The rainy season in August is intense, with heavy rains accompanied by strong winds, and dark clouds covering the sky. There is darkness between the sky and the earth, which also dims the face of the messenger from Hilotepec Hotoka City.
Hulot stood habitually on the edge of the tent, but was pulled by Totec's strong arm. The commander-in-chief with broken hair and tattooed face gave Hulot what he thought was a kind smile. Shulot's body trembled.
I had to stand beside him.
This time, the leader of the Suiqiu City envoys is a nobleman. He wears a blue pointed leather hat, a green striped cloak, and a white robe embroidered with the sun, perfectly avoiding everything and the day and night.
Colors related to the God of Night.
The noble's figure is naturally much softer and more flexible than the priest's. He first paid tribute to the divine king who was "holy as the rising sun, as great as the mountains, as brave as the flames, and as wise as the great lakes." Then, he praised the giant hummingbird from the south.
, the Aztec myth of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, who succeeded the sun god.
Immediately afterwards, the nobles began to wholesale honorifics and compliments to the commanders and priests on the scene for free.
Shulot subconsciously glanced at Avitt's sincere smile, and then opened his eyes wide with black lines on his head. Because he also received a complimentary title: "Giant Breeder". A name that sounded very fantastic.
It was hard for him to forget the expression of surprise and puzzled awe on the messenger's face when he found out that he was the maker of the "Behemoth" trebuchet, as if he should not be a young boy, but should be a man from the mythical First Sun Age.
giant.
Too many mythical thoughts still remain in the hearts of various Mexican tribes, and the flames of the dawn of civilization have just been ignited.
The growth of flames requires the accumulation of civilization. Shulot thought for a long time, his thoughts drifting away.
"Perhaps, I should combine the existing graphics and characters of the alliance to invent a complete set of written characters as soon as possible..."
In the commander's tent, the nobles' words may be able to change many things, but at this moment they cannot change the essence of the war between the two sides.
When the envoy of Xilotepec carefully expressed his intention to surrender, the old priest of the sun cloak stood up again.
"Thirty years of tributes, sacrifices of six thousand men, severing the Otomi covenant, handing over the inheritance sacrificial plate, handing over the descendants of the gods as protons, converting to the great sun god!"
The Mexica army has a huge advantage, and the conditions have become even more harsh.
"The kind and forgiving King of Mexico..."
The envoy from Suiqiu City lowered his head and begged the expressionless Tisoke on the throne.
"The city-state has decided to sever the alliance, change its faith, and hand over the inheritance sacrificial plate. As for the tributes and sacrifices, can we further negotiate? I also need to report back to the city-state regarding the proton."
After hearing this, the king finally nodded and made a decision.
"Immediately hand over the inheritance sacrificial plate that records all the myths. The tributes and sacrifices can be reduced to half. This is the last chance!"
The noble envoy bowed to thank him and was about to leave in a hurry. Suddenly, he thought of something and hesitantly said to Shulot.
"Fearing behemoth breeder, during the city-state negotiation process, can you make the behemoth stop attacking?"
Hearing this, Shulot's expression froze and he looked at the king. Tisok nodded, and Shulot responded calmly.
"Can!"
"Praise the gods! I will bring you a satisfactory gift."
The noble envoy breathed a sigh of relief, left his last words, and left sadly.
As soon as the envoy from Suiqiu City left, everyone in the big tent looked happy. After being besieged for several months, the solid city-state of Xilotepec finally surrendered to the alliance.
Shulot smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Three consecutive days of bombardment had seriously worn out the trebuchet's gun shaft, especially the connection with the gun tip, which was the most stressed and most vulnerable. He had told Toth
Well, if the bombardment continues for another day, the trebuchet will be damaged, and it will need a week of repairs before it can be used again. At the same time, these three days of stoning have only caused hundreds of casualties to the Otomi people. And as the soldiers on the city head
With adaptation, this number is decreasing rapidly.
Now whenever they see a stone being thrown, the warriors and militiamen of the city-state will kneel in the corner, bow their heads and pray to the giant beast. Because some smart people have discovered that if they do this, the giant beast will not hurt them.
King Tisoke was very aware of the current situation and had already left room for retreat due to the negotiated terms. Fortunately, the morale in Suiqiu City had collapsed before the city wall.
"Lord God bless! He promises me victory!"
Tisoke looked around at everyone and declared in a deep voice. He nodded with satisfaction to Shulot and walked off the throne. Then, he stretched out his hand and stroked the young man's hair. This seemed to be a hint of swearing allegiance?
"Xulot, the trebuchet is very good, keep studying it!"
Tisok raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile.
"Is there any reward you want?"
Shulot lowered his head, as if he was unaware of the hint. He thought for a while, and answered with a simple and sincere face.
"Dear King, I want some copper axes and copper tools, as well as some excellent craftsmen."
"Except for the craftsmen who built the pyramid, you can choose any other twenty people."
