Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1791 - 1285: Messenger Heads South, Sea Ships Sail West

"Escort exit the city! Send a message to the south..."

"Let them through!"

When the messenger from the clouds delivered the message, by that evening, another group of messengers rushed out from the craftsman's camp, speeding south along the straight and wide stone road.

Heading south from the Qinchongcan Capital, stretching over a hundred li along the way, is the heart of the capital region, filled with prosperous farmlands, manors, villages, and market towns. Thousands of military merit nobility and veteran warriors, or the emerging military landowners, serve as the kingdom's ruling base, concentrating their feudal holdings here, continually cultivating vast new lands.

"Move aside! Move aside! Kingdom's transportation team!..."

The roads of the capital region are well maintained, with a large number of merchants traveling back and forth. Among the traveling teams, the most distinctive is the transportation team from the Blackstone City mining area.

Over a hundred fully armed samurai, leading many times the number of transporting civilians, journey toward the capital city. The civilians, panting heavily, push rows of fully loaded wheelbarrows. The front row is mostly covered with waterproof straw mats, but from the faint golden sheen and the heavy wheel marks, it can be determined that these carts are loaded with valuable items equivalent to one-third the weight of gold...bronze ware!

Yes, after years of copper mining and bronze smelting, the price of bronze in the capital region has finally dropped to one-third that of gold, significantly lower than the surrounding states and tribes, enough to make all the nations of the Old Continent go crazy. And while the price of bronze throughout Central America is slowly declining, it still roughly equates to two-thirds that of gold.

Therefore, before the Mexica southern expedition into the clouds, many long-distance merchants from the clouds would bring gold to purchase bronze ware, then transport it back to their tribes in the clouds to sell, exchanging it for double the gold...

"Across all lands, the durable golden bronze ware is more sought after by the nobility than the heavy and softer gold items!..."

Through the trade of bronze ware, copper ware, Lake Gems, and Mayan turquoise, the gold reserves of the entire Central American world are steadily tilting towards the Kingdom of the Lake. And under the direction of Xiulote, the Divine Revelation Place has also begun research into minting coins, attempting to create a standard gold equivalent, the so-called "gold coin."

As for the specifications of the "gold coin," the Divine Revelation Place's skills are limited, making it difficult to craft very thin. So the initial "gold coins" come in only two types: one being a square gold talisman weighing one jin, engraved with the Chief Divine's hummingbird emblem for large-scale transactions; and the other being a kingdom's one tael (50g) of sacred elliptical-shaped gold cocoa, used for everyday noble consumption...

Hmm, the weight of a kingdom's gold cocoa, quite ordinary, is equivalent to fourteen Venetian gold ducats. As for a single gold talisman, even more commonplace, at the current exchange rate of one gold to fifteen silver, amounts to merely 240 taels of silver from the Ming Dynasty...

"Chief Divine! What are those black stones? They look so evil..."

"Ha, are you from a foreign land? Those are burning subterranean black stones, possessing the evil power of the deceased but have been purified through rituals held by the priests of the Blackstone City mining area. The old priest in the village quietly told me, these black stones are actually unbelievers who fell into the Abyss, turned into solid sculptures, and then dyed black by the Netherworld. Next, they will be fashioned into a honeycomb shape, burned as offerings to the Chief Divine, providing unbelievers' souls a chance at salvation and conversion!"

"Tsk! Frightening, truly frightening! Chief Divine shield me! I am your most devout believer, please guide my soul after death not to fall into the Abyss..."

The wheelbarrows without covers at the back are piled high with black coal stones, unsettling the country folk who see them. Soon, low prayers rise from the mouths of the passing country folk, spreading fear and faith driven by fear.

In actuality, these black fuels are to be supplied locally to the Blackstone City mining area's smelting works, and then transported to the craftsman's camp in the capital city. Only a small portion of the coal enters the market, fashioned into honeycomb-like briquettes used by samurai and the nobility...

"The Blackstone City mining area is expanding again, the demand for mine slaves keeps increasing! ... I wonder where they can replenish a batch..."

"Last year, the Divine Monkey Corps Commander launched a campaign against the Northern Ticos, sending over several thousand mine slaves, which should suffice for two to three years... And now, the Purple Grass Army Commander is attacking the Mistek coast, likely to bring back quite a few cloud dwellers as mine slaves..."

