Chapter 243: The root system of rule, the village under direct jurisdiction
The rain in July falls continuously, so warm and calm. The drizzle nourishes everything on the earth: there are lush vegetation in the mountains, singing birds in the forest, green shoots in the fields, and the vitality of early summer everywhere.
.
Hulot was wearing a thatched raincoat and stood quietly in the rain by Lake Patzcuaro.
He looked at the low sky. The pattering raindrops formed intermittent lines, falling on the cloud-shrouded mountains, and then flowed down from the mountains, converging into streams in the basins. He looked at the streams at the foot of the mountains. The clear streams were slowly flowing.
It flows, nourishing the shallow trees growing along the way, and also infiltrating the cultivated farmland.
The young king's eyes patrolled the neat farmland, and finally landed on the village at the end, by the lake.
"Let's go there and have a look."
Xiulote gave a deep command. Bertard nodded and left quickly with dozens of guards. He wanted to go first and go to the village to check in person. The remaining more than a hundred warriors wore cloaks and held
Holding a shield and an ax, he is guarding His Highness.
"Be careful, don't step on the new seedlings!"
Xiulote gave the order loudly and walked leisurely across the field ridge. He looked down at the cultivated fields on both sides, carefully observed the new seedlings in the field, and calculated the time for sowing.
After corn seeds are sown, under suitable soil temperature and moisture conditions, they will absorb water and germinate within a week. The germinated new shoots will first take root, separate three or four fixed radicles into the surrounding soil, and then upward
A germ was detected in the air.
Thinking of this, Shulot squatted down and carefully measured it with his fingers. Then, he held a handful of sandy loam in the farmland, felt the texture and viscosity of the soil, and nodded.
At this time, the corn seedlings have just emerged and are only about the length of a little finger. Even the first pair of unearthed cotyledons have not yet unfolded and are still wrapped in a tube shape. The gathered rainwater flows through the field and flows through the young corns.
The seedlings are slightly tilted.
"The seeds only germinate for a week...the sowing was completed two weeks ago...well, it was completed before the heavy rain came. It's still qualified!"
Shulot stared at the delicate seedlings and fell into deep thought. If it grows for another week, the roots of the seedlings will be firmly rooted into the soil, and the cotyledons will open into a leaf-like shape. The corn seedlings will be fully formed by then and will not grow in the soil.
Too much damage is caused by heavy rain... And when too much rain pours into the soil, it will reduce the oxygen in the soil and cause damage to the roots of crops. This also requires deeper and longer root systems to overcome...
Generally speaking, the timing of agricultural activities needs to be coordinated with rain and temperature. This year's spring plowing is indeed a bit late... Fortunately, it seems that the military and civilian villages around the capital have generally completed their farming tasks.
It will have a great impact on the autumn harvest.
While Shulot was thinking, Bertard had quickly returned from the village and was standing by quietly. He looked up and the warrior captain nodded seriously. The young king then stood up and patted the sandy soil in his hands.
Striding towards the village.
The village chief, priests and villagers were already waiting at the entrance of the village, forming a dark crowd, surrounded by dozens of supervisory guards and an accompanying translator. There is a huge difference between Tarasco and Mexica.
Large, many words and pronunciations are very similar. Even without a translator, Shulot can roughly communicate with the Prepecha people.
Seeing His Highness approaching, everyone bowed to the ground and saluted at the same time. Shulot nodded calmly and waved his hand, signaling to the priest, village chief and militia captain to stand up and ask questions.
This is one of the more than 80 villages in the Patzcuaro Lake District, located on the north shore of the great lake. This village has a large area, once had a large population, and was quite prosperous. Only last year, the village was expropriated several times by the Kingdom of Tarasco.
, and then it was attacked by the defeated army, and it was once severely damaged.
After conquering the capital of Qin Congcan, Shulot counted 60,000 civilians in the city, nearly half of whom were villagers who had fled. The young king organized these 30,000 people, and more than 100,000 people around the capital.
Together with the old and the weak, they were placed in villages around the lake area, and priests were directly dispatched to manage them, setting them up as direct community villages. The size of each village was about 2,000 people, and the total number was 80, or about 160,000.
people.
Community management is the tradition of the Mexicans and the foundation of the alliance's strong mobilization power. The essence of community villages is to organize households and people, strictly supervise farming, and direct agricultural activities. However, Xiulote's men lack reliable grassroots governance.
There was a lack of personnel and low-level priests who were proficient in calculations, so the organization of the community had just begun and was still at a very rough stage.
