Chapter 157 Love and Peace
Zhuang Yu didn't directly answer the students' questions but asked, "What is the current situation of your tribes?"
Although they knew that the tribes didn't fare well in previous winters, the specifics were unclear.
A student from the Dark Great City answered, "This winter, our Dark Great City is having a harder time than ever before."
Because of the recent prolonged war, not only did it consume a large amount of our food, but more importantly, they didn't have time to prepare for winter food as they used to due to the war.
If it were in the past, they would have started hunting everywhere and stockpiling food in large quantities.
It can be said that the impact of that war was not only on the battlefield.
The student from the Dark Great City continued, "When I left, we were already eating only one meal a day. Even if we only eat one meal a day, it's impossible to get through the winter, and there's also a severe shortage of winter fur..."
"We are now eating as little as possible and saving as much as possible."
There was nothing to hide because before long, news of people starving to death would probably spread everywhere.
Just now, some students from the Crimson Great City, who didn't hide their secrets from these students, opened their mouths, not knowing what to say.
Eating one meal a day? Eating as little as possible? Isn't that the same as the previous Crimson Great City?
During that difficult period, they were not very old, but it left a deep memory in their hearts. At that time, they were as skinny as skeletons, eating only one meal a day, saving as much as possible. Sometimes, to avoid wasting food, they would lie motionless every day. As long as they didn't move, they wouldn't feel hungry.
Just like living corpses, thinking about it now still made them tremble with fear. How unlike now, they were chubby and happy in the Crimson Great City, playing around happily even in the depths of winter. The reason they were now so full of energy was largely because they were so afraid of lying still. They were so afraid of returning to that state that they played as much as they could.
Were these classmates of theirs now in the same situation as they were before?
After all, they were not enemies but allies until recently, so seeing the situation of the others, they didn't know what to say.
Wanting to speak up to comfort them seemed inappropriate, and even thinking about how they had been complaining to these classmates about how the food in their Crimson Great City wasn't as good as before these days seemed inappropriate.
But even if it was worse, their Crimson Great City could still eat three meals a day, each meal enough to eat, and occasionally even some snacks.
I don't know what these classmates felt when they heard them say this. It must have been uncomfortable. They must have thought they were showing off.
Students from the White Great City and the Cyan Great City also spoke up, "The situation of our tribes is similar."
After speaking, they looked expectantly at Zhuang Yu. They thought that all tribes should be in the same situation, so they didn't realize anything before.
But after coming to the Crimson Great City, they realized that it was completely different from what they thought. The Crimson Great City was like a paradise in winter, and they had no worries about the cold at all.
There was indeed no need to worry. From what they saw, it was very easy for the Crimson Great City to get through this winter.
The students from the Crimson Great City also looked at Zhuang Yu. Whatever decision Zhuang Yu made, they would support it.
Only the carefree Mushroom Sprouts, holding a piece of bean cake in their hands, occasionally raised their heads to see what was being said. Eating only one meal a day? Keep talking, it sounds so pitiful. But as long as the Mushroom Sprouts had something to eat, they didn't care about others.
Zhuang Yu didn't immediately agree but said, "Let me think about it."
The students from the White Great City, the Dark Great City, and the Cyan Great City sighed, but they also understood in their hearts. If their own forces had a good way to get through the winter, it would be impossible to tell other forces. After all, even if they were allies, they were not ultimately the same force.
Soon, the requests of these foreign students spread, and the people from the Crimson Great City also began to discuss.
Most people's opinions were similar. Since it didn't really concern them how others were faring, why should the Crimson Great City teach them such top-secret things? They weren't saints.
Zhuang Yu also thought about this issue. It was impossible to give away benefits for no reason. That was what saints did, and he was not yet at the level of a saint.
But after all, these were human lives. If he had the ability to save them, not saving them was no different from watching them die coldly.
Of course, it was impossible for the Crimson Great City to selflessly give away.
Furthermore, Zhuang Yu muttered, "If the White Great City, the Dark Great City, and the Cyan Great City are all in this situation, then the Red Great City should be similar."
He had been worried all along that after the winter, the Red Great City would rise again, after all, relying on natural disasters to stop man-made disasters was not sustainable.
A method had to be found to prevent war from breaking out again.
And now, it seemed that such an opportunity was presenting itself to him. Although it took advantage of others' misfortunes a bit, it was better than plunging into darkness again with more killing and chaos.
Perhaps he could use this opportunity, leverage food and other resources to win people's hearts, and spread his peaceful ideals. What this world needs is not war but collective efforts for development. Everyone wants to live a good life. Who would want to shout and kill every day? Let those who want war watch themselves while others live happily. Let them starve to death.
