Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1717 - 1226: Mountain Banner Troop, Simple and Hospitable

The cardinal flew over the treetops and landed on the branch of a fruit tree in the village. Falcons circled in the sky, searching for small prey that emerged. And the gray-yellow earth road stretched, under the watchful eyes of the birds, from the densely populated Apa Plain all the way southwest to the mountains.

The earth road between the mountains, although also a Second Level county road, was obviously somewhat bumpy, with few ordinary villagers and passersby. Those responsible for maintaining these mountain roads were primarily the local Tecos tribes organized into flag teams, the Tlaxcala flag teams that migrated eastward years ago, and several patched-together mixed unit flag teams.

The kingdom established a grand flag team, usually around four thousand people, fluctuating with wars. A grand flag team consists of about ten smaller flag teams. A smaller flag team number around four hundred people, similar to the early Jurchen "Niu Lu". In each "Niu Lu", there was a main tent for a hundred people and four to six minor tents for several dozen people. The leader of the "Niu Lu" was invariably a veteran warrior of the kingdom, while the minor tent leaders were promoted tribesmen or warriors with injuries.

The so-called "mixed unit," as the name implies, consists of Wild People of unknown origin and tribes of various chaotic backgrounds, which, under the leadership of a Kingdom's Warrior, were cobbled together into a flag team. The reason for such mixed units, of course, was due to the centuries-old capture practices of the Navajo Tribes growing ever larger. With advances in agricultural technology and the spread of various tools, whether it was the fiefdom warriors of the kingdom or the tribal flag teams reclaiming mountain fields, there was a strong demand for able-bodied men representing the workforce!

Previously, "capturing" was usually for sacrifices, but now "capturing" was more like the Jurchen's "catching men." Essentially, it was simply because the tribes had surplus grain to feed more people and the tools and technology to reclaim new fields. Waiting for their own tribes to grow was slow; it's better to grab ready-made ones, both male and female children...

"Oh Chief Divine! Why aren't there even any living creatures walking around? ... If only I could encounter a deer! ... Even better if I could meet a vendor bringing goods!!..."

Luo Bing crouched in the grass by the mountain road, bare-chested, holding a flint spear, with a hunting bow on his back. His face was painted with the Tekos people's patterns, squinting as he looked at the deserted mountain road, imagining a "vendor delivering goods," couldn't help but salivate innocently.

Unfortunately, the people of the mountain flag teams were known for their simplicity and goodness. After being robbed a few times, no one dared to sell goods alone in the mountains anymore. As for larger prey, like deer, wolves, and Jaguars, after the flag teams settled, gradually vanished from the area; the birth rate could not keep up with the hunting. In contrast, small herbivores like rabbits, mountain birds, and prairie dogs could often be seen, and were impossible to hunt out.

"Oh Chief Divine, bigger than the sky! The sun's so good, give me something tasty to eat!... Oh, Praise the Chief Divine! There's delicious little sweet bugs!..."

The bugs were plentiful in spring; Luo Bing crushed several unseeing stinging bugs, suddenly brightening up as he spotted the round and plump palm weevils. He sprinted lightly and swiftly, reaching out to grab two "little sweet bugs," cheerfully peeling and popping them into his mouth with a "crunch."

These beetles were juicy, although carrying an earthy smell, also with a peculiar taste of sweet tree sap, like "moldy bad gummy candy." After eating two "little sweet bugs," Luo Bing spat out the remnants, rummaging around the surrounding shrubbery, indeed found a nest of weevils. He happily pulled out a grass bag, dropping the fat, white larvae inside; these were rare delicacies and important protein sources for the tribespeople, tasting like chicken and crunchy.

"Luo Bing, what were you rummaging for just now? Ant eggs?"

"Uh! Chief, it was… the larvae of the little sweet bugs, tiny little sweet bugs..."

"Let me see!"

Hearing this, Luo Bing reluctantly reached out his hand, handing over the grass bag in his hand to the assigned flag team leader, veteran Tecos warrior Luo Tongfu.

Luo Tongfu had two bronze axes tied around his waist, which was the origin of his name. The only dozen or so bronze weapons in the small flag team were brought by him and a few assigned disabled warriors. As for his "Luo" surname, it was an increasingly common surname among the Tecos Tribes, originating from the Tecos Imperial Guard fighting for the Xiulote, earning great military merits, and receiving the surname granted by the Xiulote. Unfortunately, he didn't have the background of the Imperial Guard Legion; otherwise, he wouldn't have been assigned to this mountain flag team of Hand Snake City Valley, a "bird poop every day" place.

For the mountainous and forested areas inconvenient to access and difficult to govern, the kingdom consolidated various tribes and settled many tribal flag teams. These tribal flag teams, although having villages, couldn't be compared to the affluent village communities, mostly as poor as can be and overly "simple and honest."

The flag team villages reclaimed mountain fields, mostly growing miscellaneous grains like sweet potatoes, squash, and potatoes. They didn't have to provide grain to the county's Great Chieftain, nor could they produce any proper grain. The tribute they had to pay was primarily symbolic, such as mountain-hunted furs, vibrant bird feathers, some uncommon timber, and recently demanded rubber. The real obligation for the flag teams was to muster troops during wartime, to fight or transport grain for the Great Chieftain. A 400-person flag team had to provide at least forty tribesmen for war.

