Shi was stunned for a moment and looked at Qiao Yu: "Yes, then what is my last name?"
Qiao Yu said helplessly, "Everyone younger than you has a surname, so you don't need a surname and can just be called Shi. Of course, if you want to call yourself Shishi that's fine too."
Shi stroked his gray beard and pondered for a moment. His small eyes sparkled even more as he looked at Qiao Yu. "Yu, what you're saying is, if I don't use my last name and am just called Shi, does that mean I'm the ancestor of our family? From now on, all my descendants will have to use my name as their surname. Am I more powerful than any of our ancestors before me?"
"If you agree, and your sons and grandsons don't object, then of course it's fine." Qiao Yu smiled and nodded. "You can also compile a family tree. Starting from your generation, write down the names of every generation in the tree, so that future generations will know about your kind. And your family name will start with you."
Every elder present had their eyes shining.
They finally realized the meaning of the existence of words.
"Then...what about me?" Wu asked weakly again.
His original name wasn't Wu, but Yu. His father had named him in the hope that all patients would be cured. Wu was just a profession in the tribe. But after his father passed away, he became the tribe's shaman, and no one mentioned his name anymore. Everyone just called him Wu.
After he died, his son Ji became the witch of the tribe. I guess no one mentioned the name Ji anymore, and everyone just called him witch.
Wu didn't want to lose the title of Wu, but he also wanted future generations to remember him like Shi and the others, so he was very conflicted.
"You'll have to go back and discuss this with your sons." Qiao Yu didn't want to make the decision for him. "But I've seen their witch in the big tribe, the one who came to the hills near us to collect herbs. His name is Wu Zhi. He uses Wu as his surname, but he has his own name."
Wu's eyes lit up: "Does every tribe's Wu have the surname Wu? Then my name will be Wu Yu."
Seeing that everyone wanted to discuss this topic further, Qiao Yu stopped them in time: "Okay, go back and discuss this with your family."
She knew that in that era, surnames were rare, generally reserved for royalty and the nobility. Lower-class people, however, were granted surnames only after significant contributions. Later, clan names emerged. Granting a scholar a clan name was a method and tactic for governing the state and winning over subordinates. Whether or not one had a surname, and what it was, was a crucial distinction between the nobility and the common people.
But Qiao Yu was unwilling to do so.
Social systems have their own laws of development. Qiao Yu couldn't prevent the emergence of slavery and feudal societies. But within her tribe, she didn't want to artificially divide people into nobles and commoners, upper and lower classes.
Everyone has a surname, and everyone is equal. The only difference is that the capable are promoted and the mediocre are demoted.
She took out the slate she had written on and said, "If you don't want to use the name of your ancestors or yourself as your surname, you can also choose one of the ten characters I wrote." She stood the slate upright and showed it to everyone.
Everyone took a look and saw square patterns drawn on the stone slab with charcoal, but no one knew what they were.
Seeing everyone waiting for her with a hundred thousand questions, Qiao Yu quickly put down the slate and said, "Each team leader, go back and talk to your subordinates about this matter. When the time comes, please give us your last names. Then we will move on to the next topic."
Everyone shut up.
"The number of animals raised on the farm is increasing, while the amount of prey in the mountains is limited. Especially now, in spring, when animals are breeding, if we hunt too much in the mountains, it will seriously affect the prey population in this area in the future. If we kill all the beasts, big and small, here, we'll have to go far away to hunt again. And now we're not able to eat all the prey, and the dried meat will go bad. Mang is also worried about the overabundance of rabbits on the farm."
"So I decided to cut the number of people going hunting in half or cut the number of times in half. Of those who don't go hunting, some will go to the farm to help, and some will go to build the tribe's fortifications and various facilities."
"As for whether each hunting team should take turns going up the mountain to hunt, or if some individuals should be selected from the current hunting teams to conduct dedicated hunting, you can now express your opinions."
The team leaders looked at each other, none of them had any idea.
Since becoming the team leader, Shu has grown very fast, becoming more calm and independent.
Seeing that no one spoke, he spoke, "I suggest that we take turns going up the mountain to hunt. Hunting is our foundation. If we only select the strongest people to go hunting, and the rest stay in the tribe, then this group of people will gradually become useless. In the future, whether we encounter any unexpected events and need to go hunting in the mountains, or go to war with other tribes, they may not be able to lift spears and bows and arrows, and will not be able to face prey and enemies."
He paused. "Besides, kicking them out of the hunting party would be a disservice to them. Some of them would definitely cause trouble."
When the man who had no idea what to do heard what he said, he said in agreement: "Yes, yes, Shu is absolutely right. I think so too."
"I agree with the tree."
Everyone expressed their opinions.
Qiao Yu nodded with satisfaction. "Okay, then we'll take turns. Divide into three groups, one round every three days. Teams one and two will be one group, teams three and four will be one group, and teams five, six, and seven will be one group."
The women's hunting team was organized into the seventh hunting team.
"Divide into three groups?" Everyone's expression changed.
Last year, everyone was still starving and didn’t have enough dried meat, so they felt insecure.
Shan frowned and asked, "Yu, isn't three batches too little? The prey we hunt will only be enough to eat, with no extra. If something happens in the tribe, we won't have any dried meat left."
"It's breeding season now, so fewer people will be sent out hunting. The number of hunters will increase accordingly when summer arrives. There are too many rabbits on the farm right now, so I plan to kill a batch and keep only one-third. So there's more than enough meat to eat during this time. In the fall, when the yams and chestnuts are ripe and the animals in the mountains have grown, there'll be plenty of time to store winter food. So don't panic, I know what's going on."
After hearing Qiao Yu say this, everyone felt relieved.
Seeing that no one was talking, Qiao Yu continued, "Because Team Six is responsible for carpentry work, and I plan to assign Team Seven to help with the breeding team, only half of the two groups will go hunting. The other half will go the next time it's your team's turn to go hunting."
After hearing this, Yan moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.
"So on days when there aren't hunting missions, the carpentry team will continue to do the carpentry work, making doors, windows, and beams for the upcoming house construction. The women's hunting team's job is to help the farm with chores. Mang will decide what they'll do."
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