Volume 8: The Sword Points to the Far East Chapter 238: Minotaur Support
After several years of operation, the area behind the woolen mill and between the swamps has become a large orchard for the Snow Wolves.
How big is this orchard...to the point of "invading" the swamp?
Originally, the swampland was at least ten square kilometers in size. Over the years, the Fire Tribe had been constantly digging mud and filling it with sand, gravel and mud dug out when building houses and roads. Nearly half of it had been "eliminated"...
The remaining half is also shrinking visibly every year - the natural river channel that passes through this area brings water and sediment, most of the river water is diverted away by the canal, and there is no chance of flooding. What's the point of a swamp without water?
When the snow stopped falling and the thick snow on the grassland began to melt, a group of half-grown snow wolf cubs crossed the orchard covering an area of about 800 hectares and appeared at the place where the orchard connected to the shrinking swamp.
"Let's get to work!" A cub raised his shovel and shouted loudly.
"Awoo~~" The other cubs rushed into the snow-covered swamp with tools such as iron hammers and pickaxes.
What these young men have to do is to shovel away the snow that has accumulated in the swamp for the entire winter, leaving no chance for the swamp to increase its water content after the snow melts...
After eight years of painstaking brainwashing by Xiao Yun, the fighting spirit of "moving mountains and filling the sea, man conquers nature" was gradually understood and accepted by the tribesmen; mountains and seas could be leveled, and swamps inhabited only by slime monsters and various mosquitoes could be turned into orchards. What was that a big deal?
While the boys were playing around in the swamp, the adults were also busy.
The biggest impact of the popularization of agricultural machinery on the Fire Department is that agricultural practitioners are no longer tied up tightly. Previously, a farm required at least two hundred people to cope with it, but now only a hundred people are needed to manage it properly.
With the two agricultural production bases of the Snake Tribe and the Cat Tribe, Xiao Yun can be more relaxed in opening up new land and does not have to rush to expand the scale and number of farms.
Thus, he could spare 3,000 men to work on the big project he had long wanted to accomplish - the diversion of the upper tributaries of the River of the Earth.
Every year we are on the verge of flooding. Although we have been lucky in recent years and there has not been any irreparable flooding, we can't always expect God to be reasonable, right?
The terrain on the southwestern edge of the grassland is concave. On the left is the Elf Forest where the forest elves live, and on the right is the slowly rising terrain leading to the center.
The oldest indigenous inhabitants of the grassland, the Minotaur, either lived in the east or the central part, or in the easternmost part of the southwestern border where the terrain began to rise... In other words, although there are no "historical records", Xiao Yun has enough reason to believe that this place must have experienced a major flood, and the number of times must have been quite large.
Four years ago, Xiao Yun went to the northwest to observe this area. The Earth River originated from the upper reaches of the Samal Snow Mountain. One of its tributaries flowed towards the southwest along the concave terrain, and then divided into several branches along the river channel formed naturally over thousands of years, nourishing and irrigating the entire southwest region.
This is also the source of hidden dangers in the southwest region - from north to south, to east, which direction the water flows depends entirely on God's mood~!
If there is a particularly heavy rainfall or a particularly hot summer, and the tributaries from the River of the Earth can no longer be contained by the natural terrain, then the water will be free...
Then people living in the southwest are in trouble... Learn about mud bathing.
Facing the biting cold wind during the melting period, a group of tightly wrapped snow wolves appeared in the upper reaches of the Earth River in the northwest. Standing on the side of a naturally formed low mountain range that stretches for dozens of miles and has an altitude of no more than 200 meters, looking down, a natural river with an ice surface as mirror-like as a mirror, which was washed out by the river water for thousands of years, appeared in front of them.
"It's so big and wide!" A Yue, the leader of the engineering team, exclaimed. What does a river that is more than 100 meters wide mean? Compared with the upper reaches of the Earth River, the small river flowing in front of the tribe and the artificial canal built by the tribe are just like small ditches.
