Chapter 810: Reassure the People

It would take at least two or three days for the battle report to fly back, so let’s not talk about it for now. Let’s just talk about the fact that Xue Qingyao, the military commander of the Huben Guard, led people to reassure the people of Zhudao.

Xue Qingyao was the second military commander of the Huben Guard. He was of the same clan as his predecessor Xue Dongliang. Both of them were members of the Xue Tribe who joined the Han Tribe in the early days. The common point was that they had organized engineering projects with thousands of people, such as building cities, digging rivers, and building schools. To put it bluntly, they were contractors.

The identity of a contractor was a big advantage. They all had experience in logistics support for large units, so they were also the first choice for the military commander of the regular army.

Xue Qingyao first led people to the nearest village. In order to reduce the panic of the local people, he also specially transferred some soldiers who had not directly fought with the enemy just now. These soldiers were clean and had no bloodstains. Among them, there were some soldiers who had just disguised themselves as caravans to promote currency not long ago. It can be said that the local people saw them more familiarly and it was easier to have affinity when talking to them.

The translators sent by the Jinwu Guard and the envoys were also accompanying them to provide communication guarantees for both parties. If the local people were not familiar with these warriors, then these translators who had been active in Zhudao and the envoys for many years were definitely familiar with them.

A group of people rode horses and drove carts, a total of about 100 people came to the nearest village together, but there was no one in the villages that had obviously been active just now.

The bamboo buildings in the village were all closed, but many pairs of peeping eyes could be seen from the gaps in the bamboo buildings. Obviously, the people did not escape, and some even hid in the animal pens under the bamboo buildings with simple weapons, guarding their most important property, cattle and sheep.

Xue Qingyao saw the reaction of the local people and couldn't help but smile, then waved his hand, and immediately two soldiers posted notices to reassure the people on the trunks of the big trees in the village. This was also Luo Chong's explanation at the beginning, because when dealing with strange tribes, Luo Chong always adhered to the formal written communication method.

Whether you can understand it or not is your business. Anyway, we are a nation with written language and culture. If you can't understand it, then you are a barbarian. First, crush the other party with momentum and let them know what kind of existence they are facing.

After posting the notice to reassure the people, Xue Qingyao saw that no one came out yet, so he called an interpreter beside him to start talking to the villagers. He asked the interpreter to say one sentence after he said one sentence.

"Can the village elders come out to talk?"

"Our Han army has just arrived and has no intention of offending anyone. The reason we are raising troops to Zhudao this time is that Commander Xin is treacherous and reckless. He colluded with grassland tyrants and attacked Kaiyuan County of our Han tribe first, killing more than a thousand of our Han soldiers and intercepting our salt caravan. We are raising troops here to avenge this.

But the leader of our Han tribe is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the lives of the people destroyed and the killing committed, so he specifically ordered that only the main culprit, Commander Xin, and his accomplices in the army should be executed in this battle, and the local people must not be

embarrassed. Please rest assured, fellow villagers, our Han tribe has strict military discipline and good command. We will never bully the local villagers, let alone rob you of a single needle or thread. If anyone violates this order, you can report to our garrison. We will never forgive the soldiers who make mistakes, and we will definitely behead them to give you an explanation."

These words were written on the notice to reassure the people, and Xue Qingyao just read out the contents of the notice.

After the announcement was read, the scene was unusually quiet, with only the rustling sound of the leaves in the evening breeze. However, Xue Qingyao knew that the people hiding in the bamboo buildings must be listening.

Sure enough, less than a minute after the announcement was read, a bamboo building opened its door and an old man with gray hair and beard walked out. It was the elder of the tribe.

To be honest, the surrounding villages had a good impression of the Han tribe. This good impression was mainly based on the behavior of the delegation in the past two years. They traded fairly, were even willing to suffer small losses, and taught the locals a lot of technology. The nearest villages were all large households that learned to grow hemp and weave cloth from the delegation. They had frequent exchanges with the delegation and felt that the Han tribe was not the kind of tribe that would burn, kill and loot for no reason.

If the young people in the village had not run back and insisted that the Han tribe killed people in their farmland, the elders of this village would not believe anything they said.

