The city of Tenochtitlan was thoroughly destroyed in the process.
Through marriage alliances with ruling families in other city states, the Aztecs began to build their political base.
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They became fierce warriors and skillful diplomats. Thirty-eight provinces sent tribute regularly in the form of rich textiles, warrior costumes, cacao beans, maize, cotton, honey, salt and slaves for human sacrifice.
After his victory, Cortes razed Tenochtitla and built Mexico City on its ruins; it quickly became the premier European center in the New World. It might be helpful to go back and see exactly how the civilization started Tribute was drawn from commoners, the macehualtin, and distributed to the nobility, be they 'kings' tlatoquelesser rulers teteuctinor provincial nobility pipiltin.
Defying the authority of Velasquez, Cortes founded the city of Veracruz on the southeastern Mexican coast, where he trained his army into a disciplined fighting force.
Of course, even the term Aztec is a bit misleading. One of the ways in which the Aztec expanded in strength and wealth at the time was by acting as mercenaries and warriors for other societies in the region. Eventually, the Aztecs controlled much of central and southern Mexico.