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

Chapter 162 Building a city begins with building its walls!
"It was a huge lake, bigger than the one they were in. You couldn't see the edge, and the water was very turbulent. Standing on the cliff on the mountain, you could see a giant snake coiled up."

After listening to Mu Tuo's words, Xia Minghao thought for a moment.

Xia Minghao has learned his lesson. Whenever there's a tribe, he always asks if there are any "legends" or anything like that.

Just as we learned about the Fire Tribe through the Xi Clan and the Water Tribe through the Da Clan.

A few days ago, I learned from the Dahu tribe that there is another suspected totem tribe upstream on this side of the shore.

Through the Mu clan, Xia Minghao learned some more information.

"What you're describing isn't a lake, it's a sea."

"ocean?"

Xia Minghao nodded. This was undoubtedly a completely new term for this group of primitive people, and it would be quickly forgotten.

After all, I don't know how long I'll have to wait to see the sea.

Without much explanation, Xia Minghao immediately asked about the reason for Mu Tuo's migration.

"ocean……"

Mu Tuo repeated the standard Mandarin pronunciation, which differed from the original language, and then answered.

“Many, many people emerged from the sea. They were very short, only half our height, but they were very fierce and could easily kill us with the things they carried.”

A hint of fear appeared on Mu Tuo's face, clearly indicating that he was reluctant to discuss the deaths that the Mu tribe had once faced.

Upon hearing Mu Tuo's explanation, Xia Minghao frowned slightly.

Information obtained from tribal legends can be considered somewhat useful, but not very useful, because they are too vague and unclear.

Xia Minghao guessed that the kind of large sea serpent Mu Tuo described was probably a whirlpool or something similar.

After all, what sea snake would stay coiled up in one place without moving? Wouldn't that be pointless?

Even if it wasn't a whirlpool, it must have been something else; the possibility of it being some kind of giant sea serpent is too small.

As for the fierce, short man that Mu Tuo mentioned emerging from the sea, Xia Minghao repeated it several times, asking Mu Tuo if he had seen him with his own eyes.

Mu Tuo naturally shook his head in denial.

Seeing this, Xia Minghao guessed that it was probably just Mu Tuo's imagination, and the actual situation was probably a group of people from the other side of the sea who came here by boat.

Of course, these reasonable explanations are all based on Xia Minghao's current understanding of the world, and they can't be said to be accurate.

"Chief, the ship has arrived. Can I stay here instead of leaving?"

Suddenly, Xia Minghao, who was still pondering, heard Mu Tuo's tentative voice.

Looking into Mu Tuo's eyes, she naturally understood Mu Tuo's purpose: he wanted to be with his daughter, Mu Ling.

After taking over the Mu clan, Xia Minghao adopted a policy of dispersal, but not by family units, but by individuals.

The Mu clan was actually recruited quite easily. In order to prevent these people from recovering and starting to stick together for warmth, Xia Minghao dispersed all the members of the Mu clan to various regions controlled by the Xia tribe.

In particular, the die-hards in the Mu clan, including the middle-aged men and women who had once served as heads of the family, were all sent to Yanquan Mountain.

It's not just because Yanquan Mountain serves as a strong base, making assimilation more effective, but also because of Wangcai and his pack of wolf cubs.

Ideally, none should be killed; they should all be tamed and their so-called wildness suppressed.

With the Mu clan present, the probability of achieving this goal will be greatly increased.

As for Mu Tuo staying, Xia Minghao pondered for a moment and felt that it was not impossible.

At the same time, he also considered that Mu Ling had been acting strangely lately, always avoiding him and not daring to look him in the eye, and he didn't know why.

Mu Ling was the person Xia Minghao knew best and was most reliable in the Mu clan, since it was thanks to her that more and more people were lured into eating meat.

Being able to keep Mu Ling's family together is a reward for her.

"Okay, then when the ship arrives, you should hide and not let anyone see you."

Although some pastoral clan parents and children had a bad relationship because of eating meat, most of them still did not want to leave their blood relatives, especially in tribes like the pastoral clan that have long been based on small families.

If we directly announce that Mu Tuo is the only one who can stay, countless people will probably make the same request, and then things will become complicated.

"Thank you, Chief!"

