"Zuosuo" is the name of the village, which belongs to the rule of the deer clan and is the sphere of influence of the "Bae Department".

The owner of the village, Fuquan, met Tianhao and Tianmad in his wooden house. The guards at the gate of the village examined the imprint on Tianhao's left arm and confirmed that this was a leader of a hundred people and the leader of the village. In any case, Fuquan thinks that he must give the other party enough courtesy.

Fuquan's eyebrows are thicker than the average person's, and his long black hair, tied up with leather ropes, hangs down to his shoulders. He looked at the young man sitting cross-legged opposite, and when he saw the animal skin on the other party's shoulder, Fuquan couldn't help but feel a trace of pride in his heart, and even his eyes became wandering, unconsciously carrying a little contempt.

The reason why the deer tribe has a place among all the northern barbarian tribes is because of the deer tribe's superb textile technology. Five years ago, the deer tribes began to grow cotton on a large scale. Since then, cotton has gradually replaced linen. Nowadays, members of the deer tribe rarely wear linen fabrics, mostly cotton.

Each tribe has its own secrets, and the spinning wheel is a thing that is not very technical, and all tribes can make it. However, when it comes to weaving twine or cotton thread into cloth in an efficient and fast way, this technique is only mastered by the deer tribe, and even if the other tribes produce linen, they can only use the old looms, which are extremely slow and in very small quantities.

"Hehe, when did the people of Panshi Village choose a young junior to be the leader?" Fuquan didn't mean anything bad when he said this, but he couldn't help but add some sarcasm. Zuosuo is a large village with a population of more than 1,000, and the rock village with a population of more than 200 people is a small grasshopper in his opinion.

"Fu Song is dead, and I will take his place." Tianhao took a sip of the water in the cup. The color is slightly yellowish and has a strong earthy smell. He smiled and said straight to the point: "I came this time to discuss a business with the leader of Fuquan. ”

Fuquan did not object to this. He smiled and asked, "How much cloth do you want to change?" Cotton or linen? ”

The people who come to Zuosuo Village to talk about business are all for the cloth here.

"Cotton, five hundred." Tianhao's calm face revealed the sophistication of an adult. He said a number directly.

This is something that no one can ignore. Fu Quan put away the playful expression on his face, stared at Tianhao with blazing eyes, and completely forgot about the question of the young leader's age: "What do you exchange for?" Let me start by saying that we don't want weapons. ”

The cattle people are good at smelting metals and forging weapons, and the metal tools in Panshizhai are of excellent quality.

Tianhao raised his hand and touched his chin, which had grown a thick and short beard, and his fingers slowly slid away from that position, and he snapped his fingers in the air with a very chic movement. Tianmad, who was sitting in the back position, hurriedly opened the backpack at hand, took out a piece of dried fish, and handed it over.

Fu Quan looked at the dried fish in surprise. The shuttle looks clean and clean, and the white flesh is hard to pinch without the slightest moisture. When it is turned over, it is a pale cyan fish skin, and when you get closer, you can smell a faint fishy smell, and there is no foul smell of rotting meat. This shows that the quality of the jerky is quite good, and it is a rare and excellent product.

Without warning, a large amount of saliva was secreted in his mouth, and Fuquan kept shaking his throat. After a hungry winter, the situation in Zuosuo Village was not much better than that of other villages. Fortunately, last year's grain harvest was good, and there were no dead people in the village, and there was no human exchange with other villages in the cold season.

Relying on picnics and prey that come and go, Zuosuozhai has survived until now. The stockade is also planted with stinging melons, most of which have been removed. The rest must not be moved, otherwise there will be a lot less food stored in the winter.

Speaking of which, this is Fuquan's mistake.

For several years in a row, the nearby villages would send people to Zuosuozhai to exchange grain for cotton cloth. Zuo Suozhai made a huge profit from this business, and everyone, including Fu Quan, thought that there was no need to spend effort on farming, as long as they made sure that there was enough cotton land to produce raw materials.

Last year was the year with the smallest amount of cultivated grain area in the history of Zuosuozhai, but it encountered extremely cold weather that was rare in a century.

"Clothing, food, housing and transportation", although clothes are in the first place, that is the premise of "honesty and shame" and the basic framework of social morality in the era of civilization. In the eyes of the northern barbarians, hunger is the biggest problem that must be solved first.

Even Fuquan, the leader of the village, still lives a hungry life. This situation will not be fundamentally alleviated until the autumn arrives, when the first grain in the field is down.

"Where did you get the fish?" Fuquan has been swallowing his saliva wildly, but his mind is full of questions. He knows the geographical location of Panshi Village very well, it is said that there are man-eating monsters in the sea over there, and they have not been able to get close to it for many years.

Tianhao shrugged his shoulders, as if he hadn't heard his question, and smiled: "Let's talk about our business!" Leader Fuquan, how many of these dried fish do you want? ”

"Fifty kilograms for a piece of cloth." Fuquan replied quickly. This is the exchange price during normal times. The conversion between jerky and fresh meat is about one to six. These fish are very dry, and Fuquan estimates that not to say one to seven, even one to eight is possible.

