However, it would be equally unacceptable for the Khan to choose to execute the loyal Qiexue who had made great military achievements.
On the one hand, his execution of his loyal servants would not only dishearten those who had made great contributions to his cause, causing these loyal and powerful warriors to begin to doubt whether they could gain glory and rewards by following him, but would also make those tribal leaders and nobles unwilling to exert their full strength when they later ruled the empire.
After all, loyal warriors follow me not only for my own ideals, but more importantly for "peace of mind", "rewards", and "status and glory".
A Qiexue who had received rewards, status, honor, and a sense of "peace of mind" would actually have his head chopped off because of a careless mistake. Wouldn't the servants who were originally running towards these things feel heartbroken
So the Great Khan must also prevent such a thing from happening. In other words, simply "sheltering" or "execution" will not work. But fortunately, the Great Khan has come up with a perfect plan that can take everyone into consideration.
The burly man with more chest hair than a troll first took a sip of the grassland's hot milk tea, then he took off his dagger and threw it in front of the tied and kneeling Qiexue.
Then the Great Khan stood up and walked in front of the Keshik and the father. He paced back and forth, looking around at the loyal ministers and representatives of the people in the tent, and then spoke in a calm voice:
"Since I, Khutot, unified the tribes and proclaimed myself Khan, I have not only rewarded those who have made contributions, but I have also tried my best to help the people of Khutot Khanate in order to make my country stronger.
I will not ignore the laws I have enacted and leave my people without a law to rely on in the future, but I will not allow a Kexue who has made great military achievements to face an inglorious death because of a momentary mistake."
The Great Khan turned around and looked at Keshik and the father. He personally helped the poor father up, then picked up his dagger and cut the rope that bound Keshik's hands. He then placed the dagger in front of Keshik and gave him the final verdict:
"From today on, you must take off all your clothes, cut off half of your hair with the dagger I gave you, deprive yourself of all your property, and accept ten lashes while loudly admitting your crimes in front of our people.
After that, you must live with the slave Liu Yuan in the lowest-level tent for ten days, accept their humiliation and contempt and complete the most menial work. Only after ten days will you be allowed to put on your original equipment, but you cannot enter my tent or the place where the Qiexue gather.
Only if you have made military achievements in the future that are enough to offset the death penalty, you can return to my camp—
Before you die in battle or return, I will reserve your place for you. Once you can return to the Great Khan's tent, you must also raise funds to bring the woman you abused back home, and use your life and achievements to atone for the sins of this woman you bullied, so that she and her family can gain wealth and glory.
My Qiexue, are you willing to accept my judgment? Or do you have any objection? "
Facing the Great Khan's verdict, Keshig burst into tears, filled with gratitude:
"I am willing to accept all the sentences of the Khan! I am willing to die to prove my integrity and atone for all the mistakes I have made after making great achievements on the battlefield!"
Originally Qiexue had prepared to die, but when there was a chance to survive, to choose a glorious death or a glorious return, no man of the grassland would give it up.
The Khan picked up the dagger again and placed it solemnly in Qiexue's hand.
Then he turned around and bowed slightly to the poor father, and asked in a tone full of affection:
"And are you satisfied, my child, with the Khan's verdict?"
The father looked at Qiexue, recalled his daughter's experience, and thought of Qiexue's great military exploits. Finally, he knelt down in gratitude before the Great Khan:
"Thank you, Father Khan, for taking charge of my daughter! Thank you, Father Khan, thank you, Father Khan!"
Since both parties had no objection, the Khan ordered the verdict to be executed immediately.
The Qiexue took off all his clothes including his underwear on the spot. He used the short knife given by the Khan to cut off half of his hair, and after respectfully returning the short knife to the Khan, he left the tent with his head held high and his chest puffed out, escorted by the other two Qiexues.
But before leaving, the Khan showed the Kheshig his armor on a coat rack and behind a cushion—
This means that the Khan will keep his promise. As long as Qiexue can make great military achievements and come back alive, he will still be qualified to sit in the Great Khan's tent.
After this serious episode, Hutot Khan finally had time to discuss the next strategy of moving south with his children and "ministers".
