The warm January breeze blows across the tropical Gulf of Mexico, bringing humidity and heat. The sea breeze blows westward, blowing along the Cat Eagle River for seventy or eighty miles, before arriving at the southern ancestral homeland of the Huastec people, the prosperous riverside city-state, Crow City Papantla.
Several gray crows circled the horizon, looking down at the familiar cities, villages and temples below, as well as seven unfamiliar slender ships. Hundreds of shirtless Huastec craftsmen were gathered around the edge of the longboat, holding dark clay pots in their hands and busy with something with their heads down.
After a while, a crow curiously lowered its height and stopped at the top of the longship's mast. Then, it stared at the round eyes, turned slightly, and let out a triumphant cry at the black wolf flag flying on the mast.
"Quack! Quack!"
"Um?"
Hearing the cry, Chihuaco, the old militiaman, raised his head and saw the triumphant crow standing on the mast. The old militiaman's face suddenly turned into a smile.
"The crows are falling and croaking loudly! Good! It's a rare good omen!"
Well, yes, that’s a really good omen! In Mesoamerica at this time, crows would often alight during sacrificial rituals. They are like messengers descending from the sky after praying to the gods, carrying mysterious divinity. Similarly, they will appear when the old man is about to die, like the messenger of death, guiding the soul of the deceased. Therefore, in various Mesoamerican tribes that worship death, the crow is indeed an auspicious bird.
"Damn it!...This hot coastal lowland is much hotter than the plateau upstream of Cat Eagle River!"
Puap, wearing a wooden eagle helmet, looked up at the blazing sun and complained. Then, he looked at the busy Huastec craftsmen on the shore and shook his head.
"These Huastec people are all good at dancing, and the women's waists are so weak that it would kill us warriors... But is it possible to repair the ship? It took more than 20 days to repair it, and it was always... Almost..."
It was early January, more than a month had passed since the fleet entered the water at the end of November last year. The kingdom's exploration fleet first set sail from Herb Lake, followed the upper tributary of the Cat Eagle River, and merged into the main stream of the Cat Eagle River. Then, they headed north and then turned east, bypassing steep waterfalls and slower tributaries. If you encounter an unavoidable waterfall on the way, you have to board the shore and pull the fiber downward in the opposite direction to avoid the ship from being damaged...
It took the kingdom's fleet half a month and a total of more than 600 miles of waterway to reach Crow City on the edge of the East China Sea. After arriving at Crow City, it was a long period of repairs and waiting.
During the more than 600 miles of waterway, the altitude dropped by more than 2,000 meters! The surrounding temperature has also risen a lot, from the warmth of the tropical plateau to the heat of the tropical lowlands.
"Huh! Coming down from the upper reaches is like peeing in the wind, so fast and urgent. If it weren't for the speed, I could even travel a hundred miles in a day! The rock walls on both sides are very dangerous, there are bumps and bumps along the way, and there are gaps everywhere on the boat. . Several times, they almost broke apart! ...I heard that there are many severe storms in the eastern sea. How can these seven longships go to sea again unless they are repaired?"
Recalling the difficult voyage before, the old militiaman shook his head and sighed. The drop across the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains is indeed too great and navigation is dangerous. This is just the beginning. When we get out of the sea, there are still more than four thousand miles of sea route!
Then, return from the sea, travel another four to five thousand miles, and then go upstream from the mouth of the sea, and then climb such a high drop to return to Tlaxcala. Then from there, we have to travel a thousand miles by boat on dry land before we can return to the kingdom in the lake and see our son-in-law, daughter, and grandchildren who don’t know how old they are...
Thinking of all this, the old militiaman felt sad and his eyes turned red. He looked at the western sky and cursed fiercely in his heart.
"This blind Highness deserves to be struck by thunder!..."
"Captain, the Huastek craftsmen say that the ship will be repaired in one day!"
Dark Snake lowered his head, approached cautiously, and reported to the old militiaman. The four states of Tlaxcala are adjacent to Huastec, and there are many commercial exchanges. Dark Snake himself knows some everyday Huastec language. The old militiaman arranged for him to participate in the communication of ship repair.
Many craftsmen and sailors from the expedition fleet were also arranged to repair the ship together. The newly joined sailor Didi worked harder than anyone else from morning to night, forcing everyone to speed up.
