Chapter 365: Inspecting the Spring Plowing, the King’s Ideal

In May, tropical migratory birds stop migrating to the north and nest in the mountains and forests of the lake area, singing and flying happily.

The songs of birds spread outside the mountains and forests, and tens of thousands of Prepecha farmers were busy in the fields. They worked hard to clear the fields with the stubble of stone and wood, and sowed the seeds of corn. On the best field in the village, a plow operated by two people could be vaguely seen, plowing the soil slowly and powerfully. In the Kingdom of the Lake, metal agricultural tools were expensive and limited, and were kept by village priests, with priority being used for farming fertile land by the river.

On the bank of the river, newly built canals lead the water to slowly infiltrate the nearby farmland. Rare small human-powered rollovers stand erected by the river. A few strong men, covered with sweat, were pedaling and turning over the car in turns under the hot sun, pumping precious river water into the canal. Water is the foundation of agriculture and the key to determining the harvest! Providing adequate water sources during crop growth can effectively ensure a year's harvest.

There are scattered straw huts in the fields near the village. There were two poles in the hut and several large buckets filled with salt water. Farmers can come here and take a few sips of cool salted well water during their busy farming days. As for why salt is added to water? That is naturally because "salt is a gift from the Lord God, which gives believers vitality under the scorching sun."

Under the big trees in the corners outside the village, there are several large pits with good drainage. As soon as Fang got closer, a strong smell hit his nostrils, making people shy away. This is a kind of "compost" place in the village, which was dug out under the strict requirements of the priests. In the eyes of the villagers, this is probably a strange altar. In the big pit were the villagers' daily excretion, rotten vegetable leaf peels, river mud salvaged from the lake, and some dead leaves and hay in autumn. The top was covered with a shallow layer of soil.

The villagers did not understand the principle, but as part of the religious ceremony, they regularly piled the "vital life" requested by the main god here, waiting for the arrival of the main god's power. According to last year's experience, these "vitals" will ferment for several months and become some kind of "fertilizer" under the power of God. And when the corn begins to joint at the end of June, "fertilizer" will be put into the fields to add critical "vitality" to the crops.

During last year's spring plowing, the villagers were hesitant and followed the guidance of the main priest and spread fertilizer on part of the fields. As a result, the yield increased by nearly 30%! The villagers truly saw the power of the Lord God, and since then, their faith has suddenly become much more pious. This year, the composting area has been specially guarded to prevent people from neighboring villages from stealing. Because compost in villages is always very limited, it can only be applied to the best fields.

It is worth mentioning that in this era, the economic basis of various ministries in the world was mainly tribal communes with collective public ownership. The chiefs and priests hold the most important say and directly communicate with the kingdom. The land in the village is still cultivated collectively, and the harvest is distributed uniformly. Generally speaking, villages are the smallest tribute units, not households in the dynasty.

Since the collapse of the ancient Teotihuacan Empire, the world has been plunged into war for thousands of years! The various tribes fight each other year after year, and human sacrifices continue. The development of the Stone Age reached its peak, and social productivity stagnated for a long time. Tributes were heavy and corvées were frequent. The great nobles occupied most of the wealth and land, lived a comfortable life, and the priests had developed herbal medicine to treat diseases. It was not uncommon to live to the age of fifty or sixty. However, the average life span of the vast majority of people at the bottom is only more than 20 years old. Many people have lost their fathers and mothers since childhood and have no wives or children throughout their lives. Household units simply cannot last long, and collective parenting is the most common situation.

At this moment, Xiulote was leading two hundred personal guards to inspect spring plowing in a village near Hekou County. First, under the guidance of the village chief, he inspected the village's main altar, stone brick barn, stone treadmill, and compost pit, and expressed great satisfaction. Later, he listened to the feedback from the village priest, learned about the spread of the faith of the main god, the progress of this year's spring plowing, and the popularity of new agricultural tools, and gave verbal praise.

