The morning sun lights up the whole world, and the gentle breeze wakes up sleeping people. Just as Quetzalcoatl bestows light and wisdom, promising peace and prosperity to all things.
Shulot knew that today was an auspicious day. According to the Aztec calendar, today is the twelfth day of the first month of the new year, which represents herbs and salvation. The symbol is the herb in the pelvis, which belongs to the priesthood of Quetzalcoatl, the Quetzalcoatl god. .
Shulot got up very early. He was wearing formal priestly clothes. The feather crown covered his forehead again, this time with extra blue, red and green feathers.
Quetzalcoatl is one of the four most important gods. He is the god of wind, peace and prosperity, light and wisdom, and Lord of the West. On the first divine day of the new year, a sacrifice needs to be held in his honor. In prosperous city-states, this sacrifice often develops into New Year celebrations.
In accordance with the duties of a priest, Shulot built a altar in the west, and then placed a golden disk with a diameter of one foot in the center of the altar to symbolize light. Around the gold plate, there is a neat circle of turquoise to symbolize wisdom.
Then, he placed silver bowls at the four corners of the altar, and placed medicinal herbs in the bowls to symbolize healing and salvation. Finally, he inserted blue, red and green feathers under the gold plate to symbolize the incarnation of Quetzalcoatl.
In this way, a simple Quetzalcoatl altar is completed.
If war is kept simple, the city-state's sacrifices will be much grander. Shulot once participated in Teotihuacan's New Year's celebrations. On that day, the Moon Square will be covered with gold, silver, gems and bright feathers. Thousands of people will celebrate and dance together, and men, women and children will sing songs of blessing. Everything is so beautiful and unforgettable.
Afterwards, the warriors gathered under the stage. They put down their weapons, took off their leather armor, and paid tribute to Quetzalcoatl. Pray for the recovery of the injured and for the salvation of the dying.
Then Shulot came on stage and sang the sacred song of sacrifice. His voice was exciting and clear, flying into the distance, like the waves of the great eastern lake:
"...at last Quetzalcoatl left the weeping people,
He rides on the green snake's raft,
With pious priests,
Driving into the endless lake,
Travel to the far east.
He promised everyone with a sad face:
Prosperous flowers will return every spring,
Just like me who bless you.
Farewell is a brief withering,
I will return from the lake in the east,
Bring back peace and prosperity,
Bring back light and wisdom,
Save you again!
"
It was not until the end that the warriors collectively turned to the east and fell to their knees. They looked toward the unknown lake, softly calling the name of the god "Kecharkoatl", and praying for the return of Quetzalcoatl. Then the ceremony ended in silence.
Shulot wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead and drank some water. The ceremony as a whole was very peaceful, with a feeling of a peaceful mass.
Quetzalcoatl is one of the rare benevolent gods in Aztec mythology. He does not like people to bleed for him and is clearly opposed to human sacrifice. Therefore, the Mexica warriors did not drag out yesterday's Otomi prisoners and directly sacrifice them to the gods.
But in the eyes of Commander-in-Chief Totec, the fate of these prisoners had already been determined. The Mexican warriors only wandered in the peaceful and peaceful spiritual world for one morning, and then immediately returned to the war world of blood and fire.
Totec first gathered the warriors into a team, ready to fight at any time. Then let a thousand warriors escort more than 500 captured Otomi warriors to a stone's throw outside Guamare City, and execute the prisoners one by one in front of the defenders. There was a wailing and screaming in the distance, and soon there was silence again.
Shulot lowered his eyes, his principles had regressed a lot. He could accept the execution of hostile warriors without changing his face. Just like what my father said, since they are on the battlefield, life and death of the samurai are determined by destiny.
Totec's face was cold and he frowned slightly. Although there was a moment of panic at the top of the city, no enemy troops left the city. In this case, the plan to lure the enemy is over, and the next step is to destroy all the villages.
Immediately, the commander-in-chief asked a thousand jaguars and two thousand warriors to continue to garrison the camp. These three thousand people will be led by him personally to guard the city of Guamare.
