Section 7: The Chiefs (II

"This is the flying iron that my tribe has treasured for generations, weighing sixty-seven pounds......"

"This is the trunk of the iron black birch tree on the top of Xuefeng Ridge that we cut down thirteen years ago, and it is extremely precious......"

"This is the best horse of the Mara tribe so far, weighing eight hundred and fifty pounds, fat and strong, full of horsepower......"

"These are the best 10 foals of the year, half male and half female......"

As Marat spoke, the steward at the gate of the tent made a note in the ledger, and the expressions on the faces of the other chiefs were more complicated.

In fact, if you really want to talk about strength, the Mara tribe is at the bottom of the local area, less than a thousand people, only better than those small families who are attached to the big tribes, but the chiefs of the past generations are well versed in the way of sycophants and obedience Mara knows what it looks like now.

There are not many things and they are not expensive, but the meaning and posture are good, and there is a ruthlessness to dig out the family.

"Very well, in view of your obedience and sincerity, I wish your tribe good weather and fat cattle and sheep this year. After Marat had finished his congratulatory gift, Townsend spoke: "As the head of the local family, I still have some high hopes for you and your tribe, do you want to hear about it?"

"My king, our tribe had no part in the last incident, and then several Wahu people came from our territory and borrowed our horses, and we pretended not to see it. Marat, who had just stood up, fell down on one knee again: "My king, these are all true. ”

"Very well, then from now on, I will give you the honor of not having to kneel to me. Townsend had a smile on his face, a powerful leader didn't necessarily have to give a lot of benefits to his subordinates, but could reward people with things that were not benefits.

"I hope that the Mara tribe will provide me with a hundred war horses, three hundred pack horses, and a thousand sheep this year. Are you having any difficulties?"

"There is ......" Mara gritted his teeth: "But we can do it"

"Very good, if you do it before the first heavy snowfall. Townsend pointed to the Marchy ladies kneeling beside him: "You can pick one of the women here and take them away."

Marat's eyes lit up with a "ding", and for a little chief like him, who had always been bullied, the opportunity to ride a woman from Chief Horse was likely to be this + passion in his life, and the eyes of the fire of revenge surged immediately, and he immediately climbed towards the beauties.

"If you dare to drool now, I'll peel you off. Townsend waved his hand: "Go back and sit down"

"Yes" Marat immediately changed his face and ran back to his place and sat down, he was serious, but his waist was straight.

"One of my new rules is that if I'm good, then everyone is good. If you obey me, I will do you good. Townsend began to roll call: "Chief, the chief of the largest herding tribe in the region, please stand up." ”

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the middle-aged man on the left side of the sixth seat of the passenger seat. The middle-aged man who had been studying the wood grain of the table with his head down stood up, slowly walked to the middle, and saluted Townsend: "Master Townsend, the Hantai tribe wishes the master eternal health, and the flag of the thorn rose will always shine like gold......"

"Chief Hantai, I have received your wishes, and I will talk about the rest later. For this kind of person who didn't even prepare a gift, Townsend didn't have a big face: "Now please how many things can the Hantai tribe send me this year?"

"The cleanest is the spring water, and the most sincere is the human heart," the Hantai chief recited the proverb emotionally, and then saluted: "Master Townsend, our Hantai tribe has done our best to send two hundred war horses, four hundred pack horses, and two thousand sheep to Thorn Rose this year."

"That's all there is to it?" Townsend's knuckles tapped on the edge of the seat, and he looked at Chief Hantai with a smirk, and asked again, "Think about it again, can you increase it?

"Master Townsend, this year can only be so much, if we continue to increase regardless of it, it will be difficult for us to maintain it next year. Chief Hantai was full of embarrassment, and began to perform the proverb again: "What has accumulated with a spoonful cannot be poured out with a bucket." ”

"One of the rules I have for my subordinates is that if there's a problem, you say it and I'll help. But if you lie to me, then the consequences will be severe. The smile on Townsend's face was still the same: "Chief Hantai, I'll give you one last chance, you have to cherish it." ”

"Master Townsend, my heart is sincere, shining as gold. Chief Hantai insisted on his words: "The words that come out of my mouth will not change like granite." ”

"Oh. I'd like to, too, but I've had enough of you pretending to be stupid. The smile on Townsend's face turned cold: "What about the grass, I don't say it, you just pretend you don't know, right?"

When Townsend said this, not only Chief Hantai's body trembled, but even Marat, who had been praised before, changed his face.

Pasture, pasture, to be exact, is the most important asset of a herding tribe.

It's true that the chiefs in this room are native, but they are not stupid. Under Townsend's high pressure and majesty, Marat certainly had a belly of cleverness revealed, but Chief Hantai was by no means weaker than him. His concealment or deception of Townsend was not out of his own ignorance and arrogance, but a rational judgment made on the basis of a certain understanding of Townsend and Thorn Rose.

His first judgment was correct, Townsend was not from the West Coast, his second judgment was also correct, the direction of the Thorn Rose was not to destroy the natives, and even his third extended judgment was correct, the attention of the master of the Abilities was not on the natives at all, his gaze was upward.

The most important thing is that Townsend did not mention the matter of pasture in his conversation with Marat, and Marat, the slippery guy, did not break it, which caused a certain degree of misleading to Hantai. All these conditions were taken together, and it was natural for Hantai to conclude that Townsend was not familiar with herding and horses.

There is nothing wrong with protecting one's wealth and strength, which every normal person would do—first deceiving him, and then transferring the herd.

Townsend's men were not to be worried, such as Vahu, who was born and raised in Si, but he didn't know anything about herding, because this was the West Coast, where knowledge was extremely poor, and each tribe kept its own secrets and livelihoods.

Even the experienced horsemen of Thorn Rose only know how much forage a horse eats every day, how to take care of it in times of illness and illness, how to breed and deliver babies, and how to put on a farrier...... This is all about the use of horses, and as for grazing and feeding horses in large quantities, that's a different matter.

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