Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1751 - 1253: The Ainu People’s Wa Country Proclamation, Heavenly Divine’s Last Sanctuary—Great Island
"Shell, are you saying that the Three Islands and the Tribal Alliance's three Great Islands were originally Ainu land? They migrated here thousands of years ago, gradually annexing your tribes and territories, turning forest and swamp hunting grounds into farmlands...?"
"Hmm, Ancestor, I don't know. Did the Wa People originally have three great islands? Did they come a thousand years ago?... Those were the legends of the tribes my father told me when I was young... He said the spirit of Ancestor Bear's mountain spread across north and south! The ocean spirit guarding the orcas would sing worldwide! And from the southernmost island to the northern Thousand Islands, it could take several months, even a year to traverse. This vast land was filled with Ainu hunting grounds and villages, with Fish Owl village spirits flying! ...Until the Wa People came from the sea, built villages in our hunting grounds, turned swamps into farmland, and began worshipping their Guardian Spirit... The Wa People farming grew in number and strength! They annexed Ainu tribes, driving us north to the last Ainu Land, the Heavenly Divine's final protected Great Island, Ainu Maoxili Island..."
The cold wind whispered, lament flowing over the frozen seaside, yearning for the warm, prosperous ancestral land in the south on the frigid Kamchatka Peninsula. Exploration Captain Zuwaro held the soft maiden in his arms, listening to the ancient Ainu tales, his eyes flickering with thought and planning for the long-term future.
"Chief Divine protect! Who are our friends, who are our enemies? Who can be won over as friends, and who must be opposed as enemies?... This is a decree written in the scriptures of Divine Power University by Your Majesty, a crucial question every Nautical Priest must constantly consider!"
"We've sailed to this far northern icy peninsula; the Mountain Part and Rokube are cunning and fierce nomadic tribes, like the Canine Descendants roaming the Wilderness. They ride sleds with reindeer, move from one camp to another, experiencing many storms and engraving wolf-like agility into their souls... These tribes can accept belief in the Chief Divine, but the faith is never stable, filled with practicality... They revere the Divine but remain at the level of reverence rather than devout belief. They merely see the Chief Divine as some unimaginable Thunderbolt incarnation, like worshipping the incarnation of blue sky 'Tenggeri,' earth embodied 'Divine Mountain,' or Ancestor incarnate 'Divine Deer'!"
"Perhaps, after several generations, among the Mountain Part and Rokube, many devoted Chief Divine believers will emerge. Once they accept the Chief Divine, they could naturally accept the Jiao People epic and become part of the Jiao People tribes... But at least not now, not within one generation, they won't sacrifice themselves for the Divine..."
"And going further south? The Three Islands and Tribal Alliance, craftsmen origins from the Korean tribal alliance?... From the captives we converted, their culture is deeper, beliefs diverse beyond description. They are more practical tribes, more so than the peninsula's nomadic tribes, valuing what the Divine can offer! Their faith constantly exchanges for rewards, seeking gifts and benefits... Even if the Kingdom has Gold Mountain and Silver Mountain, it cannot buy many Wa People or Korean tribes, right?..."
Zuwaro stroked the short hair of Thousand Island Shell, his wise eyes seeming to see everything clearly, like the nearby sled-pulling Samoyed dogs.
However, he evidently had insufficient understanding of the kingdom's Gold Mountains and Silver Sea and knew nothing of the purchasing power of gold and silver in the southern tribes. But when he lowered his head to look at the fair-haired maiden in his arms, his affectionate demeanor seemed to discover a true treasure, a treasure of belief!
"Chief Divine protect! The Mountain Part and Rokube are our friends in the Far North land, allies of reindeer and battle. And these simple believing, recruitable Ainu tribes, are indeed the potential Jiao People Clan, the genuine hope for establishing Chief Divine belief!"
"They lack writing, inherit little culture, and their belief's natural Guardian Spirit aligns with many Jiao People tribes. And the almost inactive, blank Ainu Heavenly Divine Kotanka can perfectly integrate Mexica Chief Divine!... Their predicament, threatened and oppressed by the Wa People, eagerly seeks external support... Chief Divine, this is the best faith group, the missionary target the kingdom must strive for!"
Once obtaining intelligence from the South, Zuwaro contemplated for a long time, finally clarifying his thoughts, formulating a long-term explicit political strategy.
Kamchatka Peninsula's Shaman Chieftain, the elder of the Mountain Part, resembling an aged but sharp old wolf, left a deep impression on him. This Female Chief of the nomadic tribal alliance could not tolerate him or the "Sea Tribe" continuing to annex and expand on the peninsula. If their rule was threatened, there might be another bloody wedding, causing significant loss to the hard-won power sent by the kingdom... So, the positioning along the way is marriage ally, delineating and establishing mutual spheres of influence in advance, then slowly infiltrating with missions, entrusting the great power to time.
Therefore, the next camp's location should continue south, landing on Ainu territory, gradually incorporating Ainu tribes on various islands into the belief of the Chief Divine Jiao People Clan!
Thus, only by embracing Ainu tribes and acquiring local population supplements can a stronger Jiao People force be assimilated, firmly establishing on the islands southward. Only this is the kingdom's truly viable future!