"It's not bad. The Bre River we saw in the central part is about this wide." Soldier A Tian has been out a lot, so he wasn't as surprised as A Yue. "The River of the Earth reaches the central part, where it gathers multiple sources of water. It's even wider than here. We can't even see the other side."
A Jiang, a surveying technician of the first engineering team and a golden cat cub, said, "That's different. The riverbed of the Earth River in the central part is relatively deep, so it's relatively safe to live close to the river. As for here..." The golden cat cub, who was about the same age as Yang Mao, pointed to the low mountain range under their feet, "This mountain range is the safety line for the northwest and southwest regions."
"As you can see from the measurements we made just now, the terrain behind us is lower than the river in front of us."
A Tian stopped talking, and A Yue's expression became a little solemn.
After Lan Guo was appointed to take charge of the sugar beet planting area, the first engineering team was also handed over to A Yue. A Yue was a rather rigid and conservative person, always questioning and critical of anything new - such a character was more suitable for him to be the leader of the engineering team. If he could not convince him, any whimsical "good idea" would not be implemented, thus avoiding many invisible risks.
In construction and engineering, people who are too adventurous are not suitable for decision-making positions. The more stable the better...
A group of people walked eastward along the ridge of the low mountain, observing and measuring the river banks and riverbeds in the area, and judging the water level changes from the density of vegetation and the height of moss on the river banks.
After running all day, A Yue and the others returned to the main camp and studied the contour map they had drawn until late at night. Finally, A Yue made the final decision: "We should reject any rash ideas. It is safer to dig a large canal ourselves. We will divert water from the mouth of the canyon at the end of the mountain range, dig it to the northeast of the tribe, bypass it, and drain it to the sea near the middle. We have multiple canals, connecting the upper reaches of the River of the Earth and the middle of the grassland. The land on both sides that can be irrigated can be developed in the future, which is perfect for settling the cat tribe."
Some people in the tent nodded, some shook their heads... Mainly because the workload was too huge. Even if there were 3,000 snow wolves and relatively complete logistical support, it might not be completed even after two years.
"It's a bit tight in terms of manpower, but it's better than taking risks." Ah Yue absolutely disagreed with the strategy that was not reliable enough, and immediately said, "At worst, we can borrow people from the Hilly New District, and also ask the cat tribe who don't want to farm to help. Digging mud, carrying sand and gravel, and transporting cement don't require any brainpower, and anyone can do it."
Those who opposed this stupid idea had no choice but to turn their attention to the golden cat Ajiang.
A Jiang is a member of the tribe of Chief Arthur . Different from the golden cat brothers in the tribe who raise pigs and become fat themselves, this golden cat cub is a little genius who is quite mature for his age and has strong self-management ability. Although it is a bit naughty sometimes due to the nature of the cat tribe, such as when he gave Evelyn a show of power...but he is still quite reliable when it comes to serious matters.
Others were concerned about the problems of insufficient manpower, the large size of the project and the long duration of construction, but after hearing what A Yue said, A Jiang's eyes lit up.
Yes, A Yue is a stubborn person who doesn't know how to adapt, but A Yue does have a longer-term vision than others and has already considered the resettlement of the cats - Yu and Xiao Hua have already led a large army of warriors to the former tiger royal court to collect cats. Looking at the development process of the two cat farms, one can tell with one's knees that these collected cats may not be willing to farm honestly; so during the "taming" period, the canal project is a very good training ground.
After the domestication and training is completed, we can directly plant them on the banks of the Grand Canal and farm on the spot. Isn't that very stable?
"In this case, we need to measure the entire route as soon as possible." A Jiang's eyes were sharp. "How about this, I suggest that we start from the lower part of the canyon, and move forward little by little along the mountains along the way to the southeast. We should make use of the natural terrain as much as possible, which can save at least 10% or 20% of the effort..."
