The firelight glead brightly, the plains stretched out endlessly, and the distant sea appeared vast and boundless. On the coastal plains, the Prepetcha Warriors of the kingdom and the warriors of the Yaolem Tribe gathered around the firelight, their expressions relaxed and joyful. At the center of the bonfire, two leaders stood facing each other, smiles on their faces and thoughts flickering in their minds.
At their feet, a wicker basket was tilted over on the ground. A large pile of gold blocks scattered, shining with a captivating golden light, catching everyone’s eyes and stirring their hearts. The Prepetcha Warriors looked on with longing, while the warriors of the Yaolem Tribe seed indifferent.
The old militia, Chiwaco, stared at the sparkling gold blocks, scratched his head, and spoke up.
"Friend, how would you like to trade this gold stone for long spears? We don’t have many weapons left on our ship from this voyage..."
Upon hearing this, Chieftain Kalan nodded. In his view, since the Lake Tribe was seeking the Holy Land, they must have dispatched their most elite warriors, ard with the best weapons... The Deer-head Chieftain’s eyes flickered, he first extended one hand, then another.
"Hmm... a large basket of such gold stones, I want to exchange for... fifteen... no, twenty copper spears!"
"Ah! Friend, twenty copper spears? For a basket of gold blocks?!"
"Yes! The weight of twenty copper spears is about the sa as a basket of gold stones, right? Equal weight for equal weight, very fair..."
"This, fair?!"
Chiwaco’s mouth dropped open in astonishnt, unable to speak. A two-and-a-half ter long spear weighed about four to five jin, and a bronze spearhead weighed only four to five liang. Twenty copper spears together weighed less than a hundred jin, with less than ten jin of copper. The large basket of gold blocks before him, conservatively estimated, weighed at least one hundred and fifty-six jin. Judging by the color, even if the gold content was lower than that of the Alliance, it would still be worth at least a hundred jin of gold dust... Calculating it this way, ten jin of copper exchanged for a hundred jin of gold dust?!
"Uh... friend, I know this request is a bit much..."
Seeing the astonished expression on the opposing leader’s face, the Deer-head Chieftain felt a little guilty.
The long spears of the Lake Tribe not only had sharp spearheads but were also made of very sturdy pine or fir wood. These woods, whether for cutting or processing, required a lot of tools. And using such useless stones to exchange for so many fine weapons from the other side felt sowhat unfair to his friend...
Thinking of this, he hesitated for a mont, took a step back, and extended both hands once again.
"Otherwise, eighteen, no, fifteen would be fine too! After all, although there are many gold stones in the mountains, so are not pretty enough and need to be slted with firestones. And to get firestones, we have to travel far to dig them..."
"Ah? Fifteen copper spears?"
Chiwaco was still in a state of shock, unsure how to respond. Puap, standing nearby, couldn’t help but step forward excitedly and pulled at old Chiwaco’s arm.
"Exchange! Exchange with him! Fifteen per basket, we have sixty spare spears on the ship, exchange all of them!"
In the Kingdom of the Lake, one jin of gold dust could be exchanged for more than one jin of copper. The difference was easily ten to twenty tis, wholly benefiting the expedition fleet!
With Puap pulling him, Chiwaco finally snapped out of his shock. Pressing his lips together, he thought for a mont and shook his head in disagreent.
"No, Old Pu, the sixty spare spears are the ship’s backup weapons, we can’t exchange them all. We can only exchange a maximum of twenty... As for cocoa, cotton cloth, and gemstones, if the other party wants them, we can trade more of those."
Then, withholding his greed, he looked at the ever-observant Deer-head Chieftain and spoke sincerely.
"Friend, good friend! In our place, these golden stones are highly prized by the Priests and nobles! But the fleet has few weapons, we can only trade twenty... For this basket of gold stones, we will give twenty long spears, ten cloaks, and one gemstone!"
Upon hearing this, Puap discontentedly muttered under his breath.
"Old Chiwaco! What are you doing!... "
"Old Pu, shut up! I am the captain!"
"Ah?!"
This ti, it was Chieftain Kalan’s turn to be shocked. After understanding Chiwaco’s aning, he gazed at his counterpart for a while. Then he spoke again, his smile much more sincere.
"Friend, good friend! Thank you for your honesty! It’s alright, there are many gold stones around the tribe, picking them up isn’t difficult, after all, they can’t be eaten or worn. When you leave, I can also give you five more baskets of unslted raw ore... Do you want to see the remaining baskets of stones that aren’t gold stones?"
"Good friend, good, thank you!"
Chiwaco nodded repeatedly. They could bring back the gold ore to the Alliance and slt it themselves... Next, he recalled the firestones repeatedly ntioned by the other party and responded affirmatively.
"I want to see!"
Without further ado, Chieftain Kalan directly dumped the second basket of stones on the ground. Instantly, a gleaming silver light appeared before everyone’s eyes—a basket of silver ore.
Seeing this basket of roughly slted silver, the expressions of the people did not change much.
The Kingdom of the Lake already produced silver, and the price of silver had always been low. In Central Arica, gold and copper symbolized the light of the sun, holding high religious value. Silver symbolized the moon, less often used in temples, and thus had a relatively limited value, often used to make silverware and silver jewelry.
