Aztec Eternals

The noon sun is still warm, but the autumn wind is slightly chilly.

Under the sun, the scattered weapons glowed coldly, leaving behind the last crystal of the warrior. In the breeze, the yellowed leaves fell gently, taking away everyone's silent farewell.

It began with the expedition of the Ottopan camp, developed the waiting on the banks of the Leman River, and culminated in the fierce battle in the mountain camps. Until now, everything is over, and the king and warrior return to dust, just like the end of the rainy season.

After a long time, Xiulot silently stepped forward. He gently closed Totek's eyes, touched the samurai's cold face with his hands, smelled the familiar smell of blood in his nose again, and couldn't help but sigh slightly.

Olosh, who was behind him, came over and patted the boy on the shoulder lightly.

"Sholot, no matter how majestic a jaguar will die of old age in the forest, no matter how high an eagle soars, it will fall into the dust and mud. We will all have this day. It is a warrior's luck to die for his own belief. I Looking forward to such a day!"

Xiuluo nodded, calming down from the turbulent emotions. The sadness disappeared from his eyes, replaced by firmness from the heart. This is a teaching that leads by example, telling young people what is the will of a warrior, what is faith and protection!

Strength shaped his soul, and finally completely erased the fragility from later generations.

He walked over to Tisok's body again, looking at the muddy face. The king who was supreme when he first met, is now lying on the ground ordinary, without any nobility. The boy shook his head, he didn't feel much about the king's death. Since he is your life-and-death enemy, he deserves to die.

Shulot picked up the scepter on the ground. It has a slender wooden body with vicissitudes of life. The top of the staff is a gold base, and a circle of pearl-sized topaz is inlaid on the base, forming the outline of the sun. The boy thought of Avit, so he also stretched out his finger and flicked on the divine staff.

A clear trembling sound of gold and jade resounded through the wilderness and across time and space.

This is the scepter of the ancestors, which has been passed down for hundreds of years and is a symbol of theocracy.

In the tribal period when the priesthood dominated everything, this scepter was passed down from generation to generation among the priests. And after the capital city in the lake was established, this scepter has been kept in the hands of the chief priests of the Great Temple. When the king maintains a close relationship with the high priesthood, the high priest will give the king the scepter in the name of the patron saint, declaring the support of the high priesthood.

This close relationship is like Tisok and Kechar. The price for obtaining the support of the chief priest is the regression of kingship and the expansion of theocracy.

In fact, before Montezuma made another scepter, this only scepter also represented the kingship from the divine right. Of the fifteen Aztec ancestors in history, half of them were priests, or priests from the royal family.

Shulot remembered that the king had used this scepter to perform divine communication with his grandfather in the holy city. At that time, tens of thousands of warriors were all in awe, bowing their heads and not daring to look directly. It can be seen that theocracy has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The boy frowned, thinking of the divine right and the chief priests, he felt very troublesome.

The authority of this kind of priest does not come from one or two individuals, but from a whole class. In this era, priests were the most cultured class. Their power comes from the possession of all kinds of knowledge, the holding of the gods' harvest, funeral and marriage ceremonies, and the interpretation of myths and celestial phenomena.

The priest's power comes from the complete monopoly of culture!

With such power, the priests can influence the succession of the royal family, divert the tax revenue of the city-state, occupy a large amount of land and villages, and have a large number of warriors following them, continuing to manipulate the hearts of the common people.

As a well-known fifth-level coyote priest, the young man has five hundred warriors under his command. In order to support these warriors, he also had to acquire wealth and land.

"Go back and have a good discussion with Avit. The Mexica society is still before the cultural enlightenment of a hundred schools of thought. The Chinese civil service system does not exist, and there is no foundation for the imperial examination. Compared with the hereditary aristocratic class solidification, the priesthood At least some of the outstanding civilians have been absorbed."

"In the future, the power of the priests can only be restricted and guided, and it is impossible to completely erase it!"

The boy was thinking about his future plans, but he heard Olosh let out a sigh.