Although the terrain in the southwest region is concave, it is still relatively flat overall, and there is no such jaw-dropping engineering difficulty as in the karst landform environment. After Ajiang made this statement, basically no one could oppose A Yue's proposal.
Just as the engineering team was discussing how to carry out the project, Yu and Xiaohua's large group of soldiers had already reached the border between the southwest and central regions.
When I came to this place, I naturally had to visit the Tauren and give him some gifts...
The minotaurs lived a peaceful and self-sufficient life, and their lives did not change much after the Lamia caravan stopped coming to the grassland - Lamia had not come again after the tiger tribe was taken by the Beast King to fill the hole in the underground world - they still worked from sunrise to sunset, and whenever the Snow Wolf tribe's warrior team came, they would exchange their local products with the Snow Wolf warriors for some sauces, bottles and jars and other daily necessities.
Let's not talk about repaying a drop of kindness with a spring. The Fire Tribe was taken care of a lot by the Minotaur during its early days. We can't do that if you suddenly become rich and throw the people who helped you behind your back.
So, even if all the cats that can be collected in the southwest region have been collected, the soldiers will still go to the Tauren tribe from time to time during training to deliver things and share some production and construction knowledge.
The ground was still covered with snow, and spring was still lingering on, not yet ready to show up. However, the entire Fire Tribe was already busy, while the Tauren tribe was still comfortably enjoying the leisurely time before the spring ploughing began. When the warriors entered the Tauren village, smoke was coming out of the chimneys of every household in the Tauren families who all lived in red brick houses. Some were leisurely preparing lunch, some were sweeping the snow leisurely with brooms, and some were squatting by the river, breaking the ice to go fishing.
"Maomao, Xiaohua!"
The Red-Eyed Bull Demon King... uh... Elder Saladin, an old friend of the Snow Wolf Man, was squatting by the stream, fishing for shrimps with earthworms tied to a twine. When he saw the warriors, this bull-headed old man who was thrifty with words dropped the twine and enthusiastically opened his arms to greet them.
"Elder Saladin!" Yu quickened his pace and hugged Saladin tightly.
Saladin let go of Yu and hugged Xiaohua again.
The few calves who were squatting with Saladin to fish for shrimps ran directly into the Snow Wolf Clan, looking at the huge pack baskets carried by the wolf-transformed warriors with shining eyes...
Saladin felt a little embarrassed. He took down the calf that was trying to climb onto someone else's back to lift the lid of the basket, and walked back to the tribe with his warriors.
"The snow werewolf is coming~~!!" The calves didn't mind and ran to the front, shouting happily.
Soon, the big and small cow heads from every household came out to greet them...
Yu and Xiaohua moved more than a dozen baskets of goods into the yard of the clan leader Huangniu Hall's house and showed the gifts (exchange items) they brought this time to clan leader Hall and Elder Saladin.
Needless to say, barbecue sauce, bean paste, and ketchup are all brought in batches every time I come. The Fire Department's own salt, vinegar, and MSG are also indispensable, and there are about 2,000 kilograms of vermicelli in bundles.
In addition to these, there are two baskets of tableware - kaolin-fired ceramic bowls, cups and plates, alloy steel forks and soup spoons, and glass water cups with plastic rubber rings on the outside (to resist falling).
These things weren't specially prepared for the Tauren, but were the leftovers from exchanging sun cloth and magic mineral powder with the forest elves and snow elves... The forest elves and snow elves were quite particular about their eating manners, so these unique goods could be exchanged with them with guaranteed value, but if it was the dark elves, the Fire Tribe would rather not do business with them.
Well... I'm not criticizing those black people, but they are really deceptive. Even though the tribe is now doing military rations (vermicelli, sauces, compressed biscuits) business directly with them, they will only deliver the goods after receiving the full payment.
They dared to give the goods first and ask for money later like the forest elves and snow elves. Not to mention that they would refuse to pay, they were also capable of taking advantage of the situation and blaming others for it - Xiao Yun had dealt with that black-hearted black girl Tang Angelo so many times!