When Mu Tuo heard Xia Minghao agree, he nodded excitedly and went straight to his own little house to tell his wife and daughter the good news.

Xia Minghao also left his small wooden house and went to the warehouse.

The warehouse contained thirty or forty deer saddles and stirrups, all from the first batch manufactured.

But now, those deer saddles and stirrups have been phased out by the deer cavalry, who are now using the latest models manufactured in the last few days.

Improved by Xia Minghao, it is more suitable for combat, making it easier for people to assume a charging stance on the deer.

Of course, none of these older models will go to waste; they are all prepared for use on Great Deer, which are not suitable for combat.

The purpose was to transport supplies to alleviate the discomfort caused by long journeys.

In addition to deer saddles and stirrups, a large number of vehicles have been built in the past few days to assist the giant deer in close-range transport.

It can be said that all the construction these past few days has been for one thing after the big ship docks: building the city.

Xia Minghao had long wanted to build a city, and now he finally had the time.

Over the past few days, by riding the giant deer around, Xia Minghao has also selected a suitable location.

First, this magnificent city that will rise from the ground in the future must be far away from the flood-prone areas of the plains; in other words, no matter how high the river floods, it must not be submerged.

Secondly, based on the speed of the giant deer, the journey from this city to Riverside Village should not take more than a day; otherwise, if communication is not timely, problems may arise.

Based on these two fundamental principles, Xia Minghao ultimately selected a terrace as the site for the city.

The plateau's high elevation makes it easy to defend and difficult to attack, while also ensuring it won't be submerged by flooding rivers.

The only problem is the lack of convenience; to get to the plateau, you have to walk a long mountain road, which is actually an unavoidable issue.

However, Xia Minghao had a good way to solve this problem: build roads.

Once there's a smooth road surface, vehicles can pass through. And once vehicles can pass through, it's not a big problem, although it will be tough on the bighorn deer.

Another consideration in choosing the terrace was its proximity to hot springs.

In this way, when there is an opportunity to build the "second ring" of the city, that is, the second wall, the hot springs can be included.

With sufficient manpower and the material foundation of deer-powered transport, the two walls of the city will be completed by the end of autumn. If conditions permit, the prototype of the large bathhouse will be built in winter.

Xia Minghao was eager to experience the pleasure of watching the snow and soaking in hot springs.

After watching the deer cavalry training for a while, and the craftsmen using bronze to refine wooden carts, Xia Minghao returned to the shore to wait for the arrival of the large ship.

……

……

……

“I asked the chief, and he said we didn’t need to go far.”

As soon as he got back into the house, Mu Tuo happily announced the news to his family.

Mu Tuo's wife was trying on a bra from the Xia tribe and found it incredibly comfortable to wear.

Upon hearing Mu Tuo's words, she immediately forgot the joy she felt at owning a bra.

"Our family can still be together."

"Yes, this was agreed upon by the Xia tribe chief."

Mu Tuo spoke happily, embracing his wife. But Mu Ling, who had also heard the news, remained sitting outside, gazing at the sky, lost in thought.

Puzzled, Mu Tuo walked over to Mu Ling and asked her with concern.

“Father, the chief knows other people’s secrets…”

"You know the secret?"

Mu Tuo had nothing to hide, so he couldn't understand why Mu Ling was talking about it so seriously.

"What secret of yours does the chief know?"

After a moment's thought, Mu Tuo asked Mu Ling.

But as soon as she was asked that question, Mu Ling's face turned red instantly.

Naturally, it was even more difficult to tell her father about this, so Mu Ling chose to keep it to herself.

She felt a pang of regret; why had she been thinking about that secret when the chief ordered her to walk through the grass gate?

And that secret was something I kept dreaming about a few days ago, on a carriage.

The only difference is that the female lead is no longer Huo Li, but herself.

……

……

……

"Chief!"

This boat was personally delivered by Ye Zi, and there were also two women from the Feng clan.

Now, all the women of the Feng clan have recovered and are participating in production and construction.

But there aren’t enough positions available for women.

Limited by the rate at which malachite and cassiterite are produced in the cave, there is no need for so many Wind Clan women to act as blowers.

There is only one large ship, so there is no need for too many women from the Wind Clan.

