"But, King, we can't even find a single fantasy species right now, so how could God appear in person..."
The high priest couldn't help but retort that as the manager of the great temple, he did so not only out of faith, but also because if it was true as the legend said, his position would be in jeopardy.
In fact, even he probably couldn't guess that, in the eyes of Montezuma II, if it was really the return of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, he even wanted to take the initiative to invite him to sit on the throne of the Aztec Empire. He had only been guarding the throne for him. Now that you are back, it belongs to you.
Perhaps it is difficult for ordinary people to understand why this king with great achievements would do this. All we can say is that he truly believed in the legend that Quetzalcoatl would return as she said.
In the normal course of history, Montezuma II believed that the Spanish colonist Cortes was the "messenger of Quetzalcoatl" and allowed him to sabotage the Aztec Empire and force other city-states with force, and was even willing to return the throne, just like now.
Moreover, after the Spaniards entered the city fully armed, Montezuma II did not show any intention of plotting to kill the Spaniards. Instead, he handed over an empty palace to the Spaniards for them to settle down, and always received them with high standards, which made the Spaniards feel uneasy.
"God doesn't have to appear in person. A lowered form or a messenger is also possible."
Having said this, Montezuma II paused. The reason he did so was as if he felt there was no need to say this, but he had to say it now that things had come to this point.
"But--"
"No need to say more." Montezuma II walked out, "Let us go and welcome the return of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent!"
The people who stayed there looked at each other for a few seconds, then followed him. Even the high priest followed him after much hesitation.
In the Aztec Empire at this time, Montezuma II was the king who also served as the highest-level priest. The reason why he let the old priest be the manager of the Great Temple was only out of partial entrustment. Therefore, there was no conflict between royal power and religious authority at all.
As they moved forward, they all saw that the sky on the other side was covered with gray fog, as if it had been separated by humans.
At the end of that side, countless raindrops continued to fall, accompanied by some green dots, looking like shooting stars.
Soon, Montezuma II and his men reached the coast and saw a large ship that they had never seen before.
And that silver-haired human and the inhuman creature beside him.
Montezuma II could tell at a glance that Bavan Si was not a human being. It was not that his magic skills were very high, but that Bavan Si now did not cover her heels.
However, according to his observation, the silver-haired human seemed to understand their language, but the red-haired girl could not.
Montezuma II then came to Favia with great excitement:
"Are you the messenger of Quetzalcoatl? I am the king of the Aztecs, Montezuma Xocoyotsin."
Montezuma II had discovered it.
The strong smell didn't allow him to look away.
Is this as it should be? Or is this in the realm of God, and should it be called a blessing?
He found that the man in front of him exuded an aura similar to the top of the great temple.
"The messenger of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god? Yes, that's why I'm here."
Favia smiled.
If someone had seen him during the Roman period, they would have noticed that his smile at this moment was exactly the same as when he was preaching.
"But, Socoyotsin, the king of the Aztecs, have you ever heard a saying—"
"'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth'."
232: Create the only god in Central and South America (5k)
When people talk about the Aztec Empire, what else do they think of except the king who was fooled by the Spanish colonizers and let his ancient civilization fall into destruction?
The answer is the long-standing practice of human sacrifice.
The most important thing in the Aztec religious rituals is the ceremony of human sacrifice, but human sacrifice is not a unique sacrificial method of the Aztecs. Early Indians had the habit of human sacrifice.
In fact, in an earlier period, before the Aztec Empire was established, previous dynasties had already begun to use rituals of executing prisoners of war to symbolize the transformation of blood into water and harvest, as well as the worship of Venus's military power.
According to later oral accounts by the Spanish, in front of some temples of the Aztec Empire there was a huge statue, half lying and half sitting on the ground in a stiff posture, holding an empty plate in its hands. The empty plate in front of the statue's chest was used to hold the heart that had just been dug out of a human body.
"Before the victim's heart was dug out, people led him around to parade... and then placed him on the altar. Four people grabbed his hands and feet and stretched them out. The executioner came over with a hard stone knife and skillfully cut an incision between the ribs on the left side of his body, below the nipple, and then reached out and inserted his hand, like a hungry tiger grabbing a sheep..."
