Duo Duo's small tribe had a total of 126 people, including all the adults, the elderly, and the children.
They packed up their things and threw away everything that should be thrown away. Otherwise, each person wouldn't be able to carry a hill-sized backpack. Although there were few people and they lived a poor life, they had a lot of daily necessities.
The group of people was ready. The people of the tribe took one last look at the place where they used to live and followed Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's team to the local 'central' tribe without any reluctance.
Xiao Bei and the other nine people called Xu Yilong and also got busy. There were two children in the tribe that they couldn't take care of, so they were carried by the adults. The other small, dark, and thin children were their responsibility.
They called the interpreters to give gifts to the children. There were a total of fifteen children, six girls and nine boys. After asking, they found out that the oldest was eight years old and the youngest was three years old. As for the nine-year-old, they were considered adults and needed help to do a lot of things.
The gifts were very simple. They were candy placed inside a toy, a bamboo toy. When the candy was placed inside, it would be poured out when it was eaten. When it wasn't eaten, it would be played with. It was a toy that Xiao Bei and the others didn't play with at all, but it was very attractive to the local children. Xiao Hei grabbed them one by one and made a few strange sounds from his mouth from time to time. He played very happily.
There were also people who measured everyone in the tribe. When they were resting, there would be people who specially made clothes and shoes for them, just like what Xiao Bei and the others wore. The team carried a lot of cooked cowhide. No matter how hot it was, everyone had to wear high leather boots. Otherwise, they would hurt their feet.
The other people in the tribe were carrying various tools that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan gave them. The new tools were much better than the old ones, so they were very happy. Zhang Xiaobao's team reduced the burden of transportation. Since they were given out, they naturally wouldn't continue to help carry.
Duo Duo carried things on his back and a set of knives in front of him. There were a total of nine knives inserted into a wooden box and locked with a chain.
From time to time, Duo Duo Duo would touch the handles of the knives. Only then did he feel relieved that the things were not lost, and he didn't feel the pain in his chest from being kicked.
"These knives are very valuable, right?" Duo Duo once again touched the handles of the knives one by one and asked Zhang Xiaobao.
"It's alright. We all brought good steel knives with us when we came out. They're much better than the scrap metal you're using." Zhang Xiaobao said that Duoduo had already been solemnly handed over to another strong man in the tribe.
Duoduoduo nodded and walked a few steps before asking, "Why didn't you bring more inferior items? Your inferior items are also very valuable here. The difference between a beautiful bowl and an ugly bowl won't be much worse. We can flip through so many things, but you must have flipped through many times."
"Since I'm going out, I naturally have to bring good things." Zhang Xiaobao explained and then looked at Toto Duo. For some reason, he felt that Toto Duo was just trying to find something to talk about, as if he wanted to achieve some sort of goal.
Duo Duo Duo nodded and didn't say anything this time. Until noon, when they needed to stop and rest, they chose a relatively flat place for Zhang Xiaobao's family to eat. The other places were randomly chosen. Of course, the flattest place was reserved for the people who made the clothes and shoes.
Today's lunch was still stewed. A large pot was placed on the rack with a fire under it. They threw in all the jerky that the tribe had saved with great difficulty to stew. This was not enough, so they also threw in some of the things they had hunted on the road and some wild vegetables. When they were cooked, they poured the noodles into it to make soup. Each person had a bowl to eat.
Such a simple meal was sumptuous for the people of the tribe. They carefully held the iron bowl with one hand and reached in with the other hand to grab the food. However, they felt that it was too hot, so they gave each person a spoon, which was very strenuous to use.
The food of the nine children was better than the others. There was a small plate of kimchi. Seeing that the children of the tribe were staring at it and wanted to grab it with their hands, Xiao Bei had no choice but to put some into their bowls. She didn't want to eat the food that Xiao Hei had grabbed. There was a limit to how approachable she could be.
The children of the tribe didn't see that she didn't want them to grab the food and happily ate a mouthful of the kimchi. It was sour and sweet, and their faces showed a happy expression. They were very satisfied.
Xiao Bei looked and carefully tasted the food in her bowl. After swallowing it, she said, "It's really delicious. I also think it's a blessing."
"Do we still need to talk about our cook's skills? Of course it's delicious. Do you think you have a hard life? "Xiao Yuan said and lowered his head to eat, pretending that he didn't see Xiao Bei's glare.
A normal adult would be full after eating a big bowl, but the people of Duo Duo Duo Duo finished a bowl and looked at the pot. They found that there was still some left, so they made do and ate half a bowl each. After eating, they were panting, not knowing whether it was because they were too full or because it was too hot.
The team continued on their journey, but the clothes and boots were still not ready.
Duo Duo Duo touched the hilt of the knife in front of her chest again. Suddenly, she turned her head and asked Zhang Xiaobao, "Do you know how to grow food? Do you know how to raise cattle and sheep? "
Zhang Xiaobao looked over and nodded. "It's okay. My family has Zhuangzi, which is specially used to grow food and raise livestock. Moreover, the yield is very high. If you want to raise livestock, I think chickens are good. Catch a wild chicken, cut off its wings, tie a rope between its legs, and encircle an area with a fence. You can eat eggs and chicken.
