Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, once said: Cities are built for life, in order to live a haode life.

Another ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, said that each city-state is divided into two city-states: the city-state of the poor and the city-state of the rich few. And the two city-states were always at war.

The heavy infantry of the Spartan city-state was once invincible in the world, and the tragic Battle of Hot Springs, which made the reputation of the 300 strong Spartan warriors resounding shijie.

However, after Sparta won the brutal Peloponnesian War, defeated the maritime overlord Athens, and became the new all-Greek overlord, the massive wealth that poured into Sparta, due to the lack of a fair distribution mechanism, instead of strengthening the strength of the city-state, intensified the internal divide between the rich and the poor, and destroyed the cohesion within the city-state - all the gold, silver and goods paid by the Greek city-states fell into the pockets of the noble elders, and the bloody and sweaty citizen warriors not only gained nothing, It also suffered from the inflation caused by the flood of gold and silver into Sparta......

As a result, Sparta fell from the throne of hegemony in the endless class struggle, and then gradually came to the end of collapse.

A few years later, the Romans, who were moving from city-state to empire, had a similar problem.

At that time, the Roman Senate only cared about safeguarding the interests of the aristocracy, requiring Roman citizens to prepare their own armaments, fight as soldiers, and shed blood and die, but all official positions were monopolized by the aristocracy. Moreover, the commoners had no right to share the large tracts of land plundered through the war, and could only watch the nobles take everything, but they had to serve and pay heavy taxes to fight the war, and the result was that the more they won the war, the poorer they became, and many citizens went bankrupt because of the delay in the agricultural season due to the war, and finally became slaves because of excessive debts......

The broad masses of citizen fighters hated this, and repeatedly demanded tax cuts, the release of their own debt slaves, and the distribution of state land. However, because it involved its own interests, the Senate repeatedly made excuses to ignore it, claiming that "it is your obligation to be a soldier and fight, and it is still your obligation to pay taxes according to the law"! As for the rights, they should all belong to the nobility.

As a result, the contradiction between the Roman commoners and the aristocracy became more and more acute, and Zuihou got it to the point of life and death.

Finally, when a foreign invasion reached the outside of Rome, all the Roman legions went on strike, refusing to resist the enemy, preferring to die rather than be fooled by the Senate again. However, the Roman Senate also met every day, arguing and arguing, that is, it refused to give in to the civilians and let them share the dividends of the war, believing that as long as they persevered to the end, the civilians would eventually resist spontaneously in the face of the enemy's sword......

The stalemate between the two sides reached Zuihou, and seeing that the city of Rome was about to fall, the Senate finally bowed its head and admitted defeat at the moment before the fall of the country, and agreed to set up a civilian tribune to attend the Senate meeting to safeguard the interests of the common people. And gradually establish a relatively fair spoils distribution mechanism, so that the bloody and sweaty Roman citizen warriors can get a piece of land through victory, and do not lose money and life on the battlefield.

At this point, the struggle between the Roman plebeians and the aristocracy came to an end for the time being, the internal contradictions were gradually bridged, and Rome truly embarked on the glorious road of conquering the Mediterranean...... The next bitter struggle between the Roman plebeians and the aristocracy was not until the "Hundred Years of Civil War" of Marius, Sulla, Caesar, Pompey, Antony, and Octavian.

————————————————————————

There was nothing new under the sun, feng shui took turns, and after a thousand years of time, the same scene appeared in the Aztec Empire in the New World.

Like the early Greco-Roman city-states, the Aztecs adopted a citizen-soldier system in which all the people were soldiers. In addition to sporadic rewards, the lower-ranking samurai did not have a fixed salary, and they had to prepare their own armaments and some dry food. The tribute of the vassal states went all into the pockets of the nobles and priests. …,

Therefore, when the Aztec Empire moved from public ownership to private ownership, with the expansion of the territory, the internal gap between the rich and the poor also widened sharply, and the upper class society, which monopolized the dividends of the war, was able to be poor and luxurious, while the middle and lower class samurai who did not share much benefit were full of complaints.

In the past few decades, because the Aztec army was invincible and victorious on the battlefield, although all the tribute of the vassal states went to the noble priests, the civilian warriors were also able to get their share of the spoils on the battlefield - the nobles ate meat, the citizens drank soup, and both sides could gain something, although there were some contradictions and dissatisfactions, but they could barely make do with it.

However, the unprecedented defeat suffered by Montezuma II against the Tlaxcalas in 1515 became the fuse that detonated the powder keg, and the class contradictions that had been hidden by the victory in the war broke out completely!

