Aztec Eternals

The largest salt mine in the alliance is located not far south of the capital, and small salt mines can be seen everywhere. The eastern part of Lake Texcoco is divided by dykes, where there are high-salinity saltwater lakes, and there are many high-quality salt springs distributed in the surrounding mountains and deep valleys, which are also the product of volcanic activity.

The Mexica Union is never short of salt. Salt is an important trade product for the Mexica, and the income is extremely rich. From the east bank to the south bank of the Lake District, there are many salt-making villages. The Great Salt Mine was also developed from a salt-making village. It is the closest to the prosperous capital in the lake, and the transportation is extremely convenient, so the population is concentrated, and the production capacity is the largest, which can supply the salt needs of hundreds of thousands of people.

Not long after traveling south, we arrived at the Great Salt Mine. The white salt piles shone brightly in the sun, and after being exposed to the wind and sun, they were mixed with the loam, giving them a light gray color. Hundreds or even thousands of salt workers work here. There are only forty or fifty warriors under supervision. From time to time, merchants in cloaks came with slaves in a low-key way, and hurried away with their goods.

Looking around, there is a vast expanse of white between the mountains and trees. When the breeze blows, the fine salt powder is rolled up, and the salty wind blows head-on, as if you are on the vast seaside.

Xiulot stopped, looked at this spectacular scene, and felt emotional: Salt is the real wealth of the Middle Ages!

"Kood, how many salt workers are there here? How much salt is produced every day?" The boy's eyes sparkled.

Hearing His Highness's question, Kuod secretly sighed and felt a headache. His Highness is fine with everything, but always asks him the specific number. There are not many people who really know numbers below, so how can he answer accurately.

After thinking for a while, the craftsman director cautiously replied.

"There are nearly a thousand salt workers here. According to the latest market norms, each person produces at least a few liters of salt per day. Calculated, there are always thousands of liters of salt. All these salts belong to the alliance."

Then, he thought for a while and lowered his voice.

"Of course, the actual production may be far more than that. Salt is a necessity, and even the tribal people in the mountains and forests need it. Salt workers and supervisors will sell it privately, and there are also businessmen who trade privately and secretly take away part of the production."

Shulot was slightly surprised.

"Why doesn't the alliance strictly control and collect tribute for such an important product as salt?"

Kuod thought for a moment, then continued talking in a low voice.

"The alliance is rich in lake salt and rock salt. If this place is strictly controlled, merchants will naturally gather in other salt-producing villages. Instead of letting them transfer to the fiefdoms of the great nobles, it is better to trade here in the royal territory. What's more, in private A large amount of profits from the transaction flowed into the hands of nobles at all levels."

Shulot frowned slightly. He pondered for a long time before slowly nodding helplessly to suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart.

The two are talking. In the distance, the supervisor warrior in charge of management came in a hurry, his round face was full of smiles.

The guard had already stepped forward to show his identity, and the warrior overseer knelt down respectfully and shouted loudly at Shulot.

"Your Highness is here, it is really a blessing from the patron saint! I am willing to die for your great Highness!"

The shouts drifted far away, and other foreman warriors also heard the sound. The overseers knelt down to salute chaotically one after another, and Xiulot looked at them expressionlessly. After the overseers' performance ended, the boy looked at the saltworks again. At some point, the merchants in cloaks had disappeared.

Shulot lowered his eyes slightly, then opened them again, accepting the flattery from the supervisors with a smile. Then the young man waved his hand and asked them to return to their posts. Afterwards, the young man strode forward, surrounded by the warriors, and walked straight to the noisy and busy salt workers.

The tools used by the salt workers are very simple: a stone shovel for digging, a stone hoe for loosening the soil, and a stone pick for mining salt. They used sacks made of jute to carry the salty soil, and then used large earthenware pots to carry the fresh water to wash the salt.

Shulot stood beside the salt worker and watched quietly.

Salt workers first excavate the salt-rich lakeside soil, underground saline soil, or salt spring soil. Then mix the soil properly and thoroughly. Next, they formed mounds of saline soil to be leached, next to shallow sinkholes of sand and lime.

Immediately, the salt workers slowly poured the clear water from the clay pots down from the top of the salt soil pile, allowing the clear water to flow through the salt soil at a uniform speed, dissolving and taking away the salt in the soil. The salt water gradually flows out from the bottom of the mound, along the designed dirt path, and slowly flows into the concave pool. This process of melting and filtering out the salt is quite slow, requiring sufficient physical strength and persistent patience.

Some concave pools are wide conical pits with a depth of half a meter and a diameter of one meter. The salt workers then took brine from the concave pool and boiled it in clay pots to obtain crystallized salt. After the crystallized salt is dried in the sun, it can be sold as table salt.

