The blazing sun continues to rise, emitting infinite light and heat, shining on the magnificent Great Temple Pyramid. The shadow cast by the pyramid gradually shrank, leaving only the deep darkness inside the temple. The figure of the elder disappeared in the darkness, the high priest's arm was raised in the light, and the ceremony gradually reached its climax!
One by one, the blue sacrifices climbed onto the high platform, and bursts of warm cheers resounded through the sky. The sun god opened his eyes indifferently. He stared at the bright colors and admired the picture of life; He sucked in the curling smoke of the gods and asked for tribute from the soul; He licked the burning flames and devoured the flesh and blood sacrifices. Finally, under the high-pitched chanting of the priests, He let out a contented sigh, shook the heaven and earth like thunder, and sent the incarnation to the world!
"Boom, boom, boom!..."
On the gun mount made of pure gold, three thick new wooden cannons were pointed at the sky and ignited, suddenly erupting with a shocking roar! The artillery wind swept across, and the flags of the three gods were fluttering behind the artillery mount. The three images of Huitzilopochtli are painted on the flag in sequence: the main god sitting on the throne, the sun god wearing a golden crown, and the god of war holding lightning. This symbolizes that the wooden cannon in front of you is an artifact given by the gods!
The violent sound of cannons brought awe-inspiring power, making the sky shake, the earth tremble, and everything fell silent! All the people in the square immediately fell to the ground in awe under the divine power, and the envoys from various countries also knelt down in fear and saluted. The high priest then loudly announced.
"Praise the Lord God! The incarnation of the Sun God, the Grand Tratoani of the Alliance, the supreme king, comes to the festival!"
With a grim face, Avitt walked to the edge of the pyramid of the Great Temple, holding the staff in his hand. He wears the attire of a king with a sun painted on it, a fine obsidian crest on his head, and a gorgeous cloak inlaid with gems on his back. For today's ceremony, he came to the side hall next to the main temple very early to prepare. Only after the immortal elder left did he appear as the only king.
At this moment, the king climbed to the top of the mountain, looked down at the ant-like crowd, and enjoyed the kneeling and admiration of all the people. A faint smile formed on his lips. He glanced around the pyramid, at the thick wooden cannons that were still smoking, as well as the royal cannons busy loading, and nodded secretly.
"This kind of roaring wooden cannon can shock people's hearts! It is suitable for use in festivals to declare the power of the royal family!"
Ever since he first saw the power of the wooden cannon, Avitt had completely fallen in love with this new weapon. Rather, he admired the loud roar of the explosion.
In the eyes of the king who controls the hearts of the people, the power of the wooden cannon itself is actually not amazing. However, in this ignorant age of pious gods, if the wooden cannon is given the cloak of divinity and used as an artifact given by the gods, it can directly hit people's hearts on the battlefield and accomplish a task that is difficult for thousands of warriors to complete! This time during the battle with the Tlaxcala Legion, the roar of wooden cannons successfully damaged the opponent's morale. And the aerial cannons used in the festival can also shock all peoples and states!
Avitt looked majestic and looked down for close to a moment. The crowd in the square remained motionless and prostrated in awe for a long time. It wasn't until he saw that the gunners had finished loading that the king raised his staff and shouted loudly.
"With the blessing of the Lord God, the battle between gods is great! I offer the most precious sacrifice to the supreme Lord God! That is the king of Tarasco, Kasonchi of the Prepecha people, and the divine king Suangua!"
"Sacrifice to the king of Tarasco, Suangua! ... Boom, boom, boom...!".
Hundreds of priests chanted in unison, followed by three more cannon shots that sounded like the roar of gods. The community priests shouted God's will, and the 250,000 people in the capital gradually became quiet.
Then, the distant bamboo flute sounded at the end of the main road. Surrounded by nearly a hundred warriors, a full forty strong men carried a wide wooden platform on their shoulders and slowly approached from several miles away. They walked past the houses of common people, through the gardens of nobles, and past the pyramids of priests. Under the gazes of tens of thousands of people and the fanatical shouts of the people, they finally arrived at the Temple Square!
Shusok clenched his spear, opened his eyes wide, and looked at the wooden platform that was getting closer.
I saw a silent young man sitting on a gorgeous wooden platform, surrounded by four beautiful girl priests. He was wearing Tarasco's Condor King uniform and a forked kingdom feather crown on his head. Although his expression was pale, he still carried a bit of the power of being in a position of power for a long time. Under the guidance of the priest, the wooden platform deliberately detoured from the area where the envoys gathered, causing waves of shocked sighs.
