Following Shulot's eloquent suggestion, the temple became silent for a moment, and even the curling smoke disappeared silently.
The capital elder leaned forward slightly and quietly extinguished the sacred smoke in his hand. Then he stretched out his hand to straighten his clothes, and half of the divine smoke disappeared from his sleeves. Then, the elder's face twitched slightly. The divine smoke has just died out, but the embers are still hot and feel sour and refreshing when they fall into the clothes. He endured the pain and remained silent. He just looked at the majestic high priest and Shulot who was saluting, and thought secretly in his heart.
The high priest nodded in approval and looked around.
"The part about commercial taxes in the religious law has not yet been determined. Although Priest Shulot's suggestions are quite insightful, we still need to discuss them one by one and improve them."
The priests and elders also nodded in response. Since the high priest had set the tone of approval, naturally no one openly objected. Everyone adjusted their posture, sat in a circle solemnly, and discussed each item one by one.
There were disputes among the various tribes in Central America, and the states were at odds with each other. The city-states have always been loosely connected and there is no strong control by the authoritarian government to form a unified market. Big businessmen earned huge profit differences between various ministries, so they grew bigger. They often spent large sums of money and even hired hundreds of warriors.
However, although businessmen are rich, they are still a weak and uninfluential ruled class, and they are crops in the fields waiting to be harvested. Nobles big and small everywhere were eyeing the merchants and asking for whatever they wanted. If the time is right, some nobles will even collude with hired warriors and send troops to rob the caravan without leaving any survivors.
In city-states, big businessmen were strictly restricted on the amount of land they owned and the level of clothing. Mercenary warriors have limited loyalty. Big businessmen need to pay tribute to a lot of property in exchange for the protection of the local rulers.
All the elders in the temple had received generous gifts from the merchants, but no one spoke for them at this time. To the majestic priest tree, merchants are just tiny insects. In the sacred hall, Shulot proposed reforming the commercial law to restrain low-status businessmen, without encountering any resistance from the elders.
Unifying market regulations, managing currency and weights and measures, managing market prices, and controlling strategic materials are the proper meanings. There have been similar discussions in the past, but there was a lack of writing and manpower, so there were only a few executors.
The elders first briefly discussed the currency exchange ratio, stipulating the standard number of cocoa beans, the length of cotton cloth and the weight of gold sand. Then it was decided to send low-level priests to manage the salt mining near the capital, collect tin tribute from the southern city-states of Mexica, and then collect in-kind taxes from copper merchants. Finally, send more judges to restrict the sale of weapons and equipment.
The control of luxury goods has not caused too many waves. Mexico's society is highly hierarchical, advocating restraint and restraint, and attaches great importance to agricultural warfare. Samurai and commoners should not overstep their rank and engage in expensive luxury consumption. Imposing a luxury goods tax will increase revenue, but it will require the deployment of valuable talents who are proficient in math.
When it came to controlling the sacred smoke, the capital elder who had been smoking made a slight gesture, and the other capital elder spoke in a deep voice.
"The divine smoke is a medium for gods to communicate with people. It can listen to the voice of gods and treat physical diseases. Warriors do not need to communicate with gods and can abstain from it. But for priests, maybe there is no..."
The high priest's majestic gaze came over, with great pressure in his calmness.
The capital elder who spoke made eye contact, paused, and then continued: "Maybe it is not unreasonable."
The high priest nodded and made a direct decision: "There are many ways to treat diseases. The sacred smoke will damage vitality, so be careful when adding medicinal herbs. No matter what you do privately, priests are not allowed to smoke sacred smoke in places where everyone gathers. Violation will occur once Confiscation, two whippings, three demotions!”
The priests and elders all solemnly bowed and took orders. Shulot pondered slightly. This rule of his grandfather seemed to have a profound meaning, and could be used to clean up the inflated local priesthood in the future.
"Manage foreign merchants, cancel their autonomy rights, and at the same time protect the safety of merchants. If necessary, send out the army to conquer the 'bandits' along the way!"
Schulot repeated the last piece of advice again. He puts emphasis on "Bandits."
Hearing this, all the elders made eye contact. After a while, an elder from the Holy City hesitated slightly and asked a question.
"Where will the army be mobilized to conquer the bandits?"
"Deploy the temple guards!" Shulot said decisively.
"We need to expand the size of the temple guards, set up garrisons at important passage nodes, and collect business taxes to maintain them. These temple guards are an extension of the will and actions of the priesthood. They not only maintain trade routes and fight against ordinary bandits, but also Fight against all the 'bandits' who dare to stop the priest's actions in the local area!"
