Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 414 The Various Xia in the New World (Part 2)

"Has the time come for the annual meeting to be held as requested by the major northern tribes?"

When Su Guang used his astronomical skills to calculate that winter was approaching, he wondered why rain was still falling to nourish the land, but no snow was falling.
Someone found him and told him the news.

Su Guang said, "This is a good thing, we must go and participate!"

The exploration of the New World by the Chinese gentry was quite difficult.

Because the land here is so vast, and the population is so sparse.

Even more serious is that
There were no large animals such as horses, donkeys, or cattle that could be ridden near the territory where the Yu clan lived.

And those bighorn deer that are easy to fool are lively and active by nature, and are simply not obedient enough to pull the carts that the terrifying two-legged creatures have worked so hard to make.

This made it impossible for Su Guang and his men to travel very far.

The Yu clan also told these distinguished guests who had been staying there for a long time that there were no other tribes in the vicinity besides them.

When Su Guang and the others heard this, they looked very downcast.

Fortunately,

The clan leader of the Yu clan comforted them in time.

According to him,

In the north of the Yu clan, there also existed a powerful large tribe.

Every winter
This tribe would hold a large gathering, requiring neighboring small tribes to bring valuable items to participate, so as to exchange goods and emphasize the importance of strengthening ties between "neighbors".

"This is somewhat similar to the situation when the Yellow Emperor convened a meeting of various states."

Su Guang said this in private.

of course,

No matter from which angle you compare them,

This method of "forming an alliance" was still very crude.

The various states and vassal states of ancient China were far more powerful and wealthy than the tribes of the New World.

The Yellow Emperor, who could make him submit,

He must be a great figure whom the chief of the northern tribe could never hope to match, even if he devoted his entire life and exhausted all his wisdom.

But overall,

Such actions are beneficial to these tribes.
This will also be very helpful for the gentlemen of the Chinese nation to understand this land.

The only pity is that

The meeting place was too far from the Yu clan; it would take several days to travel there.

but,

It was much easier than Su Guang and his group wandering the land clueless and relying on luck to find traces of the locals.

This is one of the reasons why everyone stayed at the Yu clan for so long.

Shortly thereafter,

Su Guang, along with three companions and warriors from the Youyu clan, embarked on a journey north to meet the alliance.

Without carriages or horses,

They could only rely on their own two legs and the thorny shoes woven from straw ropes on their feet.

And that all-natural route,

This also caused great losses for people like Su Guang who were traveling here for the first time.

They often couldn't help but stop, take off their shoes, and expose their accidentally cut soles.

Su Guang would sigh, stroking the thick calluses on his feet, while the warriors of the Yu clan would show off their own thick, large feet, which were supposed to help them grow taller, and look down on Su Guang's "delicate" feet.

“If you hadn’t come, the clan chief wouldn’t have allowed us to participate in this year’s gathering.”

During the night's rest, everyone gathered around the campfire, but instead of sleeping, a member of the Youyu clan, watching the Zhuxia gentleman rubbing his feet, suddenly said this.

The other person's language was as simple as his life; his vocabulary was limited, and his intonation was not very clear.

But Su Guang, with the "blessing" from the gods, could easily understand the meaning behind it.

So he looked at the other person with a questioning gaze.

The other party tried hard to explain:
The Yu clan's situation has always been very primitive.

During the day,
The warriors would go out hunting, while the others would stay in the tribe and make some simple tools.

Wait till night.

The tribespeople would gather together to sing and dance, then crawl into thatched huts and sleep on warm but pungent animal hides.

Because of the abundance of prey in the vicinity
They were able to repeat this interesting, monotonous life throughout the long period of time that the wise men of their tribe had recorded with knots.

The Yu clan didn't really have much motivation to participate in the gatherings held by the northern tribes.

After all, for the Yu clan,

There are many things that you already have enough of around you.

Why bother going to exchange with someone else?

Eat your fill and then sleep.
After waking up, go hunting, and then continue eating!
How wonderful these days are!

The things that large tribes bring out always easily attract the attention of others and arouse their desire.

The Yu clan, a small tribe, also had a need to make contact with the outside world and introduce new bloodlines.

Although primitive,

Although ignorant,

However, the experience left by their ancestors has made tribes such as the Youyu clan realize the dangers of "inbreeding".

Therefore,
Every few years, the Yu clan would send people to the north to exchange for some things and carry out the "introduction of species".

last year,

Yu-shi has already participated once, so he shouldn't have bothered again this year.

However, under the tutelage of Su Guang and others, the Yu family learned advanced techniques such as pottery making, weaving straw sandals and straw mats, which greatly improved their quality of life.

Out of human nature, the Yu clan chief wanted to go out and show off his family's achievements.

After all, before he had studied extensively and his cultural level had been forced to improve significantly, Xiang Yu, the King of Western Chu, once said, "To not return home in glory is like wearing brocade at night!"

Moreover, after realizing the abilities of these visitors from afar, the clan chief hoped to keep them.

However, the Yu clan's simplicity prevented the clan leader from resorting to force.

He simply thought:
By helping someone fulfill their wish, you can make them grateful to the tribe and thus encourage them to join the tribe!
such,

After that, the tribe lived a wonderful life, going out hunting every few days!
After learning the inside story, Su Guang couldn't help but laugh out loud. While stroking his cracked foot, he accidentally used too much force and scratched the wound.

He immediately winced in pain and dared not laugh anymore.

……

When the arduous journey finally comes to an end...
From a distance, Su Guang and his men could easily see flags made of animal hides fluttering in the air.

However, due to the strong winds blowing in the air, the flag was waving wildly, making it impossible to see the words or patterns on it.

And under the flag,

In that extremely simple, open-air "market," many people dressed in primitive clothing were walking around.

They would stop in front of the set-up stalls and pick out the items they liked.

Or some pottery,
Or some animal hides,
Even more unusual, they could be strangely shaped bones and sticks.

If they have a trading idea, they will find a representative of a large tribe and exchange goods in kind, with the representative as a witness.

"Very lively."

"They are also very disciplined."

Based on the situation of the Yu clan, Su Guang made this assessment of the scene.

They walked in slowly, their eyes taking in everything around them.

It must be admitted that

This is an extremely rare manifestation of "civilization" on this land.

"But compared to our area, it's still far, far behind!"

The gentlemen of the various Xia dynasties broke away from this primitive style of painting thousands of years ago.

Looking at these things now, Su Guang and the others couldn't help but feel like they were "returning to the classic version of the game".

"There's nothing to see."

"Let's keep going!" one of the companions suggested. "Let's see what the representative of that large tribe looks like!"

Su Guang agreed with his opinion, and the group moved their feet and walked in the direction corresponding to the flag at the entrance.

"hiss!"

When he arrived at his destination, Su Guang looked at what appeared before him and let out an extremely heavy sigh.

The others did the same, and some even lost their composure!
after all,

What they were faced with left them no room for composure!
"How come there's a cauldron here!"

One of his companions raised his hand, pointed to the opposite side, and asked a question with a flushed face.

(End of this chapter)