Early the next morning, Shulot was awakened by the rhythm of his body. He looked out the window, the morning light was dim, and the sounds of the city were faintly heard in his ears. In this era, civilians always rise early to make the most of every moment of light. Last night's dream was about the glorious Maya. Today, in front of us is a prosperous capital city, and the fire of civilization is rising.
The young man then got up and came to the courtyard full of flowers and trees. In the cold morning, Bertard had prepared a tank of cold water. First there was a half-hour cold bath, then an hour of physical training and an hour of combat practice.
The hard training is long and hurried. It wasn't until sweat flowed from his forehead to his feet, and the explosive power of his muscles was completely exhausted, that Shulot collapsed on the bench. The guards handed over nuts and boiled eggs to supplement protein, and brought cocoa drinks to maintain physical energy. The maids came forward to massage the whole body. The young man relaxed his body while thinking about today's itinerary.
The martial arts of a samurai need to be accumulated over time, and the iron will needs to be continuously polished. As long as conditions permit, the boy's training will never be interrupted. In his view, human strength lies in self-discipline, and the most important thing is to control one's own life. The Mexica warrior tradition also places temperance and self-control second, second only to devotion to the gods.
By the time Shulot had breakfast, the old carpenter Kuaud was already waiting in the front yard with several craftsmen. The young man put on a high-level priest's uniform and nodded to the new craftsman director. Under the protection of the captain of the bodyguard and the elite warriors, the two headed for the craftsman district of the capital.
Today's plan is to examine the capital's artisan production and mining sector, simply called "industry."
Shulot wore a priest's robe and walked in the bustling market. Along the way were warriors who bowed their heads in greeting, and civilians who knelt down to salute.
Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce. In Mexica society, the highest status were priests and warriors, while the remaining farmers, craftsmen, and merchants had equal status, and they all belonged to the dominated rulers. The peasants had no freedom at all and were subordinate to the nobles everywhere. High-level craftsmen had certain freedoms and were dominated by the royal family and the priesthood. Businessmen have the highest degree of freedom and the least security.
The first stop is the craftsmanship center responsible for military production. The Mexica's "General's Palace" is located in the northeast of the capital, between the Fire Temple Armory and the War Spear Throwing Temple, near Lake Texcoco. This location can take advantage of waterways to transport raw materials.
The rising sun reflects the lake and causeway golden. Shulot looked towards the lake. Under the supervision of hundreds of warriors, dozens of large boats loaded with thousands of people were heading to the Tampen River in the north. Most of their hands were stone axes, and a few were precious bronze axes. Next, they will go to the logging camps in the north to cut high-quality wood for the Alliance's longbow production, and are not allowed to return even in the New Year.
Also setting off was a fleet of navy ships loaded with food, headed for the Xilotepec camp in the north. No matter how the capital changed, brutal sieges continued in the northern city-states. The city of Hilotepec, abandoned by the Otomi Alliance, could not survive for long. And on the lake farther away, there are a series of large boats, dragging long pieces of wood, returning from the north.
Shulot's heart moved. He carefully observed the expressions of the civilian husbands and warriors, but only saw simplicity and obedience. Indistinctly, there was a slight noise in the wind.
The young man took a few steps forward and listened to the conversation of the peasants. Even though several weeks have passed, the people are still praising the grandness of the enthronement ceremony, regretting the missed New Year's sacrifices, and subconsciously singing praises to the gods. Even though the war brought labor, taxes and death, Mexica society still sang and danced in sacrificial celebrations.
Under the comfort of the gods, the Mexica people are accustomed to war. They long for victory and blood, hate defeat, but never tire of fighting.
Xiulote listened quietly for a moment, and finally understood the spiritual motivation the elder said.
"We are a true militaristic society. Mexica people are either preparing for war or on their way to war. The bloodthirsty god is so powerful that he maintains the hearts of society and makes war a part of life."
