At the end of September, the wind clears and the clouds disperse, and the sun shines brightly. The moist southeast wind gradually stops, and the dry and cold air comes from the northern plateau. The rainy season has left, and the dry season has arrived. The fields are lush, the fragrance is flowing for thousands of miles, and the villagers are busy.
News. Pumpkins are drying, beans are harvested, and corn is just ripe.
On the shores of Lake Texcoco, a traveling royal procession was meandering by the harvest fields, heading to the Holy Mountain of Estela in the west. All the villagers along the way fell to the ground to salute, and the priests and village chiefs greeted them from a distance.
Don't dare to take a step closer without permission.
Five hundred royal guards wore bronze helmets and leather armor, held bronze spears, and carried long bows. They held high the banner of the black wolf and also guarded the royal family. Under the banner, two distinguished divine couples, Shulot
With Alyssa.
The two have been married for a month, exploring secrets day by day, clouds and rain on the stars every night. They have visited all the sights worth seeing in and around the capital in the lake. The purpose of this trip is to go to a place dozens of miles west of the capital.
They pray on the Holy Mountain and make offerings at the Sun Temple on the top of the mountain. Then, they will vacation at the Alliance Holy Land under the Holy Mountain, visit the flowers and birds in the mountains, enjoy the geothermal hot springs, rest for a week or two, and draw the end of the newlyweds' honeymoon.
Shulot was not wearing armor, only a loose short robe, and he was walking in the fields in early autumn. He looked around, and everywhere he saw the busyness and joy before the harvest. A sincere smile appeared on the young man's face, and he remembered a sentence in his mind
I didn't know the source of the words, so I chanted them in a low voice.
"If you go out and wander around without knowing how to farm and the people are poor, and you don't know how to work with the material, the soil and the people, you will be in trouble..."
"Huh? Shulot, what are you talking about?"
Alyssa was dressed in a white robe, a pair of exquisite cloth shoes, and a silver ring tied into her hair. At first glance, she saw a pure and beautiful girl without makeup, but as beautiful as a snow lotus. When she heard her lover's whisper, she became curious
Blinking.
"Haha, I mean, if you want to govern the alliance and manage the people well, you must know the details of farming, the poverty of the villages, the output of the land, and the hard work of the people! As the heir of the alliance, if you don't know these, you should be punished.
The whip whips..."
Shulot replied with a smile, but his expression was full of seriousness. He looked at the harvest scene in the fields and thought about the foundation of the kingdom. The so-called plowing war, plowing before the war, is the foundation of everything.
"Um...whipping?"
Hearing this, Alyssa looked at her lover and her face turned red. She licked her lips and asked softly like a seductive little fox.
"Xulot, who will whip you?"
"Of course it's me! As the sect's chief priest, I must regularly conduct introspection in front of the Lord God's symbol..."
Shulot took it for granted, his voice was loud. After a moment, he looked stunned and looked at the shy girl.
"Alyssa?...You..."
"Well... in mythology, the monkey god "Ozumatri" is the companion of the god of music and dance "Hughchipiri". However, the monkey god has always been passionate and lively, and it is difficult to restrain his desires...
If he eats secretly outside, the goddess Hugh Qipili will take out a moving snake whip and snap..."
Alyssa blushed and whispered, her voice gradually becoming inaudible.
Shulot was a little unbelievable. He looked at the delicate girl and murmured.
"Punishment for stealing?...Alyssa...if you want...well, it's not impossible..."
"Ah, I'm so embarrassed, let's not talk about this anymore!"
The girl's neck turned red with embarrassment and she stamped her feet in annoyance. Then, she turned her head as if fleeing and looked at the fields on both sides.
"Xulot, look, the corn in the field is ripe. Why are these people sleeping on the edge of the field but not harvesting the corn in the field?"
Hearing this, Shulot smiled and looked at the vast farmland in the four fields. The vast Milpa was covered with mature corn. There were tens of thousands of Mexican villagers in the four fields, and the whole village was out and sleeping in the fields.
