Chapter 104 Analysis of various classes in Mexico: land and manpower
The setting sun sets in the west, reflecting the picturesque red clouds. The breeze blows in the east, filling the place with the fragrance of flowers.
After leaving Montezuma Palace, Hulot went to his new home not far away. He passed through the Beast Zoo and passed the city lake in the palace area before arriving at a priest's mansion with white stone and red roof.
Not long ago, my grandfather moved from Teotihuacan, so he moved out of Avit's residence and lived here. Avit was very busy after he came to the throne. Except for the one night when they first came out, the two of them had a special feast. In the past few weeks, they have been together.
I haven't seen him a few times.
In crowded situations, the king must maintain solemnity and dignity, and Shulot must also maintain etiquette. If it were not for the lovely Alyssa as a link, the relationship between the two would probably gradually become different.
The new mansion is not big, and there are not many servants. There are many warriors, about one or two hundred people, and a dozen longbowmen. Most of the warriors are familiar faces from Teotihuacan, and the longbowmen are
He is a follower of Shulot. After all, the family has left the capital for a long time, and trustworthy people still need to be brought from the holy city. The warriors were fully clothed and fully armed. When they saw Shulot returning home, they all saluted.
Lott returned the favor slightly.
Beneath the calm appearance of the capital, there are turbulent undercurrents. All nobles, big and small, have private armies and family warriors. Without a certain amount of force, it is impossible to live in the center of Mexica's power. What's more, my grandfather is carrying out a huge project.
The religious reform will definitely harm the interests of the great nobles and some priests in the future, and there will definitely be no shortage of enemies.
Before entering the house, Shulot heard a continuous "chirp" sound. He was surprised: the little golden eagle actually knew that he was back and called out to welcome him?
Immediately, the young man strode into the house and saw little Avelot hiding in the innermost layer of the wooden box nest, shouting in fear and helplessness. Not far away, with his head held high, he shouted "Hiss" through a layer of wood.
"Hiss" the little green snake threatening the little golden eagle.
Shulot laughed dumbly. Well, a golden eagle threatened by a water snake.
Across the wooden box, Xiaoqing couldn't do anything. It hissed for a while, and when it saw Shulot returning to the house, it swam over nimbly. Then it got into the boy's trousers and wrapped around his calf.
Get some warm rest.
After regaining his freedom, Shulot went to the elder and asked for a small green snake. Snakes are common pets of priests and indicate the favor of the gods. The elder pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly and said nothing. He just gave it
The boy has two bottles of light yellow medicine for external application of snake venom. One bottle of light green medicine is for internal use and needs to be carried with him.
Later, Xiulote kept the little green snake at home and put a priest's copper ring on its tail to prevent it from being accidentally injured by the servants. The little green snake would swim in the lake in the city during the day and steal beautiful tropical ornamental fish.
Sometimes I would bring one to the boy. It would come back on time at night, scare the little golden eagle, and then find a warm place to sleep.
Shulot looked at the little Avelot again. The little golden eagle was already five months old, and its body was gradually growing. Its wings were covered with new brown feathers, and it could fly for a short distance. When the feathers became fully
Once it grows black, it can fly freely in the sky. Its size is many times that of the small green snake, but it is still a little timid and does not know its own strength.
Seeing Shulot coming over, little Avelot flapped his wings happily, ran into the boy's arms, and then kept shouting "Yo yo". The boy's hand sank, and he quickly caught the little golden eagle, feeling it
The warmth and softness of feathers. Then, the boy gently rubbed its head, and the little golden eagle moved back and forth in cooperation. Well, Avitt trained it very well. It’s just that he has been too busy recently and has no time to be distracted.
Here it is.
"Perhaps, Avitt should be invited here and have a relaxed chat." Shulot thought to himself.
There was no talking all night and he slept well. Early the next morning, Gilliam came to visit wearing simple casual clothes. Hulot put the little golden eagle on the high stone platform, and then called Bertard and a few followers.
The group of people simply went out in a low-key manner.
The market in Tenochtitlan is still bustling. Businessmen come from all directions and disperse like water. It seems that nothing has changed.
However, Hulot knew that businessmen were the most commonly used spies in various Mexican tribes. The royal family of Texcoco was destroyed and the power of the Mexican Federation was consolidated. This shocking news must have been spread by businessmen in various tribes. It is religion.
The reform has just begun and is still being brewed, so it is not too eye-catching.
