The sound of Xiao Bei's laughter woke up Xu Yilong, who was digging for wild herbs by the lake. He looked up at the nine happy little guys, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. There was a look of relief on his face.
Zhang Xiaobao happened to see Xu Yilong's appearance when he raised his head. At this time, Xu Yilong was not as high-spirited as before when he was following the team. He looked very easy-going and natural.
Zhang Xiaobao knew that this was a sublimation of thinking. When Xu Yilong returned, he would be much higher than the others of his generation. In that case, he would have an explanation to Old Man Xu Jian.
At the same time, the Tang Empire would have one more useful talent, or a good official.
Although the children nowadays were educated, and the requirements for students during the imperial examination were getting higher and higher, which seemed very fair, in fact, it could not offset the advantages of the official family.
This was inevitable. The same situation existed in any country and era with a system. Whether it was China, the United States, Japan, or Russia, one's family background had always played a very important role.
Since he could not stop it, it was better to find a way to improve the personal quality of the official's children. If using a knife to cut off the water did not work, then adding fuel to the fire.
Use the system to limit some of the power, and use the humanities to influence some of the officials. Even if there were still various kinds of corruption in the end, the number would naturally decrease. Try to improve the ability of the officials as much as possible, and at the same time ensure the relative income of the officials. Their salary must be in the upper class of society, and their welfare must be higher than ordinary people. Otherwise, they would be in a strong temptation.
"Yilong, how many wild vegetables have you dug?" Zhang Xiaobao, who was in a good mood, waved to Xu Yilong and shouted.
Xu Yilong slowly stood up, carrying a basket in one hand and a leek scythe in the other, and walked over. After a few steps, she tilted the basket so that Zhang Xiaobao could see the wild vegetables inside. She said, "Not much, only half a basket. It's enough to boil soup for a few people. It's not enough to cook vegetables."
"Huh? Why is it different? " Xiao Bei jumped twice and came in front of Xu Yilong. It looked at her carefully from head to toe and then looked at the wild vegetables in the basket with a curious look.
Xiao Bei felt that the Xu Yilong in front of her was like a different person compared to before. Her tone and actions gave her the feeling that she was calm, not deliberate or pretentious. Her gaze was no longer aggressive, but so gentle.
"You've changed so quickly. What are you doing? Teach me. You teach me how to change my expression. I'll teach you how to negotiate. I'm very good at negotiating. "
Xiao Bei nudged Xu Yilong and said.
"I want to thank you all. Actually, I'm still me. It's just that I'm a little different after meeting you all. As for your skills, I must learn them. Even if I have to cook for you all every day, I must learn all of your skills. Otherwise, wouldn't I have come all this way for nothing?"
Xu Yilong lifted the basket in her hand and said to Xiao Bei, meaning that she was going to cook today.
Xiao Bei took a step back and waved his hand. "No, let's learn from each other. As for cooking, please spare us. You're a good person. You can't torture us like this. But … we have a seasoning called thirteen spices. It's still very good. If you don't believe me, you can ask Chief Simo Domo He."
Xiao Bei smiled and looked at Simo Domo He.
Simo Domo He's expression was not very good. During the negotiation just now, he did want to bully the little ones. He wanted to use an ivory bead to exchange for fifty kilograms of salt from Xiao Bei.
His idea was very good. It was safer to exchange for the salt in his hands. Although they followed the Tang team and discussed before that there would be salt to eat, if one day they were angry, or if the whole team did not have enough salt, it would inevitably be a burden to the people in his tribe.
He had some salt in his hands that could be used at critical moments. If the little ones could exchange for a few more ivory beads, he would have a lot of salt. He could dissolve it in water and drink it to make people feel strong.
In the end, it was Xiao Bei and the others who asked what kind of seasonings they needed. He said that if they sold the salt directly, they would not sell it. They had to match it with seasonings.
Therefore, the seasonings were expensive. He said that there were eighteen kinds of seasonings, matching them with the salt one by one, then two by two, three by three, until there were eighteen kinds of seasonings. In the end, there were 153 kinds of seasonings that were matched with the salt alone. Then, adding the 18 kinds of seasonings that were matched with the salt alone, it became 171 kinds of seasonings. Then, he added three by three, four by four, and so on. He was confused, but there were a lot of them.
After calculating, it was obvious that it was not possible. Simo Domo He was not stupid. He did not want to talk about other things and only wanted to talk about salt.
Xiao Bei and the rest of the nine could not directly sell the salt. Although there was a lot of salt in the Tang, it was only useful if they carried it with them. Otherwise, if they did not eat salt, they would fall sick. They saw this point and used salt as the main condition to talk about other seasonings.
This was because there were many seasonings in the area. Other than chili, many of the other seasonings grew well. Xiao Bei and the rest were puzzled. Why were there so many seasonings in the area? They did not know that if there were not so many varieties, their brothers and sisters could not eat curry every day in India. Even if they were imported, they had to take the climate into consideration. Therefore, it was said that the area itself was produced.
