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

Chapter 179 New Resources for the Red-Haired Tribe

"Yellow skin! People with yellow skin!"

Seeing the man wrapped in red animal skin scrambling and tumbling away, they looked at Xia Minghao as if they had seen a ghost.

"Painted Face, grab him here."

If they really ran away, that would be terrible!
First impressions are always crucial.

Moreover, Xia Minghao was thinking about peaceful "free trade" with them, and never intended to conquer them by force.

"Yes, Chief!"

Upon seeing the man's appearance, Hua Lian suddenly recalled his own encounter with the chieftain. Although he hadn't shown it then, the distant legend had left him with a profound sense of fear.

But after actually interacting with the yellow-skinned chief, I felt as if I were basking in the sun, filled with awe.

Thinking of this, Hua Lian gripped the bronze artifact in his hand even tighter, stepped on the stirrup, and walked towards the man, carrying him directly to Xia Minghao as if he were a rabbit.

A moment later, the man realized there was no way to avoid it or escape, and looked around in despair.

Only then did the remaining rationality notice something unusual: why hadn't the others run, why hadn't the witch run, and why were the women just looking over from a distance, without showing the slightest fear of the yellow-skinned people?

But, according to legend, people with yellow skin are terrifying...

Xia Minghao was about to speak when Wu suddenly began to tell his own story.

He raised an eyebrow, looked at the witch, and thought to himself.

Is this what they mean by "a great shaman will defend my scriptures"?
From their initial arrival to enabling the men to ride steadily on the giant deer, wielding bronze weapons to kill the hairy people and liberating the tribe.

Hearing these things one by one, the man in front of him was surprised, and finally dared to look Xia Minghao in the eye, but still dared not meet his gaze.

During this process, Xia Minghao also learned the man's identity.

The leader of a nearby outlying tribe, not a shaman.

Seeing that the red-haired leader had finally calmed down and was now able to communicate, Xia Minghao began to ask questions.

Why did you come here?

Upon hearing Xia Minghao's voice, the red-haired leader swallowed hard, but accidentally choked on his own saliva.

He coughed a few times, but as if afraid of angering Xia Minghao, he forcibly suppressed it and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"I... I heard there's red salt here, so I wanted to come and see for myself."

Red salt.

Although the pronunciation wasn't standard, Xia Minghao still recognized it.

It turns out that word had spread that red salt was being sold to the city of Giant Stone...

This is certainly a good thing, proving that he has developed a potential market and has even attracted leaders from other places, demonstrating the immense competitiveness of his red salt.

Although it was a good thing, it gave Xia Minghao the feeling of "a eunuch going to a brothel".

I don't have that much red salt!
If the Xia tribe wants to trade with more people, its red salt production will be severely hampered.

Xia Minghao frowned slightly, then looked at the red-haired leader in front of him.

Putting aside the issue of the number of beauties produced, the first thing to look at is what trade resources this tribe has.

If there's nothing of value to trade, then there's really no need to worry about the production of red salt.

"The red salt belongs to the Xia tribe. I am the chief of the Xia tribe. If you want the red salt, you have to exchange it for something."

"Change things?"

The red-haired leader thought for a moment, and judging from his expression, he seemed to have already understood.

This is not hard to understand, as the exchange of goods between tribes already existed in the early stages of primitive times.

Moreover, this was a large lake tribe that had formed hierarchies and even classes.

Seeing that the red-haired leader had figured it out, Xia Minghao continued to speak, offering a reminder.

"Whatever you have, you can trade with us; it's not the same thing."

After hearing this, the red-haired leader swallowed hard, then looked around, pondering what he could exchange for it.

As the leader, he also traded many things, such as using the sharp hairy human leg bones that the women in his household had sharpened to exchange for tree fruits picked by others.

Can the sharp hairy human leg bone be replaced?

Upon seeing the gleaming bronze halberd, the red-haired leader immediately abandoned the idea.

I looked around several times, but I couldn't think of anything that I could trade with those terrifying yellow-skinned people for that incredibly precious red salt.

The newcomer, assigned to deliver palm fruit, traded a small jar of salt for a prey that could last for four or five days.

And that red salt was indeed very good; it gave him a lot of strength, allowing him to directly fight the red-haired man one-on-one!
“Doesn’t your tribe have prey? You can trade your prey with the chief.”

