Ch.91Internal Affairs (10)

# “I didn’t expect mock battles to be this popular.”

I nodded at Bulqa’s words.

Today, a total of four mock battles had been held, with the Tamma winning twice and the Kheshig winning twice.

A 2-2 tie.

We had wanted to hold a final match to determine the winner, but everyone was too exhausted, so we decided to continue another time.

“Four battles seem too tiring.”

“I think so too. And people seem disappointed that there wasn’t a clear winner.”

Bulqa, who had served as the referee, nodded in agreement with my words.

While the mock battles were training exercises, this only applied to the Kheshig and Tamma who participated. For those who merely watched from outside the arena, this was a kind of sport.

The essence of sports lies in determining winners and losers. So it was natural for people to express disappointment about today’s matches ending in a tie.

“The Darughachi who attended the mock battles also looked disappointed.”

After saying this, Bulqa fell silent for a moment.

I tilted my head and asked him a question.

“Bulqa?”

“Ah, I apologize, Khagan.”

“Were you thinking about something?”

“Yes. Since these mock battles are so popular, I was thinking we could hold Bokh competitions here for the common people.”

“For the common people?”

“If we hold Bokh competitions that the people can participate in, wouldn’t it help the Western Xia people quickly embrace the culture of the Ulus?”

It was a proposal to culturally assimilate the Western Xia people through sports.

This wasn’t a bad idea, as many nations throughout history had used sports as a policy tool.

Rome itself used various sporting events in the Colosseum to capture the hearts of its people.

Of course, many argue this wasn’t the main purpose, but rather just one of the effects.

Regardless, from the perspective of the Ulus, which was in no position to be picky about methods of incorporating Western Xia, Bulqa’s proposal deserved serious consideration.

“Your suggestion has merit. But wouldn’t Bokh alone be insufficient?”

Having only wrestling seemed somewhat lacking.

But we couldn’t hold mock battles like we just did either.

After all, mock battles were a form of training, so we always had to be wary of exposing our tactics to enemies.

For this reason, attendance at the previous mock battles was limited to my family, the Darughachi, and officials.

“Then how about adding archery, horse riding, and polo? These events are easy to judge winners and losers, and they help improve military strength.”

As it happened, these three events were ones our Ulus people excelled at.

By featuring these events, we could naturally make the Western Xia people admire the nomads.

Of course, this was just my thinking.

Whether the Western Xia people would truly look at us with admiration after seeing these competitions was up to them.

But we didn’t really have other options.

Besides, since we didn’t need immediate military strength while focusing on internal affairs, now was the perfect time.

“I’ll follow that suggestion.”

And so, a festival called Naadam was established.

* * *

It was unusual to hold a festival immediately after a war.

If there were any, they were typically festivals held by conquerors to exert influence over occupied territories.

Such festivals mostly involved the new ruling class summoning the subjugated people to make them aware of their position—a kind of humiliation.

But this Naadam wasn’t like those traditional conquerors’ festivals; it was a festival for everyone.

In other words, even the subjugated Western Xia people could participate if they wished, without facing any discrimination or disadvantages.

“Can we really participate?”

“I heard that Western Xia people are now citizens of the Ulus, so everyone can join?”

The Western Xia people were discussing this while looking at the proclamation posted at the city gate.

The proclamation was written in both Mongolian and Western Xia languages.

This allowed the Western Xia people to read it without much difficulty.

“Horse riding, archery, and… Bokh? What’s Bokh?”

In response to the Western Xia person’s question, a Mongolian merchant standing behind replied.

“It’s a kind of body wrestling.”

“Body wrestling? Is it like Chinese martial arts competitions?”

In the Song Dynasty, it wasn’t uncommon to find people betting on competitions where fighters used fists and legs in the marketplace.

People who traveled between Western Xia and Central Plains inferred that Bokh was something similar.

“Not quite. It’s more like bulls pushing against each other’s shoulders, using strength to subdue and topple the opponent. It’s closer to grappling. Chinese martial arts, on the other hand, aim to knock down opponents by striking with fists or legs, right?”

“Grabbing with strength to topple…”

“That sounds similar to Ekta.”

Western Xia also had a body wrestling competition similar to Mongolian Bokh.

Called Ekta in the Western Xia language, its objective was to grab the opponent and topple them or trip them to make them fall.

Unlike Mongolian Bokh, Ekta featured competitors covering only their private parts, exposing the rest of their bodies.

“Anyway, it seems worth trying…”

“Haven’t you seen how big the Mongolians are?”

As they were talking, a massive man appeared between the two.

When he appeared, the Western Xia people around looked at him with surprised expressions.

“It’s Dongpae!”

“I can’t believe Dongpae, who won first place in last year’s Ekta, is here!”

As the man, who was taller than the Mongolian warriors guarding the proclamation, appeared, the Mongolian people began to hesitate.

“He looks strong…”

“That man could be one of the top Bokh champions even on the steppe.”

Amidst the continuing murmurs, the man called Dongpae looked at the Mongolian warrior.

And in fluent Mongolian, he asked a question.

“I want to participate in Bokh.”

“You speak Mongolian well. Do you know the rules of Bokh?”

“Not at all.”

“Then go behind here. Participants are gathering there to hear an explanation of the Bokh rules.”

“Thank you.”

Dongpae nodded and walked to where the Mongolian warrior had pointed.

After he disappeared, the Western Xia people began to discuss various things.

“Dongpae is participating—we must watch this.”

“Right. If it’s Dongpae who won first place in last year’s Ekta, he might even defeat the Mongolian warriors!”

Thus, many people began to take an interest in Bokh.

This naturally increased interest in other events as well.

* * *

“I didn’t expect so many people to participate.”

Honestly, at first, I wasn’t confident this festival would succeed.

After all, we were clearly invaders.

No matter how conciliatory our policies were, there would inevitably be underlying resentment.

But contrary to that prediction, the Western Xia people’s response was better than expected.

“Perhaps it’s because life has improved compared to the Western Xia era.”

What I said might sound a bit embarrassing coming from me, but it was an undeniable fact.

Due to trade with the Song Dynasty, the entire Ulus was benefiting from the massive amount of rice distributed by Song.

It was so plentiful that even the poor could eat a bowl of rice a day, so there was no need to elaborate on how much rice Song had provided.

With trade resolving the “food” aspect of the basic necessities, other desires naturally began to emerge.

One of those desires was for entertainment,

and it seemed that the Naadam being held throughout the Ulus had accurately captured this desire of the Western Xia people.

“Whatever the reason, as long as it has a positive influence on us, that’s all that matters.”

Whatever method worked to capture the hearts of the Western Xia people was fine.

So I stopped trying to delve deeper into understanding the current situation and got up.

Then I left the ger.

Outside, Elunka was waiting for me.

“Khagan.”

“So when can we proceed with the Naadam?”

“Currently, we’re gathering participants, so it will take some time before we can start the competitions.”

“About a month or two, I suppose.”

Elunka nodded at my words.

Looking at him, I brought up a different topic.

“How is the current situation in Western Xia?”

“Politically, after Bekhter Khan married, he pushed out the existing noble forces and built a new political power, allowing for rapid political stability.”

While I was pursuing development both inside and outside the Ulus, Bekhter was focusing on internal consolidation.

By marrying the daughter of Emperor Renzong of Western Xia and securing political support, he was able to completely push out the existing noble forces.

And by employing officials that Emperor Renzong had prepared for centralization, he was able to fill the administrative void.

The Western Xia Emperor had prepared this but couldn’t implement it due to the influence of the noble forces.

However, the Ulus, being invaders, had no hesitation in dealing with the existing nobility.

“Economically, food is rapidly accumulating throughout the country due to trade with the Song Dynasty. This accumulated rice is spreading throughout the Ulus using the postal relay stations.”

The biggest benefit from trade with the Song Dynasty was undoubtedly rice.

By distributing this rice throughout Western Xia, we were able to secure public support.

The postal relay stations played the biggest role in supplying this food.

Just like we had set up in Khara-Khoto in the past, new postal relay stations were established connecting Khara-Khoto and Xingqing.

Thanks to setting them up on the existing steppe roads, it took little time and cost.

Anyway, with these postal relay stations, Xingqing and Khara-Khoto were connected, and naturally, this could spread to all the postal relay stations across the Mongolian steppe connected to Khara-Khoto.

“Militarily, we continue strategic and tactical training while having craftsmen create new weapons.”

I nodded at Elunka’s report.

We had entered a stable phase politically, economically, and militarily.

“Thanks to the good governance you’ve implemented, Khagan, the Western Xia people are quickly adapting to the rule of the Ulus.”