A Centaur Qiexue said that the Khutot Khanate had made all preparations to move south.
Although they have not yet recovered from the last war, at least when facing the small country in the south, they will completely destroy that country with the force of a mountain torrent and obtain all of that country's resources.
"Father Han, as long as we launch an attack, the enemy will be vulnerable! Their slaves have no morale. Although they have made fortifications to resist us, under the threat of our new weapons, these fortifications are actually no different from paper!
We plan to sweep across the entire territory of that small country within a month, and after migrating the entire tribe to their homeland, we will use their land and resources to feed our people, and we can also turn their people into our slaves, in preparation for the subsequent attack on our mortal enemy Roman. "
"My son, you are right. This small country standing between us and Roman was originally separated from the former Khanate. It will be easy for us to destroy them.
But you must not be complacent because of your small victory. Don't forget that everything we did was to gain living space in the south, to fight against the legendary demonic disaster and the terrifying monster that is about to revive in the far north. "
"We understand, please rest assured, our father Han!"
The Khan was very pleased with the ministers' shouting. He felt that his previous handling had achieved the desired effect, but he also had to look to the future.
This time, the Khutot Khanate went south not just for revenge and to fight for survival resources.
In fact, in the steppe, the resources in the steppe are completely sufficient for the current development of the Khutot Khanate.
But Khutot Khan did not believe the steppe was safe.
Because to the north of the grassland, and further north of the Mountains of Sorrow, the legendary demons and evil spirits are about to awaken.
In order to prevent his people from becoming food for demons or a breeding ground for corruption, the Great Khan had to move his Khanate to the location of the Roman Empire and drive the Romans to the north, making them his slaves and making them the first line of defense against demons.
(After all, in prophecies, demonic invasions always begin in the north.)
The Great Khan looked down at the sheepskin map on the small wooden table in front of him, looking at the mountains in the north of the Khanate and the unknown extremely cold land marked with snowflakes.
(And we are not good at defense. We are good at mobile warfare, not to mention that we suffered a failure a few years ago - the "Chosen One" of the Roman Empire has been born. We must drive that "Chosen One" away before the tribe perishes and let them stop the invasion of demons on our behalf.)
According to the ancient barbarian bone-breaking prophecy, before every demonic disaster occurs, a "chosen one" will be born in this world because of the impending disaster.
Benjamin Roman, who once defeated the Great Khanate and founded the Roman Empire, is the "Chosen One".
It was said that he was brave and decisive, that he could rule over chaotic tribes, and that he could also reconcile the hearts of all people, and that he was incomparably powerful in military attainments.
This "chosen one" is undoubtedly the world's effort to resist the devil - he is actually the embodiment of the world's will.
And Khutot Khan is naturally also the "chosen one".
From the day he was born, this man could clearly feel that he was different from others.
He learned things very quickly, and his body was stronger than that of an ordinary person. He showed his military talent at a very young age. More importantly, he believed that he was the same as Roman's "Chosen One". They could both feel the threat of the devil at their fingertips.
Although the Great Khan had never seen a demon, and did not know what the demon would bring to the world—
But whenever he thought of the word "devil", scenes from another world would always flash before his eyes.
A beautiful woman who died together with the devil by setting the whole world on fire.
There once existed on this continent a king and an army of armored knights who charged at the hideous and terrifying demons.
There was a great country that sank to the bottom of the sea along with its demons, and a floating country that blew up the entire continent into an archipelago of fragments and fell from the sky.
This world is conveying to the Great Khan the heavy price paid for fighting against demons in the past through illusions. And the Great Khan naturally understands that fighting against demons is definitely not an easy task.
But there can't be two tigers in one mountain. Benjamin Roman and I are destined to be friends who cherish each other, and also mortal enemies who must be killed on the battlefield.
Not only because the Great Khan's biological father died at the hands of Benjamin, but more importantly, the vast majority of the tribesmen died at the hands of the Romans.
"Roman is our mortal enemy." The Great Khan murmured subconsciously, and his words made all the Qiexues serious.
