The stars shine in the distance, and the night is silent. Only the gentle cries of eagles and hisses of snakes.
In the wooden box on the stone platform of the bedroom, little Avelot spread out its short gray wings, held its white-haired little head high, and its small black eyes were bright. Across the two-meter-high stone platform, it poked its head out, looked at Xiao Qing on the ground, and let out a proud "Yo yo" cry.
The little green snake raised its head, its erect snake eyes silently staring at the bird above its head for a while. Then, it hissed along the rough edge of the stone platform and reached the wooden box in a moment. Then, it opened its big green mouth, pressed towards the little golden eagle that was very close at hand, and made a high-frequency threatening "shhh" sound.
Little Avelot was stunned for a moment, and he "chirped" in fear, calling for help. It flapped its short wings and struggled hard, but only slightly lifted off the ground, and then fell back into the wooden box. After struggling for a moment, it could only hide in the corner of the wooden box in fear, cover its eyes with its wings, huddle into a fluffy ball, and then tremble.
Shulot was awakened by the rapid cry of an eagle. The young man quickly stood up half-naked, revealing the firm outline of his growth. He quickly glanced around, holding the long dagger that never left his body tightly in his right hand. Then, he carefully moved the brazier in the corner, and finally saw the confrontation between the eagle and the snake clearly, and couldn't help but laugh.
The young man stretched out his hand, touched the soft little golden eagle's head, comforted the frightened little Avelot, and whispered with a smile.
"You, you, be obedient and don't make any noise. Your task now is to accumulate your wings and wait for the day when they are fully grown!"
Then, he hugged the dissatisfied and twisting little green snake from the side, feeling the smoothness and delicateness of the snake's body, and smiled softly.
"As for you, you should suppress your voice and posture, lurk silently, and wait in a low profile. A fatal attack is only a moment, so what's the point of confrontation and deterrence?"
Having said this, Shulot was slightly stunned, as if he had thought of something. He looked toward the first ray of morning light rising in the east, his eyes dim and distant.
Now that he was up, Shulot went to complete his daily morning training. Then he waited for a while, and the craftsman director Kuaud finally came in a hurry. After a brief discussion, the two decided on today's itinerary to check out the mining industry around the capital. The old carpenter accompanied me for half a day yesterday, and it will probably take a whole day today.
Shulot ordered the guards to wait for the craftsmen holding jade talismans to arrange them properly. Then, he took the warrior chief and the old carpenter and rushed to the port southwest of the capital.
Boating under the morning sun, not far from Lake Texcoco to the southwest, where the Leman River meets, there are many small rivers. When the boat sailed into a fork of a river, it saw dozens of armed patrol warriors and hundreds of miners hunched over and busy beside the river bed.
A few hundred meters further, the clear river suddenly shines. Layers of golden light emerged from the bottom of the river half a man deep, like stars dotting the night sky. This is the placer gold collection point closest to the capital.
Due to active volcanic activity, Central America is one of the richest regions in the world for gold and silver. The vast Mexican plateau has the world's largest silver mine reserves, as well as hundreds of gold mine mountains in the north, south and west, and underground are continuous gold and silver mine belts.
The gold and silver reserves here are measured in tens of thousands of tons and are distributed in strata at different depths. They are even higher than those in Japan, which also has frequent volcanic activities. Historically, the Caribbean treasure fleet set out from Veracruz in eastern Mexico, loaded with Mexican gold and silver that made pirates and navies crazy, gathered in Havana, Cuba, and then sailed to Seville in southern Spain, where it became the The original source and inexhaustible driving force of capital expansion in Western Europe.
The tribes of Central America have been mining gold for thousands of years, and have accumulated countless amounts of gold. The capital of Tenochtitlan is the center of Mesoamerican wealth. According to what Xiulote sees every day, the gold in the capital is estimated to be hundreds or even thousands of tons, and much of it is buried deep in tombs and temples.
Usually, the mining of precious metals is divided into digging holes and panning in rivers and streams. Mining rock gold is very inefficient and costly due to a lack of metal mining tools. Similar to other tribes, the Mexicans mainly pan for placer gold in the water. In the rivers in the west and north of the Mexica Union, there are a large number of sand rivers, where thousands of miners work, providing a steady stream of wealth to the city-states.
Shulot stopped the patrolling warrior from saluting and signaled the miners to continue collecting placer gold. Then he strode forward and watched the miners working by the river.
The main area where the miners worked was a dammed river. The water in the river has been drained, revealing a glittering golden river bed. They used simple stone shovels to dig out the river mud and gathered it into golden mounds by the river. Then, the miners took out simple gold pans, put the excavated gold mud into the basin, and washed it with river water continuously by the river.
A gold pan is about the size of a washbasin, made of wood or pottery, with circles of special grooves on it. When the light sand disperses and the useless stones are removed, what remains are heavy and bright gold particles of various sizes. The golden sand is like fine dust, and the gold nuggets are like rice grains. They shine and flow together in the sun, making a crisp rustling sound that captivates people's hearts.
