Riverlands is in a time of change.

From primitive tribes to slavery, a different scene can be found in every corner of the land.

River fish and air-dried meat were skewered on wooden racks on the banks of the river and processed for long storage, and slave women partly went out to gather wild fruits, while others worked weaving nets and tanning hides. Most of the male slaves were sent to work on the farms, and a small number of skilled personnel were responsible for the construction of new housing facilities.

Low wooden fences have appeared along the land along the riverbank, enclosing the land that has been divided into households.

Yang Jiao didn't have the heart to do anything about the wooden wall, this belonged to the spontaneous behavior of the slave owners, they were allocated slaves and land, and naturally they were interested in defending private property.

The greed of human nature was fully mobilized at this time, and the pieces of land operated as if they were the contract responsibility system of later generations, except for a small part of the harvest to be handed over to Yang Li, all the others belonged to each household.

Therefore, the slave owners worked hard to create a good farming environment for their land.

Yang Li himself disapproved of the slave system, because the status of the slave group was equivalent to that of livestock, and the slave owners had to devote their energy to take care of them in addition to maintaining production, which was actually a factor of instability.

He thought that if he mastered the bronze smelting technology, he would be able to quickly produce bronze agricultural tools and greatly increase productivity, so as to achieve the Great Leap Forward, break slavery, and enter the feudal era, but it seems that it is still early.

Azurite is being smelted, but the Lieshan clan (formerly the Greenstone tribe) produces a limited amount of ore to make a few bronzes, yes, mass production, no.

The so-called arrival of the Bronze Age does not mean that the first bronze ware is baked, and we are finished.

The advent of an era is based on the rapid development of productive forces, and the rapid development of productive forces is obviously not something that can be changed by one or two tools.

What to change, it will require a change in the whole region, in the society of the region – to put it mildly, to establish a top-down chain of bronze production.

Therefore, Yang Li also has to find large-scale ore veins and establish a one-stop service from mining to smelting to sales and application, which can be regarded as bringing this tribe into the Bronze Age.

Before that, where did the small amount of bronze pay the most off?

Of course, it's a militaristic tool.

In ancient times, there were not so many twists and turns in the contradictions between the tribes, and the so-called don't beep if you can do it, just copy the guys.

The first bronzes were necessarily weapons.

This means that the slaves still can't get the bronze farming tools, so the increase in individual production capacity is limited, and the feudal era is not suitable to forcibly enter.

It's okay, just take it one step at a time.

Yang Jiao now has twenty-five slaves, the largest slave owner in the river, and the inhabitants of the original settlement have been divided and operated on their own land, and this highland surrounded by wooden fences has basically become Yang Li's private castle.

However, the castle's defense ability was low, which made Yang Li unbearable. The fragility of his own territory was not an option, so the construction of arrow towers and the improvement of the walls were also put on the agenda, and these slaves were sent to the woods to cut wood in their spare time and begin to transform the walled city.

Yang Li took Xue Pijiang and Xiao Zhen Mi and personally went to the pasture in the north to check the status of the captured bison.

The so-called practice is the best teacher, how can Yang Li have time to write a textbook for these two little rabbits, build a classroom, move out the small bench, knock on the blackboard and say, listen carefully, Teacher Yang has taught you a lesson.

If you really do this, then don't build the river bay land, and the heavy task of traveling around the world can only be left to future generations.

"Twenty-one pieces of pottery, eight pieces were smashed on the way back, asked, and traded a few pieces." Yang Li walked in front and asked questions to Xiao Zhen Mi in the back.

Zhen Mi snapped her fingers for a while and found that it was not enough, she could have used her upper toes, but now she was walking, so she couldn't count.

"Put your fingers away! Carefully recall the addition and subtraction I taught you between. Yang Li corrected Lori's behavior.

Zhen Mi finally figured out the correct answer after a lot of hard work, and blinked her big brown agate-like crystal eyes: "Thirteen." ”

"Very good, there is progress," Yang Li touched her head, "So, let's say we exchange these pottery for twenty bags of honey, how much is each bag of honey worth?" ”

Of course, Lori couldn't answer, but Yang Jiao didn't plan that she could answer now, the intention of doing so was just to leave her a thought, what things she would come into contact with in the future, and where these things could be applied to trade routes.

Xue Bijiang didn't say a word, just listened carefully, Yang Jiao asked him if he understood anything, and he said he didn't understand at all.

Yang Li said that this is very good, as a scholar, you don't have to care about how much you understand, but you must be clear about what you don't understand.

The more you learn, the more apprehensive your heart will be, because the knowledge is boundless, the door is connected, and the more you study, the more you will find that you have mastered very few things, and then you will find that this unknown world is vast and mysterious.

This is why there are so many famous schools in the world that take seeking truth and pragmatism as their school motto.

Arriving at the pasture, Yang Li found that the fence had been built, and every five meters or so, a log stake was erected, and between the stakes and the stakes, they were either connected by wooden planks or blocked by branches, forming a primitive animal pen.

Hayabusa is reprimanding a slave, wielding a rattan in his hand as if to beat him up.

"What's the situation?" Yang Li stopped Hayabusa's violent behavior, and he found a gap in the nearby fence, and several planks in the middle were broken from the inside and scattered on the ground.

