Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1471 - 1023: Tai Xia Country Letter, Powerful Northeast Asian Tribes
"Captain Sage, this golden stone looks shiny like the great sand gold that the old grandmother mentioned..."
"Oh ancestors! These densely packed symbols, so orderly and strange—they seem to foretell the guidance of the Divine Reindeer... are they Shamanic divination patterns?..."
The night is deep, and the starry sky over the Kamchatka Peninsula also has a brilliant galaxy. The Northern Tribes’ sailors, wrapped in thick leather cloaks, skillfully dug shallow pits and set up low leather tents to shield against the wind. They assigned a team to keep watch vigilantly while others rested around several campfires on padded leather. The warmer inner circle belonged to the Southern Samurai of the Kingdom. Strong and fierce, they couldn’t withstand the cold as well as the recruited Tribal Sailors from the North and had to stay closer to the fires to sleep well.
At the very center of one campfire naturally sat Exploration Captain Zuwaro and two newly arrived Itelmen Hunters. Zuwaro took out gold and a national letter, looking at the two with great expectation, but their expression was one of bewilderment rather than the strong reaction foretold by the prophecy.
"Witness of the spiritual ancestors! Coming from the tribes over the Eastern Sea, I am not the tribe’s hereditary Shaman and cannot understand your Shamanic runes!"
The Hunting Team Leader Mukun tugged at his hair and shook his head vigorously, indicating he had no Shamanic heritage. He then cautiously handed back the leather paper covered with "runes" to Zuwaro, pointing toward the northern mountains with a look of reverence.
"Friend... our mountain clan’s old grandmother has ancient Shamanic heritage; perhaps she would recognize your runes..."
"Hmm... you don’t recognize it? Okay... you point north? Someone up north knows, right? No, the prophecy says it’s on a great island to the south... oh, are you talking about your ancestors’ tomb, and your tribe is north? ...What’s in the northern mountains? Oh, dancers, singers, and people around fires—are they the tribe’s Priests?..."
Watching Mukun’s response, Exploration Captain Zuwaro scratched his head, gesturing and guessing at his meaning. He quickly understood, feeling slightly disappointed, and retrieved the unfolded leather paper.
He glanced at the first vertical line, the square character personally penned by His Majesty, "Letter from the King of the Eastern Sea Tai Xia to the King of Japan," then at the red jade seal impressed at the end of the leather paper, carefully rolling it up. Then, he placed this "national letter" into a small waterproof copper box at his feet, alongside several other important "national letters," storing them carefully.
In fact, there were only four of such solemn and peculiar vertical-seal "national letters" in the copper box! He had already secretly checked the titles of these letters; besides one for the "King of Japan," there was also a "Letter from the King of the Eastern Sea Tai Xia to the King of Chosun," a "Letter from the King of the Eastern Sea Tai Xia to the Great Yuan Great Khan," and most formally and lengthily, in the most exceptionally orderly format and humblest terms, a "Letter from the King of the Eastern Sea Tai Xia respectfully striking to the Emperor of the Great Ming, the Celestial Emperor of China"!
"His Majesty said that no matter what Three Islands and Tribal Alliance, Jurchen Tribes Alliance, or Korea Tribe Alliance, they are not particularly strong and can recognize the words of Divine Revelation, capable of equal contact. Only this final ’Great Ming Han Tribe Coalition’ is unprecedentedly strong, strong, strong! Their strength equals the sum of the entire world’s alliance times ten!"
"Though unbelievable and unimaginable, His Majesty’s Divine Revelation has never been wrong, so it surely is an immensely powerful Great Tribal Alliance! Supposedly, their Great Great Chief is called ’Emperor,’ also known as ’Great Emperor,’ supreme, regarded as the only son of the Heavenly Divine. And to meet their Great Emperor Chief, or to contact the great Chiefs, Great Great Chiefs who speak for their kingdoms, one must show enough respect!"
"According to His Majesty’s prophecy, the supreme Great Emperor Chief and those revered Confucian Priests place extreme importance on the respectful attitude of foreign envoys, even higher than everything else. But those confidant female snakes wielding power by the Great Great Great Emperor Chief’s side, as well as the chiefs managing the City-States, are especially fond of gold! And the way to deal with these different people must depend on their different identities..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro lowered his eyes, pondering repeatedly over the latter part of His Majesty’s prophecy. He didn’t know what a supreme Great Emperor Chief was, what an unparalleled powerful alliance was, nor did he understand what revered Confucian Priests or powerful confidant female snakes were... He merely speculated based on his past understanding and His Majesty’s Divine Revelation!
