Chapter 405: The King's Western Tour: Apa Plain, a Thousand Miles of Fertile Land

The sun is always bright during the dry season, and the sacred wind flies in the sky. After the Air Moon on the 13th, there is the Eagle Moon (Cuauhtli), which symbolizes spirituality. This is the month of control, the month of movement, and the month of luck. Since the Southern Expedition, all the plans and efforts have come to pay off.

A brave Prepecha warrior brought the head of the noble Tekos chief into the Apa military city and conveyed the king's will: within three days, Kaicheng surrendered without killing. Three days later, the entire army attacked the city and killed them all!

The southwest allies have been destroyed, and Apa City is an isolated city with no life left. The defenders in the city lost their last breath and looked decayed all day long. Most of the nobles were devastated under the bombardment of the terrifying copper beasts. They argued fiercely for two days, and even broke out into a small-scale fight, before they finally came to an end.

At noon on the third day, the gate of Apa City finally opened. The remaining palm tribesmen put down their weapons and went out of the city to ask for surrender from the royal army. They knelt down outside the city gate and allowed the guards to tie their hands and feet, leaving their life and death in the hands of others.

Later, Bertard led three thousand Praetorian Guards into the city to take stock.

The military city is not large in area and has a small population, but its food reserves are extremely rich. The king's army captured 6,000 militiamen and 4,000 women and children, totaling 10,000 rebels. And in the granary in the city, there is actually a year's worth of food stored for 30,000 people! All these rations were handed over by the surrendering defenders and were not burned.

Shulot did not enter the city. He just stood calmly under the royal flag outside the city, watching the destruction of the Palm Glory family. It wasn't until the warrior captain came to report that there were 30,000 people in the city with enough food for a year that he showed surprise and sighed.

"Allies in the mountainous area, a strong military city, and sufficient food. It turns out that this is the reason for the rebellion of the Palm Patriarch Zotor!"

At this point, Shulot laughed heartily.

"Haha! Zotor was ambushed to death, and the Tekos people were destroyed by civil strife. The Apa military city and the ten thousand tons of grain stores were all owned by the royal army. These grain stores were used to recruit tens of thousands of Tekos refugees!"

The king leads the army here, and what he is most worried about is not the enemies in the mountains, but the logistical food supplies. A total of four kingdom legions, including the Guards Corps, the Gyeonggi Corps, the Second Pike Corps, and the Guakili Corps, are stationed in Zicao County. The local food is not enough for use, and the food even has to be transported more than 200 miles from the Patzcuaro Lake area. supply.

Because of the lack of food, the king had to try his best to plunder the noble fiefs, and let half of the Gyeonggi army return and escort tens of thousands of rebels northward. Even so, the tens of thousands of Tekos prisoners and refugees who were about to arrive still brought him great food pressure. But now, Apa City has surrendered, and with such a large amount of captured food, the burden on the kingdom has become much easier.

"Well, eating one load of enemy grain is worth transporting three loads three hundred miles. This is Xiu's art of war."

Shulot made a joke. Then, with a solemn look on his face, he ordered Bertard.

"Within three days, let two thousand spear legions set off to escort the ten thousand rebels in Apa City back to the capital! All these ten thousand people will be demoted to serfs and given to warriors with military merit!"

"I obey you, Your Highness!"

Shulot nodded slightly, with a smile on his face. The 20,000 rebels in Zicao City and the 10,000 rebels in Apa City were all used as serfs, filling the gap of 30,000 slaves. As for the 50,000 serfs that are still lacking, we have to find a solution from the Tekos tribes. What, you are asking about the enfeoffment gap for this southern expedition? That will have to wait until the next war to make up for it.

The eagle rides the long wind and soars in the southwest sky. Three days later, 12,000 people set foot on the road north, and the number of people eating was greatly reduced.

Shulot let the last two thousand spear regiments in his hands guard the city of Apa, and left four thousand guards regiments including the artillery battalion to suppress various places and maintain food routes. Then, he led only three thousand armored troops to patrol the vast Apa plain to the west of Apa city.

Black Wolf's royal flag slowly moved toward the southwest, and the scouts were released for twenty miles. There are many streams on the Apa Plain, with luxuriant water plants and lush forests. The king stopped from time to time to examine the surrounding landscape. Three thousand guards marched for four days and then traveled more than 100 miles to the village of Caolin (now El Charapo) by the Emmon River (now Rio el limon).

Caolin Village is located at the mountain pass, surrounded by a fertile river basin. It was once a large village with more than a thousand people. But at this time, it had gone through wars and been plundered twice by the Tekos tribe and the Canine Legion, and it was already in dilapidated condition.

Xiulote looked at the farmland with flourishing weeds outside the village, pinched the fertile soil in the field, and nodded in admiration.

Then he climbed up the surrounding hills and looked south. The towering mountains rise and fall, stretching for three to four hundred miles until they reach the edge of the Pacific Ocean. I heard from the Tekos pioneers in the army that at the end of this mountain road is a fishing village called Neshpa. The fishing village is surrounded by the largest beach within hundreds of miles.

There are two common mountain roads from the Apa plains deep into the southwest mountains to the Pacific Ocean. One is along the Kan River, through Kan River Village, to Hand Snake City, and then to the seaside Palm Bay. The black wolf sweeps along this road. The other, more dangerous road is along the Emmon River, passing through Caolin Village, deep into the mountains, and then reaching Neshepa on the coast. In other words, Kanhe Village and Caolin Village are the two key valley entrances that separate the Apa Plain and the southern mountainous area, and are also important places to control the passage to the southern mountainous area!

