The small chiefs of the Jiang tribe had different thoughts. Each of them was calculating their own interests and weighing the pros and cons from many aspects to find the option that was most suitable for their own interests. As for what Duan Jianhan said, they certainly would not believe all of it. They were older and more mature, so it was impossible for them to believe anything easily. They had reason to doubt everything that was worth doubting.
When a person was too young, he would be naive and easily misled by others. But when a person was too old, he would be easily misled by others. That was to say, when a person was old, he would not be able to think clearly and would be more conservative. He preferred to believe in the old things rather than the new things and did not want to change.
Among all of them, the Grand Chief was undoubtedly the oldest. Although he was not muddle-headed, he was more conservative than anyone else. He hoped to maintain the status quo and did not want any change. He was against Dongnu Province being completely integrated into the Tang Dynasty and becoming a province or county of the Tang Dynasty from the bottom of his heart. Moreover, it was said that the imperial court would build a road through them, which made him even more disgusted. Although it would be more convenient for them to travel after the road was improved and there would be many benefits, he first thought of the disadvantages rather than the advantages. He felt that if the road was built, a large number of people would pour in here, which would seriously destroy the local status quo, disturb their current quiet life, and even make a mess here.
Duan Jianhan was eloquent. After a few words of persuasion, the Jiang tribe leader completely stood on Duan Jianhan's side. He felt that it was very necessary to prevent Dongnu Province from becoming a normal province or county of the Tang Dynasty.
Although the goal was clear, the tribe leaders had a headache about how to implement it. After all, the power of the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty was not something that these tribes in Jirou Province could compare with. If they dared to rebel against the imperial court, they would definitely suffer a disaster. They did not have the power to rebel against the imperial court, but Duan Jianhan would find a way for them. After some persuasion, the Jiang tribe leader felt that Duan Jianhan's words were reasonable. However, he was worried that the other small chiefs would not agree, so he did not dare to implement it rashly. As the tribe leader, he also had to wait for the right time to announce his decision. And this time was after all the small chiefs approved of Duan Jianhan. Only when these small chiefs approved of Duan Jianhan could he better implement his plan.
Duan Jianhan's words suddenly choked the second tribe leader. The second tribe leader was a person who was keen on doing business. He was also the one who lived the most comfortable life among all the tribes surnamed Jiang. If he had not taken out a part of his wealth to support the main village, his life would have been better.
On the surface, the main village was naturally the most prosperous and wealthy. But in fact, the life of the second tribe leader was the best. It was just that they were good at hiding. They made a fortune in silence and quietly hid their strength. In addition, because the second tribe leader did business outside all the year round, he was the most knowledgeable among all the tribe leaders. He was also the one who was not easily fooled. He naturally understood the great significance of road traffic to business and prosperity. He knew that the better the road was, the easier it was to cause business prosperity and wealth. In short, there were many benefits.
But the business prosperity caused by the road did not belong to one person, but to all the merchants. The better the road condition, the more prosperous the business. But at the same time, the more intense the business competition.
In the Western Frontier Area, because the Jiang family was the largest tribe, they still had a lot of advantages. At least, in the Western Frontier Area, the Jiang family's business was the hegemon. But once the road was built, the big merchants from Central Sichuan would probably flood into the Western Frontier Area in large numbers. At that time, their business was very likely to be affected. In this way, the ordinary people would have better choices and could buy cheaper goods. But as the second tribe leader, he would not have a good life. All along, because he did business everywhere, he could take out some money from time to time to help his people. Thus, he maintained a very high reputation. But if his business was taken away by the big merchants from outside, he would not be as rich as he was now. Not only would he not be able to live a rich life, but he would also not have the money to help the poor. Also, he would not be able to make offerings to the big tribe leader. As a result, his status would plummet.
Therefore, although the second tribe leader knew that the road construction was good for the entire Western Frontier Area and could make the people here live a better life, what did it have to do with him? If the premise of making all the people rich was to make himself poor, he would definitely be unwilling. Happiness came from comparison. When everyone around him was better off than him, he would definitely not feel happy. When everyone around him was poorer than him, he would feel happy. This might be cruel, but it was also the truth. The truth was so cruel. Perhaps this was life!
Seeing that the second tribe leader did not speak, Duan Jianwei's face was filled with satisfaction. This meant that he had dealt with another small tribe leader. As long as he dealt with them one by one, he would be able to convince all of them. As long as he could convince all of them, his goal would be achieved. He would not let down the task that his elder brother, Duan Jianwei, had given him.
The first tribe leader had already been convinced by him. The second tribe leader was a businessman. He used the perspective of business to scare the second tribe leader so that the second tribe leader would not dare to say anything. The other tribe leaders were also easy to deal with. Only the seventh tribe leader who came last seemed to be a little unreasonable. He was also a small tribe leader that he urgently needed to take down.
"Tribe leader, this mountain god cannot be offended casually. If we really let the imperial court dig up all the mountains here, wouldn't we be like Dongnu Province and have a once in a thousand year natural disaster?"
The third tribe leader was also a relatively old man. He was as conservative as the first tribe leader. He was also very worried about offending the so-called non-existent mountain god.
The fourth tribe leader then said, "Tribe leader, I agree with brother Duan's words. Our Jiang Tribe has lived here for hundreds of years. The weather has always been good. Everyone has lived and worked in peace. This is all because of the mountain god's blessing! We must not follow the example of Dongnu Province. We must not offend the mountain god! "
When the two elders spoke, the five tribe leaders and the six tribe leaders also nodded repeatedly. They felt that they could not offend the mountain god. They felt that they were the people of the mountain and relied on the mountain god's blessing to live in the mountains. If they offended the mountain god, they would definitely be punished by the mountain god. At that time, it would be a very terrible natural disaster. The people in ancient times were very afraid of natural disasters because every time a natural disaster happened, there would be a large number of deaths and injuries. The consequences were extremely serious, so people could not help but be afraid.