The fleet of boats in the distance gradually approached, and finally arrived at the lake shore. Then, the timber was replaced by a small boat and dragged inward through the intertwined waterways. The two of them followed the boat and entered the large-scale craftsmanship center.
The craftsmanship center is full of armed warriors. Under the command of the samurai captain, the boat docked at a special location, and dozens of civilians swarmed up, dragged the wood ashore, and sent it to a special place for drying. Shulot waved his hand to stop the samurai captain from saluting and continued to observe silently.
The place where the wood is dried is a simple earthen kiln. In order to save time, it is dried manually. Shulot looked at the shape of the earthen kiln and recalled the passing plots in some books. He knew there was a lot of work here, but he didn't know how to do it. In the end, he could only say a few vague words: "Hot air drying, the temperature should not be too high...".
The old carpenter who has been in the industry for decades said respectfully, with a half-smile on his face. The young man blushed slightly and said no more.
Then, the workers took out the dried wood from the earth kiln and transported it to the processing point. Shulot recognized it for a moment and sighed slightly.
"Kouod, is this a cedar tree?"
"Yes. Your Highness, the processing of sandalwood and ironwood is too labor-intensive and tool-intensive, and only bronze axes can barely process it. In order to complete the number of longbows required by the king and you, we can only process fir and oak. host."
Kuaud responded respectfully.
Xiulote nodded. He and Avitt had long ago reached a consensus that longbow production would be the alliance's top priority. For this reason, he even asked the elders for instructions to slow down the expansion of the great temple to gather more craftsmen.
The elder looked at him with calm eyes for a long time, and then nodded slightly. He once again told the young man to prepare for war. The accession war after the Autumn Harvest was the first battle after the religious reform, and it would also be a war that destroyed the country. You can only win, not lose.
"What is the current daily production of longbows?" Shulot asked seriously.
Kuod calculated for a moment and answered cautiously and conservatively.
"I now have two to three thousand civilians and three to four hundred craftsmen. I can make forty to fifty high-quality longbows and thousands of arrows every day. I am also responsible for making paper from bark and scrap wood. The main production limit is the skilled bow craftsman There is also a shortage of metal tools. There is no shortage of high-quality wood."
Shulot frowned slightly. This efficiency was much lower than he imagined. This time the alliance goes on an expedition, he plans to form at least a group of 8,000 longbow warriors. If losses are included, more than 10,000 longbows are needed. In the future, he plans to make the longbow a standard equipment for warriors and let them practice it from an early age.
After thinking for a moment, the young man laughed at himself slightly. A longbow takes decades of practice to truly take shape. Mexica warriors have always despised bows and arrows. Among the longbow guards he formed, most of the warriors were from common people and their families were poor, so they had the bow and arrow foundation to supplement their family income by shooting hunting from a young age. If an organized longbow corps was to be formed, it was still unknown whether eight thousand warriors who were familiar with bows and arrows could be gathered.
Shulot had a lot of thoughts. He remembered the old hunter and the girl he had met when he first captured prisoners. The tribesmen and village hunters in the mountains and forests can shoot birds with simple hunting bows, which is a good source of longbow soldiers. They do not need to be armored and can be used as a raiding force similar to the Welsh Longbow Militia.
"I just received a batch of copper ore from the merchants of Tarasco yesterday, and I have allocated it to you to make bronze tools! I will give you two hundred more craftsmen, and the production of high-quality longbows will be increased to at least sixty per day. In one month, it will be To a hundred!"
He made up his mind that the more longbows the better. Archers can be recruited from all over, but if that doesn't work, let the warriors get closer and shoot. Shooting with a coverage of 50 meters should be able to hit.
"I will send a hundred warriors to supervise. Each bow will be marked with the name of the craftsman, and rewards and punishments will be evaluated. For outstanding and diligent craftsmen, rewards include cotton cloth, gold and silver, craftsman positions and even land, and their children will be accepted as warriors! For lazy and inefficient craftsmen , whip them, and detain their families. If the bow breaks three times, the craftsmen will be beheaded and the children will be demoted to slaves!"
