"The cassava crop clearly yields less the further north you go, and it requires fertile land with abundant water sources. The land near Buffalo Lake, where Chieftain Alan resides, is four hundred miles further north than Flint Lake… I reckon, as long as there's no cold snap, cassava can still be grown, but the yield might be at most three to four hundred pounds?"
Ashu, the trusted aide, blinked his honest eyes, fiddling with his fingers as he pondered for a while and then offered an uncertain figure.
Ashu was originally a Prepetcha sailor exploring Cuba with Chiwaco. On the return journey, they were intercepted by the Totonac people. After fleeing from an encirclent to the Red Crow Coast, he was wounded and forcibly kept by the Red Crow Tribe. Like him, two or three other Prepetcha sailors stayed here, married, and started families. They all beca trusted by Amoxtli. In fact, his na "Ashu" was personally given by Amoxtli, aning "a trusted aide of the sa clan as the chieftain, skilled in cassava cultivation!"
"Yes, the further north, the colder it gets, and the cassava yields less… Three or four hundred pounds is already quite good!"
Amoxtli gently nodded, a joyful smile appearing on his face. He patted Ashu's shoulder heartily, with a genuine closeness akin to patting a close nephew!
"Oh ancestors, it feels like a dream! Before you brought the cassava, the Vastek agricultural slaves' mixed maize, pumpkin, and bean fields yielded about seventy pounds of maize and beans and less than two hundred pounds of pumpkin per acre… The Wilderness Tribes, who couldn't farm, could only harvest forty to fifty pounds of maize and beans and about a hundred pounds of pumpkin per acre…"
"Pumpkin doesn't fill you up, and everyone was hungry with no strength left to have children. Every year, two to three thousand agricultural slaves and over a thousand elderly tribesn would starve to death… Then in sumr, we'd have to migrate southward to replenish the population…"
"But once the cassava was brought, everything had hope! This crop, which could poison people and looks like a small tree, yields as much as four acres from just one acre! Truly, the ancestors blessed us! The more cassava we plant, the more it fills us up… As long as there is enough food, Vastek agricultural slaves won't starve, the elderly in the tribe can survive, and everyone can have more children… It seems like the days of having enough to eat are truly coming!"
Upon hearing that they could be full and wouldn't starve, Ashu also smiled happily. He rubbed his face vigorously, saying with so anticipation.
"Chief, we've expanded cultivation for over three years. Right now, around Warrior Lake, there are about three thousand acres of cassava fields… But this area of fertile land around the lake can have at least tens of thousands of acres… In this spring, let's split more stems to expand cultivation, aiming to plant twenty thousand acres all at once! Only after this expansion will our powerful Red Crow Tribe truly be able to eat to its fill!"
"Oh ancestors, twenty thousand acres?!... Great! Truly great!... Whew! This year, let's all focus on farming well, and the warriors in the tribe don't need to migrate southward for raids anymore! The Vastek people around the Tampen River have been progressively migrating south, joining that Silver Raven Tribe Alliance in the South, making it harder to raid them anyway…"
"Hahaha! Perhaps it would be better to give up the Water Otter City that the xica have always wanted! It could be a trade city-state among our Red Crow Tribe, the Aztec Qingqiu Tribe, and the Vastek Silver Raven Alliance, to exchange for the pottery, tools, and weapons the tribes need… Yes, growing cassava is much easier than maize. Even the clumsy Wilderness Warriors can manage it!"
Amoxtli grinned while considering next year's tribe planning, the wrinkles on his face significantly easing. Indeed, compared to high-yield crops like wheat and maize, the biggest trait of cassava is not high yield, but low requirents for farming techniques and field managent!
The cassava's stems, leaves, and roots are all highly toxic, naturally resistant to diseases, pests, and bird damage, and its edible roots are buried underground, making it resistant to common coastal hurricanes and floods. Its competitiveness in the field also surpasses many weeds, thriving as long as it's planted and sprouting…
In fact, cassava is easily cultivated and high-yield, making it the beacon of agriculture for tropical tribes! When cassava was introduced to Tropical Africa in the 16th century, it rapidly caused a population boom, providing an endless supply of captives for the subsequent triangular trade…
"Whew! The old Clan Leader Kakalo, before he died, said the tribe's hope lay eastward; it was truly spot on!"
Amoxtli reminisced for a while and turned his head to look at his equally aged confidant Moqi with a smile. The two had co all the way from the most difficult wilderness, recalling the violent and bloody years and the hard-won peaceful days with a look of weathered reflection.
"Moqi, these more than ten years of experiences were like a divine wind from the sky, turning red sparrows into flying eagles, and then into a big tree… It's sothing I never dread of!"
"Huh? Amo, what are you talking about?"
"Hah! I an, in the beginning, our Red Crow Tribe had only two or three thousand people, migrating around the wilderness like Red Crows... But when the Great Chief Chichika died in battle and the Red Crow Tribe migrated eastward with over ten thousand Guajili people, it was like turning from Red Crows into flying eagles, soaring across the vast wilderness and mountain ranges to reach this warm wetland grassland and seashore… Now, however, the Red Crow Alliance, numbering hundreds of thousands, even as many as two hundred thousand, has transford from soaring flying eagles into a sturdy tree firmly rooted on this warm and fertile land by the water, and we can no longer afford to migrate recklessly… This is also why I want to change the tribe's totem from the Red Crow to cassava… We can no longer fly!"
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