Chapter 932: Zhigui's Pressure

After stepping out of the courtyard gate, the first thing Baoxi wanted to do was to go and see if the courtyards of other families were just as luxurious and comfortable as the one he was staying in, and if they also had those useless flowers and Grass.

After he proposed this request, Zhigui was still somewhat puzzled and felt it was a bit difficult to handle, because no matter who a person was, they should not just enter someone else's home, even if they were such high-ranking officials, it was still not appropriate.

Baoxi looked at the group: "Why, is there some problem with this? Can I not go and see?"

Zhigui explained with difficulty: "Tribal Chief Baoxi, well, we do not have the authority to enter other people's homes, so at most, we can take you to see the homes of us people; that we can do. We truly have no way to enter the homes of ordinary people."

Baoxi was increasingly unable to understand: "What is there that cannot be entered? You are Leaders; does entering a door still require their willingness?"

Zhigui replied earnestly: "Tribal Chief Baoxi, this really won't do. We also need to seek their consent before we can enter, because even though we are officials with sufficient power, we are still the same kind of people as them, and we must abide by the rules in everything. In all of Huaxia, only our King can enter anywhere at will and use everything in Huaxia, because Huaxia is the wealth of our King alone."

Baoxi muttered to himself: "Crazy, crazy. Baifeng is truly crazy. What kind of things has he created?"

Afterwards, he turned his head and stared fixedly at Zhigui, asking: "Then what about you? Do you think this is appropriate? Is it right?"

Zhigui gave an awkward smile: "Everyone in our Huaxia believes this is right, because only in this way do we live more comfortably and better."

"You are all crazy, all of you! It can't be that I'm the one who's crazy, right? Huh?"

Seeing that the shock Baoxi might be suffering was a bit great, Zhigui hurriedly said: "Tribal Chief Baoxi, how about this: you go and see the homes of us officials, and see what our courtyards are like."

"Don't look at us as officials, or what are called Leaders; in fact, we do not have much power, nor do we have that much wealth, we just manage that little bit of business of our own."

"I am considered relatively wealthy here, but I cannot afford to live in such a central location. The few of them live even further away from here, so after seeing the courtyards of us few, you have basically seen the courtyards of people at all different levels in all of Huaxia; everyone is basically the same."

"Fine, fine, fine. You lead the way; I must take a careful look."

Walking on the road, Baoxi pointed at the green belt that divided the road and said: "These Grass, they couldn't be for the sake of looking good, could they?"

Zhigui still found it somewhat difficult to speak, not knowing how to say it to reduce the harm to Baoxi: "This, one cannot put it that way. Just look, this road is so wide; in order to let everyone walk in an orderly manner so that people in the two directions do not crowd together, this path was built."

"If you go, you walk on this side; if you come, you walk on this side. Everyone does not affect each other; that is the logic, right?"

Baoxi felt that this design was still quite good. Although such a problem did not exist in their tribe, in Huaxia, such a design was also quite clever.

"But there should be other ways, right? Why go to such great lengths to build something like this?"

Baoxi even kicked it with his foot and discovered that the stones making up the green belt were extremely solid. He squatted down to take a look and found that it was actually made by piecing the stones together with some strange material, the same as the walls and ground of Huaxia.

"This, this! Zhigui, don't you dare tell me this is mud! And this ground, it's as hard as stone; it couldn't possibly be made of mud too, right? Zhigui, tell me, why on earth? Doesn't your Huaxia lack people to do work? Why waste people on this kind of place?"

The other Soldiers of the Suiren clan also squatted on the ground and began to pick at the stones. Zhigui realized that Baoxi's mental state was truly a bit poor, as if he might completely collapse at any moment, but he was the Minister of Rites, and no matter what kind of sudden situation arose, he had to handle it calmly himself.

"Tribal Chief Baoxi, this ground, this, this ground here, is just the same thing as pottery clay. Isn't pottery clay very hard after being fired?"

"This is about the same, but it needs to be fired first and then have water added; after the water dries, it becomes this hard. Only we in Huaxia have it. Think about it, our Huaxia City is only this big; spending over a dozen years, it can be done, right?"

"Then there is this green belt; it is actually the same logic. Although it is a bit troublesome to set up at one time, after it is done, you don't have to worry about it for ten or several decades, and you don't have to fear other things happening. Isn't that more worry-free? It is the same logic as being tired in the summer and autumn to prepare more food so that you don't fear starving in the winter without hunting, right?"

Zhigui's explanation was exactly what Baoxi could accept, so his emotions gradually stabilized. He was also persuading himself, because for things that were too outrageous and unbelievable, he had to find a reason for himself to believe.

"What about that kind of Grass? Is it because you felt it was too empty here, or why?"

Zhigui's forehead was dripping with sweat. He paused for a few seconds before daring to say: "This, this is also, it's just because we were afraid it would be too empty, messy, and there is soil inside; as soon as it rains, it turns into mud, the road gets dirty, and it's slippery. By planting Grass and flowers, we don't have to fear the soil going everywhere, and there is no mud when it rains."

Baoxi expressed approval for this explanation: "That's right, it should be like this. Why would it be for the sake of looking good? There are so many flowers, plants, and trees in the mountains, and I've never seen anything look good about them."

Zhigui led Baoxi to continue walking forward, his heart constantly thinking about whether he could smooth over the things that followed. If something really happened, what should he do?

Zhigui's home was not in the very center, but at least it was in the Second Ring position. It was mainly because the Ministry of Rites had no opportunities to perform meritorious service, so his power was small, his wealth was little, and his Nobility was low; he was not worthy of going to the center. Being able to have his own courtyard here was also out of respect for his position as Minister of Rites.

Zhigui's home was larger because there were many people in the family, and because there was no more room to live, many people like Zhigui would choose to buy land in further places, or even in newly built towns, to build courtyards.

Then, only those who needed to work and attend school here remained, while the rest went to live and reside in distant places. It was all forced by the situation; there was not enough land, but they gave birth to so many.

They had never even thought about giving birth to fewer; they did not have the concept of giving birth to fewer in their heads, only feeling that the more children, the better. Baifeng's practice of only having three children also made all the people of Huaxia puzzled, feeling that he had too few.

But Baifeng was the King after all; whether he gave birth or not was up to Baifeng, or perhaps, Baifeng having few children had his own ideas?