The journey was long and the return journey was long. Maybe it was because he was taking prisoners, maybe he met a creditor, or maybe he heard some news from the military nobles of the city-state. Early the next morning, Orosh's roar urged everyone to get up,
Go south along the flat dirt road beside the river.
Since entering the Mexican plateau, the road south has been comfortable and safe.
At the end of the dry season in Mexico, it is still cool and dry, the sky is clear, there is no annoying rain in the lowland jungle, and the roads are flat enough. The villages along the way are densely populated, with shady fruit trees, cacti and yucca, and are crops unique to the highlands.
On both sides of the wide river are countless high-yield floating fields, Chinampa. There are canoes on the river, and business travelers are constantly coming and going.
This is the actual control area of the Aztec City-States Alliance. The core of the empire composed of more than a dozen Mexica city-states, including the essence of the Valley of Mexico. After entering here, Olosh's mood improved significantly. He only needs time when he is free.
, and will tell Shulot the story of the "Great City-State Alliance".
According to Xiulote's understanding, Lake Texcoco is the "heart of the alliance" and quickly communicates with the city-states along the lake.
The center of the empire was the Three Sacred Cities. Tenochtitlan was in Lake Texcoco, Texcoco was on the east side of the lake, and Tlacopan was on the west side of the lake. According to the original agreement, the three city-states
The leader of the alliance is also the co-ruling monarch of the alliance. According to Shulot's understanding, there are three kings standing side by side, one as the chief and two as the deputy. As for who has a higher status, of course it depends on the strength of the army that the three cities can mobilize.
In order to facilitate his memory, Xiulote mentally added labels to the three cities according to their geographical location and current situation. Tenochtitlan, the capital of the lake, Xianyang in the center, the heart of the empire, and the incomparable stone city. Texco
Co, Anyi in the east, is a prosperous cultural center with an independent heritage. Tlacopan, Yongcheng in the west, is a key strategic location, close to the former capital of the Tepanec people.
And in a circle from the three cities of Lake Texcoco, the many Mexica city-states within three to four hundred miles or two weeks of the capital city in the lake are the core of the empire and the places that can be actually controlled!
According to Orosz's description, the northeastern part of the alliance is roughly bounded by the city of Metztitlan, which is the city of Prickly Pear, which it just passed through. Further to the northeast, there are "loyal vassals" with average strength that have surrendered for more than ten years.
The Huastecs. The empire received from them large quantities of grain, hides and feathers every year.
Xiulote drew a circle in his heart and wrote down the words "similar to the Yan Kingdom, located in the northeast, with medium military strength, and diplomatic tribute."
To the west and north are the "hyenas and hyenas", the Otomi people, who are constantly being conquered and driven away by the alliance.
In the past hundred years, the Otomi people were driven out of the fertile Valley of Mexico by the Mexica and Nahua tribes. They scattered in the north, but they often established new city-states on the border. They had a large population.
, the frontal force is not too strong, but it is tenacious and tolerant enough, and they intermarried with the Chichimec descendants who hunted further north.
Thinking of this, Shulot drew another circle in the northwest and wrote down, "Similar to the Xiongnu, located in the north, with medium strength and diplomatic hostility."
To the southwest of the alliance, the city of Lachico, also known as the City of the Sun, is the boundary. Further to the west are the tough enemies, the "hard stone" Tarascans. They have "incredibly hard" bronze weapons and also have
It is a rare copper mineral origin in the known world.
The Alliance's only disastrous defeat occurred in the war with Tarasco two years ago. Several bloody battles broke out between the two sides. At least three legions of 8,000 men were defeated, with tens of thousands of casualties.
Tenochtitlan, the capital of the lake, once issued a city-state mobilization order, with each household having one soldier, forming a large army of 100,000 people. The Tarasco City-State Alliance was also frightened by the alliance's terrifying war potential and withdrew from the alliance.
Territory. They then turned west and north to clear up the small city-state of Tecos.
A tacit and stable peace has always been maintained between the two countries. Shulot drew a large circle in the west and wrote down "similar to Chu, located in the west, with many troops and diplomatic neutrality".
A little further south, in the mountain valleys on both sides of the Talsas River, are the Jontal people who are "like weeds in the wind." They have a sparse population and have submitted to the empire for many years. Some Mexican immigrant towns,
has begun to emerge in this area.
Shulot's label is "similar to Rongdi, located in the south, with few troops, and diplomatic ministers."
Further south, to the Pacific coast, are the "weak" southern city-states. From west to east are the Trapanics, Miztecs, and Zapotecs. These city-states call themselves "Yunzhong".
"people" with ancient inheritance. They are close to each other by blood. Under the conquest of "the great conqueror, Montezuma I", they were forced to submit to the alliance and pay tribute. However, privately, they allied with each other to fight against the Northern Alliance.
pressure,
The label the young man wrote down was "similar to Song Wei Zhongshan, located in the south, with medium military strength, and diplomatic tribute."
