Aztec Eternals

The slightly cold February is coming to an end, but the high sun is still warm. Changfeng travels all the way, passing through solemn warriors, passing busy craftsmen, and coming to the vibrant God's Enlightenment.

In the weapon research area in the northeast, Shulot held a thick crossbow and aimed at the straw man seventy steps away. The young man carefully weighed the target through the watch mountain on the bronze crossbow. Then, he raised the crossbow body slightly, put his shoulder against the end of the crossbow arm to stabilize it, and squeezed the trigger forcefully.

Just hearing the sound of an arrow "咻", an arrow shadow flew away as swiftly as lightning. Shulot's upper body leaned back suddenly, as if his shoulders were pushed hard, and then there was a dull "duh" sound from a distance. When the young man took a closer look, the crossbow bolt had passed the straw man and was nailed to the wooden wall one hundred and fifty steps away, and it did not fall.

The surrounding warriors looked at the crossbow bolts nailed to the wall and cheered for His Highness in a low voice. Master carpenter Cushingi remained silent.

Berthard's gaze followed the feathered arrow's trajectory, and he couldn't help laughing as he watched it pass by the armored straw man with a distance of half a foot. Then, the samurai commander stepped forward, his eyes narrowed, and he saw that the arrow had penetrated into the wooden wall, and the tail of the arrow was still trembling. He stretched out his hand, first with a little force, and then with more force, the crossbow was pulled out. The bronze arrowhead is still sharp, but the wooden arrow shaft has cracks and cannot be used again.

Xiu Luote didn't change his face, but felt ashamed in his heart. He motioned Bertard to back away. Immediately, the young man erected the thick crossbow on the ground, put his feet on the body of the crossbow wrapped with hemp thread, pulled the string with both hands, and exerted strength with his legs, slowly winding the bow. He secretly calculated in his heart that the winding action would take a little more than ten seconds. If complicated shooting preparations were added, a skilled crossbowman could only fire two rounds a minute.

After a few breaths, Xiu Luote held the crossbow again and squatted slightly back and forth on his knees. He aimed at the grass man again with Wangshan, according to the previous experience, the slight movement angle. Afterwards, the boy sank slightly, pulled down the crossbow forcefully, and used his knees to dissipate the momentum. This time, the shooting became much more stable.

There was another "咻" arrow sound, seventy steps away, the straw man's chest exploded suddenly, the crossbow arrow pierced through the front and rear layers of leather armor, and then stuck hard into the soil behind him. This time, the cheers of the samurai were especially loud.

Xiulot raised his head, looked at the warm sun, and wiped the sweat off his face. Then, he beckoned for Kusinki to come over.

The master carpenter looked serious. He strode closer without making a sound, just looking at the crossbow in His Highness's hand.

"Kushinji, you did a good job! This kind of crossbow is so powerful that it can still pierce armor at a distance of 150 steps! What is its specific data?"

Hearing His Highness's praise, Kuxinji smiled.

"According to His Highness's instructions, I made the body of the crossbow thicker and thicker, so that it has a pulling force of 350 pounds. The maximum shooting range of this kind of crossbow when it is half-slanted is about 230 steps, and within 160 steps It can shoot through leather armor. And within 120 steps, even a warrior wearing double armor is still doomed to die in front of it! The crossbow I made has far surpassed Kuod's long crossbow. bow!."

Shulot nodded slowly, this power has reached his goal. According to the attempt just now, the accuracy of the crossbow is also within an acceptable range. So he pondered for a moment and asked.

"Kushinki, I'm planning to deploy this kind of crossbow on a large scale. How much labor does it take? How long does it take for a craftsman to make one?"

The master carpenter's expression froze. He closed his mouth, thought and thought, and then opened his mouth in a low voice.

"The crossbow arm and the crossbow body each need a senior carpenter for one or two days to make them strong enough. Bow training will take longer, but more can be done at the same time. The bronze crossbow and the wooden box need two goldsmiths to do it. Days, it’s fine enough. Then I did the assembly myself, and it took about a day to adjust and calibrate. If counted as an ordinary craftsman, it can be completed in about seven or eight days.”

Xiulot's heart sank. This production efficiency is not a little bit worse than that of a longbow. The young man thought about it carefully. According to this production efficiency, it would be impossible to deploy the crossbow on a large scale during the Western Expedition in October. Probably only hundreds or thousands of them can be collected as the strike force of the "ultra-long-range" in this era.

After thinking for a moment, Shulot gave the order in a deep voice.

"Kushinki, starting today, the development of other crossbows will be temporarily suspended. I will allocate dozens of craftsmen to you, and a group of apprentices to deal with wood. You only need to concentrate on making the crossbow, and at least one One hundred and fifty qualified crossbows! In addition, I will give you hundreds of warriors to help you make crossbow bolts and practice shooting here at the same time."

Hearing His Highness's order, Kuxinji bowed solemnly and accepted the order in a solemn voice.

"Your Highness, follow your will!"