Shulot watched him sit down in the big tent again, and coldly took out the wooden map filled with red circles, and divided the remaining 5,000 warriors and 2,000 militiamen into seven battalions. After pointing to seven locations on the map, the warriors nodded and left with cruel expressions.
Time seemed to have passed for a long time, and Shulot saw the thick smoke rising in the distance again. No sound could be heard in the wind, and the world seemed still peaceful. After a long, long time, the warriors returned one after another according to the camp, their faces were slightly sweaty, as if they had just gone for a run.
Their expressions remained as usual. They replaced the worn obsidian sharp blades on their war sticks, and blood flowed from the gaps in the weapons.
From the time the thick smoke rose to the return of the warriors, this time, Shulot did not see a single figure fleeing towards Guamare City. Everything is like a silent mime, life disappears behind the fireworks without causing any waves.
Totec drew red crosses on the seven red circles, and then talked to the warriors for a few words, and looked at the noon sun through the gaps in the tent. He divided the seven thousand people into fourteen teams of five hundred, and the warriors scattered out of the camp.
Seeing all this, the young priest finally couldn't sit still.
Shulot plucked up the courage to walk into the big tent, stood in front of the cold Totec, held the commander's strong arm, and stared at him with a pair of ruthless and cold eyes.
"What's the matter, Shulot?" A smile appeared on Totec's cold face, "Today's sacrificial ceremony was not bad."
"Commander-in-Chief, today is Quetzalcoatl's first divine day. On this auspicious day to celebrate the New Year, we should not create so much blood."
"Huh?" Totec frowned, "You mean to leave the village until tomorrow before destroying it? But we have already taken action. If we delay until tomorrow, more people will escape."
"I mean, we can be lenient. Soldiers and men are potential threats, but we can let women and children go." Shulot said seriously.
"The king's order is to kill all Otomi people." Totec shook his head and said, "Shulote, don't be so childish, you are a priest."
Then, without waiting for Xilot to continue speaking, Totec grabbed Xilot's arm and pointed at the Pingshan Castle Road in the distance: "Can your catapult capture Guamare City?"
Shulot looked at the city and shook his head, "The current catapult is not powerful enough. Although it can hit the city, its power is limited."
Totec nodded: "We don't have time to besiege the city. Since we can't capture the city, we can only burn the villages and farmland!"
As he spoke, he turned sideways and looked at the young man seriously: "Xulot, the Otomi people do not deserve sympathy! If you have time, hold more sacrificial activities for the soldiers, or study the trebuchet."
Then he waved his hand and asked the guards to take Shulot out of the tent.
Shulot hesitated for a few steps outside the big tent, suddenly thought of someone, and hurried away.
Entering the side tent, Shulot saw Avitt sitting cross-legged in front of the earthen platform, writing something on a wooden board. Occasionally, messengers and scouts came and went to report military information.
Shulot went up to take a look and was surprised. On the wooden board were traditional Chinese characters: "One hundred and ninety-eight villages were found along the way. Twenty-one are expected to be burned down today. The mission can be completed and returned within ten days..."
Seeing Shulot, Avitt smiled, pointed at the wooden board and said, "How about it? Is my writing good?"
Xiulote nodded. Within a few months, Avitt could already write Chinese characters accurately, which was really good.
Later, Shulot asked anxiously: "Avit, the commander-in-chief wants to kill all the Otomi people. Can we show mercy?"
Avitt smiled and asked: "Xulot, don't you know that the Otomi people are our enemies? If the Otomi militia is released into the mountains and forests, the warriors of Mexica will suffer heavy losses."
Shulot nodded and replied: "I understand. I'm not talking about the men of Otomi, but the women and children."
"Oh! I understand." Avitt laughed, his eyebrows arched in two flying arcs. "It's the New Year, Shulot, you are already thirteen years old, and you are at the age where you are eager to become an adult."
"How about this? I'll go talk to Totec and ask the warriors to bring you some Otomi girls to transform you from a boy into a man. Then you won't be so soft-hearted."
Shulot's mouth went dry for a while, and his face turned red at Avitt's teasing. This guy could really do it.
"You see, although priests cannot take wives, as long as you take these Otomi girls as concubines, they will be saved." Avitt continued to be tempting, "The great Montezuma I had hundreds of concubines. I gave birth to hundreds of divine warriors. You can also take in hundreds of Otomi girls."
