The lake kingdom is busy and peaceful during the rainy season. The "Three Sisters" are growing in the fields, growing rapidly every day; farmers are busy building canals to drain the lower fields. Without enough fertilizer, top dressing is impossible.
By the end of August, this year's harvest will be almost certain. The rainfall is sufficient but not too much, the lakes have not flooded, and the crops are busy growing. It will be a good year!
At the river mouth fortress, the Guakili Army has been formed. Following Arnold's suggestion, the king rewarded the warriors in the army generously, allowing the unruly tribal warriors to survive the arduous early stages of training and gradually become accustomed to the discipline of the army. Of course, their discipline is far from comparable to that of the Lance Corps. They can only form an array and fight according to orders, and will not charge without authorization.
Later, Shulot entrusted a group of senior warriors from the Northern Expedition to the canine villages in the east and west. Under the large and small flag corps, a new mobilization unit at the account level has been established to strengthen the kingdom's control over each flag corps. Then, he selected a group of war priests who were good at fighting from the army, plus some naturalized wilderness priests, to replace the ordinary priests in the canine villages. The fifteen Guaquili flags were again further integrated.
After inspecting the flag teams, the king has determined that the 60,000 dog tribes have barely held a hoe and are not suitable for farming. In a short period of time, the fifteen tribal flag corps will perform more military functions without expecting to gain much economic benefits. In other words, as long as the tribes in Guakili can support themselves, pay some symbolic tribute, produce some furs and feathers, and go out to fight in wartime, it will be fine.
The alliance's fleet made two more trips, bringing in large quantities of grain and tin materials, and carrying away armor and copper materials. Alyssa was extremely happy when she received the letter from the little golden eagle. She had little Avelot brought over again, and Avelot threw the yo-yo again.
Alyssa's reply was very long, containing many trivial matters, like a girl's diary. There is also a cute simple drawing in the diary. The painting shows two little people holding hands. The male figure has a golden eagle on his shoulders, and the female figure has a green snake coiled around her feet. The golden eagle and the green snake both had a fish in their mouths.
Shulot held the letter and rubbed it for a long time. He hasn’t seen Alyssa for several years, and he hasn’t touched the little green snake for several years. The boy's memories stay in the distance, and the young king stands on the top of the fortress. He always wore armor on his body and always had a bronze sword on his waist, which he could not take off or take off.
Messengers from the alliance brought greetings from the king and the high priest. The king requested that gems be added to this year's tribute, and the high priest agreed that Alter would serve as the chief priest of Otomi. Along with the trip came a top-secret news: the elderly man was seriously ill and bedridden, and his 90th birthday was not held as planned.
Hearing this, Shulot was in a trance. The Immortal Sun has personally established the alliance, which has gone from the last century to today, and it is now the end of another century. Could it be that He is about to be extinguished? No one knows the answer, and the Mexicans don't want to know the answer.
August passed in the rain, the autumn wind came with fragrance, and it was already September in a blink of an eye. The pumpkins in the fields are ripe, farmers are working hard, and the joy of harvest is everywhere. The canine descendants were picking the harvested pumpkins, surprised by the fertility of the land under their feet, and finally made up their mind.
Black Wolf's royal flag finally moved south slowly. In mid-September, under the escort of six thousand imperial guards, the king returned to the royal capital where he had been away for a year and a half.
Compared with when he left, the city of Qincongcan, the royal capital, has an air of prosperity. The villages in Gyeonggi Province have regained their vitality, and villagers can occasionally enter the city to exchange their surplus agricultural products for needed pottery, stone tools and cloth. Business travelers from all over the world continued to come, selling grain, cotton cloth, spices, and feathers from various southern tribes, and purchasing bronze wares and precious stones that were special products of the kingdom.
Tax collectors from various places were busy day and night, collecting the collected goods into the warehouse in the royal capital, waiting for the statistics and expenditures of the missionary priests. Yes, the current commercial tax is still collected in kind, plus a small amount of cloth, cocoa, gold and silver.
Shulot once considered establishing a clear monetary system. However, the tribal structure of the world is too scattered, the gold and silver reserves are too abundant, and the quantity of commodities is relatively lacking. Many times, gold and silver cannot be used as "money". Many tribes are like the descendants of dogs in the wilderness, only accepting cocoa, salt, grain, cloth and weapons, and scorning gold and silver that cannot be eaten directly. Because if they want this kind of golden or white stone, they can dig and refine it themselves. There are plenty of them in the mountains anyway.
On the other hand, the gems produced by the Lake Kingdom are becoming the currency unit of transactions in many wealthy city-states because of their extremely stable quality, gorgeous color and relatively rare quantity. Of course, if you leave a wealthy city-state and come to a poor village or countryside, the value of gems will still not be recognized.
