Chapter 1281 Lake Purépecha, the Most Prosperous Place in the World

A team of Kingdom warriors wearing leather armors were running on the county road in the capital. The leader had feathers on his back and a letter on his belt. He was the messenger from the cloud.

Behind the messenger was the endless Milpa farmland. In the fields, there were corn stalks two palms high, bean stems as thin as fingernails, and pumpkin leaves half the size of a palm. The new sprouts had just grown, and the rainy season had arrived. It only needed to be watered once a day in the evening. It was morning at this time, and tens of thousands of villagers and serfs were busy in the fields. They hoeed the weeds that kept sprouting, watered the rotten manure in the village, and even carefully and piously buried the finely ground "stone fertilizer".

"The Lord God bless! May there be no insects and no harm, no floods and no disasters! May the pumpkins grow wildly and the corn harvest be abundant!..."

The villagers' prayers were heard in the prosperous lake. Hundreds of canoes and catamarans shuttled across the lake, carrying goods from the countryside and tools produced in the city. The two newly built dams enclosed a freshwater lake in the south, and there were patrolling samurai boats on the lake.

At present, there are already hundreds of hectares of Mexican Chinampa floating fields divided into pieces on the lake enclosed by the white dam. These floating fields are surrounded by wooden fences, and the middle is full of dense peppers, vegetables, spices, herbs, and sacred cocoa trees. Further out, more floating fields have been supported by wooden piles, and they will continue to be built after the busy farming season is over.

These high-yield Chinampas are very expensive to build and require supporting water conservancy facilities. But once they are built, there is no need to worry about droughts and floods, which greatly reduces the labor cost of irrigation. It can be harvested multiple times a year, which is the family foundation and the most important inheritance field that the royal family and nobles value most! In fact, when "stone fertilizer" and "manure fertilizer" are adequately provided, the output of these floating fields is even comparable to the most fertile upper fields in Jiangnan!

"What a rich Lake Purépecha area! The prosperity here is comparable to the Lake Texcoco area of ​​the alliance, and some places even exceed it!..."

The messenger stopped, looked around, and sighed softly. From these orderly farming arrangements, the vaguely visible iron farm tools, the gray-white guano stones that farmers cherish and use, the large and small canals and ponds connecting the river, and the Chinampa floating fields built behind the dam surrounding the lake... It can be clearly seen that this is the most prosperous place in the entire Americas with the most developed agricultural productivity, the fertile land of Lake Purépecha!

"The wide stone road appeared... The capital of Qincongcan, finally arrived!..."

The county road of three-cement soil became a stone road in the suburbs. Then, it was the ancient and rapidly developing capital of Qincongcan. This big city built on the lake has become the most prosperous political and economic center in the western part of the world. The population in the city has not only recovered to nearly 100,000 people in the heyday of Tarasco, but is even growing steadily!

The rows of expanding sheds and the market for agricultural product trade outside the capital city are witnesses to this prosperous growth...

"May the Lord bless you! This outfit, this wooden sign... is the king's messenger!..."

"Escort into the city!..."

"Let him pass!"

With the escort warriors leading the way, the messenger rushed into the capital and passed through the increasingly prosperous market in the city. Unlike the large and small open-air markets outside the city, this is a trading center for bulk goods and expensive specialties, and a large market that meets the living needs of warriors and nobles!

In the market, the continuous stone and wooden houses are wide and tall, and the nobles in gorgeous clothes shuttle with their servants, and goods from all directions gather together. Copperware, gems, and black pottery are all local specialties in the capital. Silverware, boneware and leather were brought from the northern wilderness. Feathers, fancy clothes, spices and dyes mostly came from the mountains and forests in the south. As for cotton cloth, well salt, stoneware and woodenware, they were produced in all states. However, the sacred cigarettes, which were heavily taxed and strictly restricted, could only be brought from the distant and mysterious Maya in the East.

And placed together with the sacred cigarettes were honey, cinnabar and turquoise produced in Maya. Especially the famous Maya turquoise, which was crystal clear, large and bright, was highly respected by the nobles of the kingdom!

"Tsk tsk! The turquoise shipped from Maya has really increased in the past two years, and the quality has also been getting better and better!..."

"Not bad! Marshal Bertard fought well, and General Black Wolf conquered cities and strongholds all the way...I don't know how much spoils he brought back, how many warriors were promoted to nobles, and how much fortune he made!..."

"Lord God bless you! Make way, make way!...These Maya turquoises, our Songbird Quecatol family, want them all!..."

In the surprised eyes of everyone, a young noble of the kingdom, with several tall servants carrying sacks on their backs, hurriedly pushed through the crowd and walked forward. He first pointed to the boxes of turquoise, then waved his hand. The servants with desert faces put down the sacks, untied them and poured them on the ground. The rustling gold, silver, copper and fur piled up into a small pile. Then, the young noble pointed to the red cinnabar next to him, took out two pieces of pure and transparent West Coast jade, and added.

"These cinnabars... take as much as you want! If these bags of goods are not enough, these two pieces of top-quality water jade will be left here first! When the merchant fleet to the north comes back, no matter how much you owe, I will give you 30% more!..."

"Wow! Whose family is this guy from? So arrogant..."

"Didn't he say that he is from the Songbird family?"

"Songbird family?..."

"It's the Songbird family that opened up the northern route and made a fortune!... He is Quito Hueves, and he has an elder brother, Quito the Songbird, who is the third-level priest of a new parish in the northern wilderness! In that parish, there are not only gold and copper mines, but also silver from the wilderness trade, and water jade from further north..."