Everyone was shocked. In the name of maintaining trade routes, the temple forces are sent to places, and the purpose is self-evident. Together they looked towards the high priest.
The high priest pondered for a moment, remembering the cleanup in Texcoco not long ago. His killing intent flashed away, and then he nodded slowly with no expression on his face.
"Very good. The Lord God is omnipotent, and His majesty cannot be offended. Regardless of status, those who disobey will be washed away with the holy blood!"
The priests and elders were silent for a moment. The elders of the Holy City were the first to bend down and accept the order. The elders of the capital hesitated for a moment and then bowed and agreed.
The rest of the meeting seemed peaceful. The elders set a goal to first double the capital temple guard to 4,000 people. Then he sent an envoy to communicate with the king and asked the royal family's direct warriors to help fight against the bandits. Afterwards, everyone continued to discuss the details of the teachings. And when the sun sets, the meeting ends. The elders said goodbye and left, taking the news with them in a hurry.
High Priest Shuter touched the boy's head again. He looked at Shen Yi's young man with relief, but said: "My child, you are too reckless. I should be the one to say the last thing."
Shulot shook his head and looked at his grandfather firmly.
"The eagle must fly in the sky and face the wind and rain! I can't hide on the sacred tree and rely on you."
The high priest smiled appreciatively. Immediately, he summoned Bertard, doubled the bodyguards of the young man, and was not allowed to go out alone in the future.
The next two days passed. The commercial law has not yet been fully agreed upon, and even the reference chart for prices has not yet been drawn. In the afternoon of this day, a businessman came to visit, presented New Year gifts, and asked to see His Holiness.
Nothing to do today, Shulot is practicing longbow with Bertard. From a distance of tens of meters, his arrows hit the huge human-shaped wooden target with a normal distribution. Next to him, sharpshooter Bertard kept a kind smile and made no comment on his lord's shooting skills.
After listening to the guard's report, the young man waved his hand. At this time, the businessman came to visit. The purpose was not obvious, but he was really well-informed. He asked the guards to go and announce.
"The high priest has not returned yet. If there is no important matter, he will not see the guests."
After a while, the guard hurried over again and responded respectfully.
"Your Highness, the businessman outside the door said that he is an old acquaintance of you. At the same time, he also presented many gifts. Here is the list."
As he said that, the guard handed over a wooden board, which was full of patterns. Nowadays, papermaking technology has just been applied, and writing is still being taught, so it is still early to be popularized. Wood board graphics remain standard.
Hulot took the board and browsed it quickly and casually. Feather-painted clothing, brightly colored gold and silver, strange fruits and flowers, long-haired slaves whose gender cannot be distinguished... His eyes stopped on the golden ax head, and the golden new bronze weapon. ?
Shulot pondered slightly, with a bit of curiosity in his heart. He handed the plank and long bow to the guard, and took Bertard to the gate to see his so-called old friend.
Arriving at the front yard, a strange-looking businessman appeared in front of me from a distance. A round, fat face, a slender head, tall feathers, and hanging silver ornaments. Shulot was slightly startled. This Mayan businessman did look familiar.
Seeing Shulot approaching, the Mayan merchant carefully identified him for a moment, comparing the young boy in his memory with the resolute warrior in front of him. Then, he smiled sincerely.
"Your Highness! Your most loyal old friend, Tikalo, the nobleman of Tutursio, salutes you! We met in the market of Metztitlan. At that time, you and the Oros warrior chief returned from hunting. I I’m also going to treat you to the best divine smoke.”
Shulot recalled for a moment, and finally matched the Tikalo in front of him with the profiteer in Orosh's mouth. They were really old acquaintances!
He smiled slightly and nodded to Tikallo. Then he asked with a smile.
"Ti Carlo, how come you are in Tenochtitlan? How do you know I live here?"
Tikalo smiled with genuine kindness.
"Your Highness, we Mayan merchants live in the open and live in the open, walking among the city-states. Delivering the goods people need in time to their hands, we earn a negligible reward for our hard work. I have been in the capital for several months, and I have heard everywhere that ' The illustrious name of His Highness the Revealed One.
His Highness invented the stone-throwing beast and the huge bow and arrow, and revealed wisdom. The former chief commander of the Zhenzhan Rebellion, he was extremely brave. Who doesn’t know that he is a great figure who recently invented writing and participated in the compilation of laws and regulations to inherit the alliance? Who doesn't admire it?