Gillim took Hulot to a secluded bay in the capital. There were two small boats waiting here. Gillim saluted and invited, and Hulot and Bertard boarded the boat. The guards took another independent boat.
The canoe then sailed quickly, and the three of them headed for the Chinampa group in the lake.
Under the protection of the embankment, the entire Texcocosi Lake was completely controlled, and then divided into several areas by long bridges. The Mexica people built a large area of Chinampa Floating Field in the lake, with neat canals in the middle.
The valley is warm enough and Chinampa is not short of water. As long as the fertilizer is replenished in time, it can be planted all year round.
When the three of them boarded the royal family, Chinampa Hulot looked around and saw hundreds of farmers working in different areas all year round. The floating fields in the lake are labor-intensive agriculture and require intensive farming. The royal family and
The great nobles have a large number of attached skilled farmers and slaves engaged in planting. The nobles have strong control over the attached farmers, and the price of slaves who are good at planting is also very high.
It is now December, and the harvest of cocoa, avocados and vanilla has just been completed. The royal family’s Chinampa has once again planted corn and soybeans, the staple food, but the pumpkins have not yet been sown. There is also a special area where various spices and peppers are grown. In the lake
The lush green floating fields are in sharp contrast to the empty farmland on the lakeshore in the distance.
Standing on Chinampa, Shulot smelled a faint smell of river mud and manure. When planting a new batch of staple crops, the soil fertility needs to be replenished again. This is the dry season, and the lake is full of clean silt.
The villages along the lake provided manpower to dig river mud for the royal family and nobles.
This chapter is not over, please click the next page to continue reading! "The capital of the lake has a total of about nine thousand hectares of Chinampa. Chinampa is the foundation of the capital of the lake and the foundation of the Mexica people. One hectare of Chinampa
Pa can feed at least twenty civilians."
Seeing the farmers busy planting, Gillim was in a good mood and smiled rarely.
Xiuluo nodded. He thought for a moment and asked a question that had been in his mind for a long time.
"Who is in the hands of these chinampa? What is the specific number?"
Gillim pondered for a long time, silently calculating several times in his mind, and then answered seriously.
"The land of the princes and nobles of Texcoco is being confiscated recently, and I have also sent personnel to carefully investigate the land situation in the capital. The only people who can control Chinampa are the royal family, princes, great nobles, priests, small nobles and civilian warriors.
Ordinary civilians, craftsmen and businessmen are not qualified to master the highly productive chinampa."
"The royal family has about 2,500 hectares. This number is the most accurate. The two princes have 900 hectares. We have just confiscated 500 hectares of land owned by Prince Texcoco and half of Prince Tlacopan's 200 hectares.
Hectares. Of course, the two princes also have village fiefdoms and ordinary farmland outside their respective city-states, so this is not included for the time being."
"The chinampa of the great nobles is about 2,400 hectares, which is equivalent to the number of the royal family. This number is not accurate. It is possible between 2,000 and 3,000, because it is difficult for us to inventory the fields of the great nobles. The number of priests' lands
The estimated value is 900 hectares. You can go back and ask the high priest for specific figures. The land of the minor nobles is about 1,400 hectares, and the land of the common warriors should also be around 900 hectares."
"The land of the big nobles and priests is connected together. The land of the small nobles is smaller. The land of the common warriors is completely scattered, so we can only make a rough estimate."
Shulot nodded seriously. He calculated silently for a moment, and then asked in surprise.
"The royal family and the great nobles each occupy nearly 30% of the land, the princes, priests and civilian warriors each occupy 10%, and the small nobles occupy 15%. So, the land is completely concentrated in the hands of the nobles? Approximately how many people are there in each class?"
Gillim nodded solemnly. He replied in a deep voice.
"That's true. The nobles occupy the land and wealth of the alliance, and they also occupy the manpower of the alliance. The royal family and the prince each have hundreds of people, and they have hundreds of thousands of dependents. The dozens of great nobles in the capital have thousands of people, and they have tens of thousands of dependents. The same goes for the priests.
There are hundreds of people, and thousands of servants. There are also thousands of minor nobles, with tens of thousands of followers. And the number of civilian warriors is about tens of thousands, including tens of thousands of families."
"These six groups are the real rulers of the capital. For the alliance's towering sacred tree, the royal family is the towering trunk, the great nobles are the thick branches, the priests are the connected bark, and the small nobles and warriors are
The outer leaves. And the remaining hundreds of thousands of farmers, citizens, craftsmen, and businessmen are just the roots that provide nutrients."
