"Only when we have abundant resources and are no longer plagued by hunger and cold can people live and work in peace and contentment, and children can thrive. So we can't be complacent with the status quo. We can't just muddle through as long as we're not hungry, without thinking about what we'll do tomorrow. We need to take a long-term view."
After hearing this, Lu, Shi, Huo, and Wu had not yet digested and figured out whether her words made sense, light burst out from Shan's eyes.
"Yu, you're absolutely right." He sat up excitedly, tugging at the wound on his foot, unaware of the pain. "Several generations of leaders have worried about this. Our tribe is simply too small. Even if we don't perish in a natural disaster, if other tribes want to attack us, we won't be able to resist. Our lives are in the hands of others. This feeling is truly unbearable."
Huo frowned and spoke for the first time since attending the meeting: "Don't we have salt like the Fire Tribe, and haven't provoked the Sun Tribe, so why would we be attacked?"
"Yes." Shan said.
"You only know that the Fire Tribe was destroyed because of salt, but that's not the case. Tianliang once told me that it was because the Fire Tribe's population was growing, and the tribe was becoming increasingly wealthy. If they were allowed to grow stronger, the Sun Tribe would no longer be the only major tribe here. So the Sun Tribe had to be destroyed while it was still weak."
"And there are several more tribes about ten days' journey from us. Tianliang told me that if those tribes come into conflict with the Sun Tribe, we might be implicated. They're desperate for people from other tribes to fill the gaps, so they'll definitely merge our tribes into theirs. We won't be able to resist then. They can kill the men if they want, and take the women and children as slaves if they want."
Lu, Shi and Wu fell silent.
All they saw was the area of a few dozen miles around them; they lived in constant fear. Therefore, they never considered anything further or in the long term. Shan was the leader, and the "dawn" he mentioned was the last leader. What the leaders saw and thought about was certainly beyond the reach of ordinary people like them.
Fire, however, continued to object: "If what you say is true, shouldn't we stop making pottery? Now that we have pottery, shouldn't we trade it? If we do, the Sun Tribe will surely find out. Then we'll end up like the Fire Tribe."
Qiao Yu said calmly, "First, we can make pottery without having to trade it. Second, even if we don't make pottery, we have traps and snares. Everyone is well fed and warmly clothed, and their faces are rosy. We can also offer a large amount of meat to trade with others at the annual trade fair. The number of tribe members is also increasing day by day. Won't the Sun Tribe notice us? To avoid attracting their attention, should we continue as before, without traps and snares, and let many people starve to death in winter, or even drown children after birth, so as to prevent the tribe's population from increasing? This is the safest way."
Fire opened his mouth, speechless.
"Escape won't solve the problem. Only by developing and strengthening ourselves can we be invincible," Qiao Yu said. "There are many things we can hide from others, but we must understand them. It's absolutely not advisable to stay where we are and wait for others to decide our fate!"
She said the last sentence with great force.
Lu had sorted out his thoughts by now and said excitedly, "Yes, Yu is right. We must develop quietly and not let the Sun Tribe know. By the time they realize it, they will be powerless to deal with us."
"How is that possible? Just like Yu said just now, they are all well-fed and strong, and there is a large amount of meat to trade every year. It would be hard for them not to pay attention." Although Huo felt that what Qiao Yu said made a lot of sense, he was still stubborn and poured cold water on everyone.
He felt that the hidden danger was there and he had to speak out, pretending it didn't exist. So he felt obligated to raise objections.
"So I'm not going to trade a lot of meat, but pottery," Qiao Yu explained. "Pottery isn't something we can eat or wear. As long as we make it a little rougher, not as refined as the Sun Tribe's, and the price is lower when we trade, they won't take it too seriously."
"But meat is different. They know how many people are in our tribe. We suddenly have so much meat to trade, they will definitely want to know what's going on and why we hunt so much meat. Once they know that the traps and snares allow us to get a lot of prey every day, what will they do?" Qiao Yu said here, staring at everyone with a sharp gaze.
"Of course, they want to exterminate the clan and take the methods of setting traps and snares for themselves." Lu Dao.
Huo said, "Why don't we just not take out so much meat to trade?"
Seeing him still chattering on the road, I stood up and wanted to get angry.
Qiao Yu waved his hand at Lu and spoke first, "For the tribe to grow, we need more than just salt. We also need other things, like bone knives, bone spikes, or other better weapons. If we don't exchange them, we'll just have to hunt with stone knives every day. When the Sun Tribe attacks, we won't even be able to resist. Huo, is this what you want to see?"
Huo's tone weakened, and he stammered, "Of course I don't want to."
He paused. "I'm just saying that. As for how you consider it, that's your job as leader. It's useless for me to object, right?"
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