Xiulot watched carefully, the face of the master carpenter showed sincere obedience, as well as serious and affirmative confidence. The young man nodded slightly, turned around and walked away.

After leaving the Divine Enlightenment Institute, Xiu Luote had planned a long time ago and hurried to the crafting center in the north. It’s been a while since the past, and the scale here has been further expanded, almost completely concentrating the manufacturing capacity of the Mexica Alliance.

Thousands of craftsmen were busy as the young man passed by, and boats of wood and cotton were brought in to make powerful longbows, slotted war sticks, and thick cotton armor. The peeled bark and corners were transported away by the peasants and sent to the papermaking center as raw materials for paper.

After searching for a long time, Shulot found the majestic old carpenter Kuod in the middle of the crowd. Surrounded by more than a dozen apprentices, he was discussing something with a man in black with a serious face. The boy looked at the black-robed man again. His face was meticulous and his hair and clothes were in perfect order. It was the intelligence officer Gilliam.

Seeing Shulot coming, Gilliam smiled slightly, then saluted seriously. The young man had no choice but to return the salute solemnly.

"Your Highness, I happen to have something important to ask you."

Shulot smiled lightly. His gaze rested for a moment on the intelligence officer's completely scarred ears.

"Gilliam, I also happen to have something important to ask you. But you should bring Avette's message, so you can say it first."

The intelligence officer nodded, made a waiting gesture to Kuod, and then feigned with one hand, inviting the young man to talk in secret in a corner where no one was around.

"Your Highness, after the autumn westward expedition, you will be in charge of the Northern Army's conquest. According to the latest information, the king has issued instructions to you. Four key points should be paid attention to in the Northward Western Expedition. The first is to establish a waterway advantage and a stable stronghold."

Xiulot nodded in agreement. This is exactly the plan in his mind. He has not reported the latest progress of gunpowder to Avet, and is going to wait for the development of gunpowder rockets to be completed, and then show it to the king in the simulation exercise of water warfare, so as to shock his teacher and friend again.

"The second is to find a way to conquer the fortresses of the Kingdom of Tarasco, especially the fortresses at the mouth of Lake Quetseo."

The boy frowned, this was indeed something he had never understood. His mind flashed quickly, the hooked ladder, the reinforced trebuchet, and finally fixed on the huge paper gunpowder ball.

"Third, beware of the Otomi people in the north, and try to maintain a truce with them. Be careful to protect the grain road"

Shulot was silent for a moment. He thought carefully, nodded slowly, and a groundhog-like figure appeared in his mind.

"Fourth, try to obtain a certain amount of food support from the western city-states of the alliance, and reduce the consumption of food and grass shipped from the capital."

The boy shook his head, there was nothing he could do at this point. I can only go back to meet my grandfather and seek help from the relationship network of the older generation.

"In addition, the king also recommends that you recruit a group of Chichimek descendants to be used as the forerunner of the Western Expedition. For specific recruitment matters, you will contact the northern commander Othello."

Hearing the recruitment of dog-born, Shulot fell into deep thought. The dog-born's fearlessness left a deep impression on him. Although this kind of disorderly bravery can't really fight against a tight battle formation, these dog descendants should be very suitable bombardiers. They can charge to a very short distance to throw the very dangerous and explosive pottery caltrops, which are not yet mature in technology.

After thinking for a while, Xiulot nodded seriously and showed a sincere smile.

"Thank you for the king's instruction, and thank you for your suggestion. The Lord God blesses us, and the Western Expedition will surely be victorious!"

The intelligence officer smiled in response, then saluted respectfully, and the boy returned the salute again. The two of them saluted each other like a ritual, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Afterwards, Gilliam bowed again and asked.

"I don't know what your Highness wants to say?"

Shulot pondered for a while, and slowly opened his mouth.

"Originally, I mainly asked Kuod for this matter, but he will also ask you for instructions in the end. The Divine Inspiration Institute has made new progress recently. The new-style crossbow has been produced, and I plan to mobilize another group of craftsmen and civilians. Collect the wood in stock and carry out large-scale manufacturing. At the same time, the gunpowder of Tianhuo Island needs to continue to increase manpower to increase production. The follow-up gunpowder weapons also need experienced craftsmen. Finally, there are young men and supporters for the new army.”

In other words, the young man was looking for the intelligence officer and warehouse manager, asking for craftsmen, manpower, money and food.

Gilliam smiled wryly, showing a sad look for the first time.

"Your Highness, it's not that I lied to you, it's just that where are there any extra craftsmen? Where are there enough property?"

As he said that, the intelligence officer stretched out his hands and showed His Highness the calculations one by one.

"First of all, the biggest item is the production of longbows. Now the longbow workshop has an astonishing seven hundred craftsmen and more than two thousand servants. The daily output of longbows is 150 longbows and only thousands of arrows. The upper limit of wood supply has been reached. In order to continue to provide wood, there are more than a thousand logging and boating folks outside. In addition to craftsmen and folks, there are also two hundred warriors who are stationed and supervised. The daily food consumed by these thousands of people can be They are all supplied by the alliance, and the daily loss of tools must also be borne by the alliance!"

