Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1786 - 1280: Dual Kings Compromise, the Opportunity for Victory Emerges!
"To bestow my Kingdom's Imperial Guards in the Divine Stone City Valley, and then pass them on to two children?..."
Within the Divine King's grand tent, the Cloud map lay spread on the redwood table. Although the Mistec Tribes were still resisting, their Cloud Territory was already being allocated among the Mexica leaders.
Upon hearing Aweit's inquiry, Xiulote's expression remained unchanged, but his thoughts raced like lightning.
"The Imperial Guards I keep by my side are almost devoid of Mexica people; rather, they are primarily composed of Prepetcha Warriors, Tecos Tribe Warriors, and Wilderness Barbarian Tribe Warriors... Given their tribal origins, it is difficult for the Alliance's nobility to accept them. Coupled with the influence I have personally led for many years, it is decisively hard for them to be collectively bought off!... At most, only a few among them might have been interspersed with sand..."
"Therefore, the political exchange condition proposed by Aweit, using the territorial control of the Divine Stone Valley to exchange my Kingdom's Imperial Guards for local enfeoffment, is to use long-term family interests to weaken the military power by my side... He aims for me to further become a religious symbol of faith, a purely divine authority leader!..."
"On the other hand, the proposal itself is also a political probe... Is Aweit genuinely intent on handing over the Divine Stone City at the rear of the army entirely to my direct lineage?... Or does he merely want to test the waters, to see my bottom line, to see my response, and to determine whether my thoughts have been swayed by the reputation of the 'Prophet'..."
After a moment of contemplation, Xiulote respectfully bowed. He spoke to Aweit with solemnity, akin to the former Gillim.
"Respected Father-in-law... Divine King!... The army is campaigning abroad, and the conferment of military merits and land entitlements indeed helps to invigorate the army's spirit and to establish territories Mexicaized... But such enfeoffment should occur after we seize Cloud Mountain City or at least after this year's autumn harvest!... At the very least, we should wait for the Colony Tribes' autumn harvest to be completed, the food stored in granaries, hearts slightly settled, before undertaking such a large-scale action! Meanwhile, for now, it might be best to maintain quietude."
"The Divine Stone Valley has thirty thousand garrisons from the Mistec Tribe, if to grant the Military Merit Nobles 800 mu of land and enfeoff 40 Agricultural Slaves, it can enfeoff roughly 700-800 people. If too few Agricultural Slaves are granted, these newly promoted Military Merit Nobles might be reluctant to leave their homeland, making it harder for them to establish themselves among the Mistec people... Indeed, during actual implementation, it's best to provide a chance for the surrendered Mistec Tribe chiefs, forgiving some of the surrendering chieftains, promoting certain Cloud Warriors to join the ruling group of the Alliance... Therefore, I believe 500 enfeoffed Alliance Military Merit Nobles are sufficient!"
"As for the enfeoffment targets of the 500 Military Merit Nobles, they should be warriors who fought bravely and earned military merits during the Southern Expedition... The Divine King's rewards and punishments should be as just as the Sun... In my view, the primary merit in the Southern Expedition should belong to the Royal Warriors who were first in attacking cities and breaking enemy formations, secondary merit to the City-State Warriors who cleared roads and forests, and last to the Kingdom's Imperial Guards who operated Copper Cannons and shot at city centers... The enfeoffment quota of the Divine Stone City should perhaps be based on this: fifty percent to Royal Warriors, thirty percent to City-State Warriors, twenty percent to Kingdom's Imperial Guards... The army campaigns abroad, rewards and punishments should be clear, prioritizing military morale, please allow the Divine King to discern!"
Having said that, Xiulote respectfully prepared to bow again, yet he was held up by Aweit. Aweit held Xiulote with one hand and lightly tapped on the table with the other, seemingly pondering something.
"Enfeoffment after the autumn harvest... only enfeoffing 500 people, each granting 40 slaves and 800 mu of land?..."
This kind of enfeoffment for Military Merit Nobles aligns with Kingdom of the Lake standards, yet is much higher than the Mexica Alliance! Within the Alliance, the population is dense, and land is entirely distributed, the number of nobles has nearly grown to saturation. Ordinary Military Merit Nobles often have only a dozen or so household slaves and about two hundred mu of land, even less than the veteran warriors of the Kingdom of the Lake. Thus, the same Divine Stone Valley, Aweit believes, could enfeoff two thousand Military Merit Nobles, while Xiulote counts only seven or eight hundred people...
Fundamentally, Aweit's governance base lies with the traditional royal nobles. The traditional upper echelon will seize most of the expansion profit of the Alliance, such as enfeoffing a series of royal Princes.
Whereas, Xiulote's governance base lies with the emerging warriors and Military Merit Nobles. Through the continuous expansion of the Kingdom of the Lake, the unending war profits brought forth, and the rapidly increased productivity, a multitude of middle-level supporters, the emerging military merit landowners, have gradually emerged. A blank slate of the Kingdom of the Lake ultimately allows for better painting compared to the intertwined Alliance...
