Chapter 999

Upon hearing this, the people around immediately twitched their noses and sniffed hard. As expected, they found a faint stench, and the source was the deep hole they had dug on the ground.

"Bring a torch."

The miner manager of Group 9 called out, and someone immediately brought a torch. He held the torch and carefully moved it over the hole on the ground. The flame on the torch suddenly brightened for a moment, and then immediately entered the sage state and restored the flame to normal.

The flame was no longer violent, but the outer layer of the stable flame was covered with a layer of blue flame. This was obviously not something that could be burned by burning wood. There must be some flammable gas coming out from below.

"There is gas below. It seems that we have really found a coal mine. And since there is gas, the reserves of the coal mine below must not be too small." The coal mine manager of Group 9 immediately gave a conclusion after seeing this result. The confirmation of this news also made everyone excited.

"Really?! That's great. It's been a few months. We have dug at least tens of thousands of holes, and finally found a coal mine." The leader of Group 8 said excitedly.

"Well, it seems to be almost done, but don't worry, let's confirm this first. Let's dig another two meters. After the news is confirmed, we will report to the chief envoy as soon as possible and let him contact the leader." The leader of Group 7 also made a conclusion.

Everyone unanimously agreed to this decision, and then immediately continued to dig the underground coal mine. However, because they hit the real coal seam, the coal seam was too hard, and the Luoyang shovel could only bring up some coal slag each time. But they dug down to a depth of two meters, but did not bring up any soil, which was enough to show that they encountered a real coal seam.

The real coal seam depends on the size of the vein and the reserves of the coal mine. Even if it is a small coal mine, the real coal seam must be at least more than ten meters thick and several stories high. It is a great achievement to be able to find such a coal mine, even if it is just a small mine.

Everyone quickly sent a few hunters to deliver letters to the other groups. Their seven, eight, and nine groups have made merit this time.

A dozen fast horses spread out quickly in all directions, ready to send news to other groups of the exploration team, while the other people in groups seven, eight, and nine stayed where they were. They gave up the Luoyang shovel and used hoes and shovels to expand the hole, preparing to expand it into a vertical shaft, which would also facilitate subsequent mining.

The exploration team led by You Fu had 20 groups of 200 people, but he himself did not follow a fixed group, but went to whichever group had news.

People like You Fu rarely stayed in one place honestly even when they went out to explore, but it cannot be said that if he could wander around, he would certainly be interested, but the main purpose of this exploration was to find coal mines. Usually, if a group had a clue, they would definitely dig in the local area. Once they started digging, there would definitely be no results in less than ten days and a half months, and he certainly could not accompany his men to dig holes there boredly.

There are generally only two targets that can interest Youfu, such as where to find what kind of mineral veins, not just coal mines, but any minerals needed by the Han tribe, the exploration team will record them, otherwise this exploration mission will be wasted; the second thing that can interest him is where his men found a strange human tribe.

This is the current situation. A few days ago, Youfu received a report from the 16th group, saying that they encountered a settled tribe with a large population of nearly 2,000 people. This tribe is also a farming tribe, and has learned to fire pottery. There are also stone houses with their own characteristics. The stone houses are uniformly painted white inside and out, and red totem patterns are painted on them.

More importantly, the 16th group also found a hematite mine near this tribe, and the hematite here is also the source of the pigment for the red totem painted by that tribe.

Obviously, this tribe has not yet studied the true use of hematite, and only uses these iron ores as pigments. The location of the hematite mine was also found out by the 16th group and the people of that tribe.

With the eyesight of the people in the Han tribe, it is not difficult to think of a hematite mine nearby from the pigments used by the other party.

After receiving the news, You Fu immediately became interested. What does a tribe with a large population, mastered architectural skills, had its own culture and art, and had farming techniques mean to the Han tribe?

The most important thing is of course farming. Since the other party is a farming tribe, what do they grow? Will it be different from the Han tribe? If it is different, it means that the Han tribe is likely to get a new food crop. No matter whether the coal mine is found or not, as long as a new food crop can be found and brought back, it will be a great achievement.

In addition, the population of the other tribe is nearly 2,000 people. If they can be persuaded to join the Han tribe, such a large population is enough for the Han tribe to build a new county.

Thinking of these tempting ideas, You Fu immediately took a few guards to the tribe discovered by Group 16, and has been here for two days. During these two days, he has figured out some things. This tribe does have crops that the Han tribe does not have. He has also named this tribe - the White House Tribe.

Or in other words, the Baiwu tribe.

The reason why they were not named according to the usual surnames was that the Baiwu tribe was a multi-clan group-living tribe, and there was not a single clan in the tribe, so Youfu was not good at naming them with a surname.

The encounter between the 16th group of the exploration team and the Baiwu tribe was also accidental. All members of the exploration team rode horses to travel, and there were many horses used to transport equipment and supplies, almost one person and two horses, but they had been traveling for more than a few months, and the food they brought had long been eaten, so they had to hunt frequently to meet their food needs. They had no backup when they were away.

When the team was formed, each group was assigned several hunters for this reason. They had to serve as the team's security work and hunt to ensure the team's meals.

The 16th group also met the Baiwu tribe's hunting team during a hunt. At that time, both sides chased several sturdy wild boars together, but the wild boars ran very fast in the forest, and the Baiwu tribe's hunting team could not catch up with them at all, so they could only drive the wild boars into the traps they dug in advance.

Although there were no traps on the Han tribe side, the hunters of the 16th group rode horses and ran very fast. They were also equipped with sharp long-range weapons such as crossbows, so a very dramatic scene appeared in the end, which made both sides very embarrassed.

The wild boars were full of arrows shot by the hunters of the Han tribe, but in the end they died in the traps dug by the Baiwu hunting team.

