Tianhao shrugged his shoulders: "That's your freedom." If you don't think I'm a good customer, you can find someone else. For example, the lion and tiger tribes are numerous, and there is a great demand for fabrics. ”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed to the open door, "I won't stop you." ”

Fu's anger lasted less than two minutes.

He didn't step away, and he didn't mean to leave.

Calm and sober gradually subsided the flames of anger, and he could tell that Tianhao was not joking, let alone deliberately teasing.

People who are always sane will always think of more.

In terms of habitability, the comprehensive environment near Zuosuozhai is actually very good, although the river occasionally breaks off in summer, the probability of occurrence is not large, and drought of this magnitude is even rarer. There is a large area of flat cultivated land around the village, and every year during the rainy season, the river brings a large amount of humus from the upstream, which is piled up layer by layer, and the land naturally becomes fertile.

But in terms of location, Zuo Suozhai is quite embarrassing: it is just located on the border between the deer tribe and the cattle tribe, and it is far away from other walled cities of the deer tribe, and it takes a lot of time to go back and forth, which is extremely inconvenient.

The decisions of the ruler are very important and have a direct bearing on the life and death of the territory.

The year before last, 60 percent of Zuo's land was used to grow cotton. Fu was very sure of this, in fact, including the Panshi Village at that time, the nearby tribes and large and small cities needed cotton cloth, in order to survive the cold winter, they were willing to take out a large amount of food exchange, and the price naturally rose.

That year, the villagers of Zuosuozhai were well fed, and almost every woman in every household was pregnant. Only men who have a full stomach have the strength to be willing to spend time and energy on women.

Encouraged, Fu ordered last year that all the land in the village should be used to grow cotton. He felt that there should be no problem in doing so, and the high price of cotton cloth determined that it was a seller's market. Especially in winter, the cold is the top priority.

Reality once again proved the gap between the imagination and the imagination: in the past winter, only two-thirds of the cotton cloth accumulated in Zuo Suozhai was sold, and although enough food was exchanged, the large amount of cloth accumulated in the warehouse made Fu worried. Coupled with the news of the large-scale road construction from Rock City to the Deer Clan's territory, he felt a strong sense of crisis more and more.

Some questions that had never been thought of before exploded in Fu's mind like a bomb.

Rock City has received as many as tens of thousands of pig people one after another, don't they wear clothes?

Even if the pig people are naturally strong, with rough skin and thick flesh and are not afraid of the cold, they can survive the winter with their physique alone, but what about the summer? Are you still working naked and bare-bottomed?

Men are fine, but what about women?

Fu slowly turned around and secretly glanced at Tianhao, his eyes a little wavering. He swallowed hard, and asked uncertainly and tentatively, "Ah Hao...... You...... You really don't need cotton? ”

Tianhao looked at Fu meaningfully, raised his hand and pointed to the chair: "Sit down and talk!" ”

Questioning, Fu sat down again, which was really helpless, although the man's dignity told him to stand up and pat his ass immediately and walk away, reason did not allow it.

"Cotton, of course I want. But your asking price is too high. Tianhao said very directly: "The price equivalent to two-thirds of last year is not low." If you don't believe me, you can go to other villages and ask and you'll know. ”

"Other stockades?" The uneasiness in Fu's heart deepened: "You are united with them? ”

Tianhao smiled: "All this is actually caused by yourself, what does it have to do with us?" ”

"What do you say? You...... What do you mean? Fu felt more and more confused.

Tianhao had already anticipated his thoughts: "Come with me and show you something." ”

The two men left the hall one after the other and walked outside. There are people coming and going, and Fu is so envious that he keeps exclaiming, feeling that this prosperity is no less than that of Stag City. The people around him bent down and saluted Tianhao, following him, and Fu felt like he was following a real big man.

There is a tall tower directly ahead. Large blocks of stone are piled up on a pedestal, and the four sides of the fifty-meter-long form a square. The tower is hundreds of meters high, and only in this way can it meet the requirements of vigilance, corresponding to the huge size of the barbarians far beyond the humans of the civilized era.

