The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 202 Grand Commander, it's cold, put on another layer.
"Have you captured Prince Yelü Zhixin?"

Li Xiao, dressed in dark gold cotton armor with black trim, stood on horseback beneath the Sun and Moon Battle Banner, surrounded by hundreds of Wuwei soldiers.

By this time, the war was essentially over, and the royal army was in chaos under the powerful attacks of the Divine Machine Battalion and the Black Armor Army.

Subsequently, the cavalry from the three towns launched a three-pronged attack, extinguishing the last vestiges of morale among the royal soldiers.

Generals and soldiers scrambled to escape, pursued by the cavalry of the three towns, leaving rivers of blood flowing across the grasslands.

The royal army collapsed completely.

Right now, the Jinzhou army is busy and orderly reaping the spoils of war. The shouts of battle and screams of agony have not yet ceased, but Wei Xuan is the first to come and report the victory to Li Xiao.

At this moment, he was wearing bright yellow cotton armor stained with blood, and his face was full of joy. He was also happy to have captured Yelü Zhixin. He said with a smile, "It's also my good luck."

"That guy was wounded by the Divine Machine Battalion's powerful cannons and was captured alive by this humble general before he could escape."

"How are your injuries?" Li Xiao asked.

"Can't die."

"That's good." Li Xiao nodded gently. A living Yelü Zhixin is slightly more valuable than a dead one, but not by much.

After all, Yelü Zhilugu had many sons, so losing one or two wouldn't matter much.

Although he couldn't use Yelü Zhixin to blackmail the royal court, the intelligence he possessed was still useful to the Jinzhou army.

Moreover, this Yelü Zhixin was not an unknown figure; he was only briefly mentioned in unofficial historical records.

After the fall of the Western Liao Dynasty, he declared himself emperor in South Asia with the support of some Khitan nobles and re-established the Liao Dynasty, but it was soon destroyed by the newly rising Delhi Sultanate.

In terms of both ability and luck, he was slightly inferior to the Naiman prince, Kuchlug.

"You've captured Wang Tingjun's commander-in-chief; that's a great achievement for you."

"After a while, the army will be expanded, and you will be promoted to commander of a thousand," Li Xiao promised Wei Xuan.

The capture of Yelü Zhixin signifies a major victory for the Jinzhou army in this battle, severing the royal court's reach towards the eastern capital.

Upon hearing this, Wei Xuan was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Thank you, Grand Commander!"

Given his achievements and qualifications, he was more than qualified to be a commander of a thousand men, not to mention he had a beautiful girl by his side.

Just as Wei Xuan was enthusiastically leading his men to continue cleaning up the battlefield, Li Dashan, the Third Garrison Commander, rode up quickly on horseback: "Grand Commander."

Although both were wearing white cotton armor, Li Dashan's armor was much cleaner, without a trace of blood.

Once he reached his position, he rarely went into battle personally anymore, spending most of his time directing operations from the rear.

Approaching Li Xiao, Li Dashan patted his chest and said, "That kid Yang Shouzhen caught a big fish."

"After interrogation, it was found that this person was from the Xiao family, named Xiao Hetu, who was Aman's cousin."

"How to handle this is up to the Grand Commander."

Yang Shouzhen?
Li Xiao immediately realized who this person was: the son of a disgraced general from Western Xia, a very capable young general.

Those who achieve meritorious service will certainly be eligible for promotion; a deputy centurion position is almost guaranteed, and even a centurion position is not out of the question.

However, upon hearing the name Xiao Hetu, Li Xiao vaguely recognized it.

Xiao Yanyan had told him about the Xiao family in the past, including how Xiao Hetu and his son had bullied Xiao Yanyan and her brother.

"It's him?" Li Xiao's eyes narrowed, and his tone became somewhat unpleasant.

The father and son had bullied Xiao Yanyan and her siblings because they were young, and now that they were in Li Xiao's hands, they naturally had to avenge their wife.

He said coldly, "How could someone from the Xiao family be in the royal army? They must be spies without a doubt."

"Someone, bring Zhang Shitou here."

Soon, a young general wearing a yellow cotton armor came over: "This humble general, Zhang Shitou, a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, pays his respects to the Grand Commander."

"The men of the Third Town have captured several enemy generals. You are in charge of leading men to interrogate them."

"Don't worry about his identity. Torture these people severely and rip everything out of their stomachs," Li Xiao said in a deep voice.

Because it was during wartime, the Jinyiwei, a white terror organization, did not play a significant role, so Li Xiao used them primarily as a supervisory force.

