Chapter 895: Fabricating a Reason

The news of Baifeng's arrival at the Xuanyuan Tribe truly took Xuanyuan by surprise, because he really had not expected Baifeng to come so quickly; no matter how he thought about it, it made no sense, unless the people of Huaxia could fly, otherwise it was impossible to return so soon.

The large ships of Huaxia did indeed have sails like wings, but their speed was only a bit faster, and they could travel without human labor even against the current, but this time they were using the boats of the Xuanyuan Tribe.

Although puzzled, he still hurriedly had someone invite Baifeng over; all his doubts would be resolved once he saw the man himself, wouldn't they?

This was Baifeng's first time visiting the territory of the Xuanyuan Tribe, but the first place he stepped onto was the Matou they had built for Huaxia; the solid feeling still left Baifeng quite satisfied.

The road to Qingqiu City gave him a feeling of returning to the eighties or nineties of later generations; it was wide and hard enough, but it wasn't paved, simply packed solid by people walking and oxen treading.

Although he could not provide the Xuanyuan Tribe with the Cement for paved roads, there were still other pieces of advice he could offer, which would count as a small bargaining chip when the time came.

Upon arriving at the gate of Qingqiu City, Baifeng asked to get off the cart to take a look; the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe dared not stop him or voice any objections, and could only watch helplessly as Baifeng tapped on their city wall, poked it with his finger, and shielded his eyes from the sun to look upward, looking exactly like someone there to scout for intelligence.

Limu came out to greet him; he could be said to have sprinted the whole way, yet given his physical fitness, he didn't even pant after running a kilometer, which was the normal physical state for most people in this era, as hunting often required constant running to chase down prey, or even to run the prey to death.

As soon as he exited the city gate, he saw Baifeng acting this way; if he hadn't known that Huaxia's city walls were better than theirs, Limu might have truly stepped forward to stop him.

Baifeng finished looking and felt there were no special features; even the Arrow Tower on the city wall hadn't really grasped the essence, and perhaps they still didn't understand what it was actually used for.

Both of them recognized each other, and Baifeng was even more familiar with the name Limu, a great general under Xuanyuan; upon seeing him, Baifeng immediately greeted him: "Limu!"

Limu also hurriedly stepped forward to exchange greetings, and at the same time asked: "Tribal Chief Baifeng, I wonder what your impressions are after seeing our Qingqiu City? Is it far inferior to Huaxia's?"

Baifeng had always been too lazy to correct the way these people from the Xuanyuan Tribe addressed him; he was the King of Huaxia, but asking them to call him King was too strange, and they wouldn't do it anyway, while calling him by his name was disrespectful, so it was simpler to just be called Tribal Chief Baifeng.

Baifeng understood what Limu meant, so he followed his lead and said: "Oh, the city walls are all about the same, it's just that ours were built a bit earlier; you will build even larger and better cities in the future, which will be better than the walls of Huaxia City."

Limu watched as Baifeng got back onto the ox cart and walked alongside it, while asking: "Then tell me, where do our city walls fall short compared to Huaxia's? We would like to improve them."

Baifeng thought to himself that Limu was being very blunt, so he also said directly: "The mud you use to lay these walls should have some chopped Grass mixed into it; that way, it will be much firmer and harder."

Baifeng figured Xuanyuan should have known this long ago; when building the wall for Xiaozhao Town, they had also used the rammed earth method, but they had also added chopped grass to it; Huaxia City used chopped grass, wheat husks, and rice husks, while Xiaozhao Town just lacked the conditions for that.

There was no reason those Laborers wouldn't have told the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe about this technique; they must have already asked everything those Laborers knew, and it was likely that a large portion of those Laborers had been kept behind in the Xuanyuan Tribe to work on construction, as working in Huaxia was, after all, equivalent to learning.

Sure enough, looking at Limu's expression, Baifeng knew he had guessed right; Limu did indeed know, but he hadn't stated it clearly, instead nodding and saying slowly: "Oh, I see; I've learned something, thank you, Tribal Chief Baifeng."

Afterward, Limu talked to Baifeng about other matters, especially regarding why Baifeng had come so quickly; Baifeng made up a random reason to brush it off, as Limu wasn't important—what mattered was fooling Xuanyuan.

At the same time, Limu introduced the situation inside Qingqiu City along the way, emphasizing the help Huaxia had given the Xuanyuan Tribe; Baifeng looked at the appearance of Qingqiu City and was quite satisfied, feeling that being able to transform it like this in such a short time showed that Xuanyuan's capabilities were still very strong.

He even saw a nascent green belt that divided a main road into two-way lanes, which was a result of learning from Huaxia, though looking at the people in the city, it was clear they were not following this rule.

The green belt was only built up a little with stones and mud, a significant amount of work, and he didn't see any plants growing inside; Baifeng guessed that Xuanyuan had only prepared to do this after returning this time, and it was quite rushed, otherwise what was the point of it, and why hadn't they explained it to the people? He believed that with Xuanyuan's prestige, as long as Xuanyuan said something, they would certainly follow it earnestly.

Just like in Huaxia, no matter what Baifeng said or what rules he established, everyone would take the initiative to follow them; regardless of whether they understood the true meaning behind them, they would consciously believe that doing so could not be wrong.

Soon the ox cart arrived in front of the reception room, and one look was enough to know it was built by Huaxia; the Cement walls, large Glass windows, and the Brick and Tile were all completely the handiwork of Huaxia.

Xuanyuan was waiting at the entrance; when he went to Huaxia, Baifeng had shown the same courtesy, and although they had only parted a short while ago, the two still acted as enthusiastically as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

Once inside the reception room, Baifeng looked up and discovered that the ceiling had been finished with wooden boards; this standard was actually quite high. To save on Iron and copper, ceilings like this were basically done using inlay techniques, or fixed with mortise-and-tenon expansion, avoiding nails whenever possible.

If they had used nails for everything, it wasn't impossible that one day the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe might discover it and tear the ceiling down just to retrieve those nails; putting Iron on a useless ceiling would be the ultimate act of a spendthrift.

Baifeng had just sat down and hadn't even had the chance to take out the gift he had prepared when Xuanyuan couldn't help but ask his question: "Baifeng, how did you arrive so quickly? Didn't the people you sent to deliver the message leave only a short while ago?"