"Hey! Shulot, come and see, what is this?"

The young man heard the sound and looked, but saw the unfettered Olosh groping and checking Tisok's body.

He accidentally took out a large piece of folded delicate cotton cloth from the king's arms, which was full of sketched pictures and signs, with the special fragrance of carmine dye.

This large piece of fine cotton cloth is equivalent to three hundred cocoa beans, or a hundred corn cakes, and only kings and great nobles can use it as a note-taking paper. The price of carmine dye is even more expensive, comparable to gold in the Old World.

"When I go back this time, I will develop papermaking technology to provide a carrier for cultural communication." The young man thought.

He then took the delicate cotton and unfolded it. This is a huge blueprint, with a three-dimensional sacrificial stone disc drawn on it.

Judging from the distance markings, the diameter of the disc is about three meters, and the height is about one meter. The top of the disc is engraved with a calendar ritual picture of five suns. Further up the top is the sculpture of the patron saint that is expected to be placed on it, or the stone platform for offering sacrifices. On the side of the sacrificial plate are sixteen battle images of kings, engraved with tall and majestic kings and defeated small enemies.

Each king bears the marks of the gods, such as the gorgeous headdress of the God of War, the changing smoke of the primordial sun, the three-colored long feathers of the Feathered Serpent, and the long red tongue of the God of Death. The first fifteen are naturally the fifteen kings in Aztec history, and the sixteenth is Tissoc himself.

The king's feet are full of enemies who are kneeling or dying. The enemies have different names and logos, symbolizing the city-states and lands conquered by the king. There are a lot of dead enemies at the foot of Montezuma, and dense marks fill the scene.

At Tisok's feet, there are only two names for the time being: Hiro Tepek and Ottopan. But he leaves a lot of room for himself and clearly has big ambitions.

"This is also one of the reasons why Tisok insisted on besieging the city!" Shulot looked at the picture, which had already drawn the Ottopan warrior and the mark, feeling slightly emotional.

Even though he abandoned Wang Qi, gave up the army, and fled all the way south in a hurry, Tisok did not give up the design. The dense design marks show his hard work and his theology. Unfortunately, this historically famous "Tisok Stone" will never appear again.

"History has changed forever!" After thinking about it, the young man became a little excited again. "Now is our time!"

The battle is over, and the next step is to reorganize the army.

Shulot asked Stanley to surrender the remaining royal guards, whose loyalty and fighting strength were top notch. Perhaps, Avitt will use them as seeds to rebuild the Forbidden Guard Camp again.

He asked Olosh to sort out the 3,000 warriors directly under the royal family, and he would take them back to the north later.

In the end, he praised Berthard's marksmanship and sent his warrior commander to dig a pit to bury Totek's body. He himself sat cross-legged on the ground, cut out a wooden tombstone, and carved square Chinese characters with a knife.

Another hour passed. After the army was prepared, Xiulot was also preparing to return.

He stopped at Totek's grave at last, looking at the unnamed tombstone.

"A real warrior is buried here. He has the most peerless martial arts, the purest heart, and the beauty of facing death. Now, he has died for his faith, please don't disturb his peace."

Who here can really understand the Chinese characters on it? Chinese characters cannot be learned quickly, and even Bertard failed to learn much. Xiulot laughed at himself, this was just a commemoration for himself.

Finally, the boy touched his chest with his hand. He silently asked himself:

"What are my beliefs?"

"My belief is also to protect. Now, I want to protect my father, grandfather, friends, lovers, followers...all the people I care about. In the future, when I ascend the throne, it will be the people of this land, this country and civilization!"

He looked at the shallow grave, remembered the frozen smile of the warrior, and asked himself again.

"When the choice arises, can I die for what I believe in?"

Shulot pondered for a moment, imagining the hardships ahead, as well as future diseases and colonists. The boy nodded silently and firmly.

"I can." He turned and walked away, truly a warrior and a commander.

The 4,000 troops immediately set off and headed for the northern camp three days away. The old days are over, and a new era is beginning!