Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1662 - 1186: Waves of the Caribbean Sea, the "Three Kingdoms Stand" in the Northeast

In December, the vast cold front from the great plains of North America moved southward, reaching the end of winter at the Granada River and continuing over a thousand miles south, transforming into a cool autumn breeze outside Otter City.

This is the core City-State of the northern Vastec tribes, a fertile land at the mouth of the Tampen River, which has become utterly silent, desolate, and barren after five or six years of relentless looting and fighting. Only trade caravans from the Kingdom conduct trade in this desolate coastal City-State, serving as a rare link between the warring tribes in the surrounding area.

The Canine Descendants' plundering knows no bounds between high and low, and the mortal combat they engage in is exceptionally brutal. Once revered northern Vastec Divine Descendants, Priests, and nobility have either become corpses buried in the swamps or skulls collected by the Red Crow tribes, or they have been wantonly attacked by the Canine Descendant camps of the Qingqiu tribes, dying without a trace.

Only some sharp and decisive Vastec chieftains, or those naturally close to the southern jungles, abandoned their original camps, settlements, and even city-states in time, leading their tribes southward successfully. They needed to migrate over three hundred miles of jungle, swamp, and coastline to reach the ancient city ruins of Pantepec by the Great River, "the hill where the flags fly." Only after crossing the Tampen River system tributary—Pantepec Flag Hill River—could they join the southern Vastec Alliance, truly escaping the terrifying forces of the Wilderness Canine Descendants.

By this point, of the three hundred thousand northern Vastec tribes, at least over forty thousand were killed in the chaos of war, nearly a hundred thousand migrated south in flight, eighty to ninety thousand fell into the hands of the Red Crow tribes, and forty to fifty thousand were forcibly taken by the Qingqiu tribes. The once populous but non-belligerent northern Vastec tribe alliance completely collapsed, leaving only a scant few tens of thousands spread along the vast banks of the Tampen River, paying tribute or giving grain to the Red Crow or Qingqiu Canine Descendants.

After years of relentless and brutal conflict, the obscure northeastern corner of Central America has finally seen clarity in its situation. Large tribes have formed alliances, and numerous smaller tribes either became subordinates or were divided, gradually forming a tripartite division of power, a "three kingdoms" situation.

North of the Tampen River, the expansive jungle, coastline, and grasslands belong to the Red Crow Tribe Alliance. The old chieftain Amoxtli governs the south, focusing on agriculture and land cultivation. Young chieftain Alan moves north to the grasslands, conquering and subduing. The strategic focus of the entire Red Crow Tribe Alliance gradually shifts from the south to the north, from increasingly costly plundering to harvesting more and more cultivated land.

From Otter City to Desolate Valley City, from the Tampen River's estuary to the upstream source of its tributaries, spanning six hundred miles, lies an east-west, rapidly flowing connecting waterway, firmly controlled by the ever-expanding Kingdom enclave, home to over two hundred thousand Qingqiu tribes!

In reality, although the Qingqiu tribes of the wilderness nominally pledge allegiance to the Alliance, they practically submit to the Kingdom, possessing strong Canine Descendant backgrounds, secretly assisting the southward plundering of the Red Crow. Qingqiu governor, poet Great Chief Balamo, not only continually sends Guajili messengers to trade Kingdom's bronze weapons and tools, pottery, and salt for captured able-bodied men from the Red Crow. He even personally mobilizes and dispatches thousands of fully armed Canine Descendant camps under the banner of the Red Crow, repeatedly attacking and plundering various Vastec tribes, driving the Vastec people southward.

After the near eradication of the northern Vastec tribes, the Qingqiu tribes more openly dispatched settled Canine Descendant flag units, leading surrendered Vastec tribes to settle and expand along the long tributaries of the Tampen River, occupying the former territories of the Vastec tribes.

The entire Qingqiu "county" officially shifted its strategy from the impoverished and barren northern and western wilderness to the warmer, rainier eastern river valleys and coastal plains, which are more suitable for farming. After all, the wilderness has scant rainfall and barren soil, almost impossible for growing food. Even with abundant gold and silver in the depths of the wilderness, they cannot sustain the increasing number of gathered wilderness tribes!

This spring, guided by the memories of Guajili scouts, the Qingqiu tribes' exploration of the wilderness led the Kingdom's merchants, seven hundred miles northwest of Desolate Valley City, deep in the Sakascat wilderness, to discover the "giant silver mine hills" specified by the God of Death Great Chief—a massive open-sky silver mine zone "stretching like small hills."

This area, later known as the Sakatekas-Fresnillo open-pit silver mining district, boasts enormous, rich silver ore veins stretching dozens of hundreds of miles, containing more than one-tenth of the world's silver, enough to drive the cash-strapped Emperors of Ming to tears!

In reality, this region, with the highest silver reserves in the world, has been continuously mined for over five hundred years, producing annual outputs of ten million, tens of millions of taels for decades! Even in the 21st century, the largest Xoxito silver mine within this mining district still produces 22 million ounces (about 20 million old taels) annually. In the current Hongzhi Era, the official fiscal revenue of the entire Ming Dynasty is only three to four million taels of silver per year, just a fraction of this large mining district's silver output!…

Of course, although the Qingqiu tribes have discovered the "giant silver mine" foretold by prophecy, they show little interest in mining, digging, or refining silver in the harsh and barren wilderness.

Silver, this attractive but heavy "white silver ore," is, for the Canine Descendant tribes from the wilderness, merely a form of decoration that cannot be eaten or drunk, commonplace and abundant. The predominantly "poor" Qingqiu tribes remain focused on expanding eastward, seizing the banks of the Tampen River tributaries left abandoned by the southward-migrating Vastec people, occupying more riverbank fertile lands formerly cultivated by the Vastec people, and growing more food!

