Chapter 243 The Roots of Rule, Villages Under Direct Jurisdiction

The rain in July fell continuously, so warm and calm. The drizzle moistened everything on the earth: there were lush vegetation in the mountains, birds singing in the woods, and new buds of green in the fields, and the vitality of early summer was everywhere.

Xiuluot, wearing a thatched raincoat, stood quietly in the rain by Lake Patzcuaro.

He looked at the low sky. The drizzling raindrops formed intermittent lines, drifting on the mountains shrouded in clouds and mist, and then flowing down from the high mountains, converging into streams in the basins. He looked at the stream at the foot of the mountain. The clear stream flowed slowly, moistening the shallow trees that flourished along the way, and also soaking the cultivated farmland.

The young king's eyes patrolled the neat farmland, and finally fell on the end, the village by the lake.

"Let's go, let's go there and take a look."

Xiuluot said in a deep voice. Bertard nodded and left quickly with dozens of guards. He would go ahead and personally check the village. The remaining more than 100 warriors wore cloaks, held shields and axes, and guarded His Highness.

"Be careful, don't step on the new seedlings!"

Xiuluot gave a loud order, and then walked leisurely across the ridge. He looked down at the cultivated fields on both sides, carefully observed the new seedlings in the fields, and calculated the time for sowing.

After the corn seeds are sown, they will absorb water and germinate within a week under the appropriate soil temperature and moisture conditions. The sprouted new buds will first take root, separate three or four fixed radicles into the surrounding soil, and then extend the embryo into the air above.

Thinking of this, Xiuluot squatted down and measured carefully with his fingers. Then, he held a handful of sandy loam in the farmland, felt the texture and viscosity of the soil, and nodded.

At this time, the corn seedlings had just emerged, about the length of a little finger, and even the first pair of cotyledons that emerged from the ground had not yet unfolded, and were still wrapped in a cylindrical shape. The gathered rainwater flows through the fields and the young corn seedlings, making them tilt slightly.

"The seeds have only germinated for a week, which means the sowing was completed two weeks ago. Well, it was completed before the heavy rain. It's still acceptable!"

Xiuluot stared at the tender seedlings and fell into deep thought. If they grow for another week, the roots of the seedlings will be firmly rooted in the soil, and the cotyledons will open into a leaf-heart shape. The corn seedlings will then be fully formed and will not be damaged too much in the scouring of heavy rain. When too much rainwater flows into the soil, it will reduce the oxygen in the soil and damage the roots of the crops. This also requires deeper and longer roots to overcome.

In general, the timing of agricultural activities needs to be coordinated with rain and temperature. This year's spring plowing is indeed a bit late. Fortunately, along the way, the military settlements and civilian settlements around the capital have basically completed the farming tasks, which will not have much impact on the autumn harvest.

While Xiuluot was thinking, Bertard had quickly returned from the village and stood quietly by his side. He looked up and the chief warrior nodded seriously. The young king stood up, patted the sandy loam in his hands, and strode towards the village.

The village chief, priests and villagers in the village were already waiting at the entrance of the village, forming a dark crowd, surrounded by dozens of supervisory guards and an accompanying translator. Tarasco and Mexica are not much different, and many words and pronunciations are very similar. Even without a translator, Xiuluot can roughly communicate with the Purépecha people.

Seeing the noble prince approaching, everyone knelt on the ground and saluted at the same time. Xiuluot nodded and waved calmly, signaling the priest, village chief and militia captain to stand up and ask questions.

This is one of the more than 80 villages in the Patzcuaro Lake area, located on the north shore of the lake. This village is very large and once had a large population and was quite prosperous. It was just last year that the village was requisitioned several times by the Kingdom of Tarasco, and then it was harassed by the defeated army, and it was once severely damaged.

After conquering the capital of Qincongcan, Xiuluot counted 60,000 civilians in the city, nearly half of whom were refugees. The young king organized these 30,000 people and settled them in the villages around the lake together with more than 100,000 old and weak people around the capital. Then he directly sent priests to manage them and set them up as community settlements. Each settlement village has a population of about 2,000 people, totaling 80, with about 160,000 people.

Community management is the tradition of the Mexica people and the foundation of the alliance's strong mobilization. The essence of community settlements is to register households, strictly supervise farming, and command agricultural activities. However, Xiuluot lacked reliable grassroots governance personnel and low-level priests who were proficient in calculations. The organization of the community has just begun and is still in a very rough stage.