However, everyone has their own expertise, and when the Embroidered Uniform Guard was established, it gathered a group of talents in tracking, investigation, and counter-intelligence.

Tasks like interrogating Xiao Hetu are best left to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"And that Yelü Zhixin, as long as he's not dead, interrogate him as well."

"I need to know the whereabouts of Prince Xiao Helun," Li Xiao said.

Now that Xiao Simo has passed away, the power in the Eastern Capital has fallen into a vacuum. Under normal circumstances, the heir apparent, Xiao Helun, should succeed to the throne.

The regency was to be held by either Shulu Wujin or Xiao Yanyan.

However, Xiao Helun had already disappeared without a trace, and Li Xiao suspected that he might have fallen into the hands of the royal army.

After giving the order, whether or not Xiao Helun could be found, it would be considered that Shulu Wujin had been given an explanation.

"As ordered."

Zhang Shitou nodded emphatically.

He grew up with Li Xiao since childhood. He was relatively handsome, didn't talk much, and gave people the impression of being a doormat.

But Li Xiao knew that this guy was a bit cunning; if he couldn't beat someone, he liked to use other means to get away with it.

This kind of talent is best suited for doing shady things.

Zhang Shitou and Li Dashan left together, while Li Xiao led the Imperial Guard to continue patrolling the battlefield.

The battle was basically over. Apart from some soldiers chasing down deserters, others had begun clearing the battlefield.

In the past, it was normal for a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands of people to last for several days or even dozens of days.

However, the advent of artillery changed the nature of warfare.

The 40,000 Jinzhou troops attacked the more than 20,000 Wang Ting troops and ended the battle in less than an hour.

Whether they were Jin people or Mongols, if they couldn't adapt to the speed of warfare in this new era, they would be quickly eliminated by the Jinzhou army.

On the other side, the Naiman slave Berluba also ended his battle.

Originally, besides an old horse and a broken gun barrel, the most valuable thing he owned was a short knife given to him by his brother, which was used to cut off the ears of enemies.

However, after this war, Berluba was completely transformed, with its weaponry upgraded from ragtag guns to artillery.

He rode a tall horse, carrying a long spear, with two curved swords hanging at his waist, a mace on his back, and a bow and a quiver of arrows on his saddle.

All of these were seized from Wang Tingjun.

The Jinzhou army's method of distributing spoils evolved from the Tang army's "three horses sharing the spoils".

Soldiers were required to hand over two-thirds of the spoils of war, keeping only one-third for themselves.

Even so, Berluba returned with a full haul, demonstrating just how much he gained from this battle.

But most importantly, there were the dozen or so ears in the bag.

"This is your spoils? Twelve left ears? Pretty impressive."

Li Xiao untied the bag made from a sheep bladder, glanced at it, and exclaimed in surprise.

Li Xiao was well aware of the importance of the lower-ranking soldiers, so he was never the kind of high-and-mighty seal-bearer.

Whenever he has time, he will come to inspect the grassroots level.

Especially after the war and when the spoils of war were distributed, Li Xiao would personally come to supervise.

Although the Jinzhou Army was newly established and there was no corruption yet, Li Xiao still had to be wary.

Personal supervision and taking the lead for soldiers can effectively boost morale.

This time, they happened to see Berluba covered in blood, so they called him over to ask him questions.

Although Berluba did not recognize Li Xiao, he could vaguely guess Li Xiao's identity from the sight of the Wuwei Army soldiers wearing yellow cotton armor with red trim around him.

Although he appeared honest and simple, he was not without cunning. Standing somewhat awkwardly in front of Li Xiao, he stammered, "Um, Wang Tingjun's men were too weak. They ran away before we even really fought them."

"I chased them for a long time before I finally killed them."

"If it weren't for Lord Centurion stopping me, I could have killed even more people."

As he spoke, Berluba looked aggrieved, because killing fewer people meant he would receive fewer rewards.

In addition to keeping one-third of the spoils of war, the Golden State Army's reward system also offered a substantial reward for each enemy head taken.

Killing one less enemy means losing three sheep.

"Hehehe, there will be plenty of enemies for you to kill in the future."

"As long as you're brave and capable, you'll definitely be able to live a good life in Jinzhou," Li Xiao promised with a smile.

This is the kind of warrior he likes best.

So what about the Naiman people?

As members of the Chinese nation, as long as they are loyal to themselves and devoted to Jinzhou, Li Xiao will treat them all equally.

