"Huh?...This is..."
Listening to Jatiri's serious words, Shulot also took two steps forward and looked at the second stone slab.
The picture on the slate is simple and clear. At a glance, you can see a large black cloud in the sky. The black clouds extended out countless black lines, falling like endless heavy rain. Wherever the heavy rain falls, there are endless wavy lines, like a vast lake. There are some small islands emerging from the lines, and in the middle, there are people paddling canoes. There were nobles, warriors and villains in civilian attire in the crowd. They were holding up a richly dressed man and throwing him into the lake together!
The young king looked carefully for a moment. Many graphic symbols are depicted around the picture, including the sun, clouds, water, earth, corn, sacrifice, death and destruction. And the picture itself always gave him a familiar feeling and reminded him of a lot. he asked thoughtfully.
"Is this...a great flood? A sacrifice?"
Jatiri smiled and nodded.
"Exactly! Your Highness, you might as well guess who is offering the sacrifice?"
"The clothes are gorgeous, and the painting is of an adult. He must be a prominent divine noble."
"Haha, that's right. It's the place in the lake, the prince of the Kingdom of Urishu!"
"What! The prince of the last kingdom in the lake?"
Shulot looked surprised. Sacred sacrifices sometimes used divine nobles as sacrifices, but the sources of sacrifices were often prisoners of war or rebellious subjects. If the prince of the kingdom is chosen as a sacrifice, it can only prove one thing... He looked at the knowledgeable elder.
"The king of the Later Urich Kingdom lost control of the country? This is a precursor to destruction!"
"Your Highness is wise!"
Jatiri smiled and praised. Then, with a solemn expression, he explained seriously.
"This happened two hundred years ago. It can be seen as the end of the Fourth Era and the beginning of the Fifth Era. According to epic records, at the end of the Fourth Era, there was a heavy rain that lasted for 99 days! The downpour of rain fell from the sky It fell and then gathered from the mountains on all sides. When the water level was at its highest, Lake Patzcuaro rose to a height of nearly ten people, Lake Quetseo rose to a height of six people, and the lower Lake Chapala even rose to a height of More than ten people tall!"
"The water level has risen to the height of ten people! The lake will flood directly to Qin Congcan's city!"
Hearing this, Shulot was shocked. Even in this era, the average height of people is relatively low, with ten people being about 15 meters tall. There are no dams around Lake Patzcuaro. If the water level rises fifteen meters, the area of the lake will expand several times!
"Exactly! At that time, Qincongcan City was not the center of the Kingdom in the Lake. The center of the Kingdom of Urishu was on the west bank of Lake Patzcuaro, near the Tacuro Plain. That was the resting place, where the birds came from Where the sky falls.”
The knowledgeable elder looked at His Highness and smiled meaningfully.
"Your Highness, you fought with the Feather Prince of Chapala there. It is now a rich village farmland, and before it was a lush puddle meadow. But earlier, under the soil brought by those floods, in fact, The ruins of the ancient kingdom are being buried. The biggest threat to the lake area, the most important reason for the demise of the ancient kingdom, is floods!"
"Two hundred years ago, a great flood swept through the land in the lake! The water levels of the lakes in the lake area rose and even connected together to form a vast lake. The higher hills and peaks turned into islands of different sizes; the terrain The lower valleys and basins became part of the great lake. When the fertile lakeside farmland and the rich lowland villages were submerged by the lake, the turmoil in the kingdom in the lake could no longer be suppressed!"
"The gradually rising water level slowly submerged the densely populated lakeside communities, and also forced the people in the lowlands to migrate. These places were once the essence of the kingdom in the lake, with the largest population! The powerful nobles lost their fiefdoms, and many The warriors and civilians lost their farmland. In a rare act of unity, they marched toward the untouched highlands."
"However, these lands already had owners. Irreconcilable conflicts soon arose, and then turned into war! The nobles of the lowlands and highlands fought to the death, fighting for the land to survive. The raging floods hindered the kingdom's transportation, and also The movement of the army was cut off. Under the impact of the flood, the king lost the power to rule the overall situation! Even he himself was forced to move with the royal family in the capital."
"Then, the sudden reduction of farmland and the downpour of rain made the food harvest that year almost impossible! Where the heavy rain gathered, loose barns would also be flooded, causing the stored food to quickly become moldy. Famine almost followed. Later, it came with the flood, and it lasted longer than the flood!”
"The next few years were complete chaos. The original order of superiority and inferiority collapsed, and everything was respected by force. In order to compete for the highlands and islands, the nobles fought with each other, and the blood soaked the great lake! In order to compete for food for survival, warriors and militiamen They also fought with each other. They plundered villages, attacked noble fiefs, and even executed nobles to plunder the manors where their savings were!"
