Chapter 61: Chiliarch
“This humble general Li Xiao, pays respects to Lord Xiao!”
Within Wuya Village, Li Xiao hurriedly approached, wearing armor, with a cavalry saber at his waist, right fist clenched, saluting Xiao Simo.
At this time, the battle had basically ended.
After Li Xiao led men to break into Wuya Village, the Geluolu People of the Moman Tribe immediately collapsed into disarray.
They completely lost the will to resist.
Everywhere they went, all surrendered.
Only a few Geluolu People were still making pointless resistance.
“Fought well.”
“No wonder A Man always praises you in front of me; you indeed have some skill.”
Xiao Simo, leading a large group of cavalry, dismounted and walked to Li Xiao, lightly patting his bloodstained armor, smiling faintly as he spoke.
Li Xiao immediately showed a modest demeanor: “I dare not accept the princess’s praise.”
“This humble general was able to break through Wuya Village thanks to Lord Xiao’s presence.”
“The Geluolu People fear Lord Xiao’s prestige and naturally dare not resist.”
Hearing this, Xiao Simo laughed heartily and shook his head: “Alright!”
“No need to be so modest in front of me; merit is merit.”
“This king rewards and punishes clearly.”
As he spoke, Xiao Simo looked behind Li Xiao and asked: “Who are those people?”
Li Dashan and others were escorting a group of Geluolu People over.
These people were of various ages, most with wounds on their bodies; some looked terrified and trembling, others showed angry and ferocious faces, very unconvinced.
But immediately after, Li Dashan and the others’ sticks fell, beating these Geluolu People until they all knelt before Xiao Simo.
“Kneel!”
“Behave yourselves and kneel!”
Li Xiao then said: “Lord Xiao, these are all the headmen of the Moman Tribe, now all captured by my unit.”
“They are this humble general’s gift to Lord Xiao.”
As he spoke, he walked to a fierce-looking Geluolu man and pointed: “This is the leader of the Moman Tribe, Ciputegin.”
Then he pointed one by one at the people beside him: “This is his eldest son.”
“This is the military advisor of the Moman Tribe; most of the Moman Tribe’s actions were instigated by him.”
“This is the general Ciputegin trusts most.”
“This is the son Ciputegin values most, born to him and a Naiman Woman.”
Li Xiao’s finger pointed at each of these Geluolu People one by one.
All were important figures of the Moman Tribe.
After charging into Wuya Village, Li Xiao had directly captured them all in one swoop.
Of course, these were the more compliant ones; those who resisted to the end were killed on the spot by Li Xiao.
Finally, Li Xiao brought out a young woman and said to Xiao Simo: “Lord Xiao, this is Ciputegin’s woman in the tent, named Aiygul.”
“She is known as the most beautiful woman on Jin Prefecture Grassland.”
“As the saying goes, beauties match heroes, sabers gift to heroes; such a beauty following Ciputegin is truly a pearl covered in dust.”
“Only a great hero and hero like Lord Xiao would not waste her beauty.”
As Li Xiao pointed out the identities of these Geluolu People, a smile appeared on Xiao Simo’s face, and he kept nodding.
“Good, good~”
With all these people captured, it meant the Moman Tribe was completely finished.
Nothing made Xiao Simo feel more relieved than seeing enemies kneel before him.
As for the last woman, Xiao Simo just smiled lightly.
Without responding directly, he gently reproved Li Xiao: “I, Xiao, have never been fond of women.”
“Moreover, during a campaign, having such a woman by one’s side would invite ridicule.”
“In the future, put more effort into proper matters.”
Hearing this, Li Xiao understood that this gift suited Xiao Simo’s taste.
But he still saluted and said: “I will heed Lord Xiao’s teachings.”
In his heart, however, he planned to dress this woman in men’s clothes later and send her to Xiao Simo’s tent.
“The battle is over; next is to discuss merits and distribute rewards.” Xiao Simo called all the generals over.
He scanned each person’s face one by one, finally settling on Li Xiao.
“Breaking the Moman Tribe this time was all thanks to the officers and soldiers’ bravery.”
“This king rewards and punishes clearly; merit must be rewarded.”
“Li Xiao, hear my order.”
Hearing Xiao Simo’s solemn tone, Li Xiao’s mind tensed instantly; he placed his right fist on his chest and bowed slightly.
“This humble general is here.”
Then Xiao Simo continued: “Hexi Fort Master Li Xiao, brave and skilled in combat, exceptionally strategic.”
“Consecutively broke the Aslan Tribe and Moman Tribe rebels…”
“Accumulated merits deserve reward!”
“Now appointing you as Jin Prefecture Chiliarch.”
“Upon completion of household registration in Jin Prefecture, assume the post immediately.”
Hearing Xiao Simo’s order, Li Xiao’s heart stirred slightly, and he immediately shouted loudly.
“Thank you, Lord Xiao.”
“This humble general will exert every effort to repay Lord Xiao’s recognition.”
This battle was not fought in vain; he actually got a chiliarch 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 not just a little.
Jin Prefecture was still Western Liao Dynasty territory after all.
With Xiao Simo’s formal appointment, it meant Li Xiao now had an official government identity.
This was legitimate authority; it would be much easier to control other forts and villages in the future.
Whoever dared oppose Li Xiao would be opposing Lord Xiao and Great Liao State.
That would be rebellion!
