The dark night drifted into the high priest's palace where the fire was flickering; the clouds were stacked, covering up the flawless full moon. The shadow fell from the ceiling of the bedroom, covering the young king who was tossing and turning. This night was so long and full of silent thoughts.
Na Xiu stood guard in the corner quietly without any interruption. She was just like a shadow, patiently accompanying the sleepless Highness.
It wasn't until the morning star dawned and the faint light shone from the east that Shulot sighed quietly. A straightforward poem came to his mind, and he recited it in an incomprehensible way.
"Taizong raised righteous soldiers in the eighteenth year, and Bai Yan and Huang Yue secured the two capitals. He captured and killed Dou all over the world, and four out of twenty achieved success. Nine out of twenty will lead to the throne, and five out of thirty will lead to peace..."
At this point, Xiulote suddenly stopped, alert in his heart. He sat up and looked at Naxiu who looked confused in the corner.
"Your Highness, what were you reading just now?"
Naxiu blinked, showing a curious look like a cat.
Shulot's expression changed, and after a while, he responded in a low voice.
"It's a poem that praises a king who has a long history. That king had many feats, some of which I wholeheartedly want to do, and some of which I don't want to imitate..."
Naxiu tilted her head and thought for a moment. His Highness seemed a little melancholy tonight and looked particularly delicious... She licked her lips and persuaded softly.
"It's almost dawn... You haven't slept all night. Do you want the shadow slave to serve you and take a nap?"
"Yeah. I have a headache, please help me rub my head..."
After a while, Shulot rested on Naxiu's strong thigh, breathing in the charming fragrance and enjoying the gentle caress. He exhaled a long breath, gradually emptied his mind, and fell into a long and distant dream.
In that dreamland, there was a tall sacred tree. The sacred tree dropped seeds, and the seeds sprouted into small trees, and the small trees grew vigorously... A storm hit, and the condor flew in the sky, and then thunder fell, hitting the tall sacred tree... Finally, after the rain, the sky cleared, and there was no limit. Light rises into the sky...
"Um!!"
Shulot suddenly opened his eyes. He looked towards the zenith and saw that the sun was already in the middle. He sniffed his nose, and the faint aroma of rice spread in the room.
"Your Highness, you are awake."
Naxiu smiled, stepped forward gently, and helped His Highness up.
"I have prepared your favorite roasted venison, fish fillet soup, turkey egg rolls and spicy stir-fried vegetables. Next to it is honey herb tea and dried cactus fruit..."
"okay."
Xiulote nodded. Under Naxiu's service, he washed up briefly and then started to enjoy lunch. Since he has a woman by his side to take care of him, his life has become much more comfortable. If Bertard was here, he would just call him up on time to practice martial arts...
After finishing lunch, he looked up at the midday sun and gave instructions in a deep voice.
"I got up a little late today, but the scheduled itinerary remains the same. I'm going to take a look at the oxen tamed by the Alliance in the afternoon. I probably won't be able to come back in time, so I'll stay there tonight."
"I obey you, Your Highness."
Na Xiu bowed and immediately went to make arrangements. In just two or three quarters of an hour, the group was ready. Two hundred imperial guards guarded His Highness's flag and headed straight for the long bridge southwest of the capital.
The area around the capital in the lake is densely populated, and the plains along the lake have been reclaimed. Even large floating fields have been built on Lake Texcoco. The oxen (North American bison) domesticated by the Alliance can only be kept in captivity in the mountain pastures southwest of Lake Texcoco, which is a full 40 to 50 miles away from the capital city in the lake.
They were all elite warriors. After walking for half a day, they arrived at the mountain pasture. Shulot climbed the hill and saw a vast wooden fence in the distance, as well as groups of huge oxen. Dozens of herd slaves are busy in the pasture, preparing hay for feeding. At least half of them were dressed like northern tribesmen. On the high ground of the pasture, there is a small wooden and stone fortress, stationed with a small team of bow-wielding warriors, guarding the royal family's "behemoth" tribute.
Seeing a group of elite warriors approaching, an older warrior with short hair hurriedly ran down from the camp. Wearing the attire of a military noble, he came to Shulot in two steps and knelt down to salute respectfully.
"The military noble Mo Hei pays his respects to the invincible His Highness Shulot, the incarnation of the gods! May you be as fast and fierce as the grizzly bear in the north, full of unrivaled power!"
"The Lord God bless you! Military noble Mo Hei, may the Lord God's light illuminate you!"
Shulot nodded lightly. He thought about the unique name Mohe and asked.
"Mohei, according to your name, you are a naturalized warrior from a northern tribe?"
Hearing this, Mohei quickly saluted and explained eagerly.
"Your Highness, my grandfather was a northern tribal warrior who surrendered when our ancestor Montezuma conquered the Huastec people in the northeast. He has been there for more than thirty years. I have lived in the capital city of the lake since I was born. My father even served as the cut-off guard of the late emperor Asiacatel, and was killed in the battle to put down the rebellion of the Chalco city state..."
"Oh! It turns out to be a samurai family loyal to the royal family."
Hearing this, Shulot understood clearly. In the history of the alliance, almost every generation of ancestors recruited brave barbarian warriors to join the army, and even accepted them as their own soldiers. Because in some cases, the loyalty of barbarian warriors is more reliable. For example, among the kingdom's imperial guards, there are also many Tekos warriors, Otomi warriors, and newly recruited canine marksmen.
"Mohei, which tribe in the north did your grandfather come from? And how did you get the position of managing the giant beasts?"
"Well..."
