Chapter 901: The Proper Use of Feces

"Alright, no problem, then let's arrange for four thousand people this time, because our manpower is currently quite tight, and we need to prepare for war immediately. Here in Qingqiu City, we can't spare that many people all at once; they have to be drawn from the surrounding tribes, which will take some time, but I can guarantee six thousand men."

"Let's forget about the women this time; they still have to pick tea and dig for medicinal herbs for you. We'll send them over after this round of labor is finished. Besides, I know what you want the women for anyway."

Baifeng also laughed happily. His goal had been achieved. With so many laborers, Huaxia's construction tasks for this year could proceed much faster. Xiao Town didn't need many more people, so most of the remaining laborers could be assigned to develop the west. The Western Development Group was too far away for them, but building roads was not a problem at all.

With this many people, Baifeng was confident that he could open up the road for the Western Development Group this year, at least enough for ox carts to pass. This way, whether it was transporting food and supplies or delivering messages, it would be much easier. Moreover, it would be safer and faster to go and participate in the assembly.

But Baifeng still raised a small request: "Let's have some women come this time too, just one or two hundred will do. After all, feeding several thousand people is a big problem; we need women to cook. Other matters can be ignored for now."

This request from Baifeng was not excessive, and Xuanyuan agreed immediately: "Fine, let's do that. We are also searching for large quantities of other goods for you. We haven't dared to rest at all this year; we've been kept so busy."

"I also hope your food can arrive on time; this is very important to us."

"The food is all prepared. A large pile should have already been delivered to your Matou by now. The boat that Chou brought carried a lot of food, and this boat of mine this time also brought food."

"Especially Soybean Oil; you should be in greater need of Soybean Oil now, right? If that's really the case, I can make concessions in our future food trade and take more Soybean Oil in place of food."

Xuanyuan was very satisfied: "Good, good, no problem. However, for these two years, the proportion of Soybean Oil still cannot be too high; just a bit more than before will do. Because after all, Soybean Oil is a supplement to food, and what we lack most now is basic food."

The negotiation between the two sides drifted further and further away on increasingly unimportant topics, and the atmosphere of the conversation became more and more relaxed. Only Changle listened from the side the whole time, not daring to interject a single word. By the end of the negotiation, he even felt so bored he was getting sleepy.

Fortunately, before he was about to fall asleep, the negotiation ended. Xuanyuan said he wanted to take Baifeng to have a good tour of the Xuanyuan Tribe, and Baifeng readily agreed.

Chai hurried over from the construction site, and Chou had also been waiting outside the door for a long time. Subsequently, the high-level officials of the Xuanyuan Tribe and Huaxia accompanied the two leaders as they looked around Qingqiu City.

The current appearance of the Xuanyuan Tribe's city was quite tidy. After learning from Huaxia, they also arranged for people to sweep the streets all day long. Baifeng also offered some key suggestions regarding the city's construction.

At the same time, Baifeng also discovered many somewhat dilapidated small houses. Baifeng asked curiously: "What are these houses for? Why is there only this one standing alone?"

The faces of the Xuanyuan Tribe people were all very strange. Fortunately, Baifeng didn't say he wanted to go in and take a look. Fearing that Baifeng would suffer if he went in, Chai quickly said: "King, this is their public toilet. It was my suggestion to build it, also to improve the sanitary conditions of Qingqiu City."

Dahong also chimed in: "That's right, this is what Chai suggested we do. Although it's a bit dilapidated, after all, building it requires a large amount of manpower and material resources. Currently, residential houses must take priority, so we are just making do with it for now. But this has also provided great convenience for our Qingqiu City."

Baifeng understood: "Oh, I see. Then how do you handle the feces you collect?"

Dahong spoke for Xuanyuan: "We collect it all together and then dump it into the Dahe."

Baifeng frowned, but this was indeed quite normal. Many fish would eat feces, and with the volume of water in the Dahe, dumping the feces of so many people would certainly not have any impact, though it sounded a bit disgusting, and the fish here were probably very fat.

The Xuanyuan Tribe had not yet discovered the true use of feces, because for feces to be used as fertilizer, it needs to be fermented first. If spread directly on the fields, not only would it be useless, but it would also burn the seedlings. It would take another year before any real effect could appear.

Therefore, the Xuanyuan Tribe had never attached importance to the use of feces. They just assumed Huaxia's high crop yields were due to good seeds.

However, they had long ago discovered the matter of fertilizer. After the wheat field was burned that year, the wheat in that area grew the best the following year, which also allowed them to test the effect of ash. So now, the Xuanyuan Tribe used various kinds of ash to apply to the fields as fertilizer. Not only was it straw ash, but the ash produced from daily firewood burning was also collected and scattered into the fields.

Baifeng scratched the back of his head. Thinking about the current relationship between Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe, he sighed and said: "Xuanyuan, you can try burying the feces with soil. After one season passes, then scatter it into the fields. For farming, the effect is better than ash."

"It's best to bury it in Winter and scatter it in Spring. Of course, as for how to bury it, you can have your students come over to learn it when the time comes. Now that our two tribes are already cooperating in agriculture, these things can be talked about now."

Limu asked blankly: "Why didn't you say so before? Chai, you also never mentioned it."

Once these words were spoken, the people from Huaxia were immediately somewhat embarrassed. Some things were better left understood in one's heart; there was no need to put them out in the open. Previously, it was because there was a competitive relationship between the two sides, but now cooperation outweighed competition. Things that wouldn't affect one's own interests could be revealed, but one couldn't ask so bluntly.

Xuanyuan immediately coughed and changed the subject: "Baifeng, look at our green belts here. What do you think would be good to plant? I see you plant a lot of Peony and peony."

Baifeng also immediately went along with the flow: "As for this, it mainly depends on what grows best here. It needs to be good-looking and easy to raise. I think planting Peony and peony here is better than in our Huaxia. How about this, after the flowers produce Wax Seed this year, I will send you more. I'll pick the better-looking ones."

"You also send us some of the other varieties of Peony and peony seeds from here. I'll see if I can cultivate even better-looking flowers."

Regarding the trivial matter, Xuanyuan said casually: "No problem, they're just some flower seeds; we'll find plenty for you."