Shulot's eyes were attracted to placer gold. The color of gold seemed to have a natural charm. Fortunately, he was used to seeing gold, silver, and precious stones. After a few breaths, the young man regained his composure.
He calculated that the placer gold produced by the miners each time was only a tenth of an ounce. Looking at the piles of gold sand and mud by the river, a miner can collect at most a few ounces a day. Finally, he looked at the long river bed covered with golden sand, and the golden river in the distance, with tons of gold buried underneath.
The young man was silent for a long time and shook his head. The manpower required for this kind of collection is too expensive, and in the city-states of Central America, which are rich in gold and silver, the value of gold is far less than that of Eurasia, and there are not many things that can be purchased. The sudden wealth of the gold mining industry has turned into a de facto luxury industry, which has little positive significance for Mexica society.
Next, Shulot turned his attention to the miners' physical fitness and facial expressions.
The main sources of miners were civilians and slaves. Their work is strictly supervised by the warriors of each city-state. They have to work for more than ten hours every day and must complete the minimum collection requirements.
The young man ignored the slave consumables who were ragged, numb, and as skinny as wood. These people had no military value. He was just looking at the civilian miners in coarse brown clothes intently.
Most of these civilian miners came from nearby villages and were summoned by local nobles. Their faces are stoic, their bodies are lean, and their upper bodies are slightly hunched. Low body fat and high-intensity work outline their distinct facial contours, while their eyes are pure and simple.
The miners endure long and boring collection every day, and their obedience and discipline are much higher than those of ordinary farmers and citizens, and even stronger than some young warriors. The prescribed collection quantity also gave them a rough understanding of some simple numbers. At the same time, they need to cooperate with each other in work, often working together in villages, and sometimes conflict with each other, so they have sufficient teamwork capabilities.
Shulot looked around for a moment, then summoned a simple and honest young miner to ask briefly.
The young miner was only in his twenties, and his face was already weather-beaten. He has thick knuckles and thick calluses on his hands and feet. He answered the priest's questions nervously, his language was simple but clear.
Shulot nodded slightly. He ordered calmly.
"Stand here, keep your back straight, look straight ahead, and don't move."
Hearing this, the young miner stood like a stake, uneasy and motionless. Sweat slipped from his cheeks, washing away the dust on his face, and then dripped to the ground, splashing up a cloud of dust. His pupils were slightly dilated, staring blankly at the unknown distance of the river.
Shulot said nothing. He sat down relaxedly in front of the miners. Then he took the tequila light wine handed by Bertard, raised his head and drank slowly, and the aroma of the wine spread by the river beach. His eyes remained fixed on the young miner's expression.
The young miner's throat moved slightly, as if he had swallowed the wine-scented air, but he still did not dare to move. The boy slowly ate another piece of tortilla with chili sauce. The miners' eyes are always attracted to it from time to time, and then they look away in fear.
After a long time, Shulot nodded with satisfaction.
"May I have your name?"
"My great priest, my name is Guzman, from the village of Coyohuacan."
The young miner replied nervously, his eyes lowered and he still didn't dare to move. Coyohuacan is a small city-state near the edge of Lake Texcoco, connected to the south bridge of the Seven Bridges of the capital.
"How long have you been a miner? Do you know all the miners in this area?"
"My dear priest, I have been working as a miner for three years. I have been trained at the community military school for several years, but I could not pass the samurai selection test. The lord asked our village to hire people to mine, so I came. The miners here are all from the surrounding area. In the village, the army all know each other, and there are probably one or two hundred people."
The young miner blinked in recognition. He actually also had a rough understanding of the concepts of numbers.
Shulot pondered for a moment. The villages all belong to the fiefdoms of local nobles, and the villagers are also under the jurisdiction of each noble. However, given his current status, the nobles would not refuse if he asked for some miners.
The young man nodded slightly and waved his hand.
"Guzman, go down..."
Only then did miner Guzman dare to lower his head. He knelt on the ground and saluted, heaving a sigh of relief, then turned around and left in a hurry without saying anything. He hasn't finished his gold mining task today yet.
Shulot's eyes were deep. He looked at the hundreds of miners on the river bank and asked seriously.
"Kouod, how many miners are there in the Texcoco Lake area?"
Craftsman Director Kuaud pondered for a moment and answered cautiously.
"Your Highness, there are nearly ten gold and silver mining sites around the lake area. There are more than 2,000 civilian miners, and slaves cannot be counted. There are several large mines further out, with about 2,000 miners."
Shulot frowned slightly, this number was much less than he expected. He thought for a moment, then looked at the old carpenter and spoke slowly.
"Let's go check out the salt and stone mines. I need more miners!"
Kuod felt the meaning in the young man's eyes. He thought for a moment and bowed his head respectfully.
