Chapter 581: The wooden boat goes west, the long boat comes east
The long river surges to the southwest. The second largest river in the world and the longest river in the south of the Union is the Talsas River. The Talsas River meanders from east to west for two thousand miles, connecting the east and west.
the only way.
The westernmost part of the long river goes out to sea at Trout Village and merges into the mighty East Pacific Ocean. Next to it is the emerging Black Rock Mountain Iron Mine. This is the southernmost limit of the Kingdom in the Lake, and it is also the starting point and end point of the Kingdom's first maritime exploration.
The three crocodile god galleys, fully loaded with the harvest of exploration, returned to the kingdom from here. Then, they went upstream to the north and arrived at the vast and lush Atoyak Lake where thousands of boats shuttled. They stopped at the Southern Shipbuilding Company outside Zicao City for a few days.
moon.
The shipwrights of Prepecha carefully inspected, repaired the damaged planks, and mended the scattered sails. And when the first catamaran canoe, loaded with the young people of Tlaxcala, arrived at Lake Atoyac
At that time, new royal orders also came rolling in with the dark clouds of the rainy season.
When the Mexica warriors took His Royal Highness's royal order and found Chihuaco in the small village outside the shipbuilding company, he was lying on a pile of thatch, wearing a big straw hat, leisurely sunbathing... okay
, there is no sun in the sky, only dark clouds and mountain wind. The old militiaman is blowing the wind, holding a bag of sunflower seeds in his hand, eating them leisurely.
This time when they went to sea, the fleet exchanged a lot of gold and silver stones at low prices. After returning to the kingdom and refining them, everyone divided the gold and silver nuggets.
Most of the extra income was taken by Chihuakodu and sent to his daughter Luwei and son-in-law Weziti in Gyeonggi Province. As for the remaining militiamen, the old militiaman took it out and built a house near the shipbuilding company.
The house was improved, and the accommodation and food were improved. After being at sea for too long, rowing and fighting, and being exposed to wind, waves and humidity, his old back was sore that he could no longer do as much as before, so he had to sleep on thatch to feel comfortable.
"King's order: The exploration fleet will set off immediately. Within one month, it must arrive at the water valley city camp to receive the new oracle!"
His Highness's royal order was conveyed, and no disobedience was allowed. The warriors left their seals and jade talismans, then turned and left. Chihuaco stood there blankly, looking up at the dark clouds in the rainy season until the first thunder.
After falling from the sky, the old militiaman suddenly woke up. He stared, gritted his teeth, slammed the straw bag in his hand to the ground, and cursed angrily.
"Ah, God is so blind! Why does the thunder falling from the sky fail to hit? What about your highness who is causing harm to people?"
"Boom!...Boom!..."
Thunder was rolling, and a shower was coming in an instant. The old militiamen jumped to their feet, cursed a few times in the rain, and "poofed" at the sky a few more times, then hurriedly lay down on the muddy ground and picked up the scattered sunflower seeds one by one.
The grains were picked up and put back into the straw bag.
"The main god! The rain god! The three gods! There are also all kinds of gods, just let me go!..."
"Boom!...Boom!..."
The wind and thunder of the rainy season come from the east without stopping, just like the king's will. Four brand-new crocodile god galleys sailed out from the southern shipbuilding company, carrying one hundred and forty sailors and sixty warriors to join them.
The original fleet was replaced. The entire kingdom exploration team expanded to more than 300 people, with seven galleys and long boats, and the Prepecha warriors controlled by Huitu Puap also reached 100 people. Subsequently, the lake
The exploration team of the Middle Kingdom stayed for several months and set sail again during the height of the rainy season.
Sailing in the rainy season is full of difficulties. The higher you go upstream, the more turbulent the water in the Talsas River becomes. The fleet sailed through Two Hundred Mile Town, Four Hundred Mile Town, and arrived at Tal Town, Six Hundred Mile Town, where they repaired the ship again.
The entire long river is not dredged by river workers, and driftwood often collides with it. There are also reefs at the bottom of the water. Fortunately, both paddle boats and canoes have extremely shallow drafts, so they will not be affected by the reefs during this season when the river water surges.
Since the Eastern Expedition, the town of Taal along the river has become more and more prosperous as a node of communication between the East and the West. The veteran Etalik followed the orders of His Highness and sent two hundred warriors and one thousand militiamen to build a simple wooden fort here, the Sikkim Fort. The so-called Sikkim Fort.