- When it was smooth sailing before, it was good to say that what the emperor said was what, and the big guys were all twisted into a rope, and they were bent on carrying out the great cause of conquering Mexico to the end, and all opposition was hidden under the surface. Now that he has suffered such a heavy defeat, people's hearts are fluctuating, and the emperor's prestige has plummeted, those discordant factors that were originally hidden under the surface of the water have naturally jumped out in one go.

Although the Aztec Empire had not yet destroyed the foundation of the empire, it had seriously shaken the deterrent power of this military power, not only rebellions broke out in the Mexican Valley, but many distant city-states also stopped paying tribute. The Aztec Empire's revenues shrank dramatically, but their expenses increased rather than decreased—the nobles continued to live in luxury, and the priests spent so much on religious ceremonies. In addition, the Aztec Empire had to stock up on food, rearmament, and prepare for a new war against the Tlaxcala......

As a result, Montezuma II, who only knew how to protect the interests of the noble priests, actually apportioned these huge expenses on a per capita basis, and demanded that the citizens and low-ranking warriors of the entire city of Tenochtitlan have to pay for the losses of this defeat.

As a result, the warriors of Tenochtitlan City were completely furious for a while!

- We don't have much benefit from winning the battle, but we have to bear all the losses from losing the battle! Is there any reason for this?!

You extravagant nobles who spend all their days and spend too much money have no ability to command battles yourself, causing us to kill so many people and lose so much wealth, and many of us are already bankrupt! And now you still want to go on a rampage against us bloody and sweaty samurai?!

Therefore, the plebeians strongly resisted this rebellion, and in turn demanded: first, that the nobles should not be allowed to pass on to them the losses of defeat; Second, the tribute sent by the vassal powers to the city of Tenochtitlan should not all now go into the pockets of the nobles, but must be shared by everyone.

Obviously, the nobles of Tenochtitlan would never agree to such a request easily.

At this point, the confrontation between the commoners and the nobles broke out in full force in the city of Tenochtitlan. The main manifestation of this was a collective strike, under the leadership of Cuitlahuac, a cousin of Montezuma II, the lower samurai of the city agreed with each other that no one would serve in the military until the nobles had accepted their zuihou ultimatum, and that if there was to be a war, the nobles would die themselves!

As a result, the army of the city of Tenochtitlan was paralyzed and could no longer wage foreign wars.

Just as Montezuma II was frustrated with the general strike, the city of Texcoco, an important ally, went into trouble again.

Located in the west of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco is the second pillar of the Aztec Empire after Tenochtitlan, controlling one-third of the country's army, and together with Tenochtitlan and Tracopan, it forms the iron triangle of the core of the Aztec Empire. …,

However, in the same year that Montezuma II defeated Tlaxcala, the old king of Texcoco died without leaving a will, and a group of sons began to compete for the throne, among them, Konak Stone and Essiteri Shozito, the most beloved of Texcoco's military and civilians.

However, in order to strengthen the centralization of power, Montezuma II took the opportunity to intervene and sent his own personal guard to support another unknown son of the old king of Texcoco, who was also the nephew of Montezuma II, Kacama, and became the king of Texcoco.

Believing that victory was in his hands, Essiteri Shozito was furious and immediately rebelled with his loyal troops, occupying the northern part of the city of Texcoco and starting a protracted civil war with Kakama, who ruled the south.

Originally, Montezuma II only needed to add more troops to support Kakama to defeat the rebels of Essiteri Shozito and win the civil war in Texcoco. But the problem is that at this juncture, the army of Tenochtitlan City has gone on a collective strike!

As a result, Montezuma II was not only powerless to support Kakama in securing the throne, but even his throne was already shaky.

As for the Zuihou in the Aztec Empire's Iron Triangle, the militarily weakest city of Tracopan, it has always remained neutral and stayed out of the matter. Until the general strike in Tenochtitlan subsided, and the two kings of Texcoco decided the victory, Emperor Montezuma II was unable to use the forces of Tracopan.

————————————————————————

At this point, poor Emperor Montezuma II found himself in a complete and intricate deadlock:

In the first place, the regular national army of Tenochtitlan, at the call of his ambitious cousin, was in a general strike, and could not be mobilized for any battle unless concessions were promised, or reliable troops were assembled to suppress and reorganize the army.

Second, Montezuma II's only reliable force that could be used to suppress the strike, his own personal guard, was at this time in the midst of a civil war in Texcoco, and the war was in a stalemate, and it was impossible to withdraw for a while unless he voluntarily surrendered and abandoned Texcoco.