Shulot's face was majestic, and his tone was already full of murderous intent. The upcoming war put great pressure on him, and he must do his best to improve the combat effectiveness of the army. Because the target of this war is the powerful Tarascans who have bronze weapons and equipment.
The gradual strengthening of the religious reform had already made the nobles dissatisfied. Only a strong central army and only a glorious war victory can it have absolute power and prestige to further promote reforms.
Looking at the young man's stern face and feeling the formidable gaze, Kuod's heart shivered and he felt deep awe. The young boy he once was has become a majestic divine enlightener. Thinking of this, he put away his smile, lowered his head respectfully, and saluted solemnly.
The surroundings were quiet for a moment, and the craftsmen knelt down in fear and saluted. Shulot waved his hand and asked the craftsmen to continue. He continued to watch for a while. The craftsmen used rulers to mark the marks, sawed the wood with copper tools, made the bow body, and trained the bow one by one. Then hemp fibers were used as new bow strings, among which sisal rope was the toughest. Finally, glue it with bone glue.
The completed longbows are sent to a special school for testing by longbow warriors. Qualified ones are deposited in a special warehouse, waiting for the guards to pick them up. The remaining bark and miscellaneous materials are transported to the papermaking workshop and soaked in ponds of lime water for pre-degumming treatment.
The old carpenter arranged the workshop area in a clear order and everything was orderly. Further in from here is the production center of cotton armor, wooden shields and obsidian weapons, full of busy craftsmen and civilians transporting raw materials. For these traditional arms manufacturing, Mexicans have decades of mature experience.
Shulot nodded slightly. He immediately turned around, no longer affecting military production, and went to the papermaking workshop not far away.
The scale of papermaking has expanded tenfold, and there are hundreds of busy craftsmen. Hundreds of people carried bark, burlap, bamboo and reeds in a steady stream. At his suggestion, special water troughs and alleys were also built, the former for swinging materials into the curtains and the latter for drying paper.
Loads and loads of paper were produced, with priority given to the priesthood in the capital. The papers would be copied here by deacons and turned into initial books, which would then be distributed to the Kalmykak Noble School. The teaching of writing has just developed from the priesthood to the aristocratic schools, and it is still early to spread to the civilian military schools in various communities.
Shulot smiled. Words and books are the foundation for the prosperity of civilization. For the emerging Mexica civilization, investment in education was a top priority. At the same time, he had recruited several outstanding pyramid carvers and started preliminary experiments in engraving and printing. When the compilation of religious classics is completed, they will be printed out as quickly as possible and spread into the hands of every priest.
The boy picked up the newly made paper and examined it carefully. Under Mexico's historically stringent regulations, the toughness of the paper is guaranteed, but it is generally thicker. The color of the paper is still yellowish, grayish or even brownish.
Shulot scratched his head a little. The color of paper comes from the lignin in the pulp, and papermaking should have a bleaching process. Bleached, bleached? The boy thought hard for a long time, and it seemed that sun exposure, microbial decomposition, and plant ash treatment could all bleach it.
He then continued to order, and the old carpenter bowed his hands.
"Offer a reward to the craftsmen! The person who discovers the paper bleaching craft will be promoted to a senior craftsman, recruit a royal warrior from the family, and be rewarded with a hundred bolts of cotton, ten hectares of milpa, and a box of gold and silver! Prioritize the treatment methods of sunlight, soaking, and plant ash."
Upon hearing this reward, the craftsmen present instantly turned red-eyed. They knelt down and saluted respectfully and silently, but there was a different kind of twinkle in their eyes.
Shulot shook his head slightly. The status of craftsmen is limited. Chinampa can only be granted to warriors, priests and nobles, because craftsmen cannot keep it at all.
"We need to discuss with Avitt to set up a special rank of craftsman warrior to accommodate the increasingly important craftsman group in the future."
"After all, science and technology are the primary productive forces."
The young man smiled slightly, turned around and left in large strides. Next, he wants to inspect civilian industrial and mining production.
