1460 to 1470
The ongoing construction of the empire was mobilizing almost all the energy of the citizens. A nation was being build, and expended in every directions.
Westward, explorers and settlers followed the coast of the occidental ocean and builded several cities. The kingdom of Achaei was established in the western provinces as they were too isolated and far away from the capital to be administrated efficiently from there.
Southward, the last traces of the Zapotec independence were ereased forever. Easily it was intergated into Azatlan. Colonisation went farther in the south, far beyond the lands of the Mayas. The territory was divided and settled until the colonists reached the borders of the mysterious and distant Inca Empire.
Northward, attracted by the abundance of furs, hight quality wood and very fertile lands, the Aztecs imposed their rule over a vast territory. The Great Lakes and the 'Sad River*' were the center of those new sttlements.
But the greatest hopes were focused toward the East. Half a century after the wise priests began to study the 'Stone Library' of Teothiuacan, the Aztecs were able to sail across the seas. An important archipelago was discovered, but the priests and the scientists said that they were not the remains of Aztlan, and that further expeditions would be required to go beyond and find the true Sacred Islands. The archipelago was however settled, and the islands were united under a new kingdom.
The Empire, with its 15 kingdoms, was the strongest political entity of the known world (and of the unknown world too, but that was not yet known). Even if very decentralized, the efforts of the entire nation could still be put together forward a single aim.
At the end of this busy decade Moctezuma I passed away. This marked the end of an era, as the new Emperor was not as much interested into expending the borders of the country further on the continent- he beleived that the efforts of the nation should now be focused toward oversea expension. Thus, Axayacatl I ordered the construction of a fleet and the participation of the most skilled ingineers into his project: the discovery of the mythical remains of Aztlan and maybe the exploration of more lands beyond.
In the first day of the 50th year of the New Era**, or what would be called by the Europeans year 1469, Admiral Nezahualpilli sailed from the port of Autioch forward to the unknown East. After a breif stop at the Biminis Archipelago, the expedition of 20 ships entered in a sea nobody visited before them, toward new horizons.
*The Sad River refers to the St-Lawrence while the Happy River is the Mississipi.
**After Itzcoatl's dream