Chapter 240: Four Directions Population and Young Adults

The wind of June came from the great lake in the east. It passed through the undulating plateau, flew over a distance of two thousand miles, and came to the basin of Patzcuaro. The air began to diffuse moist water vapor, and the rainy season in the land of the lake was about to come.

Xiuluot stood on the top floor of the Palace of Wind, looking at the surrounding mountains and fields. A series of conspicuous black smoke rose from the nearby fields, like ink painted in the sky, leaving a drifting mark. The young king looked deeply for a moment before turning around slowly.

"This year's fire seems to be more violent than in previous years."

"The fields are so barren, there are more plants than in previous years, and the smoke from burning the wasteland will naturally be thicker. But if you look closely at the number of thick smoke, you will find that the land of the lake has become as desolate as a saltwater lake, and it takes patience to renovate it before it can gather a prosperous school of fish again."

Avit responded with a smile. He was wearing a breathable plain robe and was holding a wooden board in his hand to check. Soon, he handed the board to Xiuluot and smiled softly.

"After hearing that the capital had fallen, people from Akambaro State, northeast of Chincongchan and on the south bank of the Leman River, have surrendered. This is the document of their surrender."

Xuluot took the wooden board and looked at it carefully. There were six long flags with sixteen feathers on them. In the center were three warriors and eight militiamen. Under these pictures, there was a kneeling figure, with his head lowered, kneeling to the adult in front of him. The adult had a blue-green hummingbird helmet on his head, radiating sun rays on his body, and in his hand was the iconic javelin of the Lord God. Obviously, this was the symbol of the Mexica Alliance.

"At this time, Akambaro State still had three thousand warriors and eight thousand militiamen?"

Xuluot was a little surprised.

"Haha, this is just the last loud clucking of the turkey before it was caught."

Avit smiled.

"The intelligence officer has already found out that many small nobles in Prepecha have surrendered to me. After being conquered by you, there are about 1,500 warriors and 5,000 to 6,000 militiamen in Akambaro. Most of the militiamen were sent from the lake area to the northern fortress as reinforcements, but you went south too quickly and they stayed there."

"The fortress of Akambaro is still strong, but the food and supplies are far from enough, and it has never been able to attack. Since the capital has fallen, the kingdom has been declared dead. Now it is the spring farming season that cannot be delayed, and surrender has become inevitable. The only difference is the conditions of surrender."

At this point, Avite pondered for a while. He kept the number of long flags unchanged, crossed out half of the feathers, then looked up and smiled.

"The six hereditary families will be retained, but the number of great nobles will be halved, and the quotas will be negotiated by them. Let these families fight each other for a while to increase some grudges. Then Tepopolo will be divided over, so that Akambaro can be controlled in the hands."

Xuluote nodded. Then, he looked at the militiamen on the wooden board, his eyes sparkling.

"Avite, since these militiamen are all men sent out from the Patzcuaro Lake area, as a condition of surrender, Acambaro State should be returned!"

"Well, return? As long as the war continues, few nobles will be willing to hand over men. But Acambaro State is extremely short of food now. You take out a batch of food, and I will intimidate them when I accept the surrender, so that they can hand over half. As for the remaining half, that is the future fiefdom of Tepopolo, you must leave some for him."

"Good! Three thousand militiamen are also a small help. The small town of Patzcuaro in the southeast has surrendered to the legion, and there is a military grain warehouse of the Kingdom of Tarasco. The grain stored there can feed more than 100,000 people for a year. I am not short of food now, but I am short of men."

Xuluot smiled.

"Oh? The small town of Patzcuaro. That should be the place where Tarasco supplies the southeastern defense line, the military grain storage of Zitacuaro State. If there is a shortage of soldiers, Tarasco's Southeast Corps has surrendered to me in Zitacuaro. Excluding the thousands of wounded who were sacrificed, there are about 20,000 militiamen and 5,000 Tekos tribal warriors left. These people consume a lot of food, and thousands of warriors are needed to guard them. If you can afford it and control them, you can give them all to you!"

Avit stretched out his hand and patted Xiu Luote's shoulder. Then, a trace of indifference appeared on the king's face.

"If you don't want it, I will give it to the elders to use as consumables for building temples and as sacrifices for the capital celebration."

"Twenty-five thousand surrendered soldiers!"

Hearing this number, Xiu Luote's throat moved slightly and swallowed his saliva. He carefully calculated the military strength in his hands and struggled for a long time.

"Give me the 20,000 militiamen. After collective conversion and reorganization, I should be able to control them. As for the tribal armies of the Tekos warriors, they can only be deterred by force. They don't speak the same language, are tough and difficult to control, and are also self-contained. I only need a few dozen guides from the Colima Mountains!"

