Chapter 079: Salt Mining Expedition

"No salt left? Well, let's eat the salted meat first. It's packed with salt, and that should help replenish our salt intake temporarily," Luo Chong pondered aloud.

"But aren't we going to mine for salt? I heard from Stone that they saw a cave with salt stones in the western hills last time. Can't we just mine there?" The elder asked, puzzled.

"I've checked that cave. The entrance is too small; only a three or four-year-old child could squeeze through. We can't possibly let children go down to mine salt. Apart from them being too young for such heavy labor, what if they can't get back up? It's too risky; we need to find a way to widen that entrance," Luo Chong explained, spreading his hands in a gesture of helplessness.

"Widen it? But it's a stone cave; how do you plan to open it? Didn't the Xie Ding tribe use children for salt mining?" the elder continued, still not understanding.

"No, I absolutely refuse to let children work in the mines. Xie Ding is Xie Ding, and I am me. I can't bear the thought of putting our children in such danger. There's no room for discussion here; I won't agree to it," Luo Chong said sternly, furrowing his brow.

"So, what do we do then? Can we really open up the stone cave?" The elder, seeing Luo Chong's firm stance, realized that widening the cave was the only option left but still couldn't grasp how it could be done.

"Of course, we can. I have a way to create the tools needed for mining, but we're currently lacking materials. We need to go to Bao Bao Mountain to mine some ore. In the meantime, let's stick to eating the salted meat," Luo Chong assured confidently.

"Alright then, I'll inform everyone to rely on salted meat for now," the elder said, somewhat relieved by Luo Chong's confident response.

"Good, that's settled then. Once we finish tilling the fields in a few days, we'll head out to mine the ore, and you'll keep things in order here in the tribe," Luo Chong instructed.

After the elder left to manage the tribe's dietary adjustments, Luo Chong went to supervise the tilling of the fields.

The 400-meter-long farmland along the Yingshui River was divided by 20 water channels into 20 equally sized rice paddies, each covering about 3.2 acres.

In the rice fields, one person led the oxen while another handled the plow, followed by several youths with baskets continually picking roots and other debris from the soil. A few men with wooden rakes followed, leveling the ground.

Walking on the freshly tilled, loose soil, Luo Chong knelt to feel the soil's temperature with his hand.

The current air and soil temperatures weren't right for sowing seeds yet—at least the soil needed to be above ten degrees Celsius. Thus, planting would wait until after the mining trip.

Three days later, after all 64 acres of rice paddies were tilled, the Han tribe prepared for the mining expedition.

"Push hard, we're almost there, don't stop now!" they cheered each other on.

With a splash and some light-hearted banter about getting wet, Luo Chong led a group of men to maneuver a large wooden boat into the Yingshui River at the western end. When someone prematurely let go, the boat smacked onto the water, splashing everyone.

Set in a river barely four meters wide, the three-meter-wide boat seemed enormous. The tribespeople were amazed to see such a heavy object float.

"Can this really carry people without sinking?" Big Power voiced his concern.

"Absolutely, it can carry all of us without sinking. Give me the rope, I'll go first," Luo Chong affirmed.

With Luo Chong setting the example by being the first to board, the boat rocked slightly but remained afloat, reassuring everyone of its safety.

"How about it, no issues, right? Anyone else coming aboard better hurry, or you'll be left pulling the boat from the shore," Luo Chong called out while securing ropes to the sides of the boat for towing through the narrow channel until they reached a broader part of the river where they could row.

One by one, several tribesmen jumped aboard, their confidence bolstered by Luo Chong's successful boarding. The boat took up nearly the entire width of the river, which visually lessened any fear of it tipping.

Luo Chong shook his head with a wry smile at their naivety— they had yet to see the vastness of the sea.

As the tribesmen prepared to depart, it wasn't just Luo Chong setting out this time but twenty-six men in total, including members from the Han, Xie Ding, and other tribes, each armed with a spear, a bow, a copper shovel, an arrow quiver, and fifty arrows. The younger members from the Li tribe remained behind, still learning the language and customs.

More tribe members than ever came to see them off, with women loading the boat with dried meat, pottery, and bundles of dry grass while the children handled eight wolf cubs and watched the adults prepare the boat.

Go Bing, leading Bon Bon, handed Luo Chong a snake-skin water bag, asking, "Chief, what will you bring back this time?"

Chuckling, Luo Chong replied, "You already have Bon Bon, what more do you need? I'm just going to mine some rocks this time; I'll be back soon."

He ruffled Go Bing's hair and then Bon Bon's large head, noting the small horn starting to protrude on its nose.

"I don't need anything else; I love Bon Bon. But I wish I could come with you. I've never been that far away," Go Bing said, embracing Bon Bon.

"You're still too young. When you're older and can protect yourself, you can come with me. The outside world is very dangerous. Stay home, help your mother, and don't forget to keep learning Chinese," Luo Chong advised earnestly.

"Okay, I'll wait for you guys to come back," Go Bing nodded solemnly.

With farewells exchanged, Luo Chong and the men set off upstream, while Da Shu and Mu Tong led twenty cattle along the riverbank, following the expedition from the shore.

Their journey had begun—a mission to secure the essential resource of salt for the thriving but isolated Han tribe.