Chapter 98: Victory Report Reaches Hexi
Accompanied by the sound of barking dogs and the sound of hooves echoing in Hexi Fort, people from every household also came out to check the situation.
Meanwhile, at Old Master’s side, he quickly put on the straw cloak and was preparing to go out when he noticed someone had stopped in front of his own door.
“Who?”
Old Master’s low voice called out.
Immediately after, an unexpected voice came from outside the door.
“Grandfather, it’s me. Open the door quickly.”
Hearing this extremely familiar voice, the vigilance on Old Master’s face instantly vanished.
It turned into a hint of excitement.
“Er Hu?”
That’s right, it was exactly Er Hu’s voice.
Old Master hurriedly opened the fence wooden door and anxiously asked: “Er Hu, why have you come back?”
He wouldn’t forget that just over two months ago, it had also been a heavy rain that day.
Several young and strong men from the village had returned from the battlefield, bringing news that almost made him despair.
So at this moment, Old Master’s palms tightly gripped the hem of his clothes, fearing that Er Hu would deliver another blow.
Fortunately, although Er Hu was drenched all over, panting heavily, and looking very disheveled, there was a smile on his face.
While pulling Old Master into the house, he happily said: “Grandfather, we won.”
Hearing this, Old Master let out a heavy sigh of relief, almost feeling like he was collapsing.
At this time, Li Erjiang also came over from the adjacent courtyard holding a weapon, just in time to hear Er Hu’s words.
“We won?”
“What about the casualties? What about Da Long and Da Hu?”
Old Lady and Qin Dani and others in the inner room heard the commotion and came out one after another, all looking eager for Er Hu’s answer.
“Of course they’re fine. My brother and Da Hu are all good.”
“Not even a scratch on them.” Er Hu laughed heartily.
Of course, there was some exaggeration; minor injuries were inevitable, but nothing serious.
Hearing this, Qin Dani and the others let out a heavy sigh of relief, their faces showing relieved smiles.
“As long as they’re fine, as long as they’re fine.”
“Heaven bless us, Jade Emperor bless us.” Old Lady looked fortunate and began muttering.
As if making a vow.
“Er Hu, tell us the details.”
Old Master hurriedly had Er Hu sit down and instructed Qin Dani to prepare clean clothes for Er Hu to change into, along with some food and drink.
Taking advantage of this time, he immediately asked about the specific situation of the war.
Speaking of this, Er Hu’s spirits immediately rose, and he excitedly said: “Grandfather, Second Uncle, you should have seen the situation back then.”
“Naiman People guarded the passes at Golden Mountain, and Khitan People couldn’t break through at all, which worried Xiao Simo greatly.”
“At the critical moment, it was my brother who worried that if the war dragged on, the over twenty thousand army would bankrupt our Jin Prefecture.”
“So he led us over Golden Mountain from A Lai Ridge and stabbed the Naiman People’s rear.”
As Er Hu recounted these glorious deeds, spittle flew everywhere, and he was extremely excited.
How Li Xiao was wise and decisive, killing soldier thugs on the march, using both soft and hard tactics to subdue those three thousand troops.
How he himself was brave and skilled in combat, killing so many Naiman Soldiers, and so on.
Soon, Qin Dani brought clean clothes, and Old Lady warmed up some food.
Er Hu wolfed down the food while talking about the battle.
During this process, more and more villagers gathered over.
They had all heard the sound of Er Hu riding his horse and came out to check if enemies were invading.
They never expected it would be Er Hu returning with news of victory.
These villagers, excited, all gathered at Li Xiao’s Home, listening with keen interest to Er Hu’s recounting.
“No one expected that Naiman Great Khan to pretend to surrender, only to try sneaking an attack on the Khitan People’s central army on the battlefield.”
“The situation was critical then; Xiao Simo even personally led men to charge forward and nearly died.”
“At the key moment, it was my brother who led us Han Men, broke through the Naiman Great Khan’s army formation, chased him all over the mountains, and saved Xiao Simo.”
“That turned the entire army from danger to safety.”
“Without my brother, the Khitan People would have lost long ago. How could they have eliminated so many Naiman People?”
Er Hu ate while food scraps flew out of his mouth nonstop.
The crowd didn’t mind at all; their own manners weren’t much better.
They were all completely absorbed by the tense and thrilling battle situation.
“What happened next?” Li Erjiang hurriedly asked.
Although he guessed that Er Hu was exaggerating, the army led by Li Xiao must have played an extremely important role in the war.
“What about the Naiman People’s Great Khan? Did they capture him?”
“No.”
Er Hu shook his head, looking regretful: “Those two guys got away. The grassland is so vast; there’s no way to chase them.”
“But in the previous battle, we personally captured a Naiman People prince.”
“That made Xiao Simo happy for a long time.”
Hearing this, the crowd was a bit disappointed but also quite excited.
“Capturing a Naiman People prince isn’t easy.”
“More than not easy—it’s a great merit.”
“By the way, Er Hu, Da Long led you all to achieve so much merit. Did the Khitan People give any rewards in the end?”
Hearing an elder’s question, Er Hu immediately perked up even more—this was the main event. He set down his bowl and chopsticks and boasted.
