NOVPUB"Very good, excellent indeed!"
In the fleeting dreams that fluttered like summer rain or autumn breeze, he gazed out at the far reaches of time. Changes through the ages ebbed like a retreating sea, the epic saga of bygone kingdoms hammered at the heart of the king—awakening and enlightening him—until Jatili’s voice boomed like thunder, snapping Xiulote out of his reverie on the dynastic shifts. Smiling, he regarded the sage elder, his hands warmly lifting him.
"Only by reflecting on the kingdom’s epic as if it were a bronze mirror, can we clearly discern the rise and fall of the future! Please speak freely, sage, and offer me your counsel and insight!"
Jatili paused briefly, admiration flashing across his face. Then, he rose tall and walked back to the fourth slab.
"Your Highness, please take a look!"
Xiulote peered closely; the fourth panel also featured a trio of images.
The central panel depicted a scene of homage. Under the supreme sun, a monarch with a Divine Eagle helmet, his presence commanding and stature grand, sat centrally on the throne. In one hand a long spear, in the other a scepter, he was receiving his subjects’ homage. Below him, immediately, were his bowing ministers, starkly divided into two groups. On the left, they held weapons, clad in beast-helmets and war clothes, with javelins and bows slung on their backs. On the right, they held scepters, donned in splendid robes and traditional broad hats of the Lake Region, with shields bearing familial crests on their backs. Further out still were the kneeling, homage-paying masses—dense and diminutive like countless prostrate ants.
The youthful monarch surveyed briefly—the warriors on the left clearly closer to the Divine Eagle. In such stern political artwork, differences in distance and size symbolized the magnitude of power and status. After a moment’s reflection, he murmured softly to himself,
"This scenario... it resembles the current state of the fief quite a bit!"
Jatili nodded with a smile.
"Highness, this central panel depicts the coronation ceremony of the first Divine Eagle monarch, Tarasco’s first Cazonci, Tariacuri. After a decade of conflict, Chieftain Tariacuri had finally subdued the tribes within the lake, taking control of Patzcuaro and Chapala Lake Regions and establishing his kingdom there, with the capital in Qinchongcan City.
Shortly after the kingdom’s rise, there were two groups of nobility under Tariacuri’s command. One was the Nava military nobility that had followed him southwards, and the other was the Urixiu traditional nobility that submitted subsequently. Both groups comprised tribesmen, warriors, and lands. The Nava were adept in combat, had followed for a longer period, and accrued more military achievements, hence their noticeably higher status, though they were fewer in number. In contrast, the traditional nobility of the Lake Region was more numerous and well-rooted, albeit they submitted later.
After Tariacuri’s ascension, the first major issue was the division of lands. The Nava military nobility coveted the fertile lands of the Lake Region and hoped for fiefs near the prosperous capital. These lands were partly under the direct control of the royal family, partly held by the traditional nobility of the Lake Region. With unmatched prestige, the lands directly under the royal family were coveted by none. Thus, the Nava nobility began a dispute with the traditional nobility over the lands, soon escalating as each side rallied their factions. Accustomed to using force, the Nava nobility quickly mobilized their tribal warriors."
On hearing this, Xiulote nodded silently. The military nobility’s intrinsic craving for lands and a monarch’s need to satisfy these demands to harness the strength of mighty legions were apparent.
After the Mexica legion conquered the lake, the first order of business was also the division of lands. This western campaign lasted just over a year, the nobles and warriors had not accumulated enough military achievements for substantial rewards. The young king, relying on his authority, deliberately suppressed the number of great nobles and the size of their fiefs. Even so, the land to be awarded was nearly two million acres, constituting 15-20% of the cultivated land in the entire fief.
Tariacuri, having campaigned for over a decade, surely had several times more military nobles than the Mexica Northern Army. Lacking the strength of the Mexica Alliance, he could not carry out a planned large-scale purge of the old nobility during national wars. The situation he faced then must have been far more challenging than my current one.
With this thought, Xiulote looked towards the other two panels.
The panel on the left depicted a wedding scene, the Divine Eagle monarch dominating the top of the image. Witnessed by the Divine Eagle, a newlywed couple stood side by side, their joined hands tightly clasped. The groom on the left, a Nava Hunter carrying a short bow, was dressed in warrior clothes and cradled a wild deer. The bride on the right, a lake region fisherwoman holding a fishing net, was dressed in noble attire with a large fish cradled in her arms. Upon closer inspection, one could see the groom was larger and taller, signifying a slightly higher status.
"The integration of newcomers with local tribes is a primary challenge every conqueror king must first address."
The sage elder looked at Xiulote, his eyes twinkling with mirth.
"Tariacuri, the first king of Tarasco, to tackle this issue, personally arranged and presided over the large-scale intermarriage between the two tribes, eliminating the barriers between them. Nearly all the Nava nobility were required to marry into the local Urixiu nobility, and it was mandated that they marry hereditary, legitimate children of excellence! Moreover, the ordinary Nava warriors were required to take wives from among the local commoners."
"In this ancient panel, the deer symbolizes the Nava nobility, and the large fish represents the nobility of the Lake Region. Their union heralded the birth of the first generation of Prepetcha elites, the backbone of the burgeoning kingdom! Legend has it that the first king Tariacuri was blessed by the gods and lived to the age of 80. He ruled the nascent kingdom for decades with his formidable prestige and steadfast patience, achieving the redistribution of noble lands among the newer two generations and establishing a stable factional balance.
