind to the few of them without reservation. The notebooks that the few of them carried were densely filled with text and diagrams.

Baifeng even told them about a few observation methods that might be feasible. For instance, the architectural device used to divide the Solar Terms that was unearthed at a site in later generations—Baifeng did not know how it operated, but he could describe its general appearance and let them explore it themselves. At the very least, it could save them from taking many detours. Currently, observing the movements of Heaven still relied mostly on shadows.

Afterward, Xuanyuan introduced the Huaxia officials engaged in other matters to the rest of the Xuanyuan Tribe. The great exchange between Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe officially began from this moment.

At the same time, Xuanyuan also ordered the officials to arrange for the people he was to send to Huaxia for study. Previously, only a small number of people had been sent to learn medicine and architecture. Now, the Embassy in Huaxia was already habitable; although it was not completely finished, single-story houses were different from large buildings—once a Platoon was built, they could be lived in, and the rest could be left for continued construction.

Xuanyuan could not wait any longer now. There was no need to pay too much attention to a sense of ritual; as long as he could cultivate his own talents as soon as possible, that was enough. Moreover, once they learned, according to the agreement, they still had to work for Huaxia for several years. By the time they could provide service to the Xuanyuan Tribe, it would already be very late, so the matter of cultivation should be done as early as possible.