Most of the sacrifices were prisoners of war, and some were members of the tribe. Generally speaking, these chosen people could enjoy certain benefits before being killed, and on the day of the sacrifice they were sent to the altar. These people believed that being a sacrifice was a great honor.
The reason for offering human hearts was that they believed that offering them could delay the end of the world, and this view was widely accepted throughout Central America.
As early as when he arrived, Favia, who was waiting for this day on the ship, already had a plan.
The world of Central and South America in the Americas is governed by completely different rules from those of the Eurasian continent. Perhaps it is because the South American gods voluntarily returned to the jungle to sleep in the Age of Gods, or perhaps it is because the South American gods are alien bacteria. Although they can utilize some of the remaining power of the gods, once they touch the underlying operating rules of the world, that is, the Central and South American pantheon, they will naturally gradually go to destruction.
The underlying operating rule of the Central and South American world is extremely bloody human sacrifice.
Although primitive religions all have a certain degree of human sacrifice rituals, whether it is the Shang and Zhou dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Period in the Far East, the Brahmanism of the Vedic era in ancient India, or the ancient Semites in the ancient Sumer and Babylon regions, the habit of sacrificing human sacrifices to gods, such as burning children to sacrifice to Molech, there is a story in "Genesis" that tests whether Abraham is willing to kill his only son as a sacrifice to Yahweh.
But without exception, they all changed from the majority to the minority with the general trend of the times. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, human sacrifice and human burial have been severely criticized by various schools of thought, and then banned. In India, it was opposed by Buddhist, Jain and other monks during the period of the Warring States Period, and was gradually banned.
As for the only God Yahweh, he forbade Abraham from doing this at the last moment.
In fact, considering the environment of the Mediterranean coast at that time, Yahweh, who did not pursue human sacrifice, was a complete dimensionality reduction attack from a modern perspective. Perhaps because of this move, the god Moloch, who was overly devoted to human sacrifice and believed by the ancient Semites, became an "abominable god", that is, demonized, in the subsequent spread.
In any case, as time goes by, banning human sacrifice is an inevitable trend, just like the demise of magic, but the world of Central and South America seems to be somewhat special, just like their gods. Once there is a possibility of attempting to abolish human sacrifice, the world itself will be destroyed. This "destruction" does not refer only to the land, but to the people who live on it.
To be honest, for Favia, who only wants to find the last part of the Silver Key, there is really no need to save the "stubborn" existence of the Central and South American world. The pursuit of survival and progress will lead to inevitable destruction. This is very subtle no matter how you look at it.
However, to this day, Favia still remembers the countless "light rains" he witnessed during the Hun period.
The dark road is filled with stars, and in the lively meteor shower, the noise rises and falls. When passing by, those stranger souls will smile gratefully, say their names, and then return to silence again.
A vast rain of light fell from the darkness, drop by drop, and in every ray of light there was a smiling face of someone who actually lived in this world.
Among them, there may be people who once lived on this continent.
This alone was enough for him.
What's more, although the Aztec Empire practiced such bloody human sacrifices, from the perspective of human history, it was really nothing.
This is how history developed, but the Aztec Empire was in a bad location in the Americas, which led to slow changes.
As time goes by, the moonlight shines brightly in the night sky, and the stars are dotted like diamonds scattered across the endless sky.
Occasionally, a breeze blows, bringing with it the faint scent of water vapor and plants from Lake Texcoco in the distance.
It is the birthplace of the Aztec civilization and the location of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan.
In the Aztec palace, Favia was staring at the Aztec king Montezuma II.
After meeting on the shore, he and Bawan Xi were invited in here, and then Favia asked the fairy girl to rest first, and he wanted to talk to Meng Er alone.
"I am very sorry. Due to the late hour, I cannot hold a grand ceremony for your arrival in time. Please forgive me."
"It's okay. It's only natural not to disturb others' rest at will."
