Tropical April marks the end of the dry season. The cloudy weather is gradually increasing, and there is a hint of humidity in the wind. As the top priority of the year, the busy spring plowing is coming.

Waves of couriers run across the lake kingdom. They went all the way north, through the wilderness full of life, passing the lakes shuttled by fishing boats, and finally arrived at the fortress at the mouth of the river, sending reports from all over the kingdom to the hands of the king.

In the courtyard in the center of the fortress, Xiulot sat cross-legged, flipping through documents from all over the place.

It is said to be a document, but it is actually a bit like an illustration with words. The tough bark paper is painted with villains in different actions, some holding weapons, some holding farm tools, some holding cotton cloth, some holding corn, some mining stones, some smelting metals, and some is praying. Next to the villain, there are different counting symbols and local kana, and a few Chinese characters marked with squares. The kingdom's written language has been popularized for less than two years, and even the simplified local pseudonyms are only mastered by some priests, and even fewer people are familiar with Chinese characters.

Before writing became popular, the "illustration book" was somewhat lengthy. Large volumes of documents are piled up on the two desks in front of the king, one pile has been read, and the other pile is waiting to be checked.

The two desks are short and flat solid wooden pier, with a hard texture and a black and green background. The wood surface has a natural and unique texture, and the color changes with the wood grain. At first glance, the two solid desks are like dark jade, with a heavy and simple appearance. In fact, because the wood is so hard, the craftsmen of the Kingdom polished them in the same way as jade. This is the high-grade precious wood that is priceless in later generations, the precious Mexican ebony and black persimmon wood.

In this era, black persimmon wood is also a relatively valuable tree. Because of its peculiar fragrance, it is endowed with religious significance and is often planted near temples. The texture level of black persimmon wood is changeable, and the dark color is gradually dyed, like the surface of silk and satin, and also like the ink landscape painting bred by nature.

Xiulot liked the texture of this kind of wood quite a lot, so he asked the craftsmen to make some furniture in his memory and put them in the living palace. These reminded him of his distant homeland. After reading the documents for a while, he stretched out his hand and picked up a dark purple teacup from the small black persimmon wood table beside him.

The dark purple teacup is the latest to be fired in the official kiln in the capital. To supply the royal family, artisans used heated coke, firing a stoneware that was somewhere between pottery and porcelain. Although Xiu Luote pointed out the direction, the craftsmanship of porcelain is still far away, and even the glazing technology is being explored, only occasionally some exquisite fine stoneware will be produced.

"The delicate stoneware without glaze is a bit like Yixing's purple sand pottery."

Shulot looked at the beautiful graininess on the surface of the teacup and the faint purple luster, smiling. Under the guidance of the divinely inspired priests, the kingdom's pottery craftsmanship is slowly improving, just like other handicrafts. Afterwards, he lowered his head and took a sip of hibiscus flower tea, a specialty of the Kingdom. The sour taste immediately reverberated in the mouth, with some faint floral fragrance, which shocked people's spirits.

Hibiscus, or Florde Jamaica, is mainly produced in tropical Africa, but there are also native plants in America, especially the Jamaica variety is the most famous. In later generations of Mexico, this is a common public drink, and any market can see dried hibiscus tea. It also has a slightly refreshing effect, and the king uses it to relieve fatigue.

Two steps away, Bertard was also sitting cross-legged, with a bronze sword beside his leg. In front of him was a case table, and on the case table were paper and pen seals. The kingdom's political structure is rough and streamlined, and all important matters are decided by the king.

"Bothard, the documents from all over the country have arrived one by one, reporting the number of Dingkou and preparations for spring plowing. Only the report from Zicao County in the south is vague."

Shulot frowned, threw the wooden atlas in his hand, and threw it on the table. This atlas is still in the traditional style of the Alliance and the Kingdom, with heavy wooden boards and abstract pictures, and several ancient graphic texts marked on the side, without specific numbers or descriptions at all. After a brief inspection, the king felt displeased.

"Your Highness, Etalik, who lives in Kuramo City, wrote a letter saying that the nobles in Zicao County are submissive on the surface, but they actually hinder the administration of the kingdom. The nobles, headed by the honorable nobles Guramo and Zotor, secretly formed a group .Under their obstruction, the spread of the belief in the main **** was extremely slow, and the priests could not control the village, and were often attacked by bandits..."

Berthard looked calm, and told the details of the south one by one.

"Last year when the army marched north, the nobles in the south had changes and frequent gatherings. They used the name of the flood in Talsas to reduce the tribute after the autumn harvest. Fortunately, Ezpan's Second Longlance Corps was stationed in In the south of Gyeonggi, the nobles in the south dare not make big moves."

"Gulamo of the Zicao family, Zotor of the Palm family...are they all glorious nobles who surrendered after the Western Expedition?"

Hearing this, Xiulot asked in a deep voice, his eyes were cold.

In the Nahua language, "zotor" means palm, and "gulamo" means comfrey ragwood. The Zicao County in the south is named after Kuramo, which shows the long history of these families.

