Chapter 186: A plan with salt
Han Cheng knew that the shaman and the Eldest Senior Brother must be very puzzled by his actions. He led them towards the inner cave when he saw the two approaching.
Before entering the cave, he instructed the others to continue working. He told the wife of Lame, who was washing the turned-over sheep intestines, to add salt to the basin and scrub again
Han Cheng made the decision to give away salt to the tribe not long ago. Although it seemed impulsive, there was a lot of careful consideration behind it. Or rather, it was something he had been thinking about for a long time and suddenly found a solution.
The labor shortage in the Green Sparrow Tribe had been greatly alleviated with the addition of ten adults from the original Pig Tribe, led by Shang, and the recovery of injuries of people like Hua, Left Limp, and Right Limp.
However, as the planting area of rapeseed and millet expanded, labor would once again become scarce. And now, with nine new members added to the deer herd and seven pregnant does, it wouldn't be long before several fawns were born, and the size of the deer herd would surpass thirty-five.
Rabbits continued to reproduce as before, especially after adding eight wild rabbits. Their population increased significantly. At this point, the rabbit population had already exceeded three hundred.
Because of this, Han Cheng had to allocate manpower to nearly double the size of the rabbit enclosure a few days ago.
The domesticated chickens hatched two broods, totaling twenty-nine chicks of different sizes.
Oh, yes, they also had to add three sheeps to the mix.
With so many mouths to feed, the demand for food was astonishing. Just providing grass for these fellows required a lot of manpower.
Not to mention, the daily consumption of over three hundred rabbits was staggering. These creatures, after eating, would defecate; after defecating, they would eat again. They were like over three hundred constantly operating grass shredders.
Two people were dedicated to harvesting grass for them just to keep up with this terrifying consumption rate.
At present, as it wasn't yet winter, the deer lord took his tribe out to forage every day and didn't need much feeding. However, once the snow fell and the deer lord refused to go out again, grass consumption would become even more staggering.
Two months ago, there were only four people harvesting grass. Not long after, it became six people.
After all, the Green Sparrow Tribe didn't have much grain. These creatures' winter food depended entirely on the grass harvested and dried in advance.
As the saying goes, a full stomach leads to deep thoughts.
The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe did not lack food and drink. In the past, they would only be particularly active in spring. Nowadays, with good food, they are not very selective about the time.
They diligently planted seeds, and the land was fertile rather than barren. Naturally, the survival rate of seeds was higher.
For example, one of the Eldest Senior Brother's spouses gave birth when spring flowers had not bloomed. Now, her belly was growing again. It was estimated that after heavy snowfall in winter, she would give birth again.
The presence of many pregnant women and women giving birth greatly reduced the available manpower in the Green Sparrow Tribe.
Although pregnant women, women giving birth, and children were not as precious as in the future, they still affected labor to a certain extent.
After considering all of this, one problem once again presented itself to the Green Sparrow Tribe: a manpower shortage.
Han Cheng had always considered the issue of labor shortages in the tribe. With the example of the Pig Tribe merging into theirs, he naturally looked to the nearby tribes for solutions.
However, the opportunity for the Pig Tribe to merge was a stroke of luck and not easily replicable.
The Flying Snake Tribe suffered heavy losses last year and was unlikely to come looking for trouble in the vicinity for a short time.
Without such a powerful external threat, it was difficult to integrate these tribes into their tribe, like the Pig Tribe.
Han Cheng had considered launching wars and attacking neighboring tribes, killing their adult men and even children taller than a cartwheel, then plundering the remaining people into the Green Sparrow Tribe. But after much deliberation, he gave up on the idea.
Once outside the walls, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe did not have an absolute advantage over neighboring tribes. Under such circumstances, casualties among their people were inevitable and not insignificant.
Humans are emotional creatures, and Han Cheng, not a ruthless conqueror, naturally didn't want to see people he had lived with for so long die. So, he temporarily put aside the idea of launching battles to annex other tribes and thought of using gentler means.
Han Cheng had started preparing for this during the Joyful Gathering. Through a series of measures, he endeavored to instill in these people a desire for the prosperity and strength of the Green Sparrow Tribe, letting them yearn for it.
Then, through trade, he strengthened the connections between several tribes and the Green Sparrow Tribe, constantly reinforcing this understanding, coaxing them little by little, and slowly achieving peaceful integration.
However, these methods were not mature enough or strong enough to persuade the leaders of these tribes to abandon their tribes and lead their people to join the Green Sparrow Tribe.
Han Cheng had been considering this problem all along. Still, he hadn't come up with a practical solution until today when the leader of the Green Tribe, who was returning with exchanged pottery, encountered the Sheep Tribe on the way back and returned to discuss it. Suddenly, this problem was resolved, giving Han Cheng a sense of enlightenment.
Salt!
It's salt!
The deliciousness of salt is hard to resist for anyone who has tasted it.
In recorded history spanning thousands of years, salt has left a deep mark on every dynasty. Whether in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, or even earlier in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, enfeoffed states profited from boiling salt. None of them were poor.
Later, after the state monopoly on salt and iron, salt taxes became a stable source of national revenue.