Cloth is worth more than meat and grain. It is made into clothes and worn on the body, and as long as you take care of it, it can last for many years.

"You're kidding!" The smile on Tianhao's face became a little cold, and the tone of his voice became no longer polite: "If it's autumn, of course there is no problem with this exchange price." But you also don't look at what time it is, fifty kilograms...... Hehe......"

He shook his head, sarcasm and ridicule clearly written on his face.

The terrain to the south of Panshi Village is very special, and the coast that is hundreds of miles long is full of cliffs. There is no way down the cliffs hundreds of meters high, and it is difficult to fish or boil salt, and it is impossible to form a scale.

The nearest stockade to Zuo is the rock, and the barbarians of the Buck tribe have apparently not understood the situation until now.

The embarrassment flashed through Fuquan's mind. He knew that the asking price was a bit excessive, but business was business, not to mention that the textile technology of the deer clan was well known. The weather was already hot, and the young leader on the opposite side was still wearing a thick animal skin shoulder, didn't he want to change into a cool and light cotton coat?

"That's forty-nine pounds." Fuquan felt that he had shown the greatest sincerity.

He didn't see Tianhao's movements clearly at all, he only felt that his hand slipped, and the piece of dried fish that was used as a sample disappeared in an instant. By the time he came to his senses, the jerky was firmly in the hands of the damned young man, and he handed it to the stout man sitting behind him. The guy was even more hateful, he stuffed the jerky directly into his backpack, held it down with both hands, and stared at himself with vigilant eyes like a thief.

"Forget it, I'd better go!" Tianhao stood up and shook the dust on the shoulders of the beast skin that didn't actually exist. He picked up the long-handled battle axe that was placed next to him, and the sunlight shone through the cracks in the wooden house, reflecting a cold blue metallic glow on the surface of the sharp blade.

The second fusion point has been generated, and Tianhao has directly invested in the aspect of "physical fitness". During this time, a large amount of food and nutrients make up for the missing parts of the host's body, muscles are growing rapidly, bone strength is also increasing, and tendons become stronger, although not to the extent of Tianmad, the difference between the two is not very large. Ninety and eighty-five points, that's all.

Before doing business, we must consider comprehensively, and we must be fully prepared between "success" and "failure". There is no talent in this area in Panshizhai, Tianhao must make a trip in person, this is sincerity, and it is also a contest between those with equal status.

Fuquan was disrupted by this sudden change, and was forced to swallow back all kinds of words that had already been thought of bargaining before he could say it. He tightened his eyebrows, a trace of anger appeared on his face, and he shouted unhappily: "Then you say, how many can be changed?" ”

Tianhao, who had already walked to the door, stopped, he raised his left hand and stretched out his five fingers: "Five kilograms of dried fish for a piece of cotton cloth." ”

Fu Quan shook his head and vetoed without thinking about it: "This is impossible." ”

Never before had the village exchanged cloth at such a low price.

Tianhao glanced at him, didn't say anything, and turned to leave.

Looking at his back, Fuquan's anger was exponentially expanding.

It would be extremely unwise to use forceful means to leave a stockade leader behind at such a time. What's more, it's useless to leave Tianhao, his entourage's backpack is not big, and it is estimated that there are not many things in it.

Five kilograms of dried fish for a piece of cotton cloth, are you deliberately insulting me?

……

The shadow of hunger continues to loom over Zuo Sozhai.

The grain has been cut off.

"Grain" here is a broad concept that includes all crops produced in the field, as well as meat. In the dictionary of the northern barbarians, "grain" means nourishment.

Wild herbs are not counted among them. In the spring famine, many villages are set out by the whole family, digging wild vegetables in the mountains, digging out the mountain rats in the holes, searching for everything to eat, even the small insects. When I went home in the evening, everyone's harvest was gathered, and the soup and water were boiled into a pot, and when I drank it, my stomach was very full, and in the middle of the night, my stomach "gurgling" non-stop. If you don't stay up until dawn, you'll get hungry again.

Looking at the wheat seedlings in the field that grew green and tender ears, Fuquan's heart was so anxious that it seemed to be on fire.

The wild plants in the nearby mountains have been dug up, and the wild animals are gone. The area inhabited by the deer tribe is sparsely wooded, and the results of each hunt are not much. If this continues, there is really no way out.

This year has taught us that wheat is cultivated far more than ever before. By the time autumn comes, no one will go hungry.

The question is, how can we get through this most difficult time?

Do you really want to give in to that young hairy boy in Panshi Village, and exchange a precious cotton cloth for a small five kilograms of fish jerky?

Fuquan couldn't convince himself to accept this fact.

Just when he was in trouble, a clansman ran from the direction of the village gate in a hurry: "Chief, someone has come to change our cloth." ”