Chapter 109 News from afar: Cuba, Maya and Chibcha
There was a moment of solemnity in the empty hall, and the fallen leaves outside the window rustled loudly. The warriors wore armor and held soldiers, silently guarding the surroundings, witnessing the king and businessman in the center.
Tikalo bowed deeply, and Shulot accepted it calmly. He sat upright for a moment, and then stretched out his hands to support the Mayan businessman kindly. At this time, the situation was settled, and the two sat opposite each other again, and the atmosphere became more harmonious.
Shulot called the guards, presented a cup of cocoa drink for nobles and warriors, and handed it to the Mayan merchant. The merchant was stunned for a moment, and then accepted it respectfully. He took a sip of traditional cocoa, bitter, spicy, sweet, and all kinds of flavors flowed through his heart.
Afterwards, Shulot pondered slightly, his face showing majesty.
"Tikalo, I will secretly include you among the military businessmen of the alliance. This commercial law reform is the general trend. Supervising merchants is the national policy of the alliance and cannot be changed in major aspects. I will give your Mayan business group a person who participates in the negotiation of commercial laws.
For quota, go to the priests and elders to make a consultation arrangement so that you can go back and explain to the business group.
You don’t need to participate in the rest of the matter, just concentrate on the copper mines and military affairs. I will naturally take care of your caravan and give you discounts on buying and selling. If you move your family to the capital, I will send people to guard it to ensure safety. Then
Send a few trustworthy people to my place to take charge of contact.
I will give you a hundred warriors to serve you in the caravan from now on. The Mexica captain will also allocate forty ships and civilians to transport copper ore and other supplies for you. Remember, your actions are extremely important.
!If you encounter any obstacles, send someone to tell me, and the royal family’s warriors will clear it for you. If there are other businessmen competing with you in the copper mines, the royal family will also help you deal with it!"
Tikalo smiled unwillingly at first. Once a powerful noble enters the scene, he will immediately control the fortune, life, and overall situation of the merchant's caravan. Then he became energetic. With such a powerful force group behind him, no merchant can compete anymore.
than him.
The Mayan businessman thought for a moment, and several names flashed up one by one. He looked at the handsome young man in front of him, thinking about the Mexica's way of doing things, and his mind was spinning. After a moment of pause, he still tentatively reported a name, "Tacuri
Asia".
"Tacuria? This seems to be the name of the Tarascans?" Shulot thought for a moment.
Ti Carlo nodded and quietly looked at the young man's response.
"Tacuria is a big businessman from central Tarasco. He is the biggest rival in the copper trade of the southern city-state. Behind him are certain nobles in central Tarasco. Relying on the advantages of local nobles, he is able to keep prices down.
They forcibly purchased a large amount of copper mines from the south and made exquisite bronze wares."
Shulot pondered for a moment and asked slowly.
"Will Tacuria sell the bronze to the Alliance?"
Ti Carlo shook his head affirmatively, silently paying attention to the boy's expression.
"The Mexica Alliance is the biggest threat to the Kingdom of Tarasco. Tacuria will only buy cotton cloth and salt from Mexico with spices and dyes, and sell bronzes to the distant Tlaxcala people, Mist
Croats, and Zapotecs. He has a trade route that goes around the south of the alliance, ending at the religious holy city of Cholula. This is also the channel for the Tarascans to contact the eastern forces."
Shulot nodded slightly. His expression remained unchanged, and he looked up at the portrait of the patron saint in the hall. The young man's eyes passed by the green and prosperous long feathers, and finally stopped at the dazzling red war spear.
"Ti Carlo, since you mentioned Tacuria, does it mean that he is in the lake capital?"
"I just met him yesterday. Taking advantage of the New Year's village gathering, he was buying cotton cloth in Tlatelolco, the largest market in the world, in the North City."
Tikalo was convinced. His eyes flickered. Yesterday, Tacuria was still competing with him for goods.
Shulot lowered his gaze and stared at Tikalo. The Mayan merchant forced out a sincere smile and then bowed his head respectfully.
The young man didn't speak anymore. He took a deep look at the businessman, then called a guard and whispered a few words. The guard nodded and left solemnly.
The hall became quiet again. After a while, Ti Carlo's brows started to sweat. He kept thinking about the king's preferences, and then he smiled and spoke.
"Dear Your Highness, in fact, copper mines are not limited to the Tarascans. There is a place full of copper mines, and there is even some kind of black hard stone that is difficult to break open even for bronzes!
What's even more interesting is that near the black stone, there is the same hard brown translucent crystal stone, which is shining brightly and cannot be melted by fire. The same gemstones can attract each other. I also specially brought you two of these gemstones as gifts.
"
As he spoke, Tikalo pulled out two darkly shining translucent crystals from the wooden box. The appearance of the crystals looked very much like meteorites, with lumps or granular collections that shimmered iron-black in the sunlight.
