Aztec Eternals

  Chapter 243 The root system of rule, the village directly under the jurisdiction

  The rain in July is falling, so warm and calm. The drizzle nourishes everything on the earth: there are prosperous grass and trees in the mountains, birds chirping happily in the forest, green shoots in the fields, and the vitality of early summer is everywhere.

  Shirot was standing still in the rain by Lake Patzcuaro, wearing a thatched cloak.

   He looked at the low sky. The pattering raindrops formed intermittent lines, falling on the mountains shrouded in clouds and mist, and then flowing down from the mountains, converging into streams between the basins. He looked at the stream at the foot of the mountain. The clear stream flows slowly, nourishing the shallow trees that bloom along the way, and also soaking up the cultivated farmland.

  The eyes of the young king patrolled the neat farmland, and finally fell to the end, the village by the lake.

   "Come on, let's go there and see."

  Shirot commanded in a deep voice. Bertard nodded and left quickly with dozens of personal guards. He wants to go first and go to the village to check in person. The remaining 100 or so warriors were wearing cloaks, shields and axes, and guarded the side of His Highness.

   "Be careful, don't step on the new seedlings!"

   Xiuluo gave the order in a loud voice, and then he walked leisurely across the field. He looked down at the reclaimed fields on both sides, carefully observed the new seedlings in the fields, and calculated the time for sowing.

   After the corn seeds are sown, under suitable soil temperature and moisture conditions, they will absorb water and germinate within a week. The germinating new shoots will first take root, divide three or four fixed radicles into the surrounding soil, and then protrude the embryos in the air above.

   Thinking of this, Shirlot squatted down and measured it carefully with his fingers. Then, he held the sandy loam in the farmland again, feeling the texture and viscosity of the soil, and nodded.

   At this time, the corn seedlings have just emerged and are about the length of a little finger. Even the first pair of cotyledons unearthed have not yet been unfolded, and they are still wrapped in a cylindrical shape. The pooled rainwater flows over the field, over the young corn seedlings, making it slightly sloping.

   "The seeds germinate in only a week, that is, the sowing completed two weeks ago. Well, it was finished before the heavy rain. It's still qualified!"

  Shirot stared at the tender seedlings, lost in thought. If the seedling grows for another week, the root system of the seedling can be firmly inserted into the soil, and the cotyledons will open into a leaf and a heart. The corn seedling will be fully formed at that time, and will not be damaged too much by the scouring of the heavy rain. The influx of rain into the soil will reduce the oxygen in the soil and cause damage to the roots of the crops, which also requires deeper and longer root systems to overcome

In general, the timing of agricultural activities needs to be coordinated with the rain and temperature. This year's spring ploughing is indeed a bit late. Fortunately, it seems that the military and civilian settlements around the capital have largely completed their farming tasks. Autumn harvest affects.

  While Shirot was thinking, Bertard had returned from the village quickly and stood silently by the side. He looked up, and the samurai chief nodded earnestly. The young king just got up, patted the sandy loam in his hands, and strode towards the village.

   The village chief, priests, and villagers in the village were already waiting at the entrance of the village, forming a black crowd surrounded by dozens of supervisors' guards and an accompanying translator. Tarrasco and Mexica are not very different, and many words and pronunciations are very similar. Even without an interpreter, Shilot was able to communicate roughly with the Prepecha people.

   Seeing His Majesty approaching, everyone bowed down at the same time. Shulot nodded calmly and waved his hand, motioning for the priest, the village chief and the militia captain to get up and ask questions.

   This is one of more than eighty villages in the Patzcuaro Lake District, on the northern shore of the Great Lakes. The village is large in size and once populated and prosperous. Only last year, the village was requisitioned several times by the Tarasco Kingdom, and then it was harassed by the defeated army, and it was badly broken for a time.

After    conquered the capital of Qin Congchan, Shulot counted 60,000 civilians in the city, nearly half of whom were villagers who fled. The young king organized these 30,000 people, and together with the more than 100,000 old and weak people around the capital, they were placed in the villages around the lake area, and then directly dispatched priests to manage them and set them up as community villages directly under them. The scale of each Mintun village is about 2,000 people, and there are 80 in total, about 160,000 people.

  Community management is the tradition of the Mexicans and the foundation of the strong mobilization of the alliance. The essence of community-based villages is to organize households, to strictly supervise cultivation, and to direct agricultural activities. It's just that Shulot's subordinates lacked reliable grassroots management personnel and low-level priests who were proficient in calculations. The grouping of the community had just begun, and it was still at a very rough stage.

