Ch.32The Hui People (1)

“Oh, my aching back…”

I couldn’t help but groan.

Sitting on a stone in front of the ger, I looked up at the sky.

“So this is what they call mandatory defense battles on the internet…”

The aggressive charge of a passionate married woman.

I couldn’t help but feel my energy being drained.

Let me say it again—before being transported to this world, I had absolutely no dating experience.

To exaggerate, I had never even held a woman’s hand, and suddenly being touched by a skilled expert made it hard to keep my senses.

And not just one such married… no, skilled expert, but three of them…

Now I understood firsthand why ancient rulers died from overindulgence.

Some might call this complaining about having too much good fortune.

But that wouldn’t be entirely wrong.

“What a peaceful life.”

Even after becoming the emperor of the steppe, I was still enjoying a peaceful life.

This was possible because a Khagan in the steppe wasn’t treated like an emperor of the Central Plains.

Modern people might wonder what I mean, but looking at the original Secret History or the Yuan History, the Khagans of the steppe—the Shanyu—rarely lived like emperors of the Central Plains.

Even the Khagans of nations like the Liao Dynasty or Jin Dynasty, who conquered the Central Plains, originally lived with the sky as their roof, but gradually became Sinicized as they were absorbed into the Central Plains culture and began receiving respect in the Chinese manner.

Even Genghis Khan himself, despite ruling a vast empire, lived in a ger eating jerky, and was only posthumously honored with the Central Plains title of “Emperor Taizu the Martial” thanks to his grandson Kublai.

Given this context, it would be absurd for an ulus that hadn’t even conquered the North China region—the gateway to the Central Plains—to revere its Khagan like a Chinese emperor.

“Well, this is just the beginning.”

I found myself talking to myself.

And for good reason—the path ahead for the Mongols was filled with nothing but war, plunder, and destruction.

The ulus was located in the steppe region, where there was truly nothing except grasslands, wind, and livestock.

As a result, to properly support the people living here, we had no choice but to resort to the violent means of warfare.

Of course, as a modern person, I wasn’t advocating for war.

But in this world, where issues couldn’t be resolved through dialogue, violent means were unavoidable.

Fortunately, we possessed plenty of cavalry that could be called the tanks of this era, so there weren’t many forces that could stop us.

While I was lost in these thoughts, Elunka approached me.

After bowing, he addressed me.

“So this is where you were, Shanyu.”

Since Elunka led the Jadaran tribe, which was also of Eastern Hu descent, he called me Shanyu rather than Khan or Khagan.

After all, the title Shanyu was more fundamental than Khan or Khagan, which showed how respectfully Elunka treated me.

“What brings you to my ger?”

“I have something to report to the Shanyu.”

“Something to report?”

Suddenly, Elunka knelt before me.

He removed the necklace from his neck and presented it to me.

“The Jadaran tribe wishes to become one with the Borjigin Kiyat. Please accept us.”

“Become one…”

In simple terms, he was proposing to merge our tribes.

From a modern perspective, this might seem strange, but in the world of the steppe, it was quite common.

The more tribes integrated under a larger tribe, the more benefits they could gain.

Additionally, by becoming part of the same tribe, they would essentially become my direct subordinates, allowing them to obtain more spoils of war.

For these reasons, smaller tribes like the Jadaran merged with larger ones,

and larger tribes accepted the children of these smaller tribes as their own through marriage.

“Indeed. My son Jamukha is set to marry your daughter Temulun, so aren’t we already family?”

From my perspective, this was a situation to welcome with open arms.

After all, in this era, wars were fought by tribal Khans mobilizing their forces, so the more direct troops one had, the better.

And since there was ample justification for merging the tribes, there was no reason to refuse.

“I welcome you and your tribe. We shall now become one, and the Kiyat will accept the Jadaran tribespeople as friends and family.”

“I am grateful for the Shanyu’s sincere welcome.”

And so, the forces of the Borjigin Kiyat grew larger.

I was about to invite Elunka to my ger to welcome him as our new family member.

At that moment, a tribesman approached me.

The urgent-looking man performed a respectful bow as soon as he stood before me and began his report.

“The Song Dynasty has sent the items they promised, Shanyu.”

I belatedly remembered that I had requested gunpowder and siege engineers from the Song Dynasty.

Since this had happened several months ago, I had momentarily forgotten about it.

It seemed the Song Dynasty had taken quite some time to deliberate.

This was understandable, as the Song Dynasty had suffered tremendous damage after losing gunpowder technology to the Jin Dynasty.

Given their circumstances, they would naturally be cautious about sending such strategic weapons to us.

So I had predicted that they would either not send gunpowder technology at all or send only a superficial version.

If they didn’t send artillery and siege engineers, I thought they might at least send equivalent weapons or food…

But judging by the messenger’s expression, they had sent something unique rather than conventional weapons or food.

“So the Song Dynasty has finally sent gifts in response to our tribute. But what did they send that has you so excited?”

