My Daming New Empire

Page 401

Although it is winter here, the temperature is not too low, and people can cross the river by taking off their clothes, but there is no way to cross the river without a big iron pot for the carts and luggage, so wooden rafts must be built.

This work delayed them for another day. Compared with other exploration teams who have discovered something, they are still fighting against the sky here. This is no one's luck.

But after crossing the river, they never encountered any major difficulties. Although there are no roads everywhere, this is a grassland and hilly area, and carts can pass without hindrance.

And here they also met a small tribe, this tribe has very few people, less than 300 people, like a big family.

Both men and women wear clothes made of animal fur, with their clothes and legs exposed.

Facing the sudden appearance of the army, the people of this tribe gathered together in panic, with women and children in the middle, and strong men outside.

Their weapons were very backward, and most of them only had sharpened wooden sticks in their hands, but everyone saw that their necks and waists were hung with golden ornaments, which looked like gold.

In the hands of their strongest man, they also carried golden knives. These knives were simply hammered, and it was impossible to tell whether they were made of gold or copper.

But Zhang Wu knew that it could only be gold, because these natives did not have the ability to smelt copper.

Zhang Wu ordered the whole army to garrison, and he brought only four capable subordinates, and walked towards the opponent.

Before he got close, he held up a few meatloaf and a string of glazed beads, making an exchange gesture with the other party.

Seeing that the army didn't come over, the opponent's mood eased a lot, and they also came out a few people, tentatively approaching Zhang Wu.

Zhang Wu put the meatloaf on the ground, and then led several subordinates back about ten meters, watching the opponent's movements.

One of the natives picked up a meatloaf, Zhang Wu was overjoyed, and made the gesture of sending it to his mouth.

The native took a mouthful cautiously, and the others watched him intently, but he let out a sudden scream that startled both parties.

He grunted and said something, and then quickly ran back to his camp, divided the meatloaf into several parts, and shared a piece with each of the children.

(I have something to do today, I rushed to a chapter, and I will make up for it in [-] words tomorrow.)

Thanks for the bamboo sticks, the rewards from people who see the lights, thank you for your support.

Chapter 35 Contacting the Natives (Eight Thousand Characters Chapter)

In later generations, although Australia was known as a country on the back of sheep, and its agriculture and animal husbandry were very developed, in this era, there was no agriculture and animal husbandry in Australia as a whole.

Before the arrival of Westerners, the aborigines in Australia had never learned to grow crops, and they mainly lived on hunting and gathering.

People don't grow crops, and all their food depends on wild fruits, plant roots, and various meats.

Compared with the American Indians who have long been planting experts, the Australian natives are very primitive, and they eat purely by luck.

The people here are so primitive that they don't know how to plant, weave, or smelt. They can only simply breed, that is, to raise wild animals in captivity and chase aquatic plants.

Although there is wild wheat here, at most they can only roast and eat the wheat grains, and they don't even know how to cook them.

Not because they lack tools, people here can't make pots at all.

Even weapons, people here only know simple spears, darts, arrows, and knives.

Their houses are only built with mud, weeds, and branches, which is comparable to the primitive style of the African continent.

Therefore, they have never eaten food like flour, and meatloaf baked with flour is a delicacy that they have never tasted before.

The native gave the meatloaf to several children, and when he saw their happy expressions, he turned around again.

He groped around his body, took off the necklace made of some animal bones hanging around his neck, and held it in his hand.

Turning around and walking to the place where the food exchange started, he put the necklace on the ground, and then retreated.

Zhang Wu understood what he meant, and after he went back, he went up to pick up the necklace.I don't know what kind of animal bone it is made of, but it has been rubbed very smooth.

He couldn't help but curse in his heart, mother, this ghost thing may be very precious in their hearts, but what he wants more is the gold jewelry they wear!

Of course, it would be even better if you could know where the gold was obtained.

He picked up the necklace and looked at it, then turned around and asked some of his subordinates. "Which one of you still has gold coins on you, please lend me them first."

He had no hope at first, because gold coins were still very rare and expensive for ordinary soldiers, but now that he was traveling across the ocean, no one was willing to bring gold coins out.

But to his surprise, Duan Renzhi, who likes to talk and laugh all day long, took out two gold coins.

Because Duan Renzhi likes to communicate and has a good personality, Sunan sent him to be in charge of liaison.

He chuckled and said, "When my subordinate was in Xingcheng, he won the championship because of Cuju, and the whole team was rewarded with two gold coins by His Royal Highness."

"I'll pay you back later." Zhang Wu took the gold coin and held it up in his hand.

He first let the other party see the color of the gold clearly, then made the gesture of putting it in his pocket, and then made the gesture of returning the bone necklace to them.

After doing this several times, he saw that the natives understood it, so he put the bone necklace back in its original place and led the crowd back.

The other party really understood his movements, and when they saw them retreating, they rushed over impatiently.He happily put the necklace on his neck again, then took off the gold-shaped ornaments and put them there.

But the matter was not over yet, he seemed to feel sorry for putting one piece, and took off a yellow bracelet on his wrist, put it on the ground, and made a gesture of putting food into his mouth.

It is now July, the season of winter in Nanzhou has just passed, the life of this small tribe is obviously not good, they are short of food, and they are very concerned about what they eat.

Zhang Wu stepped forward and picked up the bracelet and pendant, and examined it carefully. They were indeed made of gold.

He was overjoyed, and looked at the other party with a much gentler expression.

Although it is still impossible to judge how high the other party's price for gold is, judging from the other party's expression, they obviously think that gold is not as valuable as the bone necklace.

Since this is the case, then he will not be polite.

He turned around and said to Duan Renzhi: "Go and get some more meatloaf, as well as coarse cloth and glass skewers."

Duan Renzhi gave a military salute, and quickly ran back to the location of the Chinese army, found a young army general who was in charge of the luggage, and took a piece of cloth and a box of glass strings from the cart.

But there are not many patties, and there were more than a dozen carts of kangaroo jerky smoked when camping last night.

This kangaroo meat was hunted when they marched.After the kangaroo is killed, the kangaroo is skinned, the internal organs are removed, and only the meat is boiled in boiling water.

The cooked jerky is then stretched out, rubbed with spices and left to air dry.

Although the temperature here is not high, the jerky dries very slowly, but the jerky will not rot.

He greeted a soldier casually, picked up a kangaroo hind leg, and came to the front with him.

They put the dried meat and cloth, as well as the box of glazed skewers on the ground.Zhang Wu picked up the bracelet left by the other party and made gestures, indicating that he still wanted these things, and then returned them.

Zhang Wu was very careful, fearing that the other party would not understand what these things were, he tore the cloth apart first, and made gestures on his body.Then he opened the box containing the glazed skewers, fearing that the other party would not open the box.

This time, the speed of the other party was even faster. Before they could retreat, the other party rushed over impatiently, picked up the hind legs on the ground, looked at the fabric, and finally fixed their eyes on the box of glazed strings.