Volume 10: Our Journey Chapter 322 Return
"Ted?!"
“Yale!!”
When the two surviving senior officers of the Tiger Tribe met, they excitedly hit each other's shoulders and backs hard, and both laughed loudly.
Xiao Yun, who was standing next to him, listened to their "fist-to-flesh" greetings, and the corners of his mouth twitched... He would never dislike the Minotaur's death hug again.
Ted Zhongzhang probably rushed over as soon as the factory finished work. The canvas work clothes he was wearing were still stained with potato starch. He rushed to the square in front of the cafeteria like the wind, found the tiger-headed people following Xiao Yun and the grassroots tribe leader, and immediately pounced on them... That momentum was completely worthy of the adjective "a tiger descending from the mountain"...
Ted is older than Yale. He was a middle leader of the Tiger Tribe 20 years ago. Due to his limited vision, level and luck, he did not get the same promotion as Yale, from leader to head leader. At first, he was a little dissatisfied with a "young man" like Yale taking the position of head leader. But after the death of the Tiger King, the collapse of the Tiger Tribe, and only he, a middle leader, and more than 200 tribesmen were left in the royal court, the Yale Headquarters far away on another continent became his spiritual sustenance... The responsibility of continuing the race was too heavy for a standard middle-level military officer like him!
"My tribesmen...are you all okay?" Ted couldn't help asking, regardless of whether he was in a crowded square or not.
"Everything is fine." Yale was also very excited, but he was obviously more stable than Ted. "How are the tribesmen on the grassland?"
"We are fine too." Ted smiled and greeted the veterans who followed Yale.
The grassroots chief standing beside Xiao Yun shook his head silently, unable to bear to watch Ted's performance...
Whether to intervene in the internal affairs of the Tiger Tribe was also discussed among the top leaders of Huoyan City. Ali once suggested that if the Yale Great Tent was difficult to control, they should support Ted Middle Tent, a Tiger Tribe general, to seize power - now it seems that the Yale Great Tent is a "reasonable" person, and Ted Middle Tent really does not look like he is capable of competing with the Yale Great Tent!
Well, the grassroots tribe leaders were of course strongly opposed to the proposal of Tribe Leader Ali, and Xiao Yun also shook his head.
The reason why Xiao Yun did not support it was that the weakened Tiger Tribe had no need to spend energy on splitting up again... and they had the energy to march towards the Far East!
The fact that the grassroots leader disagreed with the use of the same methods against the Far East against the Tiger Tribe did not mean that she had no ideas about the Tiger Tribe. She was somewhat disappointed by the subordinate relationship between the Ted Middle Tent and the Yale Big Tent after they met, but in her disappointment with the lack of "home court awareness" of the Ted Middle Tent, she suddenly came up with a bold idea.
Glancing at Xiao Yun obscurely, the Grassroots Chief put on a smile and strode into the middle of the Tiger-headed people. She patted Ted, who she dealt with more often due to work, affectionately and said, "Let's not stand here. Let's go into the cafeteria and talk while we eat." After Ted nodded excitedly, she asked with concern, "Ted, are you the only one who came here?"
Ted, the accountant, was a little embarrassed: "We haven't completed this month's production yet, and everyone is still working overtime."
"That's right. Then take us to your foundry later and let your people see the results of your work." The grassroots chief smiled and put his other hand around the White Tiger veteran's shoulder.
"Can we go?" The old tiger soldier who was embraced by the grassroots chief was flattered.
"Of course, our farm is not a restricted area." The Grassroots Chief laughed, "Ted's OEM factory is very rich, so let Ted take care of your food and lodging. Just eat and drink his food!"
Ted's face flushed and he patted his chest: "No problem!"
The Grassroots Chief turned around and smiled and said to the Tiger Clan veterans: "Don't be fooled by Ted's gray clothes. He is a wealthy family here. His house is more spacious than ours..."
Yale stared blankly at the grassroots chief who had captured the attention and thoughts of his people with just a few words for two seconds, then followed with a smile.
Xiao Yun, who was left at the end, said: "..."
The grassroots chief, who took control of the situation with just a few words, turned back casually and winked at Xiao Yun.
"I haven't given up on using the Laohu tribe to make vermicelli yet." Xiao Yun was both angry and amused.
