At the end of September, the wind cleared and the clouds dispersed, and the sun shone brightly. The moist southeast wind gradually stops, and the dry and cold air comes from the northern plateau. The rainy season leaves and the dry season comes. The fields are lush and fragrant, and the villagers are busy. Pumpkins are drying, beans are harvested, and corn is just ripening.
On the shores of Lake Texcoco, a traveling royal team was meandering beside the harvest fields, heading to the Holy Mountain of Estella in the west. All the villagers along the way bowed to the ground and saluted. The priests and village chiefs greeted them from a distance and did not dare to take a step closer without authorization.
The five hundred imperial guards wore bronze helmets and leather armor, held bronze spears, and carried long bows on their backs. They held high the banner of the Black Wolf, and also guarded the two noble god-born couples, Shulot and Alyssa, under the royal banner.
The two had been married for a month, searching for secrets every day, and the stars were filled with clouds and rain every night. All the sights worth seeing in and around the capital city in the lake have been visited. The purpose of this trip was to pray at the Holy Mountain, dozens of miles west of the capital, and to make offerings at the Sun Temple on the top of the mountain. Then, they will vacation at the Alliance Holy Land under the Holy Mountain, visit the flowers and birds in the mountains, enjoy the geothermal hot springs, rest for a week or two, and draw the end of the newlyweds' honeymoon.
Shulot was not wearing any armor, just a loose short robe, walking in the fields in early autumn. He looked around and saw the busyness and joy before the harvest everywhere. A sincere smile appeared on the young man's face. He remembered a sentence from an unknown source and chanted it in a low voice.
"If you go out and wander around without knowing how to farm, the people are poor, and you don't know how to work, you will be in trouble..."
"Huh? Shulot, what are you talking about?"
Alyssa wore a white robe, a pair of exquisite cloth shoes, and a silver ring to tie her hair. At first glance, the pure and beautiful girl has not applied makeup, but she is as beautiful as a snow lotus. She heard her lover's whisper and blinked curiously.
"Haha, I mean, if you want to govern the alliance and manage the people well, you must know the details of farming, the poverty of the villages, the output of the land, and the hard work of the people! As the heir of the alliance, if you don't know these, you should be punished. The whip whips..."
Shulot replied with a smile, but his expression was full of seriousness. He gazed at the harvest in the fields and pondered the foundations on which his kingdom stood. The so-called plowing war, plowing before the war, is the foundation of everything.
"Um...whipping?"
Hearing this, Alyssa looked at her lover with a blush on her face. She licked her lips and asked softly like a seductive little fox.
"Xulot, who will whip you?"
"Of course it's me! As the chief priest of the sect, I have to conduct regular self-examination in front of the sign of the Lord God..."
Shulot took it for granted, his voice was loud. After a moment, he looked stunned and looked at the shy girl.
"Alyssa?...You..."
"Well... in mythology, the monkey god "Ozumatri" is the companion of the god of music and dance "Hughchipiri". However, the monkey god has always been passionate and lively, and it is difficult to restrain his desires... If he eats secretly outside, the goddess Hugh Qipili will take out a moving snake whip, snap..."
Alyssa blushed and whispered, her voice gradually becoming inaudible.
Shulot was a little unbelievable. He looked at the delicate girl and murmured.
"Punishment for stealing?... Alyssa... you want... uh, it's not impossible..."
"Ah, don't talk about this anymore!"
The girl's neck turned red with embarrassment, and she stamped her foot in annoyance. Then, she turned her head as if fleeing and looked at the fields on both sides.
"Xulot, look, the corn in the field is ripe. Why are these people sleeping on the edge of the field but not harvesting the corn in the field?"
Hearing this, Shulot smiled and looked at the vast farmland surrounding the fields. The vast milpa is covered with ripe corn. There were tens of thousands of Mexican villagers all over the countryside, and the entire village was out sleeping in the fields. From time to time, villagers in the distance waved wooden sticks, and even militiamen shot stones to drive away birds and beasts that were watching the corn.
"Well, Alyssa, it's like this. Although the corn in the field is ripe, it is not overripe. The birds and beasts are attracted by the aroma of ripe corn. The villagers have to drive away the birds and beasts while waiting for the harvest of the corn. Ripe."
Shulot pondered for a moment and then explained in detail. Unlike other crops, corn does not fall off easily after maturity. It will complete the after-ripening effect on the plant and absorb the last nutrients of the plant, thereby increasing yield. As long as you harvest at night for a week or two, you can increase your yield by nearly one-tenth!
In this era of low output, every bit of increased food production is precious. Therefore, this is the hardest time before the autumn harvest. The villagers would sleep on the edge of the fields for a week or two, tending the mature grains, allowing the fresh, tender corn to be fully ripe and turn into sunken old corn.
After hearing this knowledge about farming, Naxiu's eyes flashed and she pursed her lips in silence. She looked at His Highness quietly, and seemed to recognize a new side of her master.
Bertard stood a few steps away, guarding the perimeter. Hearing Shulot's narration, he smiled and praised.
"Your Highness is right! We have to wait a little longer before we can harvest more corn. It will take about until the milk lines of the corn kernels have completely disappeared, the kernels have become very hard, and the bracts have dried up, turned white and become loose. At that time, the priest in the village and the elders will urge the villagers to harvest day and night."
Alyssa blinked and nodded. She is good at growing flowers and herbs, and is also good at farming.
"Xulot, I understand! What you told me, the vitality of crops comes from the sunshine of the Sun God, the rain and dew of the Wind and Rain God, and the nutrients of the Mother Earth. The corn will take longer to mature, and the harvest will naturally be Just more. And now there’s plenty of sunshine, no rain, and no need to worry about mold!”
"good!"
