Chapter 1001 Chapter 1001

Chapter 1001 Bargaining

With a plan in mind, You Fu started a "friendly" exchange with several clan leaders of the Baiwu tribe.

"Clan leaders, I heard from Yu Kuan that you want the technology of our Han tribe. I have the same idea. The taro planted by your tribe is a crop that our Han tribe does not have. I am willing to represent the Han tribe and use one of our grain seeds to exchange your taro. When the ice and snow melt, we will come over to exchange farming methods. What do you think?"

Exchange crops? !

Several clan leaders looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes. What the leader said seemed to be different from what the man named Yu Kuan said just now. Didn't the Han tribe hope that the strange tribe would join?

Of course, this is a nice way of saying it. Hoping that the strange tribe would join, in other words, is to annex, swallow one by one, but the man named You Fu in front of him didn't seem to have such an intention.

After a moment of hesitation, the clan leader of the Qing clan asked again on behalf of the Baiwu tribe.

"You Fu, your companions said before that the Han tribe would force us to join the Han tribe. Is this true?"

You Fu looked at his gesture, then smiled slightly contemptuously. He said arrogantly, "In our Han tribe, there are tens of thousands of new babies born every year, which is equivalent to dozens of your tribes. What difference does it make whether you join the Han tribe or not?

"Of course, if you are willing to join the Han tribe, we also welcome you. If you don't want to, we are too lazy to invite you."

This sounded very arrogant, which surprised and angry several clan leaders. It was a feeling of being despised and looked down upon, but it was surprisingly reassuring to hear this in their ears.

Yes, the Han tribe has more children born every year than their dozens of tribes, so how could they be interested in the Baiwu tribe?

The chief of the Qing clan nodded, and then asked, "It's okay to exchange food, but I don't know what crops you can exchange?"

Hearing this, You Fu glanced around, and then asked Yu Kuan, "There should be a river nearby, right?"

"Well, there is indeed, not far to the east, otherwise they can't grow crops. "Yu Kuan replied affirmatively.

"Well, that's no problem." You Fu nodded again, and then said to several clan leaders, "There are many kinds of staple food in our Han tribe. The easiest to grow and the one with the highest yield is corn, but I don't have it with me now, so I can only give it to you next spring.

"But I must take some of your taro back first. I can exchange it with you for other things, such as white salt, iron pots, knives, whatever you want."

As he spoke, he waved to Yu Kuan. After a while, Yu Kuan placed several items in front of several clan leaders.

Several clan leaders looked at each other. This little leader of the Han tribe seemed to like to deal with them in the form of transactions. Whether it was exchanging seeds for seeds or other items for seeds, it was all exchange.

This gave several clan leaders a strange feeling. The other party seemed to put their Baiwu tribe on an equal footing. No matter what the two sides did, they had to trade equally.

Although they could not take advantage of the Han tribe in this way, it was very fair and they would not suffer any losses. Several clan leaders were not unacceptable.

But to be honest, they didn't like the iron pot, salt, and knives.

Salt is a consumable, and the iron pot is just a cooking utensil. Their own tribe also has channels to obtain salt and cooking utensils, but they use salt stone and pottery, which are not as exquisite as those of the Han tribe. In addition, knives are useless. Although they are sharp, they are obviously not worth it for the seeds of a crop.

Therefore, several clan leaders discussed it and finally made a decision.

"Youfu, we don't want these. We want livestock and methods of raising livestock. I don't know if you can give them to us. Yu Kuan said that you are very familiar with your leader. You should be able to make a decision, right? If you are willing to teach us how to raise livestock and give us some, I can tell you how to grow taro now."

The clan leader of the Youqing clan also put forward his own conditions. He pointed to the horses on the Han tribe and gestured.

Youfu frowned when he heard this and immediately thought about it. Using a crop to exchange for horses and methods of raising livestock? This is definitely not possible, because horses are not easy to raise. Even in the Han tribe, not every family can afford to raise horses. Horses are strategic resources.

It's not that they are reluctant to give them, but they can't raise them even if they are given. They don't even have a pasture, so what can they raise?

Besides, the Baiwu tribe doesn't have much use for horses. Horses have a long growth cycle, and it is not cost-effective to raise them for meat. Horse leather is not suitable for making winter clothes, let alone for farming. It can only be used for riding or pulling carts.

To put it bluntly, horses are a means of transportation, and the Baiwu tribe's territory is so small, and they don't go anywhere else. What do they need horses for? They can't use them at all.

