In the center of Central America, on the southern edge of the Mexican Plateau, there is a valley with a pleasant climate and abundant water and grass, it is 200 kilometers long from north to south and 100 kilometers wide from east to west.

This fertile land of prosperity has supported millions of people of all ethnic groups and given birth to the oldest civilization in Mesoamerica.

Mexico City, the capital of the United Mexican States and the largest city in Shijie, with a population of 22 million, is also located here.

At the bottom of the Valley of Mexico, there are several connected lakes, the largest of which is called Lake Texcoco.

Around 1000 A.D., seven Navajo-speaking tribes left their barren homeland in the northern desert and marched toward the fabled fertile South. Their common homeland is called Aztlan, which means land of swans.

Of the seven tribes, the Aztecs set out from Zuihou, two hundred years after the first group to leave. They endured the scorching sun and dust, endured hunger and poverty, and wandered for an unknown number of years in the vast Mexican plateau.

The long period of displacement and the hard life of fighting against nature have tempered them to be extremely strong.

Finally, the Aztecs arrived in the fertile valley of Mexico, a land of abundance that dazzled them and never wanted to wander any longer.

However, the fertile lands of the Valley of Mexico had long since been divided among the tribes that had arrived first, and none of them had any spirit of fraternity among their kindred, and the Aztecs, who arrived late, were not welcome to settle here.

As a result, the Aztecs still did not have a land of their own, and they could only continue to search for their new home in confusion.

They were moving around the valley, being chased around, but they couldn't find a place to stand.

In 1325 A.D., the Aztecs finally saw the prophecy given to them by the sun god Vicchilopochtri on a deserted island in the middle of Lake Texcoco: an eagle with a snake in its mouth, standing on a cactus, which according to the gods was their home.

From then on, they never left, but built a city on the lake, and made the island called Tenochtitlan their home.

- Tenochtitlan, in the Aztec language, means "fruit on the rocks", i.e. cactus.

And the prophesied image of the eagle standing on a cactus with a snake in its mouth became the future national emblem of Mexico.

However, it is not easy to establish a home on such an uninhabited island. The early Aztecs had to struggle for survival. They went down to the lake to catch fish, cast nets to catch birds, reclaimed swamps, enclosed lakes to create fields, built so-called "floating islands", and cultivated them...... Gradually, the Aztecs connected floating islands and built three 10-meter-wide dams across the lake, expanding their territory.

Another hundred years later, the city of Tenochtitlan allied with two other city-states to the west and formally established the Aztec Empire.

Thus, starting from a small island, a great empire with the sun and blood as totems was born.

Immediately afterward, the newly-born militarized state bared its sharp fangs at its neighbors and began a bloody war of expansion.

Because, through the previous ups and downs, they have deeply understood that if they want to take root in this fertile soil, they can only rely on bloody force!

Now, after a century of brutal warfare, the Aztecs have conquered the fertile Mexican Valley and become the dominant power in Central America, and even the Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula have been forced to pay tribute. …,

At its peak, the Aztec Empire had 38 provinces, 371 vassal tribes, and a population of 15 million, more than any European country of the same era, and three times the population of Spain at the same time. With a population of nearly 250,000, the capital, Tenochtitlan, is the largest metropolis in the entire Western Hemisphere.

By the beginning of the 16th century, only two shili remained in the entire region of Mexico, the Tlaxcalas and the Hunsutizgans, who were still stubbornly unwilling to submit to the Aztec Empire. But the Tlaxcalas were firmly besieged, and the Hungshuitizgans were even more torn apart.

By any measure, the great victory of the Aztec Empire for the complete unification of Mexico seemed to be just around the corner.

If this unprecedented feat can be accomplished, then Montezuma II is the First Emperor of Mexico!

In short, when the Spanish army invaded, the Aztec Empire was at its most glorious moment in its history.

However, no empire is eternal, they are born, grow, flourish, and fall. This powerful empire, with the sun and blood as its totem, will soon suddenly wither at the peak of its prosperity, leaving only a thousand feelings and melancholy to history.

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In November 1518, four months before the Spanish expeditionary force landed in Mexico, there was an unnamed plateau somewhere on the shores of Lake Texcoco

The expeditionary force of the Kingdom of Hungshutizgan, who carried the honor guard of the envoys, and all the travelers from the modern day, are currently camping here.