In fact, in Meng Er's opinion, the person in front of him was very different. He had an attractive temperament, as if as long as they were around him, they could make people around him relax. And even if ten, twenty, or even a hundred years passed, this temperament would definitely not change.
This undoubtedly further fueled his belief that Favia was the messenger of Quetzalcoatl's return.
"Thank you very much. In a few days, I will hold the most grand ceremony to welcome you, the messenger of Quetzalcoatl."
Meng Er said respectfully that if any Aztec people saw this, they would never be able to imagine that the king who once led them to glory would be like this.
"That means we can put the matter aside for now. I'm not in a hurry."
"No, it must be held immediately. We must let all Aztecs know about Quetzalcoatl's return—"
Seeing Meng Er's anxious expression, Favia smiled and interrupted him.
"Montezuma, you want to use this opportunity to abolish the Aztec human sacrifice."
Favia, who was already confused, naturally knew the reason why he was so eager to promote the "Return of Quetzalcoatl", which was to use the legend to abolish human sacrifice.
"...Ah." Meng Er was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "That's right. If this continues, Aztec will sooner or later be destroyed by the surrounding city-states because of the accumulated hatred. As Quetzalcoatl's messenger, you came here now because Quetzalcoatl doesn't want this to happen, right?"
"Yes."
Montezuma was not too panicked when his thoughts were exposed in public. In his opinion, Favia was already the messenger of Quetzalcoatl, so it was normal that he could not hide his thoughts. Moreover, the legend also said that when Quetzalcoatl returned, he would abolish "destruction, bloodlust and war" and bring "peace and technology."
After all, the silver-haired young man's answer did not sound hypocritical to Montezuma II.
Moreover, the reason why Favia said this could be said to be that he intended to confirm his identity as the messenger of Quetzalcoatl in Meng Er's mind so as to implement subsequent plans.
Spread faith throughout this land.
But this is quite difficult. In terms of difficulty, it is probably even more difficult than in the Roman period.
Because Aztec mythology is not like the Roman polytheism, which is deeply rooted here.
Take Montezuma in front of Favia for example. As a believer of Quetzalcoatl, if Favia told him that he would become the king of the Aztecs, he would surely not hesitate and would give up the throne directly.
It can be said that Meng Er is a complex person, but also a simple person. He is an extremely devout believer in Quetzalcoatl, unlike Emperor Claudius of the Roman period.
In general, Favia could have used Monji's trust in his identity to eliminate the human sacrifice smoothly, but what after that?
The Spaniards will come here sooner or later, and the Aztec Empire will definitely collapse at that time, regardless of whether there is a human sacrifice or not.
Even if Favia immediately asked Mon II to let the Aztecs learn technology, improve metallurgy, and create armor and firearms, this was completely unrealistic considering the productivity of the continent at the moment. The gap in technological level between the New World and the Old World could not be made up in one or two generations.
On the other hand, in addition to the advantages in weapons technology, there are qualitative differences between the New and Old Worlds in religion, politics, culture, and even the resulting ways of thinking.
The basic doctrines of the Templar Church are much more attractive to the lower classes than primitive religions that still retain blood sacrifices. In the original history, although the Spaniards defeated the two Indian empires in Central and South America with their advantage in weapons, they were able to rule and conquer the entire Central and South America with an absolutely small number of people. In fact, it was because of the double brainwashing of the original Aztecs and Incas with Latin and the Bible that slowly disintegrated the original ethnic concepts of the Aztecs and Incas.
Favia was naturally well aware of this.
Before, he said to Meng Er, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." At that time, Meng Er thought he was talking about Ometeotho, the original god in Aztec mythology, who is also the parent of Quetzalcoatl, Smoke Mirror, and Left Hummingbird, although the original First Sun Era was created by Smoke Mirror and Quetzalcoatl together.
At that moment, he understood that if he wanted the Aztecs to survive the Spanish invasion, the best way was to improve their own writing and religious systems and to preserve the unified national consciousness of South America to the greatest extent possible.
So, Favia came up with a plan -
Create gods, just like Alexander IV in The Great Adventure of the Second Emperor.