He had analyzed with the grassroots chiefs many times that the longer the tiger tribe's separation lasted, the better it would be for absorbing these tiger-heads. But obviously, after discovering that his attitude towards the tiger tribe's headquarters had changed, the grassroots chiefs did not want to wait that long - the tiger tribe's wind magic talent was indeed valuable in making vermicelli, and the workload of two bear tribes combined was equivalent to that of one tiger-head!
Glancing at the back of Yale's tent, Xiao Yun thought about it and felt that this was not a bad idea... The Tiger Tribe was in a downturn, and the leader couldn't stand up straight. He could take this opportunity to solidify the hierarchical relationship between the Grassland Kingdom and the Tiger Tribe, and let the Tiger Tribe members get used to trusting and even relying on Huoyan City, which would not affect the implementation of the plan.
"In this case, just hiring and cooperating is not enough... Well, let them send the cubs here. It's better to educate them together than to let them roam freely." It's impossible for all the subordinates to be Zhuge Liang who never makes mistakes. When subordinates act rashly and take risks, the superiors have to cover for them. The grassroots chief who is eager to gain manpower will undoubtedly arouse the suspicion and vigilance of the tiger tribe. Xiao Yun can't expose the grassroots chief, so he can only take the blame.
So... the next morning, before Ted's middle tent happily took his people away, Xiao Yun took the Yale tent to visit the school in Huoyan City, and asked them to send the cubs to Huoyan City for collective education... The Yale tent stared at him with an extremely dangerous look for at least five seconds.
Xiao Yun looked at him innocently with a particularly friendly smile: "The cubs of Ted Zhongzhang are attending school. Let's go and see how they are doing."
Seeing those little tiger heads sitting in the same classroom with calf heads, cat cubs, and goblin cubs, the Yale tent was silent for a long time and nodded silently.
Sage Ayun did not directly say whether to take the tiger cubs as hostages, and the Yale tent did not ask whether the Fire City would take their cubs as hostages. Although window paper is something that can be broken with a poke, it is still necessary for it to exist...
Yale did not receive a genuine elite education, but the environment he experienced was enough to train a person. When he led his people out of the Endless Mountains and moved into the more fertile and more popular Bolton Territory, Yale knew that the future of the Tiger Tribe was destined to be tied to the grassland, and this was what he wanted to see... The Tiger Tribe still had value that was worth winning over, which was better than having no one to rely on.
After returning to his homeland with the old soldiers, Yale was ready to declare that "the Tiger Tribe is willing to be a vassal" - he was not naive enough to think that the Fire City headed by the Snow Wolf Tribe had no purpose towards the Tiger Tribe!
But now... Huoyan City is not only planning to take the Tiger Tribe as its vassal, but is also planning to swallow the Tiger Tribe whole!
The Yale tent is a bit square!
With such a complicated mentality, Yale Dazhang silently got on the cart heading to the cat farm.
Then... Yale saw the Tiger Tribe's factory covering dozens of acres, as well as the Tiger Tribe members surrounding those unfamiliar strange machines, and the Bear Heads who were learning from them.
"The Bear tribe's foundry was completed two months ago, but the output did not meet expectations, so their workers came back to us for further training." Ted Zhongzhang pointed at the tribe member who was leading the apprentice and introduced him, "Hey, Sang Xi is the workshop director of the Bear tribe. There are always problems with their starch pool, so this time they plan to learn all the operating procedures of our Tiger tribe..."
The Yale tent opened its mouth slightly: "..."
"Is Sang Xi really that capable?" The White Tiger veteran did not have as many concerns as Yale, and asked in surprise.
“Hahaha…” Ted laughed a few times first, and then whispered after leading the visitors out of the starch workshop, “In fact, there is something wrong with the living habits of the bear tribe. They don’t pay much attention to hygiene, so the vermicelli they make has a lot of impurities and always fails the inspection…”
After visiting the foundry, Ted, who had suppressed his desire to perform for a long time, took Yale to visit the tiger tribe's living area.
The beautiful townhouses (saving building materials for the walls on both sides...), the small garden attached to each house, and the standard and grand street scenes full of the atmosphere of big cats and small children, directly shocked the Yale tent and veterans who had seen big scenes.
"It's really great, it's even more spacious than the human neighborhoods!" The veterans were extremely moved. They had been worried that the tribesmen who stayed behind in the grassland would not have a good life, but now they were all relieved.