"This is silver ore exchanged with wandering Wilderness Tribes on the eastern plains. Although there are silver ores in the eastern mountains, they are far less abundant than gold stones."
Chieftain Kalan understood their expressions. It seed the Southern Tribes did not lack silver ore. The rarer the commodity, the higher the price. In the Mayo people’s tribes, silver ore was actually valued higher than gold stones.
"This basket of silver ore is more expensive than gold stones... Friend, do you want them?"
"Thanks, friend."
Chiwaco shook his head. Chieftain Kalan did not press further. Then, he kicked the third basket of stones over, and a reddish-orange light appeared before them.
"Ah? This, this is!..."
Chiwaco’s eyes widened, staring for a long ti. Then he turned to look at Puap, and the well-inford Huitu warrior’s eyes sparkled, nodding affirmatively.
"It’s raw copper... and it seems to have high purity."
"Uh..."
"Friend, this is red stone from the northern mountains, slted with firestones, and can be used to make containers. There is a lot in the mountains, but it is labor-intensive to extract. The Opata people from the far north collect refined red stones and make various utensils, selling them to other tribes... Do you need them?"
Chieftain Kalan blinked, his face full of expectation.
The Opata people established a strong Alliance in the northern mountainous valleys, consisting of three Great Tribes, with several smaller tribes attached. There, red stones were abundant, and so could be used to make vessels directly without slting. The Opata people used these red stones to make containers, bells, and small ornants. The Desert Tribes further north even used these red stones to make hand axes, small knives, and long spears. However, this red stone, though plentiful, produced weapons that were too soft after slting to compare with the long spears of the Lake Tribe.
"Uh... we need this red stone!"
After a mont, Chiwaco nodded heavily, his expression complex. He knew that the kingdom’s bronze weapons were made from copper as a raw material, using a secret thod.
"So... how would we exchange it?"
"It’s half as expensive as gold stones, a basket for thirty long spears. Friend, it’s labor-intensive to extract red stones and slt them with firestones, and making them into sothing useful is quite troubleso for the tribe..."
Chieftain Kalan slightly lowered his head to conceal his expression. A red stone mine not far north of the tribe could be slted with firestones without much trouble, although mining required a lot of tools. In fact, these red stone veins, like the gold stones, were found among various northern tribes and boasted high purity. The further north one went, the more abundant and pure the raw red stones beca. Legends spoke of large mounds of exposed red stone ore in Sli and Desert people’s lands, glowing golden and green. Entire mountains of high-purity reddish-yellow natural red stones were said to exist!
Red stone was copper. What the people didn’t know was that the entire coastal area of Sonora lay within a tectonic collision zone between the Pacific Ocean and Arican Plates, rich in mineral deposits, and accounted for more than half of xico’s copper ore! Moreover, in northern Sonora, near the US-xico border, the Cananea copper mine was the world’s second-largest copper mine, and it was an open-pit mine! Its future reserves were estimated at 4.52 billion tons, with an annual production of 510,000 tons, supplying 2%-3% of the world’s copper ore demand.
"A basket for thirty long spears... over a hundred jin of raw copper exchanged for a dozen jin of spearheads..."
Chiwaco pursed his lips. While he didn’t know what a scissor difference was, he still felt a pang of conscience. After pondering for a while, with the simplicity of a farr, he spoke sincerely.
"Good friend, we don’t have that many long spears... but we have many expensive gemstones we can trade! Of course, we also have practical cocoa and cloth."
"Gemstones for red stones? Hmm... okay then!"
Chieftain Kalan thought for a while and hesitantly agreed. The tribe didn’t have a high demand for gemstones, but gemstones could be traded with northern tribes for cloth, food, and refined red stones. Especially the Opata people, who highly esteed turquoise and were willing to trade many red stones for it. However, given the long trade distances, passing through multiple tribal hands involved significant discounts.
"Then a basket of red stones for ten eralds!"
"Deal!"
Chiwaco thought about it, considering the value of gemstones and red copper in the kingdom, the trade was fair and didn’t cheat his new friends. He did so quick calculations and added so extras.
"I will also give you a bag of cocoa and three cloaks!"
"Good, good friend!"
Chieftain Kalan repeatedly nodded, shaking his deer head with satisfaction. The two then discussed and reached a fair trade agreent: The Yaolem Tribe would exchange a basket of raw gold, a basket of raw copper, and five baskets of gold ore for twenty long spears, thirteen cloaks, a bag of cocoa, and eleven eralds from the Lake Tribe.
After finalizing the trade agreent, both sides were very content. Chiwaco and Puap looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear.
Chieftain Kalan laughed heartily, feeling imnsely proud. Trading these useless, commonly seen stones for useful weapons and items for the tribe was a great deal! However, he felt a little bad for these kind friends from afar...
He shook his head and thought for a while before generously making a grand gesture.
"My friends! The Yaolem Tribe and the Lake Tribe, speaking similar languages, must be distant brothers, sharing common ancestors! And as brothers..."
Chieftain Kalan’s voice was strong as he pointed to the final basket of black stones. The black stones glistened with a dark glow, unremarkable in the firelight but containing a burning force within.
"This basket of firestones, symbolizing our ancestors, I gift to you!"
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