If you can pay enough, I can even get people to send you good breeding chickens and pigs. I'll tell you how to take care of them. "
"What's the price?" Duo Duo Duo asked anxiously.
"Uh ~!" Zhang Xiaobao paused for a moment, smacked his lips, and shook his head. "Let's not talk about the price first. You don't have anything. Other than more than 120 people, you can't take out anything else. I'll tell you how to raise wild chickens and pigs first. I'll find a few people to introduce them to you."
"Alright." Duoduoduo felt very helpless. He really couldn't take out enough things to exchange with the other party. After hesitating for a while, he took a deep breath and mustered up his courage. He said to Zhang Xiaobao:
"I've thought about it. If I go back to the big tribe, they will take away my knife. They will take away the clothes and shoes you made for us. I can't resist at all. They will kill all of us.
I intend to stay away from them, go to a place where they can't find me, and live a peaceful life with my people. But we don't know how to grow food, and we don't know how to raise things. We used to trade with them every few days with game and fish that we caught.
If you can teach us, I won't have to worry about not having anything to trade. If you leave us some of your good tools, I'm willing to do anything for you. "
This time, Zhang Xiaobao understood that Duoduo was also ambitious. He also wanted to resist exploitation and oppression. It was just that he didn't have the ability in the past. Now, he felt that if he found a temporary backer and learned some skills, he would not be controlled by the big tribes.
Zhang Xiaobao didn't answer immediately. He was thinking about how to solve the current problem of Duoduo's tribe while he was on the road.
Until night fell, when they would arrive at the area where the big tribes lived, Zhang Xiaobao still couldn't figure out a solution. He seemed to be very confused.
During dinner, he personally roasted the meat of a deer that he had hunted on the road for his younger siblings. He also cooked roasted deer belly and steamed rice for the children in the tribe to eat together. Together with the four injured members, he and Wang Juan continued to eat together with the rest of the team.
Duoduo was very puzzled. He pointed to the two large portions of food and rice and said: "You can eat."
"We can't eat." Zhang Xiaobao seriously replied.
"You are the leaders." Duoduo emphasized.
"Yes, but we are not the wounded and the children." Zhang Xiaobao replied again.
Duoduo shook his head. Obviously, he didn't understand why the leaders of a group couldn't eat well.
Zhang Xiaobao didn't expect Duoduo to understand. After dinner, he went into the tent with Wang Juan and began to discuss the matter mentioned by Duoduo during the day.
"I really don't know how to arrange it." Zhang Xiaobao sighed.
"You have the ability to help them, but you feel that you can't get enough in return. Because they are not the people of the Tang Empire, you are hesitating whether to integrate them into the Tang Empire. You consider that they are not among the 56 tribes, so you naturally exclude them, right?"
Wang Juan analyzed Zhang Xiaobao's thoughts and said.
Zhang Xiaobao admitted: "Indeed, I always treat them as outsiders. And they are too backward and don't understand the Tang Empire. If I want to integrate them into the Tang Empire, I have to put in a lot of effort.
Where to arrange them is the problem. Put them at the border? Their lives will improve, and at the same time, they are still them, not the people of the Tang Empire. If they are separated, they will not be able to adapt. They are almost a family, and it is very immoral of you to separate them. "
"Then how can you arrange the Six Zhao, the original Tubo, and the people at the border who were tricked into becoming hostages, the Turks, the Silla, and the other remote areas?" Wang Juan asked suggestively.
"Because they are … Alright, they are one of the fifty-six races. It could be fifty-seven, or fifty-eight, or eighty-five. I just didn't get it right for a while. Then, if I help them, I will help myself. Together with the people of the large tribes, I will take away the authority of the leader and return them to the Tang Empire. "
Zhang Xiaobao thought it through, and the previous problem was no longer a problem.
Wang Juan smiled and said: "We can not kill the leader, but we can't let him have trusted subordinates. According to the plan, we will first take them away and let them be our logistics personnel. Slowly get to know them, and as time goes by, their leader's authority will gradually weaken in the hearts of the people of the tribe.
If they play tricks, we will use this as an excuse to kill them. If they are honest, we will let them live. I hate it the most when I accept a group with its original management. It is the same for the military, the government, and the business. "
"I hate it too. Let's sleep. Tomorrow, we will not tell Duoduo all the plans. Just tell him that we will help him. When we arrive at the place, we will trick everyone to follow us."
Zhang Xiaobao yawned and pulled the blanket over himself and Wang Juan. He listened to the sounds of the little ones playing as they couldn't sleep and fell asleep.
The next morning, the people of Duoduo's tribe changed into new clothes and boots.
After breakfast, Zhang Xiaobao pulled Duoduo aside and whispered to him. Duoduo's face finally showed a look of relief and excitement.
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