Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Chapter 2159 - 1564: Eat or Be Eaten?

Before the Oobao, flags fluttered, and white bones stood stark. Zuwaro and Ali stood gazing, but no one could see through time to glimpse the future of history. They could only rely on their experience and vision to imagine certain possibilities and then decide their destiny."Ancestor High Priest! You are a benevolent priest, but the law of the Northern Land often has nothing to do with kindness. Potatoes can be planted in the far north, much more cold-resistant than wheat, and are truly a crucial military asset! Be sure to be cautious about their spread. Although, if we plant them in the land of the Jurchen, it will eventually spread out. However, with the barrier of the Black Water Forest, this time can be delayed by a decade or two, until the strength of our tribes has the rare advantage to grow strong!"

At this point, Ali sincerely and seriously spoke.

"Once the potatoes are spread, those that will first become strong are the northern tribes near the waterways. The Duoyan Sanwei occupy the Nen River, and the Haixi Jurchen stand in the middle reaches of the Great River, and their strength will rapidly expand! They are all our neighbors in this harsh northeastern land. Before our strength becomes strong enough, having extremely powerful neighbors may not be a good thing!"

"In the future, as potatoes spread to Hulun Lake in the upper reaches of the Great River, and to the North Sea in the Northern Desert, and then to the Southern Desert River, and Xining’s Western Sea... it will cause the strength of those Mongolian tribes in those regions to increase rapidly, greatly enhancing the power on the prairie! The Little Prince was already recruiting Han lands’ fugitive farmers in the river bends for cultivation. The court dispatched troops several times to ’search’ the river bends, but all were defeated by the main Tatar forces, powerless against the tribes of the river bends. In the end, they could only tightly control the border, even Liaodong Town issued notices forbidding the escapees from entering Mongolian land... If the Little Prince acquires potatoes, who knows to what extent this fatal wound at the river bends of the court would fester..."

"Chief Divine bears witness! Rashly spreading new crops brings about changes from north to south that are entirely beyond our power to manage! The prairie tribes venerate force, and with our current strength, it’s perhaps difficult to use this opportunity to spread the faith of the Chief Divine, only allowing Esoteric Buddhism’s monks to benefit. Even spreading potatoes to the Ming Dynasty and Japan requires extreme caution, waiting slowly for the right moment..."

Upon hearing this, Zuwaro pondered silently. After a moment of thought, he inquired.

"Ali, you mean... first use the unique advantage of potatoes to strengthen our forces as much as possible? And when spreading to Mongolia, the Ming Dynasty, and Japan, to these strong tribes in the south, it must be done slowly?..."

"Yes, Chief Divine bears witness! For such a crucial military object, whether spreading to Mongolia, the Ming Dynasty, or Japan, it must be when the best opportunity is found to reap the most advantageous conditions. Just like your previous idea, for Mongolia and Japan, it is naturally to use it for proselytizing! And for the Ming Dynasty, it is to be offered as a ’crucial item’ at the face-to-face tribute when meeting the Emperor to exchange for enough ’rewards’... But whether proselytizing or rewards, ultimately, it still boils down to us having enough strong power to bear! Otherwise, we are like a child holding gold, walking in a bustling market, suddenly appearing before everyone’s eyes, which would assuredly not lead to a good outcome."

"I see!..."

Zuwaro fell into silence. After a long while, he nodded and said.

"Ali, thank you for your guidance. These Great Tribes of the Western Sea are indeed too powerful! And our current strength compared to them is but like mice beside cattle and horses... we had better continue to recruit tribesmen, exchange for horses, gain more strength... and then discuss these future developments! May the Chief Divine protect us!..."

"Hoo... May the Chief Divine protect us!..."

The fervent prayer sounded before the Oobao, filled with hope for the future, yet facing the current reality of weakness. In front of the truly gigantic forces, the Kingdom’s all-out efforts of two hundred armored troops were but a tiny ripple on the East Asia Continent.

However, for the River-side Tribe in the middle reaches of the Heilongjiang River, this ripple was quite astonishing, even capable of overwhelming the entire tribe. Fortunately, the two sides formed a "marriage", interacting for several days, barely establishing the most basic trust. And, with careful observation, Chieftain Ao Hala finally found an "appropriate moment" to meet, inviting a few "Nobles of the Great Tribe" to participate in the "Longshengtian Rites on September 9th" before the Oobao.

"In the cup is sheep’s milk wine,

Oh Longevity Heaven, the ruler of all things,

Please exchange cups and savor the essence in this wine."

The mournful sacrificial song echoed across the prairie, nine Leilei Cars parked around the Oobao, adorned with five-colored flags, following the "positions of nine directions", over four hundred tribespeople gathered together, riding horses and herding cattle and sheep. This Oobao for sacrificing to the heavens was not located in Huli Ping Village but on a hillside ten miles outside the village, under a very large tree. In front of the Oobao, there was a felt mat on which two sheep were tied, and around it were several cups of sheep’s milk wine, offered to the Great Divine Spirit of the sky.

In this era, the Mongolian tribes usually conducted their Longevity Heaven sacrifices on the New Year’s sacrifice on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the spring sacrifice on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the summer sacrifice on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, and the autumn sacrifice on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The specific time differed according to the customs of each tribe but the attention to the sacrificial rite was the same among all tribes. Every long longevity sacrifice lasted three days and nights, and to engage in warfare at this time would bring "the wrath of the Heavenly Divine" and the "curse of the Tree Spirit" at the sacrificial site.

"...This Ao Hala, truly a cunning fox... worried that I wouldn’t understand the taboos of the heaven sacrifice, even sent someone over to explain?..."