Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1454 - 1007: The Scholar’s Voyage Log, the Ancestral Land of the Kumeyaay, and the Great Salt Sea Rich in Blue Salt
"With the Chief Divine as my witness! From the drought-stricken, hot North Bird Stone Village to the wet, cold Whale Harbor, it is a vast span of seven thousand miles along the Western Sea Coast! On this coast, many tribes cultivate, gather, hunt, and fish, raising a myriad of unique flags and totem poles!... And from North Bird Stone Village heading north, passing through the barren dunes and coastlines of the Kochimi people, traversing twelve hundred miles of rare green, one reaches the edge of a mighty long river, witnessing vibrant life. There lies the division between the dry and wet precipitation zones of the Western Sea Coast, and home to the Kumeyaay Ypa Great Tribe of over five thousand people!..."
"At 32 degrees north latitude, the Ypa Great Tribe of five thousand people is an ally tribe of the Kingdom. The supporting fleet, carrying seven hundred Samurai and sailors, docked at the Ypa Great Tribe. And the Preaching Priest Kuimu, in his delight, requested the supporting fleet to stay a few extra days to participate in the conversion ceremony for several Kumeyaay Samurai... To put it plainly, Kuimu hopes to use the endorsement of the Kingdom’s powerful Samurai to further showcase the Kingdom’s might!"
"May the Chief Divine bless! The mission work at the Ypa Great Tribe is evidently not going as smoothly as expected. Though the Red Stone Chief of the Ypa Great Tribe has long since converted to the Chief Divine, few among the tribe’s Noble Chiefs and Priests have followed suit. Instead, it’s the ordinary tribespeople and common warriors and hunters who are more inclined to convert to the faith of the Chief Divine!"
"Kuimu, the Preaching Priest of the Ypa Tribe, told the fleet leaders Keyuan and Kejie: The main reason for the tribespeople’s conversion is the agricultural guidance of the Chief God Priest, which has significantly boosted crop yields and introduced them to new crops like potatoes. As for the warriors and hunters, they convert because of the doctrine of the Chief Divine’s Divine War. As long as they fight for the divine, through bravery and military merit, they can receive the glorious divine grace, obtain land and population, in other words, become the tribe’s Chieftains and Noble Chiefs!..."
"Guided by the Chief Divine! Hearing this, I have a vague premonition. That for these large tribes along the Western Sea Coast, the spread of the Chief Divine’s faith is likely to bring about changes in the tribes... and such changes may not come as a gentle drizzle, but as a sudden storm!..."
The sea wind howled, and a thin mist arose over the evening sea, suggesting traces of a storm, yet completely elusive. Scholar Mikki looked gravely at his own written records, then glanced at the calm face of Exploration Captain Zuwaro, and asked in a low voice.
"Zuwaro, the Red Stone Chief Matutumbe of the Ypa Great Tribe, was personally converted by us... and now, evident tensions have arisen within the Red Stone Tribe... what do you think?"
"My opinion? Hmm... my opinion is that when the time is ripe, we will take down this large tribe at the rivermouth!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro grinned, showing a carefree expression. As Mikki instantly furrowed his brows, he laughed and explained.
"Mikki, on our journey, we have seen it very clearly. The further south in latitude, the better the water and soil environment, and the larger the scale of the tribes. And when these tribes grow to a certain size, like three thousand or five thousand people, hereditary tribal leaders begin to emerge, as do Noble Chiefs, Priests, Chieftains, and Samurai!..."
"Our dissemination of the Chief Divine’s faith, in itself, has nothing... er, may the Chief Divine forgive! I misspoke. The spread of the Chief Divine’s faith is to guide them on a path of enlightenment!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro slightly bowed his head, taking a glance at Mikki’s composed face, continuing to speak with a smile.
"However, having stepped into the light, they must also confront the shadows. With the cultivation of potatoes and increased food production, more tribespeople can be sustained. With Bronze axes and spears, sturdy Greatbows, and resilient Leather Armor, the hunters and warriors will grow even stronger. As for the faith of the Chief Divine that we’ve introduced, it disrupts the ruling foundation of the Noble Chiefs and Priests, shaking the inherited tribal legends... Simply put, the three stones of tribespeople, tribal warriors, and tribal Noble Chiefs, once balanced together, are no longer stable!..."