Mohei scratched his head and answered sincerely.
"Your Highness, my grandfather died in the alliance war very early. I don't know his origin. I heard my father mention it twice that the ancestral tribe seems to live by the endless lake and make a living by fishing, hunting and planting. At the same time, we are hunting ferocious herds of oxen... There is also a very, very turbulent, very long river, coming from the northwest and pouring into the endless lake..."
"The herds of cattle...the great rivers in the Northeast...the endless lakes..."
Shulot pondered for a moment, looking at the dark and rough appearance, and a vague guess came to his mind.
"Mohei's grandfather may have come from the Koahuik tribe in the lower reaches of the Rio Grande..."
"Your Highness, my grandfather had many dealings with bison and had a lot of knowledge about the wilderness. My father also learned some and passed it on to me. Therefore, when the immortal elders passed down the decree to tame the giants in the north, When I was a beast, I got this opportunity to serve the noble royal family and manage these violent oxen..."
Mo Hei watched His Highness' expression carefully and replied carefully.
"Then, I stayed in the mountains, established a ranch, and tamed these giant beasts for five years..."
"oh?"
Hearing this, Shulot was very interested and asked in a deep voice.
"Mohei, how many cows are there in the pasture now?"
"Your Highness, in the past five years, the Huastec people have donated 40 oxen calves every year. It takes 2-3 years for the oxen calves to grow up. After the oxen grow up, they will mate in the summer, and the female oxen will mate in the summer. It takes 9-10 months of pregnancy before the cubs are born...Now, the second batch of cubs has been reproduced in the pasture. In addition to the cattle that died of diseases and various accidents, there are about two to three hundred of them."
"Huh? Only two or three hundred?"
Hearing this number, Shulot frowned and his face darkened. The Huastecs donated 200 oxen in five years, and two more batches of cubs were bred in the pasture. As a result, the number of oxen has barely increased?
"Your Highness..."
Seeing His Highness's expression, Mohei quickly bowed to the ground and continued to explain.
"The oxen are wild and recalcitrant and extremely violent. Taming them is completely different from taming turkeys. They run fast, are huge, and have an unrestrained nature. Male oxen often break through fences, run into nearby mountains, and even Village farmland, gnawing crops. Adult bulls are powerful and stubborn, so it is difficult for the herdsmen to pull them and bring the escaped bulls back to the pasture. Even if they are brought back, the bulls that have escaped once will often escape again. When encountering this kind of situation, the only option is to dispatch longbow warriors to shoot these bulls!..."
"And in the summer when they are in heat, male bullocks will fiercely rush into each other in order to occupy more females. They are as powerful as mountains and cannot be stopped at all. The victorious bullocks will also drive their losing opponents out of the pasture, or seriously injure them. .”
After saying this, Mohei paused and pointed to the hundreds of oxen.
"Your Highness, you see, these oxen are slightly smaller, and most of them are female. Only one-tenth of the males are retained in the pasture for breeding during estrus. And if the newly born oxen is male, Pastures will only be selectively retained..."
Mo Hei told in detail the experience of domesticating oxen. These experiences were the result of his hard work and hard work combined with the knowledge passed down by his grandfather. And many experiences were gained at the cost of the lives of the shepherd slaves.
While Bertard listened, he arranged for the guards to be stationed in various parts of the ranch. Mo Hei glanced at the imperial guards wearing bronze armor and walking loudly for a few times. His expression suddenly changed and he warned carefully.
"Your Highness, these killing armored warriors can easily disturb pregnant female oxen... The pregnancy of female oxen lasts for nine to ten months, and they usually can only give birth to one cub at a time. During pregnancy, they are very sensitive. If When encountering a large gathering of people, or strange warriors with murderous intent, or strange noises they have never heard before, they will feel threatened, extremely alert, and restless... And when they are uneasy to a certain extent, they will take the initiative to attack, or Sudden miscarriage..."
Hearing this, Shulot looked at the herd of oxen in the valley. Many adult cattle turned around and pointed their horns in the direction of the guard warriors, assuming a defensive posture. He pondered for a while and then ordered in a deep voice.
"Bertard, choose a high ground outside and let the guards camp there. We will sleep outside the pasture tonight in the open air."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The samurai commander followed the order and re-arranged his defenses. Although the herd of bullocks maintained a vigilant attitude, they obviously relaxed a lot as the warriors moved away.
Then, Shulot frowned while listening.
"Males are unconstrained by nature and tend to escape as adults and fight during estrus... Females are pregnant for more than nine months and can only give birth to one child, and are easily frightened and miscarry... North American bison are really difficult to tame!"
The male oxen weighs up to 900 kilograms, runs at amazing speeds and has huge impact. They can maintain a speed of 60 kilometers per hour for several quarters of an hour. They are simply like tanks from the medieval era. Similarly, male bulls have bad tempers and do not have a strong sense of territory. They like to wander around, and it is difficult to restrain them with ordinary wooden fences. For the Mexican Federation, let alone domesticating male oxen and driving them to farm, even simple domestication in a fixed location is difficult to fully realize.
In contrast, female oxen weigh about 500 kilograms. If there is sufficient food, they are pregnant or have cubs, they will not move around, but will tend to take care of their cubs. Mountain pastures can rely on the terrain to tame some docile female bullocks in closed valleys.
Shulot listened patiently for a long time. Then, he looked into the dark eyes and asked in a deep voice with some kind of long-term expectation.
"Mo Hei, can a bull that has been domesticated for many years in the mountain pasture be able to be ridden on its back and charge towards the enemy?"
