xymnovel Chapter 2062 - 1505: This Cup of Cocoa Is for the Future of the Gummy People!
Chapter 2062 - 1505: This Cup of Cocoa Is for the Future of the Gummy People!
The elder of Yun Gushan mumbled, in Toltec-accented Nahuatl, offering a "good man card" once more, just as the old Otomi Priest Olte once did. Under Xiulote’s twitching gaze, the aged Elder Priest bowed deeply, paying homage to the young Prophet."Ancestor bear witness! We, the Cloud Mountain Tribes, believe in your divinity and honor. Therefore, we are willing to join your Kingdom of the Lake, accepting the noble titles of your kingdom!... Indeed, the more of our migrating tribes, the stronger your fiefdom will become. And the five noble titles of honor will split the tribes into five groups, which isn’t a bad thing for you either. As for our request for autonomy, it is modeled after the old customs of the Otomi Tribes, similar to those of the Colima Tribes... If you are willing, we will also offer the most beautiful noble maiden to give birth to a divine child for you..."
"The mighty War God and the ancient Rain Divine, witness our promise together! As long as you agree to these six conditions, and swear a blood oath of the ancestral gods with us in front of the army outside Cloud Mountain City, under the watchful eyes of the Allied Forces... we will open the gates of Cloud Mountain City and its fortress, handing over the ancestral land of the Mixtecs. We will not only give you this impregnable mountain city fortress but also place the lives of our twelve thousand tribespeople in your hands!..."
"..."
Facing the bowing and pleading elder of Yun Gushan, Xiulote sat immobile, pondering quietly for a long time. To assign these Central American nobility, surrendered during the Divine War, to the frontiers of Central America’s realm, allowing them to cultivate the land and expand the dominion, would be like the enfeoffment system of the Western Zhou. The kingdom will not choose to impose taxes on these enfeoffed frontier nobles but will use more economic measures to exchange for frontier outputs with superior productivity. Will such an enfeoffment lead to light-heavy reversals, bring about Spring and Autumn, bring about a Warring States period, or breed the hidden threat of rebellion generations later?...
Perhaps, it will depend on whether the faith in the Chief Divine is deeply rooted decades or centuries later. How well the kingdom’s assimilation policy is executed? To what extent the central administration maintains economic contact and control over local economies, and whether it can always maintain a dominant advantage? And does he and the Kingdom of the Lake he personally established possess such confidence?...
"Very well! I agree with you!..."
After a while, Xiulote finally solemnly agreed, sitting with a seigneur’s demeanor, nodding gravely to the prostrate Yun Gushan.
"The ancient Ancestor of the Gummy People watches us of the same origin... As long as Cloud Mountain Tribes honor the Chief Divine, accept the ancestral myths shared with the Gummy People, and send noble descendants to study at Divine Might University... I will hold a blood oath before the formations with you, agreeing to your enfeoffment conditions!..."
"Chief Divine bear witness! After your enfeoffment to the Great Sand River Plain, the first five years of food support will be provided by the Great Lake Commissioner. Moreover, the kingdom’s priesthood will teach you farming techniques and lease metal farming tools... Given the soil and water conditions of the Great Sand River Plain, as long as you diligently cultivate the land, its yield will not fall short of this Cloud Mountain Valley, and might even surpass it in fertility!"
Having said this, Xiulote extended his palm to brush the hair of the elder of Yun Gushan. Then, he helped the excited Elder Priest up, slightly softening his solemn expression. After a moment of contemplation, he gazed into Yun Gushan’s eyes, speaking with deep meaning.
"Only one ancestral oath can exist at a time... Since the Cloud Mountain Tribes chose to join the Alliance, they must sever ties with the southern-oath-bound Zapotecs Tribes!..."
"Before coming to negotiate this time, the Divine King’s condition for me was to allow you to take away eight thousand people. Yet, on my own accord, I promised you an additional four thousand, as such requires you to make some beneficial contributions to the southern expedition of the Alliance! For instance, use the Zapotecs Tribes in Oaxaca to exchange for the Cloud Mountain Tribes..."
"The Zapotecs Allied Forces are stationed at the camp in the Valley of Oaxaca, hesitating and observing, while sending small troops through the surrounding mountain paths to probe. They neither send main forces north to rescue you, nor do they dare to fully retract. This small-scale skirmishing in the forest brings no help to the battle line, only wasting the lives of both sides’ warriors unnecessarily..."
"Therefore, the Divine King intends for a decisive end with the entangled Zapotecs in the southeast of the Cloud Mountain City Valley... We will spread news of rebellion among the Vastec Tribes, and then withdraw our forces from the already occupied valley, luring the Zapotecs army to pursue deeply to the Cloud Mountain City Valley... But, as always cautious as the Zapotecs are, it needs the cooperation of your Cloud Mountain Divine Race to draw these wary bats out of their caves!"
"Chief Divine bear witness! We will let your envoy break through, delivering the Alliance’s ’latest intelligence’ to the Zapotecs. Inviting Zapotecs allies through your Yun Gushan Divine Race to conspire within and without, attacking the retreating Allied Army... thereby... thus..."
Xiulote leaned forward, whispering to the Elder of Yun Gushan for quite some time. The aging Mixtec priest’s eyes flickered, his face showing a mix of emotions and struggle. After a while, he nodded heavily, biting his lip hard, agreeing.
"Very well! By the wolf-like War God, I will arrange everything! The Zapotecs Tribes in Oaxaca have always intermarried with our Cloud Mountain Tribes, with many noble descendants of shared blood. Since the Alliance wishes for a cut with the southern oath..."
"I will send my third son to lead as the envoy pleading for aid from the Cloud Mountain Tribe! He will know nothing of the agreements behind the scenes, only bearing the last hope of saving Cloud Mountain City, determined to break through, seeking help from the Zapotecs tribe of his mother’s origin. And those noble descendants who accompany him in the breakout will also have Zapotecs blood... Whether the Zapotecs’ armies will come or how many will come, is up to the smoke-like fate!..."
At this, the elder of Yun Gushan lowered his head, his aged eyes reflecting sincere pain. This group of noble descendants seeking Zapotecs aid—both the token of sincerity from Cloud Mountain Tribes and a destined cost with scarcely one in ten to return. Once the Mexica’s army launches their well-prepared ambush, these young nobles, knowing nothing, loyal solely to their tribes, will likely meet no better fate than untended graves alongside the Zapotecs reinforcements...
Xiulote lowered his eyes, equally understanding the elder of Yun Gushan’s choice. He silently acknowledged the resolve for several breaths, quietly pouring a cup of blood-red cocoa, handing it to the others.
"Chief Divine protect us! No matter how much cocoa is lost, as long as the sacred cocoa tree can continue, there’s a future for the tribes! And the future of the Cloud Mountain Tribes, in my eyes, overlaps with the Fifth Era, a reunification into one Gummy race... So, this cup of sacred cocoa, let’s toast it to that smoke-like fate, to the future of the Gummy People!..."