"It’s like transplanting a small, long-growing flower into a larger pot. The roots of the flower are bound to suffer, unable to grasp that much soil. The original roots need time to grow and adapt, to further expand, to continue to control the entire pot!..."
"Chief Divine’s blessing! But for us, why let the old roots control the pot? The Priests of the Chief Divine need to acquire more power! The Kingdom also needs the warriors of the tribes, the tribespeople, and must control each tribe and territory to unite the Western Sea Coast as one!... So, my opinion is simple, wait for the time to mature, when the tribes’ foundation in faith is established, deploy the Samurai battalions to convert the entire Ypa Great Tribe! The position of this tribe is extremely important, also boasting salt to the east..."
At the notion of uniting the Western Sea Coast, Miki the Sage’s heartbeat accelerated for a moment. He remained silent for a moment, then subtly nodded, looking back at his handwritten journal.
"The fleet remained at the Ypa Great Tribe for a full ten days, participating in several Chief Divine ceremonies, and restocked on potatoes, sweet potatoes, and over a thousand pounds of green salt! The fertile riverbank held by the Ypa Great Tribe is indeed very suitable for farming. And three to four hundred miles east of the Ypa Great Tribe is the homeland of the Kumeyaay people, the boundless Great Salt Sea (Salton Sea), sustaining the Salt Sea Great Tribe of nearly ten thousand individuals!..."
"It is said that the hundreds of miles of salt marshes at the edge of the Great Salt Sea enjoy year-round clear skies with little rain, covered with shimmering blue and white salt granules. And sacks of the North’s precious edible salt are readily available there, requiring no fuel expenditure to boil salt, just finding a spot to dig is sufficient! The salt produced there travels along several ’Great Long Rivers’ (Colorado River system), upstream into the interior, traded to the powerful Apache Alliance, Navajo Alliance, and even further distant lands..."
"May the Chief Divine bless! If the Kingdom can gain control over the divisions of the Kumeyaay and occupy the vast Great Salt Sea, the Kingdom’s series of settlements from north to south will no longer need to worry about salt supplies! Moreover, by controlling this valuable salt-producing region, the interior tribes upstream of the ’Great Long Rivers’ will also fall under the influence of the Kingdom... Ah! Praise the Chief Divine! May Your glory extend into the interior wilderness, reaching the hundreds of tribes!"
"Ah! The homeland of the Kumeyaay, the salt mines of the Great Salt Sea, the Salt Sea Great Tribe!..."
Seeing this, Exploration Captain Zuwaro licked his lips, filled with a profound longing.
He had toiled hard, leading over a hundred men, cutting numerous trees, boiling salty water for two months, to scrape together three to four thousand pounds of salt. Meanwhile, the tribespeople of the Salt Lake Great Tribe only need to find a salt mine, open a salt well, and with ease, dig out thousands to tens of thousands of pounds! The salt they excavated was large and blue, with a subtle aromatic taste, even a hint of sweetness, earning it the name green salt. This green salt, in terms of purity and flavor, far surpassed any sea salt he had boiled!
In fact, the reason the supporting fleet stayed at the Ypa Great Tribe for ten days was precisely to trade for green salt transported from the Salt Lake Great Tribe. The trade was done through barter, quite straightforward. The Salt Lake Great Tribe’s "Wild Bull Opening Mouth" wants one Bronze Spear for a sack of green salt, likely weighing over a hundred pounds. As an intermediary in the transport of salt, the Ypa Great Tribe also required equal recompense. Simply put, for every hundred pounds of green salt bought, each of the two Great Tribes was given one Bronze Spear. As for the more copper-heavy, wood-felling Bronze Axe, one exchanged for two to three hundred pounds of green salt.
"Oh Chief Divine! The Kingdom fleet traded one hundred Bronze Spears and forty Bronze Axes to get over ten thousand pounds of green salt! Yet, once brought to the Far North land, several tens of pounds of green salt, plus less than a hundred pounds of Firestone, could recruit a strong tribesman! And the whale meat stored by the exploration fleet was all cured with this salt..."
"With the Chief Divine as the witness! This eternally arid, green salt-producing Great Salt Sea is crucial to operating along the Western Sea Coast and is a key focus of the Kingdom! The Chief Divine’s blessings must shine upon the azure and white crystalline salt sea!..."