These people just saw that the Han tribe raised horses, so they thought that the Han tribe only had horses.

After thinking about it, You Fu said to several clan leaders again.

"You can't afford this horse, and it's not very useful." He explained in detail that it takes several adults to feed a horse, and there is a huge area of ​​grassland, as well as the purpose of horses, which immediately dispelled the vision of several tribesmen for raising horses.

"If you must use taro to exchange livestock, I suggest you exchange some sheep. Sheep eat grass, are not big, about the same size as a deer, give birth quickly and grow fast, and can breed cubs within a year of birth. They can give birth to two lambs a year. If you are lucky, you can give birth to four lambs a year, which can be used for meat, and can also produce goat milk to feed children in the tribe. Its fur is also very thick and can be used to make winter clothes. What do you think?"

You Fu introduced the various advantages of sheep in detail, and the eyes of several tribesmen who heard it immediately lit up. It must be said that compared with horses, sheep are more suitable for the needs of the Baiwu tribe.

"Okay, okay, this is good, then when can we have sheep?" The tribe leader of the Youqing clan asked impatiently.

"Of course not now. We came out to look for stones. We don't even have food, so how can we bring sheep?" You Fu spread his hands. Seeing the disappointed looks on the faces of the tribe leaders, he said again.

"I'll keep it the same as before. I must take some taro this time. You can choose some items in exchange. When the ice and snow melt, come back next time. I will bring you some sheep. You will also have to teach us how to grow taro. But since we use sheep as an exchange, we won't give you other crop seeds."

The elders didn't care about the crops of the Han tribe because they had their own food. Compared with the crop seeds, they were now focusing on raising sheep.

After a discussion, they finally finalized the matter. Youfu used an iron pot, two engineer shovels, and three pounds of white salt to exchange two sacks of "taro" from the tribe leaders, weighing about two to three hundred pounds. He also promised to use twenty sheep to find the Baiwu tribe in the spring of next year to exchange for the method of cultivating taro.

After finishing the business, Youfu did not leave immediately. He asked the tribe leaders about the red pigment, that is, the location of the hematite mine. The tribe leaders readily agreed and took them to explore. Youfu also asked the 16th group to mark the location of the iron mine.

In two days, You Fu talked a lot with several chiefs of the Baiwu tribe, and promised them that he could get more benefits for the Baiwu tribe, but the prerequisite was that the trade must be fair. The Han tribe still had many good things. If they wanted them, they could exchange them with things of equal value. If they didn't have things of equal value, they could also sell their labor to the Han tribe. For example, working for the Han tribe could be exchanged for a certain amount of compensation, and then exchanged for what they wanted.

In essence, it was still the same as the Han tribe's previous method, trade, and hiring, assimilating the other party in a subtle way. At that time, even if they were not invited to join the Han tribe, these people would take the initiative to ask the Han tribe to join them.

That afternoon, the group came back from the iron mine. As soon as they arrived at the Baiwu tribe, they found a Han tribe waiting for them.

"Who are you?" You Fu followed the chiefs and asked puzzledly at the Han man who suddenly appeared.

"Captain, I'm a hunter from the ninth group of the exploration team. I went to the thirteenth group to look for you, but you weren't there. After asking, I found out that you were here, so I followed the path to find

you. "Captain, we found the coal mine. We have dug out the real coal seam, which is only more than 20 meters deep. It's a shallow mine. We have marked it, but we haven't yet explored the specific scope and reserves. We are waiting for your other groups to help." The messenger from the ninth group said excitedly. Finding the coal mine is a great achievement.

"Where is it? !"

You Fu and several people from the sixteenth group asked in unison, with excitement and anxiety in their tone.

"It's within the exploration range of our eighth group. It was discovered by our seven, eight, and nine groups. We suspected that there were coal mines under the three areas, so we found a middle point to drill a hole, and we really dug it out." The messenger from the ninth group also said excitedly.

"Great, we finally found it." Yu Kuan excitedly hit his palm with his fist and said.

"Good job, I will ask for credit for you when the news is confirmed to be true. "You Fu nodded happily, and then said goodbye to several clan leaders of the Baiwu clan, preparing to go to the location of the coal mine.

"Clan leaders, we have found the coal mine, the mission has been completed, and we are about to leave. I will not forget the agreement with you. We will come back next year."

"Are you leaving?" The clan leader of the Youqing clan asked with mixed feelings. He didn't know whether he was reluctant to leave or worried about this group of people.

