Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

The night grew deeper, and the firelight in the tent became a bit dim. The Guard Commander, Ecatl, stood by, watching His Highness in deep thought at the desk, and called over a guard, whispering a few instructions. A moment later, someone brought over a birch candle.

The so-called birch candle is a candle made from rolled birch bark. Of course, other flammable barks can be used, but they are more troublesome than birch and usually need to be steamed first. In the Celestial Empire, this kind of candle belongs to ancient candles, appearing around the Han and Tang dynasties, and only entering common households during the Song Dynasty. For the nobility of the Alliance, they also have an equally ancient lighting method, splitting pine wood into thin strips and lighting it for illumination, known in the Celestial Empire as "torch".

Ecatl carefully lit the birch candle, placed it at the corner of His Highness's desk, and then stepped back to stand by. Xiulote raised his head, glanced at the candlelight, and nodded slightly. Then, he picked up the feather pen, dipped it in blue ink, and began writing on the yellow parchment.

"From Flower Fruit City heading south, there are two routes, east and west, leading to the South. The eastern route is a treacherous waterway, following the Abyss River, flowing downstream for 140 li to the Rivermouth. From there, another 10 li southward brings you to the western part of Atoyac Lake!"

The third county road, the second segment of the eastern route, is the waterway from Flower Fruit City to Rivermouth to Atoyac Lake. Flower Fruit City is at an altitude of 1700 meters, Rivermouth at 240 meters, and the water level of Atoyac Lake is between 160 and 190 meters. The water route covers 140 li with a drop of over 1400 meters, showcasing the peril. This river is extremely turbulent and the water surges violently, hence referred to locally as the "river to the abyss," the Abyss River!

"During my Southern Expedition, I dispatched three legions south. The Imperial Guard Legion took the Owl River, and Ezpan's Second Spear Legion took this Abyss River! Moving downstream along the river, small boats traveled very fast. But accidents of crashing into reefs and cliffs, resulting in shipwrecks and fatalities, occurred frequently..."

"This treacherous river requires a significant human effort to clear, opening or bypassing small waterfalls between the mountains. Along the river, a first-level dirt road must be constructed to facilitate towing back and forth."

Xiulote pondered this, concentrating on the Abyss River waterway's significance to the kingdom's southern rule.

The carrying capacity of the Abyss River is immense, serving as the most convenient road connecting the Capital Region and the two southern counties. Despite the passage's dangers, it remains the main route for major goods and trade between the north and south of the kingdom.

The coal from Blackstone City's mining area is transferred from Flower Fruit City, through the rushing Abyss River, all the way to Atoyac Lake. Then downstream, along the tail end of the Tarsas River, it reaches the seaside's Black Rock Mountain iron ore. This river-lake path, flowing south from the north, can deliver goods over a hundred li in a day, unrivaled by any mountain land route!

Caravans shuttle back and forth bustlingly. In the middle segment of this waterway, several large villages profit from merchant tolls, providing manpower for towing. Not only upstream against the current requires towing, but downstream, if the riverbank is too steep, reverse towing is also needed to slow down the boat.

The village closest to Atoyac Lake is at the Rivermouth. Between Rivermouth and Lake Ato, there is a barren ten-li stretch of marshland, typically a river course, which turns into a lake during heavy summer rains when water levels rise.

"Every rainy summer, Atoyac Lake's water level surges. The reason is not only the Abyss and Owl rivers from the north converging here, but also the Tarsas River from the east and the Apal water system from the west. The Apal water system connects through the Chatou River to the Chapala Lake Region, channeling upstream lake water southward... Reservoirs must be built at each river upstream!"

Xiulote pondered for a moment and marked several red circles for reservoir construction on the northern and western sides of Atoyac Lake.

Atoyac Lake, the true "Great Water Lake." At its fullest, it spans 150 li from east to west! Nearly half of the Chapala Lake Region, the entire southern part of the kingdom, and the whole lower Tarsas River basin, over 200,000 square kilometers of rainfall, converge here. Then, the vast rainfall gathers into a surging river, flowing southward for 300 li, crashing into the Pacific Ocean at Trout Town, forming a fertile delta at its mouth.

"The Zicao and Apal counties cultivated by kingdom immigrants lie upstream of Ato Lake, on the northern and western sides of the Great Lake. At major settlements like Apa City, Zicao City, and Tepalcatepec, a series of reservoir dikes must be built along rivers and lakes to regulate the rainwater volume during rainy seasons and prevent flooding!"

Xiulote continued to write without pause, sketching out several more red circles. The reservoirs to be built here are not like the "Four Great Reservoirs" of later times with a storage capacity of billions of cubic meters, but rural small reservoirs with thousands, storage capacity calculated in ten thousand cubic meters.

In the grand plan, the entire process of water infrastructure development, akin to the development of the Bashu Plain in the Han and Tang dynasties, will last a long time, continually adding small-scale water engineering projects. The main workload lies in excavating river-lakes, encircling dykes and ponds, and constructing embankments. The ultimate goal is to achieve "water famine, oblivious to hunger and dearth!"

"This is a prolonged project, taking decades. However, I must begin planning now, for I possess enough patience and time!"

Xiulote envisaged the prosperity of the Shu region in the Celestial Empire and held similar expectations for the two southern counties of the kingdom. Moments later, his gaze turned to the farther sea coast in the south.