Montezuma depicted in the manuscript.
The Aztec emperor Montezuma I founded the Champions League War. 1440 and 1469 reigned, during which tenochtitlan was the capital, which completely unified the Aztec empire and made tenochtitlan the strongest among the three Aztec alliances. As a leader, he well coordinated the internal relations of the tripartite alliance, building water conservancy and developing agriculture at the same time, and built Tran in Tenoch into a water metropolis with a population of 200,000. He is regarded as one of the greatest Aztec kings.
The picture above shows the city of Tetran in Tenoch at that time, and now the city is underground in Mexico City.
According to the surviving handwritten history books, during the reign of Montezuma I from 1450 to 1454, there was a severe drought for four years, which made the Aztecs' staple food corn almost useless. Handwritten history books record: "God is angry with the empire. In order to appease the gods, a large number of living people must be sacrificed to please the gods. " Under the leadership of Montezuma I, the Aztec Alliance of Three Kingdoms, after consulting with neighboring countries such as Tlaxcala, Veyosingo, Cholula and Atrisco, both sides unanimously agreed to conduct the crown war as scheduled, so as to capture each other and offer sacrifices to please the gods. Because all Aztec history books were destroyed as heresy by Spanish missionaries, the records in this surviving incomplete manuscript are the only evidence to prove the origin of the championship war.
Captives captured in the Champions League War recorded in the manuscript.
The championship war is different from ordinary wars, and it is more ceremonial, which is somewhat similar to the knight competition in medieval Europe. Before the war, the two sides agreed on the place and time of the war and the scale of the war. The agreed battle site is regarded as a sacred place and called cuauhtlalli or yaotlalli.
In the middle of the battle, the two sides should set up a woodpile covered with spices, and lighting the woodpile is the signal to start the battle. When both sides saw the flames burning, they began to charge, just like the two teams heard the opening whistle. There are also strict restrictions on the weapons used by both sides. Long-range weapons such as bows and arrows, slings and javelin used in ordinary operations are not allowed to be used, because they may kill each other and cannot catch the living to sacrifice.
Both sides fought each other with wooden sticks and wooden shields with obsidian blades. In the battle, they try not to use the Obsidian blade to cut each other, but use the wooden parts of marquardt to knock the enemy unconscious. This is the moment when jaguar soldiers and eagle soldiers show their superb martial arts. After all, only by capturing more than 20 people in two consecutive Champions League wars can you become a leopard soldier and an eagle soldier. Just as you can become a star player by keeping a goal record for two consecutive seasons, jaguar soldiers and eagle soldiers are the stars of the championship battle. The Champions League is more like a team competition of free armed fighting, and the outcome of the competition is determined by the number of players who capture each other alive.
The military scale used in the Champions League War is smaller than that in ordinary wars, and the two sides elect an equal number of elite players to carry out it. The colorful paintings and gorgeous uniforms carefully decorated by the contestants, as well as the towering national flag, are also the highlights of this war, which will win warm applause from both audiences. As long as there is a need for living sacrifices, championship battles can be held all year round, but they are generally arranged in the slack season between late autumn and early spring. After all, we have to plant corn for the rest of the time.
At the beginning of the battle of Rongguan, the process of the war was not fatal, and both sides aimed to capture each other alive. But with the passage of time and the expansion of the scale of the battle, the battle has become more and more fierce and bloody. For example, the long glorious war between the Aztecs and Charkas had almost no casualties at first, and both sides were just prisoners. However, after that, the two sides began to kill each other's ordinary soldiers, only catching the nobles in the most gorgeous clothes. The arrested aristocrats are often not necessarily sacrificed by the living, but will be released after paying a certain ransom. However, in the late period of the Rongguan War, both nobles and ordinary soldiers may be killed on the spot, and those who become prisoners will be sacrificed by the living and cannot be redeemed. Interestingly, both sides of the war think it is a great honor to die in the crown war or to be sacrificed to the gods, which is more glorious than to die in ordinary combat. When you die in the championship war, you will use a special word: xochimiquiztli, which means "death of glory, death of happiness, death of good luck". The soul of the deceased will go to heaven to live with the sun god and enjoy a feast.
There are many explanations about the purpose of the Battle of Glory. One explanation is that the Champions League War was to capture prisoners for the combat training of troops and the sacrifice of the living. According to historical records, an officer of Cortes once asked Monctesuma II why the powerful Aztec Empire did not conquer neighboring small countries. Monctesuma II replied: Let them go. Without them, how can we train soldiers and catch prisoners? Under the guidance of this strategy, even if the powerful Aztec empire often surrounded the cities of small neighboring countries and cut off their trade, it would not destroy them. The Aztecs attach great importance to sacrifice and force, and the championship war can provide sacrifices continuously. In the Champions League, advanced jaguar soldiers and eagle soldiers were the embodiment of national majesty, and their glory also inspired ordinary soldiers to practice martial arts and make brave sacrifices for the empire.