  The young king just sent low-level priests who had not been trained for a long time to each village community, selected the local village chief, and then assisted the stationed militia team, barely controlling the 150,000-60,000 villagers around the lake area.

Therefore, in the Mintun village in front of you, the village priests who directly belong to His Highness have the highest status, who can communicate with the superior priests and are responsible for religious activities, tax collection and the reading of laws. Families with a large population actually manage agricultural production, coordinate village affairs, and inspect collective storage; finally, the militia captain dispatched or selected, masters the force of the village, maintains the security of the village, guards the warehouse and dispatches tribute teams on time. Of course, in an alliance that advocates force, the political status of the village chief and the militia captain is roughly equal.

  Under such a grassroots construction, the old noble influence and their bodies were completely erased by the devastating national war. The new civilian manager was able to come forward and become the ruler of the village to try to implement the will from the power center. In other words, the degree of centralization has been further improved.

   Seeing His Highness's signal, the three people in power in the village saluted again, and then stood up carefully. The village priest shouted softly, and two young girls stepped forward, bowed their heads, and presented fresh garlands to His Highness.

  Shirot smiled lightly and tilted his head. The samurai chief took the wreath and handed it to the guard beside him. Then, the young king looked at the middle-aged priest solemnly.

   "Take me to the altar in the village. How about the spring ploughing ritual? Are prayers completed on time in the morning and evening? Has the Union's Sharia decree been read out?"

   The middle-aged priest bowed his waist halfway, but showed a bit of a samurai temperament. He was born in the Union, had five years of military training as a boy, and was also good at fighting. He can fluently switch between Tarasco and Mexica, and is the root end of the alliance **** tree.

"Respected priest king, the sacrifice of spring ploughing is very grand. According to the latest instructions of the high priests, the main **** replaced the **** of harvest, and no statues are erected, but only emblems are left. The village will hold collective prayers in the morning and evening, and the villagers begin to have some The chaos is now gradually on the right track, and the busy farming season is over soon. I just finished talking about the decree king who promotes the alliance's military merit, encourages farming, and encourages fertility, and the altar is here."

   As the two of them spoke, they came to the center of the village. There is a stone and wood altar several meters square. The altar is two meters high, with a large wooden emblem of the Hummingbird Sun erected on it, with a total height of nearly four meters. Around the altar are various grains of grain, as well as some sacrificed feathers, birds and small beasts.

  Shirot looked at it for a moment, a slight smile appeared on his face. The alliance takes religion as the core of its governance, and the altar is the top priority because it is related to theocracy and public opinion.

   "The main **** is bright and kind. Try to save manpower and sacrifice birds and animals. Even in major festivals, don't sacrifice human animals."

  The juvenile king gave an order in a deep voice, and the middle-aged priest blinked and nodded solemnly. Then, Shilot looked at the village chief who followed.

   "How is the spring ploughing done in the village? Has the required number of acres been met? How is the manure collected? How is the village's granary built?. The villagers must participate in the work, and you are no exception!"

  The old village chief Nuonuo should be, and the wrinkles on his face make a flower smile. He replied in a low voice and respect.

   "Yes, yes! Your Highness, the villain has been leading everyone to cultivate in person, and he did not dare to rest for a moment. The spring ploughing in the village was completed as early as three weeks ago, and the farming time was not delayed!"

   Hearing this, Shirot frowned slightly, but said nothing. He just glanced at the old village chief lightly. The other party trembled slightly and continued.

"According to your instructions, Ding Zhuang in the village needs to farm eight acres, young women six acres, and the elderly and weak four acres. In addition, several craftsmen were specially arranged to repair the damaged farm tools. A pond for manure was dug outside the village. It is also used as a toilet for everyone. They all follow the instructions of the priest, and they also do some composting. The granary in the village is a little damaged, and it is being filled with earth and stone, and it will be repaired soon. "

  The old village chief led Shilot to the granary. This is a solid masonry house and is usually the most important building in a village. Due to the lack of metal farming tools and cattle and horses, most villages in Central America still maintained the collective village system, which was somewhat similar to the well-field system in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Villagers need to work collectively, and then collect most of the harvest in the public granary, while saving for the famine. Then, the manager of the village is responsible for the distribution of grain in the granary, paying tribute from the lord, and arranging the labor of the villagers.