The young king only sent low-level priests who had been trained not long ago to each village, selected local village chiefs, and assisted them with stationed militia teams, barely controlling 150,000 to 160,000 villagers around the lake.

Therefore, in this village of civilian settlements, the highest status is the village priest who is directly under His Majesty, who can contact the superior priests and is responsible for religious activities, tax collection and reading of laws; the second is the village head selected locally, usually from a family with a large population, who actually manages agricultural production, coordinates villagers' affairs, and inspects collective storage; the last is the dispatched or selected militia captain, who controls the village force, maintains the safety of the village, guards the warehouse and sends out tribute teams on time. Of course, in the alliance that advocates force, the political status of the village head and the militia captain is actually roughly equal.

Under such a grassroots structure, the old aristocratic influence, along with their bodies, was completely wiped out by the devastating national war. New civilian managers were able to come forward and become the village's governors to try to implement the will from the power center. Well, in other words, the degree of centralization has been further improved.

Seeing His Highness's signal, the three people with power in the village bowed respectfully again, and then stood up carefully. The village priest shouted softly, and two young girls came forward, lowered their heads, and presented fresh garlands to His Highness.

Shulot smiled lightly and tilted his head. The warrior captain took the wreath and handed it to the guard beside him. Then, the young king looked seriously at the middle-aged priest.

"Take me to see the altar in the village. How about the spring plowing ceremony? Are the morning and evening prayers completed on time? Have the alliance's religious decrees been read out?"

The middle-aged priest was half-bowed, but he showed a bit of a warrior temperament. He was born in the Alliance, received five years of military training as a boy, and was also good at fighting. He can fluently switch between Tarasco and Mexica, and is the end of the root system of the alliance's dominant tree.

"Dear Priest King, the sacrifice of spring plowing is very grand. According to the latest instructions of the high priests, the main god has replaced the god of harvest. No statues are erected, only emblems are left. Collective prayers will be held in the village in the morning and evening, and the villagers have begun to have some The chaos is now gradually getting back on track. The busy farming season has just ended. I have just finished talking about the alliance’s military promotion, encouraging farming, and encouraging fertility. The altar is here. "

While the two were talking, they arrived at the center of the village. There is a stone and wood altar several meters square. The altar is two meters high, with a large wooden emblem of the Hummingbird Sun erected on it, for a total height of nearly four meters. Various grains were placed around the altar, as well as some sacrificial feathers, birds and small animals.

Shulot looked at it for a moment, with a slight smile on his face. The alliance takes religion as the core of its governance, and the altar is related to the theocracy and public opinion, which is the top priority.

"The Lord God is bright and benevolent. Try to save manpower and sacrifice birds and animals. Even if it is a major festival, do not sacrifice humans or animals."

The young king gave instructions in a deep voice. The middle-aged priest blinked and nodded solemnly. Then, Shulot looked at the village chief who was following him.

"How is the spring plowing in the village completed? Has the required number of acres been met? How is the manure collected? How is the construction of the village's granary? The villagers must participate in the work, and you are no exception!"

The old village chief Nuonuo responded, and the wrinkles on his face smiled like a flower. He replied quietly and respectfully.

"Yes, yes! Your Highness, I have been personally leading everyone in the farming without daring to rest for a moment. The spring plowing in the village was completed three weeks ago, and the farming time was not delayed!"

Hearing this, Shulot frowned slightly, but said nothing. He just glanced at the old village chief lightly. The other party trembled slightly and continued.

"According to your instructions, the young men in the village need to cultivate eight acres, the young and strong women six acres, and the old and weak four acres. In addition, several craftsmen have been specially arranged to repair damaged farm tools. A pond for collecting manure has been dug outside the village. "

The old village chief led Shulot to the granary. This is a solid masonry house and often the most important building in a village. Due to the lack of metal farm tools and cattle and horses, most village communities in Central America still maintained a collective village system, which was somewhat similar to the well-field system of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Villagers need to work collectively, then concentrate most of the harvest into public granaries, and at the same time save for lean years. Then, the village manager is responsible for the distribution of grain in the granary, paying the lord's tribute, and arranging the labor of the villagers.