“You are still young, with a bright future ahead; don’t slack off.” Xiao Simo nodded lightly, encouraging Li Xiao.
In his heart, he thought that this time A Man wouldn’t keep pestering him, right?
Really, along the way, Xiao Simo had heard enough good things about Li Xiao.
Xiao Yanyan had been insistent, demanding he appoint Li Xiao to an official position.
Xiao Simo, somewhat doting on his sister, certainly couldn’t be stingy to make her happy.
Centurion was too low; directly make him chiliarch!
Anyway, after household registration in Jin Prefecture, several chiliarch positions would need to be given to Han People.
After all, with the number of Han People here, having a Khitan person as chiliarch over Han People definitely wouldn’t work.
It had to be appointed eventually, and Li Xiao’s merits this time were not small, so simply give it to this relatively familiar person.
“Yes, Lord Xiao.”
“This humble general will surely work diligently from now on.” Li Xiao nodded solemnly.
What followed was not too important to Li Xiao.
Mainly each unit reporting their casualties and gains; though Xiao Simo also gave rewards, they were mostly property, not comparable to Li Xiao’s chiliarch position.
The sky grew darker, the sun’s rays gradually fading.
Everyone returned to their own camps.
Wuya Village had been occupied by Khitan Soldiers; Han People and soldiers from other nomadic tribes could only set up camp outside.
“Fort Master!”
When Li Xiao returned to his territory, Lin Dazhuang and others came forward to greet him.
Li Xiao looked at Li Dashan and said: “Sixth Uncle, I already discussed it with Lord Xiao.”
“All Han Captives from this battle belong to my unit.”
“Also some cattle and sheep, horses; take men to receive them now.”
“Yes~”
Li Dashan nodded heavily and led men away.
There were quite a few captives after this battle, mostly Geluolu People.
Li Xiao had no interest in fighting over these slaves.
After all, Geluolu People were too restless; he didn’t want to be out leading troops only to have Geluolu slaves rebel at home.
What he wanted were those Han People.
In the North Mountain battle, the Moman Tribe had captured many young and strong Han People, and after breaking Wuya Village, turned all Han common people into slaves.
In total, about five hundred surviving Han common people were all taken by Li Xiao.
As for Geluolu slaves, regardless of gender, Li Xiao wanted none.
It was equivalent to exchanging with other tribes.
Afterward, Li Xiao and Luo Ping and others began their own small meeting.
All similar situations: reporting each unit’s casualties, rewarding those with merits.
Fortunately this time, with the Moman Tribe’s cattle and sheep supplies as backing, Li Xiao lacked no reward items.
Only there weren’t too many cattle and sheep; after all, this cake wasn’t for Li Xiao to divide.
Though Khitan People didn’t participate in the battle at all, they directly took half; Li Xiao could only share the remaining half with other tribes.
“Right, how about the casualties of those Zhelan slaves?” Li Xiao finally thought of the Zhelan People; they had the heaviest losses.
“Thirty-five with serious injuries or dead, over eighty lightly wounded.”
Over three hundred twenty Zhelan slaves, more than a tenth dead directly.
If not for the discipline team watching behind, the Zhelan People would probably have collapsed entirely.
“Though Zhelan People are slaves, merits cannot go unrewarded.” Li Xiao nodded lightly.
He looked at everyone and said: “As I said before the battle, whoever rushes into Wuya Village first will be freed from slave status and rewarded with cattle and sheep.”
As he spoke, he looked at Er Hu and asked: “Who rushed in first and held the line?”
Er Hu nodded: “Indeed there is one.”
“Very brave in battle, first to rush into the village, and killed several Geluolu People.”
“I’ll call him now.”
After Er Hu left, Li Xiao announced to Qin Kaishan and others that he had become chiliarch.
“Chiliarch?”
Luo Ping and others were stunned, unclear for a moment what it meant.
“Does our Jin Prefecture have this official position?” Luo Ping asked in shock.
Before this, the only formal official position in Jin Prefecture was Jin Prefecture Governor.
Others like fort master, village master, and nomadic tribe leaders were self-proclaimed, not formal positions.
This suddenly appearing chiliarch left people unclear what rank it was.
Zhao Dabao was even more curious: “Is chiliarch bigger than governor?”
“Do you need to think? Of course governor is bigger.” Luo Meng rolled his eyes at him.
The governor positions in the Four Prefectures of Northern Frontier were all held by Khitan People; how could Xiao Simo appoint a Han person above a Khitan governor?
Hearing this, Zhao Dabao was immediately unhappy and said angrily.
“If you ask me, we’ve won so many battles, Da Long has the greatest merit and should be appointed Jin Prefecture Governor.”
“Jin Prefecture Governor? You really dare to think.”
“Hehe~” Li Xiao shook his head with a smile.
In the short term, the governor position was not to be coveted.
Xiao Simo was preparing household registration to strengthen control over the Four Prefectures of Northern Frontier.
The new Jin Prefecture Governor would definitely be chosen from his confidants.
Li Xiao was far from being his direct subordinate.
“After the war ends, Khitan People plan to implement household registration in Jin Prefecture, using chiliarch and centurion officials to manage the common people.”
“To strengthen rule over the grassroots herdsmen.” Li Xiao explained to everyone.
“Chiliarch, as the name implies, manages about one thousand households of common people.”
“Centurion manages about one hundred households of common people.”
