April in the tropics is the end of the dry season. The cloudy weather is gradually increasing, and the wind has a moist breath. As the top priority of the year, the busy spring plowing is about to come.
Waves of messengers ran through the Kingdom in the Lake. They went all the way north, passed through the wilderness full of life, passed the lake where fishing boats shuttled, and finally arrived at the river mouth fortress, delivering reports from various parts of the kingdom to the king.
In the courtyard at the center of the fortress, Shulot sat cross-legged, reading documents from various places.
It is said to be a document, but it actually looks a bit like illustrations with captions. On the tough bark paper are painted figures with different movements. Some are holding weapons, some are holding farm tools, some are holding cotton cloth, and some are holding corn.
Some mine stones, some smelt metals, and some are praying. Next to the little figures, there are different counting symbols and native kana, and a few Chinese characters marked with squares. The kingdom's writing has been popularized for less than two years, even the simplified native
Only some priests know the kana, and even fewer are familiar with Chinese characters.
Before the writing was popularized, the "illustration album" was a bit long. Large volumes of documents were piled on the two desks in front of the king, one pile had been read and the other pile was waiting to be viewed.
The two book desks are made of short, flat solid wooden piers, with a hard texture and a black-green background. The wood surface has a natural and unique texture, and the color changes with the wood grain. At a glance, the two solid book desks look like dark jade.
It is thick and simple. In fact, because the hardness of the wood is too high, the kingdom's craftsmen polished them exactly the same way as jade. This is the high-end precious wood that is priceless in later generations, the precious Mexican ebony and black persimmon wood.
In this era, black persimmon was also a relatively valuable tree. Because of its peculiar fragrance, it was endowed with religious significance and was often planted near temples. The texture of black persimmon is variable and dark, like satin.
The surface is like an ink landscape painting born naturally.
Shulot liked the texture of this kind of wood very much, so he asked the craftsmen to make some furniture that he remembered and placed it in the palace where he lived. These reminded him of his distant motherland. After reading the documents for a while, he stretched out his hand.
He took action and picked up a dark purple tea cup from the black persimmon wood table next to him.
The deep purple teacup is the latest product made by the official kiln in the capital. In order to supply the royal family, the craftsmen used heated coke to create a kind of stoneware between pottery and porcelain. Although Shulot pointed out the direction, porcelain
The craftsmanship is still far away, and even the glazing technology is still being explored. Only occasionally will some exquisite fine stoneware be produced.
"The delicate stoneware without glaze is somewhat like Yixing's purple clay pottery."
Shulot looked at the beautiful graininess on the surface of the tea cup and the faint purple luster, smiling. Under the guidance of the divine priest, the kingdom's pottery technology is slowly progressing, just like other handicrafts.
Then, he lowered his head and took a sip of hibiscus tea, a specialty of the Kingdom. The sour taste immediately echoed in his mouth, with a faint floral fragrance, which made people feel refreshed.
Hibiscus flower, also known as Roselle (Flor de Jamaica), is mainly produced in tropical Africa, but there are also native plants in the Americas, especially the Jamaican variety. In later generations, this was a common popular drink in Mexico, and it was popular in any market.
You can see dried hibiscus tea. It also has a slight refreshing effect, and the king used it to relieve fatigue.
Two steps away, Bertard was also sitting cross-legged, with a bronze sword beside his legs. There was a table in front of him, and there were paper and pen seals on the table. The political structure of the kingdom was rough and streamlined, and important
All matters are decided by the king.
"Bertard, documents from all over the country have arrived one by one, reporting the number of Dingkou and preparations for spring plowing. Only the report from Zicao County in the south is vague."
Shulot frowned, threw the wooden atlas in his hand, and threw it on the table. The atlas was still in the traditional style of the Alliance and the Kingdom, with thick wooden boards and abstract pictures, with several ancient marks next to it.
There are no specific figures or descriptions in the graphic text. The king felt unhappy after just looking at it.
"Your Highness, Etalik, who is based in Kulamo City, wrote a letter saying that the great nobles in Zicao County appear to be respectful, but in fact they are obstructing the administration of the kingdom. The nobles are led by the honorable nobles Kulamo and Zotor, and they are secretly united.
.Under their obstruction, the spread of the Lord God's faith was extremely slow. The priests were unable to control the villages and were often attacked by bandits..."
Bertard looked calm and told the details of the south one by one.
"Last year, when the army marched north, there were changes among the southern nobles, with frequent gatherings. In the name of the floods in Tulsas, they reduced the tribute after the autumn harvest. Fortunately, Ezpan's Second Lancer Corps was stationed here.
In the south of Gyeonggi Province, the southern nobles dare not make big moves."
"Gulamo of the Purple Grass family, Zotol of the Palm family...are they all honorable nobles who surrendered after the Western Expedition?"
Hearing this, Shulot asked in a deep voice, his eyes cold.
In the Nahua language, "Zotol" means palm, and "Gulamo" means Lithospermum ragwood. The Lithospermum county in the south is named after Culamo, which shows the long history of these families.
"Exactly, they are both great frontier nobles who were enfeoffed in the early days of the Kingdom of Tarasco. After more than two hundred years of inheritance, the two families have deep roots in Zicao County in the south and are married to many nobles."
