In mid-December, the exploration fleet was completed. Everyone started from the mouth of the Talsas River and headed northwest along the southeast coast. They passed through the coastal villages of the Tekos tribe in the south and stopped twice for supplies.
This is the boundary of the Fire River Plain, only one hundred and twenty miles away from the Fire River City. The messenger from Fire River City heard the news and came day and night to inquire about the purpose of the fleet. Chihuaco simply responded with a few words, saying that he was going out to sea to find a sacred place for seabirds, and left under the uneasy eyes of the envoy.
Then, the fleet continued north. It is the end of the year, and the cold wind is coming from the northern continent. It is almost impossible to use the wind to sail along the way, and you can only rely on oars. Everyone rowed a large galley boat. In order to conserve their energy, they could only paddle for 8 hours a day and travel about 120-140 miles. Including the time for rest and replenishment, it was not until early January that the fleet traveled 1,400 miles and reached the mouth of the Leman River.
The Leman River surges down, creating a vast riverside plain at its outlet. The water and soil here are extremely fertile, and the population and villages are also quite prosperous. There is a small town of Tekos near the sea, which is called the City of Three Rivers by the locals.
Because there are three rivers from south to north, dividing the fertile riverine plains. The small city surrounded by three rivers is naturally called Three Rivers City.
The fleet anchored in the prosperous city of Three Rivers for two days, trading gems and cloth, replenishing some food, and recruiting an enthusiastic Tekos guide.
After everyone finished their supplies and continued out to sea, they encountered sudden strong winds and big waves. The low galley was instantly hit by the waves, rising and falling on the sea, and seemed about to tip over. This was the first time that the veteran militiamen encountered such a storm. They were immediately frightened and quickly led everyone to dock.
The day they docked, the newly recruited Tekos guide disappeared. The old militiamen searched for a long time, but could not find any traces, and an ominous premonition suddenly arose in their hearts. Everyone camped on the high ground on the coast and rested for two days. The wind weakened slightly and the waves calmed down slightly.
By noon on the third day, the old militiamen became increasingly uneasy. He thought about it and suddenly realized that if he went to Trois-Rivières from here, it would take about three days!
"Everyone get on the boat! Everyone get on the boat! Push the boat back into the sea, and then move everything back to the boat!"
Huitu Puap was a little confused, but looking at the anxious old militiamen, he still chose to obey.
"After all, Lao Qi is not good at anything else. When faced with danger, he can escape faster than anyone else! ...According to His Majesty's words, that means being favored by unpredictable fate."
Sure enough, in the evening, the disappeared Tekos guide appeared again, bringing with him three to four hundred warriors from the Tekos tribe. Each warrior holds a spear in his hand, carries a throwing javelin on his back, and even carries a rare hunting bow. When they saw the fleet, they raised their javelins high, took out their bows and arrows, and rushed over with howling and running.
"Feathered warriors of the Kingdom of Tarasco! Where to escape? Leave your heads behind!"
"Damn the Condor Tribe! They actually extended the hands of evil spirits here. Their hands and feet must be cut off!"
"Yes! There are also gems, gems! Leave the gems on their ship, this is the chief's order!..."
Chihuaco looked at the sudden appearance of the enemy with horror. He immediately gave up the little water left on the shore and led everyone back to the boat. Then he asked Puap, who was familiar with the Tekos language, to hold up his shield and shout.
"Warriors of the nearby Tekos tribe, we have no hostility... This is a misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! We are not feathered warriors, nor are we from the Condor tribe... We are from the Lake Tribe, from the Mexica Alliance! "
Hundreds of enemies swarmed to the shore, with ferocious expressions on their faces, trudging through the water and approaching the three moored galleys. Their number is three to four times that of the expedition fleet. Some warriors threw javelins at the sailing ship, and some warriors took out their hunting bows and shot arrows at Chihuaco's position.
The "whooshing" rain of arrows and javelins came in, instantly wounding three or four sailors. The Prepecha warriors accompanying the ship also took out their big bows and began to fight back decisively.
Seeing the enemies shouting and fighting, Chihuaco finally understood that all negotiations were in vain. The real purpose of this group of enemies is probably the property and gems on the ship. The old militiaman looked at the still undulating waves on the sea, and then at the crazy incoming enemies. He had no choice but to give the order loudly.
"Set sail! Paddle with all your strength and sail toward the northwest!"
The kingdom's expedition fleet braved the waves and headed northwest along the coast at full speed. The Tecos warriors chased on the shore for a full day before they let out an angry roar and were completely thrown away by the fleet.
After this encounter, Chihuaco no longer dared to rush to supply supplies to the Tecos tribe in the north. If you are really short of food, go to a small village tribe, trade quickly, and then leave.
Even so, they were attacked once by the Tecos. On the surface, the elders of the village on the shore were kind, procrastinating, and doing business with everyone, but secretly they contacted nearby villages. Not only was the attack planned on shore, but a raid by more than twenty canoes was organized.