There is also a saying that the real purpose of the Champions League War is to destroy the enemy's elite effective forces and prevent the enemy's forces from developing and growing. Due to the strength of the Aztec Empire, almost all Aztecs won the championship battle, and consumed the enemy's most elite soldiers in the battle, which was equivalent to sweeping away the potential threat of the Empire. Another important purpose is to show off national strength and show the invincible Aztec empire to neighboring countries.
Prisoners caught in the Rongguan War will not be abused, but will be treated with preferential treatment and courtesy before sacrifice. Different from the captured prisoners of war in ordinary wars, the prisoners of war in Rongguan War were considered noble and blessed by God. Capturing yourself will also feel lucky, and offering sacrifices to God is a great honor. Captives of the Rongguan War will only be used for major ceremonies. Before the ceremony, the victims must go through a long rehearsal to achieve the best effect of offering sacrifices to the gods. When the ceremony approaches, they have to rehearse many times, and the preparation time for major ceremonies even exceeds one year. Unlike modern people's view of life and death, Aztecs are happy to meet death.
The manuscript shows an altar full of sacrificial heads.
Because the victims sacrificed to different gods and in different ways. The most common sacrifice of the sun god is that the victim lies on the altar and his limbs are caught by the priest. A chief priest cut his abdomen with a sharp obsidian knife and dug out his beating heart for the sun god. The body was thrown out of the altar. The man who caught the victim brought it back to dismember and eat it. The sacrifice in the film Revelation is a sacrifice to the sun god, but the victims in it are ordinary villagers, far less noble than the soldiers captured in the Rongguan War.
Scenes of offering sacrifices to the sun god
Sacrificing Vulcan victims is the most painful. They will be tied up and baked on the fire. In order to alleviate the pain of the victims, the priests will give the victims magic terry powder with psychedelic calming effect. The victims have to endure great pain, and only when they are half baked will they be put down and offered to Vulcan.
The noble victims of the glorious war are often worshipped as gods, and their heads will be beheaded and sacrificed after a few days or even months of celebration. This is the general way of treating victims in big noble.
Be regarded as a victim of the gods
The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the god of war is very special. The victim was tied to the altar with one foot, holding a light cloth shield and Makwawitt without obsidian blade naked, and fighting with elite jaguar soldiers or eagle soldiers with Makwawitt blade and medium wooden shield, wearing armor and wooden helmet. This is an unfair contest, but there are also victims with high martial arts who win the contest. But even if the victim wins, he won't live. He will fight his next opponent until he is exhausted and then sacrificed to God.
According to Spanish records, a great Trascala warrior was captured by Aztecs in the Champions League. The Aztecs pardoned him on the condition that he would fight for the Aztecs, but the soldiers refused and offered sacrifices to the gods voluntarily. So the Aztecs held a grand celebration for him for eight days. On the last day, they sent the most elite soldiers to the altar. The great Trascala warrior is not afraid of the most elite Aztec soldiers who are fully armed with light armor and light shield sticks. After knocking down 28 Aztec soldiers, he fell to the ground exhausted and was sacrificed by a highly respected sacrifice. His body was respectfully divided and eaten by jaguar soldiers and eagle soldiers to gain the extraordinary strength of the warriors.
Unequal war sacrifice
The long-term crown war made the hatred between the Aztecs and neighboring countries grow day by day, so when the Spanish invaded the Aztec Empire, the neighboring countries joined forces to help the Spanish destroy the Aztecs accordingly. This is why hundreds of Spanish soldiers can defeat tens of thousands of Aztecs, because there are tens of thousands of soldiers from neighboring countries fighting side by side with the Spanish to destroy the Aztecs. At the same time, because the operational mode of the Champions League War is still very different from the real war, the Aztec soldiers trained by emphasizing performance and capturing prisoners are too naive and primitive to face the Spanish tactics that have been baptized by the old continent for hundreds of years. The championship war also died with the demise of the Aztec Empire.
As the saying goes, "reading history can make people wise, and the past does not forget the teacher of the future." However, the role of history may not be as simple as meeting the future. People who read deeply must understand that reading history only gives us greater freedom and initiative to create the future.
Life is not just the present, but also poetry and distance. In Gao's lyric poems, we not only experienced a literary complex, but also pursued inner freedom and feelings. Poetry creates a spiritual utopia for us, while Shi Zhecun makes us more aware of reality. We should not only live in the present, but also live in the future. Follow these classics, follow the footsteps of history, unveil the veil bit by bit, restore the real scene, feel the passage of time, pursue the thoughts of philosophers, explore the spiritual world of mankind bit by bit, and meet smarter yourself day by day.