The sudden rain had ceased, the setting sun dyed the clouds red, and cast magnificent silhouettes. Light swayed through time within the Stone Hall, morphing from a bright golden glow to a deep, rich crimson. The sunset hues bathed the last two Heritage Slabs, reminiscent of the closing chapters of the Kingdom Epic.
Xiulote lifted his head, his eyes reflecting the light of the setting sun. Jatili focused his gaze and saw that on the handsome and composed face of the young King, there were eyes bright as the morning stars, as though reflecting a meditative deity in a painting. The learned elder was momentarily lost in thought before he pointed at the sixth Heritage Slab and spoke out loud.
"My King, this sixth Heritage Slab encompasses five panels. It recounts the policies promulgated by successive Tarasco kings to establish Royal Family authority and centralize the Kingdom’s power!"
Upon hearing the phrase "centralizing power," the young King raised his eyebrows and looked attentively.
At the center of the first panel was a towering, majestic Divine Eagle King standing proudly. Before him, knelt a row of nobles clad in magnificent apparel. The King’s radiance shone like the Sun, and his demeanor was as solemn as that of a deity. He was handing over a wooden tablet scroll to the influential nobles before him.
"The King’s torso radiates stripes outward... Chief, is this the King representing the Sun God in a fief-granting ceremony?"
Xiulote observed the details of the panel with seriousness.
"Exactly, My King. In fact, it should be more appropriately called a granting ceremony!"
Jatili smiled meaningfully.
"This was a massive granting ceremony held towards the end of the Divine Eagle King’s reign! As time went by, the original influential Great Nobility grew old and died. Their numerous descendants, because of issues with title and land inheritance, had many disputes. As the Divine Eagle Royal Family had the supreme authority to decide, these conflicts were adjudicated by the King."
"Upon the suggestion of the second Hummingbird Chief, the Divine Eagle King finally carried out a ’generous’ granting. He accounted for the number of legitimate descendants of many nobles, and in the Lake Patzcuaro region, he granted fiefs to 220 influential nobles in one go, allowing these heirs to equally divide the lands of the Great Nobility."
"The second Chief’s suggestion? An equal division of land in a generous granting? Truly a bold and clever proposition!"
Upon hearing this, Xiulote suddenly widened his eyes. He looked at the learned elder in surprise; this scenario was all too familiar.
"Indeed! My King’s wise Divine Revelation, it seems you already comprehend the subtlety in it."
Jatili praised softly, then spoke earnestly.
"Under the witness of the Sun God, this fief-granting had two steps: first, many heirs of nobility in the Lake Patzcuaro region, whether Nava Nobility or Lake Region Nobility, had to submit wooden tablet scrolls and nominally return their fiefs to the King.
"Then, the supreme King, unbiased and just, under the witness of deities, did not usurp any nobles’ lands. He merely generously granted everyone titles, then divided these lands into different parcels, and gifted them back to the nobles’ heirs. In this process of submission and re-granting, the King’s authority was reinforced, legally possessing all rights to dispose of the land."
"At the time, some older nobles of the Lake Region starkly opposed the large-scale granting, using tribal traditions as their rationale. However, the outcome was that the granting still strongly proceeded under the authority of the King and the manipulation of the Chief. After the massive granting, the influential nobles of the Lake Region, now numbering in the hundreds, completely lost any capacity to resist the King. The entire Lake Patzcuaro region was finally, over the decades, fully integrated directly under the Royal Family."
The learned elder smiled subtly, his gaze deep and distant.
"My King, I must remind you that this ’generous’ granting, while clever, harbored great risks. To the older nobility, the malice hidden in the large-scale granting was unequivocally apparent! The Divine Eagle King had harbored this idea for a long time but patiently waited for decades. Only when the prestigious first-generation nobles had nearly all died did he allow the Hummingbird Chief to cautiously make this proposal."
"Even then, to minimize opposition, the scope of this granting was carefully limited. It focused only on the central Lake Patzcuaro region and did not involve the border military nobility. Under the witness of the deities, the Divine Eagle King used his prestige to make promises, ensuring the independence of inheritance rights for the border nobles. The border nobles also altered their inheritance rules. Numerous covert efforts and compromises by the Royal Family ensured the peaceful execution of the entire granting ceremony."
"My King, governance is a compromise of power, a confrontation of different groups, different forces. Even if one wishes to employ trickery, a sufficient foundation of power is necessary. Because, the mighty will tightly control the power and wealth, never easily relinquishing it..."
Hearing this, Xiulote pondered for a moment and nodded seriously.
"Thank you for your teachings, Chief! Direct central power is fundamental to administration. Governing a great state is like cooking a fish in the lake; after adjusting the heat, what follows is a slow wait... Chief, I still have one question: If the control over the influential nobility is limited only to the central lake area, how then does the Tarasco Royal Family handle the border military nobility who possess troops?"
At this, Jatili’s eyes twinkled. He carefully looked at the young King for a while, smiling as he answered.