At this moment, the shaman suddenly reminded him, and the red-haired leader instantly looked as if he had just realized something.

"Yes, prey. I have plenty of prey, both small and large."

prey?

Xia Minghao thought for a moment, but still shook his head.

"I don't want prey."

The reason they don't hunt is that the Xia tribe has long since passed through the difficult stage of survival and is now moving towards a better life, so they no longer lack food.

Using salt, which is so scarce now, to exchange for something we don't lack is undoubtedly a foolish act.

Upon hearing the refusal, the red-haired leader opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.

Xia Minghao thought for a moment and decided to search for it himself, and just then he saw the red-haired animal skin on the red-haired leader's body again.

"What is this from?"

"This one……"

Upon hearing the question, the red-haired leader looked at the animal skin on his body.

"This one, the hairy one, the red-haired one."

A red-haired hairy man?
The red-haired hairy man is nothing special, he's just a red-haired gorilla.

It was mainly the fur of the hairy people that surprised him.

When I first arrived at the Great Lake and met the tribe where the shaman lived, not a single person was wearing the skin of a hairy man.

This is clearly because they simply do not have the resources to fight against the Mao people, nor do they have anything suitable to use.

This red-haired leader actually had the skin of a hairy person on his body.

Although there wouldn't be many, and it was highly unlikely that they would become traded commodities, they still piqued Xia Minghao's curiosity.

"You killed the red-haired people and took their skin?"

"Yes, we kill a lot of hairy people and have a lot of skins. Can we exchange them for red salt? They're all red."

Finally, the red-haired leader added somewhat guiltily, seemingly afraid that Xia Minghao would reject him.

If Xia Minghao was only slightly surprised before, he was now astonished.

They killed a lot of hairy people, and a lot more? They had a lot of skin?

How many Mao people were killed?

“There are more people than my tribe. My tribe has as many people as the palm fruits on a palm branch.”

so much?
The palm fruits on a single palm branch number at least five or six hundred.

This number is different from what the shaman said.

Xia Minghao looked at the shaman, who, as if facing a formidable enemy, hurriedly began to explain.

“Chief, I haven’t seen them in a long time. I don’t know how many times the fruit has fallen during this time. So…”

Naturally, there's no reason to make things difficult for Wu on this point, and there's really no need to deceive oneself. It's probably because it's been too long since they last contacted each other, and things have changed.

It's like reconnecting with your best friend from junior high school whom you haven't seen for years, only to find out that he's now a mother of three.

Without blaming him, Xia Minghao looked at the red-haired leader again, his mind in thought.

Even so, the number was far different from what the shaman had said, which meant that the red-haired chieftain's red-haired tribe faced little survival pressure; otherwise, how could so many children have survived and grown to adulthood?

Generally speaking, in the case of a tribe like the one where the shaman lives, it's already good enough to have enough prey and palm fruits from the Great Stone City to feed them. They also have to consider the problem of being killed by the ferocious hairy people.

It is precisely this immense pressure to survive that leads to some parents drowning their newborn daughters.

The Red-Haired Tribe, on the other hand, seems to have the opposite problem. Could it be that they possess some special weapon? If they really have such combat power, then their leader must die. Their existence must not be exposed, and all potential threats to the Xia Tribe must be eliminated.

"How did you manage to kill so many hairy people?"

No one noticed that Xia Minghao's voice had taken on a cold tinge.

The red-haired leader, however, sensed the doubt in the voice and quickly explained.

After hearing the explanation, Xia Minghao finally put aside his intention to nip any risks in the bud.

It turned out that the reason was due to the species of the hairy people; these hairy people belonged to the orangutan group, unlike the ones they had encountered.

Orangutans are smaller and thinner, with extremely long arms, making them adept at swinging between trees.

Don't let their small size fool you; according to their leader, these orangutans are extremely aggressive.

If someone is weak yet belligerent, then the outcome is obvious.

At first, the orangutan tribe was at a disadvantage, but as they gradually became more familiar with the animals, they mastered more techniques for hunting orangutans.

For example, the turning point in the entire battle was when the red-haired leader cut down a large number of trees to create a buffer zone, forcing the red-haired orangutans, who were good at swinging in the trees, to walk over and attack.