Thirdly, if he forcibly removed his personal guard from the battlefield and used it to suppress the riots of the warriors of Tenochtitlan, it would be tantamount to conceding defeat in the civil war of Texcoco, and it would definitely devastate the city of Tenochtitlan in the civil war.

The restored city of Texcoco, on the other hand, will almost certainly lead a third of the country's army to defect from the Aztec Empire and regain its independence under the leadership of the resentful Essiteri Shozito. They will even take the opportunity to attack the city of Tenochtitlan, which is only a water away. For it was impossible for Essiteri Shozito to bow down to Montezuma II, who was trying to take his throne from him, either for the sake of face or prestige, and that would mean the collapse of the Aztec Empire, or the transfer of imperial power from Tenochtitlan to Texcoco.

Fourth, if he wanted to help his nephew Kakama capture the city of Texcoco and maintain the unity and integrity of the Aztec Empire, he would have to increase his forces, but the army of Tenochtitlan had already refused to obey orders, and in order to drive them into the war, he had to make significant concessions in terms of political interests.

Fifth, if he really sacrificed the interests of the nobles and bowed to the commoners, then he would be considered by the priests and nobles to lack the ability to control the whole situation, and he would be abandoned by them. What awaits Montezuma II is likely to be a bloody palace coup – a similar tragedy that has already happened to the eighth Aztec emperor, Tizoc, who did not want to be the next emperor to die in a plot. …,

Sixth, even if the nobles and priests had not conspired to assassinate him, it is likely that his cousin Kuytrahuak, who had gained the hearts and minds of the entire city through this strike, would have taken the opportunity to mutiny and oust Montezuma II by force, thus enthroned himself as emperor.

Zuihou, if he is unable to calm the situation for a long time, the imperial army will be paralyzed for a long time. Then the valley of Mexico, which was originally forcibly deterred by force, will quickly burst into flames of rebellion, which will eventually lead to flames in the empire.

In short, whatever choice Montezuma II makes, the result seems to have been the collapse of the empire, or his own abdication. And, according to Aztec custom, once an emperor falls from the throne, it often means death!

This is also a common rule in all monarchies - there are no two days in the sky, and there are no two masters in the country!

It is clear that Montezuma II did not want to die yet, at least not in such a humiliated manner.

When the travelers arrived on the outskirts of Tenochtitlan, Montezuma II was gathering representatives of all parties, and meetings were held day and night to coordinate them, but they could not reach an agreement—the noble priests were unwilling to spit out the meat that had been eaten in their mouths and redistribute the state property; The striking junior samurai were even more reluctant to go unto waste, fearing that the noble priests would retaliate once the situation had subsided.

As a result, it took the emperor all his energy to dissuade them from fighting in the city and destroying their homes.

In such a desperate situation, where did Montezuma II still have the heart to meet with the envoys of the Kingdom of Hungshutizgan?

Of course, on the other hand, he had no energy to provoke any conflict against the distant kingdom of Honshutizgan.

At the same time, the civil war in Texcoco City is still in full swing, and it has not been able to tell the winner......

Therefore, it is no wonder that all the traversers first sat on the cold bench in the Aztec Empire, and then even more closed.

According to Professor Yang's reasoning, if this unprecedented all-army strike in Tenochtitlan would continue until the arrival of the Spaniards. Cortés, the great conqueror, will face such a political situation:

Most of the tribes around the Mexican Valley were crippled by the Aztecs, and they also formed a blood feud with the Aztecs. The only Tlaxcala who remained independent was a natural ally of the Spaniards. They had neither liliang nor the will to shed blood for the Aztecs against the Spanish invasion, preferring to follow the Spaniards and take revenge on the Aztecs.

The Aztec Empire, on the other hand, was in the throes of transformation from a city-state to an empire, and the internal contradictions were completely white-hot - the city of Texcoco was in a civil war, the city of Tenochtitlan was on strike, the city of Tracopan was playing soy sauce, and the entire state apparatus was in a state of total paralysis. At least until the Spaniards were in sight, they would not be able to easily let go of their internal contradictions and treat a handful of distant invaders as a serious problem.

On the other hand. Emperor Montezuma II's strange actions also have relatively reliable reasoning.

When Cortés arrived in Mexico, Montezuma II thought it would be an opportunity to distract the populace and quell the strike, so he introduced the myth of the "Return of Quetzalcoatl" in order to convince the civilians not to make trouble...... But the results may not be ideal.

