From Chief to Ball

This time, there were basically no living creatures in the fleet except people, only four horses as seeds, and Chen Jian was reluctant to ride them.

After estimating the level of productivity here, it is estimated that a broken ax and hammer can be regarded as magic weapons.As for glass mirrors, glass beads, glasses, spirits and the like, they can all be considered priceless.

Each of the more than 300 people carried something on their backs. After paying the village community dozens of catties of dry biscuits, they readily asked four aborigines to lead the way.

In a few days, Chen Jian also learned a lot of simple vocabulary, and he was able to communicate to some extent with gestures.

Most of the expedition team were young people, and this kind of wonderful expedition to a foreign country for the first time gave them a special mentality.

On the way, he shot several crocodiles with muskets, and the guide who led the way frightened repeatedly prayed that it was God's wrath.

In his eyes, it is not a musket, but a thunderbolt that can rage and dark clouds to roll.

Several people skinned the crocodile and had a meal of crocodile meat for lunch.

"There are a lot of wild animals here. Even if you sell fur, crocodile skin and other goods every year, you can make a lot of money. These goods are still in short supply in the homeland."

The members of the expedition team talked like this, while Chen Jian stared at the huge crocodile head, thinking that now that there are chili peppers, he can try the chopped pepper crocodile head.

He didn't care much about goods like furs. As long as paper money was promoted in the colonies and based on real tools, he could get a steady stream of silver coins every year.

After inspecting the land here, it is very fertile. According to the guide, the annual rain is abundant and seasonal.

It is more suitable for growing cash crops such as tobacco, indigo, and cotton. If the land is still so fertile a little further north, it will be a perfect commercial grain base for corn and wheat.

The people here should know the existence of copper, because they were ignorant when Chen Jian took out the iron objects, but they kept repeating a word for some bronze objects, which seemed to be seen.

From the living conditions of those people in the village, it can be roughly inferred that this should be in the era of slavery. Those natural villages pay a large amount of tribute in kind every year. They are not slaves, but they are not much better than slaves.

That is to say, the yield of foods such as sweet potatoes and corn is acceptable, and the land is fertile, so food and clothing can be guaranteed under extremely inefficient planting conditions.

As the expedition continued to go deeper, the traces of slavery became more and more obvious. Many people worked together on some large tracts of land, and various crops were planted on them.

This expedition team has also attracted more and more people's attention. Many people stopped and looked curiously at this group of people whose clothes and costumes were completely different from theirs, but whose appearance and skin color were similar. The octagonal hat and some small pendants are full of curiosity.

Finally, a road that could be called a road appeared before the eyes, and a city built of wood and stone stood before the expedition team.

The people in the city who had already received the news came out of the city early, as if they were facing a big enemy, they assembled an army of hundreds of people, holding wooden spears or long sticks.

Some people wear armor made of rhinoceros or crocodile skin, and the hands of the slightly higher status hold well-polished stone weapons, or a bronze spear or a very short short sword, and stone Arrow bow.

Chen Jian saw a few horses, behind which were pulling very primitive chariots, which didn't look like they were used for shocking, but should only be used for riding.

Hundreds of soldiers surrounded by stars and the moon, about 40 to [-] years old, extremely majestic, this should be the lord of this city, he can also be called the king or Fang Bo, in short, he will not be the leader, after all It is already a country or a city-state.

Surrounding the king should be nobles or priests, who seem to have gold or copper ornaments on their bodies, symbolizing their noble status.

Chen Jian estimated the size of the city. He reckoned that there were only a few thousand people in the city, not counting slaves, and it was considered a rather large city.

The members of the expedition team clenched their muskets tightly and were not afraid. If they really wanted to fight, their 300 men could wipe out the opposing army in an instant.

The guide ran over, knelt down in front of the king, muttered something, and kept gesticulating something with his hands.

It can be seen that the faces of the king and the noble priests around him have become extremely ugly, and there is even a trace of fear.

After waiting for a long time, finally a person who should be a priest stepped forward and walked between the two groups.

Chen Jian also stepped out, and after saluting with the etiquette he learned here, he took out a balance from his back pocket.

