From Chief to Ball

During the discussion, Chen Jian laughed and said, "Do you still remember the time when our four clans just migrated to Caohe? At that time, we spent [-] days building [-] houses. The number [-] was probably the favorite of our ancestors. I suggest that you elect another thirteen people to join the council."

"Thirteen people, you can't be divided in half. If there is something to quarrel with, there must be support and opposition. There will not be the same number of people."

"These thirteen people are the same as the leader. They are elected every two years. They are just members of the council, and they can do whatever they should do on weekdays."

"And the leaders of each tribe must be members of the council. After the old leader retires, the new leader will naturally replace him. You don't need to choose this."

The tribal leader has a fixed quota, and the remaining members of the council are elected by everyone to divide up the rights.Whether the leader is hereditary or elected, it has nothing to do with Xia Cheng, as long as he is the leader, he automatically has the right to discuss matters; if the thirteen people selected do not do well, they will be replaced after two years.

For Xia City with a small population, this method of power distribution can not only centralize power, but also weaken the sense of existence of the tribal leaders.It takes time to change the thinking habits of the clansmen to make a speech. It’s not that Chen Jian thinks this way of discussing things will be good, but the habit of discussing major issues in the late clan is difficult for the clansmen to immediately accept the transition from tribal democracy to urbanism. Dictatorial transformation.

The development of external things changes people's way of thinking, but it takes a long process, and there is no rush.

Chapter 60 How to be a Bad Slave

Thirteen new members of the council were elected before dark. Yu Qian'er and Ji Song, who were not present, were elected by everyone to occupy two places, and six of the remaining eleven places were outstanding in the battlefield Yes, the first group of people who followed Chen Jian, such as wolf skin, acorn, civet cat, etc., all passed, and Baima and Shishan, who regained the golden skull and the big banner with wolf tail, were also elected.

The remaining five people are basically officials of Xiacheng, and they are not elected only by officials, but because they have more opportunities to be familiar with the people in the city as officials.

Red Fish was also selected as one of the 13 people because of creating characters, building stables and being in a relationship with Chen Jian.

As expected by Chen Jian, most of the thirteen people were with him. This time, there was no need for any conspiracy. Chen Jian could control far more than half of the people in the meeting. The matter of anger and grievances, he will still be elected as the leader two years later.

Because you are a leader, you can do big things; and if you do a lot of big things, it will increase the trust of the tribe. This kind of cycle is almost unsolvable. It is impossible for the tribe to elect an unknown person squatting in the corner to be the leader; A way to convince all the clansmen.

After dealing with the handover of Xiacheng's rights, Chen Jian discussed with Shujiu overnight about slave trading and food borrowing.

Counting nine could tell Chen Jian's impatience, but she didn't open her mouth like a lion. After all, Xia Cheng had just won a big victory, and Chen Jian mentioned many new things. She didn't want to make the two clans enmity because of such things.

The final agreement was that Chen Jian sold 60 slaves and 15 horses in exchange for [-] catties of corn and beans, and borrowed another [-] catties of grain. A batch of bronze farm implements.

The two discussed for two days, and the final transaction amount was 80 catties of grain, a new planting method, and a large amount of struvite.

80 catties of grain, for the population of Xiacheng at this time, is only three or four months' rations.Even if you don’t borrow it, save some time and use ice traps in winter. In fact, you can survive this winter, but many slaves will die.

It was also the first time that Shujiu came into contact with such a large amount of transactions. He tried his best to fight for the interests of E City. Chen Jian also sent a chariot as a gift for E Yue.

Chariots are indeed the rulers of the plain battlefield in this era, but this is just giving a man a fish. Even if the wheel technology can be made, it is difficult for them to mass-produce due to the lack of isinglass, saws, bronze tools and skilled craftsmen. .

This kind of huge transaction can only be completed through the city chiefs, and the remaining small things only need to be freely exchanged between the two parties. Except for the exquisite black pottery and silk in Echeng, Chen Jian found that the civilization accumulation on the opposite side is actually very deep, such as this Chen Jian did not know the tree from which raw lacquer could be obtained.