In this way, who will get the prey becomes a troublesome matter, because both sides have contributed, if neither side gives in, then the conflict will definitely intensify in the end, and even fight to snatch the prey.

However, a more dramatic scene appeared.

The hunters of the 16th group of the exploration team accidentally discovered an unfamiliar tribe, and an unfamiliar tribe means population, that is to say, as long as they can persuade the people of this tribe to join the Han tribe, then they will have done a great deed, even if they themselves do not have the ability, as long as they report this matter,

it will definitely be a great deed. Therefore, the hunters of the 16th group took a fancy to the population of this tribe, and there was no reason to fall out with them because of a few prey. They generously gave up the prey, just to make friends with the unfamiliar tribe in front of them, and it would be best if they could find the exact location of their tribe, and then report it to get credit.

The hunting team of the Baiwu tribe unexpectedly discovered the hunting team of the Han tribe. The hunters of the Han tribe in front of them made them shine. They wore clothes made of some special skills instead of animal skins. The weapons they used not only had a long range, but also had strong power. They could easily shoot ferocious wild boars. More importantly, these people all rode a tall four-legged beast, running very fast, and could catch up with the dominant wild boar in the mountains.

There is no doubt that as long as they can make friends with these strange hunters in front of them, they will have the hope of obtaining more advanced technologies, such as how to make clothes, how to make long-range weapons, and how to tame wild beasts

. Due to their yearning for these technologies, the hunting team of the Baiwu tribe did not fall out with the hunters of the 16th group, and expressed their willingness to hand over the prey, only asking the few people in front of them to teach them these technologies.

The two parties who were supposed to fight for the ownership of the prey ended up being strangely humble because of their own ulterior motives. They sent a few wild boars to each other and were unwilling to accept them themselves. Things became more and more weird.

Finally, after a period of mutual concessions, the two sides reached a consensus. The exploration team of the Han tribe had gone too far and had been cut off from supplies. They had a rigid demand for food. Even if they did not want these wild boars, they had to exchange them for other food.

The Baiwu tribe went out hunting in winter not because they had no food. On the contrary, they knew how to grow crops and had their own inexhaustible food reserves. The purpose of their hunting was to get some meat to eat. After all, no one could just eat dry food every day.

So the two sides finally reached an agreement. Several hunters from the 16th group went back with them as guests. The wild boars they hunted belonged to the Baiwu tribe, but the Baiwu tribe had to exchange an equal amount of other food for the hunters of the Han tribe. At the same time, the Han tribe agreed to exchange a technology that neither side had with this strange tribe.

In this way, several hunters from the 16th group were taken back by the Baiwu tribe as guests. On the way, the hunters from the Han tribe asked if they had several companions and whether they could invite them together. The Baiwu tribe asked the number of people again. When they learned that there were less than ten people in total, they agreed. So the hunters from the 16th group immediately sent one person on horseback to report the news, summoned the other members of the group, and sent one person to report the news to You Fu. In other words, the nine people from the 16th group went to the Baiwu tribe as guests at the same time.

After both sides arrived at the residence of the Baiwu tribe, because the men brought back prey and brought several men from suspected powerful tribes, they learned that the other party was willing to teach them powerful production technology. The people of the Baiwu tribe were very enthusiastic and showed the hospitality of the Baiwu tribe to the 16th group.

The Baiwu tribe is composed of five different clans. The son of the patriarch of one of the clans brought back the 16th group. At that moment, the five patriarchs learned about this and came forward to entertain the people from the Han tribe.

The Baiwu tribe took out their special food to entertain the people of Group 16, and the people of Group 16 also used the iron blades they carried to help them cut pork. After getting to know each other, the two sides, each with their own thoughts, almost laughed out loud.

After contact, the people of Group 16 found that this tribe not only had a population of nearly 2,000 people, but also had crops that the Han tribe did not have. It was also an agricultural tribe, and they could build stone houses by themselves. They even found traces of hematite around from the totem paintings on the houses.

This group of people originally came out to look for minerals. With their eyesight, it was not difficult to find traces of an iron mine.

Two thousand people, new crops, and an iron mine.

No matter which of the above three conditions they reported, it would definitely be a great achievement. Each of the 16 groups could be promoted to a higher rank for this matter. With such a great achievement in front of them, how could they not be tempted?

The Baiwu tribe was even more so. After a brief contact, they found that the people of the Han tribe had more "black technology".

Not only do they domesticate wild animals for their own use, they also have very sophisticated weaving techniques. The clothes of those people are made of some unknown materials through fine weaving; and these people are particularly good at making tools, especially wooden and metal tools.

They have long-range bows and arrows made of wood, arrowheads that can easily penetrate the skin and flesh of wild animals, and sharp iron knives that can easily cut wild boars with thick skin and flesh.

Of course, the above is nothing. The key is that these people actually brought paper and pens, maps, compasses, and other magical things. This made the five patriarchs of the White House tribe realize something extraordinary. This group of strangers in front of them may come from an extremely powerful tribe, and that tribe has more black technology.

They have their own unified characters, tools for writing characters, treasures for distinguishing directions, gorgeous and exquisite clothes, mounts that run like wind and thunder, and solid and sharp weapons. All kinds of magical things appear on this group of "hunters" in front of them, which is enough to show the extraordinaryness of that tribe.

After more exploration and understanding, they also learned that this tribe was also an agricultural tribe, good at farming, and had more varieties of crops, more population and territory than them. Not only was it an agricultural tribe, but the other party also mastered livestock breeding technology that they did not have.

All of the above powerful technologies were what the White House tribe wanted urgently.

Both sides almost laughed out loud.

But then, the White House tribe was a little worried. One of the five tribe leaders expressed his concern. Since the people of this tribe were so powerful, would they do something bad to them? !

Chapter name blocked.

(End of this chapter)