Hayabusa was very angry: "This guy didn't make a strong fence, and he actually let two sheep run away!" The rest of the ewe can't give birth to lambs on its own, right, they can only be killed and eaten! ”

Yang Li checked the gaps in the fence and found that the planks and stakes were relatively strong, and determined that it was not the slave's personal work: "You have no experience in animal husbandry, but I am also responsible, and I neglected to tell you the method before...... Come, Bijiang and Zhen Mi, come and listen. ”

Whether it is a goat or a sheep, they are full of physical strength and stubborn creatures, they are full of forage, what can they do but jump?

Run away.

They can't open the fence today, they come back tomorrow, and they have nothing to do anyway.

This happened in Europe on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, when people no longer graze at will, but enclosure for animal husbandry, sheep can even break through barbed wire and escape, let alone a few wooden planks.

Until one day, a worker found that while the wire fence was destroyed, the wooden fence of a certain section of the fence was intact, and not a single sheep did anything.

Isn't that strange.

Upon closer inspection, the workers found that it was not because the wooden fence was stronger than the iron, but because the section of the fence was made of thorn strips and covered with spikes.

Sheep can repeatedly hit the wire without harm, but when they hit the thorns, it hurts, and every time they try, they will pay the price they deserve.

Based on this idea, the sheepfold fence in later generations will leave knots on the wire to form steel thorns, thus eliminating the "prison escape" behavior of sheep.

Yang Jiao explained this, and everyone suddenly realized.

Hayabusa put down the rattan: "I understand the big leader, I didn't build the fence well, I'll go and lead people to find thorns to improve the fence!" ”

"No need, just leave this kind of thing to someone else," Yang Jiao waved his hand, "I have more important tasks for you." ”

Now Yang Li already has azurite ore in his hands, and there is one thing missing in smelting bronze, that is, tin.

Compared with the rare azurite, tin ore is much more widely distributed, and Yang Li has already drawn some topographic maps of the nearby mountains and hills, and handed them over to Falcon Wing to find.

Tin ore is also easy to identify, with an iron-gray color and a metallic luster.

Falcon Wing was about to leave, but was stopped by Yang Jiao again.

"Do you have any rules for punishing these slaves?" Yang Li asked.

"Usually if something goes wrong, you get five sticks...... The big mistake was twenty sticks, fifty sticks if you tried to escape, plus cutting off your ears. "Falcon Wing applied the basic punishment of all tribes, in fact, this is relatively light, as far as he knows, many tribes catch fugitive slaves, they are directly hanged.

Yang Li nodded and said, "So what are you waiting for?" Twenty sticks, let's fight. ”

Everyone didn't expect Yang Jiao to make such a decision, because just now he had taken part of the responsibility on his head, and he was going to carry out the punishment in the blink of an eye.

If it was Huya, then he would definitely do it without hesitation, but Hayabusa didn't execute it immediately, but continued to ask: "Big Chief, if you encounter a similar situation in the future, will you also follow this rule?" ”

Hey, still questioned?

Yang Li looked at Falcon, who looked at him sincerely.

After nearly a month, the mysterious aura brought by Yang Jiao's actions such as guiding the tribe to use fire bows and moving boulders has gradually faded among the inner clansmen.

Now everyone knows that the chief, like us, is an ordinary person who wants to eat when he is hungry, drink water when he is thirsty, and rest when he is tired, so he no longer communicates with Yang Jiao by worshipping the gods.

Of course, this is a good thing, Yang Li doesn't want to be the head of a sect, the people have thoughts, and it is not a bad thing to have their own opinions, as long as everyone has the same goal and the same pace, then all problems can be solved.

Yang Li is now facing the questioning of Falcon Wing.

As long as the explanation is clear, everyone will have a guideline in their hearts, and they will not be confused in the future.

"Because of the rules," Yang Li decided to simply instill the concept of law into Falcon Wing, he asked Xiao Zhen Mi to come closer, and roughly explained, "The so-called rules will become a kind of thing called 'law' in the future - you know, everyone has experienced different lives, facing the same contradiction, there will always be such and such a solution, and what we need is a method that most people can recognize and accept, this is the future 'law'." ”

Falcon Wing picked up the rattan and seemed to understand what Yang Li meant.

Yang Li further explained: "Laws are also different from those who make them, and they are good or bad, but even if they use not very good laws to do things, it is better than no laws at all." So you see, I listened to the guidelines that you had imposed on the punishment before, which are rudimentary, but must be implemented, not only for respect for the rules, but also for fairness to all those who are under the control of such rules. ”

Falcon Wing nodded yes, the rattan in his hand raised, and fell fiercely, the posture was like that of a slave owner who held the power of life and death.

The slave's screams sounded, but Yang Jiao fanned the flames on the side: "The law is the law, I will improve it as soon as possible, but as long as it takes effect for one day, it cannot be violated for one day." ”

Taking Xue Bijiang and Xiao Zhen Mi into the fence, the three of them walked towards the bison.

"Actually, you want to let him go, don't you?" After opening up a distance from Falcon Wing, Xue Bijiang asked.

Yang Li raised his eyebrows: "No." ”

"No, you said you taught us, and that's part of teaching."

"Ha, good boy," Yang Li glared at the young man, this guy really had a beastly intuition, "because in the future, our territory will expand so much that we can't walk hundreds of sunrises and sunsets, you say, can I rely on someone, or some people, to rule such a country?" ”

"I can't."

"That's right, Falcon Wing may be the first prince I to divide, but he may not have the means of ruling like me, so the safest way is to teach him to rule the country according to the law."