Hearing the number of longbows, Shulot was somewhat satisfied. One hundred and fifty a day, so to speak, there should be three to four thousand a month, which can arm one thousand to two thousand warriors, and a complete longbow army can be formed by October.

According to the previous experience of the Longbow Guard, it is best for each longbow warrior to be equipped with more than two bows, because after the longbow is used continuously, there will be a problem of chasing the string, and it takes a certain amount of time to idle and loosen the string, so as not to damage the bow .

"Secondly, your Highness is responsible for the production of gunpowder. Tianhuo Island has completely brought the large salt mine in the south under its jurisdiction. The salt production there has dropped sharply, and the relevant nobles and nobles have jumped up. Your Highness, the royal family and nobles have met with the elders and the king several times. , complain to the two venerables, and accuse you of your arrogance and greed!

If it weren’t for the elders being satisfied with the thread-bound books you presented, the king’s expectations for the power of gunpowder, and the high priest’s overt or covert suppression, there would have been groups of nobles with their private soldiers to take back the Great Salt Mine by force. up"

Hearing this, Xiu Luote was surprised. He had thought about these things before, and had heard a little bit about them from his grandfather. Every time, my grandfather just mentioned a few words indifferently, but never thought that there would be such a big commotion behind it.

"Tianhuo Island is currently employing thousands of salt workers and peasants, digging nitrate soil, cutting wood, boiling soil nitrate, and collecting plant ash. There are also hundreds of warriors and patrolling vigilant sailors, and the food consumed every day is extremely staggering. Afterwards, the papermaking and printing workshops expanded rapidly, employing hundreds of craftsmen and thousands of peasants. Thousands of people were needed to make cloth-covered paper armor, rattan signs, and rattan hats. Burning charcoal required a lot of wood, and thousands of people were used. Making bricks and burning bricks Hundreds of people. The first batch of copper mines in the south sent hundreds of people to make bronze spears and tools. There are also hundreds of people who study "glass"

Xiulot listened to the intelligence officer's detailed report, and his expression was in a daze. Did I unknowingly start so many scientific research projects at the same time? Can the output of the capital city in the lake and even the lake area keep up? After a while, the boy felt a chill again. The things he was in charge of, the intelligence officer actually knew more details than himself.

Gilliam observed Shulot's expression, and his tone was more sincere.

"Your Highness, these large-scale projects have consumed a huge amount of manpower and material resources, which has already completely surpassed a samurai army! And next, you have to train a complete militia army! Your Highness, the financial resources and manpower of the alliance have been exhausted. Exhausted."

Hearing the intelligence officer's words, Shulot's face was serious. He withdrew his mind and looked at Gilliam seriously.

"Lance Corps and Longbow Militia are very important, and Avett promised me! When will the six thousand miners arrive? The recruitment of village hunters must also begin immediately!"

Gilliam was silent. He sighed helplessly in his heart. After a while, the intelligence officer saluted solemnly.

"Your Highness, the quota of 6,000 miners has been allocated, and the samurai who supervise the mines are all ready. As long as Otomi Minfu from the important northern town fills in, they will be delivered to you immediately. The taxation of the New Year's tribute will be collected. The official also conveyed the news that the village elders were allowed to replace part of the tribute during the autumn harvest with qualified hunters.

But Your Highness, the alliance's treasury is almost used up now, only the property obtained after a few large-scale house raids is left, and even the maintenance of the warriors in the capital still depends on the tribute from foreign countries."

Shulot shook his head firmly, with burning faith in his eyes.

"Gilliam, I am not forming a new army for personal gain, but for the overall situation of the Western Expedition and even future changes! I will give you five days. After five days is the first day of March, I want to see the assembly of six thousand miners On the school grounds outside the city. Their training must begin at this time!"

Gilliam looked at the boy speechlessly, feeling the brightness and sincerity in his eyes, as well as the undeniable determination. After a while, the intelligence officer let out a long sigh, knelt down heavily on his knees, bowed his head and accepted the order.

Shulot didn't look at Gilliam. He raised his head, looked at the busy craftsmen and peasants, and then at the boats transporting raw materials on Lake Texcoco, his thoughts were long.

With his participation, the empire explored new technology research and development, improved old technology, manufactured new equipment on a large scale, and maintained a huge legion. Each of these items consumed thousands of manpower and occupied the continuous support material resources.

A divine enlightener can promote the rapid advancement of military technology within a few months. However, he was unable to change the most important basic productivity of the empire in a few months. Now, the alliance's human and material resources are indeed exhausted!

At this moment, Shulot really understood what he had learned in the past, the subtle words hidden in the boring books.

Productivity, only productivity is the cornerstone of civilization. The improvement of productivity also needs the accumulation of time most. After obtaining the metal, it will be a year of innovation, following the will of the great. And he will also start from the land of innovation and truly create the cornerstone of civilization!

Note: At the end of the previous chapter, a detailed map of the world was added, which carefully marked the forces and terrain. Interested readers can go back and look at it, it will be clearer. (_)