Another kind of concave pool is a flat and shallow evaporation pool. The salt water is evenly spread in the evaporation pool, and it quickly turns into crystal white powder under the sun exposure on the tropical plateau. Evaporation ponds have coarse and shallow filter settings, which are slightly slower but will have better salt quality.

Xiulot stepped forward, pinched some salt grains with his fingers, and put them in his mouth to taste. Similar to the usual table salt, the output here is coarse salt. Larger salt grains fall on the tip of the tongue, and there is a feeling of saltiness bursting in the mouth. The boy savored it again and confirmed that it was gray salt. It's tough, minerally salty, and full of moisture, perfect for roasting meat or cooking beans.

Shulot nodded slightly. Then, he looked away and observed the salt workers who gathered in a few groups around, chaotic and noisy, looking here from time to time.

Like the gold miners, the salt workers were lean, with sharp-edged faces. They also came from nearby villages and settlements, and they hugged each other and supported their respective salt worker leaders. However, unlike the strictly restrained and simple temperament of the gold miners, the temperament of the salt workers is more fierce and aggressive.

Even when important people came to the saltworks, the salt workers were still pushing and shouting at each other. Shulot vaguely heard words such as "South, Salt Road, Fortune". He frowned slightly, and the previous dissatisfaction was superimposed in his heart. The young man looked at Bertard solemnly.

The warrior commander bowed his head in salute, then stepped forward and waved solemnly. The accompanying elite warriors immediately drew out their batons, trotted forward neatly, and sternly shouted at the salt workers, "Kneel down, be quiet!". The salt workers took a few steps back in fear, and most of them hurriedly crawled to the ground. A few salt workers fought back with curses, but the warriors turned their long sticks lightly and knocked them down mercilessly with the blunt wooden side.

Shulot observed for a while, and found that the resisting salt workers' martial arts skills were not worth mentioning, and they had no power to fight back against the rushing warriors. But they will subconsciously cover each other, gather in squads of mutual support, and then be knocked down together. This instinctive tacit understanding is one of the most important qualities in team combat, and it is also the key to teamwork.

The young man nodded secretly. He looked at the large group of salt workers who were finally knocked down, and pointed to a leader of the salt workers in the center. Immediately, two leather armored warriors stepped forward and dragged the leader of the salt workers. The dozen or so salt workers behind him struggled to rescue the leader, but were struck again with sticks and rolled on the ground in pain.

The leader of the salt workers was probably in his early thirties, with a fierce face and an unconcealable unruliness on his face. He was dragged in front of Shulot, raised his head and boldly looked at the boy's clothes, and even stayed on the boy's face for a moment.

Seeing this scene, Bertard's eyes turned cold. The samurai took two steps forward, pinched the back of the neck of the salt worker leader, and then quickly hit the opponent's armpit and abdomen several times. The leader's eyes widened suddenly, then his pupils shrank violently, and he let out a low, miserable cry. Then, he leaned forward, fell to the ground, and fell headfirst into the salty soil, with saliva leaking out of the corner of his mouth uncontrollably.

After a while, he regained his composure, knelt down and saluted in fear, not daring to raise his head again. The ferocity had disappeared from his face. Sweat oozes from his face, condenses into sweat beads, drips into the same salty saline soil, and makes a weak but clear sound.

Shulot watched all this calmly. There was a chill and silence in the saltworks. The overseers and warriors also knelt down and saluted. However, fifty or sixty elite warriors in armor subdued thousands of salt workers. No matter how fierce the untrained salt workers are, they are nothing but unarmored civilians.

The deadly silence lasted for two quarters of an hour, and the salt workers were as motionless and silent as petrified. The young man smiled slightly. As long as the coercion is sufficient, the discipline of the salt workers is actually acceptable.

"You are the leader of the salt workers' rebellion? What's your name?"

"Ah! Respected high priest, I am not the leader of the salt workers, and we dare not resist you! I am just... I am just the leader recommended by the village, and there are many leaders like me. Brothers just now Impulsive, please."

"What's your name?" A cold voice came from above.

"I'm Moreno." Moreno didn't dare to look up, his abdomen was still in severe pain.

"How many salt cubes are there among the salt workers in the nearby villages?"

"These dozen or so villages all produce salt privately, including men, women, and children. There are hundreds of people, dozens of people, and the thousands of people here in the big salt mine. There are always more than 3,000 salt workers. Specifically I don't even know the numbers."

Moreno felt sweat on his forehead, not knowing what the big nobleman in front of him wanted to do.

"Moreno, give you warriors and property, how much salt can you bring?"