"Sikkim" naturally has both tin and gold mines. Three thousand prisoners of Tlaxcala were transferred here. Among them, two thousand young and strong men and women worked here to cultivate the hills along the river; the rest
A thousand strong men were used as laborers to build simple docks and put them into tin mines in the surrounding mountains. As for the scattered small gold mines, there were also stationed militiamen who mined them privately, but they were not large-scale yet.
The exploration fleet stayed for ten days, avoiding the peak of the rainy season. Chihuaco often stood at the dock, silently watching the group of canoes sailing in the wind and rain, venturing westward.
These small boats are still full of Tlaxcala captives. They travel along the turbulent river to the kingdom of the west regardless of day or night, regardless of rain or shine. They go west quickly with the wind and the current, and they can cover eight hundred miles in just ten days.
!From Babai Town in the south of the alliance to Lake Atoyak in the south of the kingdom. Of course, it will take more than a month for these canoes to return upstream again.
"Phew! We are sailing at this time, the wind is strong and the water is rough. If we fall into the water, how can we save ourselves?"
"Ha! Old man Qi, what are you worried about? They are all prisoners of the Tlaxcala people, not us Prepecha people! I heard from the Prepecha warriors stationed in Fort Sikkim that every tank transporting Dingkou
The fleet and His Highness have set a military law: on this more than a thousand-mile journey from Shuigu City to Atoyak Lake, at most 20% of the prisoners transported back can die. If more than this number is exceeded, they must be killed.
The leader will be beheaded! If the delay exceeds half a month, he will be beheaded! If the prisoner escapes, more than 20% of the prisoners will still be beheaded!"
Speaking of this, Puap smacked his lips and sighed.
"Tsk tsk, your highness's military skills are really amazing! By the way, I also heard that your highness's grandfather, the high priest of the alliance, died in the holy city of Cholula. In order to take revenge, your highness directly burned the holy city.
Cholula, sacrificed all the twelve priest families to Kaka! Those are twelve divine priest families. They have been passed down for hundreds, even thousands of years. I don’t know how many divine treasures they have accumulated...
"
"Ah?! A fire burned down the holy city of Cholula?"
Hearing this, Chihuaco couldn't help but shuddered. A thunderous "bang" came, scaring Chihuaco into panic. He looked at the dark clouds in the sky carefully, and then touched his head.
Then he lowered his voice.
"What's that? The high priest who is bigger than the sky is dead? How many people must have lost their heads?"
"I guess... thousands or tens of thousands of people must have died, right? This Eastern Expedition was said to be a battle between old enemies and gods. The Mexican Legion fought so fiercely, so fiercely! Look at the tens of thousands of prisoners in each boat.
People can’t stop themselves. We have taken so many prisoners, so how many people will die?..."
"...Hey! People of Tlaxcala, it seems it's over!... His Highness gave us a deadline, but it's difficult to go against the current, the rain is heavy and the water is strong, and we will definitely miss the deadline. We won't...
Shall we chop it down too?”
"Uh... this... shouldn't be possible, right? If we are killed, who will go to sea for His Highness?..."
Hearing this, Puap also trembled. He looked at the dim sky, hesitated for a while, bit, and persuaded in a deep voice.
"Old man Qi, I think it's better not to wait any longer. The peak of the rainy season has passed. Even if you take some risks, the fleet must head north as soon as possible!"
"Um!"
The two looked at each other and nodded heavily at the same time. The long wind blew across the sky, the deafening thunder roared, and dense raindrops fell, all coming from the east.
The next day, the seven galleys set sail again. After traveling upstream for two hundred miles, they arrived at another node along the eastward course of the river, the town of Eight Hundred. Once here, they reached the middle section of the upper reaches of the Talsas River.
.Further up, the river suddenly rises and becomes unnavigable against the current. It is necessary to find the warrior leader in the town and summon hundreds of trackers to drag it up the river.
Chihuaco pursed his lips and stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the turbulent river water and lost in thought.
Cavado, the mountain bird of the Yolem tribe, stood beside him, looking around curiously. He was a hunter from the northern tribe, named after the mountain bird, and had excellent eyesight, so he was appointed by the old militiamen to be on board.
Look at your hands.
Along the way, Shanniao saw countless trees, countless people, temples of unknown heights, and experienced heavy rainstorms that had never happened in the northern wasteland. He was fascinated by everything along the way.
, are full of curiosity, like wild birds that have broken into the city-state, and can't get enough of it.
"What a long river! The tail of the mythical rat that spreads fire is as long!..."
The mountain bird widened his eyes and looked towards the long river ahead. A "turtle" popped up, attracting his attention. He squinted his eyes and looked at it carefully for a while, then suddenly stretched out his hand, pointed in the direction of the turtle, and said with a lame