Chapitre 22: Chapter 22: Rewards for Military Merits
Like all Indian rituals, religious activities such as shaman dancing are indispensable in the celebration ceremony.
Led by several great chiefs and shamans, the people happily cursed their enemies and prayed for the next victory.
In addition, the most important process is to reward military merits. Every time a soldier kills an Arapaho, he can get an eagle feather and a bag of liquor as a reward.
Ma Shao naturally got nine eagle feathers and nine bags of liquor.
"This is your honor." The Plains Chief took the nine eagle feathers from the high priest and tied them to Ma Shao's hair with his own hands.
Nine feathers are not suitable for making a war crown, and the production of a war crown is quite time-consuming and cannot be done in a short time. So, like most people, she just tied it directly to her hair.
"Thank you, respected chief, and high priest..." Ma Shao said politely. He thought the feather headdress was quite beautiful, at least much better than the paint on his face - the winner must paint his face with red paint, this is a tradition.
"And this." The chief smiled and waved his hand again, and a warrior next to him brought nine large leather bags with some difficulty.
"The hottest liquor ever – who doesn't like it!"
Liquor was one of the most important commodities obtained by Indians in trade with white people, and more and more Indians were obsessed with the strong anesthetic feeling brought by high-concentration alcohol.
In his previous life, Ma Shao had heard that the Indians had a serious problem with alcoholism, but because the Sleeping Bear clan rarely had any liquor, it was not until recently that he learned that the Indians' alcoholism problem actually already existed at this time.
It has to be said that spending a lot of money to buy liquor from white people is definitely the most unprofitable business done by Indians, perhaps even the only one. It is comparable to the Qing people who bought large quantities of opium from Britain.
The alcohol-addicted Indians became increasingly degenerate, and their hope for advancement became slimmer. This problem has not been solved until the 21st century, and no one has helped them. Drinking is voluntary, so what reason do noble liberal white people have to interfere with the voluntary choice of the Indians?
In addition to eagle feathers and strong liquor, as the most outstanding warrior, Ma Shao also received rewards from three other tribes.
"Warrior of the Plains Tribe, on behalf of the Mescalero Tribe, I pay my respects to you," said the chief of the Mescalero Tribe, before taking out a leather-covered wooden shield with intricate patterns painted on it.
The chief handed over the shield and said seriously, "This is a gift from us to you. The shield blessed by the great spirit can help you resist all harm."
"..." Ma Shao was sweating and didn't know what to say. He could only take the shield politely and thanked, "Thank you, my brother tribe."
"Warrior, this is a gift from the Jikalila tribe." The chief of the Jikalila tribe led out a brown horse.
Although this horse is not as strong as Black Blade, it still looks quite majestic, so Ma Shao is of course very grateful.
What impressed Ma Shao the most was the gift from the Chiricahua tribe. When this thing appeared in front of him, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Take it, a sword for a hero." The chief of the Chiricahua tribe was a middle-aged man with prominent cheekbones. He smiled and handed over a shining dagger.
A knife made of pure gold!
While expressing his gratitude, Ma Shao took it in his hand and weighed it, estimating that it weighed about one kilogram.
Even if the purity of so much gold is not high, it is definitely a generous gift. According to the price in later generations, it is equivalent to about 200,000 RMB, or more than 30,000 US dollars.
Ma Shao instantly remembered the name of the Chiricahua chief - Oak, and his prominent cheekbones.
I just simply think that this person is suitable to be a friend, that's it.
The session of rewarding military merits ended, but the atmosphere became even more heated.
"Let's drink to our heart's content!" The great chief of the plains raised his wine bag and looked at the Apaches around him.
"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo——"
Accompanied by a shout, almost everyone raised their wine bags, then tilted their heads back and drank the liquor, gulping it down. In a blink of an eye, the air was filled with the smell of alcohol.
"For the tribe!"
"This victory is only the beginning. The Arapaho will soon be completely defeated by us. They will never have the right to appear on our grassland again!" People kept making bold statements under the smell of alcohol, with the sounds of drums and flutes mixing in to cheer them up.
"Hahaha, you're right, hiccup..."
The atmosphere was so intense that Ma Shao initially wanted to follow everyone and take a sip, but in the end he did not.
His expression flickered, but he hesitated whether to persuade other tribesmen not to drink... at least not to drink excessively like this.
A little drinking can make you happy, but drinking too much can harm your body. The Indians' drinking style is neither a little drinking nor a big drinking, but a competition of who can drink more.
The Indians are already in a bad situation, and if this trend is allowed to spread, it will only make the situation worse.
However, at the moment, everyone was in high spirits and celebrating, so persuasion seemed inappropriate. Therefore, Ma Shao sat there for a long time without saying anything.
But his hesitation soon ended.
"Why are you drinking too?" Ma Shao suddenly ran to a tall and thin young man and snatched the wine bag from him.
The tall and thin young man was Changgun. He was stunned for a moment: "Everyone is drinking, I want to drink a little too..."
"But you are still injured!" Ma Shao pointed at his shoulder.
"Didn't you say that strong liquor can heal wounds?" asked the long stick.
"..." Ma Shao took a deep breath, "That's to sprinkle on the wound, not to drink. Drinking will only make your wound worse. Bandages can also heal wounds. Can bandages be eaten?"
He then saw several wounded soldiers drinking and said bluntly, "Stop drinking!"
Ma Shao had proved his authority on the battlefield, and these wounded soldiers had all been treated by him, so no one dared to say anything and stopped drinking.
But that may not be the case for others.
Especially the great chieftain of the plains who was sitting in the middle of the camp, guarding the tent, frowned directly: "Ma Shao, what are you doing, today is a good day for drinking!"
Then he waved his hand and said, "Keep playing music and drinking! Soon, the white wine merchants will come again, with plenty of strong liquor!"
At the chief's command, the wounded began to drink again.
Seeing this, Ma Shao immediately became angry: "No drinking!"
His voice was so powerful that it could not cover up the noise of the entire venue. Hundreds of people near and far could hear it clearly. The originally lively atmosphere suddenly became seven or eight points quieter, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on it.
Hundreds of eyes were cast towards him.
"What's not allowed? Alcohol?"
"Oh no, the chief guarding the tent is going to get angry..."
"What does the horse whistle do?"
People were talking about it, but no one was drinking.
Then, as some people had guessed, a look of obvious displeasure appeared on the face of the chief guarding the tent.
There are seven or eight hundred people gathered together at the moment, most of whom are from other tribes. As Ma Shao is his subordinate, this action makes him feel ashamed.
————————————
ps:
In fact, many Indian tribes are very loose, and there is no tribal leader or chief. For example, Oak (also known as Cochise) of the Chiricahua tribe is actually just a local cadre with high prestige, not the boss of the entire tribe. This is written in the book for convenience.
As for the plains tribe where the protagonist is from, there is indeed a position of tribal chief.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone