Ch.46Fall (3)

“What did you say?”

“The Mangudai training is all complete.”

“Mangudai?”

At my question, Munglig nodded with a smile.

Then, as if wanting to show off his own work, he pointed to the Kheshig and continued speaking.

“Look at their defined muscles…! Observe those magnificent quadriceps, deltoids, and pectorals. I gave them this nickname because they could face a thousand enemies or be responsible for a thousand allies.”

“…”

I couldn’t help but nod at Munglig’s surprisingly convincing explanation.

Thanks to the Misgaragainer, the Kheshig had gained considerable weight while I wasn’t looking.

With this weight gain, they naturally became capable of exercises using heavier weights.

As a result, their muscles could grow to an impressive size.

Of course, they hadn’t grown to the level of competing in modern bodybuilding competitions like Mr. Olympus.

However, they had developed bodies that could compete for victory in amateur physique competitions, which was quite an achievement.

Anyway, with bodies like these, the Kheshig really did look like they could handle a thousand enemies.

“What do you think, brother? The magnificence of the Mangudai?!”

Munglig was so excited that he had gotten too close to me.

So I gently pushed him away and muttered quietly.

“…You’re spitting.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Anyway, good job. But can they all handle the Ordo well?”

“Yes. Now they can ride horses while holding an Ordo in each hand.”

“That much?”

I couldn’t help but wonder how strong their leg muscles must be.

Even with a saddle, one typically needed to hold the reins to control a horse.

Horses were more temperamental animals than one might think.

To control a horse in the desired direction without reins required extremely strong vastus medialis and vastus intermedius muscles.

To put it simply, they needed exceptional inner leg strength.

And now they could control horses using only leg strength while holding two 10 kg Ordos in their upper body… I wondered if I had created monsters.

“W-well, it’s all thanks to this brother’s hard training efforts! Hahaha.”

“Yes, good job.”

“By the way, have you finished what you were working on, brother?”

I nodded at Munglig’s question.

I had no choice but to entrust the Kheshig training entirely to Munglig because I needed to create a writing system.

While Xiongnu and Xianbei scripts existed, they were clearly scripts of the privileged class and difficult for ordinary people to access.

Even many khans who belonged to the privileged class didn’t know them because they were so difficult.

In actual history, there was even a theory that Temujin claimed he couldn’t read because these scripts were so difficult.

Anyway, to establish a nation and enact laws, a writing system was necessary.

So I left the training to Munglig and began creating a script with Hussein, whom I had acquired during the recent Khara-Khoto battle.

“Since we’re still in the introduction phase, it will take time. We need a simpler and more intuitive script for everyone in the ulus to use.”

“You’re amazing, brother. You govern the ulus, lead battles personally, and even create a writing system…”

Munglig paused and looked at me.

Judging by his expression, he was about to play another joke on me.

“Was what the Tatars fed you not poison but some kind of beneficial medicine?”

I responded to Munglig’s crossing the line by smacking him on the head.

Munglig clutched his head with a pained expression.

“Ugh!”

“There are things you can say and things you can’t…”

“I’m just joking, brother.”

Anyway, while I was conversing with Munglig, the Kheshig lined up before me as if all preparations were complete.

Seeing this, I stepped forward and addressed them.

“You’ve worked hard through difficult training.”

The Kheshig responded by saying “Not at all” and then readjusted their posture.

“Today is the time to show me what you’ve trained for. Show me the results of your training. I will reward the most outstanding performer accordingly.”

“Woooah!”

“Long live the Khagan!”

The Kheshig cheered excitedly at the mention of rewards.

I waved back at them in response, then stepped back and took a seat.

The Kheshig then mounted their horses one by one and gripped their Ordos.

“Don’t their pectorals look magnificent when holding the Ordo, brother?”

Munglig was making a fuss beside me.

Since this wasn’t the first time he’d behaved this way, I tried to ignore him.

“Men! Show us how you recruit new soldiers with the Ordo personally bestowed by our lord!”

“Yes!”

“We receive your command!”

The Kheshig began charging toward wooden dummies representing enemies.

They precisely struck the back of the dummies’ heads, knocking them down.

“Did you see that, brother? As you can see, the dummies weren’t badly damaged.”

“Yes, yes. Well done. Now please be quiet so I can concentrate on watching…”

Just as I was trying to quiet the noisy Munglig, some bizarre singing began flowing from the Kheshig’s mouths.

“Kiiiiriiit ha! The weaklings cannot escape our hands!”

“Hey bapparibba! Fight to win, and if you lose, die! Hey bapparibba!”