He looked to the north again, and the endless Apa Plain appeared in front of him. Surrounded by mountains, the Apa plain is vast and fertile. The terrain here is extremely flat, the climate is warm and pleasant, and there are no floods or droughts.

If you look closely, you will see that the plain is full of intertwined streams, lush forests, fertile fields, running deer, and roaring monkeys. In the vast fertile fields, Prepecha villages and Tecos tribes alternate sporadically, and the cultivated riverside farmland is less than one-twelfth of the entire plain.

"The terrain is flat, the temperature is suitable, there is sufficient water and fertilizer, and there are crisscrossing streams. The Apa Plain is a fertile land of heaven under the tropical sun!"

Shulot looked at this fertile land, his heart was racing, and he was thoughtful. In later generations, the Apa Plain was one of the most important granaries in central Mexico. The area of ​​cultivated land on the plain is far greater than that of the Patzcuaro Lake District. It is truly a vast area of ​​fertile land! Thinking of this, many previous plans flashed through his mind, but he could not make a final decision until he had examined them all.

One day later, three thousand imperial guardsmen went west again, traveling more than 70 miles in three days, and arrived at Kanhe Village on the bank of Kanhe River. Ezpin left two thousand pikemen to guard his retreat. Thousands of Tekos prisoners were escorted by warriors, walked out of the mountains, and headed to Apa City in batches.

The Black Wolf's flag was flying high, three thousand guards were on guard, and the Tekos prisoners who passed by had fear on their faces. Shulot stood under the royal flag and watched patiently for a long time.

In front of him, the long queue of prisoners stretched for dozens of miles and was divided into different batches. Each batch of prisoners ranged from a few hundred to a thousand, and were strung together in teams of twenty, guarded along the way by small teams of royal warriors. Most of these Tekos prisoners were young men and women, with sallow complexions and haggard expressions. They were in dire straits and carried signs of hunger as they trudged along the river.

A new batch of Tekos prisoners soon arrived at the village of Kanhe, numbering about a thousand people. The spear battalion commander guarding the village shouted loudly, sent out two hundred warriors holding bronze spears, and then took out a dozen wooden barrels containing food. The aroma of grains spread across the street, and the captive team suddenly became commotion, which was then suppressed by the whips of the warriors.

Under the stern orders of the warriors, the prisoners lined up in a long queue, holding hands in their hands, and went to receive today's food one by one. After receiving the food, the prisoners immediately squatted outside, buried their heads in their hands, and ate it all in three or two gulps. Their daily food is extremely limited. If they don't eat it as soon as possible in the presence of the guarding warriors, they will most likely be snatched away by others at night. If some prisoners wanted to take them again, they would be picked out by the warriors and whipped ten times without mercy.

All in all, although the captive team was in chaos, they maintained basic order under the pressure of the warriors.

Shulot looked at it for a moment. He was too far away and couldn't see anything clearly. He pondered for a moment and then said to Bertard.

"Let the person in charge of this place come over."

"As commanded."

The samurai chief strode away. Soon, a warrior with a strong body, a fierce face, and a wolf-like tiger came to the king's banner. The warrior knelt down respectfully and tried his best to smile kindly.

"God bless you! Your Majesty, the thousand-man battalion commander of the Second Lancer Corps, Pimon, the senior warrior of Patzcuaro, greets you!"

Xiuluo nodded, looked at Pi Meng calmly, and asked.

"God bless you! What are the prisoners eating?"

"Your Majesty, it's multigrain dumplings."

"Oh? Bring two from the bucket and let me have a taste."

"Ah! This? This"

Pi Meng raised his head in astonishment and was at a loss for a moment.

"Go! Just take it from the prisoners' barrels!"

".As commanded."

After hearing the king's order, Pimen gritted his teeth and went to the barrel. He carefully selected for a moment, took out two barely visible grain dumplings, carefully wrapped them in his own clothes, and came to the king again.

"Your Majesty, this is the multi-grain dumplings for the captives. You are the noble king, you have such food."

Shulot picked up a multi-grain dumpling, put it in his hand, and looked at it carefully for a moment. The dumpling was about the size of a fist and was a strange green color overall. It feels cool to the touch, and it must have been made for a while. When you smell it, there is no peculiar smell. On the contrary, it has the fragrance of palm leaves.

Shulot stared at the green multi-grain dumplings, hesitated for a moment, and then prepared to take a bite. Seeing the king's action, Bertard next to him quickly stretched out his hand and snatched the dumpling.

"Your Highness, I'm hungry. Please let me take a bite first."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Shulot nodded slowly. The warrior commander remained calm and took two bites under Pimon's shocked eyes.

"Well, medium rare, there are old pumpkins, fresh wild vegetables, half-cooked sweet potatoes. And... uh..."

Bertard paused, his face turning purple. After a while, he swallowed it calmly, glanced at Pi Meng coldly, and spoke calmly.

"There are also some insects. The soft texture is like giant-winged ants, and then there is some palm flavor."

"Ah! Dear Holy Eagle Warrior Commander, you are so knowledgeable!"

Battalion Commander Pimen broke into a cold sweat and tried his best to compliment him.

"Exactly, exactly! There are giant-winged ants in this dumpling. I just dug a few piles the day before yesterday, soaked them in salt water, and just wrapped them in the dumpling today. As for the smell of palm, it is the palm weevil on the palm tree. It’s round and juicy when you take a bite, it’s very fresh. The warriors just caught a few nests from the tree yesterday.”

"."

Hearing this, Xuelote's face twitched, while Bertard tried to remain calm. The two looked at each other for a moment, speechless.