Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1462 - 1015: October’s Departure, the Spirit Heroes’ Radiance!
"Praise the Chief Divine! In mid-June, we left a longship and sixty samurai sailors at the Gold Mine on Wolf Island of the Tlingit, and established the Kingdom’s Divine Jinxi Port... It is a truly beautiful and prosperous port! The shallow waters and streams shimmer with a golden light, and the northern mountains radiate gilded splendor. Those continuous shimmering gold ores have slept for millions of years amidst the streams and hills until our arrival!..."
"The Chief Divine’s divinity is always fair! Due to the rich gold veins, the land surrounding the port seems to lack vitality; plants are not abundant, and there are few berries and tree seeds to be gathered. Within several miles around the port, there’s only a small Tlingit tribe of several dozen people. However, when the Kingdom’s fleet displayed ample samurai, food, salt, and fuel, this tribe decisively chose to join the ’longship Great Tribe’..."
"The Chief Divine witnesses! Sometimes, I can hardly distinguish between the Tsimshian recruited by the fleet and the Tlingit. Their appearances and physiques are very similar, generally taller and stronger than the Warriors of the Kingdom. They are seaside fishing and hunting tribes, migrating southward from the far north inland, rowing kayaks and canoes, carrying harpoons and javelins, and towing movable small huts. They all worship the Divine Mountain and animal totems, believe in the spirit of all things, and trust the heroic spirits of their ancestors. Even their languages are quite similar..."
The long night sinks into the deep Western seas, while the golden dawn slowly emerges from the Eastern horizon. Scholar Mikki pondered for a while before asking Zuwaro.
"Zuwaro, what is the biggest difference between the Tsimshian and the Tlingit?"
"The biggest difference?"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro touched his nose and thought for a moment before smilingly saying.
"Haha! In Tsimshian tribes, men have the say, but in Tlingit tribes, women hold the authority! Among all the tribes along the far north coast, the Tlingit’s matriarchal tradition is the most prominent. A robust Tlingit woman can even marry several husbands!... Mikki, if you ask any Tlingit sailor, he can clearly tell you his maternal clan but often doesn’t know his paternal clan, or even who his father is!..."
"Uh!... Matriarchal tradition..."
Scholar Mikki touched his nose and nervously glanced at his wife, the White Bear Gawa, who also turned her head almost like a sharp beast in the woods.
"Hmm?"
"Cough! Gawa, hold the box properly, this is the last page of the diary!..."
Scholar Mikki bowed his head and hastily gave a command. White Bear Gawa blinked, obediently holding the waterproof copper chest, which weighed dozens of pounds and felt like a toy to her. In fact, Unangas also have strong matriarchal clan characteristics, with most tribe chieftains being elderly grandmothers. However, fortunately, unlike the Tlingit, the Unangas do not have the strange tradition of having multiple husbands. And such a tradition indeed hampers the Kingdom’s alliances and integration... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"The Chief Divine witnesses! The extraction of the gold mine requires a significant manpower and smelting requires ample fuel. Therefore, the giant Juneau Gold Mine holds no value to the tribes of the Northern Land. In reality, since we left the Whale Clan and headed north, all the tribes in the far north disregard the ’useless’ gold and Lake Gems... For the Kingdom’s exploration fleet, there’s no urgency in mining in this large gold mining area! After all, the second batch of support fleets carried a thousand jin of gold and ten thousand jin of silver to be used as ballast for the flagship. Adding to the first batch of fleet’s one thousand jin of gold, that makes a total of twelve thousand jin of gold and silver!..."
"Haha, twelve thousand jin! This number sounds large, but actually it looks like just a few copper chests, barely enough to smelt a statue of a divine person! And it’s said that the chief divine object of the Lake Capital City Temple, the Great Golden Statue of the Chief Divine, is composed of no less than ten thousand jin of gold and tens of thousands of jin of silver, further embellished with hundreds or even thousands of gemstones, constantly radiating an awe-inspiring divine light!... Ah! Golden Chief Divine! May you always protect us like the sun in the far north!..."
In October in the far north, the sun arrives late. But when it does rise, its light is thorough and bright, with no sea fog to obstruct it!
Scholar Mikki gazed at the eastern golden light with eyes full of devout longing. He prayed softly, beseeching the blessings and protection of the Sun Supreme God! And not until the morning sun fully rose, with sunlight blinding him to tears, did he turn around to look at the already illuminated west.
"Praise the Chief Divine! Zuwaro, all twelve thousand jin of gold and silver are placed on the flagship Great Snow Wolf... For the upcoming westward exploration, should we take them all?"
"Twelve thousand jin of gold and silver..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro rubbed his forehead, pondered for a long time, and gently shook his head.
"Mikki, the load capacity of the flagship Great Snow Wolf is about eighty thousand jin. I plan to take on a hundred people, which is at least sixteen thousand jin. Because we have to laboriously paddle, each person should consume two jin of salted whale meat and three jin of fresh water daily, along with some berries. Food and water for those hundred people for two months are thirty thousand jin! Firestone for cooking and heating must weigh around four to five thousand jin... As for the remaining thirty thousand jin, repair tools and ship materials will take up most of it, while the samurai’s weapons and copper armor will occupy a portion. Plus herbs, cotton cloth, blankets, ropes..."
Zuwaro counted on his fingers for a while, and his expression turned heavy.
