Invincible urban management

49. The Visit of the Last Emperor

According to Wen Desi's rough statistics, Port of Hope has sold at least 20 logs in the past two years (one month in modern time and space).However, according to Wang Qiu, the payment received for this was only about [-] million RMB, which made Wen Desi very suspicious:

"...School Wang Qiu, please tell me the truth here. I used to have a girlfriend who studied gardening and knew a little bit about the timber market. In China, trees over 100 years old are old and famous trees. Felling is not allowed, and the old high-grade wood can only be imported. The trees bought and sold in the market are basically under 50 years old.

Those 500-year-old high-grade hardwoods may be exaggerated to say that they are priceless in our country, but rare treasures should still be affordable, let alone 1000-year-old giant trees, which are already eligible for large-scale auctions .Those world-renowned furniture brand manufacturers will buy it, because the furniture they make is top luxury... The average price of a thousand-year-old giant wood is probably nearly ten million!

Although most of the lumber you got from Port Hope and the Valley of Mexico are just ordinary goods that are several decades old, there are at least a few thousand giant trees that are over 500 years old and over 1000 years old!How did you receive such a small amount of money in total? "

Regarding the "unreasonable" questioning from the director of literature, Wang Qiu naturally looked aggrieved.

"...Senior, I'm afraid you don't know that the price of a thousand-year-old giant wood in the market is indeed quite high, but it is not the log that can be sold at the price, but the plank! Now everything in China is advocating to be in line with international standards. All kinds of wood Only those that meet GB standards and hold various international certifications can be regarded as top-notch goods.

As for your logs, you haven’t even done basic processing such as drying and fumigation. Cutting and trimming only remove the branches, and you haven’t even planed the bark.Many of them have been drenched in rain (because they are placed in the open air), soaked in sea water (merchants from other city-states come to sell them on large rafts from the sea), and the channels for importing them to China are not formal... Even if it is 500 Years, 1000 years, and 2000 years old, how can they be sold at a high price? "

"...But if this happens, we will almost lose our fortune in this war..."

Wen Desi was a little distressed at first, but then he was relieved, "...Forget it, the old ones won't go, and the new ones won't come! When we drive away the Spaniards and overthrow the Aztec Empire, we will be the whole of Mexico. Master, do you want any good things? Or do everything focus on war!"

Just as the two of them were reviewing the troops and calculating the expenditure on armaments, an indigenous nobleman covered in bird feathers rushed over and brought the important news of the arrival of the Aztec Empire envoys.

Moreover, the leader of this group of Aztecs was actually quite famous, at least a historical figure known to both Wang Qiu and Wen Desi.

"... Montezuma II's nephew, Cuohtemoc?! The last emperor of the Aztecs is here?!"

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Cuohtemoc, also translated as Guatemus, Kuhatimoc, Quattemoc, etc., is the No.12 emperor of the Aztec Empire and the last emperor.He was originally from the priestly class, but he was also a heroic warrior, and was the nephew of the tenth emperor Montezuma II.According to the Spaniards, he was "very handsome and brave, but also ruthless".

The former Kuohtemoc was just an ordinary member of the royal family and a mid-level general of the Aztec Empire.It wasn't until the last moment of the empire's peril that he stepped onto the stage of history where he shined brilliantly, and left a strong mark in the history books of the age of great voyages.

——There were many rebellions in the Aztec Empire. The No. 11 emperor contracted smallpox and died of illness four months after he ascended the throne. When the Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes once again gathered a large army to approach the city, the 25-year-old Cu Ochtemok was ordered to lead the collapsed and crumbling Aztec Empire, and fought hard and fiercely with Cortez for more than half a year, fighting bloody battles in the capital until the last moment.

After the battle finally settled, the captured Kuohtemok saw the victorious Cortés, and he didn't yell or give in and beg for mercy, but said frankly: "...you have destroyed my city, killed my people, kill me now!"

Since then, this sentence has become the eternal saying that declared the end of the Aztec Empire.And the last emperor Cuohtemok, who would rather die than surrender, was also regarded by later generations of Mexicans as a national hero who resisted aggression and defended du li, and cast his head on coins.

Before crossing, Wen Desi had seen his bronze statue on the street when he was on a business trip in Mexico City—it was indeed very heroic.

Of course, at this time, Kuohtemoc was just an ordinary high-ranking Aztec nobleman.He didn't know that according to the history of a certain time and space, he would ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor next year, and he didn't know that he would become a prisoner of the white-skinned invaders in the next year and suffer all kinds of tortures to death.

At this time, accompanied by several Hongxiutizgan nobles, he was chewing spicy tobacco leaves (Central American Indians have the custom of chewing tobacco leaves), while walking proudly into the urban area of ​​Port Hope, At the same time, he looked curiously at the street scene around him.

Although neither King Avaha nor the legendary "Gods" went out to the outskirts to greet Kuohtmok, he felt that the other party seemed not respectful enough, but he could still understand it——Hong After all, the Hutizgan Kingdom is not a vassal state of the Aztec Empire. Although its attitude seems to have softened, at least it has not surrendered yet. It is considered good to be able to treat each other with such indifferent courtesy from an enemy country.