Chief Hall and Elder Saladin both liked these tablewares, which were like works of art, and carefully put them away. They would only keep some for their own use, and the rest would be sent to other Tauren tribes.
Although the Taurens did not live in large groups, they were quite united. When Elder Saladin was betrayed by the Cat Tribe and trapped in the Tiger Tribe's royal court, Chief Hall went to other Tauren tribes to borrow warriors. As soon as they arrived, the others followed Chief Hall with their own food.
After receiving the gifts from the Snow Wolf People, the Tauren people did not take advantage of the Snow Wolf People. They quickly packed the finely ground wheat flour and refined rice without bran into bags and loaded them back into the empty saddlebags.
When it comes to the exquisite products of the Fire Department, the one who exchanges them with the Minotaur is the one that loses the most... But business also depends on the people and the place. There is no need to be too fussy about a true saint like the Minotaur.
After exchanging things, the warriors stayed in the Hall tribe to eat and chat with these bull-headed people to deepen their relationship - mainly to get information. Although the minotaurs only live a comfortable life and don't care about their mothers, no one knows the changes in the situation on the grassland better than them.
Why? Because there are always cats who come to my door and bring me news...
From Saladin's wife Qin, Yu and Xiaohua learned about a series of changes that had taken place on the grassland this winter:
The hundreds of tigers left behind in the tiger royal court could only ensure that the royal court and the mining area were not disturbed by wild beasts and wandering monsters, but they were no longer able to manage the pastures or control the slaves in the pastures. Before winter, they released all the cat slaves and only left the gray dwarves in the mining area.
The vacant pastures have not yet been taken over by the cat tribe, but if the tiger royal court cannot recover its strength, those pastures will change owners during the spring and summer.
When Yu and Xiaohua heard this, they exchanged glances silently. They thought that there were no more people in the Tiger Tribe, but they didn't expect that there were still some people left to watch over the house.
But this is not a problem... The chances of winning against the Tiger Clan warriors, who are only a hundred strong and divided into two groups to guard the royal court and the mining area, with more than 400 Snow Wolf warriors, are still very high - if they can't defeat them after more than three years of training and complete equipment, then all the sweat they have put in over the years would have been in vain.
The Minotaur didn't care about the life or death of the tiger tribe, but they were somewhat worried about the grasslands occupied by the tiger tribe. They were very worried that the cat tribes that had not been plundered by the tiger tribe and still had strength would conflict over these grasslands.
Yu smiled, looked at the worried minotaurs, and said, "Chief Hall, Elder Saladin, Qin, maybe we can resolve this matter or reduce the possibility of the dispute to a lower level."
Under the surprised gaze of the Minotaur, Yu invited in Chief Arthur and Xia who were traveling with the team.
The snow leopard Arthur and the spotted leopard Xia who were mixed in the team of snow wolf warriors did not attract the attention of the minotaurs at first. They had long known that the snow wolf people of the Fire Tribe had brought together the twenty-one cat tribes in the southwest to cultivate land...
As for this matter, even if the snow werewolves didn't say anything, the tauren themselves could sense it - more than 20 cat tribes no longer came to take advantage of them, how could they not know it?
If there weren't so few beggars, the Tauren wouldn't have so much food left, and wouldn't have the mood to grind flour...
Chief Arthur and Xia worked together to explain the cat farm plan to Chief Hall, Elder Saladin, and Jean. The three minotaurs' eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"Will this work?" Qin was shocked and worried. "Cat tribe, I'm not talking about you. Cat tribe has bad tempers. If they get together, they will quarrel more easily. How are you going to convince them to give up their original lives and move south?"
Chief Arthur smiled and said, "It is impossible to convince all cat tribes , but we can try one by one. We will take away those who are willing to go with us. Next year, if they feel that living with us is better than before, we will take them out and find other cat tribes to tell their stories."
