From Chief to Ball

There are not too many cattle in the city, but more than a hundred heads were exchanged from Echeng, and the grain mortgaged by Taobei was ground into powder and shipped to Echeng, and a new batch of cattle was on the way.

Except for the stallions and mares, only 150 war horses remained, and the rest became rough horses and work horses due to various unqualified conditions.

A large number of stone plows and wooden plows are still being produced, but the city strictly manages the technology and strictly prohibits leakage, and most of the cattle and horses are also controlled by the city's public property. Tao Bei can trade in the city, but cannot go to E city. , In exchange for the grain collected by the super-issued shell coins, the increase in the cattle under the control of the wolf skin.

And because of the appearance of the wooden plow, the value of cattle has increased a lot. A large number of shell coins are no longer only used to exchange for grain and daily necessities. Chen Jian does not have to worry about credit bankruptcy. Even if there is no grain, cattle can support those shells currency credit.

At the citizens' meeting in the city, Chen Jian proposed the method of using cattle and wooden plows, which would be provided by the city to various tribes, but the tribes who used them had to pay one-fifteenth of the grain every year. These cattle and horses were completely It can completely replace people who work by hand.

The clan leader and the clansmen just discussed it, and then readily accepted this clause. Although the tax rate in Xia City has reached eight to one with the addition of the fifteen taxes that should have been paid, the clan leader can only accept it.

With oxen and stone plows, more land can be cultivated. After careful calculation, they only need to cultivate one-fifteenth more land this year to be equal to last year, and if one-fifteenth more, Even if you earn it yourself.

No matter how you look at it, it is impossible for these oxen and wooden plows to only add one-fifteenth of the land. The choice is obvious, but they ignore that the newly cultivated land also needs one-eighth of the tax.

For a whole ten days, people from all clans were learning how to hold the plow and how to wade the fields, and quietly went to the cowshed run by Wolfpipe to inspect the cows and horses they thought were the most capable, hoping that those would be assigned to their clans.

The rules of the city are very strict. The clan needs to prepare fodder for the cattle and horses that are allocated. If they are hungry and thin, not only the grain will be fined, but also part of the land will be confiscated and the cattle will be taken back. This is a severe punishment that has never been seen before.

There are strict regulations on the minimum amount of soybeans needed each year, including coarse salt for cattle, which will also be distributed to each tribe. Half of the cow dung will go to the city, and the other half will go to each clan.

For a whole ten days, Mu Ma was also learning how to hold the plow, but at night, he would find all eleven partners and discuss their future.

"With cattle plowing, one person can afford four hundred catties of grain a year. I think we can afford it."

On the day before the ten-day holiday, when several returnees from the plow got together with Mu Ma, he came to the above conclusion with confidence.

Chapter 67 Spring Breeze ([-])

After Mu Ma categorically stated the conclusion, the eleven people around him fell into deep thought. What they used to dream of was only owning their own house, but now Mu Ma means leaving the clan completely.

These twelve people are not a clan, they didn't know each other at all a year ago, and they had no chance to know each other.Because of the alliance between the tribes and Chen Jian breaking up the army establishment of the clan, these people got together.

Mu Ma is not an officer in the army, not even a corporal commander. He is very average in combat, not a coward but not the kind of person who is strong enough to fight two against one.

But after a winter, he used his hard work and ideas to bring a lot of money to these eleven people, and the trust in life has been established.

But can this kind of trust support these people to stand with him?Numa himself is not sure.

"Guys, the clan is already dispensable. Taxes are collected by the city, and wars are managed by the city. If you don't know how to grow fields, you can learn from the cloth officials. You can't even have enough food in winter. Cities are rationed, so what if you leave the clan? It’s not the same now.”

"But... Muma, are you sure we can go out and live alone?"

"Of course, I've done the math, you can listen. The twelve of us can rent two cows. If we go to the land, we can go to [-] acres of land a day, and we can open a lot of land in one day. The twelve of us are not talking about single If you live alone, but help each other, why can’t you survive?”

The numb voice was a little impatient, he was eager to convince his partner, and danced excitedly.

"When collecting in caves, twelve people couldn't survive. When digging the ground by hand, twelve people couldn't do it either, but now that we have oxen and plowshares, twelve people can do it. What happens, maybe one person can support three or four people to plant a hundred acres of land. A woman, two or three children, a man can support them."

Women, children, and family are the biggest weaknesses of these people's indecision. Mu Ma's last words finally made them let go of their doubts and decided to give it a try.

Chen Jian has been secretly observing Muma's group of people, and he has noticed since Muma approached him several times in a row, asking about planting, house building and so on.

Compared with collective planting, family planting is impossible to increase food production without improved seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural tools. If dividing into families can instantly increase food production, it is ignoring water conservancy, fertilizers, machinery, etc. factor assumptions.

In contrast, it is true that in this era, the grain output of urban tribes planted by families was indeed higher than that of clan collectives, but this was a relationship of reverse cause and effect: only when the productivity developed enough to support the disintegration into families would there be The existence of the family, rather than disintegrating into a family, will lead to the development of productive forces.

However, the disintegration of a tribe into a family is a process that must be experienced, because it is united around the clan and has a certain degree of organization, and it is not easy to suppress and exploit internally.

