Black and gray bituminous coal spread across the fields, buried deeper beneath the earth. The group of people stood on the coal mound, staring at the flint field in front of them, discussing the trade between the tribe and the kingdom for the first time.
"Gemstones? Your tribe produces gemstones? Are there any colors?"
Mountain Eagle Viho was a little surprised when he heard Chihuaco's words. He looked carefully at the simple clothes of the old militiamen and said hesitantly.
"If you really have red or green gems, the tribe leaders and priests will like them and be willing to exchange them for flints!"
The Yome tribe uses flint and respects the flames of their ancestors, so they like red or yellow accessories. But there is no shortage of gold and copper in the tribe. Yellow jewelry is very common, while red gems are precious. Ruby is also revered by the wasteland tribes of the East, representing the divine heaven and earth, just like the descendants of Guakili dogs.
As for emerald, it is a common preference among coastal tribes, mountain tribes, Mexican plateau tribes, and even Mayan tribes. It symbolizes eternal life and also contains the wisdom of the soul. It is highly respected by noble chiefs, priests and witch doctors! From this point of view, no matter where they are geographically, these coastal tribes actually belong to the cultural circle of Mesoamerica.
At this time, there was not much cunning in the trade between tribes. Most of the time, both parties confess their needs to each other and directly exchange things for things. Chihuaco nodded upon hearing this, glanced at Puap, and ordered.
"Lao Pu, give me two of the gems you have!"
"Eh?! Old man Qi, how did you know that I have gems on me!"
Puup was shocked. He subconsciously reached out and pressed his chest, feeling the hardness and solidity of the gems under his robe.
"Ha! All the supplies traded along the way came from your hands. A mouse sneaked into the granary, how can he still be hungry?"
Chihuaco squinted his eyes and curled his lips. Then, he looked solemn and said in a deep voice.
"Stop grinding. Get a red one and a green one, hurry up!"
"..."
Puap smiled coquettishly. He put his hand into his arms, touched a few gems, looked down at them carefully, and then put the two extra pieces back. Then, he slowly handed over his hand and complained in his mouth.
"This is a life-and-death journey, so getting some gems is nothing...you have to replenish them for me later!"
Chihuaco took the gem in his hand, glanced at it for a moment, and then handed it into the hands of Mountain Eagle Viho.
"Friends, this is the gem of our tribe in the lake. It's bright and lovely, pure and translucent, good!"
"Um?!"
Mountain Eagle Weihuo took the two gems and looked at them over and over for a while, with a look of surprise on his face and a voice of admiration.
"Ancestors! The gems of your tribe are really good! The color is bright and pure, and they are so big that they look like quetzal eggs!"
Chihuaco smiled confidently. He carefully observed Weihuo's expression and didn't see too much greed in the other person's eyes, so he nodded secretly and felt slightly relieved.
In fact, he still had a few "top gems" the size of goose eggs in his hand. They were only exposed once in Trois-Rivières at the mouth of the Leman River, but they were attacked by the Northern Tekos tribe, and he never dared to take them out again.
Before the fleet set off, His Majesty gave him a bag of gems. He originally thought it was a small cloth bag, but when he got it, he found it was a large bag weighing dozens of kilograms, filled with various kinds of gems, large and small! The colors of these gems are all the same deep, the same pure, and the shapes are also very regular!
As the fleet moved forward, Chihuaco was careful and would personally inspect these valuable belongings from time to time. After he saw more, he recovered from the shock and gradually began to have some guesses about the origin of the "jewel" in the lake. However, he kept these thoughts silently in his heart and never mentioned them to anyone.
Chihuaco said with a smile on his face, looking at Weihuo's hand holding the gem tightly, and said kindly.
"Friend, if you like these two gems, I'll give them to you!"
"Ah? Give it to me?"
Hearing this, Weihuo's face showed joy. After hesitating for a moment, he stuffed the gem directly into the quiver on his waist. Senior warriors among the northwest tribes generally know how to throw spears or hunt with bows. Relatively speaking, hunting bows are slightly less powerful, but safer.
"From today on, you are my friend, Mountain Eagle Weiho!"
"Friend, okay, okay!"
The old militiaman nodded repeatedly, his old smile turned into a flower, which made people feel very friendly.
"Good friends, then your tribe..."
"Change! Exchange flint for gems. The leader and priest of the tribe will agree!"
"Okay! How do I change it?"
"How to change..."
Hearing this, Weihuo thought for a while and scratched his hair. He was a little undecided. Gu Ji
Tribal flint, unlike gold ore and copper ore, is not too laborious to dig. It is also open-pit mining without any danger. As long as a few tribesmen are brought over with stone shovels, dozens of baskets can be harvested in a day.