At the edge of the field, from time to time, villagers in the distance waved wooden sticks, and even militiamen shot stones to drive away birds and beasts that were watching the corn.
"Well, Alyssa, it's like this. Although the corn in the field is ripe, it is not fully cooked. Birds and beasts are attracted by the aroma of ripe corn. The villagers have to drive away the birds and beasts while waiting for the harvest of the corn.
Ripe."
Xiulote pondered for a moment and then explained in detail. Unlike other crops, corn does not fall off easily after maturity. It will complete the post-ripening effect on the plant and absorb the last nutrients of the plant, thereby increasing the yield. As long as it is harvested in a week or two at night, it will
It can increase production by nearly one-tenth!
In this era of low output, every bit of increased grain production is precious. Therefore, this is the hardest time before the autumn harvest. Villagers have to sleep on the edge of the fields for a week or two, taking care of the mature grains and letting the fresh ones grow.
The young corn is completely cooked and turns into sunken old corn.
After hearing this knowledge about farming, Naxiu's eyes flashed and she pursed her lips in silence. She looked at His Highness quietly, as if she recognized a new side of her master.
Bertard stood a few steps away, guarding the outside. Hearing Hulott's story, he smiled and praised.
"Your Highness is right! We have to wait a little longer before we can harvest more corn. It will take about until the milk lines of the corn kernels have completely disappeared, the kernels have become very hard, and the bracts have dried up, turned white and become loose. At that time, the priest in the village
and the elders will urge the villagers to harvest day and night."
Alyssa blinked and nodded. She is good at growing flowers and herbs, and is also good at farming.
"Xulot, I understand! As you told me, the vitality of crops comes from the sunshine of the Sun God, the rain and dew of the Wind and Rain God, and the nutrients of the Mother Earth. The corn will take longer to mature, and the harvest will naturally be better.
It’s more. And now there’s plenty of sunshine, no rain, and no need to worry about mold!”
"good!"
Shulot nodded with satisfaction, stretched out his hand, and pinched his lover's face gently. The group of people kept walking, walking through the continuous corn fields, and then came to the large cotton fields. The scenery in front of them also changed from the endless yellow and green fields.
, turning into a mixture of gray and bright green.
"Your Highness, this is the cotton field of the alliance. Not far to the west is the towering Holy Mountain. Surrounded by steaming hot springs, there is also extremely fertile land. Most of these lands belong to the nobles and warriors of the capital, and they occupy the best water channels.
, growing valuable cotton.”
After hearing what the warrior commander said, Shulot nodded slightly. He stopped and stared at the low cotton bushes, his eyes flashing with thought.
Cotton is a crop that consumes a lot of water and soil. In the Mexican Federation, the more productive Mexican fine cotton is naturally grown.
Compared with Indian coarse staple cotton in the Old World, the growth period of Mexican fine staple cotton is ten days shorter, the yield is much higher, the quality of cotton velvet is much better, and it is easier to weave into cloth. This is the old
The coveted cash crop in mainland China was also the key to the explosion of cotton production in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
Cotton cloth is a popular trade item around the world. In the world of Central America, cotton cloth is the same currency as cocoa and can be directly used as currency in villages and towns.
Black Wolf's flag was flying, and the warriors were solemnly surrounding him. Shulot paused for a moment, and the busy crowd in the cotton field stopped and saluted the royal team. Most of the people were lying on the ground, performing the courtesy of common people. A few people knelt down.
Kneeling down is actually the etiquette of a samurai.
Shulot looked at it from a distance for a while and asked in a deep voice.
"Bertard, have you ever picked cotton?"
"Picked, Your Highness."
The warrior commander replied calmly, with a look of reminiscence on his face.
"Cotton in the alliance is usually sown in April. If the land is not fertile enough, it will be planted sparsely. By the end of August, the first batch of cotton can be picked. Then every five to seven days, cotton will mature one after another.