Next, the king summoned the village militia captain, watched the militiamen's training, and asked about the surrounding bandits. The bandits around have disappeared, but a few turkeys have been lost in the village recently, suspected to be the work of the newly arrived canine descendants. Upon hearing the news, the king frowned slightly and kept it in his heart.

Finally, the king looked at the simple huts of ordinary civilians, refused the village chief's request to hold a banquet, and left directly with his guards.

The king walked out of the village and stood on the edge of the vast fields, looking at the dark clouds in the sky. The seeds of spring plowing have just been sown, and the precious spring rain is about to fall. Corn will sprout quickly, giving hope for a whole season.

"Your Highness, it's going to rain soon. Do you want to return to the village where you were just now to take shelter from the rain and have a meal?"

Bertard waited for a while, looked at the dark clouds getting closer, and stepped forward to ask.

"No, let's go back to the river mouth fortress."

Shulot shook his head. It has only been two years since Hekou County settled down from the war. The village in front of me has just recovered a little bit of its vitality, and the farmers' huts are still dilapidated. If the bodyguards of two hundred men had a meal of finely ground grain, they could deprive the whole village of poverty.

"Bertard, you know, I just took a careful look around the village and asked the village chief and the priest."

The king looked calm, but there was some emotion in his words.

"There are more than a thousand people in the village, and the only people over forty years old are the two members of the village chief's family and the two priests!"

Bertard was silent. After a while, he whispered.

"Your Highness, during the Western Expedition, the Kingdom of Tarasco took away the villagers' food rations, and the old and the weak basically starved to death. After all, the Kingdom has not been established for a long time."

"What about the villages in the alliance? How many people are over 40?"

The king sighed and continued to ask.

Bertard lowered his head and said nothing. He roughly knew the number, but saying it out would only add to His Highness's troubles. After a long while, he said calmly.

"Your Highness, it's the same in all the tribes in the world. In the eyes of the nobles in the world, the common people are like ants and dry firewood. When they are too busy and can't work, they should die or be burned like firewood. Farmers over 40 are old people and burnt firewood. It is difficult to keep old people in the village, and there is no need for useless firewood ashes."

The two were speechless for a while. It doesn't take too many words of reality to stir up ripples in people's hearts. It wasn't until the spring raindrops fell and wet the king's long hair that he spoke softly.

"Bertard, I have always had an ideal."

"Your Highness, you talk, I listen."

"I hope that in the villages under my rule, not counting the babies who died in infancy, one in ten people can live to the age of sixty."

As he said, Shulot looked at the sky. In the distant eastern homeland, the prosperous Celestial Empire at this time, there are about this proportion of elderly people in ordinary inland villages. It is the richest and most civilized place in the world, at the end of the 15th century.

"One in ten people live to be sixty years old?"

Bertard repeated softly, and couldn't help lowering his eyes. Even in the most absurd dreams, he had never thought so. There has never been such a prosperous age in the world, only endless blood and fighting. Even in the ancient myths, there are only heroes and gods, and never civilians.

After a long time, the samurai leader sighed and said in a deep voice.

"Your Highness, the rain is heavy, you should go back."

Xiu Luote nodded and said no more. Some words are more powerful when they are not said than when they are said. He calmed his emotions and thought of the complaints of the militia captain.

"Bertard, arrange the itinerary. After the inspection of the surrounding settlements, I will go to the Guakili village to check."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Bertard's eyes moved slightly. To inspect the Guakili village, he needed to be prepared in advance.

"Your Highness, do you need to notify the two chiefs, Red Frog and Red Monkey?"

"Notify them and bring Black Wolf with you."

"I obey your will, Your Highness!"

Xuluot nodded slightly. He looked at the guards standing in the rain and waiting silently, and his heart was strengthened again.

"It's raining heavily, let's go. We have just started our journey in wind and rain!"

"Your Highness, your journey is the sun ascending to the highest. When the sun is warm enough, weeds can grow luxuriantly!"

"Well, spring has arrived, and summer is not far away. Let's go~"

"I obey your will, my king~"