Civilizations are always in constant communication. Yuqian’er’s restaurant is spreading the texts, stories, and legends of Xiacheng to Echeng. At the same time, the jade culture, privately owned families, and family slavery of Echeng are also slowly affecting the culture of Echeng. summer city.

Words such as time, silk, etc., are basically transliterated in the language of Echeng, and then passed back to Echeng after being rewritten by Chen Jian and Hongyu.

After hearing the children in Xiacheng reciting the nine-nine multiplication table, Shujiu hopes that his tribe can send some children to Xiacheng to study. Food and the like are all from Echeng, and a batch of silk will be given to Xiacheng every year. Hei Tao, Chen Jian also readily agreed.

Before the Cao River was frozen, Chen Jian transported a batch of bronze farming tools and salt to Echeng, and agreed to exchange food and slaves after the snow fell, and at the same time exchanged hostages from both sides.

Chen Jian even asked Shujiu to bring back E strider's younger brother first. Shujiu was very happy because it was not her son.Chen Jian asked her to take him away, which meant that it was meaningless for this person to be a hostage.

As soon as he counted nine and left, Chen Jian immediately went to do some things that he had been planning to do for a long time.

There was a new building near the new army camp before the war, a real violent institution-prison.The fugitive slaves captured by wolf skins and the 萑 who led them to flee were imprisoned inside.

Few people in the city knew about it, and the disabled soldiers who guarded the prison were silent.

As soon as Shuji left, Chen Jian entered the prison. He was imprisoned for more than a month, with a haggard face. When Chen Jian entered, he was huddled in a corner, buried in the straw, with his hands exposed. , is finishing the rubbing of twine that changes food every day.

Seeing Chen Jian coming in, Xie didn't yell for mercy, nor did he yell for death, but continued to twist the twine as usual.

A few new soldiers stood guard at the door, Chen Jian went in with the wolf skin, he didn't fight desperately, blood spattered five steps, lowered his head and continued to busy with his own business.

"I heard your brother talk about your dream. It's not bad. You hide in the reed forest, build a few huts, let the slaves escape, there is no slave owner, everyone works and farms spontaneously..."

He raised his head and said decisively: "He is not my brother anymore."

Chen Jian smiled and said, "Do you know why you failed to escape last time?"

He was stunned, and snorted: "You have wolf cubs, someone has caught us back. But if my brother hadn't knocked me out, you wouldn't be able to catch me, and in a few days I'd snatch the seeds and go around the grass On the south bank of the river, while he was chasing me across the river, we ran into the forest."

"But how many of you can escape? What can those few people do in the mountains and forests? How many people are needed to cultivate the land? Can you cultivate? You see that Xiacheng can survive by farming, do you think you will? How many months? Sowing seeds? What month to harvest? How many seeds to sow on an acre of land? You don’t know these things, and I dare say that if you flee to the mountains and forests, you will not survive for a few years.”

He lowered his head. During the month in prison, he also thought about these issues, and knew that what Chen Jian said was right. These things seemed simple, but if he hadn't done it himself, it would be very difficult to do well.

"In addition to these, the timing of your escape is also wrong. Those miners are indeed working every day, and they will be stoned to death at any time..."

He pouted his neck and said, "But the miners are less dead now, aren't they? I heard from the guards that after we escaped and we were killed, Jixia, you went to the mine yourself and ran the mine well. Only two or three people die every month. Ji Xia, do you want to treat those miners well? No, it’s because we resisted, and our blood won the miners’ immortality.”

Chen Jian nodded and said: "That's right. You resisted, so we are afraid that you will resist, so we have to let you die less and let you eat better. You have spent a month in prison for nothing. It is very easy to understand. OK."

He couldn't understand why Chen Jian said this, and he couldn't figure out that the biggest, most cunning and cruel slave owner in Xia City would praise him.