"Lord God! The wealth of the northern route! If I were ten years younger, I would definitely go north with the kingdom fleet..."

Amid the discussion, another young kingdom noble came out. He was the second son of Olosh, the commander of the Jingji Army, Aobao. He looked at his familiar old friend in confusion and asked in a deep voice.

"Is it you? Little Songbird? Why did you suddenly buy so much turquoise and cinnabar? Is your father dead?..."

"Leopard, is it you?..."

Quito Hueves turned his head and was immediately surprised and happy. He took two steps forward and punched his old friend's chest with his fist. The two were about the same age. They were classmates who graduated from Shenwei University together and were also good friends with similar interests. This kind of classmate relationship also surpassed the ordinary aristocratic circle and became another unique bond within the kingdom.

"Leopard, you are right, my father is dead! My father drank cocoa yesterday, drank some fruit wine with honey, smoked a lot of sacred cigarettes, sang and danced to pray to the gods... Then this morning, he was taken away by the god of death!..."

Speaking of his father's death, Quetohuewe showed a little sadness, but not much.

One of the reasons is that his father is old and sick, and he has already made plans. He wants to find a good time this year and take the initiative to die during the sacrifice to the gods. This is also the custom of many Nahua nobles, who do not want to die on the sick bed in an ugly way. Second, when my father died, he still had a smile on his face. The priests just showed it to him and said that he had woken up in the red country and lived a good life! ...

So, the most important thing at the moment is not sadness, but to quickly prepare turquoise for the father to be buried with him and cinnabar to be dedicated to the red country according to the plateau tradition! Among them, turquoise enhances the soul, protects divinity, and can make the father's status in the kingdom of God higher. And red cinnabar is the hard currency of the red kingdom and can be used as money...

As for the slaves who serve, the kingdom strictly prohibits human sacrifice on the surface, and it is a decree issued by His Majesty himself. He can only bury a few old slaves of his father secretly at night. Anyway, in Quitohuewe's view, even if these old people are released back to the village, they can't do farm work, and no one has extra food to support them, so they won't live long. The level of social productivity always determines the baseline level of morality. Going beyond productivity to demand morality is nothing but a dream of delirium...

"Ah! The old song bird died during the sacrifice? Great! What an auspicious way to die!..."

"Not bad! It's really the blessing of the Lord God!..."

"Congratulations! Being taken to the red kingdom by the Lord God, enjoy peace and joy forever!..."

Hearing this, Aobao's face showed admiration, and the nobles around him also sincerely congratulated him, and the old ones even envied him. The Nahua tribes valued death over life and attached great importance to the omens of the gods, which was indeed similar to the Shang Dynasty.

"Little Songbird, these turquoise stones should be enough to cover the bottom of the tomb, right? Otherwise, there are caravans from the kingdom over there selling gems from the lake... There are also emeralds in it..."

"Buy more! Seeing my mother drinking and smoking, I'm afraid she is also ready to go with my father... I have to prepare a big family tomb and then offer sacrifices on the altar... But how can the emeralds in the lake compare with the turquoise of Maya? Look at the color of this jade, the luster of this rain, this is the real, legendary rainforest turquoise! ​​And those produced in our lake... are still a little worse, not good enough!"

At this point, the two lowered their voices a little, looked at each other, and understood a little. The branch of the Shenqi Institute in the suburbs of the capital always ships out batches of gems from the lake... If this happens for a long time, how can it be hidden from the local nobles and local tyrants? Everyone has heard some rumors and speculations, but only the nobles outside the capital don't know...

So, these lake gems can be used at home to show off and deceive people. But now it's about the treatment of the soul after death. It's going to be buried in the tomb. How can we fool the gods? We still have to use the best Mayan turquoise!

But strangely enough, in the past two years, the Mayan turquoise, which was originally in short supply, has become more and more, and cheaper and cheaper. I heard from merchants from afar that the turquoise was shipped back from the Totonac coast and the front line of the Eastern Expedition. It's hard to imagine that the legendary Mayan tribes are so rich that they have so much turquoise!

And these Mayan caravans selling turquoise have too much profit. Not only are they escorted by warriors from the Coastal Alliance, but they also have the background of the East China Sea Marshal's Office. It is said that most of the turquoise will be transported to the Mexica Alliance and sold to the nobles of the Alliance in exchange for supplies to support the Eastern Expedition...

"Hey! Your Majesty is not here, and the Mayan spoils of war of the kingdom are transported to the Alliance for sale!..."

"Yes! It's really a bargain for those nobles of the Alliance! They can sleep with Mayan turquoise after death!..."

"Don't worry, wait for the next batch of Mayan caravans to come, there will still be turquoise..."

The mixed discussions of the nobles in the capital became smaller and smaller as the capital market went away. The "clang" sound of forging and the "bang bang" sound of collision sounded in front, and became louder and louder.

"May the Lord bless you! It's your Majesty's messenger!"

"Quick! Go and inform Director Talaya!"

"The artisan camp is so big, where is the director?"

"Let me think... It should be in the innermost armor area! New armor has been made recently..."

"Oh! I remember... it's the armor... You take the messenger and walk slowly, I'll go and report it now!..."

The warrior's voice sounded, and the gate of the craftsmen's camp opened. The messenger in the cloud ran in, and the bustling production scene suddenly came into view.