Ted smiled widely. He hadn't been so happy in a long time. "Chief Arthur said that the houses of the Lion Tribe all have nice yards where they can bask in the sun. We of the Tiger Tribe should have some too. So when we built our houses, we allocated more land to us. Not only did we have to have small gardens in our houses, but we also had to make the streets wider (actually, they were trying to get more money out of the Tiger Tribe...). Chief Arthur should be at the farm office now. Let's go visit her."
In a blue brick house that was older than the new house where the tigers lived, the tigers saw the snow leopard Arthur with a kind and friendly smile on his face.
"We are finally reunited!" Patriarch Arthur knew the Yale tent, so he smiled at Ted's tent, "Ted, we can't be stingy on such a happy day. Why don't you spend some money to hold a bonfire party in the square behind the cafeteria so that everyone can have fun."
"No problem." Ted patted his chest generously.
"I just like your straightforwardness!" Chief Arthur jumped down from the kang and pulled Ted out of the tent. "Come and pick the ingredients for the party. Don't use the ones stored in the warehouse. We need all the ones that have just been picked!" He then called out to the veterans, "It's time to eat the rich. No one should be polite to Ted!"
When the veterans first met Chief Arthur, they were a little uncomfortable with the idea of such a small cat tribe member (compared to the tiger tribe, the snow leopard is indeed quite small) being the direct leader of the tiger tribe. However, with Chief Arthur's ability to get along with the people second only to that of a grassroots chief, the veterans naturally followed Chief Arthur after just a few words...
Yale who fell aside: "..."
Both the grassroots chief and chief Arthur were consciously or unconsciously highlighting Ted's status and downplaying his influence as the head of the tiger tribe. Yale was not stupid and it was impossible for him to not come to his senses at this point.
But there is nothing wrong with the actions of these two patriarchs. They always say "we" and "everyone". Yale must admit that these new leaders of the grassland really know how to win people's hearts.
Shaking his head with a wry smile, Yale cheered himself up and followed the crowd.
Let him see what other tricks these grassland people have!
The bonfire party held at the cat farm that night was quite lively. Even a troupe of cats, humans and snakes came to perform an impromptu show. Under the deliberate promotion of Chief Arthur, the Yale tent and the veterans happened to witness how popular and respected Ted's tent was here...
"Isn't it too obvious? I think the man in the big tent doesn't look too happy." Privately, A Jiang, the golden cat cub who was personally trained by Chief Arthur, asked Chief Arthur this question.
"It's okay. We have the support of the grassroots chiefs." Chief Arthur was very calm. "Ayun didn't object. This must be possible."
Ah Jiang nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
The Yale chief was very patient. Even when the veterans he brought with him gathered around Ted's central tent, he did not utter a word that would disturb the interest of his fellow soldiers.
It was not until the third day after arriving at the cat farm that Chief Arthur revealed his true intentions... He first arranged for several veterans to help in the foundry, and then brought the Yale tent to attend the farm management meeting.
Halfway through the meeting, Yale's gaze towards Patriarch Arthur was extremely deep... By the end of the meeting, Yale's gaze towards Ted was already very complicated.
Ted, who had already been integrated into the system of Fire City without realizing it, was completely oblivious to Yale's complicated feelings. He said cheerfully, "Big Account, I think this is a good idea. If the scale of the foundry is expanded to a thousand people, we can also use the new starch machine from the Balk Vermicelli Factory. It is more efficient than the current pulping machine."
Seeing that Yale looked wrong, Ted seemed to have thought of something and quickly said, "Of course, in this case, it would be inappropriate for me to continue to be the director of the foundry. Why don't you arrange someone to take over the factory?"
The longer Ted hangs out with a shrewd man like Chief Arthur, the more he knows about his own abilities. He got promoted to the position of middle commander purely through seniority, and the adjutant arranged for him by King Tiger was also a similar candidate, so it is understandable that the head commander is not confident in him.
Yale: “…”
The Tiger Chief patted Ted on the shoulder with mixed feelings, and all he could say turned into a sigh...
"Did the Yale Tent agree?"
In Huoyan City, seeing the grassroots chief smiling, Xiao Yun knew that the chief's rescue plan had succeeded. If it were someone else, Xiao Yun would have already burst out with praise. As for the grassroots chief's words, Xiao Yun couldn't help but want to hit her: "You are too bold. The head of the account is not as easy to deal with as Ted. What if he doesn't cooperate so well, or sees through our bottom line and turns the table to force us to make concessions, a good thing can turn into a bad thing."
