Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Chapter 2111 - 1543: Great Joy Here, Thirty-Six Dancers Perform in the Wild

"May the Chief Divine bless us! Esteemed Chief Priests! These eleven craftsmen from the Western Sea and the tribes are all master craftsmen of exceptional skill. They have mastered ten Western Sea crafts urgently needed by the Kingdom: blacksmithing, papermaking, paint making, pottery, woodworking, car making, house building, carving, hemp weaving, and weaving and dyeing! Especially this elder one-armed blacksmith, Tietian Zongyi, is a top-level ironsmith master even hard to find in the Western Sea!""Oh?! Praise the Chief Divine! Good! The Kingdom indeed needs excellent blacksmiths for crafting weapons and armor, as well as skilled carpenters to build ships... As for making ’carriages’? Is it the two-wheeled magic artifact, drawn by horses, as inspired by His Majesty’s Divine Revelation?"

"Yes, Lord Chief Priest! Carriage Craftsman Chemu Zhenji can make two-wheeled vehicles, which can be pulled by horses or oxen. On well-built dirt roads, these two-wheeled ’horse carriages’ and ’ox carts’ can carry at least twenty times the load of a civilian’s single-wheel cart, with much greater endurance, making them powerful tools for military and national land transport! You see, this pair of horned breeding giant beasts are the four-legged plowing beasts named by His Majesty, ’oxen’! Their strength is only second to the large northern bison, but their temper is much gentler. They can haul carts to transport grains and, more importantly, plow the land to increase production..."

"...! Such an essential tool for grain transport? And such a massive yet docile beast?! Using carts to transport grains, raising oxen to pull carts or plow fields... Wonderful, wonderful! Loshanda, you’ve merited greatly this time!"

The Ocean Shielding Ship docked at the port, as dusk turned into night, lighting the bonfire for the evening feast. Hundreds of samurai split into groups around several bonfires, with the aroma of fish and potato soup filling the air, causing the Khitan Hounds brought back to howl hungrily. The samurai’s celebratory shouts of joy, their exclamations while feasting, and their offerings and joy for surviving yet another voyage through the storm fused into a lively tide that completely drowned out the hounds’ howls.

"Haha! The Chief Divine blesses us! We’ve finally returned safely! Those towering waves, the deathly fog obscuring sea and sky, and the shallow reefs barely scraping past the ship’s hull... Truly unforgettable experiences for a lifetime!"

"Indeed! Praise the Chief Divine! Safe return, meritorious accomplishments... We’ve finally etched our names on the offering board of the Divine Kingdom! When the time comes that we pass, we’ll surely be resurrected in the Red Divine Kingdom!"

"Praise Huitzilopochtli! Come, have another bowl! Mix this wine from the Western Sea continent in a big vat, and let everyone taste it!"

The faith that drives the samurai, and the wine that pleases the tribes, sound the tribal songs of ancient times, unrestrained, drift across the far north’s Whale Island, like the song of whales. The reserved East Asian craftsmen slowly open their hearts, as they too joined these ’non-hostile merfolk’ in singing their hometown’s short songs.

"Ah haha! Ticualtzin in octli, we drink the fine wine! Ticualtzin in xochitl, we enjoy the flowers! Ticualtzin in yolotl, our hearts are joyful! Tocuicatl, tocuicatl! Sing, sing! Ipan huey tlālticpac, in the vast distance, Ipan miquiliztli ixiptli, at the end of death!~~"

This is the song of the Nava Warriors, always exuberant and powerful, as splendid as flowers, yet containing the brief essence of impending withering. After all, the life of a warrior often lasts only thirty to forty years, from the battles of their twenties to old age or death in battle by their thirties or forties, just a brief ’flower season’. And during this perilous journey connecting the Western Sea Continent, their average lifespan was even more fleeting, yet more resplendent and devout. In a chaotic and dangerous world, their heart’s true longing is for the truly long and peaceful ’Posthumous Divine Country’!

