Aztec Eternals

The Rio Grande surges for three thousand kilometers from northwest to southeast, traversing most of central and western North America. On both sides of the fifth longest river in North America, there are many water systems extending out, which support hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of grassland, millions of bison and deer, and hundreds of hunting tribes, large and small. .

In the mouths of the tribes of the farthest reaches of Coahuíque, it is the mother-like "River Bravo". At the mouth of the Kongqiao tribes slightly downstream, it is also the "Kongqiao River" where tribes were born. The 2,000-kilometer long river downstream of this river was the natural border that separated the United States and Mexico in later generations.

The most famous thing on this "borderline" of later generations is the endless black gold, the amazing reserves of industrial blood, and the shallow oil and natural gas! Of course, in this day and age, so-called “shallow” oil is also hundreds of meters deep and inaccessible in the pre-industrial world. However, geological sedimentary areas rich in oil will naturally not be short of coal. In fact, giant coal mines with tens of billions of tons are piled up in the open air or in shallow layers on both sides of the downstream of the Rio Grande River system, waiting for the day they are discovered and excavated...

When the Red Crow tribe swept across both sides of the river and gathered an unprecedented safari tribe alliance of astonishing scale, the two most serious issues on the northern continent were placed in front of the chiefs of the tribal alliance: fuel and food!

Without fuel, the tens of thousands of tribes gathered together would not be able to survive the terrible cold wave, and their population would probably be halved in one winter. And if there is no food, the 80,000 to 90,000 hunting tribes will not only be reduced in large numbers, but they will also be unable to gather on a small piece of land. They will have to disperse into small tribes of thousands, thousands, or even hundreds of people, and then disperse to both sides of the river. everywhere!

"Ancestors in the sky! Without fuel and food, no matter how much tribal population Alan conquered and gathered, they would all be dispersed in a terrible cold wave... In this vast and endless northern continent, there is no shortage of people who dare to fight, kill, and are not afraid. The hunting tribes who died in the battle... What they really lacked was the chance to survive in the cold wave, and something to fill their stomachs and warm their bodies!... And as long as there was food to eat and something to make a fire, the reputation of the tribe spread. Just keep recruiting people..."

Red Crow City by the Warrior Lake is getting bigger and bigger, with more wooden buildings, and it is gradually showing a bit of a city-state atmosphere. In the center of the entire settlement, which was like a large tribal camp, there was a chief's wooden house that was not that tall. Guarding the door was a row of rather strict chief's personal guards holding spears and wearing leather armor. Among these personal guards, half have the appearance of the canine descendants of the wilderness, and the other half have the faces of various grassland tribes. There are four or five others who look like Prepechas or even Huastecs...

In the chief's wooden house, the old chief Amosi and several of his cronies were sitting cross-legged by the fire pit, holding clay pots in their hands, and eating something together. If you look closely, you can see that several of them are wearing bison leather armor, with copper axes on their waists, and black bear or coyote skins on their buttocks. As for the four walls of the wooden house, there are everyone's bows and arrows and bronze spears, as well as bears, wolves, and human skulls as trophies.

"Ancestor! Alan is too capable of fighting, and too impatient! She gathered so many miserable northern tribes, and even selected warriors to form an elite hundred-man team... How can she support herself? Hey!... "

Amosi sighed heavily after hearing the news brought back by Alan's messenger from eight hundred miles away from the north. Under the light of the campfire, there were a few more wrinkles on his face. Although he was only about forty years old, he looked as old as fifty or sixty years old.

"Hmm... cassava, fish and bean porridge, Ah Caojian, you can drink porridge at the door! I'll call you if anything happens."

"Yes! Old Chief!..."

Ah Caojian lay on the ground respectfully, kowtowed, and then carefully carried the precious can of cassava porridge to the door of the wooden house. He is a warrior from the Bossaros tribe. After being defeated by Alan a few years ago, he was accepted as a personal guard. His name was also changed from "Caojian" to "Acaojian", which represented the change in clan affiliation. And like him, there are currently forty or fifty Alan warriors who come from the conquered tribes. After completely conquering the tribes of Koahuik this time, the number of personal guards is expected to double...

"Hmm...the tribes of Koahuik, the Bravo River, vast pastures, and countless herds of bison...it sounds like a good place with rich water and soil! I just don't know if it can be cultivated around that big river to support the tribes of cassava?…”

Amosi pondered, took a sip of hot cassava porridge, and looked at his personal guard Asu inquiringly. Cassava porridge is very filling, and you can add a variety of miscellaneous wild vegetables, meat and insects. One meal can last half a day. During the first harvest, the yield of this strange crop shocked Amoxi, who was used to poverty in the wilderness, and his jaw dropped in disbelief!