If you look carefully at the light, you will see that there are hints of red and green in the black light.
Shulot's pupils shrank and he thought of something. He took the "black gem" and groped it carefully, feeling the granular hard feel. Then he asked the guard to chop it with a copper ax, leaving only the "black gem".
A shallow scratch. He brought the two "black gems" closer together and felt a weak repulsive force. Then they turned and attracted each other.
Seeing this, Shulot raised his head in shock. He stared at Tikalo.
"Ti Carlo, where did you get these two pieces of ore? Tell the truth!"
Tikalo was slightly stunned. He swallowed and answered honestly.
"Ore? These two gems were purchased by me from other Mayan merchants. I drove a Mayan paddle boat from Ecabo State in the northeasternmost part of the Yucatan Peninsula to the endless lake in the east. It could take six or seven days as fast as possible, or as slow as
In more than ten days, passing through some islands and reefs, you can reach the end of the world. The serpentine continent where Quetzalcoatl last stayed and left.
There are many savage tribes on the mainland. They grow tobacco and love the shining gold and silver. We can exchange a bag of gold sand for dozens of bags of tobacco leaves. Then we can make sacred smoke and sell it to the inland, which is more than ten times the profit.
Quetzalcoatl left a snake body on the serpentine continent, and the earth solidified. The open-pit copper mines are the scales of the Quetzalcoatl, which can be found everywhere. The black hard rocks are the teeth of the Quetzalcoatl, which are only found in the easternmost part of the undulating mountains.
Snake head. Further east from the serpentine continent, there are many large and small landmasses and islands, and those are the hundreds of serpents who left with Quetzalcoatl!"
Hearing this, Shulot stood up, turned his back to the Mayan merchants, and walked forward to hide his violently changing expression. He pondered for a long time: Further east from the Yucatan Peninsula, there are the rich countries of Cuba, Haiti and the Caribbean.
The island is now a paradise for two to three million Taíno people!
Cuba is the richest ore-rich region in Central America, with almost all mountains containing copper deposits. There are 3.5 billion tons of iron ore in the mountainous areas of eastern Cuba, accounting for more than 20% of the entire Latin American iron ore reserves, and can be mined in the open! Similarly, Cuba
It is also the largest chromite producing area in the world.
Thinking of this, Shulot walked back and slowly sat down, his expression having returned to calm.
He picked up the "black gem" again. If what he expected was true, this iron-black shining stone was chromite spinel. The only chromium ore that can be mined! One of the most important strategic materials in the industrial age. And
The black hard rock Tikallo mentioned is a large-scale open-pit iron mine.
"How long does it take to travel by sea from Papantla State in Huastec to Ekabo State in Maya?"
Shulot asked in a deep voice, trying to keep his voice calm and calm.
Tikalo looked at Shulot in confusion. He was a little surprised by the young man's reaction and didn't know the meaning of the black ore.
"Along the sea route from Papantla State, you must first pass through the city-state of the Totonac people, then the Joel Corn people in the center, and then the Yucatan Corn people who are fighting in the north. Along the way, you must bring adequate guards and stick close to them.
Walking along the edge of the continent, it is best to use a giant canoe with paddle sails. Find the right route, sail for one to two months, and resupply several times in the city-states along the way before you can reach the northeasternmost Ekabo state. If you encounter a storm, you must be in time.
If you avoid it, the boat will be destroyed and everyone will be killed if you are not careful."
Hearing this, Xiulote sighed in his heart. Papantla went to Ekabobang, and then back to Cuba. Such a long journey, with the load capacity of the canoe, was impossible to transport a large amount of iron ore over a long distance.
The long-distance trade of the Mayans usually focused on precious luxury goods and gold, silver and gemstones.
"Unless..." The young man thought secretly, looked at Ti Carlo meaningfully with his eyes shining brightly.
"Establish a stronghold on the coast of the Mayan states and smelt Cuba's copper and iron ore!"
Shulot thought for a moment and smiled.
"Tikallo, are you a Mayan noble and a descendant of the holy Cocom family? What is the current situation of the civilized Mayan countries?"
Hearing this, Tikalo looked sad. He took off his feather crown, stroked the divine head, and paid tribute to the gods and ancestors.
"The kingdom of the sacred corn people is declining! The nobles with centuries of bloodline have fallen into the dust, the inheritance left for thousands of years is cut off and scattered, and the flag of the common people is planted on the temple! Just like my sacred Cocom family.
Seven hundred years ago, the gods abandoned us. The earth cracked, the rivers dried up, the corn harvest failed, and the nations fought. The royal city of the gods, the magnificent Tikal, perished! Thousands of pyramids and altars fell into dust and were submerged.
Deep in the jungle. The last stone tablet of Tonina ended six hundred years ago, and the glorious golden age has ended.