This led to a significant decrease in the orangutan's fighting ability, allowing the "terrifying upright ape" wielding a stone spear to gain the upper hand.

However, because they were limited by this tactic, they were unable to launch a strategic counter-offensive, and thus remained in a stalemate.

After hearing the red-haired leader's description, Xia Minghao pondered for a moment. If it was this kind of ape, then his deer cavalry would actually be of no use.

After all, the giant deer can't jump up into the trees, so a large number of archers are needed to solve the problem.

There was no spare capacity at the moment to expand the army again and recruit a large number of archers, so Xia Minghao did not dwell on this aspect.

Instead, they asked questions they were more concerned about.

"How many red furs do you have? I can trade with you."

Fur is in high demand now to alleviate the wintering problems of the Xia tribes, especially in the river region.

Upon hearing that they could exchange their salt for red salt, the red-haired leader immediately showed a hint of joy on his face.

“There are plenty of red furs. Everyone in our tribe wears them. Some are even sent to the Great Stone City. We get more than thirty pieces a month.”

"Thirty-odd pieces? Such a big one?"

Upon hearing the description, Xia Minghao pointed to the red-haired leader's clothes and asked.

The red-haired leader immediately shook his head and said honestly.

"No, these three pieces are tied together with bone needles and palm leaves."

The firelight was dim, and it was only after the man's reminder that Xia Minghao noticed the palm fibers sewn into the animal hide at the joint of the fur.

Judging from this, the orangutan is indeed not very big; it seems that three pieces of its skin are only about the same size as one piece of skin of the hairy man here.

Trading it for a jar of salt would be acceptable.

However, we still need to think like we did in primitive times when it came to trade. This red salt was a commodity that we monopolized, so we could set exorbitant prices.

If the Red Hair Tribe can only produce about thirty cards a month, then with the stimulation of red salt, the production will definitely be more.

Let me see where your limits are!
Xia Minghao held up his hand and counted five fingers in front of the red-haired leader.

"Fifty red furs and a jar of red salt."

Then Xia Minghao pointed to the pottery jar next to him.

"Fifty!"

This statement hit the nail on the head for the red-haired leader, but in return, he only received a jar of salt.

Although it was actually more "expensive" than the person who brought palm fruit and red salt to exchange for other things.

Because there are so many red furs, it takes much longer to obtain them.

They need the meat of their prey, but not the red pelts.

It was originally intended for the Great Stone City, so it would be even better if it could be exchanged for red salt.

“We have other skins that we can exchange.”

"We'll see if we need to replace the other leather when we get it."

Not knowing what kind of leather it was, Xia Minghao made no promises.

In his mind, he roughly calculated that if it was just about taking out an extra can of red salt each month, it would be no problem at all.

Fifty red furs are enough to make a dozen or twenty garments, which can greatly supplement the winter clothing needs of the Xia tribe in the Dahe region.

At the same time, Xia Minghao thought about the red-haired leader's initial reaction. Could it be that these people knew more about the legends of yellow-skinned people, or that their knowledge was different?

Can I find more clues about the legend of yellow skin?
But when he finally asked, the outcome still disappointed Xia Minghao.

The information remained vague, only mentioning the fear of yellow skin and the so-called white area, with no further details provided.

It seems that it is too ancient, and it is almost impossible to find any clues in the myths and legends passed down by word of mouth.

That night, after seeing off the red-haired leader, Xia Minghao went to the treehouse where he was staying and looked at the stars alone.

The night sky was cloudless and filled with stars of all kinds, forming all sorts of shapes, giving it a feeling of looking at constellations on Earth.

But Xia Minghao ultimately couldn't feel comfortable at all in this tranquil atmosphere.

He realized a very important problem: the Xia tribe's insufficient production capacity of hard currency was hindering its rapid development.

However, this problem is difficult to solve unless one can acquire a large amount of items from the Great Lakes region through some means, while simultaneously increasing the Great Lakes tribe's production capacity.

war?
This has been done many times throughout history: conquering through war, turning the defeated into slaves and tools.

However, the cost of war is unpredictable and unacceptable to the Xia tribe.

Xia Minghao had indeed thought about it, but felt it was a "losing proposition".

"It's too difficult to develop quickly; it's making me want to give up."