Now that the Han tribe has really come and explained the cause of the matter, the elders of this village thought about it and immediately decided to come out and talk to the Han tribe. They would talk about it first, whether it was true or not. Anyway, the Han tribe has more people now, and they can't stop them from burning, killing and looting this small village. They might as well risk their old bones to talk to the Han tribe first.

The door of the bamboo building opened, and two people, one old and one young, wearing coarse linen clothes and straw sandals, climbed down the stairs.

The younger one was the eldest son of the elder. He often walked with the delegation and could speak some Chinese for daily communication. Looking at the more than a hundred armored soldiers in front of him, he didn't show any fear. He supported his father and walked over steadily.

Of course, there was a reason why the two of them were willing to come out and communicate instead of directly regarding the Han tribe as invaders and blindly resisting.

First of all, the so-called concept of nation had not yet emerged in this era. Most of them were tribes, families, and clans. Therefore, in their eyes, the clans of the Han tribe were no different from their villages. Everyone grew up farming and eating grain. There was no difference between the Han tribe and the Xin tribe. They were both large tribes with multiple clans. The only difference was that the Han tribe had more clans, a larger scale, and more developed in all aspects.

Secondly, the Xin tribe's rule over Zhudao was not too strong. For the people of Zhudao, it was completely a free-range model. Although the Xin leader also collected food and animal skins from the people of Zhudao, it was not quite the same as collecting taxes, but existed as a form of commodity exchange.

Because the territory of the Xin tribe occupied the only passage from Zhudao to the mainland, that is, the dark bridge, and also occupied the only metal vein on Zhudao, so other clans and tribes wanted to obtain cattle and sheep for farming from the grassland, they could only get them through the Xin tribe. If they wanted metal farm tools for farming, they could only get them through the Xin tribe. The people of Zhudao paid a certain share of grain to the Xin leader in order to exchange metal farm tools and livestock from the Xin tribe. This was the relationship between the two sides.

The other Xin leaders did not care about the livelihood, economy, laws, etc. of the tribes and clans below them. It was similar to the suzerain system, and the small tribes and clans below them had considerable autonomy.

Unlike the Han tribe, Luo Chong's rule over the Han tribe really controlled everything, from household registration, to land allocation and farming, to recruiting soldiers to defend the tribe, and collecting taxes for tribal infrastructure. It was a serious national management model, and the control was so strong that it was completely incomparable to the Xin tribe.

This also caused the people of Zhudao to not have much sense of identity with the Xin tribe, while the people of the Han tribe clearly understood a fact that they paid taxes to the Han tribe, they enjoyed all the welfare policies of the Han tribe, and they also had the obligation to build and defend the tribe together, so they all recognized that they were members of the Han tribe and that they were Han people.

This is the difference between the Han and Xin tribes.

Therefore, the elder and his son are not opposed to communication with the Han tribe. Of course, this is based on the fact that the Han tribe will not harm them.

"May I ask the chief envoy of the Han tribe, is what you just said true? Can it be counted?" The white-haired elder came to Xue Qingyao and asked the first sentence.

"Of course, old man, you can rest assured. What I just said are the orders given by our leader. We will certainly not violate the orders of the leader, otherwise we will also bear the responsibility."

The elder nodded in agreement. He still heard about the status and power of the leader of the Han tribe in the Han tribe. After all, it is the village closest to the delegation. He often hears the people of the delegation say how their leader is, what their leader tells them to do, and so on. In short, the elder feels that the people of the Han tribe worship their leader very much, and they are very obedient to what the leader says.

According to this theory, if what this person just said is really the order of their leader, then they should really not harm their village.

The old man felt relieved and asked again, "I just heard from the young men in the tribe that the army of your Han tribe has occupied our farmland. When can you leave? You won't occupy our farmland forever, will you?"

Xue Qingyao smiled and answered again, trying his best to show his affinity. "Please rest assured, elders. Our army has just landed and has no place to stay yet, so we chose to temporarily station in the empty farmland. However, the army will not stay for too long. Most of the troops will be withdrawn tomorrow, and the rest will be withdrawn within seven days. It will not affect you at all." The farming of the elders and fellow villagers.