Shulot nodded with satisfaction, stretched out his hand, and pinched his lover's face gently. The group of people kept walking, walking through the continuous corn fields, and then came to the large cotton fields. The scenery in front of us also changed from endless yellow and green to a mixture of gray and bright green.
"Your Highness, this is the cotton field of the alliance. Not far to the west is the towering Holy Mountain. Surrounded by not only steaming hot springs, but also extremely fertile land. Most of these lands belong to the nobles and warriors of the capital and occupy the best water channels. , growing valuable cotton.”
After hearing what the warrior commander said, Shulot nodded slightly. He stopped and stared at the low cotton bushes, his eyes flashing with thought.
Cotton is a crop that consumes a lot of water and soil. In the Mexican Union, the more productive Mexican fine cotton is naturally grown.
Compared with the Indian rough cotton of the Old World, the growth period of Mexican fine cotton is ten days shorter, the yield is much higher, the quality of the cotton velvet is much better, and it is easier to weave into cloth. This was the coveted cash crop in the Old World, and it was also the key to the explosion of cotton production in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
Cotton cloth is a popular trade item around the world. In the world of Central America, cotton cloth was the same currency as cocoa and could be used directly as currency in villages and towns.
The flag of the Black Wolf was flying, and the warriors surrounded him solemnly. Shulot paused for a moment, and the busy crowd in the cotton fields stopped and saluted the royal procession. Most of the people lay prone on the ground, practicing common courtesy. A few people knelt down on one knee, which turned out to be samurai etiquette.
Shulot looked at it from a distance for a while and asked in a deep voice.
"Bertard, have you ever picked cotton?"
"Picked, Your Highness."
The warrior commander replied calmly, with a look of reminiscence on his face.
"Cotton in the alliance is usually sown in April. If the land is not fertile enough, it will be planted sparsely. By the end of August, the first batch of cotton can be picked. Then every five to seven days, cotton will mature one after another. , generally it can be picked until the end of October, or even until the end of December. However, generally the quality of cotton becomes worse the further you go..."
"...picking cotton is a real hard work, much harder than farming. Of course, the benefits of growing cotton are unmatched by farming. The great nobles of the alliance will use a large number of serfs to be responsible for the planting, picking and weaving of cotton. , directly obtain cotton cloth that can be used as currency. Among the families of civilian warriors, if the Dingkou is prosperous and there is fertile Chinampa, they will also grow some cotton... After all, corn is just food, and cotton is money."
Shulot nodded slowly. The picking of cotton is extremely cumbersome, takes a long time, and consumes a lot of manpower. The triangular trade in the Atlantic was so popular in later generations, largely because the cotton fields, sugar cane fields, and tobacco fields in tropical America had endless demand for manpower.
"Bertard, how many kilograms of cotton can be harvested from one acre of cotton field in the Alliance in one season?"
Hearing this, Bertard thought carefully for a long time before giving an uncertain answer.
"In Chinampa, which is not very productive, one acre of cotton fields along the lake can produce about 20 kilograms of cotton in one season. It can probably make one or two pairs of strong cotton armor for the warriors at home."
"The yield per mu is 20 kilograms?"
Shulot raised his voice, somewhat surprised. He looked at the alliance's cotton fields again, with a smile on his face.
"The hinterland of the Union is really fertile, and cotton is so productive!"
Yes, in this era, a yield of 20 kilograms of cotton per mu is an absolutely high-yield figure. It will crush India in the Old World and the Ming Dynasty in this period. This should be attributed to the fine varieties of Mexican short-staple cotton and the tropical climate with rain and heat at the same time. The domestication of various crops by Mesoamerican ancestors has truly benefited the entire human civilization.
Bertard smiled quietly. He thought for a while and reminded him again.
"Your Highness, the Alliance is located on a plateau and attaches great importance to food production. It does not produce much cotton. Among all the tribes in the world, the ones that produce the most cotton are the Mistra and Zapotec in the southern rain forest, and the Eastern rain forest. Maya.”
"Yes. Mayan merchant Tikalo also told me that the city-state of Tuturxiu in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula is a rich and prosperous country rich in cotton."
Shulot turned around and looked towards the distant east, lost in thought for a long time.
With current navigation technology, the safest navigation route to the Cuban Islands is to follow the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and head all the way to the Yucatan Peninsula in the south-east. After reaching the northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, turn east and travel three to four hundred miles by sea to reach it smoothly. This coastal route has long been in the hands of the Mayans, and the chance of getting lost is very small. However, in order to take this route, we must first gain a temporary foothold on the Yucatan Peninsula.
"Otter City, Tutur City...Eastern Route..."
Alyssa tilted her head, her bright eyes flashing. She looked at her thinking lover as if she were reading an incomprehensible book, mysterious and fascinating.
"Xulot, what are you thinking about? Well, I can think about it with you..."
"Haha! I was thinking..."
Shulot came back to his senses and smiled slightly. He stretched out his hand, hugged the lovely girl in front of him, and kissed her deeply.
"I'm thinking that at this time tomorrow, we can soak in the hot springs together and watch the sun set!"
"Yeah! There are so many people..."
Alyssa exclaimed, blushing again on her face. She pursed her lips and hid in her lover's arms. Then, the girl spoke softly, her voice as thin as a mosquito.
"Then, what happens after the sun goes down?..."
"After the sun sets... of course, watch the fish swimming in the water!"
"Huh? There are no fish in the hot springs."
"Yes. If you don't believe it, I will show you when the time comes..."
"Ugh...bad monkey!..."
"Ha ha!"
The young man's laughter spread far away, and the Black Wolf's flag moved again. Loyal warriors surrounded the king and queen and headed to the sacred mountains of the west. There, there is the oldest Sun Temple, and the sacred fire of inheritance that has never been extinguished, burning from the long past to today and the future!
