Aztec Eternals

"Huh?. This is"

Hearing Jadiri's serious words, Shulot took two steps forward and looked at the second stone slab.

The picture on the slate is simple and clear, and at a glance, there is a large black cloud in the sky. The black clouds stretch out countless black lines, falling like endless heavy rain. Where the heavy rain falls, it is full of boundless wavy lines, like a vast lake. There are some small islands protruding from the lines, and in the middle, people paddling canoes. Among the crowd are small figures in nobles, warriors, and commoners. They were holding up a gorgeously dressed adult, and they threw him into the lake together!

The young king watched carefully for a moment. Many graphic symbols are depicted around the picture, including sun, cloud, water, earth, corn, sacrifice, death and destruction. And this picture itself always brought him a familiar feeling and reminded him a lot. he asked groaningly.

"This is... a great flood? Sacrifice?"

Jatiri nodded with a smile.

"Exactly! Your Highness may wish to guess, who is this sacrifice?"

"The dress is gorgeous, and the picture is an adult. It must be a prominent god-born nobleman."

"Haha, that's right. It's the land in the lake, the prince of the post Urihiu kingdom!"

"What! The prince of the last kingdom in the lake?"

Shulot looked surprised. Sacred sacrifices sometimes use god-born nobles as sacrifices, but the source of the sacrifices is often a prisoner of war or a rebellious vassal. If the prince of the kingdom is chosen as a sacrifice, it can only prove one thing. He looks to the wise elder.

"The king of the post-Urihiu Kingdom lost control of the country? This is a harbinger of demise!"

"Your Highness is wise!"

Jatiri smiled and praised. Then, with a solemn expression, he explained seriously.

"This is what happened two hundred years ago. It can be seen as the end of the fourth era and the beginning of the fifth era. According to the epic records, at the end of the fourth era, there was a heavy rain that lasted 99 days! The torrential rain came from the sky It falls and then gathers from the high mountains on all sides. At the highest water level, Lake Patzcuaro rose by nearly ten people's height, Lake Queteo by six people's height, and the lower Lake Chapala even rose by More than a dozen people are tall!"

"The water level has risen by the height of ten people! The lake will directly submerge Qin Congcan's city!"

Hearing this, Xiulot was shocked. Even in this era, the average height of people is relatively low, and the height of ten people is about 15 meters. There are no dams around Lake Patzcuaro, and if the water level rises by 15 meters, the area of ​​the Great Lake will expand several times!

"Exactly! At that time, Chin Cong Can City was not the center of the Kingdom of the Lake. The center of the Kingdom of Late Urihiu was on the west bank of Lake Patzcuaro, near the Takuro Plain. It was a resting place, where the birds came from Where the sky falls."

The knowledgeable elder looked at His Highness and smiled meaningfully.

"Your Highness, you fought against Chapala's Feather Prince there. It is now a rich village and farmland, and before it was a lush meadow with puddles. And earlier, under the mud brought by those floods, in fact The ruins of the ancient kingdom are being buried. The biggest threat to the lake area, and the most important reason for the demise of the ancient kingdom, is the flood!"

"Two hundred years ago, a great flood swept the land in the lake! The water level of the lakes in the lake area rose, and even connected together to form a vast lake. The higher hills and peaks have become islands of different sizes; the terrain The lower valleys and basins became part of the Great Lake. And when the fertile lakeside farmlands and rich lowland villages are submerged together by the lake, the turmoil in the kingdom of the lake can no longer be suppressed!"

"The rising water level slowly submerged the densely populated lakeside communities, and also forced the people in the lowlands to migrate. These places were once the essence of the lake kingdom, with the largest population! The powerful nobles lost their fiefs, and many The samurai and commoners lost their farmland. In a rare unity, they marched together to the untouched highlands."

"However, these lands already had owners. Irreconcilable conflicts quickly arose, and then turned into wars! The nobles of the lowlands and highlands fought desperately for the land to survive. The raging floods hindered the kingdom's traffic, and also The movement of the army was cut off. Under the impact of the flood, the king lost the power to rule the overall situation! Even he himself was forced to migrate with the royal family in the capital."

"Then, the sudden reduction of farmland and the downpour of rain made the grain harvest of that year almost impossible! Where the heavy rain gathered, the impermeable barn would also be flooded, causing the stored grain to quickly become moldy. The famine almost followed. Finally, it came with the footsteps of the flood, and lasted longer than the flood!"

"The next few years were a complete chaos. The original order of superiority and inferiority collapsed, and everything was respected by force. In order to compete for the highland islands, the nobles fought each other, and the blood soaked the Great Lake! In order to compete for food for survival, warriors and militiamen They also killed each other. They plundered the villages, attacked the nobles' fiefs, and even executed the nobles to plunder the manors with savings!"

