Chapter 1107 Two old-timers who saw the grassland for the first time
When they arrived at the north end of the strait, it seemed very lively, because from the very beginning, the focus of the construction of the bridge was on the mainland.
After all, the resources on the mainland side are more abundant, and there are many rocks that can be mined. In order to cast this reinforced concrete bridge, the stone mountain on the northern mainland shore was flattened by two hills. Now all of them have been mixed into concrete and become part of the bridge.
Gu Ji and Tian Hong felt very different when they arrived at the north bank of the bridge.
If the south side of the bridge is quiet and deserted, then the north end is lively.
Almost all the people in the entire bridge construction team are concentrated on the northern land side. There is a huge workers' residential area here, and its scale is comparable to that of a county town, or even larger than a county town.
There are not only residential areas here, but also machines on various construction sites are roaring. Two large stone crushers that are as big as small buildings are constantly devouring large pieces of gravel collected from the mountain, and then being ruthlessly crushed into jujube-sized stones by the rollers of the stone crushers.
The tractors here are also lined up in a long line, constantly sending various gravel, sand and cement to the broken part of the bridge in front.
On the quarrying mountain next to it, two crawler excavators that have been converted into rock drills are also working.
They replaced the bucket in front of the excavator with an air hammer, and then used it to drill holes in the mountain. Then they manually loaded explosives, dispersed the crowd, issued a warning, and finally used a fuse to detonate the explosives.
With a loud rumbling sound, the entire mountain collapsed in an instant.
At this time, other excavators will go up to move those large pieces of stone away, and the small pieces of stone will be directly pushed by loaders, and finally loaded onto tractors, and then unloaded to the yard in the gravel area.
In addition, they also saw a huge canteen built with rammed earth.
The canteen provides meals for more than 10,000 people on the construction site every day. There are hundreds of cooks who cook, wash and cut vegetables in the back, and there are also sea fish sent by fishing boats. In this canteen, every meal is consumed by tons.
No wonder the captain said that there is a shortage of meat here, and no matter how many fish there are, it is not enough to eat.
The construction site is very busy every day, but it is also because of their busyness that the speed of bridge construction is so fast. It takes almost a week to lay a bridge board forward. Although a bridge board is only a few dozen meters, this progress is also very impressive.
Gu Ji and Tian Hong visited here for a day and looked at the workers' residential area. They found that the living conditions here are very poor. There is no yard at all. It is more like a military camp. There is a big kang in one room, and a row of people can lie on it.
Everyone eats in the canteen, and there is no small stove at home, but fortunately, the food on the construction site is not bad. At least rice and meat can be eaten to one's heart's content, but vegetables are pitifully scarce.
The grassland closest to them does not grow vegetables, so the nearest source of vegetables for the construction site is Qiongzhou Island. Vegetables are purchased from the people's homes, whatever they want.
In addition, there are tea leaves and mung bean soup, as well as soybeans, which can be grown into bean sprouts to supplement some vitamins.
Although the Han tribe cannot guarantee the supply of vegetables for them, bean sprouts can still be supplied. After all, that thing can fertilize the fields. Almost every household grows it and can harvest a lot.
Gu Ji and Tian Hong walked around here for a day and experienced the workers' meals. When they were about to leave, the two whispered to Ye An.
"Brother Ye An, why does the residential area here look like a military camp? Don't they have families? Everyone lives together, and I see that the clothes they wear seem to be the same. Are these all the clothes given to them by the tribe?"
Ye An smiled when he heard this and explained.
"Two clan leaders, didn't you ask them?
"These people were captured as prisoners of war when we attacked Qiongzhou Island. They were unwilling to surrender and colluded with the high-ranking officials of the Xin tribe. They would rather fight with our soldiers than lay down their arms.
"So our Han tribe simply arrested them all and asked them to build this bridge without paying them. Don't you think this is a good thing? It's not like the people of your Baiwu tribe who can get so much pay for working for the Han tribe."
Emmmmm
Gu Ji and Tian Hong were both speechless. It turned out that these people were coolies who didn't want money. However, Tian
Hong was still a little puzzled, so he asked again.
