Chapter 15: Painting a Big Picture, Hundred Household?

After telling the Old Master, Li Xiao took some people to the riverside.

Actually, after they finished cleaning up there, they would definitely have come over anyway. After all, the Karluks and Khitans had left quite a few good things behind, and Hexi Fortress had no reason to let them go.

Upon arriving at the riverside, they found a similarly tragic scene.

More than twenty corpses lay scattered on the bank, most of them Khitans.

Another dozen corpses were soaking in the river water, mostly Karluks.

Blood stained the river water and the grass red. Masterless horses grazed with their heads down nearby, as if everything happening before them had nothing to do with them.

“My condolences~”

Standing by the river, after checking all the corpses, Li Xiao offered a formulaic consolation to Xiao Yanyan.

In fact, Li Xiao had long known clearly that there couldn’t be any survivors by the river.

After the Karluks rushed ashore, they would definitely slaughter the Khitans, and deliver a coup de grâce to anyone not dead yet.

Xiao Yanyan also understood this principle. Looking at the corpses of these Khitan warriors, her expression was desolate and sad.

These were all warriors of the Six Divisions who had always followed her loyally!

Now, they had all died in Jin Prefecture, which made Xiao Yanyan hate that bastard Dahe Chuluoduo even more.

“Sigele!”

Xiao Yanyan said fiercely. This was a curse word in the Khitan language.

Li Xiao couldn’t understand it, but knew it wasn’t anything good. However, this woman shouldn’t be targeting him; she was probably cursing the Karluks!

Next, Li Xiao and the others began to gather the warhorses, scavenge the spoils of war, fish the corpses out of the river, and bury them along with those on the bank.

While doing these things, Xiao Yanyan followed Li Xiao and suddenly asked: “Have you ever thought about leaving here?”

Li Xiao unceremoniously slung a Khitan bow onto his back, looked up at Xiao Yanyan, and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Come and be my guard~”

Before Xiao Yanyan finished her sentence, Li Xiao interrupted her directly: “Not interested!”

“I haven’t finished speaking yet” The promises Xiao Yanyan made to Li Xiao were nothing more than wealth and status.

Helping Li Xiao rise rapidly in the future and so on.

After all, she had seen Li Xiao’s prowess with her own eyes.

Superb archery, hitting the enemy’s chest from a hundred meters away; brave and skilled in battle, ordinary men were no match for a single strike of his saber.

Killing Karluks was like chopping melons and vegetables.

Such a brave man was simply what Xiao Yanyan desired most.

Experiencing Dahe Chuluoduo’s abandonment and the successive deaths of more than two hundred Khitan warriors around her made Xiao Yanyan feel very insecure. She had never been so helpless.

And Li Xiao’s appearance became a dazzling light in Xiao Yanyan’s heart at that time, saving her from a desperate situation.

So, her attitude toward Li Xiao was naturally different.

She wanted to obtain this young man!

But unfortunately, the concubine had feelings while the groom had no intention. Li Xiao had absolutely no thoughts about the wealth and glory promised by Xiao Yanyan.

He just found it laughable!

This woman had been high and mighty for too long. Did she think that as long as she waved her hand, ordinary people would crawl before her?

“I have absolutely no interest in what you’re saying!”

“I just want to stay in Hexi Fortress!”

“I don’t want to go anywhere else!” Li Xiao refused again without hesitation!

Li Xiao had ambition!

He wanted greater power, but taking refuge with the Khitans was definitely not a good idea.

Although there were some Han officials in the Royal Court, they were basically civil officials in charge of civil affairs. All the armies were firmly controlled by the Khitan nobles.

The Khitans were also quite xenophobic and looked down on Han people from the bottom of their hearts!

Li Xiao’s identity as a Han person had already determined that he wouldn’t have too high a ceiling in the Khitan-dominated Royal Court.

The only way out was in the Northern Border. Utilizing the large number of Han people here, he could gather more Han people as quickly as possible and build an elite army.

Only in this way could he have his own place in this coming chaotic world.

Hearing Li Xiao repeatedly refuse Xiao Yanyan, the two Khitan warriors beside her were unhappy.

One of the Khitans who could speak Chinese looked ugly and said: “Han person, Kunji thinks highly of you to let you be a guard. Don’t fail to appreciate kindness!”

He himself was a guard~

This Han person was so reluctant to be a guard; did he look down on guards?

Although ‘guard’ didn’t sound like a high status, as long as one had a good relationship with the master, the future prospects were very promising.

Ordinary people fought hard but weren’t qualified to be Kunji’s guard!

This Han person was actually so ungrateful; he truly deserved to die!

The other guard couldn’t understand their words but knew the atmosphere was a bit tense, so he slowly placed his hand on the hilt of his saber.

Looking ready to draw his saber at any time.

Seeing this, Li Xiao smiled disdainfully and said to the guard who spoke Chinese: “Do you believe I can make sure you don’t see tomorrow’s sun?”

Cold, firm, containing a faint killing intent.

So many Khitans had already died by the Dragon Bone River; Li Xiao wouldn’t mind two more.

Or three Khitans!

“Shut up, Duoga!”

Xiao Yanyan scolded this Khitan warrior and stopped the other Khitan warrior’s movement.

She wished she could give these two idiots a few big slaps.

What was the situation now?

She was asking for help, and even her life and safety were in other people’s hands. Yet these two idiots dared to threaten them?

