Warrior Lake is eighty miles north to south and more than forty miles east to west. It is a large lake that can irrigate hundreds of miles of fertile soil. The scorching summer radiates the light of growth, making the fields and farmland around the lake lush and lush, with weeds and crops growing together.
"What a pity! ... Such a good land is not taken care of carefully ... the weeds are as tall as the crops! ..."
The longship docked at the Warrior Lake and found a camp of the Bossaros to rest for the night. The veteran militiaman couldn't stand idle, so he wandered to the fields outside the camp, took a look at the fields he had cultivated for two months, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
"Stupid! Stupid! What a bunch of stupid idiots..."
Priest Mecat did not go to the ground, but looked around the camp. When he saw the tribal warriors who had been disbanded and returned, all of them were lean and their faces looked like they had traveled a long distance, he asked Chipawa in the native accent of Prepecha.
"Fighting Chippawa warrior captain, with so many tribal warriors marching so far, who will provide food?"
"What? Food for the expedition? Ordinary recruiting tribes, just like migration, you have to bring it yourself! Of course, the Red Crow Tribe will provide food for an elite hundred-man team like us. We are the direct warriors of the Red Crow Tribe, It’s different from those recruited tribal warriors!…”
Chipawa grinned with satisfaction upon hearing Priest Mecat's title. He reached out and patted the fellow villager on the shoulder, and replied carelessly.
"Of course, some tribes are poor and don't bring enough food when they go on an expedition, so they can only hunt, fish, and plunder the enemy on the road. Therefore, they always march for a few days and then stop for two days, slowly, like in It’s the same as on the migration journey... Only our elite hundred-man team can run hundreds of miles in one day and reach the northern river in ten days!..."
"Oh! That's it! You guys are really amazing!..."
Priest Mekart's eyes moved, thoughtfully.
Most of the tribal armies going on expeditions had to bring their own food, which foreshadowed two things. One is that the Red Crow tribe does not have enough food to support so many elite centurions directly under its command. Another is that each tribe also has an independent tribal army, which is subject to recruitment but is not directly controlled. And these two things are actually one: insufficient food production and loose tribal traditions have restricted the centralization of power by the two Red Crow chiefs.
"The cassava left by Captain Qi... can double the food production..."
Thinking of this, Priest Mekart pursed his lips, feeling a little complicated and unspeakable. His eyes moved in the camp of the Bosalos, looking at the crudely built thatched huts and cave houses, as well as the tribesmen with wide feet and a habit of migrating, and his thoughts wandered far away.
"Lord God! I don't know whether it will be bad or good for the kingdom to let these wandering barbarians unite under the same banner and gradually settle down..."
Priest Mecat watched for a moment, and suddenly saw a yellow flash in the hands of the camp warrior. He squinted his eyes and took a closer look. It turned out to be a copper axe. And when he looked around the camp, he discovered that there were actually far more than one such copper axe.
"Fighting Chippawa warrior captain, this tribal camp is so rich and has so many copper axes?"
"What? Rich? Even the rats in this shabby camp are too poor...Haha!"
Chipawa, the wilderness warrior, looked around and laughed at the dilapidated tribal camp that was so poor that there were no turkeys.
"Mekat priests, the axes in their hands were given to them by the generous war chief after they became loyal to the war chief! And the craftsmen in Red Crow City can forge a hundred such weapons in a day!"
"Casting? Do you have copper mines?"
"That's right! There is a large copper mine just a hundred or two hundred miles north, and hundreds of mining slaves are digging it now! Sister Alan said that the reason why the chief chose Red Crow City here is because he valued it. A copper mine!"
When the wasteland warrior Chipawa said this, he scratched his head again and said uncertainly.
"It seems that the copper mines in the north are a little different. Not only do they produce copper, but they also produce pigment mines. The tribes in the northern wilderness have been digging for many years and have been applying the shiny mineral powder on their tattoos... But I don't like the color. The shiny ones are too ugly, but red is the most sacred! Well, Sister Alan thinks so too..."
"At the beginning of last year, Uncle Kuitong, who is in charge of foundry, discovered that by casting the pigment mine together with copper, the newly cast copper ax and spear became much tougher! ... But Uncle Kuitong still always said that it was wrong, saying that it was not hard enough and that it needed to be added. What kind of silver-white soft stone?... Battalion Commander Zukata asked us to look for it. We searched in the mountains for several months, but we couldn't find even a hair..."
"Lord God! How is it possible? Damn it! The Red Crow Tribe can actually cast bronze?"
Hearing this, Priest Mekart was shocked. He remained calm, with a smile still on his face, and spoke gently.
"Chipawa, who is this uncle Kuitong? Is he also a fellow from Prepecha?"
"Hey! Didn't I mention it before? At that time, Battalion Commander Zukata took a few of us and fled all the way to the wilderness..."
Chipawa, the wasteland warrior, tugged his hair in confusion and handed over Lao Di directly without warning.
"Uncle Kuitong is one of them! He is the family craftsman slave of Prince Kuius. He is responsible for making bronzes, so he is called Kuitong. The battalion commander said that among their group of warriors, some can train spear battalions and some can make leather armor. There are also those who can cast bronze... They were all carefully selected by the prince and left for him to go north to start a new life! Unexpectedly, the prince died on the way, but they were still alive..."
"Damn it! Prince Kuius of the Tarasco royal family... actually left such a back-up plan?..."
Hearing this name that had long been forgotten by the Prepecha people, Priest Mecat narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth secretly. Then, the smile on his face became brighter and he asked softly.
"Chippawa, your Red Crow tribe is so awesome! Can I see the bronze ax you forged?"
"Haha! Of course! Jaka, bring the axe!"
Chippawa, the wasteland warrior, shouted, and pointed to his ax with a smile.
"This is from Huangu City. It's a real bronze axe. It's much sharper! Uh...it seems like it was made by you..."
Priest Mecat's eyes were serious, and he reached out to touch and carefully examine the yellow bronze ax in his hand. Then, he took out the obsidian dagger from his waist, carved the face of the ax twice, and then tried the edge of the axe. Finally, he even licked the surface of the ax to taste the taste of the axe.
"More than tough, not sharp enough...a bit soft, a bit astringent...eh? A bit sweet?..."
"It was mentioned in the divine revelation...this is...this is..."
Priest Mecat blinked and flashed for a while, then suddenly his eyes lit up.
"This is lead!"
"O Lord God! The shiny pigment mine produced by the northern Copper Mountain and the wasteland tribes, and smeared on the tattoos by the wasteland warriors, is actually galena?"
"So, the weapons made by the Red Crow Tribe using copper and lead together...are they lead bronze weapons?"
(End of chapter)
