Chapter 61: Thousand Household

“Lowly General Li Xiao, pays respects to the Great King!”

Inside Wuya Village, Li Xiao walked over hurriedly, wearing armor, a cavalry saber at his waist, and clenched his right fist, saluting Xiao Simo.

At this time, the battle was basically over.

When Li Xiao led his men into Wuya Village, the Karluks of the Moman tribe immediately collapsed.

They completely lost the will to resist.

Wherever they went, everyone surrendered.

Only a few Karluks were still putting up futile resistance.

“Well fought.”

“No wonder A-Man always praises you in front of me; you indeed have some skills.”

Xiao Simo, leading a large group of cavalry, dismounted, walked in front of Li Xiao, gently patted his blood-stained armor, and said with a faint smile.

Li Xiao immediately put on a look of undeserving: “I dare not accept the Princess’s praise.”

“The reason why this lowly general could breach Wuya Village relies on the Great King’s presence.”

“The Karluks fear the Great King’s might, so naturally they dare not resist.”

Hearing this, Xiao Simo laughed loudly, shook his head, and said: “Alright!”

“In front of me, there’s no need to be so modest; merit is merit.”

“This King is clear about rewards and punishments.”

Saying that, Xiao Simo looked behind Li Xiao and asked: “Who are those people?”

Li Dashan and others were escorting a group of Karluks over.

These people were of varying ages, mostly injured. Some looked terrified and shivering, while others looked angry and ferocious, very unconvinced.

But immediately after, the sticks of Li Dashan and the others fell, beating these Karluks until they all knelt in front of Xiao Simo.

“Kneel!”

“Behave yourselves, kneel!”

Li Xiao then said: “Great King, these are the headmen of the Moman tribe, all captured by my division now.”

“It’s a gift from this lowly general to the Great King.”

Saying that, he walked to a fierce-looking Karluk, pointed and said: “This is the leader of the Moman tribe, Ciputeqin.”

Then he pointed to the people beside him one by one: “This is his eldest son.”

“This is the advisor of the Moman tribe; most of the Moman tribe’s actions were instigated by him.”

“This is the general Ciputeqin trusts most.”

“This is the son Ciputeqin values most, born to him and a Naiman woman.”

Li Xiao pointed out these Karluks one by one.

All were important figures of the Moman tribe.

After Li Xiao rushed into Wuya Village, he caught them all in one fell swoop.

Of course, these were the more obedient ones; those who resisted stubbornly were killed on the spot by Li Xiao directly.

Finally, Li Xiao pulled out a young woman and said to Xiao Simo: “Great King, this is the woman in Ciputeqin’s tent, named Ayiguli.”

“Reputed to be the most beautiful woman on the Jin Prefecture grassland.”

“As the saying goes, beauties match heroes, and precious swords are given to brave men. Such a beauty following Ciputeqin is truly a pearl cast into dust.”

“Only a great hero and brave man like you, Great King, will not bury her beauty.”

As Li Xiao pointed out the identities of these Karluks, a smile appeared on Xiao Simo’s face, and he nodded constantly.

“Good, good~”

All these people being captured meant that the Moman tribe was completely finished.

Nothing made Xiao Simo feel more comfortable than seeing enemies kneeling in front of him.

As for the last woman, Xiao Simo also smiled gently.

Without responding directly, he just scolded Li Xiao softly: “I, Xiao Simo, have never been fond of lust.”

“Moreover, marching and fighting, wouldn’t having this woman by my side make people laugh?”

“Spend more thought on the right path in the future.”

Hearing this, Li Xiao understood that his gift was very much to Xiao Simo’s liking.

But he still saluted and said: “I will strictly follow the Great King’s teachings.”

In his heart, he planned to change this woman into men’s clothes later and send her to Xiao Simo’s tent.

“The battle is over; next is rewarding merits.” Xiao Simo called all the generals over.

Scanning everyone’s faces one by one, finally landing on Li Xiao.

“Breaching the Moman tribe this time relied entirely on the bravery of the officers and soldiers of all divisions.”

“This King is clear about rewards and punishments; merit must be rewarded.”

“Li Xiao, listen to the order.”

Listening to Xiao Simo’s solemn tone, Li Xiao’s mind instantly tightened. Crossing his right fist over his chest, he bowed slightly.

“This lowly general is here.”

Then he heard Xiao Simo continue: “Hexi Fortress Lord Li Xiao, brave and skilled in battle, with superior strategy.”

“Successively defeated the rebel armies of Aslan’s tribe and Moman tribe…”

“Accumulated merits deserve reward!”

“I now appoint you as the Jin Prefecture Thousand Household.”

“After the registration of households in Jin Prefecture is completed, take office immediately.”

Hearing Xiao Simo’s order, Li Xiao’s heart moved slightly, and he immediately shouted loudly.

“Thank you, Great King.”

“This lowly general will devote himself entirely to repay the Great King’s appreciation.”

This battle wasn’t fought in vain; he actually got a Thousand Household position.

Li Xiao was quite happy in his heart.

Although in terms of power, his rise this time was limited.

But in terms of status, the improvement was more than a little bit.

Jin Prefecture was still Western Liao’s territory after all.

With Xiao Simo’s formal appointment, it meant Li Xiao had a formal official identity.

This was the righteousness of name, making it more convenient to control other fortresses in the future.

Whoever dared to oppose Li Xiao was opposing Lord Xiao, opposing the Great Liao State.

That would be rebellion!

“You are still young and have a great future ahead; don’t slack off.” Xiao Simo nodded gently and encouraged Li Xiao.