“Don’t mind them. The death of their companions made them a bit emotional. I will teach them a good lesson when I get back!” Xiao Yanyan said.

“It’s okay, my temper isn’t very good either~” Li Xiao shook his head gently.

Xiao Yanyan smiled helplessly, understanding that Li Xiao’s mind couldn’t be changed in a short time.

“Since you are unwilling to leave your hometown, I won’t force you~”

“But I promised to repay you before~ I naturally won’t go back on my word.”

“When I return to the Eastern Capital, I will have someone send one hundred strings of copper coins and one hundred bolts of silk!” Xiao Yanyan said.

Hearing this, Li Xiao glanced at her and chuckled: “So, you want me to send people to escort you to the Eastern Capital?”

Xiao Yanyan also smiled slightly: “If you have enough manpower, that would naturally be best.”

Now she only had two guards left, and it was at least eight hundred li to the Eastern Capital.

With such a long distance, besides possibly encountering Karluks on the road, they would also meet other nomadic tribes unfriendly to Khitans.

It was too unsafe for the three of them to travel. It would be best if Hexi Fortress sent some people to escort them.

But Li Xiao still shook his head and said: “Sorry, our manpower is not sufficient either.”

“The Karluks will be here soon. If we dispatch manpower, Hexi Fortress will be in danger!”

Although the reward offered by this woman was generous…

But the Jin Prefecture Army had just experienced a major defeat, and no one knew how many of the one hundred able-bodied men from Hexi Fortress could return!

All the men left in the village who could hold a saber and shoot arrows added up to only a little over three hundred.

At this time, how could they send people to protect this woman to the Eastern Capital?

Wouldn’t that be deserting before the battle?

“Alright then~” Xiao Yanyan shook her head. She had originally held a mentality of giving it a try.

If Hexi Fortress could send people to escort her back to the Eastern Capital, it would naturally be best. Now being refused, she wasn’t too disappointed.

“Then can you let us rest in the village for a few days?” Xiao Yanyan settled for the second best option.

She had quite a bit of self-knowledge!

She knew very well that after leaving the Royal Court and without the protection of the army, her identity as a princess wasn’t actually very useful.

Because Western Liao had always implemented a loose rein (jimi) policy toward the major forces within the country.

The Northern Border was the same. Apart from setting up Governor-General’s Offices in each prefecture, the various villages and nomadic tribes in the Northern Border maintained a high degree of independence.

Aside from paying taxes and conscription, they didn’t necessarily give face to the Royal Court in other matters, let alone a princess in name only.

Of course, if the request wasn’t excessive, this face could be given.

“Staying to rest is no problem, but we might break out into battle with the Karluks again at any time. If you stay too long, you might not have the chance to leave!”

Li Xiao said in an indifferent voice.

Hearing these words that seemed like a threat, Xiao Yanyan smiled gently.

“It’s okay, I’m not afraid~”

“I believe you will protect me like just now, Warrior!”

Li Xiao shook his head indifferently, not knowing where this woman got her confidence from.

It was only their first time meeting; were they close?

If encountering life-threatening danger, the first one Li Xiao would dump would be her!

Not interested in chatting with this woman anymore, Li Xiao continued to clean up the things on the battlefield. Picking up a longbow that originally belonged to a dead Khitan warrior, under the gaze of the three Khitans, he calmly slung it onto his back.

The two Khitan warriors glared angrily at this, but Xiao Yanyan was indifferent. Anyway, they couldn’t take these weapons away.

She continued to follow behind Li Xiao, watching this young man busy at work.

Thinking that she might need the protection of these Han people for the next few days, she decided to do Li Xiao another favor.

“I won’t stay in your village for free either. Besides the wealth promised before, I can also reveal a piece of news to you for free.”

Li Xiao didn’t respond, lowering his head to collect curved sabers and arrows, and incidentally searching these corpses for any valuable items.

Xiao Yanyan could only continue: “The Eastern Capital Stay-behind Office intends to register households (Bianhu Qimin) in the Four Prefectures of the Northern Border, setting up official positions like Thousand Household and Hundred Household to manage the various villages and tribes!”

“With your martial arts and archery skills, if you can establish merit in the coming battles, you should have a chance to become a Hundred Household~”

Hearing Xiao Yanyan’s words, Li Xiao’s expression didn’t change, but he was secretly surprised in his heart.

Registering households?

Never heard of it!

History didn’t record that Western Liao had ever registered households for subordinate villages and tribes.

In fact, the Khitan Royal Court’s control over the grassroots level had always been very weak. The Western Liao Royal Court didn’t even know exactly how many tribes, villages, and people were in the subordinate vassal states and loose-rein prefectures, apart from the directly controlled territories.

This mainly stemmed from the insufficient number of the main ethnic group of Western Liao, the Khitans.

Unable to penetrate the grassroots level to rule every tribe and village directly.

So they could only implement a loose rein policy, not interfering in the internal affairs of vassal states, vassal tribes, and villages.

Only retaining the powers of conscription, taxation, and diplomacy, achieving nominal unification.

But if they could really complete the registration of households, the significance would be different. Western Liao’s control over the grassroots level would be greatly enhanced.

However, later records about Western Liao were limited, and many historical materials were lost.

It was also possible that Western Liao implemented the policy of registering households within a small scope of territory.

“Hundred Household? Thousand Household?”

Just hearing the names told him what kind of official positions they were!

Li Xiao glanced at Xiao Yanyan; this woman was really good at painting a big picture!

(End of this chapter)