Of course, there was a key point here. Regardless of any force, they must follow the lead of the Crimson Great City to live a good life and develop. Other forces probably didn't have the ability to lead everyone to a good life.
The Crimson Great City must become a cultural and economic center, an enviable holy land. The Crimson Great City wouldn't use war to dominate the land, but in terms of spirit and civilization, it would unify and become the highest spiritual sanctuary for all living beings on earth.
The unity of spirit is more terrifying than the unity of territory. Zhuang Yu was clearer about this than anyone else. More importantly, it wouldn't involve the bloodshed and death of war.
Only in this way could war be restrained. It wasn't really a spiritual war, but rather the spread of civilization, guided by other forces, which Zhuang Yu was also concerned about.
He wasn't a saint, but he wasn't heartless either.
Zhuang Yu thought about many things, including how to make the Crimson Great City a sacred place in the hearts of all living beings on earth, how to spiritually restrain other forces, and how to unify the earth with civilization.
In short, it was to make the Crimson Great City a place of pilgrimage. As long as one followed the Crimson Great City, one could live a good life. Those who wanted to start a war would be enemies of everyone, public enemies.
Zhuang Yu called his father and the leaders of various tribes, telling them his ideas. After all, it concerned the entire Crimson Great City, and he couldn't act alone.
Because many concepts were too advanced, neither his father nor these leaders understood many of them.
"So, are we helping other forces get through the winter just so they will worship us?" his father asked.
Zhuang Yu thought for a moment and nodded, "You could say that, but of course, it won't be unconditional help."
"After this, will they willingly follow our Crimson Great City?" his father asked.
Zhuang Yu smiled. On this point, he was confident, "To live a good life, they must follow in our footsteps, including... the Red Great City. Otherwise, they will only watch others live a good life while they suffer."
Everyone's eyes narrowed slightly. "But will the people of the Red Great City really be willing to watch this passively?"
This was indeed a problem, but Zhuang Yu didn't care. He said, "The Red Great City has also suffered heavy losses in this war. I'm afraid their determination to wage war has already wavered. After a little operation, the first ones who will be unwilling to fight again will probably be the Red Great City."
Clearly, they could live a good life, but they chose war. Presumably, not everyone in the Red Great City would agree. The scars of war were not only felt by the alliance. The people of the Red Great City had been deeply affected by this war. Even if the Red Emperor still wanted to continue, what would those people who had lost their loved ones think? They had already paid a painful price. Wasn't it enough?
Before, there was no choice, only war, but now Zhuang Yu had provided a better option.
Once the Red Great City split, what was the alliance to fear from them?
Zhuang Yu explained these leaders' questions bit by bit.
There were still many things these leaders didn't understand, but they smiled and said, "Whatever the Young Prince wants to do."
In fact, the Crimson Great City was the true fanatical believer. Such a good life was all brought by Zhuang Yu. In their hearts, Zhuang Yu was almost omnipotent.
Zhuang Yu looked at his father.
The Crimson Emperor shrugged, "I only have one son. The Crimson Great City will eventually be handed over to you. Do whatever you want."
The fact that Zhuang Yu could develop the Crimson Great City like this was also inseparable from everyone's unconditional trust.
Zhuang Yu's idea was unanimously approved, and then it began to be implemented.
The people of the Crimson Great City were all shocked, "Are we really going to help foreign forces get through the winter?"
Then they straightened up, and the whole person seemed to become sacred. On this earth, besides the Crimson Great City, who else could have such courage?
Zhuang Yu began to teach the students, "From today onwards, I will teach you how to survive the winter."
The students from the White Great City, the Dark Great City, and the Cyan Great City were all stunned. They thought they had misheard. How could this be possible?
Zhuang Yu continued, "School is a place to teach you knowledge, and only knowledge can help your tribes survive the winter..."
At this moment, Zhuang Yu, in the eyes of these students, was like emitting a holy light.
The students of the Crimson Great City also stood up straight, proud to be students of the school itself, which was the ultimate glory.
"How much you can learn and how much benefit you can bring to your tribes depends on yourselves," Zhuang Yu said.
Zhuang Yu also carefully considered things like cotton jackets. When they had surplus in the Crimson Great City, it was possible to provide them to others. And then there were the kang beds. While the coal for the kang beds in the Crimson Great City was mainly used for the glasshouses, making it unlikely to supply others, they could still teach them how to solve the firewood problem themselves.
Another thing was how to keep other forces from the cold. Zhuang Yu thought of a simple solution: ice houses. Although made of ice, ice houses were very warm. Even in the depths of winter, ice houses were sturdy and didn't melt easily.