However, according to the rules passed down from the tribe, the flint field is inherited from the ancestors and has always been patrolled and protected by warriors. Except for the needs of the tribal people, it cannot be mined at will. When trading with outsiders, you must also ask for adequate remuneration.
After a while, Weiho came up with a number that he could decide on his own and felt was fair.
"Friend, after all, flint is a gift from the ancestors, and there are rules in the tribe... Then, one gem, exchange for two... no, three baskets of flint?"
"One gem, three baskets of flint?..."
Chihuaco looked surprised. This number was much higher than he expected.
"..."
Weihuo pursed his lips, thinking that Chihuaco was too little. After all, there were as many flints nearby as there was dirt. It was indeed too easy for the tribe to dig up the flints. He gritted his teeth and changed his words in embarrassment.
"For the sake of my friends, let's add half a basket! The leader is very strict about the flint trade... One gem, exchange for three and a half baskets of flint!"
"Uh...three and a half baskets, that's..."
Chihuaco scratched his head. One basket of flint is estimated to be around sixty or seventy kilograms, and three and a half baskets is about two hundred or three hundred kilograms?
Puap looked at Old Man Qi's expression and smiled.
"Lao Qi, why, can't you figure it out?"
Chihuako blushed. After all, he was a militiaman, unlike Puap, who was a warrior and had some arithmetic skills. He glared at Lao Pu, feeling secretly angry in his heart. After returning home, he wanted to ask the priests in the camp for help and learn some math.
"Friend, okay, okay! One gem, three and a half baskets of flint, exchange it! We want to exchange it for twenty baskets, so I'll give it to you... uh..."
"Six gems!"
Puap smiled and answered with a smile on his face. In the entire fleet, except for the ship's priest Mecat, he was the most cultured.
Weihuo clapped his fingers and estimated that it was about the same. Of the six gems, two were given to the chief, two to the priest, one to the witch doctor, and the remaining one was kept for himself.
"Okay! Friends, let's do it! Our ancestors have witnessed that when wild deer in the mountains meet, they will touch their foreheads... We are friends who exchange things, not enemies who compete for each other!"
As he spoke, Weiho lowered his head and pointed his forehead towards Chihuaco. The old militiaman was stunned. Thinking of Chief Kallan's deer head, he suddenly understood. He also lowered his head, touched Weihuo's forehead, and pressed against it hard.
"Ancestors witness! Friend, good deer, good friend!"
The two of them performed the local etiquette and came down from the coal hill. Then, the kingdom's fleet exchanged twenty baskets of coal and added some water, filling the three large galleys to the brim.
After the deal was completed, there was no celebration and Chihuaco didn't stay long. He just looked deeply at the large villages by the sea and the thick black smoke from the burning flint.
"Flint...coal...flint field...large coal mine...three thousand tribal warriors..."
Chihuaco murmured. He had a vague hunch that His Highness might value coal mines more than gold and silver. After a long time, the old militiaman sighed and gave orders to the sailors on the ship.
"Divide into two teams and take turns rowing! Next, stick to the coast and continue northwest! Praise the Lord God for letting us pass through the waves!"
“Praise be to the Lord God for carrying us through the waves!”
The sailors and warriors shouted in unison, full of piety. Afterwards, the kingdom's exploration fleet set off again, heading towards the unknown northwest, extending the boundaries of the world.
Three days later, the fleet arrived at the bay more than two hundred miles away and met the Guaymas, a small coastal tribe. Chief Callan once mentioned that the Guaymas were a tribe of the Yaqui people and showed respect to the Yome tribe, but they intermarried with the Sri people. Their way of life is to settle down by the river and farm while sending out fishermen and hunters.
The Kingdom fleet stopped for a while, replenished some fruits, and with the help of the new guide Shantiao, asked for news about the northwest sea.
"The island full of seabirds, the big island transformed by giant turtles, is not far to the northwest! You will see it along the coast. You will definitely!"
Hearing such news, everyone in the fleet was in high spirits. Chihuaco looked happy, as long as he discovered the holy land of seabirds, his way home would be close at hand! However, he still had some doubts about what the local tribe said.
"You'll definitely see it along the coast?"
The old militiaman pressed his question and continued moving forward with the fleet. This area is calm, the water is extremely smooth, and the boat speed is extremely stable.
The fleet took another three days to travel three hundred miles. The flying birds in the sky, just like the clouds in the sky, caught everyone's eyes first! The sailors and warriors were excited and mustered up their strength to row faster. Within two-quarters of an hour, a particularly spectacular gray-white island, like a giant turtle perched on the sea, appeared in front of the kingdom's fleet!
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