44. The Other Side of the Cloud and the Mountain (Middle)

Therefore, the mission of Kuauchtmok's mission this time was, firstly, to reconnoiter the reality of those exotic "gods" and try to win them over; The second is to negotiate a long-term peace treaty with the kingdom of Honshutizgan, asking it to tear up the alliance with the Tlaxcalas in exchange for permanent peace.

-- The current Emperor of Montezuma II, in addition to the collective strike against his own samurai, is mainly concentrating on dealing with the Tlaxcalas around him, and the Hunsutizgans, who are located in the hot and humid land in the distance, are temporarily powerless to crusade and can only use peaceful means.

As long as he could ensure that the people of Hungyutizgan would no longer cause trouble, the Emperor of Montezuma did not intend to touch their poor countryside with unbearable heat and humidity.

But even if they still haunted their old hatred and refused to end the confrontation with the Aztecs, it didn't matter much. In any case, as long as the Tlaxcalas succumbed, the Hunsutizgans would have no choice but to give up resistance. Moreover, the conditions for peace talks at that time will not be as relaxed as they are now.

Of course, after the defeat four years ago, and now that the samurai in the city are rioting, the war to conquer the Tlaxcalas is expected to continue for several more years. But Kuauchtmok was not at all worried about the resurgence of the kingdom of Hunsitizgan - this decaying ancient tribe had been far less warlike than the Tlaxcalas from the beginning, and had long since been shattered by the Aztec army, leaving only an extremely small piece of land by the sea, which would not have been immediately overturned even with the help of "godsmen". It is said that even if the whole clan mobilizes and pulls all the women together, they can only muster a few thousand warriors, and they are completely vulnerable in the face of hundreds of thousands of Aztec troops.

Moreover, the remaining Zuihou, the Honshutizgans, seem to have now shown signs of abandoning the Allied Tlaxcalas and submitting to Emperor Montezuma II. For example, the 400 crystal skulls they had paid in prayer for the Aztec army to retreat, and the large number of treasures that had recently been sold and half-given away in Tenochtitlan in order to ransom their captives - the colorful cloths, the rare spices that had never been seen before, and the dazzling jewels all stunned the magnates of Tenochtitlan.

The proud fine jewelry forged by the Aztec craftsmen was as crude as sand in the face of the various treasures sent by the people of Hunghyutizgan. As for those sharp and sturdy steel weapons, they are even more in love with every warrior.

According to the appraisals of several old merchants, the value of these treasures far exceeded the tribute paid by any other vassal tribe.

Of course, although the attitude of the Honshutizgans has softened somewhat, they have not yet really surrendered, especially the resolute refusal to pay the annual tribute of their own young and strong men, and the Aztec priests to skin and gouge out their hearts as living sacrifices to the gods - it seems that when the riots in Tenochtitlan have been quelled, the Tlaxcalans have been exterminated, and the Imperial army has been freed, it may be necessary to send another army to scare them before they can be completely tamed.

However, if they were willing to sacrifice a few more good things each year as compensation for the exemption from paying human sacrifices, the rulers of the Aztec Empire were not absolutely inflexible. In fact, many aristocratic warriors had come to think that it was too wasteful to kill thousands of captives each year to sacrifice to the gods, and that it was better to have them do the hard labor of the Aztec warriors to build houses and grow corn.

Thinking of this, Kuauchtmok couldn't help but reach out and pull out his new saber from his waist, smiling and stroking it gently...... It was a rather beautiful short sword, with silver and black patterns on the golden leather sheath, pearl jewels and red tassels at the end of the copper-wrapped hilt, and a few unrecognizable golden symbols on the glittering blade (he naturally couldn't read the seal character of the "Xuanyuan Sword"). …,

It was one of the precious tributes that the Hunsutizgan envoys had recently sent to the capital city of Tenochtitlan to ransom prisoners of war, and then were then given to Kuauchtmok by Emperor Montezuma II. And after trying it a few times, Kuauchtmock fell in love with this new weapon, which was so sharp and gorgeous that he refused to leave his place to eat or sleepβ€”there was no warrior who did not like to wear a good weapon.

Before the envoy, Kuaukhtmok had already made up his mind, if the current king of the Hungshuitizgans was more knowledgeable, he could send him some more of these weapons this time, and Kuohtmok would not mind saying a few good words for the Hungshetzgans in front of the emperor and the elders, and revise the terms of the peace treaty according to the wishes of the Hungyutzgans - anyway, there were many tribes that could provide living sacrifices to the gods in this land, and the priests in the capital city were not short of such a small number of people from the Hungyutizgan clan, I just can't put it down.

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Just as he was thinking about what he could gain at the end of this journey, a clear female voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

β€œβ€¦β€¦ Brother, how far are we from the territory of the Honshutizgans? ”

Princess Xueki Delan, daughter of Emperor Montezuma II and cousin of Cuauchtmok, and priestess of the moon goddess Ixchel, sat in a palanquin with one hand on her cheek, and asked a little lazily.

β€œβ€¦β€¦ It's almost there. You see, over there is the old capital of the Hungshutizgans, which was breached by our army six years ago! ”

Kuauchtmock stretched out a hand and pointed to a stone ruin covered with grass and trees in the middle of the valley in the distance, and said to Snow Ji Delan.

After the withdrawal of the Aztec army, the remnants of the Honshutizgans did not seem to intend to restore and rebuild their old royal capital in the inland valley, but left the city to be abandoned and deserted, so that the grass and trees climbed the stone steps and windowsills, and the young trees sprouted and grew in the streets. The crevices of the pyramid are covered with tiny vines, which, when thickened, break the stones and collapse the tower...... In just a few years, the rainforest has almost swallowed up this once-thriving city.

Snow Ji Dailan leaned out of the palanquin, put her hand on the pergola and looked at it for a while, and found that most of the buildings in the city were still intact, and there were even gurgling springs flowing in the irrigation canals in the suburbs, but there were weeds everywhere and there were no people, and she couldn't help but be surprised for a while.

β€œβ€¦β€¦ The majestic city that our ancestors had painstakingly built for 300 years, and it was clear that it could continue to live in it with a little repair, but now it has been abandoned at will by the people of Hongshutizgan? What a waste! Alas, the old kings here have been reduced to ruins, I really don't know where the other party will arrange for us to live? A thatched hut with mud walls? In such a short period of time, they should not have time to build a decent new city! ”

Seeing that these megalithic palaces and temples have been abandoned, Snow Ji Delan can't help but worry about her future life.