"You only ran away with a dozen people last time. There were so many miners, why did you run away with a dozen? Because you didn't think about it before, and you didn't discuss with those slaves in advance, but waited until you were going to enter the mine. It’s a hole, so you just wanted to escape temporarily. You didn’t think about where to escape, how to escape, and I even heard from your brother that even hiding in the mountains and planting plants was a sudden thought of you while escaping. This is impossible.”

He nodded a little ashamedly, and had to admit that all of this was true.

Chen Jian said with a smile: "If I were you, I wouldn't do that. I would make those slaves trust me during work, such as helping others to do heavy work that others can't do, and helping others when they are whipped. Standing in their way for them will cost you a few more whips at most, but within a few months, the slaves will trust you. What do you think?"

He nodded and asked involuntarily, "And then?"

"Then? Then I thought I'm going to run away, but I can't do it alone. I'm going to take the rest of the people and run to the mountains and forests. As you said, you don't need others to whip yourself to plant. This requires One time, the wheat will be harvested in April and May, and it can be planted again in autumn. There are many fruits in the mountains in summer and autumn, and I can survive. There is no snow and no footprints are left, so I have to escape in April and May. Run away and grab some wheat seeds by the way."

He listened intently, nodded and said: "Yes, escape early, and in autumn you can still pick up acorns to survive the winter, as long as you survive the first winter."

"Yes, but some people want to escape, some people don't want to escape, and some people even want to tell others about your escape in exchange for not being a slave anymore, such as your brother. If I were you, I would be a slave After you all trust me, start to observe who can be trusted, who can't be trusted, and who might inform me."

"Slaves are easy to die, and the slave owner doesn't care too much. Before I run away, I will determine who might be the informer and kill him. I will tell you who wants to run away the most like you before I run away. They, like you, use the time of eating and working to tell the dreams you want to plant in the mountains."

"On weekdays, don't show that you want to escape, but work hard, so that the slave owner is reluctant to kill you, and even let you take care of some slaves. You can take advantage of this time to ask those planting slaves how to plant and ask those who fish. How do the slaves weaving the nets weave the nets, and sometimes save a bite of food for the old and weak."

"If I were you, I would endure it for a year. After a year, the slaves who worked together would convince me. When it was time to harvest, many slaves would gather and work together, and the guards would beat the slaves with leather whips. I would stand up for you. If my partner blocked it, I would definitely get severely beaten, everyone would be very angry, and I would think that I would die sooner or later. At this time, I knew it was time to run away."

"Look, there are food seeds, there are more people, and everyone believes in you. You have just been beaten, and your partners are all angry. You escaped well last time. It took half a month for the wolf skin to catch you. You The ability to escape is very good, but the problem is how to gather the slaves together. When everyone complains the most, kill the guards, seize the food, go to the mountains to chop wood to make weapons, and use the trust belt you have accumulated over the year With these people fleeing, how could they not escape?"

"Of course, you don't have to run away, but gather the slaves together. If you want to eat an extra bite of food every meal, otherwise you won't work. You need to choose a good time, such as the busiest time of spring planting and autumn harvest. Even if they want to kill you, you must first meet your requirements. When you are done harvesting the seeds, you will definitely die as the leader, but your partners may live better. Those partners may talk about you for a few days , You may cry a few tears when you see your head hung on the city wall, but you will soon forget it, especially when you have more food, and you will feel that these are all rewards from the master."

"If I were you, I would definitely not choose the second option."

After saying this, Chen Jian left the prison. He listened intently, and when he looked up again, he found that Chen Jian had left, and he was the only one left. Other than that, nothing changed, as if it was a dream.

He sat there, unconsciously pulling the hemp thread in his hand, pondering over Chen Jian's words, dazed, and understood the reason behind it, but didn't understand why Chen Jian said this to him.

Chapter 61 Instability

Different eras have different values. In this era, a "good" slave should not resist, work as a slave, and accept his master's death.

If you can’t do this, you’re not a good slave. With the deepening of slavery and the indoctrination of distorted values, most people who want to resist will be excluded and considered “lazy” people.