The night was dark, drifting into the high priest's palace with flickering fire; clouds covered the bright full moon. The shadow fell from the ceiling of the bedroom, covering the young king who was tossing and turning. This night was so long, full of
It's a wordless thought.
Na Xiu stood guard in the corner quietly without any interruption. She was just like a shadow, patiently accompanying His Highness who was sleepless.
It wasn't until the morning star started to shine and the faint light came from the east that Shulot sighed quietly. A straightforward poem came to his mind, and he recited it in a strange way.
"Taizong raised 18 righteous soldiers, Bai Yan and Huang Yue secured the two capitals. He captured and killed Dou all over the world. Four out of twenty will lead to success. Nine out of twenty will lead to the throne. Five out of thirty will lead to peace..."
After chanting here, Xiulote suddenly stopped, his heart alert. He sat up and looked at Naxiu in the corner, who looked confused.
"Your Highness, what were you reading just now?"
Na Xiu blinked, showing a curious look like a cat.
Shulot's expression changed, and after a while, he responded in a low voice.
"It is a poem that praises a king who has a long history. That king had many feats, some of which I wholeheartedly want to do, and some of which I do not want to imitate..."
Naxiu tilted her head and thought for a moment. His Highness seemed a little melancholy tonight and looked particularly delicious... She licked her lips and whispered softly.
"It's almost dawn... You haven't slept all night. Do you want the shadow slave to serve you and take a nap?"
"Yeah. I have a little headache. Please help me rub my head..."
After a while, Shulot rested his head on Naxiu's strong thigh, breathing in the charming fragrance and enjoying the gentle caress. He exhaled a long breath, gradually let go of his thoughts, and fell into a long and distant dream.
In that dreamland, there was a tall sacred tree. The sacred tree dropped seeds, which sprouted into small trees, and the small trees grew vigorously... A storm hit, and the condor flew in the sky, and then thunder fell and hit the tall tree.
Sacred tree...Finally, the sky cleared after the rain, and infinite light rose into the sky...
"Um!!"
Shulot suddenly opened his eyes. He looked towards the zenith, and the sun had already risen to the middle. He sniffed his nose, and the faint fragrance of rice spread in the room.
"Your Highness, you are awake."
Naxiu smiled, stepped forward gently, and helped His Highness up.
"I have prepared your favorite roasted venison, fish fillet soup, turkey egg rolls and spicy stir-fried vegetables. Next to it is honey herb tea and dried cactus fruit..."
"okay."
Xiulote nodded. Under Naxiu's service, he washed up briefly and started to have lunch. Since he had a woman by his side to take care of him, his life has become much more comfortable. If Bertard was here, he would only wake him up on time.
, practice martial arts...
After finishing lunch, he looked up at the midday sun and gave instructions in a deep voice.
"I got up a little late today, but the scheduled itinerary remains the same. I'm going to take a look at the oxen tamed by the Alliance in the afternoon. I probably won't be able to come back in time, so I'll stay there tonight."
"I obey you, Your Highness."
Na Xiu bowed and immediately went to make arrangements. Within two or three quarters of an hour, the group had made arrangements. Two hundred guards guarded His Highness's flag and headed straight for the long bridge southwest of the capital.
The area around the capital city in the lake is densely populated, and the plains along the lake have been reclaimed. Even large floating fields have been built on Lake Texcoco. The oxen (North American bison) domesticated by the Alliance can only be kept in captivity in the southwest of Lake Texcoco.
The mountain pastures are forty or fifty miles away from the capital city in the lake.
They were all elite warriors. After walking for half a day, they arrived at the mountain pasture. When Shulot climbed the hill, he saw a vast wooden fence and groups of huge oxen in the distance.
Ten herd slaves were busy in the pasture, preparing hay for feeding. At least half of them were dressed as northern tribesmen. And high up in the pasture, there was a small wooden and stone camp where a small group of bow-wielding warriors were stationed.
The "behemoth" tribute that guards the royal family.
Seeing the elite warriors coming from the brigade, an older warrior with short hair hurriedly ran down from the camp. Wearing the attire of a distinguished military noble, he came to Shulot in two steps and knelt down to salute respectfully.
"The military noble Mo Hei pays his respects to the invincible His Highness Shulot, the incarnation of the gods! May you be as fast and fierce as the grizzly bear in the north, full of unrivaled power!"
"The Lord God bless you! The military noble Mo Hei, may the Lord God's light illuminate you!"
Shulot nodded lightly. He thought about the unique name Mohe and asked.
"Mohei, from your name, you are a naturalized warrior from a northern tribe?"
Hearing this, Mohei quickly saluted and explained eagerly.
"Your Highness, my grandfather was a warrior from the northern tribes who submitted to Montezuma when he conquered the Huastec people in the northeast. He has been there for more than thirty years. I have lived in the capital city of the lake since I was born.
My father even served as the cut-off guard of the late king Asaya Catel, and was killed in the battle to put down the rebellion of Chalco City State..."
"Oh! It turns out to be a samurai family loyal to the royal family."
Hearing this, Shulot understood clearly. In the history of the alliance, almost every generation of ancestors would recruit brave barbarian warriors to join the army, and even accept them as their own soldiers. Because in some cases, the loyalty of the barbarian warriors
On the contrary, it is more reliable. For example, among the kingdom's imperial guards, there are also many Tekos warriors, Otomi warriors, and newly recruited canine sharpshooters.
"Mohei, which tribe in the north did your grandfather come from? And how did you get the position of managing the giant beasts?"
"Well..."
Mohei scratched his head and answered sincerely.
