Aztec Eternals

The golden sun rises to the center of the sky, blooming the most dazzling light. The original sun has returned to its place in the sacrifice, and the next step is the blessing of the sun god.

Sunlight fell from the zenith of the Temple of Mars, and the four-meter-high pure gold sculpture of Vitzilopochtelli shone brilliantly. Around His neck is a necklace of hundreds of turquoise and topaz intertwined, sparkling and shining. In His right hand is a nearly three-meter-long silver spear with a brilliant sapphire at the tip, symbolizing the power of lightning. His left hand is a two-meter-diameter silver shield inlaid with mother-of-pearl, rubies, and quetzal bird feathers.

Witnessed by the God of War, the Sun God and the Patronus, Avet was wearing a bright red blood-colored Sun King suit with a tall king's flag on his back. With a feathered shield on his left arm and empty hands, he stood majestically in front of the Temple of War God.

In front of him was the high priest Kechar, who was also dressed as a god, with a solemn expression. Kechar raised the topaz inheritance scepter with both hands, and announced loudly to the sky.

"In the name of Vitzilopochtli, God of War, God of the Sun, and Patronus, a new sun has risen! Grandson of the great Montezuma I, Behemoth of Lake Texcoco, Avitso the Great in War Terr is enthroned as the new Tratoani! The sun of Mexica will shine on his people again, and lead the brave and fearless Mexica people to carry out the will of the patron saint, to defeat the evil darkness, and to conquer this world. world!"

On the Great Temple, Kechar's chant was high-pitched and passionate, and then hundreds of priests repeated it loudly, and the gorgeous chant broke the world in an instant! At this moment, all the ceremonies in the temple area had stopped, the Mexica nobles and warriors stood together, and the foreign merchants and envoys looked pale. The world is solemn and solemn, only the announcement of the gods.

Next, Avitt got down on one knee and held his hands high. Kechar solemnly handed over the Scepter of Inheritance to him. This symbolizes that the gods gave the king authority to rule the world of the Mexica.

Avet immediately stood up, raised the scepter with his right hand, and the topaz shone brilliantly in the sun. Kechar knelt down on his knees and prostrated himself on the ground. This is the priest's allegiance to the king and following the king's will!

The chief priests also fell to the ground, followed by the feather crown priests at all levels, and then the nobles at all levels, the cotton armor warriors at all levels, foreign merchants and envoys, and the slaves in the temple area.

The priest who conveyed the order ran all the way from the temple area, shouting all the way: "The king is on the throne, everyone salutes!" The priests along the way heard the sound and also shouted and passed it on to the shore of Texcoco Lake.

In Shulot's eyes, following the continuous shouts, the crowd fell to the ground in an instant, like waves spreading from the center. The residents of the entire city stopped their movements one by one, knelt down to the position of the Great Temple, and prostrated themselves in the dirt in front of them.

"Congratulations to the king!" Kechar intoned again.

"Congratulations to the king!" Layers of voices rose and fell, and the shouts of hundreds of thousands of people scattered the clouds in the sky. From the golden idol, to the blue lake, to the distant sky!

Seeing this scene of thousands of people prostrating, Avet's face quickly burst into a radiant look, with a red light all over his face. He stared at the capital under his feet for a moment, and couldn't help but open his arms to embrace his own country.

"In the past, there was Cheng Tang. Since then, Di Qiang, no one dared not come to enjoy it, no one dared not come to the king. It is said that business is common." Xiu Luote sighed in his heart. In the past, Cheng Tang ruled the world and gathered all the tribes in the Central Plains. scene.

The salute lasted for a full quarter of an hour before King Avit lifted the chief priest up. Then, the priests brought a huge brazier and placed it in front of the Temple of War God. A priest who had already arranged came galloping, holding a torch high in his hand. This is the holy fire passed all the way from the peak of the holy mountain of Estella, running all the way from the early morning until noon.

"Light the sacred fire and salute the sun god!" Kechar sang.

King Avet took the torch solemnly and lit the brazier in front of him. The faint blue fire flared up instantly, and the acrid smoke quickly drifted away. The nobles and warriors under the great temple exclaimed again. After a while, the flame gradually dimmed and turned to a normal bright yellow.

This is a new link added by the chief priests after witnessing the rituals of the Tarascos. Put a certain amount of sulfur in the brazier to adjust the color, and add liquid oil to support the combustion.

Seeing the people's awe-inspiring performance, Kechar nodded slightly, and the effect was indeed good.

"Cut off the flesh and salute the god of war!" Kechar continued to chant.

Ugel held an ancient obsidian dagger in both hands. Avet took the dagger, bared his left arm, and the blade slowly penetrated into the flesh. He secretly gritted his teeth, carefully controlled the depth of the dagger, and then slowly cut down. In just a few seconds, bead-sized beads of sweat flowed down. Tens of seconds later, a large piece of flesh was cut off and thrown into the fire. Avit threw away the dagger, and once again raised his scepter in salute.

