Outside the chief palace, there were hundreds of thousands of people cheering and celebrating. The priests sang accompanied by the poet's recitation, and the beautiful ocarina mixed with the thundering rhyme of drums.
There is solemnity and silence in the chief palace. The breeze blows the curtains of the gods. Rows of elder guards have expressionless faces, adhering to their duties for decades. They have dedicated the rest of their lives to the gods and the elders.
By.
The elder looked at Shulot calmly. This is a smart child, and he should be able to understand the meaning of bringing him to watch the ceremony. This is also an unknown child, and I hope he can express new insights that suit his wishes.
In the past ten years, he rarely changed his original plan, and rarely gave anyone a second chance. In other words, this was the first time he tolerated Shulot after his brother's death.
Shulot closed his eyes and meditated, and scenes of memories flashed through: his grandfather's message, the murals in the corridor, the paintings of the snake house, the sacrificial ceremony, the tribute ceremony, and finally settled on the elder's god-like gaze.
He opened his eyes again and nodded slightly.
"Today's ceremony is filled with blooming flowers. Under the flowers, there are burning flames!"
"Mexicans appear to be pious, but in fact they are shaky. People rely on costly sacrificial rituals to satisfy their spiritual needs. They fear the gods, but do not love Him wholeheartedly. Once they encounter a more powerful and complete belief in the gods
, you will surrender to the strange gods who are good at manipulating people's hearts."
"The city-states of Mexica appear to be subservient, but in fact they are loose. The alliance relies on the deterrence of the capital's core force to maintain a highly independent tribute system and maintain tribal unity. Once it encounters a strong external attack and damages the capital's core force,
The alliance will fall apart."
Shulot's face was solemn. He expressed his understanding of this society and also described the fate that would actually happen in the future.
Hearing this, the elder's expression changed, and his brows furrowed slightly. The guard captain behind him had been watching the elder's expression silently, and silently pulled out the copper ax from his waist.
The elder waved his hand slightly to stop, and the captain of the guard put away the copper ax again, and everything was silent. But in an instant, the elder's face returned to calm. He turned around and walked towards the corridor of the gods. Shulot followed behind,
I can no longer see the elder's expression.
"My child, continue talking." The elder's words came slowly from the front.
"We need to unite the people of Mexica and strengthen the control and integration of the city-state. We need to unify the consciousness of the people and establish centralized power!" Xiulote said firmly.
In the long and changing corridor of the gods, the elder finally stood still. He stood in the darkness on the inside, while Shulot was in the light. History has reached the changing boundary between light and darkness, just like the changing gods.
"My child, what are you going to do?" The elder turned around again. He was in the darkness and his eyes were calm.
"Reformation, establishment of legal codes, monotheism and religious law." Shullott was concise and to the point.
The elder looked into Shulot's eyes and waited quietly for an explanation.
"The religious reformation brought monotheism. The main god Huitzilopochtli will be elevated to the only supreme god! He will become the great and almighty creator, the master of all things and the world, and will be eternal and immortal.
The main god wants to integrate the responsibilities of other gods, from wind, rain, thunder and fire, mountains, rivers, vegetation, to time and space, destiny revelation, from survival and death, war and peace, to weddings, funerals, food, clothing, housing and transportation... He wants to integrate infinite power and entrust all
People’s hearts. He wants to blur the specific image and become the highest concept in people’s hearts!
Other gods, including the important rain god, will gradually degrade. They first become minor gods in this generation, and then become saints in the following generations. And our ancestors and outstanding figures can also be
Sanctification.”
In Shulot's understanding, monotheistic religions have a strong dissemination advantage over polytheistic religions. Except for China, which has an extremely profound cultural heritage, and India, which has a deep-rooted caste system, the entire world has been transformed into the belief in monotheism.
In the future, in order to resist the invasion of the Cross, the nascent Mesoamerican civilization must have a theoretically complete and well-organized indigenous monotheistic religion to gain sufficient religious resistance.
The elder fell into a long meditation. He had done a lot on the road to upgrade to the God of War, turning the God of War into the patron saint of the Mexica people, and then upgraded to the Sun God, giving him the mission of maintaining the movement of the world. And Xiulote became a deity.
The idea was far beyond his plan.
This is a limitation of the perspective of the times. In the beliefs of ancient American civilizations, the concept of one god never existed, and there is no history to draw from. In this era of many gods, Shulot's ideas are groundbreaking and beyond ordinary people's imagination.
Thinking. Of course, he stands on the shoulders of the entire world.
The elder said nothing. He just continued to move forward slowly, and Shulot followed silently. Silent darkness enveloped the two of them. The gods also became tools of mortals.
After a long time, the elder asked again.
"My child, you see beyond mortal sight. I want to hear more details."
Shulot thought for a moment before revealing his thoughts.
"Religious Reformation, the Supreme God is almighty, He does not need sacred blood and life to maintain the operation of the world. Therefore, I want to cancel the sacrifice of life."
The elder stopped again. He stood in a corner without candlelight and looked at Shulot calmly. But Shulot felt a heavy pressure and a deep chill.
"Child, the Mexicans need war, the Mexicans want to conquer the world." Once again, the title changed.
Shulot stared firmly into the darkness. He also explained calmly.