What's more, after stepping into Port of Hope, his whole mind has been attracted by the various novel scenes here.

——Compared with half a year ago, the appearance of Hope Harbor has undergone new changes.

Although the slums are still full of thatched shacks, a group of brightly colored red brick walls finally appeared—after numerous landslides and accidents, the first large brick kiln in the Hongxiutizgan Kingdom was finally completed and can be mass-produced bricks.Moreover, the elevated canals made of bamboo and wooden troughs also make dozens of public pools in the city always flow with gurgling clear springs.

In addition, the coconut trees planted next to the pool and the various flowers spontaneously planted by the residents around the pool also make this waterside green space automatically become the "social center" of every block. Every day, people gather around the coconut trees Enjoy the cool air to cool off the heat, and chat to relieve boredom.

Well, it's basically like a small community park in later generations.

Of course, in the city of Tenochtitlan, where there are many pyramids and palaces, there are even more magnificent elevated aqueducts and exquisite gardens everywhere. —What really shocked him was the road under his feet.

For the Indians of this era, the roads in the wild are generally stepped on by people, and the artificially built roads are usually just a layer of sand on the surface of rammed earth.And the best roads are nothing more than paved with stones - crushed stones are used sparingly, and stone slabs are used for spreading out. Even in the palace of Emperor Montezuma II, some special large blocks are used. , and the smooth stone slabs are paved as corridors.

However, the street that appeared at the foot of Kuohtmok at this time was a complete giant stone slab, with almost no gaps visible—how could there be such a huge stone slab in the world?And how did Hongxiutizgan carve it out?

Afterwards, Kuohtmok got an explanation from the accompanying personnel, that this is a whole piece of hard pavement paved with a kind of mud that can be condensed into stone as a reward from the "men of God"... and the street Those pools are also made of the same "cement".

Next, the rows of color-steel simple houses in the aristocratic district gave the Aztec envoy even more shock. At first, Cuohtmok thought that those were wooden houses, and curled his lips. He laughed at the poverty of the Hongxiutizgan nobles to his subordinates.But after he got closer and took a closer look, he gasped suddenly: These buildings are all made of extremely thin metal plates!

Building a house out of metal? !What concept is this? ! !

——Before the industrial revolution, due to the limitation of technological level, the output of metals in the world was pitifully low.For example, during the Northern Song Dynasty, China's annual steel output was about 21 tons, which was already known as the world's number one, and it was said to be close to the total steel output of the rest of the civilized countries in the world.But in later generations, even building a giant oil tanker would not be enough—by the beginning of the [-]st century, China’s annual steel output exceeded [-] million tons, and it was still the world’s largest... Compared with the Northern Song Dynasty a thousand years ago, the output has increased by [-] tons Four thousand times.

In Ming and Qing Dynasties in China, many farmers were too poor to use a kitchen knife, and even a little iron on a hoe was a lot of wealth for them.In many remote places pig-iron bars were popular as a substitute for money.And in the Aztec Empire, which could not smelt iron at all and could only fight with stone tools, the amount of metal was even scarcer.Even if they gathered the gold, silver, copper and tin from the entire city of Tenochtitlan (they don't know how to mix copper and tin to form a bronze alloy), they want to gather enough metal to build a two-story row house. It is also very reluctant.

In short, in the eyes of Kuohtmok, this kind of prefabricated color steel prefabricated house, which was used as a temporary dormitory for construction migrant workers in later generations, is really a hundred times more luxurious than any marble luxury villa or granite palace. A thousand times, ten thousand times!

What's more, the metal houses that appeared in front of his eyes were not one or two, but rows and blocks - modern modular fast buildings, which can build a building in a week.Although the hands and feet of the Indian laborers are very clumsy, fortunately, building this kind of modular design and standardized production of prefabricated prefabricated houses with color steel sandwich panels was originally a simple physical labor rather than a complex and sophisticated technical work... basically As easy as building blocks.

Therefore, even in a different time and space, the installation speed of this kind of prefab house is still very fast. At first, one house was installed in a day. Later, the local construction team who gradually became more proficient could install one house in half a day.

Of course, with regard to the interior decoration and the "delicate work" such as painting murals, the nobles, warriors and wealthy businessmen who stayed can only do it slowly.

In addition, there are piles of cloth, ready-made clothes, shoes and socks, porcelain, mirrors, Jing salt, candy and steel products piled up in the city market, kitchen knives, watermelon knives and fruit knives can be seen everywhere on the window sills of citizens, as well as lumberjacks. The sharp axes shining on their shoulders and the solar street lights in the courtyards of various mansions in the noble district amazed Kuohtmok, and made him even more in awe of the "man of God" he hadn't met yet.

By the time Kuohtmok came to the small square where the official meeting was held amidst a burst of welcome music played through loudspeakers, he had already thrown away the arrogance of "city people look at country people" before. Decided to greet those "men of God" with the most humble etiquette.

So, what is the most humble etiquette for the Aztecs who fanatically worshiped the sun and blood?