Later, under the bombardment of cannons and cannons, people who claimed to be civilized did extremely barbaric things. Those intoxicated gradually woke up from the dream of the celestial kingdom, and the decayed dynasty was overturned. Mass production of salt and salt taxes were gradually abolished
Now, the Green Sparrow Tribe guarded the salt mountain. However, in the era in which Han Cheng had previously lived, salt had long become an extremely common and cheap commodity. Influenced by this mindset, he had never realized the huge impact of salt in other aspects.
Now, awakened by a word from the leader of the Green Tribe, he suddenly felt enlightened.
Primitive tribes did not consume salt initially, such as the Green Sparrow Tribe and the surrounding neighboring tribes, who lived just fine without it.
These tribes, having tasted salted food at the Joyful Gathering and still resisting the temptation of delicacies upon returning, only coming back to trade after several months, provided a glimpse into the situation.
However, habits are slowly formed. Han Cheng is now providing them with salt for free, aiming to cultivate the habit of salt consumption among these tribes.
Going from frugality to luxury is easy, but going from luxury to frugality is difficult. Primitive people are still people and cannot escape this principle.
Once their taste buds and stomachs get used to the flavor of salt, consuming food without it will become extremely uncomfortable for them.
At that time, the generous Green Sparrow Tribe, led by their kind but somewhat naive Divine Child, will begin to show their fangs
Thinking of this, Han Cheng couldn't help but reveal a cunning smile.
After Han Cheng explained, it took quite a while for the shaman and the Eldest Senior Brother to understand the intricacies of the plan. They looked at their shaman with a reverent expression.
The shaman lived up to his title; he could even think of such a convoluted scheme.
They only thought that giving away salt for free was a self-sacrificing act benefiting others, but they didn't expect the shaman to set such a huge trap with it.
With this, the Green Sparrow Tribe was bound to develop and become the largest tribe in the vicinity!
Thinking of the grand scene after several tribes joined the Green Sparrow Tribe, the shaman couldn't help but tremble with excitement, and his elderly face flushed with excessive excitement.
The Eldest Senior Brother was also extremely excited.
He carefully recalled the scenes of drinking unsalted meat soup daily, feeling a strong aversion throughout his body.
The Divine Child's plan will surely succeed!
This was their most sincere hope and their confidence in their Divine Child.
When Han Cheng arrived, the Green Sparrow Tribe had only ten able-bodied adult men, including the disabled Lame. Later, with the growth of Tie Tou and Hei Wa and the addition of six adult men from the Pig Tribe, the number of adult men experienced explosive growth, reaching eighteen.
There were initially twenty-eight adult women. With the addition of strong adults and the integration of three female war captives and four female primitives from the Pig Tribe, there are now thirty-six.
The number of elderly primitives has not increased; there are still only the shaman, Fire One, and Fire Two.
This is understandable since it is the primitive era. For various reasons, living in old age is not easy for people.
There were initially thirty-five children. Eight died last year, leaving seven, and fourteen have been born this year. Two died, leaving twelve, and four are still in their mother's wombs, waiting to be born.
Excluding Hei Wa, Tie Tou, and Zhuang, the Green Sparrow Tribe has fifty-one underage individuals. Among them, the largest number are children aged zero to four, who have no labor capabilities, accounting for nearly half of all underage individuals.
The Green Sparrow Tribe has fifty-four adult members with strong labor capabilities.
The total number of elderly people and children is also fifty-four, which means one adult must support one of them. Compared to modern times, this ratio isn't low. Fortunately, at this stage, only basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter must be provided for the children, and the cost of raising them is much lower than in later times. Otherwise, both the Green Sparrow Tribe and Han Cheng would be overwhelmed.
It's unknown if it's a coincidence, but as of now, the Green Sparrow Tribe has one hundred and eight individuals, adults and children combined, which coincides with the celestial numbers in "Water Margin."
Of course, this doesn't include Han Cheng, who serves as the Divine Child.
Except for a few infants who died shortly after birth, no one in the Green Sparrow Tribe has passed away during this period. This might seem somewhat unreasonable at first glance. Still, it becomes more plausible after careful consideration of the significant changes in their way of life and production methods since Han Cheng's arrival.
This strength is considered top-tier among the nearby tribes, rivaled only by the Bone Tribe.
Of course, if we only consider the number of adults, the Bone Tribe still has a slight advantage over the Green Sparrow Tribe. However, since the arrival of Han Cheng, the measure of strength has changed.
Strength is not solely measured by the number of people but also by factors such as housing, weapons, food reserves, and cultural soft power.
In terms of overall strength, even the populous Flying Snake Tribe cannot match the Green Sparrow Tribe.
Of course, regarding combat power, the Green Sparrow Tribe cannot surpass the Snake Tribe once they leave the enclosure.
This is the aftermath of rapid development. Because too many areas need improvement and too few hands are available, they can only focus on one aspect for now.
The Green Sparrow Tribe's foundation has been laid. In the future, while considering development in other aspects, Han Cheng also needs to gradually shift the focus towards enhancing combat power.
Otherwise, letting the Green Sparrow Tribe follow the path of the Song Dynasty would be regrettable.
He doesn't want to end up like Zhao La'er, who completely squandered the winning hand left by Song Zu Zhao Da. He led the Song Dynasty straight into disaster, and even after being destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty, it took centuries to recover.
Ultimately, the problem lies with Zhao La'er, the scoundrel.
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