“Instead of gunpowder, they sent several technicians, timber, and food.”

“Several technicians and…”

“Timber…?”

Elunka and I couldn’t help but tilt our heads in confusion.

After all, what we had requested was gunpowder and siege engineers, not timber.

Of course, some of the technicians might be gunpowder experts.

However, if they were gunpowder or siege experts, the Song Dynasty wouldn’t have sent them without the gunpowder itself, so we couldn’t help but wonder what this meant.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty had sent timber, which the Mongols didn’t immediately need.

Of course, before unifying the steppe, timber might have been necessary, but

now that the Oirat region—whose name meant “forest people”—had joined our forces, we didn’t lack timber.

“I suppose we should check it out ourselves.”

In response to my words, Elunka nodded instead of replying.

We mounted our horses and set off to inspect the gifts sent by the Song Dynasty.

* * *

“I sincerely welcome you.”

“I am truly grateful for your generous hospitality.”

A middle-aged man welcoming Kuchlug, who was dressed in shabby attire.

His identity was none other than the Khagan of Great Khitan, Yelu Zhilugu.

After losing hegemony over the steppe and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to the Jin Dynasty, the Khitan people moved westward.

They settled in a new location and continued the legacy of the Liao Dynasty, becoming a nation known as Great Khitan or Western Liao.

The emperor ruling over Western Liao was personally welcoming Kuchlug.

Under normal circumstances, there would be no reason for an emperor to personally welcome someone who was merely a fugitive.

In other words, this special treatment indicated that there was a unique situation at play.

“I heard you wish to pledge allegiance to Great Khitan?”

“Yes. I wish to repay your hospitality, so please accept my pledge.”

Kuchlug, the prince of the Naiman tribe, expressed his intention to pledge allegiance to Western Liao.

Yelu Zhilugu was visibly delighted, as if he had been waiting for this.

“Of course. I welcome the allegiance of you and your tribespeople.”

The emperor welcomed Kuchlug’s pledge with open arms.

The reason Yelu Zhilugu was so welcoming to Kuchlug was that he had planned to win him over and make him a close associate of his son.

In truth, Yelu Zhilugu had been suffering from a chronic illness for a long time.

As such, he knew he didn’t have many days left to live.

In this situation, the political position of his son, to whom he would pass the throne, was unstable. While there were multiple reasons for this, the main one was the lack of military power.

The Liao Dynasty officially followed the Central Plains tradition of primogeniture, but in reality, nomadic traditions remained.

As a result, even with legitimate succession rights, without military power to back it up, there was a risk of losing the throne.

If Yelu Zhilugu had been healthy, he could have used his close associates to support his son.

However, the fact that Yelu Zhilugu was in poor health had spread among his associates, making it very risky to appoint one of them as the crown prince’s guardian.

This was because if a close associate became the crown prince’s guardian, there was a high possibility they would exploit the weak crown prince to wield absolute power.

For these reasons, he needed an outsider rather than an insider who knew the internal affairs well.

And just then, Kuchlug appeared from the outside leading a large force and requested to pledge allegiance, which naturally delighted the emperor.

“Thank you for accepting my pledge, Your Majesty. I will repay your kindness.”

“Haha. I appreciate your words.”

The emperor was greatly pleased.

As the atmosphere of the banquet grew more festive, a beautiful woman appeared and began pouring wine into the emperor’s cup.

Kuchlug’s eyes were drawn to the stunning beauty, and he couldn’t help but ask the emperor about her.

“Who is this beautiful lady?”

“She is my younger sister, Yelu Pusuwan.”

“It is an honor to meet such a beautiful lady. I am Kuchlug, prince of the Naiman.”

At Kuchlug’s words, Yelu Pusuwan blushed.

She poured wine into Kuchlug’s cup and hastily left the scene.

“She is truly beautiful.”

“Indeed, a beautiful woman, but sadly, she lost her husband at a young age.”

Yelu Pusuwan had once been married to So Tarobul, the son of So Aliral, one of Western Liao’s powerful officials.

However, she had developed feelings for So Tarobul’s brother and was the one who had killed So Tarobul.

Rumors spread that the enraged So Aliral was gathering troops,

and upon hearing this, Yelu Zhilugu immediately separated Yelu Pusuwan and So Bakgojisari, trying to appease So Aliral.

However, So Aliral did not accept the emperor’s mediation.

As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising if So Aliral staged a rebellion at any moment.

But Kuchlug, being an outsider, had no way of knowing this.

So he could only nod at the emperor’s explanation.

“Do you have a partner?”

The emperor’s question caught Kuchlug off guard.

He shook his head and answered.

“I don’t have a companion yet.”

“That’s a pity.”

Yelu Zhilugu’s eyes gleamed as he said this.

Instead of trying to persuade the completely estranged So Aliral, he was planning to use Yelu Pusuwan to win over Kuchlug.