The old chief of the sleeping bear looked at the huge team in front of him, and was speechless in shock, he was an elder, he had naturally seen some scenes, but he had forgotten the last time he saw so many people.

"W-what's going on?" He looked at the stone crows and horse sentry at the front of the line.

The crow smiled and said, "Chief, we have defeated the Arapaho people in the south of the plateau, and I think you already know the news. ”

"That's right, and I've heard that...... Was it the horse whistle that led you to win the war? The old chief asked again, a little incredulous.

While Horse Whistle was undoubtedly an outstanding teenager, it still sounds a little strange to lead the Apache to a heavy defeat of the Arapajos.

The crow continued, "That victory is definitely more exciting than you can imagine!" Because of this, many clans are willing to follow the horse whistle and become part of the Sleeping Bear Clan. ”

The old chief was stunned for a moment.

Immediately, as if he thought of something, he patted Ma Whistle's shoulder without hesitation, and said with a smile: "In that case, Ma Whistle, now you are the chief of the Sleeping Bear Clan!" I knew you were going to be our hero! ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at each other.

Although anyone with a discerning eye can see that the current horse whistle is more suitable to be the leader of the clan, after all, so many people who have joined the Sleeping Bear Clan have come for him.

But it was still surprising that the old chief abdicated so happily to give way to Xian. According to common sense, you should think about it for a while, right?

Even, Ma Sentry faintly heard a hint of impatience and inexplicability from the old chief's tone......

What's going on?

The old chief did not explain why, but happily organized the ceremony of joining the clan and the succession ceremony, and the next day officially handed over the position of chief to the horse whistle.

Also handed over to the horse whistle was the name used by the successive chiefs, that is, the "sleeping bear" with the same name as the clan.

"Every chief of the Sleeping Bear Clan inherits the name, and now he's yours." The old chief said at the ceremony, handing over his own cigarette stick, "and this cigarette." ”

Ma Whistle hesitated: "I don't think the name is necessary, I have long been used to the current name." ”

"No, it's a clan tradition. You can continue to use the name 'Horse Whistle', but as a chief, you must inherit the name of the sleeping bear. The old chief insisted.

"That's good." The horse whistle had no choice but to accept the name, and it was a title. He also accepted the cigarette stick, which he thought would motivate the old chief to quit smoking, until the old chief took out a brand new one.

The old chief gave himself a new name, and his tone sighed: "From now on, I will be called 'Old Bear'...... Alas, it's old. ”

"Let's cheer for the new chief!"

"Chief! Sheik! People chanted around the campfire.

The warriors who had defeated the Arapahoe under the leadership of the horse whistle were even more delighted by the presence of such a brave and warlike chieftain.

They shouted the distinctive slogans taught by the horse whistle.

"Ulla!"

"Ulla-Ulla!"

Although the others were inexplicable, they couldn't help but shout along with this strong and rhythmic shout.

"Ulla! Ulla! ”

So after a while, everyone was shouting "Ula", the sound shook the night, and the raging flames in the center of the camp seemed to be beating with the rhythm,

The atmosphere was unprecedentedly warm, and many Apache people had never seen such a scene in their lives.

Ma Whistle also performed several songs for the tribesmen, and then ate roast beef with the crowd.

"Brother Whistle, did you really defeat a thousand Arapaho?" The little beast felt like a dream, and after a few months of not seeing him, the whistle brother he was familiar with turned into an Apache hero admired by all people.

"Now call the chief." Thick Shoulders corrected.

"Oh...... Chieftain, chieftain. "The little brute felt very uncomfortable.

"There's no need." Ma Whistle didn't care about this and waved his hand, "Except on formal occasions, you can call me as before." ”

The little beast showed a sly smile and called out again: "Hehe, Brother Whistle." ”

"......" Ma Whistle looked at his expression, and suddenly felt a little regretful.