"Soon, the king's sacred authority was also challenged. The powerful highland nobles openly questioned it, claiming that the king had offended the gods, which led to the disaster! With the help of caring people, such rumors spread quickly and quickly aroused This caused the dissatisfaction of the people during the flood. The priests were also divided among themselves. They made voices that were not conducive to the king, and gradually fell in favor of the powerful nobles everywhere."
"Later, King Ulrich was forced to sacrifice his prince in Lake Patzcuaro to temporarily calm the anger of the nobles and warriors. However, when the king lost his heart and strength, such actions would only become more apparent. His weakness. Within a few years, the king was poisoned by the nobles. Even though the floods had receded by that time and the land in the lowlands could be cultivated again, the collapsed order of the kingdom was gone forever!"
In just a few words, Jatiri vividly described the decline of the previous kingdom in front of the young king. Shulot couldn't help but walk to the window. He looked at the heavy rains falling on Lake Patzcuaro during the monsoon, looked at the submerged fertile soil around the lake, and fell into deep thought.
"Heavy rain brings floods, floods gather, lake levels rise, and flood basins and valleys. Water control projects are needed...Similar basin topography, Dujiangyan in Sichuan and Sichuan, and the dam of Lake Texcoco..."
Shulot whispered to himself, once again raising the importance of water conservancy projects in his mind.
The life of the classical kingdom was water systems, agricultural areas along rivers and lakes. Especially in Central America, where precipitation is concentrated, the amount of precipitation is variable, and rain and heat occur at the same time, a few droughts or floods are enough to destroy a civilization. He recalled the story of the Mayan merchant Tikalo, who said that the end of the Mayan golden age hundreds of years ago and the destruction of the sacred city of Tikal were inseparable from the frequent droughts and floods in the Fourth Age.
The young king thought for a moment before raising his head again. He had some vague guesses in his mind, but he still asked.
"Two hundred years ago, the great flood disintegrated the order of the kingdom of Urishu. So what will be the outcome of this kingdom in the lake?"
Jatiri looked at the calm Xilot with a smile in his eyes.
"Your Highness, you must already know. Look here!"
The knowledgeable elder took two steps forward, stretched out his hand again, and pressed it on the third stone slab.
The third tablet is a huge realistic picture. The majestic condor soars in the middle sky, and the majestic sun rises slowly from the east. The condor and the sun accompany each other, overlooking the vast land. On the ground, a group of people came from the northwest along the river. The leader wore a divine crown with the wings of an eagle, which made him look particularly tall and eye-catching. On both sides of their path were the nobles, warriors and commoners of the Lake District who were holding tributes and welcoming them. They settled together by the lake, built town houses, built a huge bluestone city, and built the towering Yakata!
Shulot came closer to take a look. The brush strokes of this painting are ancient and outdated, but also have a certain kind of vitality. Around the picture, there are various patterns such as condors, hummingbirds, crocodiles, feathers, turkeys, cocoa... etc. These familiar patterns also appeared on the enemy flags on the battlefield of the Western Expedition! As for the content of this picture...
The young king spoke in a deep voice.
"The original mural in the main hall of the Palace of Winds?"
"Exactly! Your Highness, the unpredictable and terrible climate also forced the northern people to move south. The Chichimec descendants who migrated south came from the northwest and conquered the chaotic and divided Kingdom of Urichiu along the way. Their number Although they are few, they are brave and good at fighting and are unstoppable! The old nobles have already suffered heavy losses in the civil strife. They were either ruthlessly wiped out or surrendered. The warriors and civilians were also tired of the long wars and longed for a unified order, so they came to The strongest surrender.”
"The Legion of the Condor came all the way east with unstoppable force! They recruited surrenders and rebels, they divided the new nobles, and they grew stronger. The tribe of the Condor traveled through the Chapala Lake area and across the Tacuro Plains, until Qincongcan below the city!"
Jatiri's voice had a chanting tone and even more ups and downs of emotion.
"There is no doubt about the final outcome, but the road leading to it is worth exploring. The new Kingdom of Tarasco was built on the fertile soil of the Lake Land! The Chichimec descendants who migrated south brought the enterprising spirit of the northern plateau with them. And vitality, the capital is in the southeast of Lake Patzcuaro, a highland safe from floods, Qin Cong Can City.
Drawing on the experience of the destruction of previous kingdoms, successive kings of Tarasco adopted a series of brand-new methods! They concentrated the power of the king and built a new direct stronghold; they managed the nobles of the kingdom and governed the occupied lands; they sought the majesty of the gods and controlled the power of the priests; they even merged with the Ulishi people in the land of the lake to form a new The Prepecha people! "
Having said this, the knowledgeable elder lowered his head and saluted solemnly.
"Your Highness, let me tell you in detail! In the past one or two hundred years, these strategies have been effective and have been verified one by one. They will also be of benefit to your future governance!"
