We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 115 The "State" Mechanism

"I want to marry you..."

Sensing the approaching figure, Liba immediately turned around.

But upon hearing what the woman said, the fierce look in Liba's eyes was instantly replaced by bewilderment.

Touching his bald head, Liba understood the meaning of those words, and joy instantly appeared on his face.

Liba, a member of the disliked Li clan, was once their leader.

If we only consider the area within the former Xia tribe, then Liba could be considered the least likely to get married.

Unexpectedly, someone is now saying they want to marry me!

Looking at the woman's appearance, she wasn't actually that good.

Lice were still jumping on its head, and there was a slight scar on its face, probably from being scratched by thorns or bushes while foraging for food in the nearby dense jungle.

They were also accompanied by a young girl, who was clearly the woman's child.

But this was enough to make Liba happy.

However, he wasn't blinded by this joy. Liba spoke to the woman first.

"I need to speak to the chief first!"

Hearing that Liba was going to tell the high and mighty chief about this, the woman felt a little guilty.

But he nodded.

Liba then quickened his pace and headed towards Xia Minghao's location.

Xia Minghao was puzzled when he saw Li Ba rushing over.

Upon hearing Li Ba's account, Xia Minghao smiled faintly.

This is indeed a good thing. It is good that the Xia tribespeople who initially followed us can settle down in peace, because only with a peaceful life can they live and work happily.

In this way, having a family naturally strengthens their dependence on the Xia tribe and also gives them more motivation to work.

Moreover, it also adds more available labor to the Xia tribe. After all, the person who came up with this idea must first be a clever primitive person, and secondly, someone who pursues a better life.

Unlike other primitive people, who were either dull-witted or just getting by.

But in this special situation, we must be very careful not to let a good thing turn into a bad thing.

We are currently in a state of war, production has almost come to a standstill, and there is a severe shortage of daily necessities except for food.

With the perspective of a modern person, Xia Minghao could see further and knew clearly that once Liba had started, more intelligent people among the primitive people would take this step.

If a man from the Xia tribe wants to marry one of the seven or eight primitive women, what kind of situation would that be?

Of course, it's not that Xia Minghao is petty; he only has one wife, Dali, so others can't have two or more women.

However, after joining the Xia tribe and becoming a Xia tribesman, one will definitely receive preferential treatment in the distribution of resources, which may make food resources too scarce.

In addition to restricting the influx of people through marriage, a new "marriage tax" should be introduced.

Having a marriage tax not only restricts population inflow but also allows hard currency like pottery to flow back into their own hands, increasing their power of distribution as chieftains.

This is a special measure for a special period. Once the battle is over and production and construction work return to normal, this so-called "marriage tax" will be unnecessary.

“All men of the Xia tribe can marry outsiders, but they cannot force outsiders.”

"You can only marry one woman."

"To get married, you must hand over a piece of pottery; otherwise, you cannot get married."

Xia Minghao thought for a moment and realized that this would eliminate a large number of people. He also calculated the number of vacant earthen houses in the Xia tribe and felt that it was more than enough.

"Go and relay what I said first, and then tell others that you married that woman."

"By the way, which tribe does that woman belong to? What's her name?"

After Xia Minghao finished giving his instructions, Liba naturally had no objections. However, upon hearing the chief's question, he touched his bald head with some confusion.

I haven't even had a chance to ask which tribe it is, or what it's called...

It was just a casual question, and when Liba couldn't answer, Xia Minghao didn't press for details.

He simply waved his hand, telling Liba to get on with his work.

There is something more important to do now: the establishment of a bureaucratic system.

For the time being, three violent agencies have been established: the Imperial Guard, the Armed Forces, and the Security Forces.

However, to manage the Xia tribe, which currently numbers 300 people and may grow to 600 in the future, relying solely on force and institutions is far from sufficient.

More institutions need to be established.

Setting up a bureaucratic system would be incredibly convenient for modern people, but Xia Minghao was afraid that if it wasn't handled properly, it would lead to all sorts of problems later on.

For example, corruption, abuse of power, etc.

The harm caused by these problems was naturally not noticeable to the Xia tribe of 600 people.

But in the future, let alone six hundred people, the entire Xia tribe might grow to sixty thousand, or even six million, ten million, or even more.

If the bureaucratic system is rotten to the core, then things could get very complicated. There is even a possibility that an uprising could break out under oppression, leaving the bureaucrat powerless to reverse the situation and forced to watch helplessly as the Xia tribe civilization, which it had created, crumbles from within.

So how exactly can we avoid it?

Having lived in modern society for over twenty years, Xia Minghao understood this very well.

Some problems cannot be solved not because there is no solution, but because the person who solves the problem is actually the one who creates it.

Therefore, the fundamental way to ensure the health of a bureaucratic system is to prevent bureaucrats from creating problems.

If an established civilization wants to achieve this effect—to deprive those in power of the ability to create problems—it will inevitably encounter strong resistance and may even trigger a bloody revolution.

For the Xia tribe, a human settlement that had not yet formed a civilization, and could even be said to have not yet escaped barbarism, achieving this was not difficult. Especially since Xia Minghao also held considerable power.

As for how to do it, Xia Minghao already has a general plan: to build the Xia tribe into a sophisticated "national machine".

All bureaucrats are just cogs in a machine; their role is simply to keep the machine running.

They are responsible for fulfilling their mission in accordance with various laws and regulations.

Thus, it escaped the predicament of "rule by man" and implemented "rule of law" even before civilization was fully born.

Xia Minghao is an engineer responsible for improving and maintaining this "machine," ensuring that it can continue to operate normally amidst the changes of the times.