There was joy all over the Great Temple, nobles and warriors praised the king's courage and determination! In the martial Mexica society, the king had to be a true warrior. For two hundred years, every Mexica king sacrificed himself during his coronation ceremony. The more you don't change your face, the more you don't fear the pain, the more you will be respected by the warriors!

The priest next to him hurried forward and wrapped the wound tightly with a cotton cloth soaked in medicinal juice. The white cotton was instantly dyed bright red.

Avit clenched his teeth, unable to speak at all due to the pain. The chief priest once suggested to drink specially made holy water before the ceremony, but he flatly refused, and now he regrets it.

"Release the hummingbirds and pay homage to the patron saint!" Seeing the king's performance, Kechar looked serious and smiled in his heart. The days are long, and there will always be a chance for the king to drink holy water. And holy water is the best weapon to control the king.

This is the final step. The priests and elders delivered a red hummingbird to the king. Avit stretched out his right hand and let it go. The hummingbird drew a red lightning bolt, flying from the blood-colored great temple to the golden sun. From death to the sun, this is what the Mexica believe in.

Once again the nobles and warriors cheered and saluted. The sacred steps have been completed, and with the approval of the Lord God, King Avit has officially ascended the throne!

After the crowd cheered, the envoys of each state went forward one by one to present the tribute of their own state. The enthronement ceremony this time was a little rushed, and a large number of tributes were being collected or transported to the capital. The messengers only made symbolic gifts to the Great Temple.

The Aztec Empire is an alliance of city-states with three capital cities as the core, similar to the administrative organization of the Yin and Shang Dynasties in China, and also in line with the "five clothes" theory of the Celestial Dynasty.

"The system of the husband before the king: the Dian of the state is served, and the marquis of the state is served." The entire alliance can also be simply divided into: Wang Ji, the state and the state.

The Texcoco Lake District of the three capital cities is Wangji, and the other seven states of Mexica are within the state. Further outside, the subjugated Vastecs, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs are foreigners. The neighboring Tarascos, Tlaxcalans, and Otomis are neighbors.

"One hundred li is paid for the total, two hundred li is paid for grain, three hundred li is paid for straw, four hundred li is for millet, and five hundred li is for rice."

Similar to China's "five servers" era, in the Stone Age with low productivity and no large livestock, long-distance transportation was extremely difficult. The alliance's collection of tribute had to change with the distance, and at the same time, it was biased according to the property of the city-state.

Following the loud announcement of the chief priest, dozens of city lords from the states of Mexico stepped forward one by one, with respectful expressions. Because of the short distance, the tributes in the state are generally more in quantity and the unit price is lower, and they are more inclined to ordinary warriors and military nobles.

The plain city-states provided a large amount of food. Includes corn, beans, squash, herbs, bell peppers, and cocoa. There are also various meats such as deer, turkey, rabbit, dog, duck, quail, honey, as well as river prawns and ant eggs.

Forest City provides a wide variety of wood. There are sandalwood and rosin for burning, charcoal for heating, and planks for building. Shulot paid attention to the hard sandalwood, ironwood, and oak mentioned by the messengers. These are very good bow materials and can be used to make high-quality longbows.

Mountain city-states offer a variety of stones. Obsidian for stone tools, granite and volcanic rock for construction, and lime for engineering. Along with the stone, there are cheap tin ore, daily mineral salt, and high-quality clay.

All city-states will provide, is a variety of cotton blankets. The size ranges from one meter to several meters, magnificent and different styles. The edges of the blanket are decorated with various silk threads and feathers, and the blankets are carved with pictures that conform to the Mexica aesthetic.

Shulot observed carefully, and the skulls that symbolized death appeared the most, followed by brave eagles and jaguars, then the great sun, and the long snake that symbolized Feathered Serpent.

A layer of duck down is densely sewn on the blanket dedicated to the king by the city-state by the river, making it extra soft and comfortable. Avit touched his hand, then nodded in satisfaction. He wants to take it back and leave it to his lovely daughter.

The northern city-states inherited the craftsmanship of the Toltecs. They can weave all kinds of exquisite and gorgeous clothing. Usually, the front of the dress will be strung with bright feathers, the back will be embroidered with delicate flowers, and the shoulders and hem will be inlaid with grainy gold, silver and precious stones. These costumes will eventually be rewarded to the wives and concubines of the king and nobles.

Avet deliberately kept a few small women's dresses.

The southern city-state is close to the rainforest, and has paid tribute to a large number of novel fruits. These include pineapples, bananas, cherimoya, sapodilla, guava, avocado, and prunes. Along with the fruits come beautiful flowers of all kinds, especially rooted roses. Some of them are colorful, some are bright red, and some are as white as snow, with rich and elegant fragrance.

Avit also nodded and accepted. He wants to open an additional rose garden in the Montezuma Palace to facilitate Alyssa's visit.