"So we have to reoccupy our land no matter what, and then let our mortal enemies go to the north. Let them bear the first round of invasion of demons on our behalf and buy time for our subsequent work."
"Father Han... But right now, we need to deal with that small country first before we can open up the route to the south from the western grasslands."
"We don't have to go along the grassland, we can go in from the forest..."
"We will suffer too much loss in the forest! Let's wait for Father to make a decision..."
The Qiexue were discussing in a low voice, while the Great Khan was looking at the map in deep thought.
It would not be difficult to destroy the small country that had been broken off. The problem was that it would take a long time to integrate the resources of that country.
It would take them about half a year to organize their resources, use their resources to produce better weapons, use their resources to arm more people, use their people to enrich their slave reserves, and make these slaves consumables to fill possible trenches and land in front of the city walls when they continue to move south.
The Great Khan knew that his invasion of Roman would take a long time - but he also knew that speed was of the essence.
He must achieve his strategic goal in the shortest possible time. Finally, can he let a group of people enter Roman territory to carry out destruction
No.
If we send people in now, it would be equivalent to notifying the "chosen one" of the arrival of the Great Khan and asking them to prepare in advance.
So what the Great Khan has to do is to follow the procedures.
"Children! Let's go and inspect our weapons. Tomorrow we will attack the mantis that is trying to stop a chariot with its arms, and let them spread fear and plague in their own country - but before that, we must make sure that our weapons are fully prepared!"
The Great Khan stood up from the cushion, put on his bear-head cloak, and left the tent with the Qiexue.
…
The Khutot Khanate did not have a real capital. As a country composed of nomadic tribes, their capital was the tent of the Great Khan. Because of this, the infrastructure of the Khutot Khanate was actually almost non-existent.
The Great Khan hopes that his people can become a settled country after entering Roman, because only by settling down can the Great Khan develop everything that a country should develop -
But before that, his priority was naturally to develop "portable food" and "weapons" which were crucial to victory.
He took the Qiexue and rode on oxen and horses to inspect the area where the Blacksmith Khan, or the master blacksmith, was.
Around the battalion commander, the Khan could see siege towers being disassembled and assembled according to their “parts” for testing, as well as catapults that could accurately hurl stones after being loaded with counterweights, and “ballista carriages” designed specifically for field battles.
"Father Han." The master blacksmith walked forward. The troll first knelt on the ground and kissed Father Han's boots to show his respect and loyalty. Then he stood up and introduced the current weapons and equipment of the Khutot Khanate to Khutot Khan.
It turned out that, under the instruction of Hutot Khan, they had reached an agreement with the ogres of the Mountains of Sorrow two years ago, obtained the rich mineral deposits in the mountains, and used those minerals to forge their own steel weapons.
Whether it is a steel scimitar, a steel javelin, or the steel full body plate armor and huge heavy maces specially provided for the trolls, steel arrowheads or the steel dragon heads on the battering rams.
In short, the main force of the Khutot Khanate now uses steel weapons, and all this is thanks to the rich and high-quality iron ore in the Mountains of Sorrow, the powerful arms of the troll blacksmiths, and the strong winds generated by Khutot Khan using fire magic.
There is no need to say much about the best iron ore. In the Mountains of Sorrow, there is a huge cliff that looks rusty red from a distance. The red sand there can be directly dug up and put into a furnace to smelt iron. It can be said that it is as abundant as it can be, and it is also the best iron ore producing area with the best quality.
After smelting pig iron from iron ore, you can try to refine "steel" with the efforts of the troll blacksmith.
Although the problem of "temperature" often arises during the refining process, in the end the Great Khan directly uses the magic of "fire" to solve the problem.
After all, fire will generate "wind". Under the influence of fire magic, the tribesmen successfully made a unique blower with cowhide and various materials, successfully melted the pig iron again, and after an extremely complicated manual process, refined the pig iron into molten steel. They then poured the molten steel into weapon molds and made them into steel weapons.
Although there is still a lot of room for improvement in the refining of these steels, they are sufficient for the current Hutot Khan.
