1840Indian rebirth

Arms has always been a hugely profitable industry, especially during wars. The more intense and prolonged the battle, the more profits arms dealers can obtain.

The U.S.-Mexican War has only been going on for less than a year since the war officially began.

But through the sale of Browning pistols, Sleeping Bear City has made nearly $400,000.

Four hundred thousand U.S. dollars, even in the 21st century when the U.S. dollar is no longer directly linked to gold, is still a huge amount of money.

What's more, the U.S. dollar in this era is extremely valuable and is truly a U.S. dollar. One U.S. dollar is equivalent to 1.6 grams of gold or 24 grams of silver.

Of course, gold and silver coins count, not banknotes.

Even strictly speaking, the so-called U.S. dollar bills now are actually bank notes, issued by private banks.

Some banknotes issued by major banks are fairly reliable, but others are hard to say. Some are almost useless paper and few people want them.

Americans themselves do not trust paper money, and for Indians, paper money is even less reliable.

In contrast, money is naturally gold and silver.

Gold and silver have been trusted currencies at almost any time and anywhere in human civilization.

Therefore, Sleeping Bear City never accepts banknotes and always uses gold and silver coins for business. The US$400,000 received is real gold and silver, which is more than the annual fiscal revenue of Sleeping Bear City.

Through the intermediary in Clark Town, Sleeping Bear City can buy all the goods that white people can buy at normal prices.

The huge sum of hundreds of thousands of dollars allowed Mianxiong City to obtain a large amount of food, industrial materials, and technical talents.

The purpose of purchasing food is to support population growth. Although agriculture is developing rapidly in the city, Mianxiong City always needs to purchase food from the outside world due to rapid population growth.

Even when there is sufficient food, Sleeping Bear City will still continue to purchase food just in case.

In addition to agriculture, industry must also be developed.

Therefore, Mashao also purchased a large amount of industrial materials and hired some technical talents to drive the tribe's transformation into an industrial society.

At present, there are already some industries in Mianxiong City. Although the level is not high, they are basically small workshop industries, and many materials such as steel rely on imports, but the coverage is relatively comprehensive.

From the perspective of future generations, this is the level of a township.

But considering the setting of the western region, Mianxiong City can already be regarded as an industrial city and a manufacturing city.

The huge profits brought by arms have put the development of Sleeping Bear City on the fast track, with its scale and structure increasing rapidly.

Regardless of the name of the Indians, no one would think that this place has anything to do with the Stone Age society.

As a physics teacher, Ma Shao likes to use some physical models to understand the world.

After becoming an arms dealer who made a fortune on both sides, he often felt that the relationship between arms dealers and war was like the relationship between heat engines and combustion.

During combustion, fuel is continuously consumed, and the heat engine absorbs the energy released and converts it into strong kinetic energy.

For the United States in later generations, the proliferation of guns in peacetime is like a low-intensity but extremely long-lasting burning.

The huge military-industrial complex in the United States is like a heat engine wrapped in this flame, converting life and panic into its own energy.

Ma Shao naturally does not want the scene of proliferation of guns to happen in his tribe.

Therefore, although Sleeping Bear City is a huge arms exporter, it itself implements strict arms control.

On the east and west sides of Sleeping Bear City, there is a place for civilians to purchase weapons, and there are also two corresponding entrances, allowing outsiders to enter and exit.

As the arms business boomed, the name Sleeping Bear gradually became known to the outside world. Almost every day, outsiders came to the entrances on the east and west sides.

"Excuse me, is this the Sleeping Bear City?" A group of white merchants came from the east.

"Of course, you can't find another place like this." The Apache soldier standing guard at the city gate said in proficient English, "Where are you from?"

"We are from Arkansas." The American businessman said, "I heard that this is an open Indian city. Can we take a rest here?"

The soldier said: "Yes. There are places dedicated to receiving guests in the east and west of the city. You can rest and shop there."

The dusty businessman smiled and looked at his companions behind him: "Great, let's take a rest here, and maybe we can buy some goods."

"Come with me to register." The soldier waved and led a caravan of dozens of people to register.

After the registration was completed, the soldier told the merchant: "Leave the dangerous items here and you can enter the city. These items will be returned to you after leaving the city."

"Dangerous goods?" The white businessmen were startled.

"That's it." The soldier pointed to the guns and knives that many people carried, "Kentucky rifles, plains rifles, bowie knives, gunpowder...these are all."

Many white people blurted out: "How can this work? Without weapons, who will ensure our safety?"

"We," the soldier replied, "anyone who abides by the law here will be protected by us."

"Weapons cannot protect you. In fact, it is the weapons that put you at risk."

"When everyone is unarmed, you will not encounter robbers with guns and knives. At most, you will only encounter thieves."

The white man then asked: "But you are armed."

"We are soldiers and police." The soldier had obviously answered this question many times. "There must be some people who legally hold weapons."

"In that case, why can't it be me?"

"If it could be you, or it could be a Mexican, do you like gunfights that much?"

"It has nothing to do with this!" The American pointed at the weapons on the Apache soldiers. "Even if we want to ban weapons, we should ban all weapons, including yours."

"You can't just ban our weapons but hold them yourself!"

The soldier asked: "If even the weapons of law enforcement officers are banned, then who will enforce the law prohibiting weapons?"

"Then there is no ban on weapons!"

"It just creates chaos."

"This is freedom!"

Several impulsive white people refused to give up their weapons and started arguing. Finally, they even tried to break into the city with weapons in hand.

"Catch some of them!" The surrounding Apache soldiers took action immediately and quickly subdued the white men who tried to break in with guns.

At the same time, the army from a distance came in response, and a hundred soldiers raised their dual-wielded Browning revolvers in unison, aiming at everyone in the caravan.

"Drop your weapons!"

Looking at the two hundred black gun barrels and the uniform angry voices, the businessmen were instantly frightened.

They quickly put down their weapons and raised their hands in horror.