Of course, building a stable and warm ice house was not that simple.
Later on, whether foreign people would build ice houses or use kang beds, or perhaps both, would depend on themselves.
Zhuang Yu led the students, "Today, I'll teach you all how to build a warm house."
The students' request was to teach their tribes not to fear the cold and not to endure hunger anymore.
Let's start with not fearing the cold.
The students were very serious in their studies, especially the students from other tribes. Their excitement and excitement were all hidden in the enthusiasm for learning, but it was not difficult to see that their hands were trembling.
Because everything they saw made it clear to them that whether their tribes could get through the winter depended on how much they could learn at school.
When the first ice house was built, the students were still a bit puzzled. What were they doing with such ice houses? They looked cold.
But after spending some time inside the ice house, they discovered something different, their faces full of disbelief.
"How... how is this possible? It's so warm in here!"
"I guess even wearing a small amount of animal skins won't be too cold."
If their tribes could build a large number of such ice houses, wouldn't it greatly alleviate the cold problem?
Zhuang Yu smiled, "The simpler the knowledge, the more practical it is."
In the following days, they continued to build ice houses and improve their techniques.
The students were indeed very serious because they had personally experienced the effect of ice houses, so they studied very seriously, knowing that if they didn't build well, the ice houses would collapse.
For example, the ice houses built by Ant had collapsed several times, and they were still tearful.
Although the ice house built by Feng Wen hadn't collapsed, it leaked cold air.
There were still many things they needed to learn.
After a row of ice houses was successfully built, a group of students tested each one, learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses. Those foreign students abandoned the houses with kang beds and slept in the ice houses at night.
"Although it's not as warm as the kang bed houses, it's not cold anymore."
The students' faces were full of joy.
The students of the Crimson Great City also found it strange. After sleeping in the ice house for two nights, they eventually returned to their own homes. "It's still not as warm as the kang beds."
But the foreign students were already very satisfied. Cases of people freezing to death among their people had occurred frequently, and now they could minimize such situations.
The well-built ice houses were also quite beautiful, even Zhuang Yu couldn't help but sigh, this was an art.
Then he began to teach them how to make kang beds. It wasn't easy to gather firewood in the deep winter, and wet firewood would produce a lot of smoke. So there were many factors to consider, and Zhuang Yu taught them one by one how to make a kang bed that could last the winter and how to build a chimney, and so on.
And then, it was about how to solve the food problem.
This was more troublesome than keeping warm. There were no greenhouses in the foreign tribes, so it was impossible to grow crops. Even if they were taught to build greenhouses, materials would be a problem, and the fuel to raise the temperature in the greenhouse would also be a problem. Moreover, they didn't have mushroom seeds, and the maturity cycle was particularly long. Whether they could grow them successfully would be a huge risk.
Zhuang Yu thought about it. Their greenhouses were still under construction, and each one was now using scientific planting methods with several layers. Most importantly, with the mushroom seeds, the harvest cycle was surprisingly short.
After a while, they would be able to produce a lot of surplus food, which would be useless to keep for themselves, so it would be better to sell it to the outsiders.
Of course, the outsiders were currently struggling to survive, and it was estimated that they didn't have goods to exchange.
Zhuang Yu smiled, that was not a problem either.
Now in the dead of winter, their porcelain couldn't be sold, so it would be better to produce a batch of porcelain coins now. He had said that he wanted the Crimson Great City to become the center of economy and civilization, so the appearance of currency was inevitable.
Bartering was too troublesome in the past. Every time at the market, one could see masses of people carrying meat, which was also a unique scene in this world.
Porcelain coins could only be made by their Crimson Great City now, and they weren't afraid of others copying them. Plus, adding some anti-counterfeiting marks would make them even more unique.
To manage these coins, they needed to establish a bank for the convenience of outsiders to exchange them.
As long as the currency was successfully implemented, the position of the Crimson Great City would become unshakable. Zhuang Yu was very clear about the tricks in it.
Porcelain coins began to be produced on a large scale, and the first to implement them was their Crimson Great City itself.
For example, the school's points directly turned into porcelain coins.
The students were surprised to find a few porcelain coins in their backpacks. At first, they didn't know what they were for, but they thought the small porcelain coins were quite beautiful. Then they found out that they could use these porcelain coins to exchange things at the school's canteen.
The system implemented by the Crimson Great City was a combination of semi-private and semi-public ownership.
For example, the crops collectively planted and the cattle and sheep raised were all owned by the entire Crimson Great City, but once distributed to each household, they became private property. How they wanted to handle them was entirely up to them.
