PS: Considering the character setting, it will be slightly modified.

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In many cases, the ideal is plump, but the reality is skinny.

It is a pity that the high-spirited guys who came out of the city of Tenochtitlan were not the honor guards who welcomed the envoys of the Honshutizgan Kingdom into the city, but a group of "chengguans" of the Aztec Empire, who were specially designed to manage the trade order.

In other words, they are the peers of Wang Qiu and others in the New World of America 500 years ago.

As soon as the Aztec "chengguan" arrived outside the camp, they shouted insults and cursed the Hungshutizgan mission of "illegally setting up stalls" on the road leading to the city of Tenochtitlan without permission, interfering with normal transportation and causing them a lot of trouble......

As a result, after a certain Hongxiu Tizgan nobleman, who was in charge of going out to negotiate, accompanied by a smiling face, instructed everyone to move the location of the market to the lake stall, avoiding the avenue around the lake, and stuffed each of them with a stainless steel watermelon knife, a mirror, a bag of iodized salt, and a bag of sugar as a "fine", these ancient "chengguan" went away contentedly, and before leaving, they did not forget to take away many favorite gadgets and snacks.

Next, Wang Qiu saw what the Aztecs were preparing to transport to the city of Tenochtitlan.

-- Many of the natives, who were dressed in rags and tied in a long string of ropes, walked down the avenue and stepped onto the causeway leading to the city.

“…… Belch? Are they prisoners of crime, or prisoners of war? ”

Looking at these dumb-eyed and numb guys, Wang Qiu asked with some curiosity.

“…… Neither. Professor Yang flipped through a history book in Spanish and sighed, "...... They were supposed to be the 'human sacrifices' of the various vassal nations to pay tribute to the city of Tenochtitlan. According to historical records, the city-states and tribes of the Valley of Mexico, even in peacetime, paid tribute to the Aztec Empire every year with at least 2,000 men and women to be used to disembowel the pyramids and dig out their hearts to sacrifice to the gods......"

“…… So many people have to be killed in peacetime? Head Cai Rong couldn't help but cover his mouth in surprise, "...... It's so cruel! ”

“…… Who's to say it isn't? Professor Yang shrugged his shoulders, "...... The affiliated city-states on the shores of Lake Texcoco were accustomed to rebellions over the years because they could not endure the brutal oppression of the Aztecs. Wendesi once told me that the Avaha chieftains didn't want to continue the war with the Aztec Empire for a long time, and it was not unacceptable to pay some tribute in exchange for peace. However, Emperor Montezuma insisted that he pay 200 young men a year as human sacrifices, and the current kingdom of Hongshutizgan has long been seriously imbalanced in the ratio of male to female populations, and if he really agreed, he was afraid that it would be extinct in less than ten years...... So I had to hold on hard. ”

“…… Alas, how can governing a country be so nonsense? It is not enough to make the subjects pay taxes and hand over hostages, but also to ask them to draw people as sacrifices every year, and so much...... With such tyranny at home, how can the country be stable? ”

Looking at these "living sacrifices" who were embarking on the road to death, Wang Qiu couldn't help but sigh.

“…… Ahem, the reason why the Aztecs forced their subjects to pay so many human sacrifices was also due to their political considerations. It seems that the purpose is to weaken the military power of the subject countries by massing young adults, prevent them from growing and threatening their own dominance...... Of course, this method is indeed too crude, too stupid, and too unsuccessful - how can such a bloody tyranny bring the common people to their hearts? ”…,

Professor Yang pushed the reading glasses on the bridge of his nose and said, "...... But from another point of view, this is also a matter of no choice, the Aztecs changed from nomadic to sedentary, and initially from ignorance to civilization, only about 300 years ago. And the prototype of this empire, the military alliance of the three city-states, was not formed until more than 90 years ago. Moreover, the Mayan civilization had already declined hundreds of years ago, and the Aztecs did not have a suitable teacher to learn about the advanced culture, so they had to start from scratch.

It is really a bit difficult for them to go from a primitive tribe of slash-and-burn cultivation and blood-drinking to a stage of civilization at least equivalent to the European Middle Ages by rocket, and to find a stable way of rule.

In fact, the Chinese of the Shang Dynasty were also very fond of engaging in barbaric human sacrifices, and according to oracle bone records, the number of killings was tens of thousands, and the scale was not much worse than that of the Aztecs!

Throughout history, it took at least 1,000 years for China to abolish large-scale human martyrdom in the Xia Dynasty to the initial abolition of large-scale human martyrdom in the Zhou Dynasty. And even after that, this cruel system was not completely abolished, and it remained in Tibet until it was liberated. Imagine what China in the Xia Dynasty should have looked like, and you wouldn't feel that the social development of the Aztec Empire was sluggish. ”

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Of course, for the crowd, the procession of human sacrifices passing in front of them was just a small episode.