And to scheme all this, to acquire craftsmen and livestock from the southern tribes, he must learn more, understand the detailed circumstances of each southern island.
"This year, after thawing, I must personally lead a longship southward, visit the Ainu Great Tribe on the southern Great Island, and see the southernmost Wa People! ...Hmm, I also need to go west to the peninsula, exchange four-legged Riding Beast and herding beasts from the 'Shandan' tribe there... Not sure, how much gold to take? Is taking one thousand jin enough?..."
Flurrying snowflakes, the cold North, yet cannot extinguish the flame in the Exploration Captain's heart. Devotion and ambition are etched in this man's eyes and bones, giving him seemingly endless strength. And thinking of that infinite future possibilities, Zuwaro suddenly felt a bit feverish. He tightened his grip on the maiden in his arms, eliciting a low exclamation and a blush on her face.
"Zu... are you thinking? ...Shall we go indoors?..."
"Hmm. Okay... No, wait!"
Zuwaro was about to get up when something suddenly occurred to him, and he froze in place. He squinted his eyes, pondered for a moment, then looked at Thousand Island Shell with a serious gaze and asked.
"Shell, you just said... the Ainu people are divided into five major tribes of the Southern Island factions, along with the various tribes of the Northern Island including the Thousand Island and Birch Tai factions?..."
"Ah? Yes... Zuwaro, father told me. We have the legacy of the Southern Northern Division but have been intermarrying with the Thousand Island clan among the Northern tribes. Actually, the divisions between factions are not so clear, and most are merely small tribes of hundreds..."
"Hmm, overall, the Northern Island Ainu territory includes the northern coasts of Ainu Maoxili Island, the Northeast Thousand Islands, and the Northwest Birch Island... As for the Southern Island Ainu territory, it's most of the Ainu Maoxili Island, divided into the coastal Northern Remaining factions in the west, the coastal Ishikari factions in the middle, the coastal West Yuan and East Yuan factions in the south, and reportedly the factions along the southern bay directly bordering the Wa People at Uchiura..."
"Chief Divine witness! Shell, according to your saying, just the Southern Island Ainu people are split into five large tribal alliances, with each alliance containing several small tribes... And a tribe, like your tribe before being attacked, is only composed of hundreds of people?"
"Hmm... they likely are? The tribes can't gather too much population because they can't sustain them... Father said our Northern Remaining factions are the smallest, thus the weakest among the five major tribes. The strongest Ishikari Tribe often attacks us, seizing property and people. They have been attacking excessively these years, apparently under some threat or temptation from the Wa People. They even sent people to various factions, demanding high-quality snow mink and snow fox fur, surely traded to the Wa People..."
"What? The Wa People threaten and tempt, demanding mink and fox fur?"
Upon hearing this unexpected news, Zuwaro paused, a revelation seemed to strike him like a lightning bolt. He recalled that when he led his men to raid a longship from Wa Country, it was loaded with lots of pelts, which are still piled in the camp's cellar... But quickly, he pushed aside his extra thoughts, only asking the most pressing question.
"Shell, your Ainu tribe only numbers a few hundred. Overall, your Northern Remaining Tribal Alliance is estimated at twenty thousand. The so-called Southern Island Ainu five tribes combined amount to no more than a hundred thousand or so tribes, I suppose?!"
"But according to Your Majesty's prophecy, as per Wa and Korean captives' accounts... The Three Islands and tribes combined, are counted in millions, even more than the Alliance and Kingdom population combined... Given the Three Islands and Tribal Alliance's might, they since have driven your Ainu factions from the southern Three Islands up to the northern Maoxili Island, and have been established in the southern tip of the Great Island for many years..."
"Chief Divine witness! Why didn't these Wa tribal factions conquer utterly, and devour you thoroughly? Why didn't they transform this last Ainu Great Island into their Wa people's territory, building their villages and farmlands?"
Upon hearing such a cruel possibility, Thousand Island Shell's eyes became red again, her cheeks turned flushed, and she angrily raised her head like an enraged robin. She bit her lip, brimming with tears, and looked at her Chieftain husband, declaring loudly and resolutely.
"Heavenly Divine protects us, Guardian Spirit protects us, and the ancestors above protect us! Zuwaro! This final Ainu Land, this last Maoxili Island, is the shelter promised by Heavenly Divine to us Ainu people, a place the Wa people can never truly conquer!"
"They can dispatch vicious Samurai, they can threaten and plunder our tribes... Yet, they can never truly settle upon our lands, never establish their Wa people's villages in the protected land of Heavenly Divine!"
"Hmm? Shell, why do you say so? Haven't the Wa people already established settlements in the southernmost part of the Great Island?"
"Ancestors and Guardian Spirit witness! Father said so, and the Elders in the tribe also said... The Wa people will go no further, they can no longer move northward even a step! Because..."
At this moment, Thousand Island Shell lifted her head, staring at Zuwaro with unwavering eyes, reciting the mythical creed all Ainu people firmly believe in, continuously verified over the centuries.
"Because the most frightening Divine of the Wa people, the most evil Rice God... governing farmlands, has been blocked by the three Guardian Spirits!"
"Because their terrible channels and rice paddies, terrible wells and dry fields stop outside this last Ainu Land! Their white rice and yellow rice can't be grown or thrive here!"