"Yay ya! Iluulix̂taangis ax̂, our village! Tanam ungii ax̂, our land! Aangis kiduugis ax̂, our food! Anĝii qangis ax̂, our song!..."

This is the song of the Sugpiaq sailors, always short and long, repetitive like the tidal waves and streams. As indigenous people from the Alaskan coast, their lifespan was even shorter, often just over twenty. In the fleet, these towering tribal sailors averaged in age even below twenty. To them, life is but a small boat on the vast sea, drifting wherever it may, and sinking into the ocean when stopped, like the natural cycles of summer and winter. At this moment, those simple tribal faces brim with pure smiles, simply for a night of good food and drink, and for the prosperity of their tribal villages!

"Hey ya hey! As the morning sun rises, the rice fields glow golden. The smell of rice is fragrant, the wine fills the large bowls. Grandpa smiles, granny sings, everyone dances until the moon is bright!"

This is the song of the Japanese craftsmen; despite being rustic field songs, they are catchy. As craftsmen of the capital region of Japan, their average lifespan was somewhat better than that of Japanese farmers, perhaps reaching thirty to forty years. However, the impoverished and difficult life of Japanese rural people, even in the capital region, could not compare with that of Great Ming Korea. Now, having left their country a thousand miles away and endured the endless ’Zhennai’s breath’, crossing the terrifying ’Great Manjinami’s angry waves’, they’ve realized they may never return home. So, as the master craftsmen continued to sing, tears poured down their aged faces, only to be quickly wiped away as they forcefully smiled and sang.

"...Grandpa smiles, granny sings, everyone makes a ruckus till dawn breaks! Praise Huitzilopo, the Great Divine Spirit who raises radishes!"

When the Japanese craftsmen finished singing, all eyes turned expectantly, leaving the lone Korean Medical Woman Caisan. Caisan’s face instantly turned red with embarrassment, unsure what to sing.

"Come, don’t be afraid. First, have a cup of wine before you start singing!"

Seeing the deer-like Witch Doctor, Loshanda smiled, offering her a cup of fruit wine. Then he turned to the two smiling Chief Priests and respectfully whispered.

"She is the ’Witch Doctor’ from the Western Sea Continent, originally from the large Korean Tribe, with ’medical skills’ from the Western Sea Continent... selected by His Majesty for her ability to treat the ’Evil Demon plague’, to research into ’Vaccination Skill’... Yes, the ’Great Witch Doctor’!"

"Oh?!! From His Majesty’s prophecy, the Western Sea Witch Doctor skilled in ’vaccination’?"

"Cough... Respected Chief Priest! She might still be lacking... um... the ’raw materials’ for witchcraft. As she mentioned, smallpox vaccine requires ’seedling’ from a living person, gradually weakening the poison until ’pox vaccine’ is obtained, before vaccination can begin. It might take years to cultivate the ’pox vaccine’..."

"Oh! I see, it requires sacrificial seedlings? ... Not bad at all! Very impressive! Loshanda, you have brought back the ’West Sea Doctor’, which is truly a great achievement! This is a matter of imperial importance. I will quickly bring this good news back, personally write a letter, and inform His Majesty of this, reporting your great merit!"

"Ah? Personally commend me?! This... thank you! Lord Priest! Heartfelt thanks to you!..."

Miki the Sage nodded with satisfaction, showing utmost friendliness as he patted Loshanda’s shoulder. Loshanda was instantly overwhelmed with the honor, bowing his head in greeting, momentarily naive to the hidden implications in Miki’s words. On the other side, Chimere smiled silently, gently sipped his drink, and gazed, thoughtfully at the charmingly shy ’Medical Woman’ Caisan.

"Uh... I haven’t learned anything else... What I’ve learned is only taught at Jisheng Hospital... Then shall I... sing a song from the palace’s ’Chang Chun Music - Taiping Song’? Imitated from Upper Country’s Music Bureau elegance... It was the favorite of nobles in the past palace, especially with ’Sixteen Dance’, thirty-six female dancers in perfect unison, chanting ancient Han Language... I was often chosen by nobles as one of the ’Sixteen Dance’ dancers, performing dance and song..."

