Aztec Immortal - Chapter 261
Chapter 253 Inheritance Slate, Concentration of Royal Power
The showers have just stopped, and the setting sun dyes the clouds red, and also sprinkles magnificent silhouettes. The light in the stone hall swayed in time, gradually changing from bright golden yellow to deep dark red. Red clouds are rendered on the last two stone slabs, like the epilogue of a kingdom epic.
Shulot raised his head, the rays of the setting sun reflected in his eyes. Jadiri looked intently, and saw a pair of eyes as bright as morning stars on the handsome and steady young man’s face, like a meditating god on a scroll. The knowledgeable elder lost his mind for a while, then pointed to the sixth stone slab and spoke loudly.
“Your Majesty, this sixth tablet contains a total of five paintings. It tells the various policies promulgated by the Tarasco kings in order to establish the authority of the royal family and centralize the power of the kingdom!”
Hearing the word centralization of power, the young king raised his eyebrows and looked carefully.
In the center of the first picture is the tall and proud Condor King. In front of him, there was a row of noble people in fine clothes kneeling. The king is as radiant as the sun, and his expression is as solemn as a god. He was giving the wooden atlas in his hand to the powerful nobles in front of him.
“The king’s upper body radiates stripes in all directions. Chief, is this the entrustment ceremony performed by the king on behalf of the sun god?”
Xiulot observed the details of the picture with a serious expression.
“Exactly, Your Majesty. In fact, this should be called the Canonization Ceremony, which is more appropriate!”
Jatiri smiled meaningfully.
“This is a large-scale canonization ceremony held at the end of the Condor King’s reign! As time passed, the original powerful nobles grew old and died. They left a large number of descendants because of the succession of titles and land , There were many disputes. Because the Condor Royal Family has the supreme decision-making power, these disputes are handed over to the king to decide.”
“Under the proposal of the second Chief Hummingbird, the Condor King finally made a ‘generous’ canonization. He counted the number of direct descendants of many nobles, and in the Patzcuaro Lake District, he canonized 220 nobles with real power at one time. And let these legitimate sons who have the right to inherit equally share the land of the powerful nobles.”
“The proposal of the second chief? The generous canonization of the land equally? What a bold and ingenious proposal!”
Hearing this, Shulot suddenly opened his eyes wide. He looked at the knowledgeable elder in surprise, this scene couldn’t be more familiar.
“Exactly! Your Majesty’s wisdom is inspired by the gods. It seems that you must already know the beauty of it.”
Jadiri admired lightly, then said seriously.
“Under the witness of the Sun God, this distribution has two steps: First, many descendants of the nobles in the Patzcuaro Lake District, whether they are Nahua nobles or Lake District nobles, have to submit wooden atlases, and the fiefdoms in their hands will be distributed in the Nominally returned to the king.
Then the supreme king is selfless and just. Under the witness of the gods, he will not embezzle any noble fiefs. He just generously bestowed titles on everyone, and then divided these fiefs into different small pieces and gave them back to the descendants of the nobles. In the process of handing over and giving back, the king’s authority was strengthened, and he legally had the right to dispose of all the land. ”
“At that time, some senior nobles in the Lake District clearly opposed large-scale canonization on the grounds of tribal traditions. However, in the end, this canonization was still vigorously promoted under the authority of the king and the chief’s wrist. Go on. After the large-scale canonization, there are hundreds of powerful nobles in the Lake District, but they have completely lost the ability to resist the king. The entire Patzcuaro Lake District has finally been completely included in the direct management of the royal family within a few decades.”
The knowledgeable elder smiled faintly, his eyes deep and distant.
“Your Majesty, I need to remind you that although this ‘generous’ canonization is ingenious, it hides a huge danger. In the eyes of the older nobles, the malice hidden in the large-scale canonization cannot be concealed! The Condor King had this idea very early on, but he has waited patiently for decades. It wasn’t until the prestigious first-generation nobles were almost dead that he let Chief Hummingbird tentatively put forward this proposal.”