In the past, these supplies were distributed directly to each household, but now they were not directly distributed; only porcelain coins were distributed.
At the beginning, some were not used to it, but they gradually discovered the benefits of porcelain coins. In the past, if there was too much food, it was difficult to handle, and if there was too little, it was not enough to eat. But now, it was different. They could exchange as much as they wanted by using porcelain coins, which were the size of a finger and easy to handle.
Ant and Feng Wen, as they walked together, would occasionally glance at each other to see how many porcelain coins the other had.
The appearance of currency indeed made things much more convenient, and its popularity spread very quickly because of these benefits.
In fact, as an intermediary in transactions, currency should be the most convenient for merchants, but now that the markets were closed, it wasn't being reflected.
It was already one or two months later when the currency began to circulate.
At this time, the situation in the White Great City, Dark Great City, and Cyan Great City became even more severe.
One day, outside the Crimson Great City, a large group of students wearing cotton jackets and carrying cotton hats were preparing to leave the Crimson Great City.
They were leaving with hope to return to their own tribes.
They not only learned how to keep their tribes from the cold, but they also brought back a huge piece of news for their tribes.
Because the Crimson Great City promised to open the market to them again, and this time, they would be trading... food. Trading food to outsiders in the dead of winter was something they wouldn't have dared to think about before, and most people probably wouldn't easily trade even if they had it.
Those with animal skins could exchange them for porcelain coins, as the Crimson Great City only accepted porcelain coins for trading food.
Even those without goods to exchange could write IOUs, converting the food into porcelain coins, and write a note indicating how many porcelain coins they owed.
As for what porcelain coins were, these students had a clear understanding after this period of contact. It actually represented goods.
Zhuang Yu also wanted to promote currency through this method, making the Crimson Great City the economic center of the world, the birthplace of currency, and an indispensable presence in this world.
In the future, as long as the powers that be used porcelain coins, they wouldn't allow any unrest in the Crimson Great City because if the Crimson Great City descended into chaos, the currency system would collapse, and they would also be affected.
Of course, at this time, they couldn't think of these things. What they urgently needed was food. Although adding a porcelain coin as an intermediary seemed a bit strange, compared to saving lives, what did it matter?
Yes, in the eyes of these foreign students, the Crimson Great City was indeed saving lives, saving the lives of their tribes.
It was believed that when their tribes received the news, they would only have this idea, that the Crimson Great City was saving their lives.
Even if they had nothing to exchange, they could still owe, which wasn't just saving lives, what else was it?
The students looked back at the Crimson Great City. At this moment, the Crimson Great City was bathed in divine light.
It was believed that after this incident, the Crimson Great City would be different in the hearts of everyone. It would be a sacred place, a sacred place that saved their lives.
And in the future, if someone said that the Crimson Great City would wage war against them, they would definitely be the first ones not to believe it because there was no need. They would just wait for them to freeze and starve to death. There was no need to provide relief for them.
As for why the Crimson Great City would help them?
The students had already received the answer from Zhuang Yu. Because the original intention of the Crimson Great City was to hope that the world would be full of love and peace, and no more war.
A simple sentence, but the Crimson Great City was fundamentally different in their hearts. What was the White Great City compared to the Crimson Great City? It was worthless in front of the Crimson Great City.
Sometimes the simplest faith is the most reliable, easier to accept than those complicated doctrines.
At this time, the White Great City, Dark Great City, and Cyan Great City were shrouded in gloom, like dead cities.
It was too cold, and they couldn't even go out. Even if they braved the cold to go hunting, the harvest was meager.
What worried them even more was that the food would soon be almost depleted.
They had never hated war so much before, but the fact had already happened, and no amount of anger could change it.
What followed was panic because their people were starting to become weak and thin, the result of rationing food and clothes. They understood what they were about to face, watching their people slowly freeze and starve to death one by one.
This was the coldest, most terrifying winter.
This silence was broken as a group of students returned wearing thick cotton jackets, warm cotton hats, and warm socks and shoes.
At the moment when the students entered their tribal lands, they discovered something different.
These students... hadn't become even a bit thinner. On the contrary, they were plump and rosy.
How was this possible?
They were starving themselves, so how could the Crimson Great City still feed these students? After all, they weren't even people from the Crimson Great City.
Moreover, these students walked in the snow and wind without any fear of the cold.
The students looked at their own tribes, the withering tribes, and couldn't help but sigh. But immediately their spirits lifted because they were back. They brought back the hope of life from the Crimson Great City. From today on, their tribes would also become as vibrant as the Crimson Great City.
They had never been so grateful before. They were students of the academy, and they were proud of it.