Black and gray bituminous coal spread all over the field, buried deeper under the earth. A group of people stood on the coal mound, stared at the flint field in front of them, and discussed the trade between the tribe and the kingdom for the first time.

"Gems? Your tribe produces gems? Any color?"

Hearing Chihuaco's words, Shanying Weihuo was a little surprised. He carefully looked at the plain clothes of the old militiamen, and said hesitantly.

"If you really have red or green gemstones, the tribe's leaders and priests will like them and are willing to exchange them with flints!"

The Yuemei tribe uses flint and admires the flames of their ancestors, so they love red or yellow ornaments. But the tribe does not lack gold and copper. Yellow ornaments are very common, while red gems are precious. Rubies are also admired by the wilderness tribes in the East, representing the divine world, just like the descendants of Guacili dogs.

As for emeralds, it is the common preference of all coastal tribes, mountain tribes, Mexican plateau tribes, and even Mayan tribes. It symbolizes eternal life and also contains the wisdom of the soul. It is highly praised by noble chiefs, priests and witch doctors! From this point of view, no matter where these coastal tribes are geographically located, they all belong to the cultural circle of Mesoamerica.

At this time, the trade between tribes was not too cunning. Most of the time, the two parties frankly confess their needs for each other and exchange things directly. Chivako nodded when he heard the words, glanced at Puap, and ordered.

"Old Pu, give me two of the gemstones on your body!"

"Huh?! Old man Qi, how do you know that I have gems on me!"

Puap was startled. He stretched out his hand subconsciously, pressed his chest, and felt the hardness and solidity of the gemstone under the robe.

"Ha! The materials traded along the way are all from your hands. The mouse slipped into the granary, and can you still be hungry?"

Chivaco squinted his old eyes and curled his lips. Then, with a solemn expression, he said in a deep voice.

"Don't be silly. Take a red one and a green one, hurry up!"

"..."

Puap smiled shyly. He reached into his bosom, touched a few gems, looked down carefully, and put back the two extra gems. Then, he held out his hand slowly, complaining in his mouth.

"It's a life-and-death trip, and it's nothing to get some gems... You have to give me back later!"

Chihuaco took the gemstone with his hands, glanced at it for a while, and handed it to Shanying Weihuo.

"My friend, this is the gem of our tribe in the lake. Bright and lovely, pure and translucent, good!"

"Um?!"

Shanying Weihuo took the two gemstones, looked at them over and over again, with a surprised expression on his face, and admiration.

"Ancestors! The gemstones of your tribe are really good! The color is bright and pure, and they are so big that they look like quetzal eggs!"

Chivaco smiled confidently. He observed Weihuo's expression carefully, and didn't see too much greed in the other's eyes, so he nodded secretly, feeling a little relieved.

In fact, he still has a few "top gems" the size of goose eggs, which were only exposed once in Three Rivers City at the mouth of the Leman River, and they were attacked by the North Terkos tribe, and he never dared to take them out again.

Before the fleet set off, His Majesty gave a bag of gems. He thought it was a small cloth bag, but when he saw it, it turned out to be a big bag weighing dozens of kilograms, filled with precious stones of all sizes! The color of these gemstones is the same deep, the same pure, and the shape is very regular!

As the fleet moved forward, Chihuaco was careful and would personally inspect these valuable properties from time to time. After he had watched a lot, he came back from the shock and began to have some guesses about the origin of the "gem" in the lake. It's just that he buried these thoughts silently in his heart, and he must never talk about them with others.

With a smile on his old face, Chivako looked at Viho's hand grasping the jewel, and said kindly.

"Friend, if you like these two gems, I will give them to you!"

"Huh? Give it to me?"

Hearing this, Weihuo showed joy on his face. After hesitating for a moment, he stuffed the gem directly into the quiver on his waist. Veteran warriors in the northwestern tribes are generally proficient in throwing spears or hunting bows. Relatively speaking, hunting bows are less powerful, but safer.

"From today on, you are my friend, Shanying Weihuo!"

"Friend, good, good wow!"

The old militiaman nodded again and again, and his old face turned into a flower with a smile, which made people feel very cordial.

"Good friend, then your tribe..."

"Change! Flint is exchanged for gems, and the leaders and priests of the tribe will agree!"

"Wow! How do I change it?"

"How to change..."

Hearing this, Weihuo thought for a while, then scratched his hair. He couldn't make up his mind. Valley 簁

The flint of the tribe, unlike gold ore and copper ore, is not too laborious to dig, and it is also open-pit mining without any danger. As long as a few tribesmen come over with stone shovels, dozens of baskets can be picked in a day.

