Chapter 24: High Priest Rainy Day

"The reason you just gave is very good." Rainy Day really likes Ma Shao's theory, "Wine should indeed be regarded as a medicine, not a food."

The two of them chatted casually about the issue of wine.

And after only a few short exchanges, Ma Shao's previous judgment about the rainy day based on his appearance was confirmed - this person was indeed knowledgeable or extremely intelligent.

It was obvious that the high priest had an unusually developed power of language.

His language ability is so outstanding that anyone who has a conversation with him can easily notice it.

Compared with language systems that have been written for many years, such as Chinese and English, the Indian language is obviously not mature enough. Not only do they have no written language, but their spoken expression also has some shortcomings.

The language itself is not mature enough, and coupled with a lack of education and the absence of Chinese language classes, the language ability of the vast majority of people is at a low level.

Since Ma Shao's rebirth, one of his most intuitive experiences in daily life is that interpersonal communication is more difficult, especially when it comes to complex information. In his previous life, a conversation that he could complete in one minute may now take two minutes.

This was not his problem. In fact, his Apache language skills were quite good. Other tribesmen often had more difficulty communicating with each other.

Over the years, Ma Shao had become accustomed to this inefficient interpersonal communication until he met the high priest.

The same Apache language, when spoken by other people, sounds unclear and ambiguous, but when spoken by Rainy Day, it sounds well-organized and flawless.

Ma Shao even felt that Yutian might be the person with the highest language proficiency in the entire Apache tribe.

With the other people as a backdrop, talking to a rainy day is simply a pleasure.

On the other hand, the high priest actually had similar feelings. Ma Shao was the person who spoke the Apache language best he had ever seen except himself.

He finally didn't have to teach by speaking like a language teacher, which made him feel relieved.

"By the way, I noticed that many warriors of the Sleeping Bear Clan seem to be equipped with stirrups? That is the same horse-riding tool used by white people." Rainy Day changed the subject and asked about stirrups.

"To be precise, everyone is equipped with stirrups." Ma Shao nodded.

"Is this the source of your strength?" It was obvious that Yutian had never used stirrups himself.

"One of the sources." Ma Shao said as he took out his bow, "The other source is the powerful bow in our hands."

I took the strong bow on a rainy day and fiddled with it for a while.

He was thin and of a gentle temperament, and probably had no combat experience, but horse riding and archery were basic skills for the Apaches, and everyone, regardless of gender, age or status, knew a little about them.

Therefore, he could still sense the extraordinary features of this bow, and then he couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that the Sleeping Bear Clan has a great craftsman. Is he also the one who designed your wooden stirrups?"

"I can't say I'm great." Ma Shao said a little embarrassedly. Although he had lived two lives, this was the first time he was associated with this word.

"How can it be mentioned? This bow--" Rainy Day seemed to suddenly realize something and stopped talking.

Then he looked at Ma Shao in disbelief: "Could it be... could it be that the craftsman is you?"

"That's me." said Ma Shao.

The high priest stared at him in a daze, and it took him a while to recover from his surprise, but then a hint of thought and hesitation flashed in his eyes.

This change in expression stunned Ma Shao.

Would he suspect that I was bragging?

However, it turned out that Ma Shao was overthinking it. It seemed that Yutian trusted him very much and did not doubt the authenticity of the matter at all.

"Although I am not a qualified warrior, I believe this is a great creation." Rainy Day plucked the strong bowstring, "And you are undoubtedly a great creator."

"This is not a creation." Ma Shao said, "White people must have mastered similar or even more advanced technology a long time ago."

This is the truth.

In his previous life, he knew nothing about cold weapons, and had never been on the battlefield. He was a 100% layman in archery. The powerful bows currently used by the Mianxiong clan were just something he invented on his own based on his knowledge of mechanics.

Although he has always been somewhat partial to the present and contemptuous of the past, it would be an underestimation of the ancients to say that this could reach the level of high-end bows and arrows in the 19th century.

Ma Shao even suspected that the bow and arrow he designed might not even reach the level of the Han Dynasty in China - he still knew the story of Li Guang shooting a tiger.

In other words, the Indians' archery technology was too primitive, so the bow he designed was so outstanding.

Of course, it is also possible that he really figured out some advanced technical details by accident, but he thinks this possibility can be ignored.

"That makes sense." The high priest obviously had a clearer understanding of the white man's power, "But you also created it with your own wisdom."

He returned the strong bow to Ma Shao, then hesitated for a moment and said, "I wonder if you would like to allow people from other clans to be equipped with your stirrups and bows?"

"Of course." Ma Shao said without hesitation. He never thought that this was a problem that needed to be considered. "Not only the clan, but also our brother tribes should do the same."

"Even our brother nations, the Kiowa, the Navajo, and all the indigenous nations who are willing to unite, they should have sharper weapons."

Hearing this, Rainy Day couldn't help but feel moved.

Many Indians of this era were still at a loss, muddled along the road to despair. But there were also many Indians who were very clear-headed, even to the point of tragic clarity.

Rainy days are the latter. He wants the Indians to unite, but he doesn't think that's possible.

But there was a peculiar firmness revealed in Ma Shao's words, a firmness beyond his imagination. He didn't know how to describe it, let alone how to understand it.

This made it difficult for him to calm down.

He calmed his expression and said, "In that case, I'll trouble you. But after yesterday's battle, the Arapaho people won't come again in the short term. We have plenty of time to equip all the tribesmen with stirrups and strong bows."

The two chatted for a few more minutes and then left because it was raining.

Ma Shao returned to the group of the Sleeping Bear Clan. As soon as he came back, Stone Crow couldn't help but say, "You shouldn't have angered the chief."

"The high priest will help me persuade the chief." Ma Shao said.

"This may not be useful. Even if it is useful, it will be difficult to change the chief's impression of you." Stone Crow sighed, "He didn't have a good impression of you when he first met you."

Ma Shao didn't say anything. He actually didn't care much.

After a while.

"By the way, how come I don't know anything about your father?" Stone Crow asked, "The one about the strong liquor you just talked about."