Aztec Eternals

After noon, the sun lit up the earth coldly, and there was nowhere to hide. White clouds floated high in the distance, unpredictable. The autumn wind passed slightly, and the dryness revealed a chill. Under the sun, the warriors wore armor and weapons, besieging the hostile city, and the world was chilling.

After coming out of the tent, Shilot went to visit his father first.

After a month of recuperation, Husock was able to get up and move around. His face was slightly rosy, and he looked in good spirits.

Shilot said hello to his father, and the two chatted for a while, and naturally turned the subject to the comeback Traka Eller.

"Father, what kind of person is the elder Traka Eller?"

Xiusok pondered for a moment, looked at the sky outside the tent, and then said slowly.

"The Elder Trakael is the sun in the sky, a symbol of majesty. I grew up hearing his name. His eyes were above the clouds, and he never cared about the birds and beasts fighting under his feet. His thoughts As high as a cloud, it is difficult for ordinary people to ponder. The only thing that can be affirmed is his strong will! Like the autumn sunshine, with cold and killing intent, falling from the sky, making the subjects obey in awe, unable to avoid and change. "

Shiroute thought in his heart. After chatting with his father a few more times, he hurried out of the account and left.

He recruited Kuod, an old carpenter whom he hadn't seen for a long time. Since he took up the production of the longbow, the status of the old carpenter has risen rapidly. Now he has been appointed by Avet as the head of the artisan of the army, and there are several samurai to protect him when he travels.

"Sir Priest, in the more than 20 days of your expedition, fifty new longbows were made in the camp, and they can be delivered to you now."

Kuod reported respectfully, followed by several new apprentices.

Shulotte nodded. Due to the lack of metal tools and high-level craftsmen, the manufacture of high-quality longbow was unusually slow. Excluding the war losses, up to now we have only saved up to 200. He has ordered Kuod to recruit more apprentices, concentrate more copper tools, and try to improve efficiency. The only way to get a breakthrough production boost is to get the capital's huge artisan population.

"Courd, choose a high-quality longbow, and help me add fine decorations and patterns. I want to use it as a gift for the elders. Then help me make a small wooden trebuchet, half a person's height. Finally, have you done what I told you to do before you set off?"

Kuod called an apprentice to ask, and then answered with a smile.

"Sir Priest, you asked me to soak the extra bark from the bow making in the lime water pond. It has been soaked for three weeks now. As for the fine linen mat you mentioned, it has already been prepared."

Under the leadership of Cuod, Shilot went to the pond of foam. Yes, the idea of ​​making paper has been around for a long time. The task of foaming has also been ordered several times, and now he finally has the urgent need and time to light up the papermaking technology.

It is worth mentioning that lime water is a survival necessity in Central America, and it is widely used in the ashing treatment of corn. Natural corn is not a nutritionally complete food, it lacks niacin, which is vitamin B3, which can be absorbed. Eating untreated corn as a staple can lead to anemia and pellagra, severe skin inflammation. People with pellagra will die within five years if diet is not improved

In fact, there is actually enough niacin in corn, just compounded with hemicellulose. If the corn is soaked in lime water and heated, the hemicellulose will be hydrolyzed and the niacin will be released. This treatment also softens the corn and enhances the texture, which is a pre-step in making delicious masa flour.

Shulot recalled the process of papermaking. In his memory, the essence of papermaking is: breaking up plant fibers to form pulp, processing the pulp to restructure the fibers, and uniformly coagulating the pulp into paper.

In order to disperse plant fibers and remove impurities, there is a process of foaming, washing, and cooking. In order to reorganize the fibers, the slurry is pounded into a paste by human or hydraulic power. Finally, let the paper evenly distribute, pick it up with bamboo curtains or hemp mats, and dry it to form.

This is the whole papermaking technique in Shilot's memory. As for the drying process, the papermaking skills, the bamboo mud paper baking, and the drying temperature, none of them exist. He still has an impression of making paper from clinker and paper from raw material, the difference is that he only remembers that clinker needs to be boiled and raw material needs to be stepped on.