The faint morning mist that permeated the surface of the lake swept away in the sunlight, revealing the majestic silhouette of the mountains in the distance.

After a good night's sleep, the traversers also woke up in a daze, and one by one they got out of their sleeping bags and walked out of the tent.

Then, they all felt a biting chill in their faces, accompanied by the mountain wind.

“…… Ahh Ahh Is this place really tropical? Why do I feel so cold like an ice cellar?! ”

Head Cai Rong sneezed, muttering incessantly, her round little face turned red by the cold wind that swept across the lake.

“…… This is indeed tropical, but it is not the coconut grove beach of Hope Harbor, but a plateau more than 2,000 meters above sea level! ”

Wang Qiu handed her a metal thermos cup, which contained freshly brewed haode instant hot coffee, "...... Hurry up and drink this and warm up! ”

On the other hand, although Senior Sister Ma Tong has a strong physique like an athlete because of her long-term insistence on exercising, she still looks full of vitality in the cold wind, but she also has her own troubles.

“…… Alas, the ultraviolet rays in this place are so strong, my face is peeling...... It's decided! Be sure to go to the beauty salon when you go back......"

She wrapped herself in a woolen scarf and smeared sunscreen all over her body as if she didn't want money, and then looked at the thermometer that had been placed outside the tent in advance, and immediately complained, "...... The temperature is only 10 degrees Celsius...... God, this place is Tibet! ”

Wang Qiu couldn't help but roll his eyes at this, "...... Senior sister, I told you a long time ago not to bring a swimsuit, you can't swim in this place, you still don't believe it...... You've tasted the pain now, right? ”

Before coming to Mexico, Wang Qiu's impression of the country was basically that of endless deserts, huge cacti, blazing sun, heavy jalapeño chicken rolls, and people with big straw hats.

After traveling through 500 years of time and space to the kingdom of Hungshutizgan on the Pacific coast, their impression of this land was revised to the sea, sand, coconut palms, tropical fruits, and naked tattooed indigenous people...... It's basically the same as the undeveloped Hainan Island. …,

So, before crossing the wormhole this time, Senior Sister Ma Tong prepared a light gauze waist with tropical style, a set of ocean blue full-body swimsuits, and a cute straw hat studded with lace, planning to take a few swimsuit photos with Tenochtitlan City as the background.

When you actually go to the valley of Mexico, the temperature is not like the tropics at all, and it is a little cold in a sweater...... Naturally, his plan to jump into Lake Descoco for a swim had to fall through - although Ma Tong has the physique of an athlete, he is not yet used to winter swimming.

After they entered the valley, the locals of Yujian were generally very thickly dressed, and there had never been a guy who ran around bare-bottomed, and was completely different from the Mayans in the rainforest, and indeed had some resemblance to the Tibetans in terms of skin color, hairstyle, and appearance.

“…… The latitude of the Mexican Valley is about the same as Sanya on Hainan Island, but this is a plateau, so the temperature is much lower. The hottest time is about 20 degrees, and the coldest time is 7 or 8 degrees, and in general it should be considered very livable: in summer, because of the high altitude, it is not very hot, and in winter, because of the low latitude, it is not very cold here - it is not an exaggeration to say that the four seasons are like spring! ”

Out of nowhere, Professor Yang pulled out a Mexican travel brochure and introduced it to everyone, "...... In the tropics, there are many large cities that choose to build on plateaus for similar reasons, such as Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, Quito, the capital of Ecuador, Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, Bangalore, Silicon Valley, India, etc. ”

When people think back to the prosperity they saw along the way, they realized that the highlands of the tropics were significantly more livable.

It is also because of the climate on the tropical plateau that the population here is definitely much denser than that of Tibet

- After entering the Valley of Mexico, everyone found that it was highly developed, with villages facing each other, and the plains were lined with arable land, and there were few forests that blocked the view. There are a lot of neat stone houses everywhere, and there are only thatched huts like the kingdom of Hungyutizgan. On the shores of the lake there are several rammed-earth avenues built by the Aztecs, along which you can see small hotels for traders to stop by, and vendors with baskets on their backs, selling them all kinds of local products...... It feels like you've come to the countryside of China in the 80s. Compared with the desolate scene on the Pacific coast, where there are reckless jungles everywhere and there are no people in a radius of dozens of miles, it is simply a heaven and a place.

In short, after entering the Valley of Mexico, it took only one day for the mission to reach a place where the city of Tenochtitlan could be seen.