"Don't mention it! The black rock mountain iron mine on the coast is also expanding... The mine slaves captured by the Purple Grass Army are prioritized for that... Haven't you noticed the southern iron tools are now being transported in crates and distributed to various manors and villages?"

"Ha! Those flimsy iron tools, they break after a couple of swings, how can they compare to the bronze produced in our mining area..."

"Chief Divine bear witness! Things are different now! The iron tools from the south are now quite durable, at least very useful as farming tools. The key is, they're produced so abundantly and quickly... maybe one day, they will replace the bronze produced in our mining area..."

"Heh! Flimsy iron tools replacing good bronze? You're talking nonsense like a parrot..."

"You blind scofish..."

"Hush! A messenger from the capital is here! Quick! Have the civilians make way, let the King's messenger go first!..."

"Praise the Chief Divine! Praise Your Majesty!..."

Amid the prayers of the transportation team, the messenger sped past. He ran through the lake region's villages, traversed the smooth county roads, reaching the boundary of Zicao County. Then, he entered the rugged mountains, where the secondary county road turned into a primary dirt road, flanked by dense mountain forests. In the woods, one could occasionally spot tribal flag teams hunting and the villages engaged in hunting, gathering, farming, and logging.

"Hey! A group of travelers is coming! Quick, gather the flag team's able-bodied men, bring the goods and weapons, and trade with them!"

"Fool! Open your eyes wide! ... That's the Great Chief's messenger, carrying the most noble banner! Those elite samurai are directly under the Great Chief, do not offend them... Quickly clear the way, prepare food and water as offerings to the messenger and the samurai... do not add anything odd!"

"Ah! Yes, flag leader!..."

The messenger rested only briefly, drank some water, then continued southward. The mountain road persisted for another hundred or two hundred li until the terrain became increasingly lower, flatter. The mountain streams gradually converged into the valley's rivers. Constructed irrigation channels began appearing in the south, accompanied by increasingly dense villages, ultimately connecting to a shimmering large lake...

"Finally, the Atoya Lake of Zicao County has been reached!"

The messenger let out a long breath, the continuous travel almost exhausting his strength, the escorting samurai were also all spent. Soon, they located a lakeside post station, enlisted three large log canoes and accompanying sailors, then started rowing eastward along the lake towards Zicao City.

"Hey? Those few unusual large ships have such big sails raised? They have no oars, no rowers, yet carry so much lumber, how can they still sail so nimbly?"

"Ah, those are the new ships of the shipyard! Called... oh... Water God Sandboat!... They carry a lot, ten times that of a canoe, steady as well, making excellent cargo ships... but actually, they aren't very fast!... The really fast large ships, there are only two in the shipyard! I've seen them sail, when they catch the wind, it's like an arrow! It's said they carry the Wind God's blessing, the spirit of the wind is bound within the ship..."

The post station sailor on the small boat remarked in awe, pointing towards the shipyard outside Zicao City, gazing distantly and praying with expectation.

"Chief Divine witness! That's the wind-like fast ship, with tall sails and deep hull, like a shuttle with pointed and solid weave or like the long bean pod in the fields..."

"See, those are the two, just there! Their names are, Wind God Shuttle Bean Ship!"

The messenger's eyes widened, among many sand ships and oar-sail ships coming and going, he immediately spotted two tall multi-masted ocean shielding ships, one of which was slightly smaller and older, the other obviously larger with a much newer hull. Some sailors were busy on the ships, skillfully handling the cables and sails...

"Ah! These are the Wind God Great Ships mentioned by the director, boasting a stable speed three times that of any oar-sailed longship! Such unprecedented fast ships are actually constructed under the guidance of craftsmen from the Western Sea Tribes! For this, the Divine Revelation Place directly ennobled two Craftsman Masters, even dispatching escorting samurai..."

The messenger blinked, gazed in awe for a moment, then tightened the Divine Revelation Place's letter at his waist, reverently expressing.

"Chief Divine bless! Only such wind god ships can be valued by His Majesty and the director, to sail to the endless reaches of the Western Sea, supporting the brave and fearless Zuwaro High Priest!"