However, according to the rules passed down by the tribe, the Flint Field is the inheritance of the ancestors, and it has always been patrolled and protected by soldiers. Except for the needs of the Burakumin, it cannot be mined at will. And when dealing with outsiders, you must also ask for sufficient remuneration.

After a while, Weihuo came up with a figure that he could decide for himself, which felt fairly fair.

"My friend, flint is a gift from the ancestors after all, and there are rules in the tribe...then, one gemstone for two... no, three baskets of flint?"

"One jewel, three baskets of flint? . . . "

Chivaco looked surprised. This number is much higher than he expected.

"..."

Viho pursed his lips, thinking that Chivako was too little. After all, there were as many flints nearby as dirt, and it was really too easy for the tribe to dig up flints. He gritted his teeth and changed his words in embarrassment.

"For the sake of friends, let's add half a basket! The headman is very strict about trading flints...one gem, three and a half baskets of flints!"

"Uh... three and a half baskets, that's..."

Chivaco scratched his head. A basket of flint is estimated to be about sixty to seventy catties, and three and a half baskets are about two hundred or three hundred catties?

Pu'apu looked at old man Qi's expression and smiled.

"Old Qi, why, can't you figure it out?"

Chivako blushed. After all, he was a militiaman, unlike Puap, who was a warrior and had learned some calculations. He glared at Old Pu, feeling ruthless in his heart, and asked the priests in the camp for help after he returned, so he could learn a little math.

"Friend, good, good! One jewel, three and a half baskets of flint, exchanged! We want to exchange twenty baskets, then I will give you...uh..."

"Six gems!"

Puap answered with a smile, his face showing color. In the entire fleet, except for the ship priest Meckat, he is the most educated.

Weihuo snapped his fingers, reckoning it was about the same. Of the six gems, exactly two were given to the headman, two were given to the priest, one was given to the witch doctor, and the remaining one was kept for himself.

"Okay! Friends, let's do this! The ancestors have witnessed that wild deer in the mountains will touch their foreheads when they meet...We are friends who exchange things, not enemies who compete with each other!"

As he spoke, Viho lowered his head and turned his forehead towards Chivaco. The old militiaman was stunned for a moment, thinking of Chief Karan's deer head, he immediately understood. He also lowered his head, touched Weihuo's forehead, and pressed hard.

"Ancestral witness! Friend, good deer, good friend!"

The two followed the local etiquette and came down from the coal mound. Then, the kingdom's fleet exchanged twenty baskets of coal and added some fresh water, filling the three galleys to the brim.

After the deal was done, there was no ceremony of celebration, and Chivaco didn't stay much longer. He just stared deeply at the large village by the sea, and at the thick black smoke from the flint burning.

"Firestone...coal...firestone field...big coal mine...three thousand tribal warriors..."

Chivaco murmured. He had a vague premonition that His Highness probably valued coal mines more than gold and silver. After a long time, the old militiaman sighed and gave orders to the sailors on board.

"Divide into two teams and take turns rowing! Next, stick to the coast and continue to the northwest! Praise the Lord God, let us go through the waves!"

"Praise the Lord God, let us ride through the waves!"

The sailors and warriors shouted in unison, full of piety. Afterwards, the kingdom's exploration fleet set off again, heading towards the unknown northwest, extending the border of the world.

Three days later, the fleet arrived at the bay more than two hundred miles away, and encountered a small coastal tribe, the Guaymas. Chief Karan once mentioned that the Guaymas were a tribe of the Yaqui people, who expressed their obedience to the Yome tribe, but intermarried with the Sri people. Their way of life is to settle down by the river and farm while sending out fishing and hunting personnel.

The Kingdom's fleet stopped for a while ~lightnovelpub.net~ to replenish some fruits, and with the help of the new guide Yamadori, they inquired about the news in the northwest waters.

"The island full of seabirds, the big island transformed by giant tortoises, is not far from the northwest! Along the coast, you will see it. You will definitely!"

Hearing such news, the entire fleet was in high spirits. Chihuaco looked happy, as long as he found the holy land of seabirds, the way home was just around the corner! However, he still has some doubts about the words of the local tribe.

"Along the coast, you will definitely see it?"

The old militiaman pressed the question and led the fleet to move on. The sea is calm in this area, the water surface is extraordinarily stable, and the speed of the boat is also extraordinarily stable.

It took another three days for the fleet to travel three hundred miles. The flying birds all over the sky, like the clouds in the sky, first caught everyone's eyes! The sailors and samurai were all excited, mustered all their strength, and rowed faster. Within a quarter of an hour, an exceptionally spectacular gray-white island, like a giant tortoise perched on the sea, appeared in front of the kingdom's fleet!

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