Chapter 934: Living Better

Fortunately, there was no one in the room at this moment; otherwise, the situation would have been exceptionally awkward.

Baoxi looked around the room, saw the bed made of wood, pointed at it, and asked Zhigui, "Why is this kang like this?"

Zhigui hurriedly explained, "This isn't a kang; this is a bed."

Baoxi was still very puzzled: "Why, why? They are both things for people to sleep on, why divide them so finely? What is the difference? Isn't this just making things complicated again?"

"Oh, Tribal Chief Baoxi, a kang is something you can burn a fire under, so that when you sleep in winter, you won't be cold, right? This is the second floor, so there's no way to build a kang and burn a fire here, so we can only put a bed. Otherwise, we would definitely still use a kang; the bed was only created because there was really no other way."

Baoxi kicked the leg of the bed again: "Why must you use a bed, or a kang? Can't you just spread out an animal hide and sleep?"

"Separating the sleeping area from the ground can prevent bugs, so bugs won't crawl onto your body. Plus, you won't feel as damp, and it will be much more comfortable. Tribal Chief Baoxi, you can try it when you go back. At the very least, put some wood on the ground and then spread some dry Grass and animal hides. Try it again; it will be much more comfortable than sleeping directly on the ground, and it won't be as cold in Winter."

Looking at the other furnishings in the room, they were much simpler than the room he was staying in, just a simple table and chair, but there was also an Oil Lamp for lighting.

By now, Baoxi had also roughly figured something out and asked with some melancholy: "Zhigui, is everything you Huaxia people do just to make people live a bit more comfortably, rather than just simply surviving?"

Seeing that Baoxi had finally hit the nail on the head, Zhigui clapped his hands happily and said: "Yes, that's exactly it! Tribal Chief Baoxi, we Huaxia have always believed that people must first be fed and clothed, and then they should be able to live more comfortably like this; this is something that must be done."

You Suiren Clan people are actually the same, right? If you don't have to worry about food and can eat your fill, wouldn't you also think about eating something better? If you have meat, you won't eat Grass or Grass Seed, right? Because meat tastes better.

If you have a place to live and can live in a house like this, why would you want to live in a cave? Not living in one is only because you currently don't have the conditions for it, while we Huaxia have already passed the time of worrying about food, so this is something that must be done."

"Then, have you ever thought about using the time spent making these things, and the wasted grain, to collect more grain, expand to larger territories, and raise a larger population? Wouldn't a tribe like that be more powerful?"

Good heavens, after talking for so long, it turned out Baoxi had only figured out half of it. Zhigui could only helplessly continue: "No matter how large the territory expands, it's not necessarily manageable. No matter how much grain there is, there's no one to eat it."

As for the population, it requires people to give birth. Tribal Chief Baoxi, think about it: if people live in a place like this, isn't it easier for children to survive than living in a cave?

Out of ten children you have now, how many can live to grow up?"

Baoxi thought for a moment: "Probably three, maybe two. All the tribes in the world are like this. It is precisely because children are difficult to raise that we need to have more. Only by having more can there be more people who can grow up."

Zhigui was a bit surprised, because he hadn't expected the survival rate of Suiren Clan infants to be so low. He said incredulously: "Tribal Chief Baoxi, guess how many out of ten children in our Huaxia can live to grow up?"

Baoxi thought about the wealth of Huaxia, the lack of worry about food, and the good housing, so he guessed: "Five? Five should be about right; that would already be enough."

Zhigui said with a strange expression: "No, we have at least seven. If the survival rate of children ever got that low, our King would trouble the Ministry of Health. Like me, I have twelve children so far, and my two wives are currently pregnant, so I will have fourteen. But to this day, not one of my children has died."

You saw them when you first arrived; they are all sturdy, and my second child is already an excellent Soldier. So, I am too shocked by the low survival rate of your Suiren Clan."

Baoxi's eyes widened, as if he had heard something incredible: "What? How do you do it? As long as the children can eat their fill and live in a house like this, they can grow up? And what is this Ministry of Health you mentioned? Zhigui, tell me about it, don't lie to me."

Zhigui felt that the truth was a bit cruel for Baoxi, but he had to tell it truthfully, even though he didn't know what the King's purpose in doing this was.

"Eating well and living well certainly has a certain connection, but it mainly lies in various other aspects. We value children very much, so accidents rarely happen to them."

"The Ministry of Health is specifically for treating illnesses. People have all kinds of illnesses—headaches, stomach aches, injuries, poisoning—and the Ministry of Health will go to treat them."

"Including childbirth, because it is also very dangerous for women to give birth, and they might die during labor, so we have specialized people to assist with delivery. Then, once the child is born, they provide guidance on how to raise them. If someone doesn't understand, the child might die just a few days after birth. Tribal Chief Baoxi, isn't that the case?"

Baoxi pulled over a chair and sat down, unable to calm himself for a long time. Too many things had impacted his worldview today. He now truly doubted whether he and Huaxia were even in the same world; compared to Huaxia, he felt a bit like a savage tribe.

The exhaustion in his eyes was already extremely obvious. Baoxi stared at Zhigui and asked the final question: "Then what about the Xuanyuan Tribe? Are they also the same as you Huaxia, with all of these things?"

Zhigui hurriedly waved his hands: "That's still different. The Xuanyuan Tribe developed very late, and their Qingqiu City hasn't been built for long. Although I haven't been there, I've heard from people who have that it's still relatively poor. We also sent people over to help them build some things, and now they are also getting better and better."

"However, they have too many people and the tribe is too large, so the changes are basically all in their Qingqiu City. Other places are no different from the Suiren Clan, but after they started farming, they also don't lack grain."

"There is also Qibo there, so their Medicine has also begun to develop gradually. They even have people coming here to learn from us."

"I think it will probably take another ten years or so before they can be about the same as us Huaxia."