Chapter 391 Audience
The main temple is located high on the pyramid, overlooking the entire city of Kuramo. The king sits in the main temple and rules thousands of subjects. With a calm expression, he took the secret letter and read it one by one.
The contents of the first few secret letters were roughly the same as those submitted by the Crow Family. Many warrior generals from Prepecha had connections with the rebellious Shicao family.
There are about three levels of contact. The first level is a simple courtesy greeting, which is the case with Ezpin. The letters only mentioned local sentiments and exchanged some ordinary gifts. The second level is where you regularly receive heavy gifts from the Lithospermum family, from gold, silver, gems, fine clothes and feathers, to houses, mansions, music, dancing and beauties. The Zicao family has been in the south of the town for a long time. In addition to the fields and Dingkou, it also controls the water channels for trade with various tribes in the south. It has always been extremely wealthy. Their gifts were touching enough that most generals would be happy to accept them. The third level is based on the previous ones, agreeing to take care of each other, helping each other, establishing a private secret alliance, and even mutual marriage. There are not many such generals, but there are some, and some of them have some military strength.
Shulot flipped through it hastily, his expression unchanged throughout the whole process. These were all within his tolerance, until the last two secret letters. One of them was written by Puap, a hereditary nobleman. There are only a few words in the letter, followed by abstract graphics.
The king frowned, looking at the hand-drawn graphics and guessing its meaning. The first picture shows a huge condor. Below the condor are several little people standing side by side. The little people all wear forked Prepecha eagle feather crests.
The second picture shows a giant holding a staff, lying motionless in the north of the picture, next to a moon symbolizing death.
Shulot narrowed his eyes and continued to look down. In the third picture, there are still the same group of little people. They all hold the scepter of the glorious nobles and stand around an abstract person. This time, the condor was at their feet.
After looking at these three paintings, the king's face turned pale. He went on to open another letter, written by the hereditary noble Sky Horta. Horta's letter is much more straightforward. It contains large paragraphs of graphics and text, mixed with text spread by the alliance.
"Under the eagle, the nobles of Prepecha stood side by side, watching and helping each other."
"If the divinely inspired king dies on his journey to the north."
"The generals of Prepecha will unite, support the old princes, and jointly control the revived Kingdom of Tarasco!. By then, we will all be the pillars of the kingdom, the sacred and glorious nobles!"
"Snapped!"
Seeing this, Shulot's anger could no longer be suppressed. He slammed the secret letter on the table and shouted angrily.
"Where are Puap and Horta now?!"
"Your Highness, after Puap and Orta pacified the Purple Grass Manor, they each led their own warriors to suppress the surrounding noble fiefs. Are you going to send an envoy immediately to recall them to Kuramo City?"
Veteran Etalik had already read the contents of the letter and stepped forward to ask respectfully.
Hearing this, Shulot pinched his fingers, suppressed his anger, and spoke calmly.
"The King's Banner has arrived. Let them finish patrolling the noble fiefdoms and return to Kuramo City to report back. Etalik, prepare houses and food. From today on, the Guards Corps will take over the defense of Kuramo City!"
"I obey your will, Your Highness!"
Next, Shulot rested in the city. After the Guards Corps settled in Kuramo City, the entire city became a large military camp. Warriors wearing heavy armor conducted a rigorous search, further arresting civilians related to the rebellion, and then concentrated them in the north of the city for custody. Soon, the first batch of five thousand rebels will be sent to the north to serve as serfs.
At this time, the only person who can change the fate of these people is Yi Cui, the chief priest of Kuramo. He led a team of judges formed by war priests to conduct religious reviews day and night. Among the 20,000 rebels, any outstanding believer recognized by the priest can escape from the fate of becoming a serf. The nobles and merchants in the city cried and begged and offered bribes to Yitri, but they were all rejected by the pious chief priest.
Shulot has been watching all this silently. There are his "eyes" among the war priests, who will report to him the list of devout believers who have been vetted. When he learned that most of the devout believers were poor civilians in the city, he finally nodded with satisfaction.
"Chief Priest Yi Cui is worthy of a great responsibility."