Xiao Bei and the rest took out a few pieces of deer jerky for Simo Domo He to taste. Deer jerky was made with a few kinds of seasonings. They could not carry any seasonings with them. The smell was too bad.
After Simo Domo He ate it, he felt that it was indeed not bad. When he heard Xiao Bei and the rest say that it would taste better with more seasonings, he could not help but be tempted.
Xiao Bei and the rest struck while the iron was hot. They said that they could provide an unlimited amount of seasonings to Simo Domo He and his people. As long as they could eat it, they would provide all they had, including salt.
The prerequisite was that Simo Domo He also had to give all he had.
Simo Domo He was happy and said, "You can give me as much as I want." Xiao Bei said, "No, I want as much as you can eat. If you eat one jin of salt per person a day, I will give you one jin per person. If you can eat two jin, I will give you two jin."
They went back and forth on this topic. Simo Domo He was very tired. They had nine people, but he was only one. After an hour, he agreed. When he agreed, he was in a good mood. He felt that he could hunt for ivory in the future, but he could not find seasonings and salt.
Just as they were about to leave, Xiao Bei told him that there were seasonings in the area. If they wanted them, they had to send people to pick them. Then, there would be people in the group who would specially make them. They could eat as much as they wanted, but the prerequisite was that they had to pick them. If they did not pick them, it was fine. Their own group would pick them and provide seasonings. However, their own group would pick them, and the usual hunting of wild animals would be left to their tribesmen.
Simo Domo He became depressed when he knew that there were seasonings in the area and that his own people had to work for them.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan saw his tired and depressed appearance.
The nine of them were, of course, happy because they still had a backup plan. They did not usually eat thirteen-spice, but it did not mean that thirteen-spice was worthless. There were many Tang people who did not eat much of it. If they continued to move forward and entered the territory of the Maneaters, they could still sell it to them.
Besides, thirteen-spice or eighteen-spice, other than the influence of the season, there was also the secret recipe for processing. It was not that you would get thirteen-spice if you collected thirteen kinds of plants. If the combination was not good, people would fall sick. There were things that were sun-dried and shade-dried, and special ones needed to be smoked.
This was not told to Simo Domo He, and it was not in the agreement. When the time came, they would collect the plants that were in the current season and process ten portions. They would just give them one portion and say that the processing process failed.
Simo Domo He did not know, or else he would fall to the ground again. Nitroglycerin would not be able to save him.
When he heard Xiaobei's words, Simo Domo He smiled at Xu Yilong, but it was a forced smile.
Xu Yilong didn't even need to ask to know what was going on. She had heard too many legends about Xiaobei and the others when they were negotiating with others. She knew even more about Thirteen Spice. Although it wasn't very cheap, it wasn't so expensive that it was unbearable.
Even if an ordinary family did not eat it, they could buy a bag for a dozen copper coins and leave it at home. When guests came, they could cook it to enhance the taste. Just like tea leaves, that bag was enough to last them for half a month. Those who were slightly better off could eat it casually.
Its biggest use was to cook meat. No matter how bad your cooking skills were, you could cook a chicken or some pork, put water in the pot, and add thirteen-spice. The taste would be good. Salt had to be added last. This was the current rule. If you added salt in advance, you would find that the same level of saltiness would require more salt. Unless it was specially made to make braised food, the salt had to be added first, and then it had to be soaked for a long time.
At this time, Xu Yilong was thinking about how Xiaobei bullied Simo Domo He with the thirteen-spice. Simo Domo He's condition was obviously not right. He had just fallen ill, and it was not easy.
However, after seeing Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, Seymour Duomo, who was in a bad mood, suddenly revealed a peaceful smile. He instantly understood that what was his might not necessarily be his.
Since he was going with the Tang people, he still had many good things in his hands. What would happen? Why not take this opportunity to exchange with the nine children? He thought that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan would be happy to see that their younger siblings had more good things.
"Eh? You also know how to change your face. " Xiaobei was about to show off his achievements when he suddenly realized that Simo Domo He's expression had also changed. He could not help but feel puzzled.
Zhang Xiaobao smiled and said to Xiaobei, "They did not change their faces, but their hearts. People know how to give and take, so they are open-minded. Pack up and we will leave in two days."
"Oh!" Xiaobei agreed, but he still did not understand what was going on. He realized that he could not figure it out at the moment, so he stopped thinking about it. He snatched the basket from Xu Yilong's hand, grabbed one end, and passed the other end to Xiaoyuan. The two of them carried the basket and skipped towards the campsite.
"Do you still need me to do anything?" Simo Domo He asked Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan.
"Don't bring too many things, especially wooden tools that you don't usually use. Throw away what you need. When everyone is here, gather those who are sick together," Zhang Xiaobao said to Simo Domo He.
Simo Domo He hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "I know, kill those who are sick."
"What did you say?" Zhang Xiaobao asked in surprise.
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