"Exactly, they are all the frontier nobles who were enfeoffed in the early days of the Tarasco Kingdom. The two families have been passed down for more than two hundred years, and they are deeply rooted in Zicao County in the south, and they have married many nobles."

Bertard took out a volume of atlas and opened it to look it up.

"Your Highness, after the autumn harvest last year, Zicao County had a population of more than 200,000, and the tribute paid to the kingdom was only a quarter of that of Gyeonggi. The big nobles only paid some symbolic tribute. It is said that in Tarasco In the kingdom era, they were like this. No tribute, no tax, control of Dingkou and land, just some military service."

"Well, I see."

Shulot lowered his eyes, nodded, and stopped talking. The aristocratic forces in the south have always been kept in his heart, but the Northern Expedition happened suddenly and lasted for nearly a year, which delayed the previous plan.

After drinking the hibiscus tea, I refilled it, and all the documents were reviewed. The king unfolded a newly made map of the kingdom, and patiently marked the reports from various places on the map one by one.

It has been two years since the Kingdom of the Lake was established, and the situation in each county has been sorted out.

After resettling 60,000 dog descendants, Hekou County in the north has a population of about 210,000, all of which are under the firm control of missionary priests. The aristocratic forces in this land have been cleaned most completely, so the vast majority of the population has been incorporated into the kingdom's civilian settlement system. Farmers pay 30% of the tax every year and submit to the dispatch of corvee.

The belief in the main **** spread rapidly in Hekou County, and compost and new farm tools became popular. Last year's autumn harvest increased by 20%, and the yield per mu of Milpa increased to nearly 100 catties of corn and beans, and 200-250 catties of pumpkins. In this way, only 3 mu of land can support about one young man. With the current land output, if the kingdom reduces the tax from 30% to 25%, each household can raise one more child.

Xiu Luote thought for a while, and marked Hekou County with "210,000 mouths, 50,000 smalls, directly under the Kingdom, a large grain county, and Leman River Shipyard."

Then there is Gyeonggi in the Patzcuaro Lake District, with a population of about 280,000. With the participation of the sage Jatiri in politics, more and more Preepecha elites joined the rule of the kingdom, managing all aspects of Gyeonggi. As a precondition for Prepeca elites to participate in politics, the belief in the main **** has completely covered the upper echelons of the kingdom.

A large number of military settlements have been placed in the Gyeonggi area, and the best craftsmen groups of various kingdoms have been concentrated. They are vigorously mining the copper and coal mines in Chinganbat in the southwest, and the first university in the kingdom has been established.

Chin Trong Cancheng, the capital of the kingdom, is the political and religious center, as well as the workshop and cultural center. Ivacio City in the south of Gyeonggi Province is an important commercial center and the world's largest trading place for copper mines and precious stones. It can be said that the output of Gyeonggi almost supplied the standing army of the entire kingdom, and provided the best bronze equipment.

Xiu Luote drew a few circles, and then marked "280,000 mouths, 70,000 people, directly under the kingdom, copper mines, coal mines, bronze, gemstones, workshops, markets, and universities."

Later, Zicao County in the south has a vast area, abundant rainfall, and reserves of copper and silver, but it is the weakest place under the kingdom's rule. The southern boundary of Zicao County is the Tulsas River. The forks of the river irrigate the land along the way. The agricultural conditions are excellent, and the fishery and mining resources are also rich, but they have not been developed. The county town of Kuramo, along the Talsas River, is an important trade center in the world, and has frequent exchanges with various ministries in the south.

Shulot recalled Etalik's estimated data and wrote, "The population is 200,000, the number is 40,000, the nobles are autonomous, the details are unknown. The foreign trade center, the seaport."

The west side of the Talsas River leads to the mouth of the Pacific Ocean, which is only more than three hundred miles away from Kuramo City in Zicao County, and it is the closest way to the ocean. Thinking of this, many exploration plans flashed in his mind, and there was also a person who passed by in a flash. After a while, the king raised his head slightly and turned his gaze to the north.

The three states of Otomi in the north have already been marked. Ten thousand, aristocratic self-government, Western Guamal dog descendants." The northernmost state of Palms has "a population of 80,000, a population of 15,000, semi-autonomous, and a wasteland outpost."

Although these data are only estimates, they can show the kingdom's ability to control the local area. After all, if the subordinate Ottomi forces are included in the Kingdom of the Lake, then the newly born kingdom already has a population of more than 1.1 million, more than 200,000 adults, five hundred miles from east to west, and nearly a thousand miles from north to south!

The king's heart is burning with wild ambition. His expression changed, and he couldn't help stretching out his hand, touching the eastern lake capital, Tenochtitlan, where the world's largest population, the most fertile valley, and the most powerful alliance reside.

Then, his hand gradually went west, stroking the area of ​​Lake Chapala, which has the same fertile land. It is the "river of stones", "valley of fortresses" of later generations, and the location of the metropolitan area of ​​Guadalajara . Finally, the king finally put pen to paper, and heavily drew a red circle on the city of Kuramo.

"After the autumn harvest, let's go here for a visit!"

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