Steel weapons achieved a perfect victory in the collision with iron weapons. This "Royal Guard" with nearly 10,000 people, composed of veterans and warriors, who have undergone rigorous training and have discipline and honor, and are equipped with steel weapons and armor, will be the most important breakthrough force of the Great Khan.
"But my father, although the warriors equipped with "steel" will have the upper hand in hand-to-hand combat, the Romans' "ballista" and "trebuchet" are still a threat that cannot be resisted by human power—
Even if we trolls put on steel helmets, we don't have the confidence to withstand the attack of ballistae and giant rocks, so before sending the guards to break through, it is best to let the slave soldiers consume the Romans' ammunition reserves. "
"I will consider it. Blacksmith Khan, you just need to focus on providing us with more weapons and equipment. Compared to this, how about our siege equipment?"
"Based on the habits of our tribe, I modified Roman's siege equipment. They no longer need to be made of wood on the spot. Instead, they can be disassembled and equipped with wheels. Centaurs or oxen can pull them to the battlefield in batches, and then they can be assembled by trolls or cranes."
"I think there is no problem assembling the trebuchet. But wouldn't it be troublesome to assemble the siege tower?"
"It's better than making it on the spot." The troll blacksmith shrugged. "We won't be able to make siege towers on the spot when the time comes - especially when facing the Romans' western city. There won't be any wood there, and even stones may need to be dug up from the soil."
"That's it for now then."
Hutot Khan's engineering equipment was also improved to a certain extent according to the characteristics of nomads. This made the Great Khan extremely pleased, but also made him realize that this was far from enough.
Because he knew very well that once they entered the narrow mountainous area of Roman territory, these siege weapons might be useless due to the terrain.
If they cannot find a way to obtain weapons that are "smaller" but also have the ability to "break through cities", then the Khan's army's advance will be severely damaged after entering the mountainous area in Roman territory.
This is not allowed by the Khan! But the Khan also knows that he can't rush things... So what to do
The Khan could not think of any good solution for a while. He led the Keshig away from the camp of the master blacksmith, and then they came to the army camp, inspecting his personal soldiers while comparing the differences between his personal guards and ordinary nomadic warriors.
Those equipped with shining steel armor and steel weapons are naturally the Khan's personal soldiers.
In this army of personal soldiers, only the Centaurs, who were the main force of fast mobility, and the Harpies, who could not bear the weight of steel, were not equipped with steel armor. But even so, they were equipped with the most sophisticated leather armor.
Those who were only equipped with ordinary leather armor or a chain mail, without helmets or neck guards, or even wearing ordinary cloth clothes and holding shields, were ordinary nomadic warriors.
The Great Khan had also tried hard to enhance their equipment, but with an empty treasury, the Khan could not guarantee that every nomadic warrior had their own armor.
Finally, those who only wore cloth, held a dagger or even had only a wooden stick were the army's camp slaves and slave soldiers.
They are pure consumables. Compared with those slave women, these men not only have to do more rough work, but also have to fight for their lives with the enemy on the battlefield. What forces them to launch the attack is naturally the swords and supervision of the warriors.
This is the Khan's powerful army.
But the only drawback is that the Khan's army does not have any mages because the number of priests who know magic is too small.
This may put them at a disadvantage when facing Roman mages or priests.
But even a good cook cannot cook without rice, and the Khan cannot give them mages out of thin air without mages... So for now, he has done the best he can.
After inspecting all the troops, the Khan, who was confident of annihilating the small country, ended his schedule for the day.
As Khan, he is a wise monarch when he is working, but after finishing his work, this Khan will also expose his shortcomings and helplessness.
He would go back and drink, get drunk, and then on February 4th he would launch a fierce attack on the entire territory of that small country.
By then, the heroic name of Hutot Khan will spread across the grassland, and when Hutot Khan has dealt with the Romans and the demonic disaster in the future - his heroic name will be spread forever.
This is Khan's fanatical desire.
He has the prerequisite to realize this desire, but he doesn't know when this prerequisite can be achieved.
He did not think too much about it. Instead, he returned to the tent with his Qiexue children and enjoyed their night of drunkenness.
But before getting drunk, the Khan had planned everything he should do after conquering the small country.