Central City, Chuta's House.
"I would have loved to see their faces," I remarked with a smile.
I knew that if the military demonstration was Michuá's work—a great enthusiast of armed duels—the envoys were surely in for an enormous surprise.
They probably arrived thinking they were the stronger party in this commercial exchange, but now that they have witnessed this, they must have noticed the clear differences between us.
"They were even more astonished by the city's grand buildings," Fiba added, suppressing a chuckle.
"I can just imagine it… Although, as I understand it, they have quite large temples made only of stone," I commented, recalling some of the structures that would be considered wonders of the world in the future.
"What you say is true, Young Chuta. The Shadow field agents stationed in Mayan territory have gathered a good deal of information, and this includes the mention of large structures," Fiba confirmed, his gaze appearing astonished.
"I've rested enough; I want to know who the Mexica envoy is."
10 minutes later, in the meeting room of the Government House.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, dear friends, my name is SuaChie Chuta, but you can simply call me Chuta," I introduced myself in a friendly tone, speaking Nahuatl perfectly. "Who is your leader on this visit?" I asked them.
Everyone was surprised by my introduction, and especially by my clear command of their language.
They had already seen other people speaking to them in Nahuatl during the city tour, but the way I did it, and the age at which I managed to learn it, astonished them.
"My name is Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, son of Axayácatl, envoy of the Huey Tlatoani Ahuízotl," introduced a man about 20 to 25 years old, wearing traditional Aztec attire. "I did not know that the leaders of your people would send a child as a messenger to converse with us," he added with a slightly annoyed tone.
"I understand the confusion, Moctezuma, but I must clarify that this meeting was planned by me," I told him to avoid misunderstandings. "I am the leader of what you call Tlalocan, or as we call it here: the Ministry," I added, maintaining a cordial tone throughout the conversation.
"I see… How old are you?" he asked with a somewhat impolite tone.
"I just turned 8 today, but don't let my age confuse you; I have considerable power in this kingdom," I told him, and I motioned to the soldiers present in the hall to calm down, as Moctezuma's way of speaking to me had annoyed them quite a bit.
"It's incredible that you learned Nahuatl at such a young age. You speak it even better than some of our Priests," he commented.
"I appreciate the remark; I have studied it diligently solely to improve relations between our peoples," I commented, guiding the conversation to the important point. "Thank God I watched House of Cards in my previous life," I thought with relief.
"Our two peoples can be friends, but you must swear loyalty to the god Huitzilopochtli to be able to trade with us," he commented with a serious tone.
"Mmmm… This God you speak of, is he your Sun God?" I asked, trying to confirm the information sent by Shadows.
"That's right… He is the greatest of all gods and has guided our people for many years, which is why to trade with us you must swear to believe in him," Moctezuma replied.
"Before I answer your request, I would like to ask you a few things… Are you general? Or a Priest?" I asked, evading the request.
"I am a general and I am also a priest," he replied dryly.
"It's good to know, because I need you to understand some things before, I answer you… Fiba, please bring me the covered tablet," I first told Moctezuma and then addressed Fiba, who was nearby.
"What are you trying to do?" Moctezuma asked with a suspicious tone.
"It's nothing dangerous, I'll just show you something before we continue our conversation," I told him, calming him and the rest of the envoys.
"Here you go, Young Chuta," Fiba said, handing me a heavy metal piece covered in beautifully decorated paper.
"This, Moctezuma, is the tablet that shows our gods," I presented the object Fiba had brought.
"I see nothing," he commented, trying to examine the tablet from all sides.
"Well, that's because it's covered, but if we press here," I said, pointing to a small mechanism in a corner.
"Everything will be revealed," I added with a mysterious air.
Waiting a few seconds to build more tension in the moment, I activated the mechanism that released a small flame, which progressively burned the paper from one corner to another, revealing a precious gold tablet with silver inscriptions.
The tablet displayed a series of deities represented by celestial bodies, animals, or humanoid figures.
Each figure had inscriptions with the names given to each deity in the different languages of each ethnic group that made up the kingdom.
Moctezuma was surprised, and his envoys even more so. The only question remaining was whether they were surprised by the spontaneously burning paper, which also emitted sparkles as if it were one of those future fireworks. Or if they were surprised by the level of craftsmanship of the tablet.
"Are these your gods?" Moctezuma asked, dismayed.
"That's right, and as much as I would like to discuss our gods, I prefer to start by talking about the commercial treaties we can have between our two peoples," I told Moctezuma, who was still surprised by the previous act.