The Young King only sent low-level priests who had recently been trained to each village community, selected local village chiefs, and supplemented them with stationed militia teams, barely controlling the 150,000 to 60,000 villagers around the lake area.
Therefore, in the Mintun village in front of us, the highest status is the village priest who directly belongs to His Highness, who can contact the superior priests and is responsible for religious activities, tax collection and decree reading; followed by the locally selected village chief, usually from Ding.
A family with a large population actually manages agricultural production, coordinates village affairs, and inspects collective storage; finally, it is the dispatched or selected militia captain who controls the village's force, maintains the security of the village, guards the warehouse, and dispatches tribute teams on time. Of course, in advocating
In an alliance of armed forces, the political status of the village chief and the militia captain is actually roughly equal.
Under such a grassroots structure, the influence of the old aristocrats and their bodies were completely wiped out by the devastating national war. New civilian managers were able to come forward and became the managers of the village to try their best to implement the policies from the center of power.
Will...well, in other words, the degree of centralization is further increased.
Seeing His Highness's signal, the three people in power in the village bowed respectfully again, and then carefully stood up. The village priest shouted softly, and two young girls came forward, lowered their heads, and offered to His Highness.
Fresh garland.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Shulot smiled lightly and tilted his head. The warrior captain took the wreath and handed it to the guard beside him. Then, the young king looked at the middle-aged man seriously
priest.
"Take me to see the altar in the village. How is the spring plowing ceremony? Are the morning and evening prayers completed on time? Have the alliance's religious decrees been read out?"
The middle-aged priest half-bowed, but showed a bit of a samurai temperament. He was born in the Alliance and received five years of military training in his youth. He is also good at fighting. He can fluently switch between Tarasco and Mo.
Xiga is the end of the root system of the alliance's ruling tree.
"Dear Priest King, the sacrifice of spring plowing is very grand. According to the latest instructions of the high priests, the main god has replaced the god of harvest. No statues are erected, but only emblems... There will be collective prayers in the village in the morning and evening. The villagers
It was a little chaotic at first, but now it is gradually getting back on track... The busy farming season has just ended, and I have just finished explaining the alliance's decrees on military promotion, encouraging farming, and encouraging fertility... King, the altar is here."
While the two were talking, they came to the center of the village. There was a stone and wood altar several meters square. The altar was two meters high, with a large wooden emblem of the hummingbird sun erected on it, with a total height of nearly four meters. Placed around the altar were
There were various kinds of grains, as well as some sacrificial feathers, birds and small animals.
Shulot looked at it for a moment, with a slight smile on his face. The alliance takes religion as the core of its rule, and the altar is related to the theocracy and public opinion, which is the top priority.
"The Lord God is bright and benevolent... Well, try to save human power and sacrifice birds and animals... Even if it is a major festival, do not sacrifice humans or animals."
The young king gave instructions in a deep voice. The middle-aged priest blinked and nodded solemnly. Then, Shulot looked at the village chief who was following him.
"How is the spring plowing in the village completed? Has the required number of acres been met? How is the manure collected? How is the construction of the village's granary?... Villagers must participate in the work, and you are no exception!"
The old village chief Nuonuo responded, the wrinkles on his face burst into laughter. He replied in a low voice and respectfully.
"Yes, yes! Your Highness, I have been personally leading everyone in the farming without daring to rest for a moment. The spring plowing in the village was completed three weeks ago, without delaying the farming season!"
Hearing this, Shulot frowned slightly but said nothing. He just glanced at the old village chief lightly. The other man trembled slightly and continued.
"According to your instructions, the young men in the village need to cultivate eight acres, the young and strong women six acres, and the old and weak four acres. In addition, several craftsmen have been specially arranged to repair damaged farm tools... A manure collection site has been dug outside the village.
The pond is also used as a toilet for everyone. They follow the instructions of the priest and they also make compost... The granary in the village is somewhat damaged, and it is being filled with earth and rocks, and it will be repaired soon. "
The old village chief led Xiulote to the granary. This is a solid brick and stone house, which is usually the most important building in a village. Due to the lack of metal farm tools, cattle and horses, most village communities in Central America still have
The collective village system is maintained, which is somewhat similar to the well-field system of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Villagers need to work collectively, and then concentrate most of the harvest into the public granary, while saving for lean years. Then, the village manager is responsible for the grain storage of the granary.
Distribute, pay tribute to lords, and arrange labor for villagers.