"Is it almost fixed?"
Hearing this, the old militiaman was a little surprised. Wearing a straw hat, he walked to the side of the boat and saw Huastek craftsmen using a dark, sticky liquid, along with some black soft gravel, on various parts of the longboat. . The broken boards and holes were filled with black oily gravel and solidified into a hard form.
"It's really a weird black oil, and it smells weirder than swamp mud! ... Well, but after it was repaired, it really didn't leak."
The old militiaman sniffed his nose and smelled the pungent smell of black oil. Then, he touched the filled gap, feeling the adhesion on his fingertips, thoughtfully.
The Huastek craftsmen had long told him that this was the "black oil" produced in underground pits. It was the essence of the Earth Mother Goddess and could withstand the power of the Storm God on the Eastern Sea! For hundreds of years, coastal Huastec tribes have used this black oil and soft gravel to repair broken canoes.
And if Shulot comes here and sees these black oil and soft gravel, he will definitely be surprised and shout out their two names in later generations.
“Oil and asphalt!”
Yes, the Huastec Crow City is located on the oil fields of the Gulf Coast. Hundreds of miles to the north is the Tampico Oil Field with huge reserves, while hundreds of miles to the east is the offshore Cantarel Oil Field, one of the largest oil fields in the world!
In fact, the entire coastal Bay of Campeche, from the Huastec lowlands to the Totonac rainforests, is rich in oil. There is even so much oil here that it can emerge directly from the deep pits in the ground, which will make future generations of heaven weep! Natural asphalt is also a common associated mineral in large oil fields.
The old militiaman lowered his head and inspected the dark long boat for a long time. He first tested the waterproofness and then the hardness. After this repair, the longship's toughness is even better than before! The only shortcoming is that the ship is heavier and the load is slightly reduced... A smile finally appeared on the old militiaman's face.
"Okay, it's good after it's fixed! Dark Snake, go and inform the tomato priest in Crow City and the long-headed Mayan businessman. Let them come back early and be ready to go!"
"Yes, Captain."
Dark Snake nodded, picked up a bronze spear, and ran towards Crow City, which was more than ten miles away. On the outskirts of Crow City, along the abundant Cat Eagle River, a large area of farmland has been reclaimed. In some farmland, beans have even been planted. In the tropical lowlands that are hot all year round, there is no longer a strict time limit for crop cultivation, and crops can even be harvested three times a year. However, the lack of fertilizers in farmland severely limits the number of times of farming. The only thing that can be cultivated multiple times is beans that fix nitrogen and increase fertilizer.
Soon, when we arrived at the edge of Crow City, the faint fragrance came to us. Dark Snake looked curiously and saw some carefully tended small fields with low herbs growing on them. Seeing this, Dark Snake pursed his lips, recalling the taste of vanilla venison, and swallowed secretly.
Crow City is the origin of many Central American vanillas, and the domestication of vanilla began thousands of years ago. Without the vanilla here, milk tea in future generations would probably lose its soul.
Dark Snake kept walking, showed the fleet's token, and then, led by the Vastek warriors, arrived at the Silver Crow leader's tent. Well, there are so many coastal storms that every two years, a hurricane passes through. Due to insufficient construction technology, tall wooden and stone buildings are not safe. Instead, tents, huts and caves are the most common here.
In the big tent, the aroma is fragrant. Priest Thomas smiled and took a sip of cocoa with vanilla added. Opposite him, a middle-aged chief sat cross-legged, wearing a gold sun amulet around his neck, looking at the straw mat on the ground, thoughtfully.
Then, Priest Tomat stretched out his hand and pointed to the Ali Sutra unfolded on the straw mat. While sketching the picture of the main god on it, he explained it in a deep voice.
"...Cold comes and summer comes, autumn harvests and winter hides. The Lord God controls the changes in the cold and warmth of the heaven and earth, and controls the storms of the sea and land! She bestows rich harvests on those who obey, and sends divine disasters on those who disobey, causing the earth to have no harvest and all humans and animals to die. Those who die from divine disasters will sink into the abyss of the earth and will never be able to escape!..."
"Dear Chief Papata, only by completely converting to the Lord God and completely abandoning the belief in the Quetzalcoatl... can the Silver Crow Tribe receive God's blessing, survive the continuous hurricanes, and even obtain a harvest from God!"