"Brother Ye An, if the Han tribe arrested these people, would the people on Qiongzhou Island be willing? Why didn't I see any people saying bad things about the Han tribe? This is unlikely, right?"
Ye An laughed again when he heard this, and he explained again.
"Do the two clan leaders know who these prisoners of war are?"
Gu Ji was a little confused when he heard this. "Who are they? Aren't they from Qiongzhou Island? They are from the tribe you mentioned before."
"Yes, but that's different. Think about it. They know that they are definitely not the opponents of the Han tribe, but they are willing to fight the Han tribe head-on. What kind of people are they?"
This time, without waiting for the two to reply, he spoke again.
"The Xin tribe used to have a hereditary leader. He had ten elders under him. These elders controlled all aspects of the Xin tribe. Some were responsible for refining salt, some were responsible for construction, some were responsible for smelting metals, and some were responsible for livestock breeding and farming.
"These elders are the top leaders of the Xin tribe. They have a transcendent status. They have also sought a lot of benefits for their families. In this case, once they are defeated by the Han tribe, without the transcendent status of the elders, their family members will naturally decline.
"Then who do you think is most willing to fight for them? Of course, it's the tribesmen of the elders and leaders.
"These people usually take advantage of the people of Qiongzhou and bully them. Now we have wiped them out, and our Han tribe has made their lives better. Do you think the people should be happy or scold us?"
Gu Ji and Tian Hong suddenly realized that these prisoners of war were all members of the upper echelons of the Yuanxin tribe. No wonder the ordinary people didn't have any rebellious psychology.
But Tian Hong asked again.
"What is the Han tribe going to do with these prisoners of war? They let them work and don't pay them. Then what? After the work is done, what will the Han tribe do to them? Will they kill them?"
This time Ye An said without any hesitation.
"Of course not!
" "Although these people are prisoners of war and members of the Xin tribe's high-ranking officials, they themselves have not committed any major faults and are human beings just like us, so the leader promised them that as long as the bridge is built, he will let them go home and give them household registration in the Han tribe.
"Besides, building this bridge is not just for the good of the Han tribe, it is also good for them on Qiongzhou Island, and it is a matter of benefit to the whole village, and they are willing to do it, but they don't get paid.
"However, the cannibal prisoners of war captured by the Han tribe from the north are different. They all grew up eating their own kind. Such beasts that eat humans don't deserve to be treated as human beings, so they can only be slaves all their lives, working for the Han tribe until they die, and letting them do whatever is the most tiring and the dirtiest. "
Gu Ji and Tian Hong nodded upon hearing this, and they also agreed with this.
After getting along with the people of the Han tribe for such a long time, the two of them also heard a lot about cannibals. If they encountered such a thing of living with monsters and eating their own kind, they might be more cruel than the Han tribe and kill them all directly.
But the Han tribe is different. The Han tribe has too many things to build. These captured slaves, as Ye An said, can save a lot of money than using their Baiwu tribe workers. After all, they don’t have to pay for their wages, right?!
After learning about the situation here at the cross-sea bridge construction site, the two of them prepared to go to the next stop of this trip.
Their next stop is the grassland. First, go directly east to Binhai County, the southernmost, and then turn north to Zhangwu County and Kaiyuan County. This trip will allow them to see the entire Honghu Three Counties and the grassland forces of the Han tribe. Finally, take a boat from Kaiyuan County and go to the capital via the Honghu waterway.
But before they set off, Ye An asked them with a smile.
"Two clan leaders, we are going to the grassland, but can you ride horses?"
Gu Ji and Tian Hong were stunned.
It is impossible to ride a horse, it is impossible to ride a horse in this life, and they can only rely on riding in a horse-drawn carriage to make a living.
Although Gu Ji and Tian Hong have been in charge of the Baiwu tribe's work in Qian'an County for a long time, and have seen many horses, carriages, tractors and trains, they have only ridden in carriages, tractors, and trains, because they do not need to learn by themselves, just sit on it, and riding a horse is different. This thing needs practice, and it is better to have some talent. Unfortunately, they are in their twenties and don't want to learn it now.
