Aztec Eternals

In the next few days, Xiulot was still in a hurry. He is like the breeze across Lake Texcoco, galloping around the capital city in the lake, chasing the light that cuts through time and space.

Outside the embankment in the southeast of the capital city in the lake, there are two large islands, one named Zakatlamenco and the other named Itakata. The name of the island is roughly related to "salt water", "saline-alkali land" and "reed grove", which also shows the desolation here.

The islands are located in a lagoon and have remained uninhabited without the potential for reclamation into Chinampas. Only perched waterfowl, and the occasional merchant at anchor. Now, Avette has given the two small islands to Shulot to be used as experimental sites for gunpowder research and development.

The young man came by boat in the early morning with dozens of guards and warriors. He landed on the northern island and looked around. It is about an hour or two away from the capital, and it is quiet and deserted. Looking to the north, the great temple in the center of the capital is majestic and tall, Chinapa is verdant and lush a few miles away, and the merchant fleet on the lake is constantly coming and going, a scene of civilization and prosperity. Looking to the south, there is another island not far away.

Shulot watched quietly for a while, then continued to evaluate the two small islands. The two islands each have hundreds of hectares. The North Island is slightly smaller and closer, so he named it Tianhuo Island, which is specially used to store nitrate, extract nitrate, and try gunpowder formula. The South Island is larger and farther away, so it is called Tianhuo Second Island, which is used to test future firearms and is temporarily idle.

The boy led the guards and warriors to check around to judge the terrain of the island. The lower edge part may be submerged in the rainy season when the lake is flooded, so it is necessary to raise the soil in the center of the island, build a high platform, and then set the research and development site on it. It is also necessary to build a backlit and dry warehouse to store the extracted soil salt and the prepared gunpowder.

A group of people were patrolling, but Berthard's expression suddenly changed, and he took a step forward to block Shulot. The warrior commander pointed somewhere with his thumb, then silently took out the longbow, and mounted the armor-piercing copper arrow.

Shulot looked carefully into the distance, with a solemn face, two to three hundred meters away, a small part of the hull exposed among the reeds. He also took out his shield and baton, ready to fight. Dozens of well-trained guards behind him. Half of them bent their bows and set arrows, and half of them held sticks and shields, and gradually spread out into a circular formation, protecting His Highness in the center.

The guard warriors approached carefully, entering the best shooting distance of about a hundred paces. Bertard told the warriors to stop. He first put on a sentry arrow, aimed a little, and then shot the arrow quickly, and the sharp whistling sound was heard immediately. The arrowhead of the sentry arrow is equipped with a bone horn whistle, and it is a specially made blunt head to avoid accidental injury.

The rustling sound came from the reeds. The warriors of the guards were all equipped with copper arrows, and as long as an unknown warrior appeared, they would not hesitate to strike. Berthard waited for a long time with his bow stretched. After a while, the movement in the reeds disappeared again. He frowned slightly, then yelled at the reeds.

"Who is that in the grass? Come out! If you don't come out, you will be shot!"

There was another shaking in the reeds, but the people inside still didn't show up.

Bertard waited no longer. He solemnly waved his left hand forward, and more than twenty copper arrows were shot out, nailing aggressively around the wooden boat surrounded by reeds. There were several exclamations from the reeds, followed by panicked responses.

"Stop, stop! We are not enemies, we are hardworking and loyal citizens of the capital!"

The warrior commander frowned again. He looked at Shulot, the young man pondered slightly, and nodded. It really doesn't look like an enemy.

"Get out of the grass, all!" Bertard yelled again.

After a while, five or six shivering people came out from the reeds. The guard warrior's longbow was immediately aimed at the vital point.

Shulot first looked at their hands, which were empty and unarmed, except for a short dagger pinned to their waists. Then, the young man looked at their clothes again. None of them were wearing armor, but only long robes and cloaks that concealed their figures. Both the cloak and robe are low-key in color and simple in pattern. At a glance, it looks like a commoner, but if you look closely, it is made of high-quality cloth. Some people also wear wide-brimmed cone hats on their heads, half covering their faces.

The boy was a little confused, this look always gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Bertard watched for a moment and was sure it was just a group of dubious civilians. He observed the reeds again, but there was no movement. So, the warrior commander waved forward, and five or six strong leather armored warriors rushed forward. They took off the cone hats of the suspicious characters, tore off the large cloaks and robes, and put away the daggers around their waists. After groping up and down for a while, they nodded to the warrior commander.

Bertard nodded slightly, and shifted the direction of the longbow. He pointed to the dense reeds again, and ten more warriors stepped forward cautiously. After searching for a while, they returned with several small clay pots and two dark cloth bags.

"Your Highness, there are two small boats in it. One contains more than a dozen pots of herbs and spices, and the other contains a bag of gold sand and a few bags of salt."

The warriors of the guard came to report. Shulot looked at the warrior commander.

Bertard took a marked jar and opened it, reaching out and fumbling for a while. A strong aroma wafts through, and it's just allspice in it. Then, he opened two more cloth bags, one was heavy and dazzling golden sand, the other was white and slightly gray table salt.