Deer meat always remained a rarer and more precious delicacy than fish. In the two hundred years of succession, the merged Prepetcha people no longer distinguished between the tribes and gradually developed a new perception that "nobility eat deer meat" and "commoners eat river fish." Therefore, this meaningful painting was no longer mentioned."
After hearing this narration, Xiulote sincerely voiced his admiration.
Effectively ruling a piece of land often proved more difficult than conquering it. As the leader of the southward-migrating Nava Tribe, Tariacuri possessed enough courage to actively promote the fusion of the two tribes. He spent his lifetime molding the new Prepetcha people, which, compared to some monarchs who rigidly clung to ethnic distinctions, showcased his long-term visionary wisdom.
"The population of Prepetcha tribes in the Lake Region numbers in the hundreds of thousands, while the conquering Mexica legion counts only twenty thousand. To establish a stable reign of the kingdom, large-scale intermarriage between Mexica samurai and Prepetcha civilians must also be implemented as a national policy!"
Xiulote pondered for a moment and made a resolution in secret. He slowly nodded, then looked again toward the right-hand pattern.
The pattern on the right depicted several groups of nobility and samurai on long journeys. At the center was still the radiant Divine Eagle King. The king’s feet were upon the grand capital city, his eyes like an eagle’s, sweeping over the lands far and wide. There, nobles traveled in different directions, also bearing various banners.
The young King looked at the coat of arms on the banners. To the north were banners with "Crocodile," "Turkey," to the west were "Feathers," "Sky," and "Silver," to the south were "Zicao," "Palm," and to the east were "Red Falcon," "Black Panther." Xiulote mused for a few breaths and then asked confidently.
"Enfeoffing tribal chieftains, guarding the borders in all directions?"
Jatili smiled, his gaze profound.
"Exactly! The new kingdom was established with the greatest achievements from the Nava military nobility. Those powerful great nobility each possessed a tribe, commanding hundreds to thousands of tribal warriors. They longed for vast fertile fiefs. However, the predecessor monarch, not wishing to repeat the mistakes of strong branches and weak roots of the Urixiu Kingdom, decided to directly incorporate the entire Lake Patzcuaro region. He relied on his own prestige and the wisdom of the House of Hummingbird, enfeoffing the powerful military nobility across the borders of the kingdom."
"Crocodile nobles guarded the vast northern rivermouths, Zicao nobles suppressed the bustling southern river banks, while nobles from the royal family who were Red Falcons controlled the perilous eastern mountains. Then, the far-flung, prosperous ancestral land of the Chapala Lake Region, was governed jointly by three Nava nobility. These powerful military nobility, when enfeoffed to the borderlands, no longer posed a threat to the central royal power. The great nobility gained vast territories for their free development, using their military prowess to subjugate unwilling border tribes, yet also faced continual military challenges, dependent on strong support from the central Lake Region. Over two hundred years, the borderland great nobility continually expanded the kingdom’s living space, spreading the kingdom’s influence far and wide."
The sage paused. Seeing the young king’s slight shaking of the head, he said with a smile.
"Your Highness, the speed of messengers is limited, and there are no fast roads outside the city. The direct control of the center is inherently limited to the rapidly accessible Lake Region within a few hundred miles. Enfeoffment at the frontier has always been a common practice across the world. Many Nava great nobility, seeking comfort, actually prefer not to leave the rich core Lake Region for the incessant skirmishes at the border.
In the process of enfeoffment, to urge the real power nobility to depart, the first family head of the House of Hummingbird exerted great efforts. He showed rare wisdom among Nava nobility and became the first Chief Minister of the kingdom. Thereafter, all successive Chief Ministers were outstanding members of the House of Hummingbird. Hummingbird thrived alongside Divine Eagle, intertwined in success and decline.
As the kingdom developed, the power of the borderland great nobility began to inflate. The duties of the Chief Ministers also evolved from integrating the directly governed Lake Patzcuaro region and supporting military actions at the frontier to balancing the powers of the borderland nobility. This Chief Minister, Jinjinni, served three monarchs. He assisted in controlling the ninety large villages of the Lake Region, personally led campaigns against the Tekos people for decades, and effectively suppressed the northern Crocodile Clan, maintaining balance among the three houses of Chapala..." 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
Xiulote tilted his head up, staring at the pattern of enfeoffment, yet his mind envisioned the vast expanse of the North and South American continents.
With an ample supply of cheap metal tools, large-scale road construction could be undertaken. With advancements in ships and the future introduction of Old World horses, the directly controlled area by the ruling center could significantly expand, perhaps by multiples or even tenfold. The entire realm of Central America could fall under the direct control of the future empire. However, this speed of communication enhancement through messengers would be far from sufficient to cover the vast North American continent, let alone reach the distant lands of South America.
To maximally extend the empire’s influence and compete with the European colonizers for dominance in the New World, it was imperative to integrate the indigenous tribes of the Americas thoroughly. Military enfeoffment in the frontier was inevitable, and even more remote areas needed the spread of faith quickly, the ennoblement of local chieftains, and their inclusion in a tributary system similar to the Celestial Empire!
"To harbor the world in one’s heart is like bearing a great weight on one’s shoulders. Every step taken by a King is as if watched by the masses, altering the footsteps of an era. A true King must have a resolute will, as strong and pristine as steel and jade, and meticulous thoughts, as if treading on thin ice!"
The young King sighed softly. His face displayed a solemnity uncommon for his age.
"My future path is not only to shine brightly upon the world but also laden with great responsibility and a long road ahead!"