"Really, truly... the King of Tarasco... Suangua!..."
"He was actually captured alive here as a sacrifice for the alliance!"
"The Kingdom of Tarasco, which has been strong for two hundred years, ended up like this!..."
"Ah, Your Majesty!..."
The wooden platform passed by slowly, Suangua lowered his head and remained still, as if he had fallen asleep. It wasn't until he walked through the blue sacrificial procession and heard the familiar shouts that he couldn't suppress that he opened his eyes again. Familiar and unfamiliar figures of the great nobles of Tarasco appeared and disappeared in front of the king's eyes, causing his lifeless eyes to waver again.
"The descendants of the Kingdom, the King of the Condor, went to the Kingdom of God together to face the ancient ancestors... Ha, how good it is!"
The wooden platform slowly walked to the front of the big temple, and then landed heavily on the ground. Su Angua smiled miserably, stood up from the wooden platform, and faced his destined fate calmly. Step by step, he climbed up to the 60-meter pyramid temple; step by step, he passed hundreds of priests and warriors. All the way to the last step, the blazing holy fire reflected his pale and calm face. Not far away, Avitt raised his crest high and smiled broadly, like a joyfully welcoming Sun God.
Suangua turned his head and watched the sun rise into the sky, with no clouds in sight. Then, his eyes followed the sunlight downwards, illuminating the tens of thousands of tiny people under the pyramid. Tens of thousands of faces looked up at him with excitement and anticipation. A realization of fate arose in King Tarakos's heart. He suddenly recalled a fleeting thought he had while watching the "House of Wind" sacrifice a long time ago.
"It turns out that the Mexica's world-famous sacrificial ceremony actually looks like this! I actually saw the spectacular New Year's Eve ceremony in this way..."
Suangua suppressed the sadness in his heart and glanced at the line of sacrifices for a long time. He saw several of his sons, several brothers from the royal family, but not the small figure of Chatigny. King Tarakos nodded silently and finally climbed up the last step, truly facing the king of Mexica for the first time.
"King of Tarasco, blood of the condor, Suangua, greets you! King of Mexica."
Suangua lowered his head, clenched his fists on his chest, and performed the courtesy of meeting a king.
"The master of the world, the bloodline of the Lord God, Avitsotl, accepts your greetings! The former king of Tarasco."
Avitt stood upright, without moving his arms, and just nodded slightly. The joy of revenge turned into a smile at the corner of his mouth, filling his chest!
"Suangwa Kasonchi, remember your promise!"
"Well...King of Mexica, please remember your promise."
Avitt nodded slightly. Then, he finally couldn't help but raise the staff high and laughed out loud. The laughter was filled with uncontrollable joy!
"Haha, hahaha!"
Right in front of Avitt, Suangua slowly knelt down without being forced by any warriors or taking any medicine!
"King of Tarasco, Suangua, surrenders! The king of Mexica is the master of the world! This is the promise of the Lord God!"
The high priest watched all this closely, and then shouted loudly. Soon, hundreds of priests repeated it again, followed by five thousand warriors and tens of thousands of city citizens. Waves of sound swept outward one after another, accompanied by the shouts of thousands of people, from the temple in the center of the capital to the edge of the floating island in the lake.
"The king of Mexica is the master of the world!"
Hundreds of thousands of people in the capital fell into complete fanaticism. Deafening shouts rose from under the pyramid, making Avitt's smile brighter. He laughed and reached out to hold Suangua's hair. Then, he looked solemnly, looked into the other person's humiliated and angry eyes, and said calmly.
"The Sun God is both stern and merciful. Suangua, do you have anything else to say before going to the Kingdom of God?"
Hearing this, Su Angua closed his eyes and thought silently for a while before sighing and chanting.
"I have always compared myself to a condor, not a mediocre rat fish, but the kingdom perished in my hands!...
Ah, I am driving a big boat through the water! The ship ran aground and was damaged, and the heavy rain stirred up wind and waves. The crocodile opens its mouth and bites back, while the cardinal flees in fear. Only the loyal hummingbird fell before me, its withered wings are sad...
Ah, then I knew: This is the three gods who want to defeat me. It is not the fault of losing the battle, but the destined final chapter! "
Listening to the king's last poem, Avitt was slightly moved. He waved his hand, and one of the priests took out a pen and paper and copied down the poem in shorthand.
