NOVPUBUpon hearing this, Xiulote slowly nodded.
"Beautiful birds will attract misfortune due to their precious feathers. Head Warrior, thank you for your reminder! These great merchants are familiar with international trade routes and control the information and sales networks of various places. They are a force worth retaining!... The newly born Kingdom of the Lake also needs to make its own voice heard across the world."
The young King pondered for a moment and then looked back at the Head Warrior.
"Bertade, take note of my command!"
"Understood, Your Highness."
The Head Warrior took out pen and paper and bowed his head to write.
"Dispatch envoys to notify the surrounding countries: The newly established Kingdom of the Lake, a collective kingdom of the Mexica and the Prepetcha, will protect the lives and property of the Prepetcha merchants from all countries. From the day the envoy arrives, any harm done to the kingdom’s merchants will be recorded by the kingdom. The Kingdom of the Lake, under the Mexica Alliance, will send envoys, dispatch squads of Samurai, and even deploy legions to pursue forces daring to offend the alliance!"
Bertade wrote swiftly, quickly finishing the document. He handed the paper order to the King for inspection. Xiulote looked it over and nodded in approval. Afterward, the Head Warrior summoned a trusted aide, handed over the order and Jade Talisman, and kept a simple backup. In just a moment, the trusted aide took the Royal Decree and left.
Jatili watched the process of issuing the royal command, his thoughts apparent. His graying eyebrows twitched slightly, thoughts flashing through his mind, yet he remained silent. Moments later, only when the King looked his way again did he smile and speak.
"Such a decree from Your Majesty is a divine blessing to the Prepetcha people! I shall spread word of Your Majesty’s kindness and majesty to priests and scholars everywhere. Similarly, I will also raise a call amongst the civilians, urging the Prepetcha merchants from all regions to submit to Your Majesty as soon as possible."
"Excellent, then I leave it in your capable hands, Head Warrior!"
Xiulote smiled, his voice filled with joy.
For the young King, Jatili’s allegiance was significant. In every aspect of government within the fief, learned elders could fully wield their influence. In reality, behind these scholars was a group of Prepetcha elites actively moving closer to the alliance, intending to join the newly formed kingdom and enter the ranks of rulers.
In this era, knowledge was concentrated in the hands of a few elites. Ordinary citizens had neither the cultural heritage nor the voice of their tribes. They could be organized into armies and perform military functions but had difficulty participating in governance. Since the governance of the fief had decided to suppress the Prepetcha nobility, who held the majority of wealth and population, it was essential to unite the remaining village priests, tribe sages, lesser nobles, and senior craftsmen who held technical expertise, along with a portion of measured merchants.
"Your Majesty, river turtles, lake fish, and waterbirds all wish to serve the true Divine Eagle!"
Jatili said with a smile, continuing his previous narrative.
"As Your Majesty has observed, this fourth painting tells of various craftsmen of the kingdom gathering under the patronage of the Craftsman’s God, all serving the Royal Family. The kingdom values craftsmen and also uses the production of craftsmen to obtain a vast amount of tribute and military supplies, supporting the formidable Royal Legion.
In Qinchongcan City, there is a massive Craftsman Camp housing thousands of craftsmen engaged exclusively in the production of royal goods and military supplies. Meanwhile, in Ihuatzio City, there are specially organized official craftsmen who manufacture exquisite clothing, bronzeware, and crafts for the purpose of profitable trade.
In the western campaign, the Royal Legion’s rapid imitation of the longbow was a contribution from the Qinchongcan Craftsman Camp. The robust bronze weapons used by the Royal Legion also came from this camp.
It was only with the supply from these official craftsmen that the Feathered Serpent Royal Family could establish the powerful Copper-axe Guards, forming an overwhelming military advantage over the military nobility on the frontier. The centralized control over craftsmen and the strict regulation of military supplies also played a crucial part in controlling these frontier military nobility...
Your Majesty, this old official has observed your administration and knows that you have always valued craftsmen, and have established within the Alliance a new Divine Revelation Place for researching new weapons. On this point, naturally, I need not say more.
Xiulote nodded slightly. He had already arranged for the Head Warrior to restore production in the Craftsman Camp and had established a new Divine Revelation Place around the palace district. The new center for gunpowder production would also, like the Alliance, be established on a small island in Lake Patzcuaro.
Subsequently, the learned elder moved his finger, pointing to the last drawing on the slab. The scene once again depicted a tall Divine Eagle King. The King, wielding a scepter, pointed towards a forest-covered mountain range. Numerous simple figures, each holding different weapons, lay prostrate and knelt in front of the King.
"This fifth painting represents the Royal Family’s check on the frontier nobility."
Jatili ran his finger along the edges, over the figures’ diverse tattoos, clothing, and weapons.
"Tattooed with Feathered Serpent, the Tepanec; with marks of the wind, the Guamal Canine Descendants; in black and white war clothes, the Otomi; in wide hats and narrow skirts, the Tekos... While deploying the Legion to subdue the barbarian tribes of the frontier, the Kingdom also enfeoffed chieftains, incorporating border tribes that were willing to submit, even relocating southward-migrating Guamal Canine Descendants and settling the fleeing remnants of the Tepanec. These submissive tribes of the wilderness were assigned lands on the frontier. They accepted the Kingdom’s dispatch, served in the military for the Kingdom, even received sustenance from the Royal Family, obeyed the Royal commands, and did things that the Kingdom Legion found inconvenient."
The learned elder paused, then smiled meaningfully.
"The remnants of the Tepanec..."
Hearing this, Xiulote’s expression transformed, his gaze turning stern. He suddenly recalled an ambush years ago at the outskirts of an Otomi village. It was the closest he had come to death in his life.
Jatili observed the King’s demeanor, carefully waiting a moment before continuing cautiously.
"These submissive tribes stationed at the border effectively balance the military nobility of the frontier and also provide the Royal Family with a considerable number of foreign mercenaries. The Royal Family can smoothly command these foreign border people, relying not only on the strong deterrent of the Royal Legion but also on the financial support and bribery from the fief."
"The strength of the central hub lies in its financial advantage; the stability of the frontier, in its military balance!"
The learned elder stood tall, his expression solemn, and bowed solemnly to the King.
"Your Majesty, the centralized government office is like a towering tree! The powerful direct-controlled legions are its main support, but the most crucial roots are the financial resources of the fief! The labor of the villagers, the toil of the craftsmen, the mining of the miners, the traffic of the merchant caravans… the fields, workshops, mines, and merchant groups, all of this, the fief office must intervene in everything, incessantly absorbing nutrients, only then can a large, stable central Divine Tree truly grow!"