"That's settled. I will send an envoy today, and you prepare food supplies along the way."

As they talked lightly, the two decided the fate of tens of thousands of people. Avit smiled faintly and looked at his student again, with a little test on his face.

"Xuluot, you have been counting the population these days. Now, how many troops, how many men, and how many people do you control?"

The young king thought for a while, took out a book he carried with him from his lapel, and opened it in detail.

"I went all the way south from the north of the Leman River. In the battle of the lake and the siege of the fortress, I surrendered about 5,000 Tarasco troops; then I captured the Huayamo fortress, fought with the Chapala Army, and surrendered again. Among the more than 5,000 people left, there were more than 2,000 Sky Family warriors and more. More than two thousand archers, this is a surrender army of ten thousand."

"Then there was a fierce battle with the Royal Army of Tarasco. Most of the more than 3,000 prisoners were wounded. After sacrificing the more seriously injured, only 2,000 were gathered. The capital was captured and nearly 15,000 surrendered. Half of the troops are ordinary Tekos tribesmen. Including the surrendered lake area towns, there are a total of 30,000 surrendered troops. "

Having said this, Shulot sighed.

"These 30,000 surrendered troops can also be counted as the young men of the Prepecha people. In the fiefdom area I control, there are 60,000 civilians in Qincongcan City, including 20,000 young men. And there are only ten men and women in the areas along the lake. There are tens of thousands of old and weak people. The northern part of Lake Patzcuaro is in ruins, and only the lake area to the west is slightly better. According to my estimate, there are about 100,000 people, and the southern part of Lake Patzcuaro is better. Appachingam State is well preserved, but it is estimated that there are no more than 200,000 people and 40,000 strong people.”

"Avit, I haven't had time to sort out the south. Although Apatchengang State has surrendered, most of it still maintains its autonomy. Rough calculation, you gave me such a large fiefdom, but there are only less than 500,000 people in the fiefdom. , 100,000 men, but in my hands, there are only more than 300,000 men."

Hearing Shulot's complaint, Avitt burst into laughter. He touched the young king's head. Shulot subconsciously wanted to dodge, but then stopped. Avitt shook the boy's hair and smiled again.

"Xulot, there are more than 300,000 people and 60,000 men. What else are you dissatisfied with? When the 20,000 surrendered militiamen arrive, you will have 80,000 men, most of whom have fought in battles. Warrior! You will not meet any opponent in this world!"

At this point, Avitt's eyes became profound. He said still smiling.

"The intelligence officer has reported to me a long time ago. The Apachingan State, the fiefdom of Tepopolo, has a sparse population and dense mountains and forests, with only 70,000 to 80,000 people. The Sitacuaro State of Iskali has a difficult terrain. The hills are undulating, and there are also only 60,000 to 70,000 people. As for the mountain copper area south of the Alsace River, although Weitamobon has a vast area and a population of more than 100,000, the mountain people have always been tough and difficult to control, and the terrain is fragmented. But it’s far inferior to what you have here!”

Listening to Avitt's description, Shulot quickly added the population information in the surrounding areas on the map in his mind. Although these figures are only rough calculations, even barely estimated based on the number of warriors and the consumption of salt, they are the most rare secrets of this era. In the entire world, only the King of Mexica, who valued intelligence and had many scouts, could know the situation of each state in detail.

After a while, Shulot sighed.

"Your Majesty, I am very satisfied with the current fiefdom. I am just a little emotional. The fiefdom you gave me is the most elite part of the Kingdom of Tarasco, the entire Patzcuaro Lake area. When it was prosperous a few years ago , even last year, there were still one million people here, with 200,000 to 300,000 men. However, in just one year of war, the population was reduced by half, and the number of men was reduced to six. If the brutal Western Expedition and the National War continued for two more years. , the difficulty of the alliance’s victory can be clearly seen from here!”

Hearing this, Avitt was startled. He put his hands behind his back, walked to the balcony, and looked at the vast world to the east. The smoking peaks of Mount Sacred Mountain seemed far away, and the impregnable mountain fortress of Sitacuaro came to mind again.

"Yes, across hundreds of mountains, flying through hundreds of miles of forest, the golden eagle and the kestrel fought hard, the Undying Alliance mobilized the whole country, the north and the south attacked, the warriors suffered heavy casualties, and with your breakthrough, we were able to win Here comes the victory of the Western Expedition!”

"In this year's campaign, the Southern Army lost nearly 15,000 warriors and more than 20,000 militiamen. Nearly 40,000 warriors were lost in the lake. It will take several years or even ten years of training to barely make up. And the consumption There are hundreds of thousands of catties of grain and grass, the capital's treasury is completely empty, and the squeeze on the vassals has also reached its limit. Food supplies will also need to be accumulated for several more years!"