"Don't worry, Suangua! Your poems will be sung in the epic and will be immortalized together with the Mexica's military exploits. Now, my old acquaintance, please let me personally send you to the Kingdom of God!"
Suangua nodded. He took off his royal robes and traditional feather crown. With a calm expression, he walked to the sacrifice stone and lay down. The five priests and elders skillfully held down his hands and feet and suppressed his body. Then Avitt personally raised the obsidian dagger and drew a shining arc!
"ah!..."
The bright sunlight quickly dimmed in an instant, and the cloudless sky had no deep end in sight. Su Angua trembled violently for a while, and his eyes completely lost focus. His soul turned into a wisp of blue smoke, flying along the deep sky to the distant kingdom of God and to his lost ancestors...
"The respected and glorious Tarascoca Sonchi, the descendant of the Jiao people, and the brilliant King Suangua, the divine descendant, have gone to the kingdom of the sun god!"
The high priest shouted passionately, and the sacred declaration echoed throughout the temple.
"He left a final verse: I will follow the will of the Sun God and face the defeat of the God War calmly. The Prepecha people are destined to join the alliance, and this is the final chapter of fate! ... Praise him, the heroic King! He converted to the Lord God before his death and will enjoy peace forever in the Kingdom of God!"
The chants of the high priest spread far and wide, once again triggering cheers like a landslide and tsunami, and almost crazy prayers!
Avitt stared at Suangua's fallen body, smelled the blood on his nose, and let out a deep sigh. At this moment, when he looked at the old friend's bright red stain on his left hand, he felt a little lost for no reason, and his sadness passed away in a flash.
"Your Majesty, this poem?..."
The priest holding the pen wrote quickly and recorded the high priest's version of Suangua's poem again. Then he looked at two different versions of the poem and asked for the king's decision.
Hearing this, Avitt's expression became solemn and he instantly regained his composure. He took out the original manuscript of the poem from the priest's hand, read it one last time, shook his head slightly, and plunged into the blazing holy fire.
"Just do as the high priest said, record the epic and sing it throughout the world!"
The sacrifice that followed was as grand and glorious as before, bloody and gorgeous, fanatical and unforgettable. The ceremonial sacrifices of duels between nobles, the tearful dance sacrifices of girls, the performance sacrifices of the main gods, and the harvest sacrifices on the lake... The nobility and royal family of the Patzcuaro Lake District were wiped out, and the old rulers left The Kingdom of God also took away the old dream of the Kingdom of Tarasco.
Wave after wave of sounds echoed in the wide square. There were the excited cheers of the nobles, the heroic roars of the warriors, the sincere praises of the common people, and the fearful screams of the foreigners. When the sun slowly sets in the west and the sky reflects red clouds, the rituals are temporarily suspended.
Avitt solemnly raised his staff, and the priests shouted in time.
"The sun god showed a red smile. He is satisfied with the sacrifice of the noble one!...Now, all the states in the alliance, pay tribute to the king! All the tribes in the world, pay tribute to the king!"
Under the guidance of the warriors, envoys from all the states of the alliance moved forward to present this year's tribute to the supreme king. When they walked to the pyramid and looked at the head of Kuius held high, they felt inspired and proud of the strength of the alliance; when they looked at the hanging head of Tepetl, they felt fearful and in awe of the power of the king.
Shusok's expression was solemn, as solid as a sculpture. The aristocratic envoys from all the alliance states passed by him, looking at him with a mixture of awe and alienation. It wasn't until Barda, who was enfeoffed in the lake, passed by that he stopped for a moment and bowed his head respectfully to the deputy leader. Shusok nodded slightly in return.
Following the envoy's procession, Barda climbed to the magnificent Great Pyramid. On the platform in the middle, he presented the tribute gifts from the feudal kingdoms in the lake: a pair of solid bronze armor, a close-fitting bronze dagger, two sacrificial brass utensils, two boxes of huge shining pearls, There are also several ancient collections from the royal family of Tarasco. Then, the Eagle Warrior took out a thick paper roll and handed it to the king's personal guard, which recorded the details of the large tribute gift.
Soon, Avit on the pyramid unfolded the scroll. He just glanced briefly and saw the words "Six thousand catties of copper", then he raised his staff and nodded with great satisfaction. Barda then fell down on the ground, paid homage to the king who was standing high above, and then turned back.