And according to His Majesty’s Divine Revelation, the simplest way to identify these powerful Tribal Alliances is to see their attitude towards gold!
At this thought, Exploration Captain Zuwaro smiled broadly, taking out two perforated gold coins, threading them with a thin cord, and personally placing them around the necks of the two Tribal Huntsmen.
"Witness of the Chief Divine! Brothers from the tribe living in the northern mountains... this is our Longboat Tribe’s specialty, two Sun Amulets made of gold, each exactly one jin!"
"Huh? Ancestors with spirit! ...Is this a golden Shaman Amulet?"
The Hunting Team Leader Mukun held the gold coin in his hand, staring at it for a while. Though one jin sounds like a lot, when in hand, it’s actually less than half the size of a palm. The obverse of this gold coin is engraved with an abstract sun, inside of which is an unknown bird. The reverse of the coin is engraved with a mysterious Shamanic rune, "God." In fact, this one jin gold coin is not just exactly like the Chief God’s Amulet spread by the Alliance, it is exactly the same.
"Oh! This heavy weight is really sand gold! Captain, the old grandmother once said that the yellow, heavy gold can be traded from the horse section in the western-west for domesticated dogs, or from the island section in the southern-south for edible salt... so can this small gold coin be traded for a dog or a bag of salt?"
"Mulu, don’t babble nonsense like Luba, thinking about silly things! Can you walk by foot through the hostile coastal Rokube, cross the vicious roaming tents section, to see the legendary grazing horse section, or paddle to the south, to those nests of island section villages just to be sent to death? ...This gold coin is of no great use to Luba, it’s just a Shaman amulet given to us by the Longboat Tribe. Keep it well, maybe the Sea Tribe’s Shaman can summon the protection of the Sea God, bringing some good luck in fishing!"
"Uh, that’s right! ...Captain, you’re indeed thoughtful and thorough, worthy of being the Sage King of our Mountain Tribe!"
"Haha! May the spiritual ancestors protect us! It seems these Sea Tribe people now have no ill intentions, perhaps they can become friends with our Mountain Tribe... Damn! We must hurry back and tell the old grandmother about the situation here! Lest the gang of Mulu can’t wait for us and leads the able-bodied men out from the mountains to attack!"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro squinted, observing the reaction of the two Tribal Huntsmen upon receiving the gold. He caught their expressions, which seemed only slightly glad, lacking the greed and excitement foretold by the prophecy.
"Ah! It seems these mountain tribes are indeed not the ones His Majesty mentioned. And the trade hopes of His Majesty may not be achievable either... Hm, the powerful Tribal Alliance of prophecy might still be further south, to the south!"
"However, the sea is about to freeze, and this year’s voyage ends here! We must quickly find a warm, sheltered winter camp to prepare for the terrifying winter that is about to arrive!"
The sky is freezing cold, and without realizing it, the night has deepened. Communication was a struggle relying on gestures and drawings, as the language barrier was immense. However, the slow communication brought about basic mutual trust, hinting at the possibility of further cooperation.
"Oh ancestors with spirit! Do you wish to visit our tribe to see the wise old grandmother of the tribe?"
"Yes, yes, we wish to go north into the mountains to meet your Chieftain or Priest! We want to know the situations of the surrounding tribes and also to trade for those four-legged riding beasts, the cultivatable crops! 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
"What? You want to know about the surrounding tribes? You also want the transportable reindeer? Oh! And edible berries?"
The Hunting Team Leader Mukun looked at the four-legged riding beast and plants on the snow, then at Zuwaro’s earnest gestures, showing caution.
For the various Kamchatka tribes, inquiring about other tribes’ news usually signals a prelude to attack and plunder. It makes sense, too—the other party includes ninety elite hunters, with excellent bronze axes, Greatbows, and leather armor, along with large ships capable of navigating deep rivers...
Undoubtedly, in the sparsely populated northern snowy plains, this is a formidable tribal force that will not leave anytime soon! Since they plan to winter here, they will surely search for winter food and refuge. In this situation, the most common resolution in this combat-ridden Extreme North Asian snowy plains is to attack the weaker tribes, kill all the men above waist height, and take over their women, food, and camps...
"Um... Oh ancestors with spirit! On the desolate and cold snow plains, tribal battles never cease; the only difference is whether you kill the enemy or are killed by the enemy!"
"Perhaps... this Sea Tribe appearing from the southeastern sea can become allies with our Mountain Tribe, to resist the southward moving Rokube from the northwest!... No, I must hurry back overnight to meet the tribe’s wise old grandmother!"