At this moment, the first batch of cassava stems is being shipped from the port of Golden Bay City to Otter City at the Tampen River's estuary, delivered into the hands of the Qingqiu tribes' vanguard flag units. The first cassava field of the Qingqiu tribes is about to gradually sprout new seedlings on the former land of the Vastec people…

From the Tampen River's estuary, three hundred miles further south, crossing the Flag Hill River, lies the increasingly thriving southern Vastec Alliance, also known as the "Silver Raven Tribe Alliance"! With over a hundred thousand Silver Raven tribes centered in Crow City, the southern Vastec's three to four hundred thousand tribes nominally joined the "Silver Raven Tribe Alliance" to counter increasing threats from all sides.

With the Mexica people continually waging conquest wars, the fires of war grow fiercer throughout the land, and the scale of combat increases. The originally loose associations of tribes across the land are compelled by this ongoing confrontation to form closer tribal alliances. The southern Vastec tribes, likewise, are compelled to form the Silver Raven Alliance.

Around the Silver Raven Alliance, to the north is the ferocious Red Crow Tribe Alliance, to the west is the cunning Cloud Central Tribes, to the southeast is the powerful Totonac Alliance, and to the southwest is the suzerain of the Vastek people's tribute, "swallowing like a chaotic crocodile," currently warring against the Cloud Central Tribes, unable to pay attention to the northeast-infested Mexica Alliance. Among these four directions, the only force the Silver Raven Tribes slightly trust is actually only the southeast...

"Oh great Chief Divine of the Supreme Sun! Oh Wind God who guides the hurricane... Please let this mission be completed smoothly without angering the increasingly powerful Totonac Tribes!... As for my purpose this time, the Serpent Mother who rules the Totonac should also be pleased... right?..."

After sailing for over four hundred miles, the Silver Raven Elder, Cao Baiya, finally arrived with more than a hundred Silver Raven warriors on ten tribal war boats at Golden Bay City beside the Adobe River, the central capital of the Totonac Alliance. Yet when he stood at the bow and gazed at the still-crowded port of Golden Bay City, he could no longer see the prosperous trades from over a decade ago, nor the conversing priests and divine descendants, nor the merchant caravans and ships from all over the world.

Along the more orderly and wider port were only ant-like Totonac civilians bent over carrying grain, fierce warriors in armor wielding axes collecting grain, solemn Chief God priests inspecting grain... and the imposing Mexica naval fleet loading grain, preparing to head to the Maya Coast!

"Oh Chief Divine! Oh Ancestors! What is this?!..."

Upon closer inspection, the Silver Raven Elder couldn't help but shiver all over, feeling a bone-chilling anxiety surge from deep within his heart...

"Chief Divine as witness! The scales tilt right!… This garrison's grain delivery reached 2,400 jin, twelve standard stones in weight! Team leader, take the bamboo token, you can go!..."

"Yes, yes!... Thank you, Lord Priest!..."

"Chief Divine as witness! The scales tilt left!… This garrison's grain delivery is only ten standard stones, four hundred jin short!"

"Ah! Lord Priest! I beg you! I beg you!!... We'll return to the pennant team immediately to replenish the missing grain!..."

"The scales tilt left, insufficient grain delivery!... According to the teachings during the Divine War... the team leader is beheaded, and one in every five from the grain delivery team is executed! Someone, come!..."

"Ah! Great Highland Warrior! I beg you! My clan uncle is nobility in the city... Ah! No!!..."

The miserable scream abruptly ceased, as an elderly head with a feather crown was quickly mounted on a high Mexica long spear at the outskirts of the port, still dripping blood. Immediately following, several short, dire screams ensued, and four or five bloodied civilian heads piled up at the base of the long spear, as if forming the true "foundation" of the Mexica long spear...

In that instant, the bustling Golden Bay port fell silent. Grain delivery teams from various garrison pennant teams were petrified, some even shaking, yet none dared to make trouble, only becoming more compliant. Likewise, the Kingdom's warriors delivering grain did not halt their labor, basketfuls of corn cakes and Dou Liao continued to be loaded into the oar-sail ships and twin-hulled war canoes, like anteaters devouring ants. At the port, the inspecting Chief God priest remained expressionless, continuing to weigh on the gigantic stone and wood scales, and recording the accounts with a goose-feather pen, sternly carrying on with the inspections.

Witnessing such a cold and ruthless scene, a few headmen from the rear pennant teams went pale. They hurriedly lowered their voices to seek help from familiar grain delivery pennant teams nearby, taking out Kingdom Gems used as currency, purchasing surplus grain at high prices. However, only a handful of pennant teams, seemingly prepared, brought extra grain, and traded with a tenfold markup. Upon closer look, these pennant teams carrying surplus grain all came from nearby garrison farm estates and had a background in the once Golden Bay Tribe...

"Hiss! After being conquered by the Mexica, the Totonac Tribes by the seaside appear to have changed entirely from bone to skin, resembling the Mexica people!… Ah! They were solidified from loose pottery into hardened ceramics by the blue fire of the volcanic demons... they have also become as strong, cold, and terrifying as the Mexica!… Compared to them, the power of our Silver Raven Tribe..."

After a moment of distant observation, the Silver Raven Elder Cao Baiya sighed deeply. He silently pondered for a while before disembarking on the shore with a worried expression. Subsequently, escorted by a team of seaside warriors in armor wielding spears, the envoys of the Silver Raven Tribe finally headed to the highest Main God Temple in Golden Bay City.

Note: The Easter egg chapter is the map of northeast America, and will be visible after passing review.