"My lord, do you want to dispose of the salt? My lord, please spare me! We are all small businesses. Even if we sell a little salt secretly, most of the income will be handed over to the nobles in the capital. That small amount of money, for a big noble like you In other words, it’s just an ant’s leg!”

"Moreno, I'll ask you again, how many salts can you gather for me?" The majestic voice came, with a little ups and downs, and it seemed a little unswerving.

Moreno trembled slightly. He couldn't see the expression of the great nobleman, he could only guess the mood and thoughts of the great nobleman. He hesitated to speak.

"There are at most three hundred people from our village. All the salt they produce will be dedicated to you."

"Well, then you are useless. Come here, drag him out and sacrifice him to the gods!"

The warriors immediately stepped forward and grabbed Yan Ding's leader's arm.

The cruel fate fell from the sky, and Moreno was instantly cold, and he shouted loudly.

"My lord, my lord! If you want money, I have a way here, it's a big deal, I guarantee you will be satisfied!"

Shulot waved the samurai to stop. He looked at Moreno with interest.

"explain."

"Dear Priest, a big businessman from Tarasco was recently executed in the capital, and he seems to have offended a certain nobleman. As soon as he died, there was a big gap in the originally saturated southern salt road. The brothers wanted to seize This is an opportunity to make a fortune. The relationship between Yan Ding has been tense recently, and the clamor just now was also for this reason, and I did not intend to offend you."

"Southern Salt Road? To Mixtec and Tlaxcala?" Shulot asked in a deep voice, remembering something.

"Your Excellency is really wise! As long as you give me fifty, not thirty elite warriors, and a little protection, I can lead my brothers to participate in the southern trade, and 70%, no, 80% of the income will be handed over to you! That is a real white gold river!"

Moreno's voice was slightly excited. He couldn't help raising his voice.

Shulot frowned. The southern trade to Mixtec and Tlaxcala is not controlled by the Alliance, and nobles and foreign merchant groups from all over the world are involved. The hostile Tlaxcalans have always been able to obtain important strategic supplies from the Mexica Alliance, including salt, cotton cloth, and even copper.

Shulot looked at the kneeling leader Yan Ding again. Dare to participate in this kind of trade route, obviously he has deep roots in the local village. The boy pondered for a moment, then asked another cold question.

"Moreno, let me ask you one last time, how many salts can you gather for me?"

"Ah, here, my lord. I... as long as you give me fifty warriors and enough cotton cloth, I will control the salt in every village for you! There are always two thousand people! But you have to arrive in the capital The nobles who live in the fief are a bunch of greedy hyenas!"

Hearing this, Xiulot finally nodded slightly in satisfaction. The boy held out his left hand.

"Looked up."

Moreno raised his head for the first time and saw the expressionless face of the young priest, and then saw the boy's slender left hand. He hesitated for a moment, then scanned the equipment of the surrounding warriors again, thinking hard about the family crest on it, but after all, he lacked knowledge and could not recall it.

He glanced at the overseer warrior who was also prostrate on the ground, then gritted his teeth, and took a few steps forward on his knees. Then, he bowed his head respectfully, imitating the loyalty of a samurai, and let the boy's left hand fall into his hair.

"My lord priest, I am willing to die for you!"

Shulot held the head of the salt workers by the hair. After thinking for a moment, he still took out the long dagger that he carried with him, and cut off a strand of Moreno's hair.

"Moreno, under the witness of the Lord God, the 'God-inspired' accepts your allegiance! I will throw your hair into the holy fire of the priest's temple, and report your loyalty to the omnipotent patron saint. Connect the letter, Report to the High Priest's Mansion tomorrow!"

Berthard took out the jade talisman engraved with Xiulot's name and handed it to the leader of the salt workers. Moreno trembled slightly. He looked at the young man in front of him in disbelief, and then prostrated himself on the ground respectfully.

Shulot nodded silently. He finally looked around the white salt field, took a deep look at the warriors who would oversee the work, and left surrounded by guards. After he left for a long time, the Yan Dings got up from the ground, looking at each other in silence.

The salt pan is still white, and the salt water seeps quietly, converging into shapes of unknown meaning in the salt pond. Moreno clutched his stomach, lowered his head, and silently stared at the reflection in the salt pond. After a while, he shook his head and sighed wryly. The Yandings also flocked to his side, looking blankly at Yanchi.

In the white salt pond, the clear salt water is slowly flowing, and the reflected figures are unpredictable, just like the future that everyone can't fathom.

Every time after writing, there will always be repeated revisions for a period of time, so it is pushed to post before 12 o'clock. Thank you for your support, and the history channel will be blocked. A new week begins, I sincerely ask for recommendations!