In the good land around Warrior Lake, one acre of cassava yields almost as much as four acres of corn fields planted by Huastec serfs! Amosi even had a strong impulse to change the tribe's red crow flag to a red cassava flag, but was stopped by the angry old priest Zuma...

"Boss, on the island of Cuba, the yield of cassava can be five to six hundred kilograms per acre... But in the current area of ​​Warrior Lake, the yield is less than five hundred kilograms. As for Flint Lake, which is four hundred miles further north, the yield is less than five hundred kilograms. It’s dozens of pounds less than here…”

"As a crop, the yield of cassava obviously decreases as you go north, and fertile land with sufficient water is required. And the Bison Lake where Chief Alan is located is four hundred miles further north than Flint Lake... I estimate that as long as there is no cold wave, , cassava can still be grown, but the yield may be no more than 300 to 400 kilograms?…”

The personal guard Asu blinked his eyes plainly, thought about it carefully for a while with his fingers, and gave an uncertain number.

Azu was originally a Prepecha sailor who accompanied Chihuaco to explore Cuba. On his way back, he was cut off by the Totonac people. He was injured when he escaped from the encirclement and fled to the Red Crow Coast. He was forcibly kept by the Red Crow tribe. As for the two or three Prepecha sailors who stayed here like him, they are all getting married and having children here, and they have become Amosi's valued confidants. In fact, his name "Asu" was given to him by Amosi himself, which means "a guard who belongs to the same clan as the chief and is good at growing cassava"!

"Well, the further north you go, the colder the weather becomes, and the less cassava production you get... Three to four hundred kilograms is pretty good!"

Amosi nodded slightly, with a delighted smile on his face. He patted Asu on the shoulder hard, with that kind of closeness from the heart, just like patting a close nephew!

"Ancestor, it's like a dream! Before you brought the cassava, the Huastec serfs' mixed corn, pumpkin and bean fields could yield about 70 kilograms of corn, beans, and less than 200 kilograms of pumpkins per acre... But the wasteland tribe did not I know how to farm, but the fields I cultivate can only yield forty or fifty kilograms of corn, beans, and a hundred or so kilograms of pumpkins..."

"Pumpkin isn't very hungry. Everyone is grumbling with hunger, and they don't have the strength to have babies. Every year, two to three thousand serfs and thousands of tribal elders and weaklings have to starve to death...and then in the summer, they go south to catch Dingkou..."

"But after cassava is brought, everything is hopeful! This crop, which can poison people and is as small as a small tree, can actually produce one acre of land as much as the previous four acres! ... It is really a blessing from our ancestors! The more cassava is planted, the more it can be grown. The more food there is, the more hungry you will be... As long as there is enough food, the Huastec serfs will not have to starve to death, the elders of the tribe will be able to survive, and everyone will be able to give birth to babies... It seems that a good life with enough food is really coming. Coming!…”

When he heard that he could eat enough and no one would starve to death, his personal guard Asu also smiled happily. He rubbed his face vigorously and smiled wistfully.

"Boss, we have been expanding our planting for more than three years. Currently, there are about 3,000 acres of cassava fields by Warrior Lake... But there are at least tens of thousands acres of fertile land around the lake... We will divide the stalks this spring. Expand planting, and strive to plant 20,000 acres at a time! Only when this expansion is completed, our powerful Red Crow tribe can truly have enough to eat!..."

"Ancestor, 20,000 acres?!...Okay! How good!...Huh! All the land will be cultivated this year, and the warriors of the tribe will no longer go south to plunder! The Huastec people in the Tampen River area are moving south one after another. , joining the Silver Crow Tribe Alliance in the south is getting farther and farther away, and it’s getting more and more difficult to grab..."

"Ha, why not give up the Otter City that the Mexica people have been asking for! As a trading city-state between our Red Crow Tribe, the Aztec Qingqiu Tribe and the Huastec Silver Crow Alliance, we can exchange for some pottery and tools that the tribes need. And weapons...well, cassava is much easier to grow than corn. Even a clumsy wasteland warrior can still get busy!..."

Amosi grinned, thinking about the tribal plan for next year, and the wrinkles on his face loosened a lot. Indeed, compared with high-yield wheat and corn, the biggest feature of cassava is not its high yield, but its low requirements for farming technology and field management!

Cassava's stems, leaves, leaves and roots are highly toxic and are naturally resistant to diseases, insect pests and bird damage. The edible roots are buried underground and can withstand common coastal hurricanes and floods. And its field competitiveness is better than many weeds. As long as the seedlings are planted, they can survive...

In fact, cassava is easy to grow and highly productive, making it the agricultural light of tropical tribes! When cassava was introduced to tropical Africa in the 16th century, it quickly triggered a surge in the population of tropical Africa, and also provided a continuous and inexhaustible supply of captives for the triangular trade that followed...

"Huh! Before the old clan leader Kakaro died, he said that the hope of the clan lies in the east. He was really right!..."

