Welcoming Them Home from Upstream

While Jianya led a massive grain transport fleet to the Valley Tribe, the busy work in the Fire Tribe's main valley never stopped. Yan stood on the hillside, looking down at the bustling camp below, pondering the next plan.

Over the past month or so, the small trading fleets he sent out to the upper reaches of the Fish River brought back one piece of good news after another.

The small tribes along the six tributaries on the east bank of the Fish River — the White River, the Clear River, the Wood River, the Stone River, the Forest River, and the Water River—who had not yet joined the Fire Tribe, could no longer sit still after witnessing the happy lives of the first few groups of members.

"Young Master Yan!" a Xiaotou who had just returned from upstream reported excitedly, "The rest of the people on the White River side are willing to join! So are those on the Clear River! So are those on the Wood River! They said they'll leave as soon as our boat arrives!"

Yan asked, "Approximately how many people are there?"

The Xiaotou did the math. "There are seven tribes on the White River, with over five hundred people each. On the Clear River and Wood River, there are over a dozen tribes each, with a little over a thousand people each. In total, there are at least two thousand five hundred people."

Yan's eyes lit up; two thousand five hundred people was quite a large number.

"What about the other three tributaries?" he asked.

The Xiaotou said, "The areas over the Stone River, Forest River, and Water River are closer to our Fire Tribe, and there are more people there. In total, at least four thousand more people are willing to join."

Yan silently calculated: two thousand five hundred plus four thousand, that's six thousand five hundred people, plus the four thousand-plus northern refugees who just arrived this time, plus the population absorbed before...

The population of the Fire Tribe will soon exceed 50,000. He told the Fire Tribe's leaders this news a few days ago, and their eyes lit up.

"More than six thousand people!" Dali slapped his thigh. "Great! We're short-staffed!"

Dabang was also excited. "Adding the four thousand from the north, we can recruit over ten thousand this time!"

Jianshi pondered for a moment, then looked at Yan: "How do you plan to respond?"

Yan had come prepared. "I'll bring boats—two hundred large Muzhou weighing two thousand catties each, and over one hundred small Muzhou weighing five hundred catties each. We can transport over four hundred thousand catties of goods and people at a time."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Let's start with the three furthest tributaries— the White River, Clear River, and Wood River. Those three combined will bring in 2,500 people; that should be enough."

Jianshi nodded. "Alright, let's do it that way. Once Jianya's large fleet has left, you can set off."

"Yes!"

Once Jianya's massive fleet disappeared into the bend of the lower Fire Creek River, Yan and Dali set off with another fleet.

Two hundred large Muzhou weighing two thousand catties each and more than one hundred small Muzhou weighing five hundred catties each formed a long dragon on the Fire Creek River, sailing north in a mighty procession. On the bank, many members of the Fire Tribe spontaneously came to see them off. Yan stood at the Chuantou, facing the river wind, silently planning the journey.

It would take at least twenty days to sail upstream along the Fish River from Fire Creek Mouth to the farthest White River, and at least thirty days round trip, but it was worth it. The fleet sailed on the Fish River for a full twenty days, and on the morning of the twenty-first day, the fleet finally arrived at the White River Mouth.

The White River is the furthest tributary on the eastern bank of the Fish River. Its water is clear and its banks are covered with dense Forest Wood. At the river mouth, a large crowd had already gathered. When they saw the huge fleet of boats on the river, they were first stunned, and then they burst into a deafening cheer.

"They're here! The Fire Tribe's ship is here!"

"They've really come! They've really come to pick us up!"

Yan ordered the fleet to dock, jumped off the ship, and strode towards the crowd. The crowd parted automatically, and several old men stepped forward. They were the leaders and elders of the seven tribes. The oldest of them had a full head of white hair and walked with a trembling gait.

"You... you are the young leader of the Fire Tribe?" The oldest man's voice trembled.

Yan nodded. "I am Yan. Are you all willing to join the Fire Tribe?"

The old man nodded repeatedly, "Yes! Yes! We've been waiting for this day for so long!"

He pointed to the crowd behind him. "This is the remaining people from our seven tribes, a total of 523 people. Food, livestock, and tools are all ready, just waiting for you!"

Yan looked at those people—the elderly, women, children, and about a hundred young men. Their clothes were tattered, and they were thin and sallow, but their eyes shone with hope.

"Okay," Yan said, "Then let's get on the boat."

The fleet stayed at White River Mouth for a day. More than 500 people boarded the boats in batches, and their food, livestock and tools were also carried onto the boats one by one. Although it was crowded, no one complained. They sat in the cabins, watching the White River gradually recede into the distance, their eyes filled with both reluctance and anticipation.

A young woman holding a child whispered to the child, "Ava, we're going to our new home. There's lots and lots of food there, and we'll never go hungry again..."

Three days later, Yan's fleet arrived at the Clear River. The situation in the Clear River was similar to that in the White River. At the river mouth, more than a thousand people had already gathered there, waiting anxiously. Their food and supplies had been transported to the river mouth in advance and were neatly piled up. Obviously, they had made preparations long ago.