"We can launch a holy war. For forces that do not believe in the Supreme God, warriors will also fight for the gods! The purpose of war is assimilation, not sacrifice."
Xiulote understood that the sacrifices in Mesoamerica had the effect of regulating the population. But he believed that under his leadership, the Aztec civilization would soon enter the Bronze Age and Iron Age where productivity was greatly developed. And then there was
In the colonization of the vast America, population will become the most important resource.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! What’s more, diseases from the Old World are coming soon. American civilization needs a sufficient population to withstand the ravages of disease.
The elder was noncommittal. He thought carefully about the concept of "holy war" and gradually put away his murderous intention. After a while, he said calmly.
"My son, warriors need more spiritual power to conquer the vast world. Warriors can only put down their war clubs after victory."
"Now, tell me, how do you unify consciousness and unite people's hearts?"
Shulot pondered. He closed his eyes again and found those fragments from the past memories and historical monotheistic religions that were consistent with reality. It took a long time before he opened his eyes again.
"We must use religion to unite people's hearts. Religion must occupy the hearts of believers and satisfy all their desires."
"The first thing to do in the religious reform is to outline a beautiful future life and perfect the world after death. It absorbs the red kingdom we already have, the kingdom of the sun god, the land of death, and the warrior souls transformed into birds and flowers.
Legend. Let the devout ascend to the kingdom of heaven, fight the dead for God to have good things, and sinners sink into the land of death."
In Mexica mythology, there are different kingdoms of death. Brave warriors ascend to the Kingdom of the Sun God, war dead and women with difficult childbirths also go to the red kingdom of peace, and drowned people go to the Kingdom of the Rain God.
The rest went to Mictlan, the land of death. Mictlan has nine levels of hell, with cold winds as sharp as knives. The first eight levels are endless darkness, and only wealth and the lives of slaves can protect it.
The soul of the dead.
This polytheistic belief needs to be reintegrated to more effectively occupy the hearts of believers. The religious reform must establish the desire for heaven and the fear of hell, and guide people's behavior and thoughts.
The elder nodded imperceptibly. He remained silent in the darkness.
"Religious Reform, the meaning of faith is the pursuit of beauty. We must promote self-cultivation, combine the original precepts and customs, guide people to yearn for beauty and kindness, just like longing for flowers. Teach people to obey one God, kindness, justice, courtesy, wisdom, and trust.
..all the virtues we wish for.”
The elder's face was expressionless. If there is any beauty that Mexicans pursue together, it is the bravery of battle and the blooming of death. Mercy is obviously not included in it.
"Religious reform requires a system of confession. Now the Mexica people have an opportunity to confess to the God of sin and use penance to free themselves from their sins. We must expand the system of confession and return the power of liberation to the hands of the Supreme God. No more
Limiting the number of confessions and corrections allows priests to have more control over the hearts of believers."
Shulot thought of the most powerful penitential system in the cross ceremony and the historical church practices, and then added.
"The secrets of these confessions should be firmly kept by the priests. Important confession information needs to be recorded and handed over to the senior priests, so as to have a stronger control over society and the people."
The elder pondered slightly. Daily confession? There is no doubt that the power of the priests will expand as a result. The control of the divine power will be enhanced.
"The religious reform requires a system of worship. The great temple in the capital is selected as the holy temple, and every believer is required to visit it regularly. The frequency of worship decreases according to the distance, but you must visit it once to obtain liberation in future generations."
"The alliance does not have much control over distant city-states. Because the speed of traffic limits the frequency of communication. We need an effective communication system to enhance control over distant people and influence distant city-states at the same time."
Shulot analyzed the role of worship. In an era with limited technological levels, if you want to enhance the centripetal force of the alliance, you cannot let the city-state meet all religious needs by itself. Temple worship has existed for a long time in history, and various religions have it.
Has an irreplaceable role.
"Religious reform also requires daily rituals. It can be combined with existing harvest prayers and gods' blessing rituals to simplify improvements and form a stable system. For example, three times a day, before meals and before going to bed. Twice a month,
Set on the exact tenth day.”
Daily rituals are also designed to occupy the hearts and time of believers. Due to food restrictions, ordinary people have two meals a day, plus sleeping, which is three rituals. According to the popular Mayan calendar, there are 20 days in a month, so it can be once every tenth day.
Big ceremony.
The elder finally nodded again.
"My son, you have a good idea. The Alliance needs to further control the city-states and people's hearts. No matter what you think of, keep talking."
After that, the elder took steps again and headed underground to the palace.
Shulot followed up and thought again. He hesitated slightly, but still said calmly.
"Religious reform, collecting taxes in the name of God. The Alliance lacks control over the great nobles and city-state lords, and it is difficult to interfere with their taxes and private soldiers. We must tax the wealthy nobles and merchants, and provide relief to poor civilians and
Samurai. Weaken the great nobles, cultivate civilian warriors, and maintain class balance."
The elder paused. He frowned again, but did not look back. The idea was a good one, but if he really wanted to implement it and deprive the great nobles of their benefits, he would inevitably swing his copper ax and kill people.
"My child, with all this you are saying, have you ever thought about the future?"
The elder's words floated from the candlelight in front without any fluctuation.
Shulot was slightly startled. He looked at the weak candlelight and the blurry and tall figure of the elder, and asked himself:
"What should the future of the Reformation look like?"