   Under the **** of Bertard, Sherlot walked into the granary. He looked at the corner of the house that was covered in mud, and the rainwater leaking from the warehouse. He reached out and touched the slightly damp soil floor, and slowly shook his head.

   "That won't work! The granary must be kept waterproof, and the foundation must be paved with masonry!"

  Shirot pondered for a while. He looked at the terrified old village chief and reassured him.

"This is not your problem. I will soon build a large kiln around the capital to burn the blue bricks for the house. You can send someone directly to get the bricks for the granary, but these bricks must be used for the granary. , the granary must also be completely waterproof! Otherwise.”

   Hearing this, the old village chief immediately bowed his head and said yes again and again. Shuluo nodded and strode out of the granary. Then, he beckoned with a smile on his face.

   "Come here. You are Ezpan's militia? How are you doing here?"

   The militia captain put down the spear in his hand, came to Shirott empty-handed, and then knelt down and saluted with a "bang".

   "His Royal Highness, I salute you! Yes, I am a militia under the commander Ezpan. The commander often says that you are our only sun!"

"I'm doing great here! Married a local wife, raised a flock of turkeys, and got a big house. Oh oh, village words. Now I have five militiamen who come with me, and then a local call-up Twenty Ding Zhuang, who protects the entire village until the autumn harvest this year, I will take them and send the tribute to the capital!"

  Shirot listened patiently and nodded slightly. A village of 2,000 people, five senior militiamen, and 20 ordinary militiamen, coupled with the authority of the priest and the village chief, can almost maintain the basic order and catch sporadic bandits. After all, this is the heart of the Lake District, not the frontier where the canines are ravaged. Militia in the village can receive an additional ration from the warehouse to maintain training several times a month.

"very good!"

   After listening to what the militia captain said, Shirlot nodded with a smile. He raised his hand and fetched a red cloak from the guard and gave it to the militia captain himself. The captain put the cloak on his body with some excitement, and then knelt down and saluted.

   "His Royal Highness. Marshal! When will the legion go out again? I will fight for you and be promoted to a respected senior samurai!"

   Hearing the words, Shiroute smiled and applauded. He stepped forward, patted the militia captain kindly on the shoulder, and said with a smile.

   "Don't worry, and be patient, take root in the village and maintain the order of the village community. You are the cornerstone of the alliance. There are still many opportunities to go on expeditions in the future."

   Next, Shirotte made another tour of the village. He stood outside, looked at the villagers' shabby and cramped huts, and looked inside through the doorway. The young king's expression is a little dignified, the development of productive forces is limited by the times, and the life of ordinary people is just a struggle to survive.

  The young king didn't give any further orders, he just stood in front of the altar for a while and looked at the wooden sign of the Hummingbird Sun. Tall hummingbirds spread their wings and fly toward the sun of hope. Then, under the **** of his personal guards, Shilot turned and left. It wasn't until he disappeared at the end of the field that the villagers who were lying on the ground stood up, with a god-like respect on their faces.

  God turned into a king of priests, holding an emerald scepter and seeing everything in the future. Such rumors have begun to spread around the royal city without knowing it.

  Shirot returned in the drizzle~www.readwn.com~ He walked through the tall and strong city gates, walked through the empty streets of the capital, returned to the magnificent Palace of Winds, all the way to the main hall. The two painters who were painting immediately put down their pens, bowed to the Highness, and stepped back.

   The young king glanced at the mural on the wall, the pattern on it was being modified. Guided by the sun hummingbird, the Prepecha people came to the fertile soil by the lake. Then, they joined the powerful and tolerant Mexica Confederation, and together with the Mexica people of the same origin, they built the magnificent city of Chincongcan. And the existence of the "House of Wind" pyramid is the testimony of the Lord God descending to the world and promulgating his will, so that the two ethnic groups can be completely integrated!

   Then, Shirlot untied his robes, wiped the rain, and sat in front of the wooden table to check the latest album.

  The monkey Kuluka bowed halfway, busy beside the young king. He hung up His Highness's clothes, brought a cup of hot cocoa with honey, and sat cross-legged beside him.

   "Monkey, have you sent the latest scout information?"

   "Yes, Your Majesty, it's all here. Your fief is really big!"

   Having said that, Kuluka took out a huge wooden board and carefully handed it to Shirott. The young king looked at the dense markings on it, read it for a while, and finally showed a satisfied smile on his face!

   (end of this chapter)