"Huh? That's it! A double flower...huh?! What?!..."
The morning light breaks, and the side hall is clear. Shulot suddenly stood up and woke up from his deep sleep. He stared at the rising sun with wide eyes, but there was a "buzzing" sound in his mind. He rubbed his brows with a headache, and his ears still seemed to be echoing with the clear and unforgettable calls like silver bells. After a while, he looked around and saw the two sleeping and entangled sisters, and his face was filled with excitement.
"This is...sister? This is...sister?..."
This time, even though the two sisters had their eyes closed and could not see their expressions at all, Shulot could still distinguish them clearly, like some kind of instinct engraved in the bone marrow. He was stunned, and then he understood an ancient saying from the Celestial Dynasty.
"What you see on paper is ultimately shallow, but you know that you have to do it in earnest..."
"That's wrong!... All conditioned phenomena are like bubbles in a dream, like dew or lightning, and should be viewed as such..."
Shulot stood up, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the dazzling morning sun. The dizziness from hangover and indulgence still made him a little dazed, and even the sun in front of him seemed to be shaking out of existence. He tried hard to adapt to it and started talking to himself, but he distorted the Buddhist scriptures.
"Witness the Lord God! This unforgettable joy, this magnificent dreamlike flower shadow, this wonderful flower dew, and the trembling electric light... Let me experience it a few more times, and try to understand from the most difficult entanglement. Break free!…”
Sunrise and sunset, flowers bloom without a trace. This ridiculous and indulgent day passed for several more days. Shulot barely understood the principles of Buddhism, escaped from impermanence and change, and continued to handle the government affairs of the Coastal Alliance.
"Blessed by the Lord God! The population of each tribe in the Coastal Alliance has been roughly estimated by the priests of each tribe. In the vast seaside land, the tribes are too loose, and they are different from the alliances and kingdoms on the plateau... This thousands of miles of seashore, there is no There is no division of states, only city-state centers one by one! Specifically, the Coastal Alliance controls two large cities and eight small cities, a total of ten city-states!..."
The red sandalwood table is very long, and the documents from each city are mixed with pictures and texts, and are spread out on the table in turn. Xiulote sat cross-legged in front of the desk, carefully checking the reports from various departments in the city. Behind him, two clerks with similar looks were smiling brightly, just like the fragrant flower buds after the rain. One of them mixed blue and black ink, and the other burned pleasant balsam, but they worked together perfectly, creating a unique scene.
"The ten coastal cities are actually directly under the kingdom! Eight small cities, Wushan City, Snake-Zhan City, Nishui City, Cone House City, Coyote City, Carved Stone City, Lake Sacrifice City, and Grass Mandala City. With each small city as the center, including There are 30,000 to 50,000 tribes in each of the surrounding 60-mile radius... It is estimated that the population of the flag force is more than 300,000!..."
Shulot looked at the seaside map and drew smaller blue circles one by one. In the vast seaside land, there are dense jungles and swamps, and rivers overflow in the rainy season... Before the completion of large-scale water control projects, the places suitable for development and reclamation are actually very limited.
Therefore, the kingdom's rule in the seaside land is not actually connected as a whole, but an approximate circle with the city-state as the center. In fact, the same is true for the areas ruled by the Mayan emirates. This is determined by the natural conditions of the jungle and mountains!
"Two big cities, Jinwan City in the center of the seaside, has a radius of 120 miles, and has a population of 160,000. And the Hidden Snake City in the east has a radius of 160 miles, and has a population of 150,000. The two big cities combined, there are another 30 More than 10,000 village flag troops!…The ten cities combined have a population of more than 600,000!…”
Shulot's eyes moved slightly, he drew two big circles, and then he fell silent. Most of these 600,000 Totonak tribes settled on the seaside. They were the most traditional seaside tribes and were also the location of the East-West Totonak Alliance as perceived by the alliance.
"Witness the Lord God! These more than 600,000 people are directly under the control of the Kingdom by organizing flag troops, establishing villages, and are directly under the control of the Kingdom! These people have converted to the Lord God, sent priests of the Lord God, and placed the Kingdom's Flag captains and village chiefs. They can provide a large amount of taxes and food, as well as the largest number of warriors and men..."
"Going inland from the ten coastal cities, there are three Totonak city-state tribes that surrendered to the Coastal Alliance. They are located in the jungle deep in the interior, and can also be considered the Totonak tribes in the jungle. These three cities are Hatori Castle, Tuhe Castle, and Tuqiu Castle... With each city-state as the center, within a radius of 100 miles, there are approximately 60,000 to 70,000 tribes each. Taken together, there are more than 200,000 semi-directly governed tribes, or Called a vassal tribe..."
The so-called semi-direct jurisdiction, to put it simply, means that it has not experienced large-scale purges of nobles and chiefs, and has not changed the original tribal system, but only allowed them to swear a blood oath to convert to the main god. Therefore, these semi-directly governed tribes still maintain a considerable degree of autonomy. The reason for autonomy is mainly due to the geographical separation of the jungle. The cost of establishing direct jurisdiction is very high, making it difficult for the kingdom to have in-depth control.
"Well, for the vassal tribes, it can provide more soldiers, but the provision of taxes and food is far from enough... and the subsequent direct administration will also require the construction of jungle roads and the development of inland river transportation..."
Shulot continued to move his fingers, moving deeper inland on the eastern coast, where the kingdom's rule was even weaker, and the southeastern jungles that only nominally surrendered and paid tribute were established.
"In the depths of these jungles, there are estimated to be more than 200,000 jungle Totonak tribes, large and small, scattered all over the place. But the value of more than 200,000 tribes to the kingdom is even more limited, and they are almost completely autonomous... They have almost no large-scale There is no decent city-state, and the tribes are poor and tough. Apart from gathering together to go out for conquest and robbery, they can't provide much tax and labor at all..."
"The absence of large settlements also means that they can easily move around, escape or guerrilla. For these poor jungle tribes, the cost of military conquest is even higher, and the possible gains are extremely low and completely disproportionate... "
"Therefore, the Coastal Alliance controlled by the kingdom can only establish political tribute rule and religious rule of faith in this inland jungle in the southeast for the time being! For them, the kingdom will send missionary priests to spread the faith of the Lord God. , and guided them in agricultural production, building cities and villages... until step by step, they transformed into semi-direct tribes..."
After reading the reports from all the seaside ministries and marking the entire seaside map, Shulot had a clearer and clearer understanding of the seaside alliance under the control of the kingdom.
"More than 600,000 directly subordinate tribes on the coast, more than 200,000 semi-direct tribes in the jungle, and more than 200,000 autonomous jungle tribes... These thousands of miles of coast and jungle, and the millions of Totonak tribes, are the foundation of the Coastal Alliance! And the entire The area of the Seaside Alliance is roughly the same as that of the Lake Kingdom. Its population and potential are at least half of that of the Lake Kingdom!…"
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(End of chapter)