The tributes from the alliance states are the same as in previous years, and can be divided into exquisite tributes to the royal family and large tributes to the alliance. Not long after the feudal state in the lake was established, food, wood and stone were in short supply. The tribute required by the alliance is mainly copper materials, which are a specialty of the Lake District and are widely used.
Then came the foreign envoys from all over the world. Wearing various costumes, they came to the pyramid one after another. When they looked at the head of Cuius held high, they felt fear in their hearts, afraid of the power of the alliance; when they looked at the hanging head of Tepetl, their fear turned into fear, fear of the cruelty of the Mexica people.
According to the relationship of kinship and distance, the first to pay tribute were the loyal alliance vassals, the Jontars and the Huastecs. Then came the disloyal vassals, the Mixtec Alliance.
The Mixtec envoy carefully delivered a huge wooden board. Avitt checked briefly and nodded slightly. The Mixtecs not only made up for all the tributes owed during the Western Expedition, but also donated a large amount of feathers, dyes, spices, fruits, goldware and gems from the rainforest. The king raised his staff expressionlessly, and the other party was relieved and fell to the ground to worship.
The same is true for the Zapotecs and Trapanecs. Avitt had already remembered these disloyal vassals, but it was not time to settle accounts yet. Until the Otopan envoy paid tribute on behalf of the Otomi people and humbly surrendered and paid homage. A faint smile appeared on the king's face, and he thought of his long-lost brother.
"Tisok, my brother, the Otomi have surrendered to me..."
After vassalage, there are foreign countries. First is the revered holy city of Cholula. Next came the Totonacs of the seaside.
"The descendant of the Jiao people, the envoy of Totonac, met with the king of Mexica and paid tribute to the jade ring inherited from the ancestors of the Jiao people! This is a sacred object from the last era!"
Qingyue's chanting sounded loudly. The high priest held up an ancient yellow jade ring and showed it to everyone. Later, the jade ring was packed in a silver box and carefully sent to the temple for collection.
The Totonac people's annual tribute consists of ancient artifacts. They occupy the ruins of the Olmec civilization, and they have as many ancient cultural relics as they can get, and they sell them to the outside world from time to time. This kind of tribute is free of charge, and if the Mexican Union is willing to accept it, it is much more cost-effective than paying tribute in large amounts of gold, silver, cotton cloth, spices, and food.
What's more, even if the real ancient cultural relics are used up, you can still make your own cultural relics. Of course, facing a powerful alliance, the Totonac people would not risk angering the king, and the tributes they paid were all genuine.
This year's festival was particularly grand, with hundreds of foreign envoys, the largest number in history. On the stage to present gifts were the noble chiefs of the northern and southern Tecos tribes, the chiefs of the plateau dog descendants, the chiefs of the eastern rainforest, and even Mayan merchants as envoys!
The last person to present the gift was an envoy from the Eastern Tlaxcalans. This is also the first time after decades that the Tlaxcalans have sent envoys to the Alliance. The messenger wore clothes similar to those of the Mexica, bowed his head humbly. He presented precious tributes, then raised his hands in the air and presented a wooden board covered with patterns. Avitt took it out for inspection, but it was an atlas of peace.
"Praise the God of War in Mexica! Offer your property to your noble daughter, offer your princess Tarasco, withdraw the border legions...kowtow to the ground and ask for peace."
"Haha, coming from all directions, you are the overlord of the world!"
Avitt laughed boldly. At this moment, he is the supreme king who dominates the world! The Mexican Union controls a population of four million people who are subordinate to each state, and three million people who are nominally vassals of various ministries from all directions are reaching their peak under his rule! And he, Avitt, is the Grand Tratoani of the Alliance, the lord of the world with seven million people!
Amid hearty laughter, the king stood on the top of the tall temple, looking at the sun going west. The sky and ground in front of me are all a vast bright red, just like the magnificent kingdom of God in mythology. As the incarnation of the sun god, he looked down at the "ant colony" on the ground and raised the staff high again!
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The sound of three cannons shook the sky, signaling the departure of the sun. It also made countless "ant colonies" kneel down and bow their heads, turning into waves at the feet of the king.
"I am the incarnation of the Lord God. I am the only king who controls the sky, earth and lakes!"
Avit looked up to the sky and shouted, holding the divine staff high in his hand, and all the people prostrate under his feet. There are two flames in his eyes, which will burn all over the sea in all directions and burn down the whole world!