"Hmm... Accepting some Mistec chieftains and warriors, assigning quotas based on military merits, prioritizing military morale..."
After a moment of contemplation, Aweit finally smiled broadly.
"Indeed, this is fair! Xiulote, let's proceed as you suggested!..."
"Yes! Adhering to your wishes, Divine King!..."
"Xiulote, with no outsiders around, just call me Father-in-law!"...
"Yes! Divine King... Father-in-law!..."
Saying so, Xiulote bowed again. Through subtle rejection wrapped in persuasion, his demeanor remained humble, enveloping others in the warmth of spring breeze.
Aweit also smiled warmly, a complete change from his usual stern and authoritative demeanor, without a trace of coercion.
Because, facing the "submissive" student, the "admonishing" son-in-law, and the "hidden" prophet, he can no longer have a winner-takes-all situation!... After this round of probing, both sides reached a tacit compromise, understanding each other's bottom line.
"Xiulote, in the southward expedition, the three armies. The Eastern Army is besieging Cloud Mountain City, the Central Army is still confronting the Mistek people's Yun Chen Leader outside Mountain River City... Yet the Western Army has made the first breakthrough by capturing the towns!..."
"This is the latest report... The Western Army has already pierced through West Mistek, advancing south from Xianggou City all the way to the coast... Currently, the vanguard of the Western Army should have already started cooperating with the Kingdom's Naval Forces, beginning the siege of River Bean City on the Mistek Coast!..."
Aweit took out the third letter and handed it to Xiulote. Then, he pressed his finger on River Bean City's location on the map and drew a dotted line pointing directly to Puctitlan behind the central Mountain River City.
"May the Chief Divine protect us! Once River Bean and the Double Mountain coastal towns are captured, the empty central rear of the Mistek people will be completely exposed to the Alliance! Then, the Western Army will move north to Puctitlan, directly entering the Cloud Territory, joining the Central Army to attack the Yun Chen Leader..."
"The Yun Chen Leader's army originally comes from the various city-states in the rear. Once his rear territory is invaded by the Alliance, the morale of the army will be greatly shaken!... Surely many chieftains will leave with their tribal warriors, prioritizing the defense of their own tribal city-states... Once the Mistek people's army is dispersed it will weaken, losing the rear, collapse is imminent!..."
"Hence, the key battle opportunity for the southern expedition has emerged! This decisive chance for victory is not in the hard-to-crack mountain cities of the Eastern path, nor at the frontline of the Cloud army in the Central path, but at the coastal twin towns attacked by the Western Army!..."
"Ah! Indeed, it is so! Praise the Chief Divine!... Father-in-law, your keen control over the battle situation is truly like the embodiment of the War God descending personally!..."
Xiulote sincerely praised, a genuine expression on his face, and Aweit also raised the corners of his mouth.
In this southern expedition, the Alliance deployed all its forces, with three armies heading south to engage the two Cloud Central Tribes. In less than a year, the forward Mistek Tribes have already shown fatal flaws. Currently, attacking these flaws are Marshal Casal and his cousin Montezuma II's over twenty thousand Western Army, along with the Kingdom's naval support from thousands of the Purple Grass Army!
"Xiulote, the logistic supply route of the Western Army already extends a thousand miles, more than half of which are mountainous routes... At this time, Casal relies on seized and looted food to barely maintain army supplies! But the rainy season has arrived, making the logistic costs of the mountain roads unbearably high for the Alliance..."
Hearing the strings and knowing the tune, Xiulote's eyes flickered, already understanding Aweit's unspoken intention.
The biggest difficulty of the southern expedition to the Cloud Central Tribes is the increasingly long supply lines. Central America lacks ox carts and horse carriages, making it impossible to maintain a thousand-mile land supply line for twenty thousand troops on mountainous terrain. The only way to maintain the supplies of the Western Army is by water, transporting food from the Kingdom of the Lake! And the lives of Casal and Montezuma's over twenty thousand troops, upon reaching the Mistek Coast, are all entrusted to the Kingdom Fleet's hands...
"Hmm... The personnel arrangement of the Western Army seems to have been carefully thought out... And Aweit chose this time to reveal the Cloud Territory's division plan... truly holding the Asar Lineage royalty tightly!... Indeed, personnel arrangements are the most clever. Planning ahead and letting time create favorable conditions..."
Xiulote's mind raced, learning Aweit's political strategies, but he did not hesitate in action. He solemnly bowed once again, responding in a deep voice.
"May the Chief Divine witness! The logistics of the Western Army will be handled by the Kingdom! And the newly forged Thunder God Mortar Cannon of the Kingdom can exactly arrive by sea at the Mistek people's coastal twin towns..."
"Victory in the Divine War surely belongs to us, this is the Divinely revealed prophecy!..."
"Praise the Chief Divine, and praise you even more! My Divine King Father-in-law!..."
"Haha!..."
In the tent, Aweit laughed heartily, extremely satisfied.
Note: The surprise chapter is the latest southern expedition map.
