Chapter 9

On the other side, Apollo took the tribesmen to gather edible plants for storage during he coming winter. Most of the twenty tribesmen who followed him started gathering only fruit, ignoring the plants around.

"Why don't you gather plants?"Apollo asked curiously.

The tribesmen told him it did not taste good. The tribe was mainly comprised of men and they disliked them. The fruits were mainly eaten by women and children mostly.

Apollo told them not to gather first but to walk around to the farthest place they had ever gone to. He wanted to see if he could find staple grain for them. The seeds could be stored for spring planting next year. Besides he had discovered a new function of the map which he wanted to verify.

The men lead him to go down the river, look at the nearby terrain, and hoping to find some primitive crops that can be used. This is a must for future development. large livestock such as cattle and horses must also be found.

It happened that there was a hill with limestone rock mass half a kilometer from Elk Tribe.

. With limestone, cement can be fired natively. The substance, called "artificial pozzolanic cement," is more resistant to corrosion than ordinary Portland cement, and can harden in air and water when mixed with slaked lime, making it especially suitable for humid or underground environments.

Perhaps it was an outbreak of character, and at noon he found another piece of clay. Excited, Apollo mind-lined his brothers to tell them them they should discuss the deployment of manpower and strive to establish the brick kiln and lime kiln first.

A granite quarry was found further as he walked on. lot of non-metallic ores such as volcanic ash have also been found by him. The map showed there was a dormant volcano around them. It was excellent new as volcanoes directly or indirectly produce or host deposits of aluminum, diamonds, gold, nickel, lead, zinc, and copper.

Each of these was useful to them as their build an empire. Apollo shared these news with his brothers.

'Our maps have also updated Apollo, we are as happy as you brother.' Alaric told him with a smile. This was great news that even the normally stoic Alaric sounded happy.

Alaric and Zumbaya walked along the rolling hills.There was a large plain east of the hills. The truly wild, unconquered land lies beneath the feet, and the high grass shows the fertility of this ancient land.

Several tall plants were growing on the distant, with slender bodies and striped leaves.

There are no gorgeous petals, and no honey fragrance, but Alaric was attracted and ran towards those plants.

It was early autumn. The plant was growing vigorously and produced fruit, so Alaric recognized this plant at a glance.

I forcefully broke one and took a few bites in my mouth. The sweet stalk was slightly tender. I dug a few times with my hands, revealing the dense roots below, and it was very bitter to break a section.

  "Sorghum, this should be sorghum!"

 Alaric spat out the roots in his mouth, glanced at the stems and leaves and the protruding spikelets, and was sure he was right.

At this time, it has not been domesticated, and it grows extremely tall and gathers in clusters.

The dense roots firmly grasp the ground unyielding; they have born fruit, bowing their heads proudly, revealing red shyness.

Looking carefully, there are many wild sorghums here, not one or two. Because it is tall and has very deep roots, it firmly occupies the initiative and presses those weeds under its body.

Zumbaya, came over, glanced at this unremarkable grass, the happy Alaric and his heart was full of doubts.

"What is this Master?"

"This? This thing can make the clansmen not need to hunt!"

In the distant, Alaric recognized Western soapberry trees.

'Brothers, I have found sorghum and soapberries. The sorghum is ripe so we need to begin harvesting tomorrow.'

'Amen to that. You must make sure Zumbaya and his brothers bath immediately. Goodness, the stench was killing me.' Apollo said with such relief.

'You boys will not believe what I am looking at, A herd of wild fucking horses. They seem to pass this path often, my guess it must be for salt mine somewhere around here. So I got us two crucial things, means of transport and salt. We need to make some ropes for roping in the horses. Can't catch the today. But I will bring back some salt.'

Alaric returned to the tribe to have a sheep pen constructed for the animals arriving.

By evening the brothers had come back. They gathered in Zambiya' s hut for a meeting. Zambiya and his four brothers were present, together with Wuban, Ramur, Nadin, Kalol and Kamur. These men were asked to join the meeting as they were the first part of the government that the triplets formed.

Historians later on would call this the meeting that lead to the rise of the Zuyama Empire.

"Welcome to our first meeting. We will officially change the name of the tribe to Zumaya. Our three brothers will be your leaders. By the heavens mandate, we shall rule over you, all creatures, all land and water in Zumaya. We shall make the rules and the tribe will obey in exchange we shall bring prosperity and protection for the tribal members." Alaric opened the meeting.

Apollo picked on from him, "For that to happen we need your cooperation in doing what we say and learning what we teach."

"First we need to Domesticate animals, practice fishing, hunt and farm to increase our food. Plants are like the sorghum I brought back.These four things are the magic weapons to ensure the survival of the tribe.

Hunting, fishing and domestication of animals, these are the three easiest ways, but farming is the cornerstone of civilization."Alaric explained.

" Grow our own local plants then look for mutated ones from abroad through trade. just get some colchicine extracted from the root of daylily lily, soak the seeds and tender shoots, forcibly mutate them into polyploids, and then artificially select them. We must run into the agricultural era in a short period of time!" Alpha voiced domineeringly.

"Yes that is a good way. But for that to succeed we need a large population! Workshops, mines, lumber mills, farms, and even the army, where do we not need manpower?"

"I will train my men, our goal will be to expand population and economic strength, and find out the distribution of tribes in this area.

The ultimate goal in a short period of time——

Destroy or subdue the tribes belonging to its superiors, rule the entire region, and begin to advance possession to the other regions."

"The tribe currently has approximately seven hundred men. We need to create division of labour for maximum utility. Ramus and Nadine will divide two-thirds of the women to make clothing in preparation for winter, I will guide you. I found some cotton North West of the limestone hill. The remaining women shall cook and look after the young children." Apollo instructed. Alaric was busy engraving on the animal skin. He wanted to keep records.

"Their first duty will be to make bark cloth bags to put the cotton and the harvested sorghum-which all men in the tribe shall spend tomorrow doing. The old tribesmen will follow Apollo to get clay to make pottery. Apollo will teach them how to make an earthen kiln. Alpha will take Kalol and Kamur to make vine ropes which will be used to capture some horses for the tribe."