, generally it can be picked until the end of October, or even until the end of December. However, generally the quality of cotton gets worse the further you go..."
"...picking cotton is a real hard work, much harder than farming. Of course, the benefits of growing cotton are unmatched by farming. The great nobles of the alliance will use a large number of serfs to be responsible for the planting, picking and weaving of cotton.
, directly obtain cotton cloth that can be used as currency. Among the families of civilian warriors, if there is a lush and fertile Chinampa, they will also grow some cotton...After all, corn is just food, and cotton is money."
Hulot nodded slowly. Cotton picking was extremely cumbersome, took a long time, and was extremely labor-intensive. The triangular trade in the Atlantic Ocean became so popular in later generations, to a large extent, because of the cotton fields, sugar cane fields, and tobacco fields in tropical America.
There is an insatiable demand for manpower.
"Bertard, how many kilograms of cotton can be harvested from one acre of cotton field in the Alliance in one season?"
Hearing this, Bertard thought carefully for a long time before giving an uncertain answer.
"In Chinampa, which is not very productive, one acre of cotton fields along the lake can produce nearly 20 kilograms of cotton in one season. It can probably make one or two pairs of strong cotton armor for the warriors at home."
"The yield per mu is 20 kilograms?"
Shulot raised his voice, a little surprised. He looked at the alliance's cotton fields again, with a smile on his face.
"The hinterland of the Union is really fertile, and cotton is so productive!"
Yes, in this era, the yield of 20 pounds of cotton per mu is an absolutely high yield figure, surpassing India in the old world and the Ming Dynasty in this period. This should be attributed to the excellent short-staple cotton varieties in Mexico and the rain in tropical areas.
The climate of the same period was hot. The domestication of various crops by the ancestors of Mesoamerica really benefited the entire human civilization.
Bertard smiled quietly. He thought for a while and reminded him again.
"Your Highness, the Alliance is located on a plateau and attaches great importance to food production. It does not produce much cotton. Among all the tribes in the world, the ones that produce the most cotton are the Mistra and Zapotec in the southern rain forest, and the Eastern rain forest.
Maya.”
"Yes. The Mayan merchant Tikalo also told me that the city-state of Tuturxiu in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula is a rich and prosperous country rich in cotton."
Shulot turned around and looked towards the distant east, lost in thought for a long time.
With current navigation technology, the safest navigation route to the Cuban Islands is to follow the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and head all the way to the Yucatan Peninsula in the northeast. After reaching the north of the Yucatan Peninsula, turn east and head out.
It can be reached successfully by sea route of three to four hundred miles. This coastal route has long been in the hands of the Mayans, and the chance of getting lost is very small. However, to take this route, you must first travel on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Get a resting footing.
"Otter City, Tutur City...Eastern Route..."
Alyssa tilted her head, her bright eyes flashing. She looked at her thinking lover, as if she were reading an incomprehensible book, mysterious and fascinating.
"Xulot, what are you thinking about? Well, I can think about it with you..."
"Haha! I was thinking..."
Shulot came back to his senses and smiled slightly. He stretched out his hand, hugged the lovely person in front of him, and kissed her deeply.
"I'm thinking that at this time tomorrow, we can soak in the hot springs together and watch the sun set!"
"Yeah! There are so many people..."
Alyssa exclaimed, a blush appearing on her face again. She pursed her lips and hid in her lover's arms. Then, the girl spoke softly, her voice as thin as a mosquito.
"Then, what happens after the sun goes down?..."
"After the sun sets... of course, watch the fish swimming in the water!"
"Ah? There are no fish in the hot springs."
"Yes. If you don't believe it, I will show you when the time comes..."
"Ugh...bad monkey!..."
"Ha ha!"
The young man's laughter spread far away, and the Black Wolf's flag moved again. The loyal warriors surrounded the king and queen and headed to the sacred mountains in the west. There, there is the oldest sun temple and the ever-extinguished sun.
The sacred fire of inheritance has been burning from the long past to today and the future!
This chapter has been completed!