Next, when Cortés allied himself with the Tlaxcalans and began to sweep the eastern borders of the empire. Montezuma II though he already knew he had messed things up. But on the one hand, for the sake of political correctness, what he said (the return of Quetzalcoatl) cannot be taken back; On the one hand, the army of the city of Texcoco is in a civil war, the army of the city of Tenochtitlan is on strike, the army of the city of Tracopan will only fight until the situation is clear, and Montezuma II cannot even draw an army, what should he use to defend against the Spaniards? …,

If the forces of Tenochtitlan were forcibly assembled before the resentment of the samurai could be appeased, and this already unreliable army could be sent on an expedition, he feared that after the samurai were assembled, they would turn around at the instigation of his cousin Kuytrahuak, and launch an American version of the "Chenqiao Mutiny" to remove him from the throne...... As a result, the emperor was unable to make the decision to send troops to resist.

(More than 30 years ago, the eighth emperor of the Aztec Empire, Tisuk, lost his throne and life due to his weakness and incompetence, which led to the separation of his people and the army's incompetence, and then suffered an unexplained army mutiny and a palace coup, and was assassinated by the army commander and the noble priests.) At that time, Montezuma II should have been a child, but I am afraid that he also witnessed that scene. ）

At the same time, he sent people over again and again to give Cortés gifts, hoping to destroy the fortune and eliminate the disaster, so that these outsiders would get rid of the gold as soon as possible, so as not to cause chaos for him, just like the "New Year's coin" paid by the ancient Chinese emperors to the nomads...... But it backfired.

When Cortés had arrived on the outskirts of Tenochtitlan, Montezuma II learned from the hard work and decided that he could not delay it so endlessly, so he tricked Cortés into the city with sweet words and kept it under control for the time being, lest this gang continue to fan the flames in the valley of Mexico and shake the rule of the empire; On the other hand, he abandoned the city of Texcoco and secretly dispatched the only private guard under his command to the east coast to destroy the Spanish lair...... Unfortunately, it turned out to be self-defeating, and he made himself a captive of the Spaniards.

The once glorious Aztec Empire, as a result, was completely paralyzed during the transition period, and finally embarked on a direct train to destruction.

————————————————————————

Of course, the above process is just the speculation of the traversers, and it is still impossible to tell what the truth is. And in this time and space that has already been set off by the time-travelers through the butterfly effect, the development of events is even more unpredictable.

It is also a pity that the day after the above inference was drawn, Wang Qiu's time-space urban management team also fell into complete paralysis.

As a result, the envoys of the Kingdom of Hungshutizgan had to leave some remaining silk, porcelain, and unsellable Pu'er tea as gifts, ransom the remnants of their own prisoners of war who had been detained in the city of Tenochtitlan, and then left in a hurry without making any further moves.

Modern time and space, the first municipal people's hospital

Smelling the pungent smell of disinfectant and looking at the head of Cai Rong who was slumped on the recliner to get a needle, Wang Qiu couldn't help but feel dizzy.

“…… Cai Rong, the head of the regiment, suffered from a severe cold because of the cool breeze blowing on the plateau, and the fever reached 40 degrees Celsius; Senior Sister Ma Tong ate indiscriminately in Mexico, and as a result, she contracted dysentery, and kept having diarrhea, almost until she was about to become dehydrated...... Now, Professor Yang, you are going to Beijing to report to the leaders...... Isn't I the only one left on the Mexican side? ”

He counted with his fingers and found that the time and space of ancient Mesoamerica at this time had entered 1519 - the year Cortés landed!

“…… I can only trouble you to work harder, young man! Let's do a good job, a man should be a little responsible! ”

Professor Yang patted him on the shoulder, "...... This dumping in the Valley of Mexico allowed us to get 50 kilograms of gold, 200 kilograms of silver, more than 5,000 precious stones of various colors, and more than 3,000 cubic meters of high-quality wood! Although these things have not yet had time to be realized, they have attracted great attention from the relevant leaders! Just for the sake of this gold, it is worth the country's big work for this!

Moreover, although the current Central America has entered 1519, it should be three months before Cortés lands in the port of Veracruz. As for the Spaniards' march into the Valley of Mexico, it will be at least half a year! We should still have plenty of time! ”

Speaking of this, he suddenly changed his words, "In addition, if this time goes well, your staffing problem can also be solved together......

So, with the hope of becoming a civil servant, Wang Qiumu sent Professor Yang on the plane to Beijing.

However, just when the Chrono City Management team was reduced by three-quarters of its personnel, the Aztec Emperor Montezuma II, who had been tossed by strikes and civil wars, finally noticed the envoys of the Hungshutizgan Kingdom passing by his door.