Unlike some Westerners who believe that they have some kind of "natural mission" and are keen to spread Christianity and their own values throughout Shijie, the relatively mild Chinese, although they sometimes "educate the barbarians", but in most cases, they still generally choose to hang on their own merits, or "not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries" - before the conquest of the Valley of Mexico, neither the "archangel" nor the four "plague gods" were interested in persuading the Aztecs to change their customs. Abolition of human sacrifice...... In short, it is more important to take advantage of this time to do business.

Happily, the sales of the temporary bazaar have been very hot in recent days.

“…… Sell matches, sell matches, matches that catch fire with one stroke! The price is absolutely cheap! Take a look! Definitely much better than flint! ”

At the match stall, two soldiers, under the guidance of the traverser, put on a live show to the onlookers to show the convenience of matches—one of them knelt on the ground with his butt pouted, carefully striking the flint and colliding with sparks. However, after these tiny sparks fell on the wood, they were blown away by the wind, and there was no fire for a long time, and he was so anxious that he sweated profusely.

As for the other person who came out to demonstrate, he took out a small box from his trouser pocket in a dashing manner, pulled out a thin wooden stick, and slashed it on the edge of the box.

Such a stark contrast naturally makes people yearn for it. So in just a few days, the traversers sold 300,000 boxes of matches. The more than 2,000 lighters that were shipped over to test the water were also sold out. Soon the camp of the legations was filled with gold and silver nuggets, natural precious stones, and gold sand in feather pipes, as well as all sorts of precious woods.

Such a huge amount of wealth naturally attracted the prying eyes of some ill-intentioned people. But after Wang Qiu sensed the danger, he immediately performed his magic power in public - just with a flick of his hand, the mountains of yellow sandalwood disappeared on the other side of the wormhole. Then a few loud two-kicker firecrackers were released, which scared thousands of people to the ground...... As a result, the camp quickly became safe. …,

A by-product of this was that the locals began to burn incense and bow down to the travelers, and made a lot of messy wishes, which made Wang Qiu and the others all cry and laugh, and Zuihou could only let people drive them away.

Due to the lack of sugar-making capacity of the ancients, they could only rely on honey and fruits to obtain sweeteners, so the sales of all kinds of modern sweets trafficked by the travelers, such as fruit candy, lollipops, sakima, marshmallows, bean paste mooncakes, etc., are also very gratifying. In the Valley of Mexico, every woman and child from a slightly more well-off family rushed here to buy it. Since many people do not have enough gold and silver, many gluttons even tear down their own door beams when they hear that the travelers are buying high-end wood, such as rosewood and rosewood......

However, in the face of such a hot sales situation, Wang Qiu saw that he was beating the drum in his heart:

“…… Senior Sister Ma Tong, the sweets you got here to sell, in order to be greedy for cheap purchases, are basically expired and shoddy foods that have been banned from the Health Supervision Institute and the Industrial and Commercial Bureau through Professor Yang's relationship! These pastries and sweets are either past their expiration date, or they use saccharin and various illegal additives and preservatives, such as Sudan dyes and gutter oil...... This one...... I don't think there's a big problem with eating! ”

“…… Hehe, junior brother, don't underestimate the physique of the ancients! They have never ingested less harmful substances in their daily diet than modern people! However, in such a long period of thousands of years, didn't the ancients also survive? ”

Senior Sister Ma Tong shook her head disappreciatively, "...... I have checked the information on the Internet, and the digestive ability of the ancients is much stronger than that of our pampered modern people! To give one of the most common examples, due to the fact that the conditions of jishu are not up to par, the salt eaten by the ancients is almost coarse salt, the color is yellow and black, bitter and astringent, containing potassium, calcium, magnesium and other metal elements, but it is rare to hear that some people eat salt to death.

Moreover, the health environment of the ancients was poor, and many foods were moldy and rotten due to improper storage, and the bacteria were seriously exceeded, and there were a lot of messy parasites. Therefore, a little industrial additives are not a problem at all in the face of their tried and tested strong stomach......"

――I have to say that the logical inference of Ma Tong, the black-bellied senior sister, to prove that "selling counterfeits is justified" is indeed very good and powerful.

Among the major ancient civilizations of Shijie, it is true that ancient people were not healthier than modern people in terms of diet, but they also paid a heavy price, especially the average life expectancy of modern people, which seemed extremely short compared to modern people - in the Xia Shang era of slash-and-burn farming, the average life expectancy of Chinese was less than 20 years; It was not until the Song Dynasty, when there was double cropping rice, that the average life expectancy increased to 30 years; Even until the eve of liberation, Chinese lived only to 35 years old on average...... In those years, it was really rare for people to reach seventy years!

As for the American Indians, who are still in the midst of ignorance and savagery, not to mention - up to now, Wang Qiu has never seen any old Indians over the age of seventy!