The royal flag fluttered quietly on Kuramo City, suppressing the nobles in the south. A few days later, Ezpin's report arrived. The Second Lance Corps has completely controlled the central part of Zicao County, controlling a population of more than 60,000. Now, among the more than 200,000 people in Zicao County, 140,000 have been brought under the control of the kingdom. The few hereditary nobles who rebelled against the two families were exterminated and their tribesmen were reduced to serfs. The first batch of capital priests are on their way south and will soon take over various towns and villages.
The rebellion in the southeast suddenly rose and fell, the nobles in the central and southern parts were docile and obedient, and the king's eyes finally turned to the southwest. Even though the royal army marched south in the tens of thousands, the rebellion in the southwest mountainous area still began to spread. The mountain people always had a kind of stubborn bravery, just like the rampant flat-headed Siri.
Zotor, the leader of the Palm clan, mobilized very early and gathered more than a dozen mountain nobles. Now, there are at least 3,000 local warriors and 6,000 mountain militia gathered in the fortified city of Apatchingan, and there are a large number of hostile villages outside the city. The Tekos tribe deep in the mountains was also moved by the southwest nobles who were related to them. Driven by the leaders, thousands of Tekos people continued to gather, and a large number of poor tribesmen poured out of the mountains to plunder what they saw as a wealthy land.
After the main force of the Guakili Legion arrived at the city of Apatchinggan, they did not besiege or attack the city. The dog-born legion was just like in the wilderness, with flexible tactics and avoiding the real and attacking the fake. Large beacons were lit in the southwest, and thousands of Guakili warriors were divided into several teams, rushing day and night, looting in the vast mountains and hills. Several mountain nobles' mountain strongholds were razed to the ground, and the tribesmen were either killed or captured. The vanguard of the legion even raided several gathering Tekos tribes and killed thousands of tribesmen.
Seeing this, Xiu Luote pondered for a moment and understood Black Wolf's idea. He smiled and nodded.
"A small group of troops looting wantonly, and the people in Apatchinggan must be uneasy. After the northern expedition, Black Wolf finally learned from experience and began to learn to use his brain! Well, let's wait a few days before letting the Ezepan Legion move west."
The long November finally went away, and the light December came at the end of the year. After Puapu and Orta suppressed the nobles' fiefdoms, they led the army back to Kuramo City.
The Black Wolf King's flag fluttered on the top of the city, and armored warriors guarded the city walls. The Qin Congcan warriors and the sky warriors were stationed in the military camp outside the city and were not allowed to enter the city. Then, the king summoned the two hereditary nobles to meet him.
At this point, there was no escape and they had to face their fate. The two were uneasy and each took a few guards into the city. This time, entering the city was completely different from the last time. Along the way, armored warriors patrolled the streets and longbow warriors controlled key points. Thousands of guards turned the entire city into a dangerous beast's nest. And the supreme king was like a powerful beast king, entrenched at the highest point of the pyramid.
When the two arrived at the bottom of the pyramid, their personal guards were stopped by the warriors and their weapons were handed over. Puapu and Orta climbed to the top of the towering tower with bare hands. Hundreds of jaguar warriors held bronze axes in their hands, filling the temple hall.
Puapu had an ominous premonition in his heart. He licked his lips, gritted his teeth, and walked under the warriors' flashing axes. When he was within ten steps of the king, he knelt down to salute.
"Your Majesty, your loyal warrior, Puapu of the dust, greets you!"
"Praise your majesty, your loyal warrior, Orta of the sky, greets you!"
The king was wearing golden armor and a bronze helmet. He didn't speak for a long time, just staring at the two coldly. Behind the king was a tall hummingbird sun symbol. The light fell from the top of the temple, making the king's golden figure look like a god.
"Hereditary noble Puapu, hereditary noble Orta."
Xuluot calmly took out two secret letters and threw them on the ground. The light secret letters fell to the ground, as heavy as a hill. Puapu knelt on the ground, and his face turned pale instantly when he saw the secret letters falling in front of him. His pupils suddenly contracted, his heart beat rapidly, and boundless fear came over him. Then, the king spoke coldly.
"Who is the Prince of Tarasco that you want to support?"