"I know, I know. Exposing your bottom line too early will make it easier for people to make trouble, right? We should take it slow and give them some buffer time to let them consider the pros and cons, and then create a fear of loss. Only then can we reach out and grab them firmly. I understand this." The grassroots chief laughed, "But if we follow your steps, we will have to let the person go first and wait for a year or two before we can bring him over. Why waste this time? I think you are being too cautious, Ayun. We don't need to be so cautious now."
Xiao Yun opened his mouth wide: "..."
He lowered his head to reflect, and said in a tangled way: "Well - you are right, I was too cautious in this regard. With the bargaining chips we can bring, we really don't have to worry about the current tiger tribe turning the table."
Not insisting on one's own opinions for the sake of face is a quality that management should have. The members of the Yale Tent frequently deal with the grassland. Even if the Yale Tent hopes to keep a distance from Huoyan City for its own interests, the flow of information between the upper and lower levels cannot be closed just like that. What's more, the Yale Tent has already made a gesture of willingness to submit?
The head has been lowered, it is only a matter of time before it bends down. Xiao Yun plans to invest another year or so in taming the tiger tribe out of habit, but when he thinks about it carefully, it doesn't matter if he pulls them over forcefully.
After adjusting his thoughts, Xiao Yun quickly cheered up: "Well, since the situation is like this... then we should take advantage of the situation and eat the tiger tribe. Don't waste this good opportunity."
This time it was the grassroots chief's turn to open his mouth wide: "Wait, your thoughts are jumping too fast for me to keep up, what are you planning to do?"
Xiao Yun smiled mysteriously...
The Yale tent, which had just reluctantly accepted the fact that the Tiger Tribe would be absorbed into the New Grassland Kingdom, was soon summoned to Huoyan City for a "National Defense Military Conference."
At the meeting, Yale looked at White Bear General Wood on the left, then looked at Lion Clan General Gloria, Wing Clan Elders and others on the right, then turned his gaze to the Flame Nation Marshal Yu, General A Tian, Xiao Hua and others in front of him, with a confused look on his face.
——Why are there people from the Far East present?! This is a military meeting of the Prairie Kingdom, right?
The sage Ayun, who was presiding over the meeting, stood up and said to the participants in high spirits: "According to the information we have received, the expeditionary force of the White Bear Clan will enter the York Mountains before August."
General Gloria, the Wing Clan elders, the Tea Bear elders, Marshal Yu and others looked in the direction of White Bear General Wood, and applauded with smiles...
Yale: “???”
"That's great, Wood, Hal. We can mark out the land for the white bear farm in advance." Chief Arthur, the representative of the No. 1 Cat Farm, said happily to the two white bears attending the meeting.
Wood nodded reservedly, but Hal, who was sitting next to him, was not as calm as him and waved his fist excitedly.
"Arthur, are the farm machinery at the farm enough to support the white bears?" asked the representative of the new hilly district, the gray dwarf Baru.
"It's enough. The batch we bought at the beginning of the year hasn't been used yet. If it's not enough, I'll submit another order to you." said Patriarch Arthur.
"Wait, it's not appropriate for the white bear to belong to Farm No. 1, right? Will Chief Arthur be too busy?" The representative of Farm No. 2, Leopard Xia, suddenly said, "In the past two years, our Farm No. 2 has been developing towards the source of the Earth River. The soil and water there are good. Even if the Grand Canal is not opened, it is enough to irrigate a conservative estimate of thousands of acres of land. Moreover, it is located in the north, which is more suitable for the white bear to live in."
Yale: “???”
"Wait Xia, it's too embarrassing to snatch people at this time. Why didn't I tell you two years ago that Chief Arthur is too busy?" The representative of Farm No. 3, Black Panther Qingyan, slammed the table with his eyebrows.
"I'm just stating the facts . There is indeed more suitable land in the north for white bears." Xia was not in a hurry at all. He smiled friendly at Wood and Hal. "First, it is closer to the hilly new district, so it is convenient for transporting agricultural machinery. Second, there are large tracts of grassland around that have been used for livestock for several years. If the white bears are interested in raising livestock, there is ready-made fodder for them to use..."
"What kind of livestock is this? It's just an abandoned grassland!" Seeing that Wood and Hal were really interested, Qingyan was anxious, "Why don't you come to our Farm No. 3? We have more open space there!"
Yale: “????”
Is this really a military meeting?!