Of course, the kingdom's military might was powerful and hardly suffered defeats. In the eyes of each flag team, war was an opportunity for plundering wealth and enjoying the Great Chieftain's military grain! Whether it was enemy weapons and leather armors, or opposing villages' cloth and pottery, were in extreme demand among the mountain tribes. If attacking a prosperous city-state, that was even more extraordinary, with many tribal flag teams rushing to send troops, even pouring out completely! As a result, the kingdom had to limit the flag team's troop limits to prevent these tribal warriors from consuming too much military grain...

"Hmm? Not bad, really tasty sweet bugs... How little is this? Luo Bing, go find more, dig out a bit more, at least fill this grass bag!"

"Ah? Chief, you want to eat that much? Eating too many sweet bugs will give you a stomachache..."

"Eating raw will definitely cause stomach aches! Frying it in oil won't."

"What! Just to eat a bug, you want to use precious oil? Boss, you must be craving it crazily! We only have a little oil in our flag team..."

"What do you know! Tomorrow I'm going to invite the old Priest of the flag team over, we must entertain him well! Not just sweet bugs, but ant eggs, wild honey, smoked venison, they all need to be there... The old Priest has dozens of iron farming tools, heard they were just shipped from the big city... But there are only about ten flag teams! Whether one gets more or less, it's up to the old Priest's word..."

"Ah! The Great Chief of the city actually gave us iron farming tools?... This is the real good stuff! Too bad it's not a bronze axe..."

Upon hearing this, Luo Bing was taken aback, pleasantly surprised, his eyes widened with joy. The flag teams in the mountains were truly poor, unable to support many priests. A large flag team of four thousand people generally only had one big flag team Priest, plus ten Priest Apprentices, distributed among various small flag teams. The big flag team Priest directly connected with the county's Priesthood, often obtaining many good things from the county! This was aside from plundering in wars and "doing business" with peddlers, the only way to get "good stuff".

As for going into the mountains to "recruit able-bodied men", those wild folks didn't even have a scrap of cloth. If not for the pumpkins preventing starvation and the abundance of sweet potatoes in the fields, the flag team wouldn't bother catching them. On the advice of the priests, the output of opened fields gradually increased, slowly becoming profitable, huh? Oh, and there's a labor-intensive new assignment arranged by the flag team, collecting rubber...

"Ha! Luo Bing, you know nothing! These good things aren't given by the Great Chief, but by the Great Great Chief, by His Majesty!"

"Ah! Boss... You mean... the Great Great Chief is the greatest!"

As he spoke, Luo Tongfu raised his hand and gave two knocks, quick as lightning, truly worthy of his veteran warrior background. Luo Bing clutched his head, crouched in the bushes, and began to rummage for beetle nests. Luo Tongfu stood with hands on his waist, sunning himself, surveying the flag team's mountain forest, especially the newly planted rubber trees, nodding with satisfaction.

"Chief Divine bless! Such great trees! Grow quickly, start producing latex for me soon!"

This southwest Tekos Mountain area was already home to many wild rubber trees. The Kingdom had dedicated resources for rubber collection at the temple in Apa City and assigned tasks to priests around the Divine Revelation Place. If the flag team collected and handed over a lot of rubber, not only could they offset the tribute but also receive additional rewards, in forms like "iron, copper, pottery", "salty, spicy, intoxicating", "home use, combat use". This method of using superior handcrafts and state-run salt, iron, and copper to indirectly tax mountain flag teams was, outside conscription, the main revenue for the Kingdom's control over tribal flag teams...

"Ding ling dang! Ding ling dang!"

The crisp sound of a bell suddenly came from afar, startling everyone in the flag team. Soon, out of the chaotic village emerged a large group of simple, hospitable tribespeople, armed with spears and bows. Everyone craned their necks in anticipation, faces full of expectant smiles!

As the bell sound drew nearer, over a hundred Kingdom's Warriors, followed by hundreds of porters with pushcarts, and behind them dozens of armed merchants with carrying poles and grass baskets, slowly appeared around the mountain road corner... It was only then that the whole crowd of simple flag team warriors sighed together, cursing regretfully and resentfully.

"Chief Divine! Such cunning peddlers! They actually followed the warriors transporting lime to the Colima Tribe!"

"Alas! No robbing it now... Let's just bring out the flag team's feathers, furs, honey, herbs and trade with these old foxes then!"

"Damn it! There's surely going to be a price squeeze..."

"Let them squeeze a bit! If they dare squeeze too low, when they come back falling behind the lime-carrying warriors... I'll shoot them dead!"

"Ha! You sure talk big!"

"Shh! Quiet! The warrior team is about to arrive!... Praise the great Chief Divine!" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Soon, the noisy clamor transformed into a collective prayer, singing praises to the Chief Divine greater than the skies. And the lime-transporting warrior team had finally arrived.