"However, tomorrow I have a visit to the Basilica, which I've been informed you have already visited. There we will hold a small meeting with the main priests of the entire kingdom, which you can be a part of if you wish," I offered him with a cordial tone.
"Mmmm… I will attend tomorrow, I have many questions I would like you to resolve for me," he accepted after thinking for a bit.
Moctezuma constantly looked at a specific part of the tablet.
He looked intently at the carvings of the sun and moon gods. I even thought I heard him say: "They believe in Huitzilopochtli and Metztli."
"I think he's talking about their sun and moon gods," I thought, noticing his confusion.
"It's good to hear that, Moctezuma, tomorrow we can discuss the gods freely… Which commercial area would you like to talk about first?" I commented, getting back to the main point.
"Our kingdom wants the largest quantity of ceremonial liquor you have, some foods I've tasted at your food stalls and those 'restaurants.' Also, we need large quantities of cloth and wool," Moctezuma requested seriously, although from his demeanor, it was more of an order.
"That's a big order… Our kingdom is always willing to trade peacefully with our neighbors, but I wonder, how will you pay for all that?" I inquired casually.
The question shocked Moctezuma and the rest of the Aztec envoys.
They had come with the intention of demanding a large quantity of items and taking everything with promises of protection, future payments, extortion, or reduced payments. However, now that they knew the kingdom's reach, their ideas and methods had to change.
"Well… We… " Moctezuma stammered. All the prepared answers he had previously used in the small villages near their territory didn't work this time. "We have cocoa; we can pay with this," he said with a sudden air of smugness; it seemed he had thought hard but had forgotten his strongest currency.
"I'm afraid, General Moctezuma, that we also have cocoa, and while I could accept this as a form of payment, due to the market price of this item, I would need an entire mountain of cocoa just to pay for your first order," I clarified, falsely lamenting my inability to accept this type of payment.
"You also have cocoa? Price? Market? What are these things?" he asked, confused and again worried about the lack of payment methods.
"Yes, we also have it; we produce quite a lot in the eastern part of the kingdom. As for these two words, they represent the form of exchange we have in the kingdom."
"These are the kingdom's coins," I said, showing him the three types of currency. "Every product in the kingdom, from a simple fruit to a house, can be bought with these coins," I explained patiently.
"We, as leaders of the kingdom, only set prices for key items, and other people naturally set prices for the rest of the products," I continued explaining. "For example, a kilo of this salt has an export price of 50 silver coins, and this one," I said, pointing to a small container with white salt on the desk, but Moctezuma suddenly interrupted me.
"Is that salt? Why is it so white?" he asked, dismayed and surprised at the same time.
"Yes, this is salt; if you want, you can try it," I kindly offered, moving the container closer to where he was sitting.
"It's incredible! It's not bitter!" he exclaimed in surprise. "Now I understand why the food we tasted earlier in the 'restaurants' tasted so good," he added, having a flash of realization.
"Yes, that's one of the reasons," I commented mysteriously.
"As I was saying before, we only set a price for salt, and people will know the price of each product depending on the market's valuation," I resumed the previous conversation topic.
"Cocoa beans are also very valuable resources in the kingdom, as their production is difficult to increase quickly, but surely after a few years, we can have more affordable prices for common people," I added with a hopeful tone.
"How much is a cocoa bean worth in what you call 'market'?" he asked.
"Fiba," I called to her, asking for the cocoa's value data.
"The bean is worth 10 silver coins, Young Chuta," she said.
"10 coins?" Moctezuma asked, surprised.
"That's right," I replied directly. "That's why I mentioned you would need a mountain of cocoa to pay for the quantity of products you are requesting."
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
Chuta finally meets a well-known historical figure (not so well-known to the general public today). Furthermore, he faces his first "international" conflict, but manages to contain the problem at its root.
However, this is due to the distance between the two kingdoms, since if they were direct neighbors of the Aztecs, it's very likely that they would attack him, proving their superiority.
Unnecessary fact of the day: In the previous facts, we learned about Moctezuma as the emperor who invited the Europeans to his capital and even kidnapped him at that point.
The myth suggests that he believed them to be gods, but due to his extensive knowledge of religious codices and his military tactical ability, it was very likely there were other reasons behind the invitation.
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Read my other novels.
#The Walking Dead: Vision of the Future.
#The Walking Dead: Emily's Metamorphosis from Visions of Future Saga.
You can find them on my profile.]