Of course, these women of the Wind Clan were not idle either; they were learning how to navigate boats.

Letting them steer the boats is the most efficient use of them. While you can build a real blower to replace the wind, you can't build anything that can make a large boat move quickly on the river.

It can be said that Xia Minghao was training every woman in the Feng clan to be a future female captain.

As for the shipbuilding plan, Xia Minghao has already instructed the people of Insect Valley to begin mass production of fish maw glue.

However, due to production limitations, it was still difficult to meet the demand; it took about half a month to produce enough for one ship.

There's no rush, after all, there aren't many goods available for circulation to begin with, and one ship can handle it.

If we can build two or three more ships next year, we can meet the needs after we enter the agricultural era.

Ship after ship of cargo was unloaded, mostly large quantities of limestone, all for the purpose of building the wall.

With the supplies sent earlier, there's more than enough to build the first wall, and even enough to construct a number of houses.

"Next time, bring all the leftover salt; don't leave any."

Seeing that most of the goods had been unloaded, Xia Minghao turned to Ye Zi and gave her some instructions.

When the large ship docks again, that will be the time to begin trading with the heartland of the Great Lakes tribes.

While we're at it, let's also ask that shaman about the suspected totem tribes upstream of the great river.

"Yes, Chief."

Upon hearing Xia Minghao's request, Ye Zi silently recited a few words, memorized them, and then responded.

After the goods were unloaded, the members of the Mu clan boarded the ship one after another.

Not many people came to see him off; most of those who didn't come were still resentful about the meat incident.

Before the large ship even set sail, Xia Minghao had already gathered everyone involved in building the carts and saddles.

Now the focus of construction has shifted, and all resources should be pooled to begin building the city walls.

The limestone had already been broken into small pieces when it arrived, and under Lipa's direction, all the limestone was loaded onto the truck.

Pulled by the great elk, they headed towards the terrace chosen by Xia Minghao.

Limestone is fragile, so it wasn't intended to be used directly for building city walls. Rather, Xia Minghao was preparing to create something ahead of its time.

cement!

Cement alone is not enough; we need to reinforce it with another layer of concrete.

A city wall made of concrete would undoubtedly be the most solid fortress in this primitive era, and its construction efficiency would be far higher than that of a city wall built with other materials.

"Chief, why are we hauling all this?"

Riding on the back of the giant deer, Lipa couldn't help but ask Xia Minghao a question out of curiosity.

“Building a house.”

Without a second thought, Xia Minghao responded in a way that Li Pa could understand.

"But it's a big house, big enough for all the people of our Xia tribe to live in now."

"Such a big house!"

Lipa believed Xia Minghao's words without a doubt, which made him even more surprised.

He couldn't imagine how such a huge house could have been built.

This argument is not without merit; the city is indeed a bigger home, and the same applies to psychological suggestion.

The presence of this wall actually reinforces the sense of collectivism, thus creating a psychological suggestion.

This psychological suggestion divides people into those inside and those outside the city walls.

Those inside the city walls are our own people, and those outside the city walls are outsiders.

This is also what Xia Minghao needs to do next: not only to give this hint, but also to expand upon it.

How to expand?

The point is to let everyone know that the people of the Xia tribe are qualified to live inside the city walls, rather than being restricted to living outside them.

Although Xia Minghao's later plan was to move the center of the Xia tribe from the remote Salt Spring Mountain to the riverbank, it was impossible to actually bring everyone over.

The area around Yanquan Mountain has abundant resources, and if all the people are relocated there, those resources will be out of our control.

Simply dividing people into those inside and outside the city walls would not benefit the Xia tribe's collectivism.

It could even lead to internal divisions, creating a rift between the Xia tribe inside the city walls and the Xia tribe outside the city walls.

Therefore, it is necessary to expand it to qualify people to enter the city.

In addition to its overall benefits, the sense of security that walls provide is equally important.

With concrete walls as thick as mountains, anyone living there would feel much safer.

Of course, Xia Minghao knew that even the strongest city wall could not truly put him at ease.

When a major calamity truly strikes, all the city walls can do is buy time.

What did they buy time for? Naturally, it was to build a real "city wall"—a real city wall formed from the flesh and blood of the Xia tribe!

(End of this chapter)