Of course, it's impossible to design something so precise in one go; there will definitely be all sorts of problems.

But as long as it is dealt with in time, it is not a problem.

In fact, Xia Minghao only needs to ensure that he doesn't become a foolish ruler like King You of Zhou or a tyrant like King Zhou of Shang.

With a direction in mind, Xia Minghao began to ponder how to draw a sketch of this "machine".

……

Once outside, Liba told everyone what had happened, and the members of the Li clan were all relieved. They had long envied those who were married and had their own houses.

Only the newly joined members of the Da clan complained bitterly, as they had no pottery and could only watch enviously.

After giving the message, Liba excitedly walked over to the woman and said happily.

"The chief has agreed. We'll have mud houses to live in, that's the one!"

Liba happily pointed to the small earthen house not far away and said.

"earth house..."

The woman silently recited it once, realizing that this wasn't a cave, but an earthen house; no wonder there was no mountain.

Liba led the woman to their mud house, where the woman held her child's hand.

Both of them looked at it curiously; it seemed to be made of mud, but the rain couldn't wash it away.

Every now and then they would push it, and find that the earthen house did not budge and was very sturdy.

The smile on his face grew even brighter.

Seeing the woman's expression, Liba laughed as well, remembering that he had done the same thing before.

As he sized up the woman, he suddenly remembered the question the chief had asked him earlier.

The woman's name...

Fearing he wouldn't be able to answer the chief's question next time, Liba directly asked the woman.

"Your name, what?"

"My name is Daha."

“Daha…”

Liba silently recited it to himself, then looked at the girl next to the woman.

"Is she your daughter? What's her name?"

"She has no name."

Daha shook her head.

At this moment, Liba remembered how the chief had given him a name before, and he decided to follow the chief's example and give Daha's daughter a name as well.

But when he touched his bald head, he couldn't figure it out no matter what.

Finally, he just blurted out a name.

"Your daughter is named Daji."

"Daji..."

The girl tilted her head, looked at Liba with clear eyes, and repeated the name.

A smile appeared on the boy's youthful face, and he nodded happily.

Daha was also very happy; she had married a man from the Xia tribe and now had a good place to live.

And now, she is also a member of the Xia tribe.

When the other outsiders saw Daha enter the earthen house, they immediately began whispering among themselves.

When they learned that women could have a place to live as long as they married men from the Xia tribe, some clever women immediately began looking for men.

The bachelors of the Li clan were all able to produce pottery, and pottery jars, pots, and even vats were delivered to Xia Minghao's warehouse.

And couples stepped into their own earthen houses.

Strictly speaking, this was the first night for outsiders in the Xia tribe.

At this moment, Xia Minghao changed into his new clothes, which was a long robe woven from nettles.

This is mainly due to the region's peculiar climate, which makes it even hotter every time it rains.

And with the arrival of the rainy season, it was even worse. The heat was unbearable, and it was a humid heat, or rather, a muggy heat, that Xia Minghao found extremely unpleasant.

I absolutely can't wear those clothes anymore. If I wear them like that, I'll definitely get heat rash or something.

It's perfect to hand it over to Dali so she can clean herself up. We can pass it on after the rainy season when the weather gets cooler.

Now that he's changed into a linen robe, he's much more comfortable. It has to be said that being in neutral is really comfortable, and it also gave Xia Minghao a taste of what it means to have "the wind blowing on his balls."

Under Xia Minghao's command, the fish that were caught were divided into three piles.

The smallest pile was used for pickling and as a reserve. The other two piles were of roughly the same size; one pile was for the Xia tribe members, and the other was for outsiders.

In addition to fish and meat, the Xia tribe also has various kinds of cured meat preserved in jars to eat. Although they can't eat until they're stuffed, they can definitely eat their fill.

The other pile was for the outsiders. There were only so many fish, so they were boiled into fish soup and distributed equally.

It's impossible to eat until you're full; you can only manage to avoid feeling hungry.

Moreover, they not only wanted to eat, but also wanted outsiders to know that the Xia tribe ate much better than them.

This is to awaken the "activists" among this group, to make them see the gap, so as to stimulate their initiative and prevent them from becoming a burden to the Xia tribe.

All of this was done by Xia Minghao to adapt to the changing situation. Now, the workforce has gone from being short-staffed to being overcrowded, so it's natural to make corresponding changes to keep up with the times.

The outsiders quickly finished the fish soup, which had already relieved their hunger, but seeing the Xia tribesmen enjoying their meal, their stomachs immediately started growling again.

Some of the outsider women who originally didn't want to leave the clan and engage in "marriage" were now completely swayed by the idea, especially after seeing those outsiders who were originally like themselves now eating chunks of fish and delicious-looking cured meat.

But it was too late; there were pottery pieces, but the men available for marriage were long gone.

Many people were whispering and discussing how to join the Xia tribe. A very small number of people who were used to hunting wanted to steal the bronze artifacts, but when they saw the gleaming bronzes, they immediately stood still and just drooled.

Little Daji looked at the outsiders; some were drooling, while others seemed to be deep in thought.

Then he looked at the large pieces of fish in his bowl, and very clumsily picked up a piece with his chopsticks and chewed it.

Suddenly, Daji realized why she, also an outsider, was able to eat delicious meat.

Then he looked at Liba's bald head.

It was because Mom had this man that she had meat.

In an instant, Little Daji seemed to remember something and began searching for a figure.

Finally, she found the person she was looking for in the crowd.

At the same time, I thought of what Liba had told me about the Xia tribe earlier today.

Because of the Xia tribe's chief, the Xia tribe now has meat...

What would I have if I became the chief of the Xia tribe?

(End of this chapter)