The midday sun shone on the floating fields, allowing the new shoots of corn to grow. A cool breeze blew across the lake, bringing the moist smell of the earth. The three of them took a boat and walked through the waterways of Chinampa. Shulot wore ordinary sacrificial clothes.

Guillam wore a simple cloth robe, while Bertard wore unpatterned leather armor and carried a long bow on his back.

Seeing the three people, the farmers on Chinampa bowed their heads and saluted. They expressed their sincere respect for Shulot's status as a low-level priest, and then continued the work at hand, planting flowers in the gaps in the floating fields. The farmers on Chinampa

There is always endless work to do.

"The Texcoco Lake District is the foundation of the alliance's governing tribes. Within one or two hundred miles from the capital, there are 1.5 million people living in the lake district. They are only three to five days away from the capital, so they are

Tightly controlled. There are 50,000 warriors directly under the royal family, and the other seven states have about the same number. Only by relying on the superior strength of the warriors directly under the royal family can we suppress the entire alliance city-state."

Gilliam solemnly discussed the current situation, with a trace of solemnity between his brows.

"Since the other seven countries can gather 50,000 warriors, then their combined population should also be 1.5 million?"

Shulot asked thoughtfully.

"The population of the other seven states should be slightly more than 1.5 million, and there are still unsubordinated savage tribes in the mountains and forests. After all, the lake area is richer, with a higher proportion of warriors and better equipment. However, the land in the lake area has been developed

At the limit, the canals are complete and the population has reached its peak. However, the other seven states still have large areas of uncultivated land, and canals can be built along the Tampen and Leman rivers and Chinampa can be built."

Gillim recalled the relevant information seriously. As long as there is enough investment, the population of the other seven states can further grow. However, the central government has no motivation to develop the place.

"Outside the four capital states, the great nobles and priests will replace the royal family and princes, occupy most of the land, and become the local rulers. The proportion of small nobles and civilian warriors will basically remain unchanged."

Hulot pondered slightly. He thought of his family's land holdings in Teotihuacan and calculated in his mind.

"The large nobles of each city-state occupy 55% of the land, the priests 20%, the small nobles 15%, and the civilian warriors 10%. The influence is roughly estimated to be 55%, 30%, 10%, 5%, and the military strength is 20,000

The private army of the big nobles, the five thousand temple guards, the private army of ten thousand small nobles, and the eleven thousand civilian warriors."

"Based on the combined population of three million, the influence of the royal family and the government in the alliance is only 18%, the prince 5%, the great nobles 40%, the priests 22%, the small nobles 10%, and the common people 5%."

Xuelote was secretly alarmed. These specific numbers don't mean much, they are just rough estimates. But the numbers behind them can reflect the current situation of the Mexica Alliance: similar to an aristocratic feudal country without strict hierarchical relationships, or the Eurasian grasslands.

A loose alliance of tribes.

The influence of the big nobles is astonishingly high. They are completely autonomous and their loyalty is wavering. The small nobles often take orders from the local big nobles. If you want to suppress the power of the nobles in various places, you can only expand the power of the royal family and unite the priests and common people.

Samurai competed for the support of small nobles. In order to promote metal tools in the future, they must also prioritize direct territorial control and enhance core strength.

The atmosphere became dull for a moment. After a while, Gillim finally spoke.

"Not far to the west is the village of Tlacopan. Villages are the foundation of Mexica society. We might as well go there and have a look. The Prince of Tlacopan has handed over the land there, and I also want to learn about the local people.

Development."

Shulot nodded happily. He also wanted to know more about the lowest level village community. The boat then drew a light arc and quickly headed towards the west bank of the lake.

The outermost edge of the west bank is also the neatly divided Chinampa, which belongs to the nobility or royal family. Along the spectacular Prepecha Highlands Water Canal, there are dotted villages and continuous farmland on both sides.

Looking at the vast farmland, Gilliam smiled again. In the eyes of the Mexicans in this era, they had developed the valley to the extreme.

Slash-and-burn milpa is spread all over the plains of the valley. Relying on high-yielding American crops, each hectare of milpa can support three to five people, and the yield is even higher than that of sparse dryland farmland in Spain. Although this is not as high as the twenty people per hectare.

Compared with Nampa, it is already a great achievement of the Stone Age.