Thick Shoulders continued the topic just now: "Is there any doubt about this, look at the chief's head—hey, chief, why do you still have nine eagle feathers on your head?" ”

"Nine is nine, and it's quite troublesome to make up a battle crown." Horse Whistle used to be a fan of the Eagle Feather Crown, but he hasn't been interested in catching the crow alive - doesn't this thing attract firepower on the battlefield?

It's troublesome to wear the battle crown in peacetime, so he simply continues to wear these nine feathers, which means it.

Everyone was eating barbecue and chatting at the same time, when the red girl walked towards this side. Since joining the Sleeping Bear Clan, she has gained considerable prestige among women.

"Chief." She was smiling and seemed to have something to say.

"What's wrong?"

"Chief, you're fourteen years old." The red girl asked.

"Hmm." Ma Whistle nodded, in fact he was still a few months away from turning fourteen.

The red girl said slowly: "Fourteen years old, this is almost the age of marriage......

The little beast's eyes suddenly lit up at this time, and he interjected: "Auntie, are you going to marry my sister to Brother Whistle?" Great, now she finally can't come out annoying! ”

The red girl was silent for two seconds.

At this time, Ma Whistle said: "Fourteen years old is too early, it is not the time to think about marriage. Not only me, but everyone in the clan in the future must be at least eighteen years old before they can marry and have children. ”

Population is important, of course, but childbearing is not the best way to obtain population, let alone early marriage and early childbearing.

For savages who are closer to animals, procreation may be their only option – they won't assimilate anyway.

But Ma Whistle is not an ancient, a barbarian, he is a teacher of the twenty-first century, and he is also a teacher with very good business ability.

For him, assimilation was a far better demographic strategy than procreation.

And even if he chooses to encourage childbearing, he will never encourage early marriage and early childbearing.

From a scientific and utilitarian point of view, around 28 years old is the best age for childbearing, and choosing to give birth during this period will minimize the risk to the mother and baby, and the baby's development will be better.

This has nothing to do with life expectancy.

After all, no matter what the best age to have children is, there are bound to be people who don't live to that age.

Moreover, the average life expectancy in ancient times was twenty or thirty years, which is actually a typical misunderstanding.

Twenty or thirty years old are calculated after the untimely death. If it is not counted as untimely death, the average life expectancy is still forty or fifty years.

An important reason for premature death is precisely early marriage and early childbearing.

It is now the middle of the nineteenth century, and a series of technological and social innovations are coming, and Ma Whistle is confident that this process will be greatly accelerated in order to quickly reduce the mortality rate of the population.

Anyone who has taken a high school geography class knows that it is the decline in mortality that leads to a rapid increase in the population.

"Getting married at eighteen?" The Red Lady was surprised that this was indeed too late compared to the early marriage tradition of the Indians.

"That's right, remember one sentence - early marriage of the weak species. The matter was settled. The horse whistle had no intention of continuing to compromise.

This became his first order after serving as the chief of the sleeping bear.

The next day, the sentry finally understood why the old bear couldn't wait to give him the position of chieftain.

Early in the morning, he sat in his tent, thinking about how to arrange the division of labor among his people, until the old bear came to him.

"Chief." Old Bear entered the tent and sat down, frowning and hesitantly saying, "One thing I have to tell you, it's about the Comanches." ”

"Comanches?" The horse whistled and said.

"It's the Twin Wolf Clan to the south." Old Bear reminded, "During your expedition, we had some ...... with the Twin Wolf Clan and the White People Well, complex controversy. ”

"Specifically, the Twin Wolf Clan sold our land to the whites."

The horse whistle was confused.

The Comanches, who sold the land of the Apache to the whites?

What the heck?

"You know, although for a long time, we have been relatively safe with the Twin Wolf Clan, and there is no conflict." Old Xiong said slowly, "But we are latecomers, and the Twin Wolf Clan is the clan that has settled in this neighborhood for the longest time, so they claim that the land here is theirs. Old Xiong said slowly.

"Lately they've been struggling to get into the woods, and they've been selling a lot of land to white people, including a large area where we're located."

In the end, he sighed: "I knew that I should have listened to your advice and provided some help to the Twin Wolf Clan, alas. ”