The warrior commander breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded to the boy in confirmation.

Shulot pondered slightly. The Union has recently enacted a commercial law that imposes heavy taxes on luxury goods. Obviously, this is a private luxury transaction and will not be taxed according to law. One side is a well-connected businessman, and the other side carries a large amount of gold sand and salt, so it should be a big nobleman in the capital with a fief.

Xiulot took a few steps forward and carefully observed the faces of several people. When two of them saw the young man's senior priest's uniform, their expressions changed, and they subconsciously lowered their heads immediately. Then, the warriors pinched their chins and forcibly lifted them up. The young man looked at these two people for a long time, without the slightest impression in his mind, so he looked to the other side,

After looking at it for a while, Xiulot gave a light "Huh", and there was an old friend among them.

"I remember you, you are a big merchant in the capital city market, and you have a luxury store. What's your name?"

What the boy didn't mention was that he had personally seen the other party buy honey at a low price and then resell it. In just a quarter of an hour, it was three or four times the huge profits, so I was deeply impressed.

"Ah, no, I am not a respected lord, you must remember wrongly"

Before the big businessman finished speaking, he saw the young priest frowning slightly in front of him. Afterwards, his hair was lifted, and the middle-aged warrior behind him had already placed his battle stick across his neck. The big businessman's neck felt cold, and then there was a slight sting. The sharp blades had already scratched the skin, and bright red marks slowly ooze out.

"Yes, I am! I am Okatel from the Ducheng Market! My lord, you remember me. I must have served you, please spare my life!"

Okater was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder burst. The big businessman stared in horror at the high priest in black, fifty or sixty elite leather armored warriors, and dozens of astonishingly powerful longbows. He wanted to cry, but under the powerful long-range threat, he couldn't even escape when he was prepared.

I just sold a few cans of vanilla to regular customers, secretly earning a little hard money. Even if it violated the newly promulgated commercial law, it would not be possible to use so many high-level temple guards, right? Looking at the equipment and the number of people, it is enough to attack ordinary noble manors!

Thinking of this, the big businessman finally shed tears of grievance.

Xiulot looked at the big businessman with a blank expression on his face. He raised his hand first, and the middle-aged warrior who threatened the big businessman stopped moving. Then he pointed to the two people who bowed their heads just now, and the warriors pushed them aside. Then the boy approached Okarter. The middle-aged warrior immediately pushed his knees, and the big businessman knelt down in pain, without His Highness needing to look up.

Afterwards, Shulot interrogated Okatel majestically. The big businessman started talking nonsense, and the boy frowned again. The middle-aged samurai applied pressure several times knowingly, and the grasp was just right. Soon, in the midst of unpredictable life and death terror, Okater's psychological defense finally collapsed. He wept bitterly and confessed truthfully.

Only a few days after the promulgation of the Commercial Law, the official luxury goods trade in the capital market has been greatly reduced. Local big businessmen were unwilling to bear the high business tax, and started private transactions one after another. They have been rooted in the locality for many years, have a long-term cooperative relationship with the nobles of the capital, and are familiar with geography and human relations, so the two parties have conveniently transferred the trading venue.

Now that the capital city has been patrolled by temple guards, and the influence of the priests in various communities is very strong, the private trading locations of local merchants and nobles have finally been transferred to hidden small islands in the lake. This island is covered with reeds as tall as a person, and it is not far from the capital, so it was taken by Alkatel as a place for his private trade.

The New Year's sacrifice is about to begin, and the nobles have a lot of luxury needs. Almost every day, Okatel would come here to trade with different nobles, sometimes a big noble, sometimes several small nobles. Occasionally, we will meet colleagues, and everyone will miss each other tacitly, and at the same time be careful to beware of the other party's report.

Today, Okatel brought two guards to trade with the servants of the great nobles in the capital. In the most hidden reeds, exchange vanilla spices for gold sand and salt produced by the fief. He also has a way to sell the salt.

"I heard that there are also big nobles who specialize in trade intermediaries. In their fiefs, they provide low-tax guaranteed transactions for foreign businessmen who come from afar and do not know their background."

In the end, Okater burst into tears and delivered a vaguely important message.

Hearing this, Xiulot frowned deeply. It seems that the implementation of the commercial law is not smooth.

The autonomy of the great nobles is too great. They have enough power and enough greed to violate the alliance's business laws. If the inspection is too strict, a large number of luxury trade will be transferred to the fiefdoms of the great nobles. It will be difficult for the alliance to intervene directly, except by force.

The enforcement of alliance laws is always closely related to the government's control. The same is true for the various taxes of the alliance. The localities will withhold different degrees of tribute according to the level of autonomy, plus the corruption of the bureaucracy.

In the end, the actual revenue of the government will always strike a balance between local control, autonomy, and corruption, which Schlott calls tax collection efficiency.

In this era, most of the tax revenue of the feudal country will flow into the nobles, officials and gentry at all levels, and this will be more so in the last years of the dynasty. For example, Daming more than a hundred years later.