Xiulote sighed slightly. He was not satisfied with this. There are huge flaws in current agricultural production. The limited river mud and manure must be supplied to Chinampa floating fields first, so Milpa cannot cultivate continuously and must take turns to fallow to maintain fertility.

.

And more importantly, without metal tools and large animals, the most basic and important deep plowing of ancient agriculture would not be possible. It was the first time in the history of agriculture that animal power replaced manpower, iron plows replaced wooden plows, and scythes replaced sickles.

The significance of progress across the ages is even equivalent to the first industrial revolution. Similarly, this is also the basis for the development of the North American Great Plains with long grass and deep roots.

The boat docked at the shore. The three of them walked ashore, followed by four or five warriors. Not far away was a village. In the village community with mud walls and thatched roofs, Shulot actually saw Bai Shi from a distance.

With its solid warehouses and shrine, it was obvious that the village was quite prosperous. He then headed to the center of the village community.

Most of the villages in Mexica are still in the stage of communal tribal communes. A group of four is responsible for village affairs and has built a collective storage warehouse and a priest's temple. Usually there is a group leader for every two hundred people, who is responsible for the group's food distribution and work allocation.

and accommodation arrangements. The leader of the team is also richer and can support his own warriors to intimidate and manage the villagers.

April to June and August to October each year are the busy farming period, which requires collective stone work in the village. The remaining time is the off-farming period, which requires making stone tools, spinning cotton cloth, grinding corn flour, collecting wood, repairing houses and warehouses,

Dig river mud for the lord, build canals and buildings for the alliance, transport food and serve as battlefield militia during wartime.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! In short, in this era, farmers' lives are always endlessly busy, and there is no pastoral leisure at all. Their lives do not belong to themselves.

Before anyone could get close, fierce noises could be heard in the distance, and there was the sound of long sticks hitting shields. Bertard's expression changed. He stepped forward quickly, blocking Hulot behind him. Gillim also expressed an expression.

Yisu.

The three of them passed through the hut and saw in the center of the village, a tax warrior wearing a family pattern leather armor, shouting something loudly. An old village elder was kneeling at his feet, and beside him stood a man with a complexion.

The village priest in white is anxious and arguing constantly.

Nearly a hundred cotton-armored warriors were ransacking the warehouse in the center of the village and nearby houses, and it seemed that they were collecting tribute. Some of them were holding corn cakes, some were carrying cotton cloths on their backs, and some were dragging turkeys.

Rabbits and domestic dogs, and some even carried various pottery and stone tools on their backs. From time to time, warriors waved war sticks and shields to intimidate villagers who tried to obstruct them. The rest of the people were busy happily and smiling.

On the periphery, there were less than ten civilian warriors and hundreds of strong men from the village, holding simple weapons, gathering together in fear and anger.

Shulot quickly counted and found that there were four groups of 80 cotton-armored warriors present. This was a force that a single village could not resist. Even with the wealth of the Lake District, after paying the tribute, a village of this size with a thousand people

It can only support less than ten retired warriors, plus hundreds of strong men from the village, and can resist the attack of forty warriors at most.

Therefore, the tax collection teams of each city-state generally range from forty to sixty people. Tax collection teams of eighty people are generally rare, because the warriors will always obtain extra profits and cause damage to the wealth of the village. This means

It is equivalent to harming the interests of the lord.

Shulot glanced at Bertard, and the warrior commander nodded slightly. He walked forward quickly and walked towards the leading tax warrior.

"...The noble Prince of Tlacopan will collect this year's tribute! Everyone must obey the orders of the Alliance! As the village priest, you must also obey the lord of the village, the great Prince of Tlacopan!"

The taxing warrior had a fierce expression. He hit his shield with his war stick, intimidating the village priest who was still entangled with him. This kind of priest from the village was always troublesome and had a special status, so it was difficult to take action directly. But for the village that was crawling and begging at his feet.

Elder, he didn't even bother to take a look.

"Sir Samurai. Every year our tribute is paid according to the alliance's standards. Why is there so much more this year! The village really can't afford it. I beg you to reduce it!"

The priest in white lowered his head deeply, grabbed the taxing warrior's arm forcefully, and begged in a low voice.

The taxing warrior frowned. He pushed the white-clothed priest away impatiently and shouted casually.

