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"Eh?... What is this..."
Listening to Jatili’s serious words, Xiulote stepped forward two paces and looked to the second slab.
The slab’s imagery was simple yet clear. With just a glance, one could see a vast expanse of dark clouds in the sky, from which countless black lines extended down, like endless rain pouring. Below where the rain fell, there were boundless wavy lines, resembling a vast Great Lake. Among the lines, some small islands peaked out, and at the center, there were people in canoes. The crowd consisted of small figures dressed as Nobility, Samurai, and commoners. They were lifting up a lavishly dressed adult and together throwing him into the lake!
The young King gazed at the scene for a moment. Many symbols, including the sun, clouds, water, earth, maize, sacrifices, death, and destruction, were engraved around the image. And the scene itself always evoked a sense of familiarity in him, bringing many things to mind. He mused and asked,
"Is this... the Great Flood? Sacrifices?"
Jatili smiled and nodded.
"Exactly! Your Highness might guess, who is being sacrificed?"
"Lavishly dressed, and it’s an adult depicted. It must be a prominent Divine Descendant Nobility."
"Haha, correct. It is the Prince from the Kingdom of the Lake that followed the Urixiu Kingdom!"
"What! The Prince from the previous Kingdom of the Lake?"
Xiulote’s face showed surprise. Sacred sacrifices sometimes used Divine Descendant Nobility as sacrifices, but usually, these sacrifices came from captives or rebellious subjects. If a Prince of the kingdom were to be chosen as a sacrifice, it could only prove one thing... He looked toward the learned elder.
"The King of the succeeding Urixiu Kingdom lost control of the nation? This is an omen of doom!"
"Your Highness is wise!"
Jatili said with a laugh of praise. Then he became serious, earnestly explaining,
"This happened two hundred years ago, considered the end of the Fourth Era and the beginning of the Fifth Era. In the epic records, at the end of the Fourth Era, there was a rain that persisted for 99 days! Torrential rain cascaded down from the sky and also gathered from the surrounding high mountains. At its peak, Lake Patzcuaro rose nearly ten men high, and Cuitzeo Lake rose six men high. The lower elevation of Chapala Lake, in fact, rose by the height of a dozen men or more!"
"Water levels rising ten men high! The waters would directly inundate the base of the city of Qinchongcan!"
Xiulote was filled with shock upon hearing this. Even in this era, when people were shorter on average, ten men high would be about 15 meters. Without dikes surrounding Lake Patzcuaro, a rise in water level by fifteen meters would expand the lake’s area several times over!
"Indeed! In that era, the city of Qinchongcan was not yet the center of the Kingdom of the Lake. The heart of the subsequent Urixiu Kingdom was on the western shore of Lake Patzcuaro, near the Takuro Plains. That was the resting place, where birds fell from the sky."
The learned elder looked at His Highness with a meaningful smile.
"Your Highness, you have fought there before against the Prince with Feathers from Chapala. That place is now a prosperous village of farmland, and before that, a lush wetland meadow. And even earlier, beneath the mud brought by those floods, lie the ruins of an ancient kingdom. The greatest threat to the Lake Region, the primary reason for the downfall of ancient kingdoms, was the flood!"
"Two hundred years ago, the Great Flood swept over the lands of the lake! The water levels of the lakes in the Lake Region rose and even connected to each other, forming a vast Great Lake. Elevated hills and peaks became different-sized islands; lower valleys and basins became part of the Great Lake. And when the fertile lakeside farmland and the rich lowland villages were submerged by the floodwaters, the unrest within the Kingdom of the Lake could no longer be contained."
"The gradually rising water levels slowly submerged the densely populated lakeside communities, also forcing those in the lowlands to migrate. These areas were once the essence of the Kingdom of the Lake, home to the largest population! Powerful Nobility lost their fiefs, and numerous Samurai and commoners lost their farmland. They uncharacteristically united and moved toward the unaffected Highlands."
"However, those lands already had owners. Intractable conflicts quickly arose and soon turned into war! The Nobility from the lowlands and the Highlands fought to the death for land to live on. The surging floods hindered the kingdom’s transportation, also severing the army’s movements in all directions. Amidst the flooding, the King lost the power to rule over the entire situation! Even he was forced to relocate with the royal family of the Capital City."
"Following that, the sudden decrease of farmland and the heavy downpour led to almost a complete crop failure that year! Where the rainwater gathered, loosely kept barns would also be inundated, causing the stored grain to quickly mold. Famine almost immediately followed, striking with the footsteps of the flood and lasting even longer than the flood itself!"
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"The following years were utter chaos. The existing social order crumbled, and might made right. Nobles slaughtered each other in battles over the highland islands, staining the Great Lake with blood! Samurai and militia also butchered each other for the scarce food that was necessary for survival. They pillaged villages, attacked the nobility’s fiefs, and even executed nobles in order to plunder manors stocked with reserves!"