"Yes, we must report the location of the coal mine to the leader as soon as possible." You Fu nodded and said affirmatively.

"Then, then can we know where the Han tribe is?" The clan leader of the Youqing clan asked again.

"Haha, the Han tribe is very large. If you go south from here and walk for dozens of days, if you can meet people, then you will probably reach the territory of the Han tribe. If you go west, if you can meet a big river and go downstream, you can also find the territory of the Han tribe. If you go north along the river, you can also find the territory of the Han tribe. The Han tribe is very large, so large that you can't even imagine it. "

The five elders of the Baiwu tribe looked at the backs of Youfu and others with complicated expressions. They gradually disappeared in the vast mountains and forests, and it was unknown when they would visit this small tribe again. On

the other side, Youfu sent a few people from the 16th group again to the east to find the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th groups. They took them to the exploration site of the 8th group. They gathered the exploration groups scattered all the way. Half a month later, the 20 groups of the entire exploration team finally gathered together at the coal mine discovered by the 8th group.

"Where is the coal mine?" Youfu asked everyone immediately.

"There."

Someone pointed to the large pile of earth on the flat ground. Everyone looked over and found that there was a simple wooden tripod next to the earth pile. There were several ropes hanging on it. There were people on it who lifted a sack of soil from time to time and then poured it gently on the large earth pile. Those were the remaining people from the 7th, 8th, and 9th groups who were expanding the shaft.

"Is this where you found the coal mine? How deep did you dig? "You Fu came to the well and asked while looking at the deep well bottom. It was pitch black in front of him. Only at the very bottom could he see some light, which was the illumination from the calcium carbide lamp.

"Captain, we are now digging to a depth of 20 meters. If we dig another 6 meters, we will be able to dig out the real coal seam. We used the Luoyang shovel to dig holes before, and we can be sure that there is coal underneath, but we can't see it with our eyes, so we decided to dig a vertical shaft and send people down to confirm it. If there is really a coal mine, we will dig some up and bring it back for identification by the research institute. The leader said that there are several types of coal mines." The leader of Group 7 immediately introduced the situation to You Fu and said.

"Well, you have done a good job. Let the people below come up and rest. The other groups will take turns to go down the well to dig. People can rest but the hoes cannot. Dig through the last 6 meters as soon as possible, so that I can report the credit to you then." You Fu ordered immediately.

"Yes! "

Everyone responded and began to organize manpower to take turns going down the well. There were no rattan baskets here, so they used sacks to extract soil one bag at a time. The air was not smooth in the well more than 20 meters deep, and there was a gas leak. People could not stay down there for long and had to come up to rest. Fortunately, there were many people here, so everyone took turns going down the well. It took two days to finally dig up the real coal seam.

When the first bag of large black coal was brought up from the well, everyone cheered excitedly. You Fu immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Luo Chong by flying eagle to report the good news and ask for credit. With this coal mine, the heavy industry layout of the Han tribe in the south will no longer be hindered, and the construction of the capital will be accelerated.

The most important thing is that when the steel mill in Taigang County in the south is built, the Han tribe can try to use the manganese iron ore in Taigang County to refine high-hardness manganese steel, and the problem of heavy-load rails will also be solved.

"Captain, when are we going home?" A team leader asked excitedly when he saw the coal blocks dug out.

"Why, are you starting to miss home now? Don't be in a hurry to go back. Digging up the coal mine is only the first step. Now we have another very important thing to do, which is to plan the transportation route.

"From here to the south, we need to find a road suitable for transporting coal mines, which will lead directly to Taigang County of the Tang tribe. In addition, we need to go west from here and open up a road to the Liuyang River. The terrain near the coal mine must also be surveyed to find out where there is water and where it is suitable for building a city and living.

"Now that there is coal here, we will definitely build settlements in the future to gather people to come and mine coal.

"These are what we should do. Instead of letting the leader give us orders, it is better for us to be more conscious, so that we can get greater credit."

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up and they immediately bowed their hands loudly in agreement.

The seven, eight, and nine groups were credited with finding the coal mine. The sixteenth group found a strange tribe, which was also a credit. But the other groups were a bit miserable. If they just went back like this, they would definitely not have made much of a contribution. But now Youfu has given them another chance to open up and plan roads, find water sources and places to live. If they complete these, they can also be considered credits. Moreover, this task is much simpler than finding a mine.

(End of this chapter)