Amosi thought about it for a long time, turned around, and looked at his equally old confidant Moqi with a smile. The two of them walked all the way from the most difficult wilderness, recalling the bloody storms of the past ten years and the hard-won peaceful days, they both smiled with emotion.

"Mozzi, the experience of more than ten years is like a strong wind from the divine sky, blowing the cardinal into a flying eagle, and then blowing the flying eagle into a big tree... It is really unimaginable in my dreams!..."

"Ah? Amo, what are you talking about?..."

"Ha! I mean, at the beginning, our Red Crow tribe only had two or three thousand people. We could move around the wilderness like the Red Crows... But when Chief Chichika died in the battle, the Red Crow tribe took the When more than 10,000 Guaquili people moved eastward, they were like red crows turning into flying eagles, crossing the vast wilderness mountains and arriving at this warm swamp grassland and seaside... As for now, there are more than 100,000, Even the Red Crow Alliance of 200,000 people has transformed from a soaring eagle into a stable tree, firmly occupying this warm fertile land by the water, and can no longer move around unscrupulously... This That’s why I want to change the tribe’s totem from the red crow to the cassava… We can’t fly anymore!…”

Speaking of this, Amosi looked emotional, shook his head slightly, and his eyes were very complicated. The pressure of tribal expansion and population explosion weighed heavily on the shoulders of this middle-aged chief, making him older but also wiser.

"Mo Qi, thank you for your hard work, please go to the north! This girl Alan is very capable, has a big temper, and has greater ambitions. She is like a flying eagle in her heart, staring at the vast sky all the time. If she doesn't pay attention, she will She flew too far!...But, she flew too far, but no matter whether her wings could hold up or not, someone had to call her back..."

"There are not many old people in the tribe who can call her back now! You have watched her grow up, and you are considered her uncle. Go to the north and call her back! ...There are so many safari Koavek The tribe needs such a vast hunting ground to survive. But regardless of her, she gathered them all into her hands... At present, she relies on seizures and stored grains. Although she can still feed her, she will definitely not be able to feed her next year!... She can't, still be here. They eat people just like they do in the wilderness, right? So what’s the use of gathering here?…”

"Well, ancestors! Move as many Koaweik tribes as possible southward, place some by the Flint Lake, and another group by the Warrior Lake... Then let the old people who know how to farm take them with them, and let them all farm for me!... Whether it’s cassava, corn, beans or pumpkins, farming is always much better than hunting!… But we must hurry up and not miss the time for spring plowing…”

"Hey! Calculate carefully, there are so many tribes to feed! We still have to save a lot of food and firewood in advance... Otherwise, the ordinary small cold wave can barely withstand it. When the big cold wave that really destroys everything comes... the old and the weak will have to be abandoned. Abandoning their homes, more than 100,000 famine-stricken people went south to seek survival... We have experienced that kind of tragic southward journey once in our lives, and that was enough... I really don’t want to have to do it a second time!..."

"Amo, I understand! Stop talking about it... I will leave after eating and bring the girl and the tribe back!"

The elder confidant Mo Qi nodded solemnly, finished the last remaining porridge in the clay pot, turned it around with his fingers, swung his fingers, and then stood up suddenly. He carried a big bow on his back and a short spear in his hand. Before leaving the tent, he turned his head, looked at the old man who was still chattering, and said with a smile.

"In the past few years, you have become more and more nagging, as if you are possessed by the soul of the old clan leader Kakaro! ... Don't worry too much, the life of the Red Crow tribe will get better and better! ... As for the If there is a natural disaster and there is no other way, just grab your bows and spears and go south to grab them!..."

"We have been fighting from east to west and south to north for so many years. Except for the Mexica Legion, no tribe has ever been able to stop us! ... And the Mexica are fighting in the mountains in the south. They can't attack any tribal alliance in the clouds. On our side... As for the Silver Crow Alliance of the Huastec people, although they are a little far away, they can't stop them if they really want to go south and attack them!..."

"Amo, when you become the chief, your heart becomes softer!...Chief Chichika back then was not like you...dead people? What are dead people? All tribes in the wilderness and grasslands are used to seeing dead people. ...Okay! I won’t mutter about it anymore. You continue to eat, and don’t hit me with the clay pot. If it breaks my heart, you will still be the one who feels bad..."

His close friend Mo Qi smiled and shook his head, opened the door of the leather tent and walked out of the warm wooden house. In the cold wind, the densely packed tribal huts spread out in circles, and many of them emitted the fragrance of grain smoke. By the Warrior Lake in the south, the endless cassava fields are swaying with branches and leaves that are not too short. And those cassava roots buried underground are like the hope hidden in the fertile soil, the spring full of vitality!

"The ancestors buried in the wasteland! Have you seen it?...The warm spring by the sea, the spring of the Red Crow tribe, has arrived!..."