When Chihuaco saw that the transaction had passed the time, he decisively led everyone away. Everyone got on the boat, avoided the Tekos warriors on the shore, and fought a fierce battle with the Tekos people on the waterway. The Tekos people left behind more than a dozen small boats and fifty or sixty corpses, and the expedition fleet also lost more than a dozen people.
The expedition fleet set out from Trois-Rivières against the north wind, stopping from time to time to avoid wind and waves and beware of attacks by the Tekos people. It took more than half a month to travel a thousand miles and reach the mouth of a big river. There are towering mountains to the east here, and only the plains by the sea are suitable for farming. The clear river flows from the desolate distant mountains, bringing green vitality along the way.
The local tribe calls themselves the Totorames. They have a small population and live along the coast, growing corn, beans and peppers, catching fish, shrimp, clams and oysters, and making sea salt. On the seaside at the mouth of the river, they built a large village called Yushan Village.
Chihuaco anchored in Yushan Village for two days and gave the Totome people some cloth, a few gems, and supplies of corn, beans, salted fish and water. The Totome people live in a narrow area by the sea and don't store much food, but they have plenty of salt. Their language is similar to the Guaquili people and somewhat like the Mexica language of the Confederacy. It seems that the entire tribe in the northwest wilderness has a similar language.
The old militiaman asked about the situation in the northwest, and the Totome elders told him.
"Further northwest, rowing for many, many days, is the land of the Mayo people! There are many Mayo people, many powerful tribes, and hundreds of warriors! My friends, they know a lot, and they will definitely be able to help Coming to you!”
In late January, the Kingdom's expedition fleet received guidance and set off again. After several months of sailing, the expedition team gradually became more experienced. Everyone has experience in inland waterways. After adapting to the situation in the offshore, the supply of water becomes more and more orderly, and there is no mistake in dealing with occasional wind and waves.
In fact, this large offshore area is sheltered by the narrow peninsula extending from the Baja California region. The wind and waves are not too big, far less than the real ocean.
When night falls, the ship's priest Mecat will use a strange compass in front of his eyes to measure the angle between the bright North Star and the sea surface. It is said that this is a divine creation left to the shipbuilder under the guidance of His Majesty himself. As the fleet continued to move north, the angle measured by the compass became larger and larger. At first it was only a few dozen degrees, but now it is more than 20 degrees.
In addition, Merkat also has magical powers that indicate directions. He used a thin thread to hang a special thin needle to indicate the direction. The fine needles come from the Black Rock Mountain and are ground into fine pieces of sacred stone. As long as the thin needle is suspended, it will magically rotate in the air, and then point fixedly to the north and south.
After seeing it, Chihuaco sighed. He thought hard, but couldn't understand the reason, so he could only praise the Lord God.
In February, the expedition fleet finally traveled another seven to eight hundred miles and arrived at the mouth of the river here. They met a large tribe of Mayo people, the Yoremu tribe, which had thousands of tribes. The kingdom's expedition fleet docked at the mouth of the river and gave the Yorem tribe a large bag of cocoa, ten rolls of cloth, and a small bag of lake gems.
Chief Kalan of the Yolem tribe received the gift and led hundreds of personal guards to the seaside in person. He was greatly shocked when he saw the huge galleys on the seashore, the sturdy leather armor of the warriors in the lake, and the weapons of strange metals. Afterwards, he ordered a bonfire to be lit and cordially invited the leader of the messengers in the lake to hold a gathering to witness the ancestors.
Chihuaco thought for a long time, observing the relaxed and curious expressions of the warriors opposite, and then led everyone off the boat. In this distant place, two or three thousand miles away from the Lake Kingdom, the Lake Kingdom, representing the south, met the leader of a large tribe for the first time!
The difficult memories of the past few months flashed through the minds of the old militiamen one by one. At this moment of celebration, a smile appeared on his face, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes softened a lot. He looked at the deer-headed Chief Kalan, raised the gourd bell in his hand, touched it hard, and made a sweet "ding"!
Then, he took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice.
"Frog, chief. We, friends! We, brothers! I, the great chief, let me find seabirds. Seabirds, flying, feathered, many seabirds. In the northwest, small island, where?"
"Huh? Are you looking for...a small northwest island with many seabirds?"
Chief Kalan was stunned on the spot, his eyes flashing, thinking over and over again about the leader's question.
After some contact, he was convinced that these elite warriors had indeed come from afar, did not belong to any large tribe nearby, and had no hostility. But now it seems that they were sent by the chief of some lake tribe to look for beautiful seabirds and feathers.
The tribe in the lake could not care about the lives of a hundred elite warriors and traveled such a long way just to find seabirds. Then there are only two possibilities...
“Either they are very powerful, like us Mayo people, with thousands or even thousands of warriors! Or in their belief, the feathers of seabirds are very important tributes, and the islands of seabirds are holy places of belief. Judging from the sturdy ships they ride on and the bright feather crowns they wear, I am afraid they are both!... And a powerful and pious distant tribe..."
Chief Kallan thought for a long time, with a friendly smile on his face and some thoughts flashing in his heart. Then, he looked to the northwest, nodded slowly, and affirmed to speak.
"Ahaha, my friend! I know the place the chief of the lake is looking for!"
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