The clouds and rain in the east rise from the Caribbean Sea, spread over the jungles of the coastal lowlands, and gradually move towards the central plateau. The moist easterly wind from the sea has arrived in the Tlaxcala Valley one step ahead of the clouds.
The strong warm wind blew by, rolling up the young king's forehead and blowing his high feather crown. The feather crown was fluttering lightly, and the wind passed by silently. Shulot looked up and saw the long night sky. In the night sky of the Central American Plateau, there are boundless galaxies and brilliant stars shining! There is also a clear and deep sky, like the ancient and speechless face of a god, staring deeply at the mortals looking up at the sky.
"At the beginning of ancient times, who preached it? The top and bottom have not been formed, so how can we examine it?..."
The familiar Chu Ci surged in the king's heart. However, the verses came to his lips, and when he spoke them, they turned into ancient and bloody Nahua myths.
"The Sun God came to the world and killed the eldest sister and four hundred brothers. The eldest sister's head rose into the sky and turned into a bright moon. The four hundred brothers sacrificed their blood and turned into stars in the sky... Among the sons of gods, only the Sun God lives alone in Snake Mountain. Located in the highest place!"
After hearing the king's words, an elderly warrior wearing armor and a crown fell to the ground and saluted. After the great ceremony, he raised his head and praised sincerely.
"Your Highness! You shall live alone in Snake Mountain, at the highest place, and become the only sun in the world!"
"Um."
In front of his closest ministers, Shulot didn't need to hide his inner desires and ambitions. He nodded slightly, smiled gently, and looked at the samurai commander whom he hadn't seen for half a year.
"Bertard, I'm calling you here this time. There's nothing too urgent. I mainly want to chat with you... How are the farming and transshipment operations in Shuigu City going?"
"Your Highness, there are already 150,000 people in the field camp outside Shuigu City. Two-thirds of them are from Totonak tribes and were transferred all the way... The Milpa farmland that was reclaimed this year has 50,000 people. Ten thousand acres, and the mountain fields growing sweet potatoes and potatoes are about three hundred thousand acres. By the time of the autumn harvest in October, the food harvested from the fields will be enough to supply the main camp of Shushen City!"
Bertard was confident and reported carefully. All farm affairs were handled by him, and the specific details couldn't be clearer.
"As for the transfer of a large number of young men...well, that will have to wait until after the autumn harvest in October. The two southern counties of the kingdom are busy cultivating new fields. There is not enough food for the time being, and they have to buy it from the southern states of the alliance."
"Very good! Bertard, you have done a good job, you have really worked hard! I can only rest assured if I leave the farmland in Shuigu City to you. After all, the army is fighting outside, and the most important thing is food!..."
Shulot nodded with satisfaction. He reached out his hand and patted Bertard's shoulder affectionately before continuing in a deep voice.
"I received a letter from Black Wolf yesterday. He is making rapid progress in the land of Totonak in the east! The Black Wolf Legion has left Wushan City three hundred miles east, and has reached the area around Jinwan City, and has taken out several garrison camps. . Along the way, he also surrendered tens of thousands of Totonak tribal troops as a vanguard..."
Having said this, Shulot rubbed his brows and paused for a moment. In his heart, he was sincerely happy for Black Wolf's progress, but also vaguely worried.
To be honest, the scale of the Totonac War has exceeded his previous expectations. The king's envoy was pushed back and stayed in the Tree Snake City. The Totonak tribes, which had always been scattered, actually formed a coalition of tens of thousands of people to confront the Black Wolf's legion.
The current situation is like standing on the edge of a cliff. If you are defeated and take a step back, you will be shattered to pieces. Such a large number of surrendered troops will detonate internally if they cannot be plundered and absorbed externally. As for external pressure, the coalition forces of Jinwan tribes will not hold back at all.
But if they were victorious and went one step further to capture Golden Bay City and eliminate all the coalition forces... it would be equivalent to defeating many Totonak city-states in one fell swoop and completely establishing the prestige of the Lake Legion. After that, conquering the vast seaside land becomes much easier...
