The high priest and the second priest originally wanted to squeeze more surplus value out of the salt-boiling team, but Ma Yue took a rough look and only allowed the team to be expanded by twenty more able-bodied men.
Firstly, the able-bodied men of the salt-boiling team must have intermediate or above power of faith; secondly, the members of the salt-boiling team must have relatively thick fur coats, neither of which can be missing.
Except for Bo Helang, the leader of the salt-boiling team who gets younger and younger as he gets older, all members of the winter salt-boiling team must be able-bodied men, who have a stronger ability to withstand the cold.
The salt-making team of 220 men has been recruited, and the Hai tribe has only 300 men in total.
The Hai tribe was already relatively wealthy, but even the able-bodied men, numbering over eighty, did not have thick fur coats. This showed how precious fur was in those days.
Of the remaining eighty or so able-bodied men, more than thirty had no Faith Power at all, and the rest had low-level Faith Power. Just take your time, perhaps, with time, the degree of integration will be higher.
Ma Yue's thoughts weren't as extreme as they once were. Even if they didn't have the power of faith, they were still members of the tribe, and they were still part of the workforce, right? Why did they have to believe in you? Perhaps, in their hearts, the gods they believed in were supreme. Why would they believe in the sea god of your tribe?
These people lacked the power of faith and weren't involved in the Hai Tribe's core business of salt boiling and scallion cultivation, so it didn't matter. Even if they ran away, they ran away. What else could they do?
People, don't be too extreme. The composition of the members of the Hai tribe is very complex, coming from all over the world, and having different beliefs is understandable.
After receiving Ma Yue's instructions, the second chief Shuichong, the high priest, and the chief Hai, who often stayed behind, naturally listened to Ma Yue. From then on, they would not look upon the thirty or so people without the power of faith any differently, as long as they did not participate in boiling salt and growing green onions.
The two priests and three leaders of the Sea Tribe didn't understand why Ma Yue was so certain that some people were disloyal to the Sea God. However, since a disloyal individual had escaped last year, they naturally believed in Ma Yue's judgment.
The charlatan can communicate with the great sea god, so what he says must be correct.
Although they didn't treat them with much respect, the High Priest and Chief Hai still organized these thirty or so ungodly individuals into a logging squadron. Cutting wood in the thick of winter was, of course, the most arduous task. There was no other way. The Hai Tribe needed a lot of timber and firewood. What else could they do without logging?
In those days, there were no metal saws, so chopping down large trees with sharp stone axes and bone knives was a struggle. Although the logging team's fur coats weren't thick, they still had some, so it wasn't considered abuse. Many other tribes did the same.
A month later, three of the ungodly elements in the logging squadron escaped.
Damn it! Ma Yue was complaining in his heart, "Would your life be better if you ran to another tribe? Tsk!
The third leader, Wu Qi, was even more upset. The man had escaped while his logging squadron was working. He felt derelict in his duty. Many of the men had been bought by the tribe with salt and radishes. The loss was enormous, and Wu Qi blamed himself deeply.
The two priests and three leaders once again believed in Ma Yue's "Sea God's Words". Look, Ma Yue said that these people were unreliable, but they really ran away, didn't they?
"Let them run away. Only three of them ran away. That's not many." Ma Yue still comforted Wu Qi.
"Yes, they don't know how to cook salt or grow green onions, so our loss is not big." As the chief, Hai still admires the third chief Wu Qi. They have a good relationship with each other and have made great contributions to the Hai tribe.
"Fortunately, the charlatan prepared for a rainy day and kept the biggest secret of our sea tribe." The high priest even learned a few idioms.
"Charlatan, how about..." The second priest still felt pained. Three strong men ran away, which was equivalent to a lot of green onions and coarse salt running away.
"No need. We agreed not to look at each other differently. If they have the guts, they can keep running. It's winter, what will they eat if they run out? I don't believe it. We in the Hai tribe have food and drink. Sooner or later, they will return." Ma Yue also thought it through and just regarded it as three people died in the war.
We are charlatans, so we have to be magnanimous.
In the future, as the tribe continues to expand, there will be more and more members like this who have no power of faith, so it’s better to get used to it sooner rather than later.
The logging squadron already has over 30 people. We can't just hire more soldiers to guard it, right? It's not cost-effective. The labor force is limited. We should just keep doing what needs to be done.
Well! Now that the charlatan had said so, the two priests and the three leaders stopped dwelling on the issue.
Surprisingly, since the three disloyal elements escaped, no more disloyal elements in the logging team have escaped. Isn't this good? Ma Yue is content.
The second priest and Chief Hai set out again with the trading team to participate in the ice and snow conference.
The Niupi Tribe was relieved to be able to hold the Ice and Snow Festival again. The Hai Tribe had promised to live in peace from now on, and now they had kept their promise.
The Sea Tribe’s exemplary role was immense, and the surrounding tribes, large and small, also breathed a sigh of relief, especially the other four large tribes participating in the coalition.
The Red, Summer, Spring, and Purple Tribes, who participated in the coalition attacking the Sea Tribe, also suffered heavy losses. After the battle, none of them recovered as quickly as the Cowhide Tribe. Now, none of these four tribes dare to call themselves major tribes. You don't have that many able-bodied men anymore, do you?
In terms of foundation, these four tribes are really not as good as the Niupi tribe. Look, the Niupi tribe has overcome the difficulties and has put together a team of hundreds of warriors. Don't worry about the fact that most of them are a little thin, they are still adults after all, right?
Only the high priest of the Cowhide Tribe felt the most pain. The tribe's most secret food storage had been used up. At least they managed to survive the most critical months of the Cowhide Tribe.
This time, the Sea Tribe agreed to exchange the wildebeests and sheep they had on credit from the Sun Tribe at a relatively low price. The high priest of the Cowhide Tribe was very excited. The difference in price would be of great help to the Cowhide Tribe in surviving the winter.
Ma Yue never underestimated the markets of the dozens of large and small tribes around him. Although they looked small, if each family could trade half a thick fur, it would be extremely important for the Hai tribe to survive the winter.
A little bit adds up to a lot. Look, the thick furs traded back from the tribes, the women worked hard and produced more than twenty sets of thick fur coats.
So, if the number of members in the salt-boiling team increases by twenty, will the surplus value be greater?
Therefore, in this area, the price of salt has dropped a lot, resulting in a lot of new purchasing power for tribes of all sizes, which is also good for the Hai tribe itself.
As for radishes, Ma Yue was stingy. Apart from selling 1,000 kilograms to the Yu tribe, with whom he was relatively friendly, he had no more.
Ma Yue knew clearly in his mind that in this primitive society, friendship was useless. If the benefits were sufficient, the Rain Tribe might betray the Sea Tribe in the future.
Selling you a thousand kilograms of radishes from the Rain Tribe was already a good deal. From Ma Yue's perspective, the Rain Tribe's practical value was even lower than the Niupi Tribe's. After all, the Niupi Tribe still had the trade route to Sun City, while your Rain Tribe had nothing.
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