"What's your name?" Li Xiao asked in Turkic.

After all, most of these Naiman slaves hadn't learned Chinese.

“My name is Boluba, but the head of the household has already given me a Han name, Zhang Ergou,” Boluba said with a chuckle.

"Berluba? That's not a good name. Let's call him Zhang Ergou from now on."

"It sounds powerful and imposing."

Li Xiao gently shook his head and returned the bladder bag to him.

The name Berluba means insect or worm in Turkic languages, and it was generally a name given to the lowest social class or even slaves.

Although Zhang Ergou wasn't exactly refined, he didn't mean any discrimination; most of the lower-class people in Jinzhou had similar lowly names.

Afterwards, Li Xiao asked Berluba about other things, such as whether anyone had hidden his spoils of war, concealed his military achievements, or even abused their power for personal gain, embezzled, or accepted bribes.

Although Berluba was a Naiman slave, he had virtually no human rights.

However, Li Xiao would never allow these war slaves to be oppressed without any limits.

In particular, battle merits are related to the promotion channels of these Kurdish soldiers and are their only hope.

How desperate would they be if these hard-won battle achievements were withheld by their superiors?
Without hope, they will stop fighting on the battlefield, and in despair, they may even start a collective rebellion to seek a new way to survive.

In Li Xiao's view, military merit-based promotion is actually the same as the eight-legged essay system for selecting officials.

All the capable slaves were recruited into his own ranks, and even if the others wanted to cause trouble, they would not amount to anything.

Moreover, Li Xiao did indeed place high hopes on these 20,000 slaves.

Those slaves who were old, disabled, or unfit for combat had long been sold to the townspeople of the three towns to herd sheep and farm.

The remaining 20,000 slaves were all young and strong.

He also hoped that these 20,000 slaves would gradually be assimilated and become a sharp weapon in his hands.

Therefore, Li Xiao absolutely could not allow corruption to affect his plans.

Most importantly, once corruption targeting the Kuril Army emerges within the military, it means it will soon affect ordinary soldiers in the towns.

Therefore, if such a trend is discovered, Li Xiao will not tolerate it and must use swift and decisive measures to deter the army and curb this unhealthy trend.

Fortunately, through questioning Boluba and other Naiman warrior slaves, Li Xiao was relieved that there was no corruption in the Jinzhou army; everything was normal.

This is mainly because the Golden State Army is currently in a period of rapid expansion.

In every war, even ordinary soldiers can plunder a lot of spoils, let alone the generals.

They could openly plunder the enemy's wealth through war, so there was no need for them to risk bloodshed. Of course, there was another reason: soldiers in wartime, if pushed to the limit, might actually kill their superiors and rebel.

……

The battlefield between the Jinzhou army and the Wangting army was less than 100 li away from the eastern capital.

Therefore, not long after the outbreak of war, the Eastern Capital received the news.

"The Jinzhou army and the Wangting army have started fighting?"

Inside the Bai Inn, Xiao Pulaye Lu sat cross-legged on a woolen blanket, looking excitedly at a general opposite him.

This person's name was Han Jianu, which means 'slave of the wolf' in the Khitan language.

He followed Xiao Pulayelu and his son into exile in the southern borderlands, remaining loyal and brave in battle.

Xiao Pulayelu was preparing to use him to replace Xiao Simo's men and appoint him as a commander in the Northern Navy.

Unexpectedly, Han Jianu brought him news of the great battle between the Jinzhou army and the Wangting army.

"A fight has indeed broken out. Our scouts saw it clearly, right on the banks of the Burta River to the south," Han Jianu said in a deep voice.

"it is good!"

"Hahaha~"

Xiao Pulayelu laughed: "The Jinzhou Army is the elite of the Northern Frontier. Originally, I was somewhat wary of them and planned to take down Li Xiao first before subduing the Jinzhou Army."

"I never expected that we would actually be fighting against the royal army."

"We can sit back and watch the tigers fight. No matter who wins or loses, we will be the ultimate winners."

As he spoke, Xiao Pulayelu picked up the copper cup and took a sip of the Southern Xinjiang milk tea.

But hearing Han Jianu's next words made him frown slightly.

"However, judging from the size of the Jinzhou army, it is quite large, with at least twenty or thirty thousand men."

"Ok?"

Xiao Pulayelu raised his eyes, looking surprised: "Twenty or thirty thousand people?"

"Jinzhou is just a prefecture under the jurisdiction of the Northern Frontier, with a population of only forty or fifty thousand. How could it possibly gather twenty or thirty thousand troops?"