From the capital city in the lake to the east, across the eastern part of the Valley of Mexico and the continuous Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains, and further east, is the empire’s “life and death enemy”: the Tlaxcalans who have been at war for decades!
The Tlaxcalans and the Aztecs are both descendants of the Chichimec-Nava people. The two sides have similar languages, cultures, and blood, but they have deep hatred after countless wars.
Similar to the Aztec Alliance, the Tlaxcalans worshiped the Cloud Serpent, the god of hunting, and also formed a city-state alliance. Their core were Tizatlan, Ocotolco, Tepetiquepac and Kea
The four cities of Westland are referred to as the "Four Snake Cities".
Tlaxcala, like the Alliance, has a similar military system and can mobilize an army of more than 100,000 to the extreme. They are the most dangerous enemies of the Imperial Alliance. The "Flower War" between the two sides has lasted for decades, and it has continued to this day.
Endless.
In fact, it was the Tlaxcalans who introduced the Spanish to Mexico in the end. They provided the Spanish with a foothold, detailed information, sufficient food, and even 100,000 servants and cannon fodder.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! In the end, taking advantage of the civil strife in the Aztec Alliance, Tlaxcala and the Spaniards were actively invited by King Montezuma II to enter the capital. The colonists held them hostage.
The king of the alliance deliberately spread smallpox, which almost destroyed the center of the alliance, the lake city Tenochtitlan. In the following two years of disease and fighting, the once glorious Aztec civilization perished. And Terra
The Skala people themselves were not able to escape the terrible plague, and nine out of ten died.
During the ten years of blood and fire, it was the people of Tlaxcala who dyed the throne of the governor of New Spain red with their own blood and that of other Central American tribes!
Thinking of the future in history, Shulot felt palpitated. He drew a circle in the east and wrote down "Similar to the Zhao Kingdom, located in the east, with many troops, and will never stop fighting." Then, he thought for a while and wrote down four more words.
"Highest threat".
In the east, connected to the Tlaxcala Alliance, there is also a religious holy city of Cholula with a "high status". Cholula is the center of Nahuatl religion, a city of temples, beautiful and wealthy. Their warriors
There were not many, but they enjoyed a special status among the city-states and claimed to be the "Toltecs" who inherited the civilization. Upon hearing this, Shulot labeled them "similar to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, located in the east, with few troops and aloof status."
Further east from Tlaxcala and Cholula to the Gulf Coast are another relative of the Mexica, the "most Maya-like" Totonac.
The Totonac people, like the Mexica people, went south from the wilderness, expelled the Otomi people, and settled on the Mexica Plateau in the south. They actually arrived earlier than the Mexica people. Therefore, they migrated
They traveled further afield and settled on the eastern coast. They almost exclusively enjoyed trade with the Mayans and re-exported them to the interior. Their boats, like the Mayans, were said to have visited "big islands in distant lakes".
The geographical environment affected the direction of politics. Decades of coastal trade and prosperity made the Totonac city-state rich, but also caused them to lose the martial and warlike characteristics of their relatives. They moved to Tlaxcala.
People sold salt, feathers, leather and other strategic materials in exchange for peace, and also paid nominal tribute to the alliance, relatively aloof from the disputes in Central America.
Xiulote happens to have a suitable label "similar to Qi State, located in the east, with medium military strength, and diplomatic neutrality".
As for the more distant Mayan city-states, they are a bit far away and elusive. Orosh has only vaguely heard the names of important city-states such as "Mayapan", "Chichen Itza" and "Chakotelmar", or in
Heard it from the mouth of a Mayan profiteer who didn't want to think of it.
The wars in the Mayan city-states were slightly smaller than those in Mexico, and the scale of sacrifices was also smaller. They were located deep in the rainforest in the southeast, which was difficult to reach. Xiulote randomly found a label "similar to Baiyue, located in the southeast, specifically
"Unknown". Of course, this label is inappropriate. The Mayans' cultural achievements and astronomical calendar have been passed down to later generations.
A few days passed by in a hurry. Shulot listened to the stories along the way and memorized a circle of labels. He almost emptied the ink in Orosh's belly, and then he slowly and contentedly
Digestion. And the pleasant journey is always short. Seeing that there is only one day left, he will be able to return to his home in this life, the ancient holy city of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico!
This trip was real and vivid. For Shulot, the world of Central America was finally no longer a completely unfamiliar fog, nor was it a cold number and result. In his memories,
With some real emotions, a touch of softness, a bit of persistence, a bit of curiosity, and a kind of pursuit and desire!
"Perhaps, there is also a high-spirited optimism."
Thinking about it, he drew a circle in the center of the Valley of Mexico and wrote down the last label for the Aztecs in the center.
"Magnificent, Great Qin"!
This chapter has been completed!