“Even so, in order to reduce the power of opposition, the scope of this canonization was carefully limited. The canonization was only concentrated in the Patzcuaro Lake area in the heart of the kingdom, and did not involve the military nobles on the frontier. In the witness of the gods Next, King Condor used his prestige to make a promise to ensure the independence of the succession rights of the frontier nobles. The frontier nobles also revised the rules of succession. It was only through the countless secret efforts and compromises of the royal family that the peace of the entire canonization ceremony was guaranteed. conduct.”
“Your Majesty, governance is a compromise of power. It is a confrontation between different groups and forces. Even if you want to take advantage of it, you must have enough power as the foundation. Because the powerful tightly control power and wealth, and will never will hand it over easily”
Hearing this, Shulot pondered for a moment, then nodded seriously.
“Thank you for the teaching of the chief! The central power directly under is the foundation of administration. Governing a big country is like cooking small fish in a lake. After controlling the heat, the next step is to wait slowly. Chief, I still have a problem: the real power aristocrats The division of control is limited to the central lake area, so how do you deal with the military aristocrats on the border, the royal family of Tarasco?”
Hearing this, Jadiri’s eyes flickered. He looked at the young king carefully, and answered with a smile.
“In the heart of the king, there is an immortal sacred tree. For the military nobles on the border, the royal family has summed up a strategy, which is to control the wealth and establish checks and balances. Among these two, control the kingdom’s wealth, It is the most important thing, and it is the foundation of establishing checks and balances!”
“Your Majesty, please look at the second, third, and fourth group paintings!”
Shulot took a closer look. The second group of paintings is quite freehand. At first glance, it looks like a simple landscape painting. At the top of the picture is still a sun, and the center of the sun is a condor. At the bottom of the picture, there is a mountain with trees, a lake with fish, and a valley with mines.
The third picture is easier to understand. A majestic pyramid sits at the center, surrounded by an open market, and beyond that lies the city without walls. Countless business travelers came from all directions, and the peasants carried gold, silver, gems, obsidian, cloth, feathers, clothing, food, salt, spices, and shiny bronze vessels on their backs. On the road passing by the business traveler, there are many consultant nobles holding atlases, inspecting and collecting goods. What’s worth noting is that there is a Condor logo on the body of the business traveler in the middle.
The fourth painting is again abstracted. In the center of the pattern, a burly deity radiates rays of light. He has huge round eyes, a narrow and flat mouth, and behind him is a rare red seat with a backrest. And around the gods, there are all kinds of busy craftsmen. Some craftsmen hold stone tools, some hold pottery; some make weapons, some sew leather armor;
Shulot was startled, and carefully looked at the gods on the fourth painting. The other party always gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity, with toad-like facial features
“Hey, I seem to have seen it somewhere. Chief, who is this god?”
“Haha, the king must have seen it! This is the craftsman god of the Toltec people, who masters music, dance and art, loves flowers, plants and beauties, and is good at metallurgy, painting and handicrafts! He is Pry The craftsman god of the Pecha people, with the animal body of a lake frog, is also the craftsman god of the Mexica people, the prince of flowers!”
“I see! The Prince of Flowers, the god shared by the two races”
Shulot nodded suddenly. After watching the picture, he waited for Jadiri’s explanation.
“Your Majesty, these three paintings are about the collection and control of the country’s wealth by the central government. The meaning of the second painting is that the king shines on the earth like the sun and owns everything on the land! The trees, the fish and turtles in the lake, and the minerals in the valley are all owned by the royal family. The Condor royal family owns the water sources, forests and minerals of the feudal country, and will use a powerful army to maintain the possession of these properties.
Under the leadership of successive kings, the royal family will choose valuable industries and send a large number of people to develop them, such as the salt springs and salt wells in the east, the copper mines, gold and silver in the south, and the stone of the dead in the west. As for other properties, the rights to exploit and utilize them are granted to nobles and business groups in various places with compensation.
Your Majesty, through the development of these properties, the kingdom can obtain long-term and stable additional tributes in addition to the taxes in the fields, and support more loyal royal warriors! ”
“Very good! The treasures of mountains and rivers, the industry of mountains and lakes, and the benefits of mountains and marshes are all owned by the state and turned into a ruling force!”
Xiulot smiled, and these actions coincided with his plan. Since the Prepecha people have such a tradition, it is easier to carry out the “Guan Shan Hai” policy of enclosing the country.