Yan didn't say much, but ordered the fleet to dock and begin picking up people. It was another busy day. By the time everyone was on board, the fleet was noticeably crowded, but there were still empty boats.

Yan calculated that there was still room for more than a thousand people.

"Next, Wood River," he said.

Two days later, the fleet arrived at the Wood River. The situation at the Wood River was better than expected. More than a thousand people had gathered at the river mouth. In addition to grain, there were also many cattle, sheep and poultry. However, Yan found that they had too many supplies.

"We can't carry all your grain and livestock," Yan said to the chief of the Wood River tribe. "We don't have enough boats."

The leader was a burly man in his forties with dark skin, clearly someone who had worked the land for many years. After hearing Yan's words, the smile on his face froze.

"Then... what should we do?"

Yan thought for a moment and said, "Load the people first, then load some grain, livestock, and heavy tools. Leave them here, and I'll send a dozen or so people to watch over them until the next ship arrives."

The leader paused for a moment, then nodded repeatedly. "Good! Good! That works too!"

So, another busy day ensued. By the time everyone boarded the ships, the fleet was already full. Yan left a dozen or so warriors from the Fire Tribe to guard the remaining supplies and wait for the next fleet. Then, he ordered the fleet to return. The fleet sailed downstream along the Fish River, much faster than when they came.

Along the way, the newly joined tribesmen crowded into the cabin, looking at the scenery on both banks and talking in hushed tones.

"Tell me, what exactly is the Fire Tribe like?"

"I heard there are tens of thousands of them, and their houses are all made of wood, large and sturdy."

"There's still plenty of food; eat as much as you want."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true! My cousin joined that tribe last year, and I ran into him the other day. He said he gets to eat his fill every day in the Fire Tribe, and he's even gained weight!"

"Then I'll have to take a good look..."

Ten days later, the fleet finally arrived at Fire Creek Mouth. When the new tribesmen saw the endless paddy fields on both sides of the Fire Creek River valley, they were all stunned.

"This... this is their land?"

So many? You can't see the end of them!

The fleet continued upstream and entered the Fire Creek River. When the valley of the Fire Tribe's headquarters came into view, a gasp of surprise rang out from the cabin.

"Those... those are their houses?"

So many! They're densely packed together!

"And there were so many people..."

The fleet docked at the pier, and the new tribesmen disembarked one by one. Standing on the pier, they looked around with surprise and awe in their eyes. Yan stood aside, watching their reactions, and a complex emotion welled up in his heart. These people, like those tribesmen who had just joined the Fire Tribe before, were all amazed by the prosperity of the Fire Tribe.

The tribespeople in charge of resettlement were already waiting at the dock. They skillfully guided the new tribespeople through registration, accommodation allocation, and food distribution. Everything was orderly and without any panic.

A newcomer couldn't help but ask a member of the Fire Tribe, "You... you can eat this much every day?"

The tribesman laughed, "Of course, the one thing our Fire Tribe has no shortage of is food. Look at those granaries over there, they're full, one after another!"

The young man followed his finger and saw rows of huge granaries standing in the Fire Tribe camp, larger than any house he had ever seen.

He swallowed hard and muttered, "If I had known it would be like this, I would have come much sooner..."

An elderly man nearby, upon hearing this, suddenly had tears welling up in his eyes.

"Yes," he said softly, "If only we had come sooner, my eldest son wouldn't have starved to death..."

He wiped his eyes and followed the crowd. Yan stood there, watching this scene, and remained silent for a long time. The settlement of these new tribesmen took only two days. The Fire Tribe had a complete process - registration, distribution, food distribution, accommodation arrangement, job assignment... Everything was so practiced, as if they had done it countless times.

One of the leaders in charge of resettlement said to Yan, "Young Chief, don't worry, even if there are 10,000 people, let alone 2,500, we can settle them quickly!"

Yan nodded. He knew this wasn't bragging. In the past two years, the Fire Tribe had a complete process in place for each person they absorbed. That's how experience was accumulated. Yan hadn't been idle these past two days either. He went to the shipbuilding workshop to check on the production progress over the past month. Dabang saw him, he excitedly pulled him to see the newly launched ships.

"Look!" Dabang pointed to rows of brand-new ships, "In the past month or so, we've built forty more ships weighing five thousand catties each, and ten ships weighing ten thousand catties each!"

Yan's eyes lit up. "So many?"

Dabang Stick grinned. "Working day and night, in three shifts, how could it not be fast!"

Yan took a deep breath. The Fire Tribe's water-based strength had now reached a new level.

"Great!" He patted Dabang's shoulder forcefully. "You guys have worked hard!"

Dabang Stick chuckled, "It's not hard work at all! Seeing our ships getting more and more numerous makes me laugh in my sleep!"

After settling the new family members, Yan and Dali did not stop.

Two days later, early in the morning, they set off again with an even larger fleet. This time, they were going to pick up the three Fire Tribe— the Stone River, the Forest River, and the Water River! This time, the Fire Tribe's fleet was even larger than the last one.