Shulot was stunned for a moment, and then stood there blankly calculating. His IQ had turned negative after a day of suffering. At this time, he clasped his fingers and muttered something, thinking about how many girls he should save.
Seeing that Shulot was also thinking seriously, Avitt became worried again.
He stretched out his hand, flicked Xurot's forehead hard, and said seriously: "Xulot, what are you thinking about? Our Mexica warriors are different from other weak tribes. The coming of age rituals of the warriors are all After the age of fifteen, a good samurai becomes even later.”
"My students, singing too much too early will seriously damage the body's strength, lose the wisdom of the mind, and lose the vitality given by the gods. Those famous Jaguar warriors can often temper their bodies and suppress the desire to sing until they are twenty. Years old! Shulot, I hope you will not be attracted by the joyful songs of the opposite sex before you turn eighteen." Avitt put away his smile and said seriously.
"But I really want to save innocent women and children." Shulot looked at each other stubbornly.
"There are no innocent people in this world. Everyone dies for a reason. Women will weave and farm and raise children. Children will grow up and take up arms to kill."
"Give me a reason, don't use what you said before about life and equality." Avitt said seriously. "As long as you can convince me, I will convince Totec."
Shulot began to think calmly.
"We can capture them and bring them back to the Alliance." Shulot replied.
"We don't have enough food and we don't have the manpower to spend on watching over them."
"It will take more than ten years for these women and children to pose a threat to us." Shulot added.
"Indeed, what about more than ten years from now?"
"In more than ten years, we will be strong enough to completely conquer the Otomi people and turn these civilians into subjects of the alliance." Shulot said with some confidence.
Avitt looked at Xilot, nodded slightly, but said: "Maybe, this is the first reason. But now, I don't see the benefit of letting these people go. Are there other reasons?"
"We can capture these people and bring them to Guamare City to exchange food with them. The army is short of food now." Xiulote said.
"What if the city-state doesn't exchange food for it."
"Then let us let them go, and the city-state will lose its people's hearts."
"What do the hearts of civilians mean?" Avitt chuckled, "But it's not bad to exchange for some food. This is the second reason. But why should I help these civilians? Give me another reason."
Avitt looked into Shulot's eyes, as if waiting for something.
Shulot thought about it over and over, and after a long time he said: "This is what I think in my heart. Cherishing life is not a natural principle in this world, but it is my preference, which makes me satisfied."
"Oh? But we executed these people's husbands and fathers, and they won't be grateful to you."
"I don't need the gratitude of these people. I just need to feel calm and satisfied in my heart." Shulot replied in a low voice, but it seemed that he had exhausted all his strength.
"So, my student, this is just your hobby, right? It is not a natural law that you should abide by. Hobby is subordinate to a great cause." Avitt asked gently, as if with a hypnotic charm.
"Yes, this is just my hobby. It has nothing to do with the laws of the world. It is subordinate to the great cause." Shulot repeated with difficulty.
"Okay! Cherishing life is Shulot's hobby. This is the third reason, the reason that really touches me."
Avitt finally clapped his hands and smiled: "Xulot, remember what you said today. No matter what the past memories are. Life and equality are just your hobbies, just like some people are lustful, some are warlike, and some are Good wine, it’s just a kinder hobby.”
"When conditions permit, you can act according to your hobbies. But hobbies must be subordinate to the great cause. It is not the bottom line."
"The bottom line cannot be violated, then it becomes a weakness, and weakness brings death. Unlike mortals, a great ruler must not have weaknesses. So, Shulot, no matter what is in your memory, forget the weak part! This is the most important lesson I teach you!" Avitt pressed Xilot's shoulders firmly and stared at him firmly, his eyes full of expectation.
"As rulers, our only cause is this country, the future of the Mexica people, and the supreme power in the world!" After leaving the last words in a low voice, Avitt finally burst out laughing. Full of deep ambition and desire.
He gave Shulot a strong hug, turned around and strode away, heading towards Totec's camp.
Shulot was still standing where he was. He was about to take the first and most difficult step towards becoming a great ruler.