Walking up the steps of the tower, Fu saw that the layered building was of astonishing thickness, with small rooms separated by metal siding. Ascending to the third floor, he saw a series of powerful heavy ballistae in the open attack position.

"There was food and water in it, as well as plenty of bows and arrows. In case of emergency, as long as the door below is locked, no one can enter. Whoever attacks the city will have to pay a very heavy price. Tianhao explained seemingly casually.

When I came to Panshi Village before, Fu had seen this kind of tower. He knew it was a defense built specifically for war, but he never imagined that the tower would be so powerful.

"This is a forbidden place in the city, and no one can enter except for the vigilant troops and those with my permission." Tianhao's expression was relaxed, with a smile: "If someone wants to sneak in to see what is going on, I will cut off his head and hang it on the wall." Hehe...... A nice ornament. ”

For a while, Fu was speechless to respond.

Soon, the top of the tower was reached.

The sight was open.

When he was on the stairs before, Fu knew that he was about to see a magnificent and vast scene. He once climbed a very high mountain, overlooked the vast land, and had a heart-pounding excitement and shock. He felt that this was Tianhao's deliberate exercise of power, allowing himself to witness the visual stimulation of the entire city. After all, "power" is always associated with words like grandeur, magnificence, and vastness, and the effect is extraordinary.

The city is not as big as Fu imagined, especially when you look down from such a height, the buildings become dwarfed and the dense crowds on the streets become thin. This is not difficult to understand: 40,000 people sounds like a lot, but by the standards of civilized times, it is at most a small county town.

Tianhao raised his hand and pointed to the distance to the north.

Following his guidance, Fu saw a vast expanse of land under the clear sky, beyond the outer defensive zone of the city at his feet, and in the distance, a vibrant green. The soft sunlight shrouded the earth, and after a burst of rain in the morning, the moist air was refracted and the beautiful halo released a beautiful picture.

Fu involuntarily opened his mouth and his eyes widened.

Wheat fields were everywhere, and the crops in the fields were in the vigorous growth period, green and lush, like a thick blanket covering the earth. The size of the area completely subverted Fu's understanding and knowledge of the word "farming". He never imagined that human activity could reach such a terrible ...... No, it should be said that the scale of horror. It feels like the whole world can't see any other landscape at all, and everything is occupied by wheat fields.

Next to him, there was Tianhao's voice as if admiring.

"There will be good rain this year and a good harvest in the fall. I am not short of food, let alone 40,000 people, even if that number triples again. We have fish and the sea is the best farm. As long as the news is put out, there will be a steady stream of people joining in. As long as I give them food and a place to live, they will willingly do things for me, and trade their labor for the happiness they dream of. ”

"By the way, and cotton." As he spoke, Tianhao pointed to the farther northwest.

Fu is not superhuman, and he does not have the ability to stand thousands of meters away and clearly see an ant. But after all, he has grown cotton for so many years and is very familiar with this crop. Although the scenery in the distance was blurry, the color and general appearance were enough for him to judge that Ming Hao was not lying, and it was indeed cotton.

A terrible thorn pierced Fu's heart He didn't lie to me, this scale of cotton cultivation can meet the needs of Rock City.

Only reality can shatter unrealistic fantasies. Fu finally understood that Tianhao was not talking nonsense, and he was not forcibly lowering the price.

"But...... You...... Ah Hao, now that you have planted so much wheat, and you have to send people to build roads, where do you have enough people to spin and weave cloth by hand? That's the biggest question that haunts Fu's mind, and he tries to make his tone appear confident, which is the only chip left at the moment.