“Tolairalairalai chacha! Let’s capture recruits and make them strong soldiers loyal to our lord!”

It felt like I was hearing sounds that should never come from the Kheshig’s mouths.

For a moment, I wondered if I was mistaken, so I turned to look at Munglig.

“…Did you tell them to do this?”

“Yes, brother. As you mentioned before, mixing songs with training seemed to make it a bit easier, so I created this.”

“…”

Unfortunately, my prediction was correct.

The strange feeling I had wasn’t wrong.

“Hey bappa” was a Mongolian curse word,

“Tolai” meant rabbit or weakling, and “cha” meant to catch.

The first verse could be interpreted as fighting with gritted teeth to the point of cursing, with the resolve to win or die trying.

The second verse meant catching the weak, suggesting capturing weak recruits to train them into strong soldiers.

If understood only in Mongolian, it was quite reasonable content.

However, as a modern person, especially one from Korea, it was difficult for me to hear this comfortably.

Mangudai forcibly recruiting soldiers from occupied territories while singing such songs…

I couldn’t help but imagine such scenes in my head.

“What’s wrong, brother? Are you not satisfied with the Kheshig’s training results?”

At Munglig’s words, I put aside my distracting thoughts and shook my head.

If I expressed dissatisfaction here, the Kheshig would have to undergo hellish training again.

Since too much training would be excessive, I deliberately composed my expression and indicated that it was fine.

“It’s… it’s fine. Seeing the Kheshig’s brave appearance, I can tell everyone worked hard.”

When I stammered, Munglig made a touched expression.

Judging by that look, he seemed to misunderstand that I was moved by the Kheshig’s appearance.

“As expected of you, brother. I’ve felt it since you first showed care for the soldiers…”

It was becoming difficult to endure Munglig’s behavior any longer.

Just as I was about to tell him to stop, a saving grace approached me.

“My lord, the warriors who went to the Song Dynasty have returned with skilled iron craftsmen.”

Thanks to the messenger’s report, I was barely able to swallow the words that were about to escape my mouth.

* * *

After observing the Kheshig’s training results, I returned to my ger.

Before returning, I bestowed incense sticks looted from Khara-Khoto to Mangu, the most outstanding warrior among the Kheshig who participated in the training.

Incense sticks were typically used for ancestral rites and were considered one of the precious items in Mongolia.

The value of incense sticks was roughly equivalent to one cow, so this was a decent reward.

Anyway, after wrapping things up nicely, I returned to my ger to meet the craftsmen.

“Are these them?”

“Yes, Khagan. According to the envoy, they are among the finest iron craftsmen from the Song Dynasty’s capital, Lin’an.”

At the warrior’s report, I nodded and looked at the Song craftsmen.

The one who appeared to be the eldest among them stepped forward, bowed to me, and introduced himself.

“It is an honor to meet the great Khan. I am Zhang Yong, a craftsman who works with iron.”

Since he spoke in the Song language, I couldn’t understand him at all.

So I turned my head to the side and saw that an interpreter who could speak both Mongolian and the Song language had been prepared in advance for such situations.

“This man introduces himself as Zhang Yong, Khagan.”

“I see. Then ask him what he can make with iron.”

The interpreter translated my words and immediately conveyed them to Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong bowed once more and began listing his specialties.

“I pride myself on being able to make anything that can be made with iron.”

Hearing that he could make anything with iron, I thought I should test his abilities.

So I had an attendant bring writing implements and something to write on.

Thanks to the attendant’s quick movement, writing implements and a smooth wooden board soon came into my hands.

I drew a hemisphere about the size of a human head on the wooden board using a charcoal-like writing implement.

Then I added sharp spikes around it.

Though my drawing skills were terrible, it was still recognizable enough, so I immediately showed the drawing to the craftsman.

Zhang Yong, who received my drawing, appeared to be contemplating for a moment.

Wondering if this was a difficult request, I questioned him.

“Is it difficult?”

“If I have iron, I could quickly make about 10 of these. But making more would be difficult without a proper workshop.”

Again, Mongolia didn’t have buildings like those in the Central Plains.

Consequently, there were no blacksmith shops or workshops for making things.

Yet, befitting a craftsman with the highest skills of the Song Dynasty, he was telling me he could make 10 of these even without production facilities.

“Is it true that you can make 10 even without a workshop?”

“Yes. However… they might be somewhat fragile…”

“That’s fine. I’ll give you iron, so start making them right away.”

The size of the spiked iron ball was small enough to fit in a person’s hand.

Though small, if it could be made, it would be a significant military asset for us.