Under the protection of Bertard, Shulot walked into the granary. He looked at the corner of the house that was covered in mud and the leakage of rainwater in the warehouse. Then he reached out and touched the slightly damp soil floor, and slowly shook his head.

"This won't work! The granary must be kept waterproof and the foundation must be paved with masonry!"

Shulot pondered for a while. He looked at the frightened old village chief and said comfortingly.

"This is not your problem. I will soon build big kilns around the capital to bake green bricks for building houses. At that time, you can send people directly there to collect the bricks and stones for building the granary. However, these bricks and stones must be used for the granary. , the granary must also be completely waterproof!"

Upon hearing this, the old village chief immediately kowtowed to the ground and responded repeatedly. Xiuluo nodded and strode out of the granary. Then, he waved with a smile on his face.

"Come here. Are you one of Ezpin's militiamen? How are you doing here?"

The militia captain put down the spear in his hand, came to Shulot with his bare hands, and knelt down to salute with a bang.

"Your Highness, I salute you! Yes, I am a militiaman under Captain Ezpin. The Captain often says that you are our only sun!"

"I live a good life here! I married a local wife, raised a group of turkeys, and had a big house. Oh, in terms of the village. Now I have five militiamen who followed me, and there are also local call My twenty men will protect the whole village until this autumn harvest, and I will take them to deliver the tribute to the royal capital!"

Shulot listened patiently for a while and nodded slightly. In a village of two thousand people, five senior militiamen and twenty ordinary militiamen, plus the authority of the priests and village chiefs, can almost maintain basic order and capture sporadic bandits. After all, this is the heart of the Lake District, not the borderland where the canines are rampant. Militiamen in the village can receive an additional ration from the warehouse to maintain training several times a month.

"very good!"

After listening to the militia captain's story, Xiu Luote smiled and nodded. He raised his hand to take a red cloak from the guards and gave it to the militia captain personally. The captain put on the cloak with some excitement, and then knelt down to salute.

"Your Highness. Marshal! When will the legion go out again? I will fight bravely for you and be promoted to a respected senior warrior!"

Hearing this, Xiu Luote smiled with approval. He walked forward, patted the militia captain's shoulder affectionately, and said with a smile.

"Don't worry, and take root in the village patiently and maintain the order of the village community. You are the cornerstone of the alliance. There are still many opportunities to go out in the future."

Next, Xiu Luote toured the village again. He stood outside, looked at the villagers' simple and narrow huts, and looked inside through the doorway. The young king looked a little solemn. The development of productivity was limited by the times, and the lives of ordinary people were just struggling to survive.

The young king did not issue any further instructions, but stood in front of the altar for a while and looked at the wooden mark of the hummingbird sun. The tall hummingbird spread its wings and flew towards the sun of hope. Then, under the protection of his personal guards, Shulot turned and left. It was not until he disappeared at the end of the field that the villagers who were lying on the ground stood up, with respect on their faces like they were facing a god.

The king who was incarnated as a priest, holding the emerald staff, saw through everything in the future. Such rumors have begun to spread around the royal city unknowingly.

Shulot returned in the drizzle. He walked through the tall and sturdy city gate, crossed the empty streets of the royal capital, returned to the magnificent and magnificent Palace of Wind, and went all the way to the main hall. The two painters who were painting immediately put down their pens, saluted the prince, and then bowed and retreated.

The young king glanced at the murals on the wall lightly, and the patterns on it were being modified. Led by the sun hummingbird, the people of Prepecha came to the fertile land by the lake. Then, they joined the powerful and tolerant Mexica Alliance, and together with the Mexica people of the same origin, built the magnificent city of Chincongcan. The existence of the "House of Wind" pyramid is the testimony of the Lord God's coming to the world, issuing a decree, and allowing the two ethnic groups to completely merge!

Then, Shuluot untied his raincoat, simply wiped off the rain, and sat in front of the wooden table to check the latest atlas.

The monkey Kuruka half-bowed and was busy beside the young king. He helped the prince hang up his clothes, brought a cup of hot cocoa with honey, and then sat cross-legged beside him.

"Monkey, have the latest scout intelligence been delivered?"

"Yes, King, it's all here. Your fiefdom is really big!"

At this point, Kuruka took out a huge wooden board and handed it to Shuluot carefully. The young king looked at the dense markings on it, read for a moment, and finally showed a satisfied smile on his face!