The so-called ’Sixteen Dance’ consists of six rows and six columns, conforming to the ritual standards of vassal state nobles. During this period of Li’s Korea, there was no audacity to provocatively violate the paramount Ming Dynasty by holding an ’Eight Dance’ event at imperial specifications. However, once the party glowed with cheerfulness, behind closed doors, they’d organize a ’Chang Chun Music and Dance’, having songstresses and medical women sing the ’Peace Hymn’, thereby mimicking ancient Zhou Dynasty rites, slyly comparing themselves to ’holy sage emperors and ministers’, indulging in the thrill of ’Holy Emperor’s Elegance’... This was often done.

This Confucian moralistic ’spiritual joy in self-comparison to sages’, may have been more delightful to Korean emperors and ministers than the Yuan Court’s licentious ’Sixteen Demons Dance’. If not within the East Asian Confucian cultural circle of monarchs and ministers, they probably wouldn’t grasp its essence.

"Chief Divine’s blessing! Caisan, don’t worry. Everyone is happy, no matter what you sing!"

Thus, under the benevolent gaze of all, Caisan grasped her clothes hem, bit her lips, and took a deep breath. Then, she gazed at the vast Arctic sky, surveyed the boundless far north sea, and in the seemingly ancient gentle breeze, she danced the real ’Music and Dance’, singing the ancient Chinese ’Elegant Music’. At this moment, time flashed back two thousand years to antiquity, as the Yin Dynasty passed, Zongzhou rose, the ancestral temple was first built, and Elegant Music was born.

"Heaven and earth opened, everything transformed and birthed, holy virtue reaches afar, peace and flourishing across the ages.

Harmony between ruler and ministers, happiness among people, how would this music compare, fortunate is the world!..."

"Peaceful and prosperous age, harmony amongst all people, ruler’s virtue profound, happiness among all people.

Mountains and rivers beautiful, bountiful year arrived, such great fortune, such great fortune~~"

Following the completion of two segments of Elegant Music song and dance, the bonfire banquet fell silent. Chimere’s eyes reflected contemplation, savoring the solemnity within, giving rise to thoughts of composing solemn songs and dances for the Chief Divine, inspired by West Sea ’Sacrificial Songs’. And after Caisan finished singing, she instinctively followed ’Elegant Music etiquette’, and ’kneeled gracefully’ to the presiding priests in a dignified bow. This left the priests somewhat uneasy, hastily urging Caisan to rise, and arranging seats at the head table. After all, if this ’West Sea Doctor’ could truly bring forth medical books to cure plagues, her future in the Kingdom would not likely be beneath theirs...

"Chief Divine’s blessing! Celebrate the joyous praises tonight! Celebrate the wind filling white sails, fleet returning to shore brightly! Praise Chief Divine’s guidance, we passed through the night!..."

"Sing freely, dance freely! Until dawn arrives, Chief Divine’s morning light rises upon the Eastern Sea, then blissfully sleep in the light!..."

"Tlāzohcamati! Thank Chief Divine! Thank Chief Divine!..."

"Wiinaqutukut! We are victorious! We returned home!..."

"Kami yo! O Divine! O God!..."

In this moment, on the Snow Mountain Whale Island in the far north land, the voices of over a thousand tribes, different languages, all spilled over under the night sky, soaring up towards the yearning sky. Then, it seemed as though the stars above were pulled down by the joyful revelry of the banquet. As if bestowed by the Chief Divine, it caused those honest or fierce black eyes to shine with divine brilliance!

That night, starlight sparkled in their pupils, joyous songs and laughter echoed along the ocean’s edge at the world’s end. Until the long night faded, dawn soaked into intoxicated eyes, like a mother’s caress, allowing everyone to fall asleep peacefully~~