Their understanding of the Jinzhou Army was still limited to the Battle of Gaochang.

At that time, the Jinzhou army numbered only 10,000, and many people even believed that it was the total strength of Jinzhou and the desert.

Therefore, Xiao Pulayelu and others only believed that the Jinzhou army was powerful, but its troops were not that many.

But the sudden appearance of an army of twenty to thirty thousand people really startled Xiao Pulayelu.

"This is bad."

He didn't even bother drinking his milk tea anymore. He stood up and paced back and forth in the room with a serious expression.

"However, although the Jinzhou army has a large number of troops, they are by no means all elites, and they are probably not much stronger than the royal army."

Xiao Pulayelu comforted himself, saying, "Let them fight, let them fight as much as they want."

"It would be best if both sides were to suffer heavy losses, so that I could reap the benefits."

Immediately, Xiao Pulaiyelu sent someone to inform Ali Da to assemble a large army and prepare to reap the rewards.

In addition, someone was sent to contact Xiao Hetu, asking him to find an opportunity to withdraw.

However, just an hour later, Han Jianu arrived again, this time with a look of urgency on his face.

Upon entering the room, he said impatiently, "My lord, something terrible has happened."

"Wang Tingjun has been defeated."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Pulaye Lu jumped to his feet, staring at him in shock, and said incredulously, "What?"

"Wang Tingjun has been defeated?"

"How could they have lost?"

"Yelü Zhixin had more than three thousand elite royal troops, more than ten thousand troops from the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, and even several thousand Karluk cavalry."

"Even if there are more than 20,000 sheep, the Jinzhou army cannot kill them all in such a short time."

"Is Yelü Zhixin even dumber than a sheep?"

"And what about my son? Where is he?" Xiao Pulayelu asked anxiously.

Although Xiao Hetu was not his only son, he was his most promising son, and he was counting on him to inherit his legacy.

Han Jianu's face was gloomy, and he said bitterly, "I can't believe this result either, but our scouts saw with their own eyes that the Jinzhou cavalry were chasing and killing the royal soldiers."

“Those royal soldiers were like rabbits in the mountains, running around everywhere. Many were killed, and many others simply knelt down and surrendered to the Jinzhou army.”

"As for the Second Young Master, we have no news of him yet, but the brothers around him are all veterans who will surely protect him."

Hearing this, Xiao Pulayelu nodded slightly, and could only console himself with this thought.

After all, there was no use in being anxious. They could only hope that Xiao Hetu would be quick-witted and slip away in the chaos.

"By the way, sir, the scouts also said they heard thunder," Han Jianu suddenly said.

Xiao Pulaiyelu subconsciously looked up at the sky outside the door. The sky was clear and blue. Where was the thunder?
"Some people speculate that the Jinzhou army must have invited a Taoist priest to perform a ritual, and the Thunder God appeared, sending down lightning that routed the Wangting army." Han Jianu's voice grew softer and softer.

Xiao Pulaiyelu found this statement utterly absurd.

As a person in a position of power, he knew perfectly well that gods were merely tools used to fool the people, and that there were no real gods in the world.

“Something must have happened that we don’t know about, which is why the Wang Ting army was defeated so quickly,” Xiao Pulayelu said with certainty.

However, now that Wang Tingjun has been defeated, his original plan to reap the benefits is no longer feasible.

The biggest enemy now is the Golden State Army.

"Now it seems that Li Xiao has truly become a major concern for me," Xiao Pulayelu said in a low voice, his face grave.

The Jinzhou army has a large number of troops and strong combat power. Although it has just experienced a bloody battle, it is by no means an enemy that the Northern Navy can rashly confront.

However, if left unchecked, the Jinzhou army will surely turn its attention to Dongdu next.

Given the strength of the Jinzhou army and Li Xiao's status, taking control of the Eastern Capital would not be difficult.

However, Xiao Pulayelu and his son had been preparing for the Northern Frontier for so many years, and seeing that they were about to succeed, how could they allow Li Xiao to steal the fruits of their labor?
"Send someone to Li Xiao to tell him that we have found Xiao Simo and he has been brought back to the Prince's Mansion to recuperate."

"Order Li Xiao to come to the Prince's Palace for an audience."

"By the way, this time we'll send Nejida in person. Given his position as the deputy commander of the royal guards, he'll have more credibility."

Xiao Pulaiyelu said in a deep voice.

Previously, he had sent two ordinary guards from the Prince's Palace to contact Li Xiao and ask him to come to the Eastern Capital to discuss military matters.