Disintegrated into families, the city's violent institutions can easily oppress these people, and if the clan is united, Chen Jian needs to consider the interests and opposition of the clan.A hundred people get together, and three or five people get together, the degree of organization and confrontation is completely different.

The emergence of cattle farming and bronze farm tools can already try to disintegrate the clan. Even if it is not complete, forming a mutual aid group with more than a dozen people together is better than dividing a city into more than a dozen clans.

After the disintegration, the clan leaders lack appeal, and their importance in the council will gradually decrease, and may eventually become a kind of honorary elders. The 13 people who really have the power are elected.

Most of the leaders of this method of boiling frogs in warm water were not aware of the imminent crisis, and they were still immersed in the reverie of the expansion of the tribe this year.

The large amount of corn bought from E City will be planted in spring, and the four crops that will be harvested three times in two years are complete. Everyone knows that this winter will no longer have to worry about food shortages.

It was the end of February when the willows spit out their tender yellow branches, and the season of spring breeze is about to start a busy year. Taking advantage of the sunny weather, Chen Jian held another city meeting, this time to divide the cattle and horses. .

People from various tribes came to the open space outside the city early, and they did not know how many times they saw the animals tied up in the nearby stables and cowsheds. Some people had already stared at the horses they thought were the most obedient and energetic, hoping that those animals would be able to into their own hands.

Lies also began to appear among the clans. Some people can clearly tell the quality of cattle and horses, but when others ask him, he will keep silent, saying that he does not know, and even pointing out a few horses Horses that look thin but get fat after a while, say those horses are not good.

Outside the barn, there was a lot of voices, and finally quieted down after the sound of drums.

"The cattle and horses are divided today, you have to take care of them and feed them, if..."

"If you lose weight, you will be fined money and land. We know that, so hurry up!"

"That's right, Ji Xia, even if we are hungry, we can't let the cows and horses be hungry."

Chen Jian said with a smile: "One more thing, you have to remember clearly, the cattle and horses belong to the city, not yours, you can only use them, but you can't resell them or lend them to other tribes. If you want to deploy them, If you want to come to me, you can’t do this in private.”

The people below all shouted to know, begging to get more points quickly, tomorrow will be fine weather, so we can open more land.

While yelling, some people's eyes had already caught sight of the bulls and horses they were looking for. A few people lay beside the leader's ears and pointed out in a low voice: "That horse is good, choose that one later, don't let others take the lead." .Look at those horses again. They are about to die. I guess I can call it a mother no matter how old I am. Then I can’t have it. If it dies in our hands..."

When several leaders were gearing up and preparing to fight for it, the civet cat stood up and shouted: "I said, big guy, this cattle and horses are plowing, everyone must not forget who brought everyone here. The wall of the well in Yangguan There is a picture engraved on it, saying that drinking water does not forget the well digger..."

The people below shouted impatiently: "Oh, how can we still credit Ji Xia? Based on this alone, I will be the first to object to whoever wants to replace Ji Xia as the leader of the city in the future..."

People laughed and drove the civet cats away. Chen Jian took out a pack of bark and threw it into the jar, and said with a smile: "Then share it. I have seen that you squatted in the cowshed and stables all day long, picking and choosing. To avoid another quarrel, let’s draw lots. Horses and oxen have numbers, and the chiefs come up to draw, and the ones that are drawn cannot be exchanged.”

Some people who didn't know how to watch horses laughed and mocked: "With your thoughts, how can Ji Xia not know? This time I smelled the smell of the barn for nothing, tsk tsk..."

The leaders were a little embarrassed, feeling that their petty thoughts had been seen through. They listened to Chen Jian calling their clan's name resentfully, put their hands into the pots, and silently prayed to their ancestors, hoping that they could catch the one they liked.

Yuqian'er and Hongyu chanted their numbers behind and led the people to the cowshed to lead the animals. The members of the clan shouted excitedly because they had won a good horse, or cursed because they had won a bad cow.

Seeing that there are fewer and fewer cows and horses in the cowshed, the people around Muma kept poking Muma, telling him to speak up.

Mu Ma was also a little scared, would someone laugh at him if he stood up on this occasion?Will Jixia punish herself?Do you really want to take this step?

Seeing more and more clans take away the animals, Mu Ma finally punched himself hard, took the most difficult step, and said the most difficult sentence.

"Wait a moment!"

Chapter 68 Spring Breeze (End)

With a loud shout, the surroundings suddenly became quiet. Mu Ma knew that there was no turning back, and gritted his teeth, walked in front of Chen Jian under the suspicious eyes of everyone, and took out a piece of bark from his arms, on which twelve people were drawn. Some of the names are words and some are pictures.

There are bloody handprints under each name, using blood as a witness to the oath.

"Ji Xia, we have to share it out. According to what you said, each person will give [-] catties of food to the city or clan a year. Please Ji Xia also give us cattle and horses! This is our name. We respect our ancestors. I swear, I will never miss a grain of grain, I have to pay a tax of [-] in [-], and I will also pay for the use of cattle and horses, even if we starve to death, we must first pay enough grain!"

After he yelled these words, his face was a little red and a little hot, and he was still sweating in the slightly cold spring breeze, he didn't dare to look up at Chen Jian, he had already yelled anyway, so he could only resign himself to fate.