“Please continue, Chief!”
“Your Majesty, the fourth panel depicts the kingdom’s control over commerce. The city of Ivacio in the south is the economic center of the kingdom, and it is also the place where business travelers from all over the world must pass. The old minister mentioned before that the kingdom has a special Commercial and tax officials, on the one hand, take a proportional commission on the commodities exchanged, and on the other hand, tax large-scale transactions.
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The kingdom will patrol the important places along the coast of the lake area, strictly crack down on private trade, protect tax-paying business travelers, and limit the interference of local nobles in business and trade. For the lucrative foreign trade, the royal family actually formed a special caravan. ”
The knowledgeable elder paused, and stretched out his hand to press the businessman with the eagle logo.
“Bronzeware merchants from all parts of the world basically have Tarasco’s royal background. They also have the function of spying on intelligence. Before the Western Expedition, the Tarasco merchants in Tenochtlan sent back Alarm, to remind King Suangua, be careful of the coronation war of the new king of the Mexica Alliance. But then, they lost contact. It is said that they were accused of trespassing rank, wearing jade, and offending the gods. All to be executed in public!”
Hearing this, Shulot was slightly taken aback, and the past came to mind.
He remembered a meeting with the Mayan trader Tikalo. At that time, in order to open up a stable copper business route, control the military supplies within the alliance, and at the same time deter the Mayan merchants, he once gave orders to the monkey Kuluka, and the young king who dealt with Tarasco’s merchants only thought about it for a moment , to focus on more practical issues.
“Where did these big merchants controlled by the royal family go after the fall of the Tarasco Kingdom?”
“Your Majesty, even though merchants have wealth, they are just beautiful birds raised by condors. Without the protection of condors, what will happen to beautiful birds in front of birds of prey? If they are wise enough, Give up most of your wealth, and maybe escape from the greedy nobles of all countries. If they are not wise enough.”
Hearing this, Xiulot nodded slowly.
“Beautiful birds will be killed because of their precious feathers. Chief, thank you for your reminder! These big businessmen are familiar with the trade routes of various countries, and they have information and sales networks in various places. They are a force worth preserving! The newly born Kingdom of the Lake also needs to make its own voice heard in the world.”
The young king pondered for a moment, then looked at the warrior commander behind him.
“Berthard. Write down the will!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The samurai commander took out the pen and paper he carried with him, and lowered his head to record.
“Send envoys to the surrounding countries: the newly-built Kingdom of the Lake is a common kingdom between the Mexica and the Prepecha people, and will protect the Prepecha merchants from all over the world, protecting their lives and property. From the time the messenger arrives Starting today, any matter that harms the merchants of the kingdom will be recorded by the kingdom. The Kingdom of the Lake of the Mexica Alliance will send envoys, samurai squads, and even legions to pursue those who dare to offend the alliance!”
Bertard’s pen was like a dragon, and he finished writing soon. He handed the paper decree to the king for review. Shulot took a look and nodded for sure. Afterwards, the samurai chief summoned his personal guards, handed out the decree and jade talisman, and left a simple backup. After a while, the guards left with Wang Ling.
Jadiri watched the process of promulgating the royal decree, thoughtful. His gray eyebrows trembled slightly, and a thought flashed through his mind, but he never spoke. After a while, until the king looked over again, he smiled and spoke.
“The king has such a decree, it is a gift from the gods to the people of Prepecha! I will tell the priests and scholars everywhere about your kindness and majesty. In the same way, I will also speak out from the people to persuade the people of Prepecha Merchant Pecha, I will serve you as soon as possible.”
“Very good, then Chief Lao!”
Xiulot smiled, and there was joy in his voice.
For the young king, Jadiri’s investment is of great significance. In all aspects of the country’s governance, the wise elders can give full play to their influence. In fact, behind the knowledgeable elders is a group of Preepecha elites who are actively moving closer to the alliance, intending to join the newborn kingdom and join the ranks of rulers.