As the New Year is approaching, our Mayan business group got together and specially prepared a congratulatory gift for His Majesty. As we chatted about His Highness's life, I realized that I was lucky enough to be an old acquaintance of His Highness. The business group asked me to be a representative and take the liberty to visit you and offer you a congratulatory gift! Please don’t dislike the gift Weibo and accept our admiration. "
Hulot looked at Ti Carlo's bright smile, and then looked at the bundles of feathered clothing, boxes of gold, silver and gems in the front yard, hundreds of fragrant fruits and flowers, and dozens of graceful slave girls who were obedient. He pondered in his heart.
"For such a generous gift, the request is definitely not small, and it must be related to commercial law. But commercial law is related to state affairs, and there is not much room for discussion."
Shulot looked at the last wooden basket again, and Tikalo confidently opened the covering curtain, revealing dozens of golden bronze battle axes inside. The boy stared at it for a long time, this was the gift that really touched him.
"This is a cunning big businessman who will be beneficial to my cause. If Avitt were here, what would he do?" Shulot thought of Avitt and "Monkey" Kuruka. His mind moved and he made a decision.
Shulot then smiled slightly and looked at Ti Carlo, who was smiling the same way, with the eyes of a great noble. The latter is sincere and respectful, with a superficial humility and a businessman's calculation.
"Your Highness, this is a bronze battle ax made by the Tarascans two months ago. It is extremely sharp and extremely strong, and can easily cut through leather armor!" Noting the young man's attention, Ticaro introduced it first.
Shulot remained calm and nodded slightly.
"Your Highness, these are the female slaves donated to you by the merchant group, including the dancing Huastec witch, the Tlaxcala noblewoman who has always been hostile, the delicate and graceful Mixtec girl, and the wild and difficult girl. Tamed Chichimec dog girls. They are all beautiful, carefully selected, and each has its own exotic style. If His Highness likes them, you can also make special requests to the business group."
Tikalo's face is like the spring breeze. According to his experience, when dealing with such young and proud nobles, gold and silver clothing usually has little effect, but joyful singing often has miraculous effects, and it has been tried and true.
Shulot paused for breath. He felt the breath of the beautiful opposite sex, and felt an instinctive desire. Immediately, the girl in white emerged from his heart, a pure smile flowed through him like a clear spring, and his mind calmed down, with a slight embarrassment on his face. The young man gritted his teeth slightly, glanced at Ti Carlo, and no longer hesitated about the next plan.
Ti Carlo observed the boy's expression, looking at the boy's clear eyes and reddish face. He was a little confused and continued to introduce.
"Your Highness, these are the treasured flowers and fruits in the southern rainforest. This is the huge white king lotus, this is the purple begonia, this is the attractive red lip flower, this is the passion flower of the plateau, and... There are torch ginger flowers that symbolize the god of fire... They are all rare and rare herbs, and they are no less beautiful than the royal gardens!"
Xiuluo nodded. These flowers are indeed strange and beautiful. They will be treasures even in later generations and are rare to see.
"Your Highness, these are the fruits that I personally picked for you after going deep into the wilderness. These are fresh cactus fruits, yellow unicorn fruits, sweet and sour pineapples, plump mami fruits, and sweet white custard apples... .They are all gifts from the gods. With my hands, I offer them to the venerable one the gods love!"
Shulot smiled slightly. he asked thoughtfully.
"Tikallo, these are the fruits that the gods love, and you pick them yourself?"
The Mayan merchant gently nodded his elegant head and answered with a friendly smile.
"No lie! I picked it myself just to present it to you."
"Okay! Since I am loved by the gods..."
Shulot calmly took two steps back, came to the guarding warriors, and then gave the order with cold dignity.
"Get him! I want to sacrifice these fruits and the people who picked them to the gods!"
The armored warriors responded loudly and strode forward. They took out their war clubs, easily knocked down the merchant's guards, and subdued the docile servants. Then the majestic warriors stepped forward, grabbed the Mayan merchant who was full of horror and had trembling hands and feet, and dragged him mercilessly to the sacrificial altar.
Shulot turned around. He couldn't help but smile softly as he listened to Ti Carlo's eager shouting and justification.
When dealing with sophisticated and cunning businessmen, there is no need to use the tricks of businessmen to scheming with them. You should use the king's advantage and the samurai's rules to win straight from the center!