Shulot shook his head, taking back his wandering thoughts. He looked at Okatel, who was kneeling and weeping, and fell silent.

Okater was shocked, knowing that the critical moment of life and death had arrived. Mexica society has always been strict, and the priests have just promulgated commercial laws. At this time, if he was arrested by the high priest and returned to the capital, he would definitely be used as a model and sent to the altar of sacrifice to frighten everyone.

The big businessman struggled, ignoring the sharp stick, and threw himself at the feet of the young priest. He grabbed the opponent's priest's robe, cursed and swore.

"Master Priest, spare my life! In the name of the patron saint, I am willing to sacrifice all my property, and I am willing to swear allegiance to you to the death!"

Xiulot has made a decision in his heart. He shook his head slightly and looked at the middle-aged warrior.

The middle-aged samurai nodded knowingly. He bent down and grabbed Okater's shoulder with one hand. Then, stretch out the other hand and squeeze hard behind the opponent's elbow. The big businessman suddenly felt pain and numbness in his arms, and he loosened his fingers uncontrollably. The middle-aged samurai exerted his strength slightly, and directly dragged the big businessman forty to fifty meters from the ground. Two more warriors came up around, and Okatel was completely controlled.

Shulot looked at the middle-aged warrior with interest. In his thirties, with an ordinary appearance, his face is weathered, his eyes are calm, but he is quite smart. In the previous interrogation, he observed the situation and exerted pressure just right. The young man couldn't help but love talents.

"What's your name? When did you join the guard?" Shulot waved for the middle-aged warrior to come over.

The middle-aged samurai's expression remained unchanged. He walked over quickly, knelt down and saluted respectfully.

"Your Highness, I am Esco, a warrior from the holy city of Teotihuacan. I once followed Commander Shusok and fought against the Otomi with you. The high priest came to the capital city in the lake, A group of holy city warriors were drawn, and I followed the high priest at that time, guarding the left and right. Then I was assigned to join your guard."

Shulot nodded slightly, without a family name, he turned out to be a commoner warrior from the holy city. Esco was selected by his grandfather and sent to the guards around him, so he must be trustworthy in terms of loyalty.

Since coming to the capital, various affairs have been carried out one after another, and the young man has become more and more aware of the lack of talents, especially the lack of people who can take the lead. For him now, when it comes to important tasks, he must first ensure the loyalty of the employer, and then consider the ability, and he doesn't care about his background.

Shulot thought for a moment, then looked at the middle-aged warrior with sharp eyes, and asked questions.

"Esco, how do you think this businessman should be dealt with."

Esco thought for a while, his eyes flickered, and then he answered respectfully.

"Your Highness, the Nobility Law is about to be promulgated, and the situation in the capital is tense. It is not appropriate to continue stimulating the nobles with luxury goods. As for this businessman, he can take care of it directly here."

Shulot nodded in satisfaction first, then shook his head slightly.

Not long ago, my grandfather had a long talk with himself all night, planning a lot for the future. If the big merchants were arrested and brought back to the capital, the priests would probably bring out a large group of nobles who violated the commercial law, and they would become the center of the capital again.

It is time to keep a low profile, and it is not the time for priests and nobles to completely confront each other. As for the big businessman, his execution won't solve anything.

After pondering for a moment, Shulot ordered to Esco.

"Esco, I'll give you a few warriors, and I'll leave the rest to you. Confiscate all the things on the boat and give a slight punishment. Then appease the servants of the nobles, and release them all after we leave. Yes. As for that Okatel, ask him to hand over the list of trading nobles, and let him go. He will provide us with news regularly in the future. Well, it is up to you to contact."

Hearing this, Esco bowed his head deeply. He suppressed the joy on his face and bowed respectfully to the ground. Then, with a strange smile, he walked towards Okatel not far away.

After dealing with all this, Shulot looked at the warrior commander and smiled.

"Bothard, it was just a false alarm. This is at the foot of the capital, and today is a temporary route, so there are so many dangers!"

Bertard remained silent. He has been watching all of this quietly, but most of his attention is on the surrounding environment. He looked around at the dense reeds, uninhabited bays and remote islands. After a while, the loyal warrior commander spoke in a low voice.

"Your Highness, if someone makes a move, this is the best place."

Shulot was slightly taken aback. He pondered over what the warrior commander said, anyone? Does anyone know here. Do it? What are you doing? The boy fell silent suddenly. After a while, he shook his head in a deep voice.

"I believe him. Why are you thinking too much?"

Bertard looked serious. He bowed his head and bowed in salute.

"Your Highness, I don't believe it. The high priest doesn't believe it either. Even if he is trustworthy, the people around him are not trustworthy. Your safety cannot be trusted."

Hearing what the warrior commander said, Shulot slowly closed his eyes, feeling the throbbing and changing in his heart. After a long time, he sighed deeply.

"The most difficult thing in this world is mutual trust. The higher the place, the colder it will be. How can it last forever if the words of one's mouth is enough to melt gold, and the accumulation of bones will be destroyed? It's really terrible, terrible!"

The boy shook his head. He strode forward, looking at the distant capital, his heart was still firm and full of light.

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