The level of technology in ancient times was limited, and the means to fight against natural disasters were very limited. Even if the imperial court wanted to rescue the disaster area, it would be greatly reduced due to the limited transportation conditions. The effect of the rescue would not be very good. Therefore, the ancient people were very afraid of natural disasters. Once they encountered a natural disaster, it would be a matter of despair. Those who had some savings might be able to survive, but those who had no savings could only starve to death. This time, many people starved to death in the nearby Dongnu Province. As neighbors, they more or less knew how many people starved to death in the nearby Dongnu Province.
There were only a few kinds of natural disasters in ancient times. The more common ones were floods, droughts, locusts, and plagues. There were also some rare natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, forest fires, hailstorms, and so on.
In fact, typhoons were relatively common in coastal areas, but in ancient Hua Xia, the inland was the main area, and the coastal areas were remote areas, so not many people paid attention to them. Therefore, they were not very afraid of typhoons, and they were even less afraid of volcanoes, tsunamis, and so on. The people in the inland were most worried about floods, droughts, locusts, and plagues. These were the four things that the people were truly afraid of.
For the farming people, nothing could make them happier than good weather. In order to have good weather, many ancient people would go around offering sacrifices to pray for good weather. As long as the farming area had good weather, there would be a good harvest, and good weather meant that there would be no floods, droughts, locusts, or plagues. This way, the people would be at ease and be able to live a stable life.
Of course, expectations were just expectations. Since ancient times, all kinds of natural disasters had never stopped, and all kinds of natural disasters were endless. Floods and droughts would happen almost every few years, and locusts and plagues were also very frequent, especially during times of war. Plagues would happen frequently, and even in serious cases, plagues would happen every year, making the people suffer. It was also because of the continuous natural disasters that the ancient people did not live very long. The average life expectancy was generally only thirty or forty years, and during times of war, it was even lower.
Of course, not all areas would have natural disasters on a regular basis. Generally speaking, in a small enclosed environment, the probability of natural disasters was very low. For example, in the area where the Jiang Clan lived, there had been very few natural disasters in the past few hundred years. The weather had always been relatively smooth. After all, their area had a very high forest coverage, so the probability of natural disasters was very low. As long as there were no major accidents, there would generally not be any natural disasters. Even if there were occasional floods and droughts, they were relatively minor disasters that would not have much impact on their daily lives.
Sometimes, when there was not enough water and the harvest was not enough, they could also go to the mountains to hunt and gather wild fruits. As long as there were no major problems with the mountains, their homes would have a great ability to resist natural disasters. As long as there were no forest fires that could not be put out, their residential area would not have any natural disasters.
The Jiang family's ancestor had a good vision. He had chosen a very good residential area. In the depths of this paradise-like mountain, there were almost no natural disasters. Other than being a little poor, there were almost no other shortcomings. If a road was built, the problem of poverty could also be solved. However, these old men were worried that they would destroy the Feng Shui and offend the so-called Mountain God, which did not exist in the first place.
"Everyone, Brother Duan is right. The natural disasters in Dongnu Province are indeed the fault of the imperial court. If the imperial court did not ask for jade from Dongnu Province, Dongnu Province would not have opened up mountains on a large scale, and would not have offended the Mountain God. There would not have been natural disasters, and the people of Dongnu Province would not have starved to death. This is all the fault of the imperial court, and we cannot let this happen to us. We must unite and stop the imperial court's decision together."
The Jiang family's patriarch said.
This old man was too much. Just based on what Duan Jianhan said, he believed him. The East Woman Kingdom was mining jade on a large scale. In fact, only a small part of the essence was offered to the imperial court. Most of it was sold in the market to increase economic income and enrich the people. After all, since there was a large amount of valuable jade in the mountains, why not mine it and sell it? Was it not good to make oneself rich? As for the terrible natural disasters, it had nothing to do with the jade mining. It was just a coincidence.
In fact, the jade mining in Dongnu Province was a little late. If it had been done earlier, they would have been able to gather enough money, and then they could easily buy a lot of food to relieve the disaster. It was because the jade mining was done too late that the money earned from selling the jade was too little. After the disaster, the price of the food shipped by foreign merchants was too high, which led to the expansion of the disaster and made many people hungry. In the end, it was because they did not have money. If they had money, they would not have to worry about natural disasters at all. As long as they offered a high price to buy food, the grain dealers in Central Sichuan would probably rush to Dongnu Province to make enough profits.
At this time, the grain dealers in Central Sichuan were not very willing to go to Dongnu Province because the road was too difficult and unsafe. After the food was transported, the cost increased many times. If they did not sell it at ten times the price, it would not be enough to cover the cost. If they sold it at too high a price, the Dongnu Province would not have enough money to buy it. In this way, the merchants would have wasted their efforts.
Previously, because the weather in Dongnu Province had been good, there was no shortage of food. Many merchants went to Dongnu Province, but there were no grain dealers at all. They all sold other goods, such as silk, Sichuan brocade, small trinkets, and so on. These were all relatively expensive goods that were not sensitive to transportation costs. However, grain was more sensitive to transportation costs. Once the transportation costs were high, the cost of the grain would rise sharply. Under such circumstances, the price would definitely not be low. If the price was too high, many people would not be able to afford it, and then there would be no sales. This was not the scariest thing. The scariest thing was that many people would use force to rob when they could not afford the grain. In that case, not to mention selling the grain, the lives of the merchants might be lost. The reason why many merchants did not dare to go to Dongnu Province to sell the grain was because they considered that many local people could not afford it.
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