"Heilang told me that he has no shortage of warriors to fight now, but he is short of food, arrows, bronze weapons, leather and paper armor, and gunpowder... Among these points, the most important thing is food. !」
Shulot looked solemnly, looked at the loyal warrior captain, and asked.
"Supply 20,000 warriors for half a campaign
Can we still squeeze out the annual grain from the field camps? "
"Huh? To supply 20,000 warriors with food for half a year's campaign? All at once?"
Hearing this, Bertard opened his mouth, wanting to make a promise, but couldn't.
"Your Highness, this... I am... in the camp..."
The garrison camp has to supply 150,000 people, so there is indeed enough food in stock. But most of the stored grains are high-yield cereals such as pumpkins and sweet potatoes. The villagers who farm only eat two meals a day of miscellaneous grains, except during the busy seasons of spring plowing and autumn harvest, so they don’t actually consume much. The standard for warriors to go on an expedition is two to three meals a day, and each meal must be the staple food of corn, which can withstand hunger. However, the staple food produced in the fields is basically used to supply several legions in the Shushen City area...
"What, are you having trouble?"
Shulot touched his chin, thought for a while, and lowered his request.
"Hmm. Then let's replace it with ten thousand warriors, ten thousand militiamen, and enough food for half a year's expedition. No more! Black Wolf is good at fighting, but he is not good at organizing production. After autumn, he will probably still be short of food... .”
"Yes! Your Highness, in compliance with your will, I will definitely fulfill your request!"
Bertard lowered his head and loudly agreed. When the militiamen go out on an expedition, they only have three meals of cereals a day. According to this standard, he can still get it together, he just has to suffer from the legion garrison in Shuigu City.
"very good!"
Xiulote nodded, thought for a while, and then said with a smile.
"Bertard, if the food in the camp is insufficient, there is no need to hold on to it. It can be exchanged with surrounding states. Whether it is the southern city-states of the alliance, the Tepanic tribes in the southwest, or even the Mixtec states in the south, they all have it. Surplus food!"
"As for the goods to be exchanged for them, it would be best to use gems. Of course, in recent years, there have been too many gem trades, and the needs of various ministries have become very limited... Then, bronze weapons can also be accepted, and paper armor can also be exchanged. , you can even give them dozens of bronze armors!... Remember, the price will double!"
"Huh? Mixtec tribes? Trading bronze soldiers and armor?"
Bertard was stunned and asked in surprise.
"Your Highness! But the Mixtec tribes were still at war with us last year! What's more, the Alliance High Priests have explicitly prohibited the outflow of arms..."
"It doesn't matter! Hundreds of thousands of bronze soldiers and dozens of bronze armors will have little impact on the overall situation. The foundation of the kingdom lies in population and food. As long as enough food is exchanged to feed enough people, it is not difficult to expand arms production .Such a deal will obviously bring more benefits to the kingdom!"
Shulot looked calm, smiled and waved his hand. Throughout the ages, the arms trade has been one of the most profitable businesses. In this kind of trade, the Kingdom, which occupies a dominant position, can obtain several times the profits. The high income will be converted into sufficient nutrients to supply the rapid growth of the kingdom's sacred tree. And as long as the kingdom develops fast enough, it can suppress all parties without having to restrain its hands and worry too much.
"Okay, food is the first priority, I can only leave it to you! You have to be free and don't be timid. Even if something happens, I can handle it in the alliance. The envoy sent by the king to the seaside land before Yao Lin, he’s still here, waiting for me to support him and protect Black Wolf... Haha!”
Shulot smiled bitterly twice, and his expression became serious again. He pondered for a while before speaking slowly and very solemnly.
"Bertard, the second important thing is, I am going to write a letter to the king: requesting that the newly conquered land of Totonac be used as the fiefdom of Xiuhua... What do you think? King Avit, the generals of the kingdom, what will it be? manner?