On one side of the scale is placed a cob of corn, and on the other side of the scale is placed a handful of wheat which is not available here.

The simple action finally made the other party understand that Chen Jian meant to trade.

The priest went back and said a few words, and the king said something else. The guide got up from the ground and told Chen Jian with gestures that the king had allowed the transaction, but he could not enter the city, only outside the city gate.

Chen Jian hurriedly took out a transparent glass, a bottle of old wine from the capital, and a short sword made of crucible steel, and offered them to them.

The king's expression suddenly brightened, playing with the transparent glass, the noble priests next to him congratulated.

After Chen Jian took out the steel sword and chopped a piece of wood into two, those people finally let out a burst of exclamation, and the king withdrew his short sword, and his attitude became gentle.

Chen Jian grabbed a handful of soil, put a corn seed in it, and then put out a corn cob, picked a few corns from the top of the corn cob and handed it over.

Indicate that you want to plant and harvest here, and you can offer a certain harvest as a tax obligation.

The priests probably guessed what it meant and gave a gesture of consideration.

If it is slavery, then the land is owned by the king, including village land, which cannot be bought and sold. If necessary, even mountains, rivers and rivers can be owned by the king.

The land that such a small city can control is within a range of tens of miles, and those people outside the range are basically village communities, and the specific method of governance is unknown.

But one thing Chen Jian is very clear about is that tax collection also requires extremely high levels of organization and level. Land tribute is completely different from the tax under the perfect cultural management system. It is likely that a piece of land will be entrusted and a fixed amount of tribute will be enough... According to Chen Jian's estimate, not to mention whether glass beads can be used to pay for this tribute, even if the grain is collected, it is only a hundred mu of land under the ridge farming mode.

You can't do certain things until you can stand your ground and learn the language.

The other party has not yet given an answer to this matter, but the matter of trade has finally been settled.

One hundred soldiers of the expedition team were responsible for collecting personal pockets and the goods inside, spread out the huge cotton cloth on the ground, and placed all kinds of goods on it.

The remaining [-] expeditionary soldiers stood ready with their guns.

There are a wide variety of goods on cotton cloth, and goods such as sharp iron, glass, and cotton cloth are very popular here, causing a frenzy.

Three days later, Chen Jian harvested about four kilograms of gold, more than 1 kilograms of corn, and various seeds of sweet potatoes and pumpkins.

In addition, 130 sheep, forty cows and seven horses were exchanged, which were the most expensive items.

There are a lot of things that can be exchanged here. It can be seen that the economic development is okay. There are cotton cloths and the like here, but Chen Jian can't use them.

As for things like pottery, they were worthless in Chen Jian's eyes, and some slaves were brought in to exchange them, but Chen Jian didn't need to spend the money.

After waiting outside the city for a few more days, they finally had a banquet, eating corn kernels, fish and strange food, and watching a sacrifice of slaves by the way.

After the banquet, a priest followed Chen Jian to the place where the fleet was moored. After witnessing the big ships that were taller than the city, the priest was at a loss and panicked.

The previous topographic survey team used the hot air balloons and telescopes carried on the ship to select a piece of land sandwiched between two rivers, with a radius of about fifty miles and more than 500 square kilometers.

This does not include some land by the sea, and there are several villages dotted along the river. Because of the outdated farming tools, this fertile land has not been developed by the aborigines.

The price of these lands is [-] corn cobs, [-] baskets of potatoes, and [-] pumpkins every year. If there is a war, some soldiers will be sent here, and Chen Jian was given a human skin wrapped in gold leaf that symbolizes power. drum.

Although the ways of counting and writing are different, numbers are always universal.No matter it is decimal, 36 hexadecimal or twenty decimal, as long as you master the method, numbers are the easiest to master.

For the level of productivity at this time, this is a very high tribute. In a sense, Chen Jian and his group can be regarded as a small country that surrenders.

After the priest who allocated the land left, someone asked, "What's going on here?"

Chen Jian said with a smile: "It's not a big deal, it's like a tribute. This is not much, and a hundred acres of land can be planted. If this land is developed, there will be 10,000+ acres."