"Honored new Mexica Tratoani." In the large tent surrounded by curtains, the priests of Hilotepec raised their staffs in salute. "The great primordial god, god of day and night, descendant of the ancestral god Ometeotel salutes you."
Xiulote stood in the priest group on the left side of the tent, looking curiously at the attire of the Xilotepec envoy. The black and white stripes were very similar to a wild animal from his hometown 20,000 miles away, the national treasure giant panda.
On the right side of the tent is a group of commanders wearing double-sided sunstone cloaks, led by a cold-blooded man with a "female snake" painted on the back. Avitt also stood at the end of the commander's group with a genuine smile.
In the middle of the big tent is the king wearing a gorgeous red and white shirt and a skull helmet. The king sat on a high platform, maintaining the majesty of a god. He had no intention of coming down to perform the divine ceremony, and just looked down at the messenger with cold eyes.
"Dear King." The priest messenger lowered his head and sounded more respectful. "Hilotepec has always paid tribute to you and the Great Alliance on time. The city lord also married a Mexica noble daughter. We are loyal subordinates of the Great Alliance. I don't know why the king wants to launch an army to attack."
The king raised his hand slightly to indicate to the priests, continuing to maintain his mythical posture.
In front of Xilotepec, an old priest in a sun cloak walked out: "Xilotepec has three crimes. First, in last year's tribute, the number of tributes did not meet the requirements of the alliance. Second, with Austria in the west The Tomi city-states formed a secret alliance with evil intentions. Third, worship the old gods." When it came to the third item, the old priest looked at the messenger with sharp eyes.
The messenger kept his head bowed until he heard the third charge, and then he raised his head with a shocked expression on his face.
Sure enough, the priest then said: "The great descendant of the sun god demands that the city-state of Xilotepec hand over ten years of tribute, the sacrifice of three thousand men, and sever the covenant with the Otomi cities. Hand over the temple for use The inheritance sacrificial plate for sacrifices and remembrances was converted to the great sun god and war god Huitzilopochtli.”
"Hand over the sacrificial plate and convert? This is an unacceptable condition!" The priest messenger was obviously out of control. "The great primordial god protects us. The city-state has a hundred thousand warriors and three years of food. It is as solid as gold and is as indestructible as the sacred stone on the top of the mountain."
The king raised his hand again to the officer corps. When Shulot saw the leader, the cold man strode out: "Then we will besiege the city for three years! The Tampen River will continuously bring us food, and reinforcements from the Alliance are still coming. The army can Stay here for ten years!"
"What's more, you only have 20,000 warriors and a year's food reserves." The cold-hearted man told the cold truth ruthlessly, "In one year, all the men in the city, from descendants of gods to slaves, will be sacrificed. .”
The messenger's expression froze, and there was no sound in the tent for a while.
"Tributes, sacrifices, sacrificial plates, conversion." King Tisoke spoke for the first time, "Go back and tell the gods in the city-state that they only have one chance."
Xilotepec's envoy could only leave silently.
After the messenger left, the solemn atmosphere in the big tent became slightly more lively. Tisok lifted his mythical posture and asked Avitsotl with a smile: "My dear brother, what's going on with the Otomi people further west?"
Avit stepped forward, suppressed his smile and responded seriously: "Dear King, according to the information obtained by the merchants sent out, the Otomi people are gathering. The nearby Otopan mobilized the whole country and organized four groups. Of the 10,000 people, there were only 10,000 city-state warriors. A little further away, Guamare and Parmus each mobilized 20,000 people, and the city-state warriors each had 8,000."
Tisok nodded, then smiled and asked the cold man next to him: "My loyal chief commander Totec, how are the preparations of the army?"
The cold Totec finally showed a smile and replied, "If the Otopans come to help in a hurry, we will give them a surprise on the way." The commanders also showed understanding smiles.
After discussing the military affairs. Tisok finally had time to pay attention to the corners of the tent.
"Xulot." He waved and smiled and asked Shulot to come over.
"I just heard from Avitt that you want to make a large wooden sling?"
"It's a catapult."
Tisok frowned slightly and said "Oh" without asking what a car was. To him, this was just an insignificant episode.
"You said the sun is a big fireball?" Tisok got to the point.
"Yes, the sun is a big fireball that is far away from us and much bigger than the earth." Shulot replied seriously.
"Where does the Sun God live?" Tisok looked at Xilot and asked seriously.
"This...should be on the sun." Shulot weighed it repeatedly, not daring to discuss the existence of God with a theologian, especially when the theologian was the supreme divine king.
"You said the earth is a big earth ball?" Tisok pressed.
"Yes."
"Where does the Earth Mother live?"
"...should be in the center of the big earth ball."
"Come on, Shulot, spin around in place a few times."
Shulot was at a loss for a moment, then turned around obediently a few times.
"Are you feeling dizzy?" the king asked with a smile.
"Dizzy." Shulot replied innocently.
"So, you said the earth is constantly rotating?" The king smiled, "Then why don't we get dizzy normally?"
Shulot was speechless.
He wanted to talk about the concept of relative speed, but then realized that this was futile and irrelevant. In the end, he could only remain silent.
The king seemed very happy. He seemed to have let go of some hidden concerns and worries, and no longer looked at the young man with his sharp eyes.
He called his hand again and asked Shulot, who was wearing the Tengu sacrificial robe, to come closer to the stage. For the first time, he pinched Shulot's face affectionately with his hands. Well, it hurts a little.
"You kid." The king chuckled. "Since you want to follow the path of a priest, you must seriously study astronomy and theology. You must have at least half of your grandfather's attainments."
"After all, your grandfather has told me that you will eventually succeed him as the high priest of Teotihuacan. Originally, I planned to marry a princess to you, but it is a pity that priests cannot have formal wives."
"Avit, my brother." The king waved to the officers, and Avite hurriedly climbed onto the high platform and lowered his head to salute the king.
"The Teotihuacan line is also the direct bloodline of the Sun God, and is closely related to our Tenochtitlan family. You must treat Xiulote as your nephew. For this expedition, let Xiulote Follow you. You will teach him the common sense of war and military affairs."
"You need to spend more time on Shulot. As for the intelligence and security regiment in your hands, let Chief Commander Totec act as deputy for the time being."
"Yes." Avitt's face was full of calm respect and obedience, without any trace of dissatisfaction.
"Xulot, the city-state of Teotihuacan has always been the most loyal supporter of the royal family. From now on, you must loyally obey the next Tratoani." Tisok smiled and talked to Xullot. , but his eyes always stayed on Avitt's face.
When he mentioned "the next Tratoani", he paid even more attention to every change in Avitt's expression. "Just like your grandfather did to me."
"Follow your teachings." At this time, Shulot didn't dare to go off line.
"Okay. You go down."
After walking out of the big tent, we were already very far away, and the sun began to set on the horizon. The dazzling sunlight finally moved away from this land.
"Congratulations." Avitt said to Shulot with a smile.
"What?"
"Passed."