He thought to himself, but he didn't have the resources. Fire, water, and the meteorite tribe were all nearby, and the wolf tribe would come back next year.

What needs to be done now is to quickly establish a sufficient economic foundation to support a powerful army capable of fighting against the wolf tribe.

As drowsiness overcame him, Xia Minghao returned to his room and temporarily shut down his thoughts.

Okay, I can finally eat rice when I go back to Riverside Village tomorrow, if that stuff really is some grain left over from the original rice paddies...

……

……

……

We returned to Hebian Village in the morning.

To Xia Minghao's surprise, he saw two other familiar figures.

Shia! Dali!
The two of them actually came!

Behind them was the large wooden boat, on which goods were being unloaded.

At Shia's feet was Big Orange, looking around at the new things, while Dali was holding Wangcai, who looked unwilling.

Wangcai looked at the wolf cubs beside him with a worried expression, as if he wanted to run away from Dali's arms as soon as possible and be with his "children".

"Chief!"

Xia Minghao was the first to spot him, and immediately waved to him.

"Why are you here?"

Xia Minghao asked directly, feeling a bit worried. He hadn't even finished building his Yu City yet, and these two had already come. It would be troublesome to settle them in.

But it's good that they can come to my side; at least I won't have to worry about being cheated on.

Besides, with Fire Li added, playing a game of one king and three queens isn't out of the question, hehe.

Little did they know that these people had heard about Huo Li through Washi, which was why they rushed over.

Dali, in particular, was most afraid that the chief would find another woman and forget about them.

Moreover, it seems that the chief's new spouse, like Ye Zi, possesses powerful totem power, which makes them feel even more inferior.

Just then, Huo Li came out, not even glancing at Xia Ya and Da Li, but walking up to Xia Minghao.

He didn't care about the reactions of the others at all. Now that he had complete control of the power, he didn't need to care, and he didn't have the energy to care either. All he wanted to do now was to see what he had brought back.

"Huoli, put this in an earthenware pot and boil it in water."

Huo Li didn't say much to Xia Ya and Da Li, but obediently took the nettle bag from Xia Minghao's hand.

"Why are you here?"

"My mom asked me to come and see if I can help you."

Shea immediately spoke, her eyes filled with affection.

Dali remembered what her mother had taught her and spoke up.

"I miss you."

After a brief exchange, Xia Minghao led Xia and Dali directly to the cabin.

By then, I'll be able to squeeze into a small cabin with Huo Li, Xia, and Dali for seven or eight days. I estimate that my Yu City will be fully constructed and ready for us to move in.

At this moment, Huo Li had already walked over carrying a clay pot, inside which was... porridge...

Xia Minghao personally arranged how much water to add, but he didn't expect to add too much. He guessed that even rice absorbs water very differently from modern rice.

Xia Minghao first scooped some out in a ceramic bowl and smelled it.

It definitely smelled like rice porridge, which made me even more excited.

After taking a sip with the ceramic spoon, Xia Minghao couldn't resist drinking it all up immediately.

This is rice!
Crop seeds are no longer limited to foxtail grass; nowadays, primitive rice has also been introduced.

When spring comes next year, things will get busy, and in autumn, a small number of people in the Xia tribe will be able to eat rice porridge.

Soon more people will be able to taste the flavor of rice. After all, "those who drink it first will influence those who drink it later."

"You should try some too. Also, send some to Shea and Dali."

Xia Minghao said to Huo Li, and Huo Li's eyes revealed a hint of displeasure, but she did not show it.

He simply pushed open the door and walked into the small wooden house with two earthenware bowls filled with rice porridge.

Watching Huo Li leave, Xia Minghao was preparing to finish the last pot of soup.

Just as I was about to turn my head, I suddenly noticed a foxtail grass under the cabin.

Xia Minghao's eyes widened instantly. He put down the rice porridge and walked towards the location of the foxtail grass.

Is this... foxtail grass?
It's similar, but completely different from what I saw recently, and from the area near the riverside village.

The plant is tall with thick stems, and more importantly, the seeds are quite large. Even though they are not yet fully mature, they are already larger than foxtail grass seeds!
Where the hell did this come from?

This is not foxtail grass at all, but millet, one of the five grains after foxtail grass was domesticated thousands of years ago!

(End of this chapter)