However, there were no divine bodies among the Aztecs for Favia to use, so he could only use the most primitive method to collect faith and create Tonatiuh, the sun god in Aztec mythology who attempted to devour the blood and hearts of all gods in the Fifth Sun Age.
Let this god who possesses all gods become the common belief of the entire South America, and as the founder of the Bible, he should be incorporated into the largest foundation of human history as much as possible. In this way, the possibility of Americans being infected with plague when they come into contact with Europeans can be prevented in time.
However, in this way, when people in the church feel this familiar feeling in the future, they may regard "Tonatiuh" as a certain embodiment of the "Bible", and regard other Aztec gods as "demons" before the "true God" comes... This is in line with the church's propaganda line.
In any case, this can be considered a step towards monotheism.
However, this 'Tonatiuh' will be Favia himself, because he is also worried that this will create some extraordinary void existence. After all, the entire Aztec pantheon is not much different from their original system 'Maya', and he has twice experienced accommodating the entire power of the pantheon...
But the Age of Gods is gone, so it won't get to that point. At most, there will be sayings in the future that 'Tonatiuh' was created based on 'Favia'... It's also possible that he won't even be able to leave his name behind.
Favia thought so.
As for the crisis that the abolition of human sacrifice brought to the Central and South American world, since it was caused by him, he would naturally solve it no matter what.
Then he stepped forward and said to Montezuma II:
"Please allow me, as the messenger of Quetzalcoatl, to go to the top of the Great Temple tonight and listen to the words of the Left Hummingbird and Tlaloc."
He knew very well that it was useless to simply build faith. If that was all he did, in today's changing times, it might even be defined as a fake.
Since the South American gods returned to the jungle before the Age of Gods disappeared, their remaining power in the world should be obtained before human sacrifice was eliminated and before the Central and South American world fell into "collapse".
It is like the city spirit Tenochtitlan that has obtained the power of the rain god and the god of war.
Therefore, the first thing to do is to get the "Sun Stone" located in the Great Temple, and use it as a starting point to gain the power of "Maya".
"...Go to the top floor to listen to the oracle? But you are the messenger of Quetzalcoatl..."
Hearing this, Meng Er suddenly looked conflicted. In his opinion, Quetzalcoatl, the good god, was obviously at odds with Zuo Fengniao, the god of war. This messenger who had finally arrived could not die inexplicably like this. It would be bad if Quetzalcoatl left again.
"...divine oracle?"
Favia could naturally see the confusion on Montezuma's face, and he couldn't help but become curious. Could it be that the South American gods could really convey messages to their believers... But then he thought about it and it was impossible. All the gods in the world left after the Age of Gods, and South America would naturally be no exception. At most, they would leave behind some power.
It seems that he had a guess in his mind that the city elf Tenochtitlan might be using the power of the two gods to convey the so-called divine revelation.
"Yes, for some reason, in recent months, the Rain God and the Left Hummingbird have personally delivered divine oracles at the top of the temple..." Meng Er paused, then said, "In fact, before I led people to look for you, the messenger, the high priest told me that the Left Hummingbird asked us to kill the visitor, and that visitor was you, the messenger..."
"Really? I see." Favia remained unmoved and continued to make requests to Montezuma II. "If that's the case, then as the messenger of Quetzalcoatl, I should go there in person."
"Why?"
"Because I am the messenger of Quetzalcoatl, I will naturally prohibit the human sacrifice that Zuo Hummingbird loves. Therefore, in time, His Excellency the God of War will be asked to leave the temple."
Favia's words sounded like treason to ordinary Aztecs. That was the long-worshipped god of war, how could he be moved out of the temple like that? But to Montezuma II, he felt that as the messenger of Quetzalcoatl, this was what he should do, and he was determined to ban human sacrifice just like him.
Montezuma II could not help laughing, and he patted Favia on the shoulder with great joy.
"Okay! I will listen to what you say, messenger. From now on, you will be the high priest who manages the Great Temple. Come on, I will take you to the Great Temple!"
Afterwards, under the leadership of Meng Er, Favia and he walked all the way to the great temple not far from the palace.
The sky is high and the moon is blue.