“Of course there were rewards. Us Han Men all received heavy rewards.”
As he spoke, Er Hu looked at Fourth Grandfather and chuckled: “Fourth Grandfather, Sixth Uncle was appointed Chiliarch this time.”
“And Uncle Luo from Hedong Fort, my eldest sister’s grandfather-in-law, is also a Chiliarch.”
The men from Hexi Fort were somewhat puzzled upon hearing this, and Fourth Grandfather directly asked: “Er Hu, what’s a Chiliarch?”
“Chiliarch? It means managing a thousand households.” Er Hu scratched his head and said, remembering how Li Xiao had explained it to him.
Sure enough, as soon as he said this, exclamations erupted from the crowd.
“Goodness, managing a thousand households? Hexi Fort only has over two hundred households, right?” someone said with wide eyes.
“That’s old news. Now with Hou Village and Sanhe Fort, we have four hundred households in total.”
“That’s still more than two Hexi Forts.”
“How is Chiliarch such a big position? It’s almost like Governor.”
“Fourth Uncle, congratulations. Old Six has made it big.”
The crowd exclaimed while casting envious looks at Fourth Grandfather and congratulating him.
There was naturally some sourness, but who could help that they had a good son?
At this moment, Fourth Grandfather grinned, revealing a mouth full of big yellow teeth, extremely pleased.
“Heh heh heh~”
“Good, good, good~”
Not knowing what to say, he just kept chuckling.
His son had succeeded, and as his father, he shared in the glory.
Third Grandfather, on the other hand, looked jealous. He also had two sons who went to the battlefield, yet they weren’t as outstanding as Old Four’s one son.
So he asked Er Hu: “What about your Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle? How are they?”
On one hand, asking if they were safe and uninjured; on the other, inquiring what official positions they were awarded.
“Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle are the same as me, all Centurions.”
“But our Centurions aren’t official ones; they’re ones my brother appointed himself.” Er Hu scratched his head and explained.
In this rewarding, besides military merit, they also had to consider the interests of local Jin Prefecture forces.
The original Fort Masters and leaders had all contributed some effort in this war.
Unless there were major issues, they would all be appointed Centurions to continue managing the adjusted fortresses.
After all, implementing household registration couldn’t be too drastic all at once, or it would easily provoke united resistance from local forces.
Xiao Simo’s idea was to cut flesh with a dull knife, gradually replacing these Fort Masters and leaders with rotating Centurions.
For example, after a while, rotating several Centurions among themselves~
“Besides our original Jin Prefecture people, there were over a thousand more from Great Desert and North Sea willing to follow my brother to live in Jin Prefecture.”
“So, our Centurion position is actually managing them.”
These over a thousand incoming soldiers were elites who came down from the battlefield—an important force. Li Xiao definitely wanted to use his own people to manage them.
Anyway, Li Sanhe, Li Sishui, and Er Hu had been temporary Centurions in that unit during the battles.
Now they were officially appointed.
Hearing Er Hu’s explanation, Third Grandfather nodded slightly, a smile appearing on his face.
Both his sons were managing a hundred households each—not as good as Little Six, but not bad.
It somewhat saved his face.
“What about Da Long? You’ve talked so much—what position was Da Long appointed to?” Li Erjiang poured a bowl of water for the parched-mouthed Er Hu and placed it in front of him, asking.
Li Dashan and Luo Ping had both been made Chiliarchs; could Li Xiao be lower?
“My brother?”
“He’s even more impressive.” Speaking of Li Xiao’s reward, Er Hu suddenly didn’t feel thirsty anymore.
“My brother is now Jin Prefecture’s Deputy Governor, also concurrently holding a Chiliarch position.”
At these words, the crowd was even more shocked, erupting in an uproar.
“What? Da Long became Deputy Governor?”
“Is this real?”
“One of our Han People became Jin Prefecture’s Governor?”
“Deputy. The main Governor is still a Khitan Person.” Er Hu hurriedly interrupted.
“That’s still impressive.” Li Erjiang said with a full smile, revealing his big molars.
Third Grandfather nearby nodded: “Da Long has brought honor to us Han People.”
“As expected of Old Li Family’s stock.”
Jin Prefecture Governor was Jin Prefecture’s highest official. Though not all-powerful, he had considerable control over their local fortresses and tribes; major matters required following the Governor’s orders.
Though Li Xiao was only a deputy Governor, he was still Jin Prefecture’s second-in-command.
Even the Li Family ancestors back then were just military commanders, mid-level officers in the western expedition army.
Far from comparable to a high-position, powerful Deputy Governor.
So at this moment, everyone was rejoicing that after so many years, Old Li Family had finally produced a high official.
Of course, this was still them viewing the Governor’s power through their old lens.
They didn’t yet know that after this household registration, the Governor’s power would greatly increase, holding full military and administrative authority, thoroughly transforming into Jin Prefecture’s local emperor.
And though Li Xiao was only a Deputy Governor, his actual power was hardly less than Jin Prefecture Governor’s.
He could even almost rival him.
If they understood this, Hexi Fort’s old and young men would only be more shocked and ecstatic.