King Tisoke withdrew his hand and the smile on his face. He thought expressionlessly for a moment before speaking in a deep voice.
"There are not many copper axes in the Imperial Guard, and together with the tools, I can only give you five sets. I will give you a batch of cotton cloth, and you can buy it from the merchants yourself."
"Xulot, the priesthood of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the lake, will always reserve a high-level seat for you."
Tisok left a last hint and returned to the throne. The young man in the king's tent finally changed from "a person who is a slight threat to the throne" to "a person who is of some use to the throne."
The showers had just subsided, but the sky was still covered with dark clouds. Early the next morning, Shulot in the camp was awakened by the chaos and shouts coming from the distant city. He put on the sun cloak newly given by the king and went to the Guards
Under the protection of Bertard and several warriors, he climbed to a nearby high platform and looked towards the east gate of Xilotepec City.
I saw about a hundred civilians struggling to walk out of the city. They were pulling hard on the ropes on their backs and dragging something slowly.
Behind the civilian husband was a group of Otomi noble warriors in gorgeous costumes. The warriors either blocked or hugged the priests who were wearing black and white cloaks and looking excited.
The Otomi priests in the city watched helplessly as the peasants dragged a huge boulder out of the city, dragging it all the way to the Mexica camp. They finally knelt on the ground outside the city, letting their cloaks be stained with mud, but facing their heads.
The direction of the boulder.
"O original god! Lord of day and night! We have failed you..."
Some of the priests cried bitterly, some repented in low voices, and some swore to the sky. Some young priests pulled out an obsidian knife and cut their cheeks hard, causing the blood to stain with red streaks.
Wearing leather armor, Shulot walked forward and finally saw the appearance of the boulder clearly. The boulder was round in shape, about two meters in diameter, and about half a meter thick. It was simply estimated that the weight was close to ten tons. In the center of the boulder was a double figure.
The face of a god, with both male and female characteristics, should symbolize the original god Ometeotel.
Below the original god is a monster with a crocodile head, a fish body and frog legs, which symbolizes the original sea monster sealed by Ometeotel, Sipactli, the legendary existence that devours the world.
Surrounding the original god are four suns, symbolizing the four lost eras. This pattern is similar to the sun stone of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, which are "Four Jaguars", "Four Jaguars" and "Four Jaguars" in sequence.
"Wind", "Four Rains" and "Four Waters". The same myths and legends prove the common origin of all tribes in Mexico.
On the outermost side of the boulder, there are densely carved pictures. There are various abstract animals, little people and gods in the pictures, mixed with simple villages, cities, and huge pyramids.
These pictures are Mesoamerican texts, like tribal epics! Most epics record the development of city-states from villages to cities, as well as famous chiefs, warriors and miracles. In addition to priests passed down from generation to generation,
No one can explain the picture clearly.
In these graphic words, different graphics have different meanings, the same graphic also has different meanings, and different graphics can also have the same meaning.
This mysterious design is not at all for the circulation of knowledge and culture, but more like the inheritance of esoteric Buddhism.
And this is the core power that the priests have: the right to interpret myths and graphics. Without this inherited sacrificial plate, the priests of Hilotepec City have lost the most important temple in the city-state.
the foundation of.
Therefore, the Otomi priests not only cried for their faith, but also hated for their lost power.
"It seems that creating a written language is easy to talk about, but you must be cautious about unifying the written language! Because this is competing with the priests for core power!"
Thinking of this, Shulot was horrified.
"If there is no great power of the First Emperor, how can we write the same text?"
The sacrificial plate inherited by the city-state was dragged all the way into the alliance's camp. After receiving the inherited sacrificial plate, the theologian king was extremely happy. He no longer paid attention to other "trivial matters", but only summoned the priests who accompanied the army to study the enlightenment of divinity.
After Shulot went there once, he sneaked away. At this time, Tisoke only had the sacrificial plate in his eyes, and for the first time, he didn't care about Shulot's actions.
In the next three days, countless items of feather clothing, herbs and spices, gold and silver jewelry, and precious gems were shipped from the city of Xilotepec. Xilot also received the gift promised by the envoy, a box of precious stones, gold and silver
, a box of herbs and spices gave him the illusion of suddenly becoming a rich man.
In addition to precious tributes, the army also asked for ordinary clothing, fish, meat, food, salt and firewood... various daily consumables.
The warriors of Mexica were beaming with joy over the spoils of war. But the eyes of the nobles and warriors of Otomi were filled with increasingly angry flames.
On the evening of the last day, the gates of the city-state were opened wide. The three thousand sacrifices that had been finally decided were finally escorted to the Mexica camp amidst the cries of their relatives.
Dark clouds have once again enveloped the surrounding areas, and the storm in August never stops.
At this point, Shulot clearly understood: from the priests, to the nobles, to the warriors, to the civilians, everyone in this city-state was already a complete enemy of the Mexica army.
And how can a few noble protons suppress such a deeply buried flame?