Hearing this, Shulot thought deeply about the power structure of the alliance.
In the Three Cities Alliance of Mexico, the royal family is the government of Mexico and exercises the responsibility of leading the alliance. Under the king, the four consuls of the alliance are all public families, and they are likely to enter it as the heir. The royal family
It was also composed of royal nobles of different sizes, divided into many branches, and many were enfeoffed to foreign countries.
Marriages were common among the royal family, great nobles, and priests, and they were closely connected with each other. This was also the reason why the execution of the Texcoco line was so shocking and implicated so many people. But after all, Texcoco inherited it alone and had little contact with the royal family.
If we take action against the great nobles of Tenochtitlan in the future, I am afraid that even the royal family itself will be divided or even rebel.
In fact, there is not much difference between minor nobles with military merit and civilian warriors. Minor nobles without military merit are likely to be demoted to civilian warriors and confiscate part of their land. However, outstanding civilian warriors will be promoted to military nobles and rewarded with land. None of them have the ability to inherit hereditary inheritance.
The population of each family is only a few dozen people. These warriors provide the alliance with the force of war and are considered the end of the ruling class.
Further down, ordinary civilians are strictly restricted and take the community as a unit to become the basic unit of rule. Civilians need to pay tribute, participate in agricultural production, provide manpower, manufacture goods needed by the ruler, and provide militia during war.
In this era, civilians have no right to speak.
After a while, Shulot asked another key question.
"One hectare of chinampa can support at least twenty commoners. So, how many warriors can be mobilized by each class?"
Gillim thought for a moment, this was also an issue he was concerned about. He calculated in his mind for a while and made cautious estimates.
"Theoretically, supporting one warrior is equivalent to supporting three commoners. The maximum support limit for the royal family should be 17,000 people. But in fact, the royal family needs to cultivate luxury goods and support a large number of servants, musicians, and singers. Really
There are only 10,000 warriors attached to the royal land, of which 5,000 are family warriors, and 5,000 are considered enfeoffments. Adding the commercial tax from the capital and the tribute from the alliance, an additional 2,000 warriors will be supported."
"The Chinampa and village fiefdoms of the two princes can support a maximum of 6,000 private troops, which is actually 4,000 warriors. Including the commercial taxes of the two cities, it should be able to support an additional 1,000 people. After this internal purge,
There should be only the last thousand private troops in the hands of Prince Tlacopan."
"Similarly, the land of the great nobles also allows them to support nearly 17,000 warriors. But the great nobles also need a lot of wealth to maintain a noble life. Their private army adds up to about 10,000 people, which is equivalent to the royal army. At the same time, they can
Mobilize the militia in the villages it owns. Since the troops are scattered in the hands of different families, the royal family will win over some of the big nobles and suppress the entire big noble group. Let their military force be under the command of the king."
"The priest's land can support up to 6,000 warriors, but the priest needs a lot of wealth to maintain his life and faith, and many donations have gone missing. Currently, the temple guard only has 2,000 people and is not easily dispatched. It will only be used during alliance wars.
Send out guards to protect the war priests as they go on the expedition."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "The land of the small nobles can support ten thousand warriors, and the actual number of warriors is also ten thousand. Including two thousand elite noble battle groups, their
The equipment is relatively well-equipped. Chinampa, a civilian warrior, can support six thousand warriors. Usually, they will reduce their own salary and try their best to support some additional warriors of the younger generations with the help of community families.
The villages near the capital will also provide three thousand civilian warriors. In the end, the number of civilian warriors will be about 11,000. The military nobles and civilian warriors are the alliance's most loyal source of force!"
With Gilliam's analysis, the class power in the capital area gradually became clear in Xiulote's mind. He gained a deeper understanding of Mexica society.
Based on the proportion of land ownership and the voice coefficient of classes, we can roughly estimate the influence of all classes in the capital area, plus the force of each class.
Hulot then sorted out his thoughts and summarized the land and manpower of each class in Mexica.
"The royal family has nearly 30% of the land, and its influence is about 35%. It has the power to collect commercial taxes and distribute tribute from the alliance. The specific distribution is in the hands of different levels of royal nobles, and the king has the right to make decisions. The royal family has a firm control of 10,000 taels of force.