Under the protection of Bertard, Hulot walked into the granary. He looked at the corner of the house that was covered with mud and the rainwater leaking in the warehouse. He then stretched out his hand to touch the slightly damp soil floor, and slowly
He slowly shook his head.
"This won't work! The granary must be kept waterproof and the foundation must be paved with bricks and stones!"
Shulot pondered for a while. He looked at the frightened old village chief and said comfortingly.
"This is not your problem. I will soon build large kilns around the capital to bake green bricks for building houses. At that time, you can send people directly to collect the bricks and stones for building granaries... However, these bricks and stones must be used
On the granary, the granary must also be completely waterproof! Otherwise..."
Hearing this, the old village chief immediately kowtowed to the ground and kept saying yes. Xiuluo nodded and strode out of the granary. Then he waved with a smile on his face.
"Come here. Are you one of Ezpin's militiamen? How are you doing here?"
The militia captain put down the spear in his hand, came to Shulot with his bare hands, knelt down and saluted with a bang.
"Your Highness, I salute you! Yes, I am a militiaman under Captain Ezpin. The Captain often says that you are our only sun!"
"I live a good life here! I married a local wife, raised a group of turkeys, and had a big house... Oh, in terms of the village... Now I have five militiamen who followed me, and then
There are also twenty men gathered locally to protect the entire village... When the autumn harvest comes this year, I will take them to deliver tribute to the royal capital!..."
Shulot listened patiently for a while and nodded slightly. In a village of two thousand people, five senior militiamen and twenty ordinary militiamen, plus the authority of the priest and village chief, can almost maintain the basic order and capture
Sporadic bandits. After all, this is the heart of the Lake District, not the borderland where the canines are rampant. The militiamen in the village can receive an extra ration from the warehouse to maintain training several times a month.
"very good!"
After listening to the militia captain's story, Shulot nodded with a smile. He raised his hand and took a red cloak from the guard, and gave it to the militia captain himself. The captain put the cloak on himself with some excitement, and then knelt down to salute.
"Your Highness...Marshal! When will the Legion go out again? I will fight bravely for you, and I will also be promoted to a respected senior warrior!"
Hearing this, Shulot had a smile in his eyes and approval on his face. He walked forward, patted the militia captain's shoulder affectionately, and said with a smile.
"Don't be in a hurry, and be patient to take root in the village and maintain the order of the village community. You are the cornerstone of the alliance... There are still many opportunities for expeditions in the future..."
Next, Shulot inspected the village again. He stood outside, looked at the villagers' simple and narrow huts, and then looked inside through the doorway. The young king's expression was a little solemn, the development of productivity
Limited by the times, the life of ordinary people is just a struggle to survive.
The young king did not give any more instructions. He just stood in front of the altar for a while and looked at the wooden sign of the hummingbird sun. The tall hummingbird spread its wings and flew towards the sun of hope. Then, under the protection of the personal guards,
, Shulot turned and left. It was not until he disappeared at the end of the field that the villagers who were lying on the ground stood up, their faces showing respect as if they were facing a god.
The king transformed into a priest from the gods, holding an emerald scepter and seeing everything in the future... Rumors like this have begun to spread around the royal city unknowingly.
Shulot returned in the drizzle. He walked through the tall and solid city gates, walked through the empty streets of the royal capital, and returned to the magnificent Palace of Winds, all the way to the main hall. The two painters who were painting immediately put down their pens.
He saluted His Highness, then bowed and left.
The young king glanced at the mural on the wall, and the pattern on it was being modified. Led by the Sun Hummingbird, the Prepecha people came to the fertile soil by the lake. Then, they joined the powerful and tolerant Mexica Alliance,
Together with the Mexica people who share the same origin, they built the magnificent Qincongcan City. The existence of the "House of Winds" pyramid is a testimony that the Lord God came to the world and issued a decree to completely integrate the two ethnic groups!
Then, Shulot took off his raincoat, wiped off the rain briefly, then sat in front of the wooden table and looked at the latest album.
Monkey Kuruka half-bowed and was busy beside the young king. He helped hang up His Highness's clothes, brought a cup of hot cocoa with honey, and then sat cross-legged next to him.
"Monkey, have you sent the latest scout information?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, they are all here... Your fiefdom is so big!"
Having said this, Kuruca took out a huge wooden board and carefully handed it to Shulot. The young king looked at the dense markings on it, read for a moment, and finally showed a satisfied smile on his face!