In addition, as compensation for the temporary occupation of your farmland, our Han tribe is willing to provide a batch of rice seeds free of charge and send technicians to help you promote the planting of rice. I wonder if the elders are satisfied with this answer? "

The Han tribe is willing to withdraw from the farmland as soon as possible. This is undoubtedly the most satisfactory answer for the two. They can also accept the seven-day deadline. Anyway, they have just harvested the last season of grain this year. Even if they want to plant grain, they have to wait until next year. Their bottom line is to let the Han tribe withdraw from the farmland before the beginning of next spring, otherwise they will have to find a way to reclaim wasteland.

However, what they didn't expect was that the Han tribe just occupied a few days of idle fields, and they actually took the initiative to say that they were willing to make compensation, and the way of compensation was to teach them how to grow rice!!!

Rice is a good thing. It is said that it is the staple food of the Han tribe. It is not only high-yielding, but also delicious, easy to eat, and good for the body. The people in the delegation eat that kind of white rice every day.

Because their village was close to the mission, the eldest son of the clan elder was fortunate enough to receive some husked rice as a gift from the mission. When he returned home, he and his father tasted this unfamiliar food.

Zhudao is a region where corn is the main food and soybeans are the supplementary food. Therefore, the history of eating corn is very long. Corn is high-yielding. Although there is no worry about filling the stomach, there is always a problem, that is, the problem of difficulty in eating.

This is not to say that eating corn is very difficult, but because corn is a coarse grain after all. Eating some in a short period of time or eating some intermittently is still good for the human body, but eating it for a long time will also cause great wear on the teeth, not to mention that these people have grown up eating corn since childhood. The elderly who can live to the age of the clan elder basically have a mouth full of rotten teeth. If they want to eat corn again, they will really be powerless.

Want to eat meat? Then you can only cry while looking at the meat. It's not that there is no meat, but it can't be chewed. In the end, you can only drink some soup to live this remaining life.

The rice and flour of the Han tribe are different. They are refined grains. They are not only nutritious, but also easy to eat. They do not wear teeth that badly. More importantly, it is said that rice and flour are more durable than corn and can be stored for several years. Therefore, once rice and flour appeared in Zhudao, they have always been the fairy grain that the locals are eager to eat.

Although the delegation brought them wheat seeds and planting methods when they came, and they successfully planted wheat, wheat still has great disadvantages compared with rice. First, the yield is not high. Secondly, if wheat is eaten directly as grains, it does not taste good. The most suitable way to eat it is to grind it into flour and then make it into various pasta for consumption.

The favorite food of the Han tribe of the elders in this local village is noodles. If they want to eat meat, they use a steel knife to chop some meat residue to make sauerkraut and pour it on the noodles. They don’t need to chew it with their teeth, but just eat it with a slurp. This is the most suitable meal for the elderly.

Unfortunately, making flour requires a stone mill, which they cannot do by themselves. Even if they grow wheat, they can only take it to the mill built by the envoy to grind it into flour.

Therefore, compared with wheat, rice, a refined grain that can be eaten directly after removing the shell, is their first choice for large-scale planting.

Therefore, how can they not be excited when they hear Xue Qingyao take the initiative to provide them with rice seeds and teach them how to grow rice?

"May I ask this long envoy, is it true that you want to teach us to grow rice?" The old man immediately asked in disbelief.

"Of course, I am the largest military commander of this army. These people are under my control. Of course, what I say counts. The elders of the tribe can rest assured. After this battle, our Han tribe will definitely fulfill its promise and teach you to grow rice." Xue Qingyao immediately patted his chest and promised the elders and sons.

After saying this, the doors and windows of the bamboo buildings around him were opened one after another, and many figures poked their heads out from the doors and windows. Men and women, the old and weak, women and children, adults and children all stretched their heads to look here, and there was no longer fear in their eyes, but more surprise, curiosity, and exploration.

The young men and women who were the main force in growing grain were even a little excited. The Han tribe was willing to teach them how to grow rice. How could they not be excited?!

(End of this chapter)