"Alright, alright!" The Grassroots Chief stopped the two cats from fighting. "Farm No. 1 already has over a hundred farms under its jurisdiction, and Arthur may be too busy to handle them all. Since Farm No. 2 and Farm No. 3 are willing to share the work with Arthur, how about this? When both of you return, make preparations to receive the personnel and wait for the white bears to arrive. At the same time, you can help settle the new white bear tribe members, and the white bear tribe can choose which side to go to for production. What do you think, General Wood?"
Wood hesitated for two seconds and nodded modestly. He had always lived with Snow Leopard Arthur and was not familiar with the other two farms. He was happy to see that the two sides offered various preferential policies in order to compete for his tribesmen...
Yale: “…”
"The next step is to arrange for the salaries of each tribe to be sent back to the Far East." Xiao Yun, who did not participate in the dispute among the participants, smiled and nodded at Wood. "This time, the White Bear Tribe's expeditionary force has prepared transport personnel for us. They will have a small force that gets separated from the main force after the 'battle' and returns to the polar region on their own. On the way, they will help everyone deliver the property they want to send back to the destination..."
"Can heavier equipment also be delivered?" Tea Bear Elder Kuku quickly raised his hand.
It was General Wood who answered Elder Kuku: "Any equipment that can be disassembled and assembled can be delivered, and the total weight cannot exceed three tons." If it was too heavy, he would not be able to help others carry the goods, and White Bear also had things to send back.
"Can you guarantee the safety of your property?" asked Gloria, the Lion General.
"My tribe's elder is leading the team personally, so don't worry." Wood replied.
"As for us... we hope to ask some of the tribesmen who are worried about their families to return to Helsinki, and arrange for some more people to come over. Is that too much trouble?" The Wing Clan elder said cautiously. Worrying about family is just an excuse. In fact, some tribesmen are unable to adapt to the climate on the grassland. The Wing Clan elder wants to replace some people who can do things.
"We need to prepare for this early. It would be best to arrange for people to go to the York Mountains and be on standby before July." Xiao Yun also knew the difficulties of the Winged Clan and made it convenient for them.
"Okay!" The Wing Clan elder nodded quickly.
Next, the various tribes in the Far East began to calculate how much money and supplies they would have to send back home, and discussed how to allocate the "transportation capacity" provided by the white bear...
Yale, who was sitting next to him and listening expressionlessly, said: "..."
If you insist on saying this is a military meeting, then it is...
With such an extraordinary military meeting as a prelude, Xiao Yun personally took Yale Tent to visit the military training site of the New Prairie Kingdom, to let Yale Tent understand the combat effectiveness of the Wolf Cavalry Brigade and the new Cat Magician Corps. Finally, he took Yale Tent to see a new way of fighting - the detonators buried in the open space were detonated by the goblin technical troops responsible for blasting, and blew up tens of tons of boulders into the sky.
"The goblins really should have fun with explosions." Xiao Yun said with a smile to the tiger tribe's big tent, which was so frightened that the hair on its ears stood up.
Yale: “…” The indigenous tiger tribe had never played World of Warcraft, so they definitely didn’t know how to respond to this joke.
Next, when Xiao Yun raised the sensitive question of whether the Tiger Tribe would send someone to join the army, the Yale tent did not immediately refuse.
"We will not treat soldiers as consumables. Every soldier is extremely valuable to us. In places where we don't need to put soldiers to work, we will do our best to use other methods to resolve disputes." Xiao Yun said seriously, "In the past few years, Huoyan City has not let any soldier pay the price of life that should not have been paid in the battle against the Far Eastern invaders."
Yale really wants to say that what you guys are doing with the Far East is not really a war...
"Of course, just because we don't want any soldier to die in vain doesn't mean our soldiers can't go to the battlefield or our army doesn't have to maintain its combat effectiveness. If we, the grassland people, want to protect our homes and our living space, we must have a strong army that can fight. If the soldiers of the Tiger Tribe become part of our army, I won't guarantee you that no Tiger Tribe soldier will die on the battlefield. The moment you pick up a weapon, you will inevitably face the threat of death."
After a pause, Xiao Yun looked up at Yale and solemnly invited him, "Tiger Tribe, are you still willing to treat this grassland as your homeland that you must protect even at the cost of your life?"
Different from the grassroots chief and chief Arthur, Xiao Yun not only wants the people of the Tiger Tribe, but also their hearts!
Yale looked at the Snow Wolf Tribe sage for a few seconds, clenched his fists secretly, made up his mind, and said forcefully: "Yes!"