In his heart, he thought: A-Man won’t pester me anymore this time, right?

Really, along the way, Xiao Simo had heard enough good words about Li Xiao.

Xiao Yanyan was relentless, insisting he give Li Xiao an official position.

Xiao Simo, who had a bit of a sister complex, certainly couldn’t be stingy to make his sister happy.

A Hundred Household position wasn’t presentable, so directly a Thousand Household then!

Anyway, after registering households in Jin Prefecture, several Thousand Household positions had to be given to Han people.

After all, the number of Han people was there; letting a Khitan be a Thousand Household for Han people certainly wouldn’t work well.

It had to be granted eventually, and since Li Xiao’s merit this time wasn’t small, he might as well grant it directly to Li Xiao, who was relatively familiar.

“Yes, Great King.”

“This lowly general will definitely work diligently in the future.” Li Xiao nodded solemnly.

The subsequent matters were not too important for Li Xiao.

Mainly each division reporting their own casualties and gains. Although Xiao Simo also gave rewards, they were mostly some wealth, not comparable to Li Xiao’s Thousand Household position.

The sky grew darker and darker, and the sun’s light gradually faded.

Everyone returned separately.

Wuya Village had been occupied by Khitan soldiers; the troops of Han people and other nomadic tribes could only camp outside.

“Fortress Lord!”

When Li Xiao returned to his territory, Lin Dazhuang and others came up to greet him one after another.

Li Xiao looked at Li Dashan and said: “Sixth Uncle, I just spoke to Lord Xiao.”

“All Han prisoners in this battle belong to our division.”

“There are also some cattle, sheep, and horses; take people to receive them now.”

“Yes~”

Li Dashan nodded heavily and led people away.

There were quite a few prisoners after this battle, most of them Karluks.

Li Xiao wasn’t willing to fight for these slaves.

After all, Karluks were too restless. He didn’t want Karluk slaves rebelling at home while he led people out to fight in the future.

What he wanted was those Han people.

In the Battle of the Northern Mountains, the Moman tribe captured many Han able-bodied men, and later breached Wuya Village, turning all Han people into slaves.

All in all, there were about five hundred surviving Han people now, all requested by Li Xiao.

As for Karluk slaves, regardless of gender, Li Xiao wanted none.

Equivalent to exchanging with other tribes.

Afterward, Li Xiao, Luo Ping, and others began their small meeting.

Similar situation: reporting casualties of each division and rewarding those with merit.

Fortunately, this time, with the cattle, sheep, and supplies of the Moman tribe as a base, Li Xiao didn’t lack things for rewards.

It was just that there weren’t too many cattle and sheep. After all, dividing the cake this time wasn’t up to Li Xiao.

Although the Khitans didn’t participate in the battle throughout, they directly kept half, and Li Xiao could only share the remaining half with other tribes.

“By the way, how are the casualties of those Čarlan slaves?” Li Xiao finally thought of the Čarlan people; they suffered the heaviest casualties.

“Thirty-five seriously injured and dead, more than eighty lightly injured.”

Of the more than three hundred and twenty Čarlan slaves, more than one-tenth died directly.

If not for the supervising team watching from behind, the Čarlan people would probably have collapsed across the line long ago.

“Although the Čarlan people are slaves, merit cannot go unrewarded.” Li Xiao nodded gently.

Looking at everyone, he said: “I said before the battle, whoever rushed into Wuya Village first would be exempted from slave status and rewarded with cattle and sheep.”

Saying that, he looked at Erhu and asked: “Who rushed in first and stabilized the front line?”

Hearing this, Erhu nodded and said: “There is indeed one.”

“He was quite brave during the battle, rushed into the village first, and killed several Karluks.”

“I’ll call him over now.”

After Erhu left, Li Xiao announced the matter of him becoming a Thousand Household to Qin Kaishan and the others.

“Thousand Household?”

Luo Ping and the others were stunned, not understanding what this meant for a moment.

“Does our Jin Prefecture have this official position?” Luo Ping asked in astonishment.

Before this, the only formal official position in Jin Prefecture was the Jin Prefecture Governor-General.

Others like Fortress Lords, Village Lords, and nomadic tribe leaders were all self-proclaimed, not formal official positions.

The suddenly appearing Thousand Household made people confused about what kind of official this was.

Zhao Dabao was even more curious: “Which official is bigger, Thousand Household or Governor-General?”

“Does this need thinking? Of course, the Governor-General is bigger.” Luo Meng rolled his eyes at him.

The Governor-General positions of the Four Prefectures of the Northern Border were all held by Khitans. How could Xiao Simo appoint a Han person above a Khitan Governor-General?

Hearing this, Zhao Dabao was instantly unhappy and said indignantly.

“In my opinion, we fought so many victorious battles, Da Long’s credit is the greatest; he should be appointed as the Jin Prefecture Governor-General.”

“Jin Prefecture Governor-General? You really dare to think.”

“Hehe~” Li Xiao shook his head and laughed.

In the short term, there was no need to think about the position of Governor-General.

Xiao Simo was still preparing to register households and strengthen control over the Four Prefectures of the Northern Border.

The new Jin Prefecture Governor-General would definitely be selected from his confidants.

Li Xiao was far from being considered his direct line.

“After the war ends, the Khitans plan to implement household registration in Jin Prefecture, using two levels of officials, Thousand Household and Hundred Household, to manage the common people.”

“Strengthening the rule over the lower-class herdsmen.” Li Xiao explained to everyone.

“Thousand Household, as the name implies, manages about a thousand households of common people.”

“Hundred Household manages about a hundred households of common people.”

(End of this chapter)