"The Chief Divine protects! Counting carefully, the flagship’s load capacity is actually quite insufficient! So, we will only take the first batch’s thousand jin of gold, which is two copper chests. The second batch’s thousand jin of gold and ten thousand jin of silver will stay here at the Divine Peak Mountain Port, waiting for the third batch of support fleets to arrive!..."
"Well, taking a thousand jin of gold should be enough! Though according to Your Majesty’s Divine Revelation, can this thousand jin of gold on the opposite side of the sea buy all the kinds of quadrupeds Your Majesty commissioned, and how many new crops can it buy?... Chief Divine! Is the Alliance’s gold and silver really pursued and desired by countless tribes on the opposite side of the sea, willing to sell everything for it?...."
Scholar Mikki blinked, recalling the final annotation and prophecy in the Divine Revelation Sea Chart, still finding it somewhat incredible. After all, along the way, the large and small tribes of the far north seemed to treat gold like stone, showing no interest at all...
"Huh! Zuwaro, you’re taking a hundred people? Preparing enough food and water for two full months?! This... you still want to venture this year? Why not wait until next year when the third batch of support arrives?!..."
After a moment of thought, Scholar Mikki came to his senses, his expression grew solemn. He looked at Zuwaro, who raised an eyebrow, smiled, and made a gesture of praying to the Sun.
"May the Chief Divine bless us! Mikki, you can take a longship back to report this year’s exploration to the Kingdom and oversee next year’s support fleet! As the Exploration Captain, I will take the flagship westward, to travel as much as possible... If we miss this autumn’s precious fog-free period before the freeze, when the next batch of support vessels arrive, it may not be next year, but possibly two years!"
"Chief Divine! The next batch of support arriving here... may take two years!"
Scholar Mikki pressed his lips, knowing Zuwaro was right. If the third batch of support departs from the Kingdom’s Trout Harbor this fall or winter, just reaching here will take nearly a year! And if the fleet encounters the Western Sea Coast’s winter storms or the Far North Coast’s spring and summer sea fogs, even a slight delay of two months could mean missing the timing... and the earliest it could arrive at Divine Peak Mountain Port would be after the thaw in March two years later! Indeed, this long 20,000-mile journey is truly too distant!...
"Zuwaro, you’re right! The Kingdom’s support is still out of reach, we must head west as much as possible! Here’s the plan, there are still three longships left at Divine Peak Mountain Port... We’ll leave the damaged one by the coast for fishing, and take two ships westward!"
The morning sun lit up the sea, its shimmering glow reflecting off the snowy mountains, showcasing the ancient grandeur. Scholar Mikki gazed toward the nearby Western Sea, pondered for a moment, then made his decision!
"May the Chief Divine bless us! One flagship carrying a hundred people is indeed too strained! Two longships, carrying a hundred and sixty people, with two months of food and water. Then, we’ll head as far west as possible, reaching a few more Great Islands, consolidate the supplies of the two ships to support one ship to continue westward, while the other returns to Divine Peak Mountain Port!"
"Oh? Mikki, you’re saying... one ship will be for exploration, the other for resupply? Well, that works too! I’ll be responsible for the exploration ship, and you for the supply ship. However, the supply one can’t make it back to the island start point at Divine Land Port!... You plan to stay at Divine Peak Mountain Port for the winter?"
"Of course! May the Chief Divine witness! Since Keyuan and Kejie are already stationed along the rear route, I naturally have to arrange the Vanguard fleet and supplies at the exploration front!"
"Good! That’s good!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro thought briefly, understanding Mikki’s intent. In this initial phase of exploration and expansion, the Kingdom’s priests carried courage without fear and piety, without so much personal interest in mind. He looked at Mikki’s frost-reddened face and smiled sincerely, speaking with emotion.
"May the Chief Divine witness! Mikki, if you stay on this island through winter... you risk losing your ears and toes to frostbite!"
"May the Chief Divine bless us! There’s a volcano at Divine Peak Mountain Port, there must be hot springs! If the Unangas can endure half a year of winter, we can too with them, without lacking food and fuel!"
"Uh, Mikki, it’s not that I’m saying this, but you’re not like me! I’ve received Samurai training since I was young... You’re a frail Kingdom Priest, who has never experienced the Far North winds, you probably can’t endure it!... Uh, don’t be mad!... But, if the White Bear Gauwa takes care of you and keeps you warm, it should be alright!... It definitely will be!... Hahaha!"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro stepped back, glanced at the tall and brawny White Bear Gauwa in just a short robe, then at Scholar Mikki wrapped in furs, head tucked, and burst into laughter. Then, still laughing, he turned away, vibrant with energy, and headed towards the longship by the coast, not showing any signs of sleeplessness from the night!
"Haha! The Chief Divine guides us! Since we’ve made up our minds, let’s depart swiftly! Mikki, keep your journal box, leave it at Divine Peak Mountain Port!"
"Uh? What did you say?"
"Haha! I said, in case we don’t return, we must let the later exploring priests know about our journey and glorious deeds!... And for the westward journey ahead, we must be prepared to face death in search of the Chief Divine’s glory!"
"What? Speak louder! Against the wind, I can’t hear you!"
"I said! When the time comes, we must be bold, the New Continent is just ahead!"
"What?!"
In the golden sunlight, there was a golden sea. On the golden hill, there were golden figures. Zuwaro turned around, his face beaming with a brilliant smile, with the halo of the Sun behind him. At that moment, he looked like the heroic statue enshrined in the Temple, radiating a golden glow not of this world.
"I said!... May the Chief Divine bless us!..."
"Good!!... May the Chief Divine bless us!..."
