"Let's just boil the salt. We've been able to keep it secret for so many years, which is already quite good." Ma Yue had no objection. Isn't there a time limit for a technological monopoly? Besides, boiling seawater salt doesn't really require any technical skills. It's just coarse salt, and all you need is a ceramic basin.
The high priest was unwilling to accept this. He said that boiling salt should be the patent of the Sea Tribe. The Sea Tribe was the most powerful. If you dare to boil salt, I should destroy you.
"Shaman!" The second priest also came.
"What happened again?"
"The Niupi tribe has started to grow radishes. They actually have radish seeds, and it seems that they are growing well. They are even using horn-drawn horses to pull the plow." The second priest was also unhappy, because this meant that the leakage of secrets in his own tribe was very serious.
"Just plant it. We should have the mind and attitude of a boss. Maybe when they become rich, we can benefit more." Ma Yue said.
The chief and second-in-command were somewhat surprised that the salt and radish cooking hadn't caught the attention of the charlatans. Without the advantages of radishes and salt, what would the Hai Tribe do in the future? Even primitive people understood the benefits of a monopoly.
"Let's see, I'm afraid this area is going to be in chaos again." Ma Yue said.
"Is there going to be a war?"
"Don't forget, when our Hai tribe was still weak, we were attacked many times, and wasn't it all for salt? It's good that the Purple Tribe and the Cowhide Tribe can cook salt and grow radishes. I hope they can maintain their strength, haha!" Ma Yue said with a smile.
"Actually, I don't want to fight at all. Our Sea Tribe already has a large enough population."
The High Priest and the Second Priest also agreed. As the tribe's population grew, the pressure of feeding them became greater and greater. These two were the busiest and most concerned people in the tribe.
Or are our production tools too outdated? Are we relying solely on wildebeest to plow the land? Do you think farming is that simple? Without a shovel or a hoe, can we just burn the weeds? In many fields, crops and weeds grow together. No wonder the yields are so low.
We can only use extensive planting.
Ma Yue actually hoped that some large tribe could produce iron tools, or bronze tools would be fine too. The emergence of metal tools would be the beginning of a huge explosion of productivity.
Of course, the prairie environment where the Hai tribe is currently located is very good. If agriculture and animal husbandry can be developed simultaneously, it can somewhat offset the backwardness of some production tools.
This was also Ma Yue's original idea, to focus on animal husbandry and supplement it with farming. However, due to the limitations of the conditions, it was difficult to make a living by farming alone.
It's hard to imagine a tribe of thousands of people relying solely on the crude harvest of a few hundred acres of land. (The original White Mist Tribe only had a mere 100 acres of corn.)
The Hai tribe now has a population of 3,000 people just here. What about arable land? The headquarters has less than 200 mu; with two branches and two villages, it's hard to reach 100 mu, unless you grow radishes for a season.
This is radish, the kind with a relatively high yield per acre. Corn? Only 500 to 600 kilograms per acre. A tribe of 3,000 people couldn't possibly eat it.
Without sufficient animal husbandry and a diet that is more resistant to hunger, people will always be hungry.
Therefore, Ma Yue has been buying wildebeests and sheep, sincerely hoping that the animal husbandry industry will develop.
Building something from nothing always takes time. Wildebeest are too expensive. Although the Hai Tribe now has nearly 500 wildebeest of all sizes, it's still too small. Fortunately, the sheep acquisition and breeding are going well. At least in winter, the Hai Tribe has more opportunities to eat sheep.
Of course, sheep aren't easy to raise, and they love to eat grass. Someone in the past calculated that one acre of well-grown grass could support fifteen sheep.
Fortunately, in this life, the grasslands are free, with abundant water and grass. Even if you graze farther away, you don't have to pay taxes or fight for pasture, right? In ancient China, in order to compete for the fertile pastures, the Mongols often fought each other, and it was very brutal!
The strong men who did the heavy work in winter ate some goat, while the old and weak mostly survived the winter with fish and some rabbits, that was all. They were half-hungry, and as long as they were not frozen to death or starved to death, they were lucky...
"They are attacking us..." The high priest was about to say something but swallowed it back. There are only 3,000 people in the Sea Tribe, so it is unlikely that they will attack us.
"You charlatan, the Cowhide Tribe is better. The Purple Tribe is too aggressive." said the second priest.
The so-called aggressiveness is also relative. Didn’t the Niupi tribe attack the Hai tribe twice?
"There's no rush. By the time the Purple Tribe develops to the point where they have the strength to realize their ambitions, it will probably take several years. In a few years, I can't wait for them to attack us, haha!" Ma Yue said with a smile.
"That's right. If our Hai tribe develops for a few more years, we will have more arable land and more livestock. There's nothing we should be afraid of him." The high priest said. Especially in the defensive battle, the Hai tribe had gained confidence.
"That's true. If the Purple Tribe wants to expand salt production, they need enough pottery basins. Do they have the pottery-making skills? I'm sure the Cowhide Tribe won't sell them anything. As for large concrete basins and stoves, they certainly don't know how to make them. Our Sea Tribe's salt production has also gradually expanded, and we worked really hard to get the pottery basins back then."
At first, we bought ceramic plates, and later, when we were able to make pottery, we couldn't keep up with the pace. Now things are much better. Simple and practical concrete basins and stoves have greatly improved the progress and efficiency of salt boiling.
Without sufficient crude salt production, how could we obtain so many wildebeests?
If the Purple Tribe wants to catch up with the Sea Tribe in the short term, it may take several years.
"You charlatan, I just don't understand. Why is it that in Kirishima, even if you plant corn casually, you can get 500 catties per mu, but here, even with careful cultivation, the yield is only 100 catties more per mu? Why is that?" The high priest was not giving up. If the yield per mu could not be increased, it would not be worthwhile to cultivate corn.
"I'm wondering, could it be a soil problem?" Ma Yue remembered that in his previous life, corn was common and easy to grow. Perhaps it couldn't compare to his past life, where the yield per mu was at least 500... kilograms, right? Some even yielded as much as 800 or 900 kilograms.
"Unfortunately, Kirishima's arable land is too limited." "We can't just cut down all the forests to plant crops, right? That would be exhausting."
In fact, there are only about a hundred acres of land around the Kirishima Third Branch, so there is nothing worth worrying about.
"In the future, we still need to grow corn. After all, it's the staple food, and everyone in the tribe needs to eat some."
"Yes, I understand!" The charlatan had emphasized the importance of staple food several times. The high priest was very concerned about corn. The development of agriculture is a long process of exploration.
"We need to continue to expand our sheep herding. It would be a shame not to fully utilize such a beautiful grassland."
"We have a thousand sheep now, bred and bought. I estimate we can easily add another 500 next year," said the second priest. The winter salt-making process consumes quite a few sheep. Ma Yue meant that with so many able-bodied men making salt, they would need at least two sheep per day.
So, in one winter, almost 200 sheep were eaten. Of course, the more salt you produced, the more wildebeest and sheep you could get in return, making it a very cost-effective trade-off.
Winter is the peak season for trade and sheep purchases. Going to Sun City to buy sheep is too far, so trading sheep with the nearby Niupi Tribe is a reasonable option.
"Don't worry, there will never be enough salt, haha!"
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