Xia nodded and added, "We have thought about it. We can't rush this matter. We need to take five years to do it slowly. It is true that it is difficult for us cats to be convinced by others, but if they can see with their own eyes that others' lives are getting better and better, then they will think about it carefully."
Qin couldn't help but look at the two cat tribe chiefs again... They were both from tribes living in the southwest, and Chiefs Xia and Arthur had both come to the Tauren to seek refuge; compared to before, these two big cats did look a lot different now - they were both wearing neat and straight suncloth clothes, with a sweater and a sheepskin coat on the outside, with plump cheeks and rosy complexion, and both their mental outlook and overall temperament were very different from before.
Yu Jianqin, Chief Hall, and Elder Saladin were interested, so they continued, "I used to be a warrior of the Grassroots Tribe. After merging with the Fire Tribe, we found that planting is indeed much more stable than herding. Although it will be more difficult at the beginning, once you get used to it, people who are used to farming life will not be willing to go back to herding."
In an environment with relatively low productivity, both grazing and farming depend on the weather.
But compared with the former, the advantage of the latter is that it does not rely solely on luck, but human power can also serve as a supplement.
Xiaohua also said, "Yes, I am a warrior of the Li tribe. In the past, we needed at least three large pastures to rotate grazing and feed all the tribesmen. But now, if one-tenth of the land in a pasture is used for farming, the food produced cannot be eaten by all the tribesmen. The land needed for planting is much less than that for grazing. The same piece of land can feed dozens or hundreds of times more people with planting than with grazing."
Xiaohua doesn't need to tell me that the Tauren know this very well. Why have they never had any disputes with other tribes on the grassland? Because the land cultivated by one of their tribes is less than half the size of other people's grasslands, and the food they grow can not only feed themselves, but also help other tribes...
Patriarch Hall and Elder Saladin looked at each other for a while, exchanged glances, and then looked at Yu and Xiaohua together.
The Minotaur's brainwave communication method... some people can receive the signal, some can't; but even if they can receive it, it's still difficult to receive too complex information...
Yu and Xiaohua met the two men's gaze, revealing confusion. This was because the amount of brainwave information released by them was a bit too large to be interpreted.
Fortunately, the two minotaurs also knew the shortcomings of brain wave communication, and called Qin over: "Chief Hall said that the southwest has been very stable in the past few years, which proves that the Snow Wolf Tribe's approach is feasible. In this case, we minotaurs cannot sit idly by and let you Snow Wolf Tribe work hard on your own. If you don't mind, we are willing to send warriors to help you convince the cat tribe in the middle."
Yu and Xiaohua smiled and nodded quickly: "Of course, that's good. There is no one on the grassland who can be trusted more than the Tauren."
Chief Hall and Elder Saladin showed ferocious and heartwarming smiles (uh...), and then they actively called for help...
Originally, the Minotaur were quite disgusted with large groups living together, because the Tiger Tribe set a bad example - these tiger-headed people ignored the shortcomings of grazing and piled nearly 10,000 of their people together, exceeding the environmental carrying capacity under the grazing model; in order to solve the problem of shortage of survival resources, they simply resorted to robbing slaves and blatantly and bloodily exploiting labor to obtain daily necessities, it would be strange if they did not arouse the disgust of the Minotaur.
The Fire Tribe was not as eager to achieve success as the Tiger Tribe when it came to building a large group. They expanded their group step by step after they had cultivated enough land and produced enough food. The whole process was a smooth transition without any disputes or conflicts due to insufficient survival resources. Naturally, they won the recognition and favor of the Minotaur. (Complaining about hardship is not a big deal for the Minotaur. They are very hardworking.)
Well... another most important reason is that the Fire Tribe has not forgotten the Tauren even after it started its own business. They come to deliver supplies at least three times a year and share technologies such as kiln-building, brick-making, earth-burning, cement-burning, wool-spinning and textile-making. The Tauren cannot do such things as cursing after putting down the bowl...
In short, gaining the support of the Minotaur, who is willing to lend you people and face, is undoubtedly a very good start!