Shilot has carefully analyzed that Central America is in the tropics where plants are prosperous, and the raw materials for papermaking are very wide, and it is easy to develop a large-scale papermaking industry.

The most common raw materials for papermaking are various hemp plants. The cheapest is naturally jute, which is very widely distributed and has a high fiber yield. Then there is the daily use of sisal agave, from which the ropes used by the warriors to capture their captives are made of sisal. Then there is cotton. America is the homeland of cotton, and all kinds of cotton are grown in a wide area. However, in the various departments of Mexica, cotton cloth is often used as currency, and the cost of making cotton paper is obviously too high.

The second is the bark of various kinds of trees, such as the bark of sandalwood that is used now. There is no shortage of trees in Central America, but metal tools for cutting and peeling trees. Then there is bamboo. There are very few types of bamboo in Central America, mainly concentrated in the eastern region. Various bamboo utensils of the Celestial Dynasty have not been developed, but they are used by tribesmen to make blow arrows. Finally, various forages, such as reeds in coastal areas.

Sherlot had seen corn stalks, and he was not sure whether such a large amount of material could be used to make paper. Corn stalks feel very hard and have many nodes, so they should not be a good papermaking material. We can give craftsmen a try later.

Thinking of cotton and linen, Shiloh thought of the armor of the Mexicans. Due to the lack of large domestic animals, sturdy leather armor was often only possessed by high-ranking samurai, and cotton armor was the most widely used equipment by samurai.

The armor is the symbol that distinguishes the samurai from the militia. The standard equipment for the samurai was the Ichka Vipili, "Cotton of Cotton", a cotton and linen light armor. It is shaped like a thick vest, each layer is woven from a mix of cotton and jute, and then pressed into multiple layers. Cotton plays a protective role in cutting, and jute plays a role of heat dissipation and sweat absorption. This cotton armor can effectively improve the warrior's protection against obsidian battle sticks and stone arrows.

With the rise of the warrior level, after reaching the second-level Vastek hunter, they began to equip Traviztli, "battle suits", and light armor all over the body. The battle suit is usually put over the Ichka Vipili, and it is also woven from a blend of cotton and linen. As the level of the samurai continues to improve, the battle clothes will be painted with various patterns, becoming more and more gorgeous and mighty.

The fourth-level senior samurai began to wear various feathers, sew various animal skins, and draw the patterns of eagles and jaguars on their battle clothes. In the Eagle and Jaguar Noble Chapters, the suits are upgraded to feather-draped leather armor.

As for head protection, low-level warriors will wear various cotton, linen or leather pointed hats, while high-level warriors and commanders will wear various animal-shaped helmets. The beast helmet, the Kukatra, a symbol of honor, is actually made of wood, not bone.

The beast helmet that Shulot often wears looks extremely mighty and is a vivid tiger head with vivid colors, but it is actually extremely thick and airtight. This made him always give orders dignifiedly and coldly, while sweat streaming down his face.

He intends to build bronze helmets first once he obtains the copper mines in Tarasco. The wooden beast helmets are not good in terms of defense and comfort. Bronze armor is a bit heavy, referring to the bust shape of ancient Greek armor in the early stage, plus skirt armor and leggings. Only after the development of the shallow iron ore in Colima, can more advanced scale armor, tie armor, and chain armor be considered. As for the most advanced plate armor technology, it still seems far away.

Under the command of Shilot and the operation of craftsmen, the first papermaking experiment was gropingly launched.

The preparation of the foaming material has been completed, and the next step is to cook the material. The craftsmen built wooden cookers with hearths and boiled the bark with lime water for a day. Shirot squeezed the bark with his hands, but the fibers were not completely spread out. After thinking about it for a while, he asked the craftsmen to replace it with more alkaline plant ash and cook it again. After another day, the bark was finally a suitable pulp.

The next step is to wash the material to remove the lime residue and some dissolved substances in the pulp. With enough manpower, Shilot just needs to look at it, until the pulp is pure enough to express satisfaction.