The group set out on the journey again, and Ye An brought a golden flag with a small flag. Wu Wei was on horseback guarding beside them, while Gu Ji and Tian Hong were following in the middle in a carriage.
However, because the carriage was moving slowly, it also slowed down the speed of their entire team.
From the cross-sea bridge to the east, the road to Binhai County is always in a mixed area of coastal forests, mountains and grasslands. On one side are cliffs and woods, and on the other side is the vast grassland. Looking at the green land in the distance, there is no one to be seen, and no house to be seen. Gu Ji and Tian Hong both felt like they were seeing the sea for the first time.
Can anyone really survive in such a broken place?
If you don't understand, just ask. Gu Ji asked Ye An who was following him.
"Brother Ye An, look at that grassland, it's endless and endless, it looks like a sea full of water, but there is no one to be seen here, no house to be seen. You said that the Han tribe has a city here, and there are many herdsmen living here, but why can't you see their figures? "
Hahaha." Ye An laughed loudly for a while after hearing that, then he explained.
"The two clan leaders may not know that the way of life of herders is different from ours. Although you, the Baiwu tribe and our Han tribe, are two different tribes, we both choose to settle in the same place and grow crops for a living. It's just that the crops we grow are more diverse, and you only grow potatoes. Am I right?"
Gu Ji and Tian Hong both nodded. In this regard, the Han tribe and the Baiwu tribe are indeed the same. This is also the reason why they are willing to join the Han tribe. The two tribes have the same living habits, but the crops in the Han tribe are more abundant and the living conditions are better.
"Then isn't the life of herders different?" Tian Hong also asked at this time. "
Of course, herders don't know how to farm. They rely entirely on raising livestock, or grazing, for a living.
"Their main food, clothes, and various things they need in life all come from their own livestock, so as long as they have livestock, they can live. Similarly, their lives must change according to the habits of livestock.
"They don't grow crops themselves, so naturally there is no straw to feed livestock, so they feed livestock with the green grass that grows naturally on the vast grassland.
"They will first choose a place with abundant water and grass to graze there. When their cattle, horses and sheep eat up all the grass there, they will continue to move to another place to graze again, and so on. They have no fixed place to live. The houses they live in are also tents made of sticks and animal skins. After disassembling, they can be carried away by livestock. When they arrive at a new pastoral area, they can set up the tent and it will become their new home."
Hearing Ye An's description and introduction, Gu Ji and Tian Hong were both very surprised. There are people who live like this in the world?
But if you ask them whether the herdsmen live a better life or the farming life of the Han tribe is better, they will definitely not be able to answer.
Thinking of this question, Tian Hong asked immediately.
"Brother Ye An, according to what you said, wouldn't the herdsmen live more comfortably than us? They don't have to work hard, they just drive the livestock to places with water and grass, then they can eat endless meat every day?"
"Hehe." Ye An sneered and asked back.
"Endless meat? You think too much. Nomadic herdsmen are very poor. If they raise too many livestock, they will need larger pastures to supply food, which will inevitably lead to competition with other herdsmen. Once the competition starts, it's either I kill you or you kill me. Anyway, one of them must be killed. They kill each other every day for a piece of pasture.
"There are not enough livestock, and a sheep can only eat for two days at most. How many livestock do they need to raise to be able to eat meat every day? You think too highly of them."
Gu Ji was even more confused at this time, "Didn't you just say that their food and clothing all come from livestock? Then what do they eat if not livestock?"
"Drink milk! "Ye An answered without any hesitation.
"The main source of food for nomads is livestock milk. They will make cheese from milk, which is their staple food. They will also cook fresh milk with oil, tea leaves and other things together. This is called milk tea, or oil tea.
"They are reluctant to eat meat. The whole family depends on the livestock for survival. If they kill one, there will be one less. When will they be able to eat meat?
"When the old livestock give birth to young animals, and the young animals grow up and can produce milk and give birth to young, they will kill the old livestock for meat. This is called natural renewal!"
(End of this chapter)
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