Seeing this situation, Shulot carefully controlled the output of glazed gemstones, maintained the credibility and value of the market, and sought huge profits from creating "currency". At the same time, he continued to send royal caravans to expand the gem trade to farther places. The world has been at war for a long time, and the food and cotton cloth of each ministry are strictly controlled and will not be sold in too much. The greatest value of these gems is still used in exchange for slaves.
According to Sage Jatiri's estimate, from the establishment of the gem trade at the beginning of last year to September of this year, the kingdom has purchased about 20,000 young slaves using manufactured glazed gemstones, with an average purchase of more than 1,000 people per month. These slaves mainly came from the Mixtec, Zapotec and Trapanic tribes in the south through various channels.
The loss of thousands of Dingkou has attracted the attention of lords everywhere. The Mixtec and Zapotec alliances in the south successively issued decrees prohibiting the sale of slaves to the Kingdom in the Lake, and sent warriors to patrol severely. Although the Trapanic people bordered the kingdom and did not dare to explicitly prohibit it, there were many "bandits" who blocked the trade. The source of slaves is gradually drying up unless new sources are found.
The twenty thousand young slaves purchased have been distributed as serfs to the kingdom's military nobles. Now, the thing that bothers Shulot the most is the promise of enfeoffment to the Kingdom Legion.
During the Western Expedition to destroy the country, the Northern Route Army entrusted 2.2 million acres of land and needed to grant 110,000 slaves; the Holy City Army resettled and entrusted 300,000 acres of land and needed to grant 15,000 slaves; and in the just-concluded Northern Expedition, the Ottomi conscripted The legion does not need to give slaves, it can be rewarded with ownerless fiefdoms from the three kingdoms. The Guards still needed 400,000 acres of land and 20,000 slaves.
In Hekou County, the king used the method of setting up a large tent to enfeoff the one or two hundred senior warriors who had been promoted to military nobility in the Guards Corps. Then, he gathered another 5,000 canine captives and wild people from the mountains and forests, and reluctantly completed the military merits of the Northern Expedition. But when he returned to the capital and saw Sage Jatiri's report, he had an unusual headache again.
The kingdom had been established for more than two years, and the land conferments for the Western Expedition had been completed long ago, but the number of slaves conferred was far from enough, and most of the enfeoffed fields had to be abandoned. To this day, there is still a shortage of about 80,000 slaves. Although the king's prestige was rising, the warriors respected their leader, did not have many objections, and waited with peace of mind. But Wang's credibility is crucial, and these gaps must be filled as soon as possible!
And to make up for such a huge gap, the only solution is war, war, constant war!
"For the sake of land and serfs, the kingdom needs to launch a war. After the war is won, the warriors continue to be promoted, which creates greater demand, and then continues the war..."
Shulot stood at the top of the Palace of Winds, looking toward the southwest in the direction of Qingambat. The mines there also need to be replenished with Dingkou to further expand production.
At this moment, thousands of miners are busy day and night, and black smoke rises from there. Countless copper mines and coal mines were mined, and then smelted into armor, spears, battle axes, Qin swords, arrowheads, and even bronze artillery! Everything in the kingdom is being prepared for military expansion, and only military expansion can solve all the problems in the kingdom!
Thinking of this, Shulot lowered his eyes and recalled the situation when he first returned to the royal capital. After returning victoriously from the Northern Expedition, the military nobles were greatly excited. The generals in the capital requested an audience one after another, while those from other places continued to submit letters.
Orosh, the commander of the Gyeonggi Army, proposed to expand the scale of capture after autumn and completely wipe out the savage tribes on the four borders; Horta, the head of the Sky Family, proposed to launch a war in the Chapala Lake area and attack the Feather Prince; Necali, the director of the Industry and Mining Department It was suggested to conquer the southwestern mountainous area and expand the periphery of the mining area; the commander of the Second Lancer Corps, Ezpan, proposed to purge the rebellious southern nobles and eradicate the remnants of the Kingdom of Tarasco; the veteran Etalik wrote a letter, seconding the proposal of the commander of the Ezpan Corps, And provided information on the secrets and private armies of the southern nobles. Before leaving Hekou County, the commander of the Second Lancers, Kuruca, expressed euphemistically that he hoped to obtain His Highness's permission to completely devour the Sakapu State in the mountains and forests to the west.
"What kind of military machine have I built with my own hands?"
Shulot looked up at the sky. The kestrels in the lake area were spreading their wings and soaring. Its eyes are so sharp and its belly is so hungry, always looking for new prey!
After a while, Shulot walked back to the palace. Bertard followed silently until His Highness's voice came.
"Inform Chalape, Deputy Director of the Military Industry Department, and Tiripi, Director of the Bronze Bureau: Let them be prepared. In two days, inspect the Sun God Eagle Cannon and the Rain God Tiger Crouching Cannon!"
"As you command, Your Highness."
Bertard nodded and went there in person. His heart was equally full of expectations and eager for war.