"That's because the benevolent prince has always been tolerant in the past, and you have already owed a lot of debts. This year is the last tax collection, and it must be paid in full at once! The laws of the alliance have always been like this, and the nobles of Tracopan follow this

Standard! Huh? If you don’t believe it, you can go to Tlacopan and ask now!”

There is no text or decree, and it is not up to the nobles to decide how much to charge. How could the white priest leave now? He could only plead again and again, hoping that the taxing samurai's non-existent kindness.

Bertard strode over. His face was calm, with suppressed anger in his eyes, and he asked questions in a deep voice.

"The new year hasn't started yet. The date for the alliance to collect tribute hasn't come yet. Why are you collecting taxes now?!"

The taxing warrior looked up and down at Bertard's simple attire, and didn't care at first. Then when he saw the charging posture of his walking, his pupils suddenly shrank. Finally, the long bow behind him stayed for a moment, and finally showed contempt on his face.

"Huh? Where did the wild warriors come from and use such despicable weapons as bows and arrows! Of course, Prince Tlacopan has the final say on when to collect taxes. Can you doubt the prince's orders? Get out of here!"

As he spoke, he waved his war stick, and several warriors quickly gathered around him, semi-surrounding Bertard in the center.

Bertard's expression remained unchanged. He continued to question solemnly.

"This land and village will soon be under the jurisdiction of the royal family. If you take away the excess taxes in advance now, are you giving it to the alliance? When the new year begins and the royal family officially collects taxes, what will these villagers pay?"

Hearing this, the village leader who was kneeling on the ground suddenly raised his head and looked at the taxing warriors in disbelief. The white-clothed priest also took a few steps back in astonishment, and then quickly told the village warriors and strong men the news.

The village warriors who were trying to be patient could no longer bear it. They shouted loudly, and the armed men became excited. Everyone waved their weapons, emboldened each other and stepped forward, approaching the cotton-armored warriors who also waved their weapons.

Seeing that conflicts and fighting are about to break out.

The taxing warrior's eyes flashed fiercely. He gestured to the left and right, and then charged towards Bertard with murderous intent.

Shulot had been watching calmly. At this time, he nodded to his followers and then moved forward boldly. One of the followers took out the rare horn given by the elder and blew it loudly. The deep and deep sound resounded throughout the world, and everyone immediately took it into their hands.

After a pause, they all looked at each other.

Shulot's expression was majestic, with the unique aura of a superior. He walked calmly to the center of the crowd, stared into the eyes of the taxing warrior, and shouted loudly:

"Warrior of Tlacopan, you have collected more taxes than the Alliance stipulates. Prince Tlacopan is a sensible person and will never stand on the opposite side of the Alliance. His original intention was just to collect one more tax in the end.

You have to pay taxes, but you take this opportunity to exploit the village and drive the village to a dead end. How stupid is it!"

The taxing warrior was stunned when he heard this. He was taken by Shulot's momentum, took half a step back, and waved his hand to stop the warrior who was about to take action. Then, he carefully looked up and down at the young man in front of him. Although he was wearing a low-level priest's robe,

But he has a majestic and delicate face, and an indescribable temperament.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! He was slightly frightened and asked hesitantly: "Excuse me, who are you?"

Shulot ignored it and just continued to scold: "Who can you hide this kind of thing from? Once the alliance and the prince confront each other, have you ever thought about the consequences?! You are going to use your own head to calm the anger of the royal family.

?!"

Hearing this, the taxing warrior's face turned blue and white. With this tone and knowledge, he was sure that the person in front of him was a big shot. Then he looked at the young man's age again and recalled the venerable man of this age. After a while,

He finally remembered something in shock.

He quickly looked at the young man again, and then glanced at the long bow behind Bertard, and then no longer hesitated, and quickly asked the warriors to put away their weapons. Then, he knelt down on his knees in front of Shulot, and bowed to the ground respectfully.

.

"It is the great and wise His Highness the Divine Enlightenment who is here! I was really blind just now and did not recognize His Highness's true face. Being able to hear His Highness's teachings with my own ears is as honored as meeting a god!"

Shulot was slightly stunned, "God-enlightened one"? Where did this title come from? He had no time to think about it, he just looked coldly at the taxing warrior in front of him.
To be continued...