In this era, knowledge is concentrated in the hands of a few elites. Ordinary civilians have neither cultural inheritance nor the right to speak of ethnic groups. They can form an army and perform military functions, but it is difficult for them to participate in governing the country. In the governance of the feudal country, since it is decided to suppress the Prepecha nobles who control most of the wealth and population, it is necessary to unite the remaining village priests, tribal sages, noble sons, and senior craftsmen who master technology, and know how to measure. part of businessmen.
“Your Majesty, the river turtles, lake fish and water birds are all willing to serve the real eagle!”
Jadiri greeted with a smile, and continued the previous narration.
“As your Majesty saw. This fourth painting is about artisans from various kingdoms gathered under the blessing of the God of Artisans to serve the royal family together. The kingdom values artisans and uses the production of artisans to obtain a large amount of tribute. Endowed with armaments and supplied a huge royal army.
In Qincong Cancheng, there is a large-scale craftsman camp with thousands of craftsmen, specializing in the production of royal supplies and military supplies. In the city of Ivacio, there are specially organized official artisans who manufacture exquisite clothing, copperware, and handicrafts for trade profit.
In the Western Expedition, the rapid imitation of the longbow by the royal legion was the contribution of the Chin Tsung Can craftsman battalion. The solid bronze weapons of the royal legion also came from the craftsman camp.
It was because of the supply from the official artisans that the Condor Royal Family could establish a powerful Copper Ax Guard Corps, forming an overwhelming military advantage over the military nobles on the frontier. The centralized control of craftsmen and the strong control of military supplies are also important ways to control the military aristocracy on the frontier
Your Majesty, the veteran has watched your administration and knows that you have always attached great importance to craftsmen, and you have also established a divine institute in the alliance to study new weapons. On this point, of course I don’t need to say much. ”
Shulot nodded slightly. He has arranged for warrior chiefs, resumed the production of the artisan camp, and established a new divine revelation around the palace area. And the new gunpowder production center, like the alliance, will be established on a small island in Lake Patzcuaro.
Then, the wise elder moved his finger and pointed to the last group of paintings on the stone slab. The tall Condor King appeared on the screen again. The king waved his scepter and pointed to the forest ahead. Numerous stick figures densely packed with different weapons prostrated and knelt in front of the king.
“This fifth painting is the check and balance of the royal family on the frontier nobles.”
Jadiri used the edge of his finger to trace the various tattoos, clothing and weapons of the little people.
“The feathered snake on the body, the Tepanek; the wind marks on the face, the Guamal dog descendant; the black and white battle suit, the Otomi; the wide hat and narrow skirt, the Tekos kingdom dispatched an army to conquer the barbarian tribes on the frontier, On the one hand, he canonized the leader, incorporated the border tribes who were willing to submit, and even accepted the descendants of the Guamal dogs who migrated south, and resettled the remnants of Tepanek who fled west. These wild tribes who surrendered were all enfeoffed on the frontier land. They accepted the kingdom to serve the kingdom, even accept support from the royal family, obey the orders of the royal family, and do things that are inconvenient for the kingdom’s legion.”
The knowledgeable elder paused and smiled meaningfully.
“The Remnants of Tepanek.”
Hearing this, Xiu Luote’s expression changed, and his eyes became serious. He suddenly remembered a sudden ambush he encountered outside the Otomi village a few years ago. That was the first time in his life that he was so close to death.
Jadiri observed the expression of the king, waited carefully for a moment, and then continued to speak cautiously.
“These vassal tribes garrisoned the frontier, effectively checking and balancing the military nobles on the frontier, and also provided the royal family with a considerable number of foreign mercenaries. The reason why the royal family can smoothly command the foreign border people relies on the strong deterrence of the royal legion, It is even more inseparable from the purchase and supply of the state’s wealth.”
“The strength of the center lies in the advantage of wealth; the stability of the frontier lies in the check and balance of military power!”
The knowledgeable elder stood tall, with a serious expression, and bowed solemnly to the king.
“Your Majesty, the centralized central government is like a towering tree! The powerful direct army is the backbone of support, and the most important root is the wealth of the feudal country! The labor of the villagers, the labor of the craftsmen, the excavation of the miners, Caravan traffic, fields, workshops, mines, business trips, all these, the only way for the government of the feudal state to intervene in all of them, and absorb nutrients from the berth, can truly grow a strong and stable central sacred tree!”