The frontier city-states focused more on the production of military equipment, and their tributes were all kinds of cotton armor, shields and spears. The cotton armor will be pressed in several layers, compact and thick, inlaid with hard crocodile skin on the front, and decorated with feathers on the back. Shields are mostly woven wooden strips, or more difficult to handle rattan. Skinned wooden shields are more expensive. The sagging of the shield will be glued with feathers of various colors. Throwing spears are often made of wood, with their pointed ends roasted over charcoal fire. Advanced throwing spears will be equipped with sharp stone blades.

From these tribute equipment, Xiulot can judge the degree of arming of the border city-states of the empire: it is slightly worse than the warriors directly under the capital, but obviously stronger than the inland city-states. The materials they use to make their weapons are very flexible.

The chief priest Kechar announced again that the foreign envoys would present tribute in order of their relationship.

The Vastec are the most loyal vassals of the Empire. They love music, art and dance, and are not good at war. Because they settle in the tropical warm plains, they have the habit of being naked. The Vastecs paid tribute to a hundred young girls who were good at singing and dancing. The girls wore simple costumes that made people blush, with seductive shell ornaments hanging from their bodies, walking with the rhythm and rhythm of music.

Mixtecs are somewhere between loyalty and disloyalty. They are the people of the clouds, skilled in fine gold and silver ornaments, and are the best precious metal craftsmen. The Mixtec tributes were crowns of pure gold, earrings of pure silver, gilt stone tools, and necklaces of gold and silver inlaid with turquoise.

The Zapotecs are the most distant and the least loyal. They also claim to be elves in the clouds, but they are influenced by Mayan culture and use characters similar to the Mayans. The Zapotecs contributed tons of ground-up carmine from the cochineal insect, or annatto tree. They also brought tropical flowers.

It was the turn of the neighbors to make the final announcement. Their gifts are called congratulatory gifts and proclaimed tribute gifts.

Cholula is the holy city of the Nahuatl religion and has a special status, so it ranks at the top. Their envoys also represent the Tlaxcalans who are unwilling to bow their heads to send envoys. The gift from the city-state of Cholula was an exquisite jade sculpture of the god of war, as well as bows and arrows of the Tlaxcalans, wrapped with silk threads to create exquisite patterns.

Mexica, the envoy of the Tarascos, was out of place. He held his head high, half-threateningly offering a sharp bronze battle-axe, a solid bronze helmet, and even a solid bronze armor. Avet weighed the weight of the bronze armor with both hands, and then smiled. This kind of armor technology is still immature, too heavy, and cannot be used in large-scale wars.

The Totonaks fused part of the Toltecs and inherited the ruins of the Olmec civilization. Their attire is quite simple, wearing solid-colored robes. The gift of the Totonak people is an Olmec mask hundreds of years ago, as well as beautiful shells, conch, coral and bags of pearls by the sea.

Avit carefully stroked the mask of the ancient civilization, and then handed it to the priest for safekeeping. Such treasures could link the Mexica to ancient civilizations and increase the legitimacy of the alliance's conquest.

Then came the messengers of the Otomi, from the city of Ottopan, where the treaty was made. Although the city of Xilotepec is still under siege, this does not prevent the city of Ottopan from carefully maintaining its connection with the empire. As for the Otomi nobles who sacrificed today, the sacred sacrifice ceremony is a compliment to the noble blood, which is not insulting in the eyes of the Nahuatl tribes in Mexico.

The gifts of the Otomi people are much simpler, just some blankets woven with agave threads, and some novel animals, such as northern eagles, kestrels, eagles, crows, wild cats, snakes, and even centipedes and scorpion. If the Otomi could make their way across the Gobi where the Chichimeks roamed, they could capture another tribute that the Alliance desperately needed: the bison.

Finally, there are Mayan merchants. As always, they brought tobacco, spices, shells, and oriental plants and flowers. Xiulot vaguely saw a familiar figure, but he couldn't be too sure. After all, the Maya's slender heads, cockfighting eyes, and strange facial ornaments seriously affected the recognition of their appearance.

These are the "Five Services" of the Mexica City-State Alliance. As for other city-state powers, they are either too fragmented and can only offer some bright feathers, or they are too far away to arrive in time.

The tribute ceremony finally came to the end. Avit held up his scepter and greeted all the city-state envoys. The envoys also respectfully knelt on one knee to return the salute. In the slightly westward slanting sun, he stepped down from the high platform of the Great Temple, and the king's banner was shining brightly in the sun. Behind him, the family warriors in full armor followed closely.

The samurai's tour of the city is over, and the next step is the mighty tour of the new king. Let all the people of the capital have the opportunity to pay tribute to the great king.

On the great temple, the common name of the sacrifice sounded again, but it was replaced by Ugel's voice. The chief priests once again opened the way to the Sun God Kingdom, and sent the blue sacrifices home one by one.

In the chief palace, the elder watched the enthronement ceremony calmly. He finally turned his head and looked at Shulot calmly.

"My child, are you ready?"

Behind the elder, the captain of the guard who looked like a statue watched silently. He clenched the clay pot in his arms with his left hand, and held down the sharp copper ax with his right hand.

Roll around for support!