"The king's ambitions fly like an eagle, with his eyes watching the whole world. Population and food cannot grow overnight, but can only let the years pass by, and the eagle grows old!"

Avitt looked at the falcons flying in the sky, took a long breath, and shook his head slightly.

Hearing this, Shulot was a little silent. He opened the bright red mark on the book he carried with him again, and sighed after a while.

"The casualties of the Northern Army were also heavy. Over the past year, I took advantage of weapons and tried to surprise the enemy in the field. I also lost 10,000 warriors, 7,000 militiamen, and many wounded. I recruited from the north. We recruited many Otomi warriors and canine mercenaries and used them on the front line of the siege, thus minimizing the casualties of the Mexica warriors."

"After this Western Expedition, the alliance lost a full quarter of its military strength, and the royal family's direct forces suffered heavy losses. Within a few years, it is indeed impossible to raise more troops on a large scale. And the Kingdom of Tarasco has been destroyed. Once the alliance is eliminated, my next focus will be on integrating and assimilating the Prepecha people.”

Hearing this, Avit nodded. He turned sideways and looked at the murals in the main hall of the Wind Palace, which had not yet been covered. The condor was soaring in the sky, accompanied by hummingbirds on both sides. On the ground, a group of people came from the northwest along the river, settled by the lake, built houses and towns, and the tribe grew and prospered. On the east side of the mural, a sun was rising.

"Well painted! The painter's skills are superb, not inferior to the capital in the lake."

King Avit smiled and praised, and then spoke softly.

"Xuluot, my child, you did a good job! The Chichimecs in the north have already moved south in large numbers, and the Northern Tekos tribe is making trouble. The Lake Chapala region has suffered heavy losses, and with the losses from the Western Expedition and the recent civil unrest, the population will probably be reduced by half. I have received their messenger. The new Feather Prince intends to surrender to the Alliance and will soon send someone to offer a map as tribute."

"Feather Prince Penguari? The one who fought with me twice? He sent someone to offer a map as tribute?"

Xuluot was a little surprised when he thought of the Feather Marshal who turned into the wind.

"Yes, he is also a figure! After the defeat of the Northern Army, he successfully returned with the main force of the family, and he still held the Silver Family Master in his hands. In just half a year, he cleaned up the Sky Family, married the daughter of the Silver Family, and then unified the entire Lake Chapala region, calling himself a prince and a descendant of the Condor."

Speaking of the descendants of the Condor, Avit laughed again.

"Now Pengguali has basically inherited the political legacy of the northwest of the Tarasco Kingdom. He controls 300,000 people, 60,000 to 70,000 men, and the ruling core is in Tissapanbang, which is 500 miles away from the capital of Qincongchan, and even farther from the capital in the lake. In the short term, the alliance has no intention, and no manpower and material resources, to launch a large-scale, thousand-mile expedition, so we will accept his surrender."

Avite's eyes are shining, like a burning flame. He looks at Xiuluot, his expression has become serious.

"Xuluot, my student! The wolfhounds of Tlaxcala are barking in the east. I won't stay here for long. I will return to the east in the next few days. Let me say a few words to you one last time."

"After this westward expedition, the Tarasco Kingdom, which had a population of more than 1.6 million, is reduced to about 1.1 million people. The corpses of these 500,000 people are the price for the rise of the sun god! For the tribes that are not controlled by the alliance, no one needs to worry about them even if there are many casualties. Civilians will always grow like weeds. Only land and lakes are the foundation of everything!"

"You should rest patiently for a few years, win over the hearts of the people in the lake area, and train the young men of Prepecha. Then We will control Apatchinggan in the south, and then conquer Zacapon in the west, and the Chapala Lake area further west. In the southwest, there are still a large number of Tekos tribes, as well as the Colima Mountains that you have been thinking about. "

"Xuluot, after I return to the east, all matters in the west will be handed over to you. In the future, whether to conquer or appease the tribes depends on your own decision. I just want the west to be peaceful and not affect the Texcoco Lake area. After accumulating food and grass for a few more years and training a new batch of warriors, it will be time to come and make a thorough settlement with the Tlaxcala people!"

The long wind blew, lifting the black hair of the kings and revealing their ambitious black eyes. The wind chimes on the top of the Palace of Wind fluttered in the wind, making a crisp sound. The melodious sound of the bell fell into the hearts of the kings, outlining the smile at the corners of their mouths, and it seemed like the praise of heaven and earth.

I reorganized the population data after the Western Expedition and the casualties of the troops. This chapter is difficult to write. Please vote~