Thousands of people.”
Hulot looked at Gillim, who nodded in confirmation.
"The prince has 10% of the land and 10% of the influence. After the large-scale purge, it is now temporarily owned by the royal family, waiting for subsequent enfeoffment. Similarly, the prince has 4,000 vassal warriors waiting for royal distribution. Prince Tlacopan also has a thousand private troops."
Gillim smiled slightly: "The elder's action was fast, accurate and ruthless. He controlled the two princes day and night. They had no time to react, and they had no time to collude with force and launch a rebellion."
Shulot praised with emotion. Then, he frowned slightly.
"The great nobles have nearly 30% of the land and their influence is about 25%. However, they do not pay taxes at all, and even withhold commercial taxes and participate in the alliance's tribute distribution. The great nobles are almost autonomous, pass on from generation to generation, maintain private armies, and accept apprenticeships.
They live with the country and will send troops to fight when the alliance goes to war. Their private army has about 10,000 troops."
Gillim's expression was solemn, and he spoke slowly.
"Although the great nobles are the backbone of the country, their power should be suppressed as much as possible. The alliance's control over the great nobles is too low! Outside the lake area of three cities and four states in the capital, the influence of the royal family is minimal. In the other seven states
, the great nobles replaced the royal family and became the actual rulers of the city-state. In the entire alliance, their influence accounts for at least 40%."
Shulot was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly. In fact, in Teotihuacan, his family was the largest priest and noble family.
"The priests only have 10% of the land. With the bonus of religion, their influence is about 15%. Similarly, the priest class does not need to pay taxes and is treated well. But the priest class is an important force in maintaining the alliance. Their tentacles penetrate into every part of the alliance.
A village and community are the basis of the state control alliance and are equivalent to the affairs officers at all levels.
According to the commandments, the priest class does not have legal inheritance rights. Low-level priests need to strictly observe the commandments and are not allowed to get married. The military force controlled by the priests is the two thousand temple guards who are well-equipped and have high morale."
Gillim nodded first. The priest class is the most important maintenance network among the alliance states. Then he smiled slightly and looked at Shulot. The marriage inheritance of high-ranking priests is too common.
Shulot's face turned slightly red and he continued his analysis.
"The small nobles with military merit own 15% of the land, and their influence has been reduced, about 10%. They cannot be hereditary, so they can be better controlled and commanded by the king. They can provide 10,000 warriors. Civilian warriors have 10%
Chinampa. Some warriors come from villages near the lake area. Their influence and voice are the lowest, estimated at only 5%. They can provide 11,000 warriors."
Bertard listened for a long time before calmly interjecting.
"The life of civilian warriors is very difficult. Samurai need to participate in labor and go out to hunt to earn income and train subsequent family warriors. Although they are slightly inferior in martial arts and have relatively simple equipment, they have stronger determination to fight, and
A strong fighting spirit to change the future is a force truly worth relying on."
Shulot nodded seriously in approval. Most of his followers were civilian warriors. They fought bravely, were not afraid of death, and had higher loyalty. In their daily chats, the young man could feel their attachment to victory and rewards.
desire, these common people landowners are the future of historical development!
In total, in the three cities of the capital, there are 12,000 royal families, 5,000 princes, 10,000 great nobles, 2,000 priests, 10,000 minor nobles, and 11,000 civilian warriors. A total of 50,000 warriors from the four kingdoms directly under the royal family! This is
It is the core force of the Mexica people and the absolute power to rule the states.
Hulot looked at the vast Lake Texcoco and the endless floating fields on the lake, with ups and downs in his heart. Land is everything in Mexica society. If you control the land, you will control the Mexica people. All classes of society
The power of the people relies on the land, and the struggles of various classes will inevitably unfold fiercely around the land.
The young man's thoughts flew to the future and distance.
"Today's Mexica society is one in which kings, princes and nobles rule the world. They are related to each other through marriage and strive to respect the most powerful."
"The future of the development of the times is the establishment of a truly mature country, the separation of the royal family and the government, the weakening of the great aristocratic class, the strengthening of the priestly class, and the rise of military aristocrats and civilian warriors! When metal tools are popularized, productivity will once again
If it improves, the economic foundation of Shang Yang's reform will mature and a new era will begin."
Thinking of this, the Blood Temple not long ago flashed through his memory again. He sighed quietly.
"Maybe there are better ways to reduce the cost of future reforms."