"Soon, even the divine authority of the King came into question. Influential nobles from the highlands publicly challenged his legitimacy, claiming that it was the King’s offense to the deities that had brought about the disaster! With the help of those harboring ulterior motives, such rumors spread quickly, rapidly fanning the discontent amongst the populace in the wake of the flood. Priests, too, became divided amongst themselves, their voices growing increasingly opposed to the King, and they gradually aligned themselves with the local power-holding nobility."
"The Urixiu King was eventually forced to sacrifice his own Prince in Lake Patzcuaro in order to temporarily appease the fury of the nobles and samurai. However, when a monarch loses both the support of his people and his power, such actions only serve to further expose his vulnerability. Within a few years, the King was poisoned by the nobles. Even though the floodwaters had receded by then, and the lowlands could once again be cultivated, the collapsed order of the kingdom was gone beyond recovery!"
With just a few words, Jatili vividly depicted the downfall of the previous kingdom before the young ruler. Unable to contain himself, Xiulote walked over to the window. He stared at the torrential rains of the monsoon season as they fell upon Lake Patzcuaro, gazed upon the submerged fertile lands by the lake, and fell into deep thought.
"Heavy rain brings floods, floods gather, raising the surface of the lake, submerging basins and valleys. There’s a need for water management projects... Similar basin topography can be found in the Dujiangyan of Sichuan, the dikes of Lake Texcoco..."
Xiulote murmured to himself, once again elevating the significance of the water management projects in his heart.
The lifeline of the Classical Kingdoms was the water system, the agricultural areas along rivers and lakes. Especially in Central America, where rainfall was intense and erratic, and precipitation coincided with the heat, just a few droughts or floods were enough to destroy a civilization. He remembered the tales told by the Mayan merchants from Tikalo, how hundreds of years ago the end of the Maya Golden Age and the destruction of the Divine Capital Tikal were inextricably linked to the frequent droughts and floods of the fourth era.
The young ruler pondered for a moment before lifting his head again. He had a rough guess in his heart yet still asked.
"Two hundred years ago, the great flood shattered the order of the Kingdom of the Lake. What then, was the end of this lake-centered kingdom?"
Jatili looked at Xiulote, eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Your Highness, you surely already know. But look here!"
The knowledgeable elder took two steps forward and once again placed his hand on the third slab.
The third slab was a large and detailed painting. A majestic Divine Eagle soared in the sky at the center, and the grand sun rose gently from the East. Accompanied by the sun, the Divine Eagle watched over the vast earth below. On the ground, a procession came from the northwest along the river, with the leader wearing a Divine Crown adorned with the spread wings of a mighty eagle, standing out tall and prominent. On either side of their path were the Lake Region nobility, samurai, and commoners with tributes in hand, welcoming them. Together, they settled by the lake, building houses, towns, and the towering city of Akatla with blue-stone.
Xiulote approached to take a closer look. The painting strokes were ancient and worn, yet they conveyed a certain dynamic vitality. Surrounding the image were various patterns of the Divine Eagle, hummingbirds, crocodiles, feathers, turkeys, cacao... and other motifs. These familiar details also appeared on the enemy’s flags on the battlefield to the west! As for the content of the painting...
The young King spoke in a serious tone.
"The original murals in the great hall of the Palace of Wind?"
"Exactly! Your Highness, the terrifying and unpredictable climate also forced the northern peoples to migrate to the south. The Chichimeca Canine Descendants from the north came migrating southwards; they conquered the chaotic and splintered Urixiu Kingdom along their way. Though their numbers were few, their ferocity and prowess in battle were unmatched! The old nobility had already suffered heavy losses in the civil strife. They were either mercilessly annihilated or prostrated themselves in surrender. Warriors and the common people alike were tired of the prolonged conflict and yearned for a unified order, and they surrendered to the strongest power one after another."
"The army of the Divine Eagle, with its unstoppable force, marched eastward! They accepted surrenders, ennobled the new elite, and their power grew ever stronger. The descendants of the Divine Eagle traveled through the Chapala Lake Region, across the Takuro Plains, until they reached the gates of Qinchongcan City!"
Jatili’s voice carried a lyrical tone, laced with emotional undulations.
"There was no question about the final outcome, but the path that led to it is worth exploring. The new Tarasco Kingdom was established on the fertile soil amid the lakes. The south-migrating Chichimeca Canine Descendants, carrying the ambition and vigor of the northern highlands, founded their capital southeast of Lake Patzcuaro, in the highlands safe from the flood, Qinchongcan City.
"Drawing from the experiences of the kingdom’s downfall, the successive Kings of Tarasco implemented a series of innovative measures! They centralized the monarch’s power, established new strongholds directly under their control; they managed the nobility of the kingdom, governed the conquered land; they sought the majesty of the deities, and took control of the priests’ authority; they even integrated with the Urixiu people of the lake lands, giving rise to the new Prepetcha people!"
With these words, the learned elder bowed his head in a solemn salutation.
"Your Highness, allow me to elaborate! These strategies have proved effective over the past one or two hundred years and have been verified one by one. They will surely benefit your governance in the future!"
