Chapter 72 (1/2)
Xiaoyanshan is not far away from the tribe, and because this is the only way for the tribe people to go up the mountain, the road from the tribe to here is relatively easy.
In the past, there was no concern from the people here. Although the people of the older generation knew that this hill was actually a salt mountain, the salt here could eat the dead. For the people of the tribe, it was poison. Who would be interested in poisons?
However, since the stone bear successfully detoxified the salt produced in this small salt mountain, it has become a more lively place than the tribe. Almost one third of the people come here every day to make salt.
Because it involves burning charcoal and boiling salt, smoke billows almost every day at the foot of this small salt mountain. Fortunately, this kind of smoke is different from the wolf smoke that Ning'er does not disperse. Once this kind of smoke is lifted off, it will be dispersed. Otherwise, the surrounding tribes have already sent reinforcements to rescue Gao Shu tribe.
The enthusiasm for salt of the gaoshu tribe, who had been short of salt since childhood, was really unexpected. Shi Xiong even doubted that even the people who lived in this continent would not like the green Franklin as much as the people who lived in this land.
In this regard, Shi Xiong didn't want to manage it, and he couldn't manage it either. However, he urged Li Lei and Hong Yun to set a rule that all the people who make salt in xiaoyanshan need to pay one tenth of the salt to the tribe for accumulation. Finally, when they trade with the vasichus, the tribe will take the salt as public property to negotiate with them.
Salt is not only as expensive as gold for the North American Indians, but also for the European colonists. Even in Europe, which is far away from the ocean, there is a huge demand gap for salt.
Gold and gems can make people crazy, but gold and gems are affordable for the rich.
I'm a poor man. I just don't play with gold and gems. What can you do for me? Well, it's pure loser mentality
And salt, whether you are a loser, a rich man or a real poor man, needs it. Therefore, compared with gold and gemstones, salt is the most current trading goods. Even if the price of salt is much lower than that of gold and gemstones, it can't stand. The trading scope of this thing is too wide and the rigid demand is too large.
Up to the emperor, the king, down to the poor people and even beggars, there is no one who does not eat salt!
In the past, the trade between the gaoshu tribe and the nasiwasichus was to exchange yellow iron (gold), fur and various gems for cheap pig iron, cotton cloth, horses and other things. In addition to horses, the other trades were actually made by the colonists who fooled these North American Indians as silly children.
In the past, even if they knew that this kind of trade was unfair, they had to bite their teeth. There was no way. The tribe needed goods from those colonists.
But now it's not the same. There is no shortage of iron in the tribe. Once we really master the proportion and technology of steel-making, even the weapons and tools for steel-making will not be lacking. As for other things, except horses, they are not what the tribe needs most.
On the contrary, European colonists had a huge demand for salt. After all, the number of European colonists living in the 13 colonies of North America was close to 2 million, which was definitely a huge market.
Therefore, the stone bear absolutely encourages the clansmen to make salt spontaneously.
The gaoshu tribe is not far from north and South Carolina. Although the mountain road is rugged, don't forget that the salt produced by the gaoshu tribe is not as rough as the sea salt dried by the pamangi people. The salt produced by the stone bear method, even in later generations, is no worse than those so-called refined salt.
This kind of salt is absolutely in demand in this era!