Since I didn't know the item of whitening, I went directly to the batching process after washing. Dozens of villagers used thick and long wooden pestles to repeatedly beat the slurry in the stone mortar, while picking up impurities and coarse materials. After so many hours, the pulp was finally pounded into a paste. Xiulote looked at it and felt that it was not much different from the pulp in his memory, only slightly yellowed.

Then there is the papermaking process that requires technology. The pulp is dissolved in the water tank, and then spread evenly on the hemp mat to form a thin wet paper. Despite the strict requirements of Shulot, the thickness of the wet paper in this section is still uneven. The accumulated wet paper should need to be squeezed dry once, but he didn't remember this, so he went directly to the next step of drying the paper.

Shilot first roasted it directly on the bonfire, and when he saw the crack in the paper deformed, he immediately realized that the drying temperature should be uniform and not too high. He asked the craftsmen to build an earthen oven, and put the wet paper on the outer wall to dry slowly. Of course, he still doesn't know the polishing process.

Several days before and after, each link was revised and repeated repeatedly. When Shilot finally got a piece of bark paper that was rough in texture, tough and thick, and turned yellow and gray, he had mixed feelings in his heart.

"This is one small step for me, and one giant leap for Indian civilization!" The young man thought quite contentedly, temporarily ignoring the roughness and thickness of the paper.

Papermaking technology was introduced to Arabia in the eighth century and Europe in the twelfth century. In Europe today, parchment rolls and paper are still used. At this point, the Americas still have ample opportunity to catch up with Europe.

Shilot told the craftsmen to keep making paper without stopping. He needed a sufficient amount of paper to prove the superiority of the new technology. Then he used a brush to carefully copy the thousand Chinese characters that are commonly used on the paper.

During this period he went to see little Avellot several times. As soon as they met, the little golden eagle called out with enthusiasm and flapped its wings. Immediately, Avette smiled and gently stroked the little golden eagle's head, and little Avillot immediately fell silent, obedient and obedient.

Shulot smiled gratified, it seemed that Avette and the little golden eagle got along well. The teenager turned around and left, ignoring the "affectionate" expectations and desires of little Avellot. Avit stood at the door of the wooden house with a smile, and the little golden eagle was covered by his shadow.

Ten days later~www.readwn.com~ Xiulote looked at the gifts in front of him with satisfaction: an exquisitely decorated longbow, a small model of a trebuchet, a set of characters depicting "oracle bone inscriptions/pictographs" and Chinese characters. Wooden boards, a thousand-character paper book that doesn't fit in the front and back, and a whole three-pack of paper.

During this time, Avit also successively rewarded and disbanded the city-state warriors of the seven states. The heads of states and commanders at all levels said goodbye to Avit respectfully, and then led the warriors on the long-awaited road to return home.

Orosh and the Teotihuacan Legion also bid farewell to Shulot and left. Hussoke gave his son a hug, and then took the boat away weakly.

After another two days, Gilliam finally came from the capital. He was very busy, and when he saw Avit, he paid homage.

"Your Majesty, the immortal sun Trakael has summoned you to the capital. It is requested that at least 20,000 Mexican warriors remain and continue to besiege the city of Hilotepec until it falls."

"What did the ancestor say?" Avite had a serious face and bright eyes.

"Congratulations to the king! The elder has agreed that you will inherit the throne, but he wants to meet with you once. It should be the conclusion of Tisok's death, so as not to affect the majesty of the royal family. It may also mediate the conflict between you and the chief priest Kechar. "

Gilliam saluted again solemnly.

"Okay, it's not too late! Order 10,000 warriors, the army will go south along the waterway, and set off as soon as possible!"

Avette smiled confidently, things were the same as he expected, and he was the only suitable heir.

Gilliam saluted and stepped back. He tilted his head slightly, looked at Shulot's happy face, and sighed slightly in his heart.

"His Royal Highness, for the sake of Your Majesty, I can only apologize to you!"

The next day, the 2,000 noble chapters and the 8,000 directly subordinate samurai boarded the mighty thousands of boats and sailed upstream to the majestic lake capital.