"Soon, the king's sacred authority was also challenged. The highland nobles with real power questioned it publicly, claiming that the king offended the gods, which led to the disaster! With the help of caring people, such rumors spread rapidly and quickly aroused The dissatisfaction of the people in the flood. The priests also split each other, they made voices that were not conducive to the king, and gradually fell to the powerful nobles everywhere."

"Later, King Urihio was forced to sacrifice his prince in Lake Patzcuaro to temporarily appease the anger of the nobles and warriors. However, when the king lost his heart and strength, such a move would only become more apparent. His weakness. Within a few years, the king was poisoned to death by the nobles. Even though the flood had receded by then and the lowland land could be cultivated again, the collapsed order of the kingdom was gone forever!"

With just a few words, Jatiri vividly described the decline and fall of the previous kingdom in front of the young king. Shulot couldn't help but walk to the window. He was lost in thought as he watched the monsoon rains fall on Lake Patzcuaro and the submerged fertile soil around the lake.

"Heavy rain brings floods, the floods converge, the lake rises, and floods the basin and valley. Water control projects are needed. Similar basin terrains, such as the Dujiangyan in Sichuan and Sichuan, and the embankment of Lake Texcoco."

Xiulot whispered to himself, once again raising the importance of water conservancy projects in his heart.

The life of the classical kingdom was the water system, the agricultural area along the rivers and lakes. Especially in Central America where the precipitation is concentrated, the amount of precipitation is uncertain, and the rain and heat are at the same time, several droughts or floods are enough to destroy a civilization. He recalled what the Mayan merchant Ticaro told him. The end of the Mayan golden age hundreds of years ago and the destruction of the god capital Tikal were inseparable from the frequent droughts and floods in the Fourth Era.

The young king thought for a moment before raising his head again. He had a vague guess in his heart, but he still asked.

"Two hundred years ago, the great flood disintegrated the order of the post-Urihiu kingdom. Then what is the ending of the kingdom in the lake?"

With a smile in his eyes, Jadiri looked at the calm Shulot.

"Your Highness, you must already know. Just look here!"

The knowledgeable elder took two steps forward, stretched out his hand again, and pressed on the third stone slab.

The third slab is a huge realistic picture. The majestic condor soars in the middle of the sky, and the majestic sun rises from the east. Accompanied by the sun, the condor looks down on the vast land together. On the ground, a group of people came from the northwest along the river, and the leader wore a divine crown with eagle wings, which looked extraordinarily tall and eye-catching. On both sides of their road, there are nobles, warriors and commoners from the lake area who hold tribute and welcome them. Together they settled by the lake, built houses in the town, built a huge city of bluestone, and built a towering Yaka Tower!

Shulot took a closer look. The brushstrokes of this painting are old and stale, yet with a kind of vibrant vitality. Around the screen, there are various patterns such as condor, hummingbird, crocodile, feather, turkey, and cocoa. These familiar patterns also appeared on the enemy's flags on the battlefield of the Western Expedition! As for the content of this picture.

The young king spoke in a deep voice.

"The original murals in the main hall of the Palace of Winds?"

"Exactly! Your Highness, the unpredictable and terrible climate also forced the northerners to move south. The chichimek descendants who moved south came from the northwest and conquered the chaotic and divided Urihiu Kingdom along the way. Their number Although they are few, they are brave and good at fighting, and they are unstoppable! The old nobles have already suffered heavy losses in the civil strife. They were either wiped out ruthlessly or surrendered to the ground. The warriors and civilians were also tired of the long-term war and longed for a unified order. The strongest surrender."

"The Condor's Legion came all the way east with unstoppable force! They recruited and accepted rebels, they entrusted the upstarts, and they became stronger and stronger. The tribe of the Condor passed through the Chapala Lake District and the Takuro Plain until Under the city of Qin Congcan!"

Jadiri's voice has a chanting tone and even more emotional ups and downs.

"There is no doubt about the final ending, but the road to the ending is worth exploring. The new Kingdom of Tarasco was established on the fertile soil of the Land of the Lake! The chichimek descendants who migrated south brought the aggressiveness of the northern plateau With vitality, the capital is located in the southeast of Patzcuaro Lake, a safe highland in the flood, Qincongcan City.

Drawing on the experience of the destruction of the previous kingdoms, the kings of Tarasco have adopted a series of brand new methods! They concentrated the power of the king and built new strongholds directly under them; they managed the nobles of the kingdom and governed the land they occupied; they sought the majesty of the gods and controlled the power of the priests; The Prepecha people! "

Having said that, the elder Bo Zhi bowed his head and saluted solemnly.

"Your Highness, let me explain to you in detail! In the past one or two hundred years, these strategies have worked well and have been verified one by one, and they will definitely benefit your future governance!"

Note: Most of these chapters on the inheritance slate are referenced from the book "Political Strategies in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica", especially the chapter "Ruling “Purépecha Chichimeca” in a Tarascan World”. The other part comes from foreign language links in Wikipedia. ^_^