"Your Highness, my grandfather died in the alliance's war very early. I don't know his origin. I heard my father mention it twice that the ancestral tribe seems to live by the endless lake and make a living by fishing, hunting and planting.
At the same time, we are hunting ferocious herds of oxen... There is also a very, very turbulent, very long river, coming from the northwest and pouring into the endless lake..."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Herds of cattle...the big river in the northeast...the endless lake..."
Shulot pondered for a moment, looking at the dark and rough appearance, and a vague guess came to his mind.
"Mohei's grandfather may have come from the Koahuik tribe in the lower reaches of the Rio Grande..."
"Your Highness, my grandfather had many dealings with bison and had a lot of knowledge about the wilderness. My father also learned some and passed it on to me. Therefore, when the immortal elders passed down the decree to tame the giants in the north,
When I was a beast, I got this opportunity to serve the noble royal family and manage these violent oxen..."
Mo Hei watched His Highness' expression carefully and reported back carefully.
"Then, I stayed in the mountains, established a pasture, and tamed these giant beasts for five years..."
"oh?"
Hearing this, Shulot was very interested and asked in a deep voice.
"Mohei, how many cows are there in the pasture now?"
"Your Highness, in the past five years, the Huastec people have donated 40 oxen calves every year. It takes 2-3 years for the oxen calves to grow up. After the oxen grow up, they will mate in the summer, and the female oxen will mate in the summer.
It takes 9-10 months of pregnancy before the cubs are born... Now, the second batch of cubs has been reproduced in the pasture. In addition to the cattle that died of diseases and various accidents, there are about two to three hundred of them."
"Huh? Only two or three hundred?"
Hearing this number, Shulot frowned and his face darkened. The Huastecs donated 200 oxen in five years, and two more batches of cubs were bred in the pasture. As a result, the number of oxen now is almost non-existent.
increase?
"Your Highness..."
Seeing His Highness's expression, Mohei quickly bowed to the ground and continued to explain.
"The wild oxen are recalcitrant and extremely violent. Taming them is completely different from domesticating turkeys. They run fast, are huge, and have an unruly nature. Male oxen often break through fences, run into nearby mountains, and even
Village farmland, gnawing crops. Adult bulls are strong and stubborn, so it is difficult for herdsmen to pull them and bring the escaped bulls back to the pasture. Even if they are brought back, the bulls that have escaped once will often escape again.
When encountering this kind of situation, the only option is to send out longbow warriors to kill these bulls!..."
"And in the summer when they are in heat, male bullocks will fiercely rush into each other in order to occupy more females. They are as powerful as mountains and cannot be stopped at all. The victorious bullocks will also drive their losing opponents out of the pasture, or seriously injure them.
.”
After saying this, Mohei paused and pointed to the hundreds of oxen.
"Your Highness, you see, these oxen are slightly smaller in size, and most of them are female. Only one-tenth of the males are retained in the pasture for breeding during estrus. And if the newly born oxen is male,
Pastures will only be selectively retained..."
Mo Hei recounted his experience in domesticating oxen in detail. These experiences were gained through great efforts and combined with the knowledge passed down by his grandfather. Many of these experiences were gained at the cost of the lives of the herdsmen.
.
While Bertard listened, he arranged for the guards to guard various parts of the ranch. Mohei glanced at the guards wearing bronze armor and walking noisily, and his expression suddenly changed, and he warned carefully.
"Your Highness, these killing armored warriors can easily disturb pregnant female oxen... The pregnancy of female oxen lasts for nine to ten months, and they usually can only give birth to one cub at a time. During pregnancy, they are very sensitive. If
When encountering large gatherings of people, or strange warriors with murderous intent, or strange noises they have never heard before, they will feel threatened, extremely alert, and restless... And when they are uneasy to a certain extent, they will take the initiative to attack, or
Sudden miscarriage..."
Hearing this, Shulot glanced at the herd of oxen in the valley. Many of the adult oxen turned around and pointed their horns in the direction of the guard warriors, assuming a defensive posture. He pondered for a while and gave the order in a deep voice.
"Bertard, choose a high ground outside and let the guards camp there. We will sleep outside the pasture tonight in the open air."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The warrior commander followed the order and re-arranged his defenses. Although the oxen herd maintained a vigilant posture, they obviously relaxed a lot as the warriors moved away.
Then, Shulot frowned while listening.
"Males are unconstrained by nature and tend to escape as adults and fight during estrus... Females are pregnant for more than nine months and can only give birth to one child, and are easily frightened and miscarry... North American bison are really difficult to tame!"
Male bullocks weigh up to 900 kilograms. They run at amazing speeds and have huge impact. They can maintain a speed of 60 kilometers per hour for several quarters of an hour. They are like tanks in the medieval era. Similarly, male bullocks have a bad temper and do not have a strong sense of territory. They like to move around.
Ordinary wooden fences are difficult to restrain them from wandering around. For the Mexican Federation, it is difficult to fully realize even simple domestication in a fixed location, let alone domesticating male oxen and driving them to farm.
In contrast, female oxen weigh about 500 kilograms. If there is sufficient food, they are pregnant or have cubs, they will not move around, but are more inclined to take care of the growth of their cubs. Mountain pastures can barely survive in closed areas due to the terrain.
In the valley, some docile female oxen are domesticated.
Shulot listened patiently for a long time. Then, he looked into his dark eyes and asked in a deep voice with some kind of long-term expectation.
"Mohei, can a bull that has been domesticated for many years in a mountain pasture be able to be ridden on its back and charge towards the enemy?"