Unexpectedly, the two guards never returned, seemingly having been detained by Li Xiao.

Xiao Pulai Lu guessed that Li Xiao had already learned of Xiao Simo's disappearance.

Therefore, they completely ignored the orders from the Eastern Capital.

After all, given Ali's status and position, it would be more likely that he would take the initiative to pay a visit to Li Xiao.

This time, Xiao Pulayelu planned to use Xiao Simo as an excuse to lure Li Xiao to the Eastern Capital, capture him, and take control of the Jinzhou army.

"What if Xiao Simo were in the Jinzhou army?"

“We’ve been searching for so many days without any news of Xiao Simo. Could it be that he has already joined up with the Jinzhou army?” Han Jianu said softly.

"No." Xiao Pu Laye Lu shook his head.

“If Xiao Simo had gone to the Jinzhou army, the Jinzhou army would have already attacked the Eastern Capital and come to take revenge on us.”

Why would they avoid the main threat and attack the royal army?

“Li Xiao probably just knows that Xiao Simo is missing and looks down on Ali Da, the governor of Beihai,” Xiao Pulayelu said confidently.

The next second, his face turned cold and gloomy: "If Xiao Simo really goes to the Jinzhou army, then we can only let Nejida pray for his own good fortune."

Xiao Pulaiyelu's purpose was simple: to use Niejida's life to test the attitude of the Jinzhou army.

Either Li Xiao was tricked into coming to Dongdu, or Nejida was torn to pieces.

……

The campfire crackled and popped in the night, but the Jinzhou military camp was like a swarm of wasps whose nest had been disturbed, with deafening noise and endless laughter from the soldiers.

Each bonfire was topped with a large pot of succulent mutton, a reward for the Golden State Army after the battle.

Occasionally, a few screams of women could be heard from inside the tent; this was also a reward for the soldiers after the battle.

However, this time it was a decisive battle with the royal army, not the extermination of the tribe. Only a small number of Karluk women followed the royal army from Ili, as if they had transformed into female warriors.

However, at this moment, they were all captured by the Jinzhou army, but there were far from enough to go around.

Li Xiao stood in front of the central command tent, hesitated for a moment, and finally stepped into the tent.

"princess."

This was Shulu Wujin's tent. She hadn't rested yet, and when she saw Li Xiao arrive, she quickly stood up to greet him.

"Da Long, what's going on?"

Shulu Wujin looked at Li Xiao in surprise. It was already late, and she didn't understand why Li Xiao had suddenly come.

Li Xiao looked at her with a slightly melancholy gaze and said softly, "Your Highness, this humble general has just received a report from my soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Shu Lu Wujin's expression suddenly changed, her eyes widened, and her fists clenched together involuntarily.

Because not long ago, when Li Xiao told her the news of Xiao Simo's passing, he had this same expression and tone.

The same scene, the same words, made Shu Luwu Jin's heart jump out of her chest instantly.

Sure enough, Li Xiao's heavy voice was heard as he said, "The young master—"

"Gone!"

After the battle, Li Xiao ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to interrogate Yelü Zhixin and others, and finally learned about Xiao Helun's situation.

After the Battle of Ili, Xiao Helun was wounded and captured, despite Yelü Zhixin having arranged for the best doctors in the army to treat him.

However, Xiao Helun's injuries were too severe, and the royal army continued its march. Due to the bumpy journey, Xiao Helun was ultimately unable to save his life.

Upon hearing Li Xiao's words, Shu Lu Wujin felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, and the world spun around her.

"Your Highness, Your Highness~"

Li Xiao quickly stepped forward to support her, preventing her from falling to the ground.

Then, supporting that soft, boneless body, he sat on the edge of the bed and shouted loudly to the outside, "Call the doctor!"

After a period of commotion, Shulu Wujin's mournful cry finally rang out from inside the tent: "My son!"

Soon after, Li Xiao stepped out of the tent, looked up at the night sky, and saw the bright moonlight illuminating the earth.

"Hey~"

"Time is destiny!"

Hearing the woman's cries behind him, Li Xiao shook his head and sighed softly, feeling a mix of emotions.

Just then, Tie Tou came up with a cloak and said softly, "Grand Commander, it's getting windy, put on this coat!"

Li Xiao was slightly taken aback. He turned his head and saw Tie Tou holding a dark gold tiger-skin cloak. Then he smiled faintly, shook his head, and said, "Keep it for now!"

(End of this chapter)