Tianhao smiled slyly: "Do you think the textile technology of the Deer Clan is really a secret that only you guess knows?" ”

Fu felt that his heart was experiencing low temperature, and suddenly contracted: "You mean, the last time the Great King sent an army to attack, those prisoners who were captured by you?" ”

"That's just a small part." Tianhao's tone was calm and sarcastic: "For many years, the tribes have been asking each other for secrets. As far as I know, the Deer Clan's loom was leaked fifty years ago. Tiger, Lion, Ox, Eagle...... Almost all tribes have imitations. Your management of cotton is also far less stringent than that of potatoes by the Leon. A large amount of seed has flowed out, and it only takes a few years to get a large-scale cotton field. I may be a little ugly to speak, but the former king of your deer clan is indeed a fool, the number one idiot in the world. Of course, maybe this was a mistake made by his predecessors, but now it can't be changed, and it's too late to regret it. ”

"Your current king is shrewd, and he has a firm grasp of the process of spinning cotton into thread. To put it simply, it's efficiency. All the tribes of the entire Northern Continent recognize that your deer tribe's textile technology is unique in the world, but I know very well that as long as there is enough cotton thread, there is no need to worry about the fabric at all. ”

Fu Death stared at Tianhao's face, and his chilling tone was full of hatred: "This is what Lu Qingxi told you?" ”

"I'm afraid he doesn't know as much of the secret as I do." Tianhao sneered: "The secret lies in the number of spindles, under normal circumstances, one, your deer clan's machine has been improved, and it can use more than two spinning spindles at a time, up to four." This is the real reason why all the Lu villages have to transport cotton to the clan city every harvest season, exchange the corresponding amount of cotton thread, and then transport it back to their respective villages to weave into cloth. Hehe...... Brother Fu, am I right? ”

Fu felt all the strength in his body lose instantly, he staggered backwards, and finally lost his support, and sat down on the ground with a dejected face.

"How can you do that...... You guys...... How can this be done......"

Many people believe that exchanging food with the Leon Clan should be the best option. But this is not the case at all. Zuosuozhai is far from the territory of the lion clan, and it normally takes eight to nine days to walk, and if the goods are loaded in large carts, the speed will be even slower. Long-distance transportation consumes a lot of physical energy, and a lot of food is wasted on the road.

The food of the lion tribe is not cheap either. The current lion king is not so much a smart man as a shrewd businessman. Corn and potatoes, two high-yielding crops, are not cultivated as much as expected within the lion tribe. On the premise of prioritizing the consumption of the ethnic population, the lion king would rather let part of the land be idle or even barren than increase more food production.

A kilogram of grain can be sold for twopence, or even three pence (lion currency), who would want to give up profits to be a bad person? Hundreds of people from other tribes starved to death, what does it have to do with me? It is important to know that maintaining food prices is not as simple as lip service, it requires complex overall arrangements and the need to straighten out all aspects of the problem. As long as the Leonin Clan stays to this rule forever, there will never be a better choice for the hungry.

According to this calculation, the amount of food obtained by going to the Lion Clan to exchange food is far less than that of exchanging food from the nearest Rock City.

Of course, this is based on last year's food prices.

If the people of Zuo Zhai grow their own food...... Regardless of the output for the time being, the income is far less than that of growing cotton yarn and weaving.

The contradiction between the cultivation of cash crops and the basic crops of life is also a major issue that has been discussed again and again in the era of civilization. Fu's simple brain is certainly not as good as that of the experts and scholars at that time, but he has his own simple understanding: growing cotton has a high income and is better than growing grain.

But the problem now is that the cotton cloth produced cannot be sold.

Tianhao will not explain to him the value contrast between raw materials and deep processing. He squatted down and smiled: "Brother Fu, why don't we discuss it, and I will take care of all the cotton cloth you have in Zuozhai in the future." ”

Panshi City needs a large amount of cotton cloth every year, and it is impossible for Tianhao to take out a large amount of land to grow cotton. The reason why he came to the top of the tower with blessing and climbed high and looked far away was to give him a heavy blow from the depths of his heart. After all, the area of land planted with cotton in Panshi City this year is very large, which is beyond the normal logical range of Fu. In fact, it is far from enough to weave these cotton parts into fabric, but Tianhao is unwilling to waste resources in this regard. In a word, if you can be deceived, you can be deceived.

Fu stared at him, and his tone was very stiff: "The price you gave is too low." ”

"That's whatever you want, I don't care anyway." Tianhao's smile was very evil: "Anyway, you also see that I am sending someone to build a road, and it won't take long to connect your stockade." When the time comes, even if you want to sell, I don't have to. ”