Bertard took out a volume of atlas and started to read it.
"Your Highness, after last year's autumn harvest, the tribute paid to the kingdom by Shicho County, which has a population of more than 200,000, was only a quarter of that of Gyeonggi. The great nobles only paid some symbolic tribute. It is said that in Tarasco
This was how they were during the Kingdom Age. They paid no tribute or benefaction, they controlled the country and the land, and only provided some military service."
"Well, I understand."
Shulot lowered his eyes, nodded, and stopped talking. The aristocratic forces in the south had always been in his mind, but the Northern Expedition happened suddenly and lasted nearly a year, which delayed his previous plans.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After drinking the hibiscus tea, more was added, and all the documents were reviewed. The king unfolded a newly made map of the kingdom and patiently reported on the various places.
One is marked on the map.
It has been two years since the Kingdom of Lake was established, and the situation in each county has been sorted out.
After settling 60,000 dog descendants, Hekou County in the north already has a population of about 210,000, all under the firm control of the preaching priests. The aristocratic forces in this land have been most completely purged, so the vast majority of the population has been compiled.
Each household was unified and incorporated into the kingdom's settlement system. Peasants would pay 30% of the tax every year and obey the dispatch of corvees.
The belief in the main god spread rapidly in Hekou County, and compost and new agricultural tools began to become popular. Last year's autumn harvest output increased by 20%, and the output of Milpa per acre increased to nearly 100 kilograms of corn and beans, and 200-250 kilograms of pumpkins. Calculated in this way
, only 3 acres of land can support approximately one person. And based on the current land output, if the kingdom reduces the tax from 30% to 25%, each household can support one more child.
After thinking for a while, Xiulote marked Hekou County as "Kou 210,000, Ding 50,000, directly under the Kingdom, major grain county, Leman River Shipyard".
Next is Gyeonggi in the Patzcuaro Lake District, with a population of about 280,000. With the participation of Sage Jatiri in politics, more and more Prepecha elites joined the rule of the kingdom and managed all aspects of Gyeonggi. As
The prerequisite for the elites of Prepeca to participate in politics is that the belief in the main god has completely covered the upper echelons of the kingdom.
A large number of military camps were established in the Gyeonggi area, where the best craftsmen from various kingdoms were gathered together, and the copper and coal mines in Qinganbat in the southwest were vigorously exploited, and the first university of the kingdom was established.
The royal capital of Qincongchanseong is the political and religious center, as well as the workshop and cultural center. The Ivacio City in the south of Gyeonggi is an important commercial center and the largest copper mine and gem trading place in the world. It can be said that Gyeonggi has
The output almost supplied the entire kingdom's standing legions and provided the best bronze equipment.
Shulot drew a few circles, and then marked "Kou 280,000, Ding 70,000, directly under the kingdom, copper mine, coal mine, bronze, gemstone, workshop, market, university."
Later, Lithospermum County in the south was vast in area, had abundant rainfall, and stored copper and silver, but it was the weakest place in the kingdom. The southern boundary of Lithospermum County was the Tulsas River, and the forks of the river irrigated the land along the way, promoting agriculture.
The conditions are favorable, and the fishery and mining resources are also very rich, but they have not been developed. The county town of Cullamo, along the Talsas River, is an important trade center in the world, and has very frequent exchanges with various ministries in the south.
Xuelot recalled the data estimated by Etalik and wrote, "200,000 mouths, 40,000 dings, aristocratic autonomy, unknown details. Foreign trade center, outlet to the sea."
The west side of the Tulsas River leads to the outlet that flows into the Pacific Ocean. It is only more than 300 miles away from Culamo City in Lithospermum County. It is the closest route to the ocean. Thinking of this, many explorations flashed in his mind.
plan, and a person who flashed by. After a moment, the king raised his head slightly and turned his gaze to the north.
The three Otomi states in the north have already been marked. The Otopen state has a population of 200,000 and a population of 30,000. The nobility is autonomous and the ancestral land of the mountain city. The Guamare state has a population of 140,000 and a population of 20,000. The aristocracy is autonomous.
The northernmost state of Parmus has a population of 80,000 and a population of 15,000. It is a semi-autonomous, wilderness outpost."
Although these data are only estimates, they can show the kingdom's ability to control the local area. In total, the three core counties of the kingdom have a population of nearly 700,000 and a population of 160,000. If the subordinate Otomi forces are also included in the Lake Kingdom,
Then the new kingdom already has a population of more than 1.1 million, more than 200,000 strong men, 500 miles from east to west, and nearly a thousand miles from north to south!
The king's heart was burning with raging ambition. His expression changed, and he couldn't help but reach out and touch the eastern lake capital, Tenochtitlan, which has the largest population, the most fertile valley, and the most powerful city in the world.
alliance.
Then, his hand gradually moved westward, caressing the area of Lake Chapala, which has the same fertile land. It is the "River of Stones", the "Valley of the Fortress" and the location of the Guadalajara metropolitan area in later generations.
.Finally, the king finally put pen to paper and drew a heavy red circle on Kuramo City.
"After the autumn harvest, I will come here for a visit!"
This chapter has been completed!