More than 10 million corn people could only migrate north and south, drifting like titbits in the wind, and were divided into three parts: north, middle and south. Then the three parts split, and dozens of countries fought endlessly. The civil war was extremely cruel. Farmland and villages
They were reduced to ashes in the civil war, temples and aqueducts were ruthlessly demolished, and corn people died all the time!"
"Wait, you just said that there are more than ten million Mayans?" Xiulote was a little unbelievable. In his impression, tropical rainforests should be barren and sparsely populated, and the Mayans of later generations only numbered in the millions.
.
Tikalo nodded seriously.
"Documents from the Golden Age record that at that time, there were water canals all over the rainforest, the farmland on the plains was fully cultivated, and people began to plant terraces on the mountains. The city-states were prosperous and rich, and the population was as rich as the capital city in the lake. There were dozens of Mayan states.
, with a population of at least 10 million, and with the complete Guatemala, it may even reach 12 million!”
Shulot looked at Tikalo's sincere and bright eyes, savored the sadness in his eyes, and nodded slightly: the lost Mayan civilization, the lost golden age.
Tikallo continues to tell the history of the Maya.
"In Yucatan in the north, our sacred Cocom family inherits the knowledge from the royal city of Tikal, and the noble bloodline rules the dazzling Mayapan. It is the continuation of the glory of the gods, the "model of the Mayans", and a new era of prosperity.
!My name comes from Tikal, the city of the gods.
However, more than forty years ago, the Tuturxiu family led warriors and civilians to launch a rebellion, completely destroying the great Mayapan, renamed it Tuturxiu, and established a new capital, Mani. The Cocom family has since
Withered and scattered, the main branch led the remaining tribes to the southeast and built a new small city. And the branches like me wandered around and became merchants and civilians.
From then on, my family had no choice but to live in foreign countries, relying on the inherited knowledge of mathematics and astronomy to take risks and travel by boat to trade among various countries. Other Mayan merchants admired my bloodline and made me the leader of the trading group.
At the end of the year, it may seem that you have a lot of money and a comfortable life, but in fact you are precarious, and life and death only depend on the thoughts of the noble ones."
Having said this, Ti Carlo lowered his head and closed his eyes slightly. Thinking of the glory of his ancestors and his own experiences, all kinds of tastes came to his heart, and his nose felt sour.
Shulot was speechless for a moment. He really didn't expect that the Mayan merchant in front of him actually had such a glorious ancestral heritage.
In this way, the Holy Cocom family has a history of rule by Tuturciu-Mayapan. They are former rulers that the current Mayan lords cannot tolerate, but they are the most suitable agents for the Mexica people!
The young man thought for a moment, smiled, and looked at Ti Carlo with more admiration.
Next, Shulot continued to ask for news from far away. Tikallo possessed the upper level knowledge of the Maya, traveled far and wide, and learned a lot about the vast world.
"The great corn man drove the largest galley and headed south into the dense rain forest. He exchanged bundles of cotton cloth for bags of turquoise and pepper from the local residents, earning dozens of times the profit. Along the long shore
, in the far south, we arrived in the Qibcha region. There, there are countless loose tribes who can exchange cheap salt, gold and gems, and the profit is ten times as much."
Hulot thought in his mind that the emeralds of Guatemala and the peppers of Honduras are rare and expensive products. In a broad sense, there are about 700 species of pepper plants in the Americas and more than 300 species in Southeast Asia. Among them, the native pepper of Jamaica is the most valuable.
The most famous, fragrant and spicy, also known as allspice. In the Age of Discovery, these gems and spices meant wealth that made Europeans crazy.
Further down, past Panama, is Chibutsa, the future Gran Colombia region. The Mayans met tribal people along the coast, but they did not go up the long Magdalena River and missed the depths of the jungle.
The powerful Kingdom of Muisca is the source of the legend of the Golden Kingdom.
The Muisca people are also a people of salt, rich in salt, gold and gemstones. Their cultural beliefs have become the historical source of common pursuit by all Colombian countries in the future. The popular throwing sport in Colombia, Tejo, originated from Muisca
Turmek movement of people.
As for the Inca Empire further to the south, separated by mountains, jungles and oceans, it is now only a fleeting legend. However, with the navigation level of the Mayans and the direction predicted by Shulot, the initial connection between the two civilizations is possible.
realized.
Shulot felt happy in his heart, and the unknown world once again unfolded in his eyes. In prosperity is the lost glory, and in the wilderness is potential hope. He asked the guards to bring fine wine, and then drank with the merchants until the sun set in the west and the glow came.
caught in their eyes.
"Land the Jieshi to the east to view the sea."
The young man has the world in his mind, his thoughts are flying at this time, and he is looking towards the endless future!
Through the window, he looked toward the distant east. There, the surface of Lake Texcoco was like the sea, sparkling with light.
