The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 75 Come back alive
In the next few days, the Jinshan battlefield seemed to have fallen into calm.

The Northern Frontier Army did not continue the attack, and the Naimans did not launch a surprise attack.

Both sides are quietly adjusting their forces and preparing for the next major battle.

During these few days, Li Xiao selected a total of two thousand soldiers from various tribes.

They were all honest and simple herdsmen or slaves.

This kind of person doesn't have so many tricks up his sleeve, is obedient and easy to manage, and will not collapse directly because of simple dangers.

Then, Li Xiao selected a thousand people from the original Seven Forts coalition forces and Zhelan slaves as his own direct forces to stabilize the morale of the army.

A total of 3,000 troops were gathered as the main force to cross the Alai Ridge.

Li Xiao divided the three thousand people into three parts.

Each department has a thousand people and a thousand-household official is appointed.

Li Xiao led one of them, and the other two were Li Dashan and Luo Ping.

Below the thousand households are ten hundred households, each headed by a son of one of the four forts.

Below the hundred households are ten squad leaders, and then the platoon leader.

Li Xiao gathered everyone together and set up a separate camp.

It was noon and the army was having lunch. Li Xiao led his men to patrol the camp.

He walked to a big pot filled with mutton. A circle of soldiers were sitting around it, eagerly waiting for the meal to start.

From their clear eyes, you can tell how much they long for this pot of mutton with a strong smell.

"grown ups."

"Master Qianhu."

When the group of soldiers saw Li Xiao and his men coming, they saluted hurriedly and subconsciously wiped the saliva from their mouths.

"All sit down."

"You are welcome."

Li Xiao smiled faintly, looked at the mutton in the pot, and nodded slightly.

"Everyone has worked hard during these two days of training."

"Everyone can eat as much as they want today. There's plenty of mutton."

Hearing Li Xiao's words, the soldiers all smiled and cheered.

"Good~"

It’s called training, but it’s not too complicated.

The main purpose is to enhance the trust between the soldiers and the new squad leaders and sergeants.

Let the soldiers know who to listen to.

As for more physical and tactical training, there is simply no time.

The soldiers were quite happy because they didn't have much training and could still eat meat.

"What's your name?"

While eating, Li Xiao chatted with the soldiers so that they could get to know him better.

"My name is Dasha~"

The man named by Li Xiao stuttered.

"What's your last name?" Li Xiao asked.

The man shook his head.

The squad leader of these ten people is Li Xiao’s younger brother, named Wang Dachun.

After getting familiar with the soldiers over the past two days, he began to explain things to Li Xiao.

The man lost both his parents when he was young and sold himself to a wealthy family as a sheep slave.

This time, it was supposed to be the rich man's son who came to serve in the army, but the rich man was reluctant to let his son die, so he let this stupid man come.

He didn't even realize that he should negotiate terms with the rich man.

"Do you want to eat meat?" Li Xiao looked at Dasha and asked.

"Think~"

Li Xiao nodded and smiled: "Okay!"

"Then kill more enemies and make great military achievements. Then you can eat meat every day."

This is the situation in the Western Regions and the grasslands.

It's not that nomadic people can eat meat often.

Cattle and sheep are the most important assets of a family and will not be slaughtered easily.

The daily food of ordinary herdsmen is dairy products and whole grains, and they only eat meat during major festivals.

Even so, this is already considered the level of a well-off family.

There are also a large number of poor people and slaves who have nothing and struggle to make ends meet every day.

They were so hungry that they could only eat weeds like cattle and sheep.

This time, many of the people Li Xiao chose were young people who had nothing.

If they want to eat meat every day and want to cross classes to gain wealth, they have to rely on their own hands to grab and fight.

Seeing that the mutton in the pot was almost cooked, Li Xiao let them eat as much as they wanted and left with his men.

He walked up to another group of people, and found that the squad leader of this group was also Li Xiao's younger brother.

Li Xiao came to support his own people, and was also worried that Wang Dachun and the others were young and would be looked down upon by his subordinates.

But not long after, Li Dashan found Li Xiao.

"Dalong, the princess is here."

"I'm waiting for you in the big tent."

"Xiao Yanyan?"

Li Xiao nodded gently: "Let's go!"

"We should go back and eat."

Li Xiao took his men away.

When he returned to his tent, he found that Xiao Yanyan was sitting on a stool facing the tent door, holding a sheepskin in her hand and looking at it very seriously.

Li Xiao immediately smiled, walked in and said, "Princess, this seems to be my seat, right?"

Xiao Yanyan put down the sheepskin, looked at Li Xiao and said with a smile: "Why, I can't sit in your position, Captain Li?"

Li Xiao shook his head: "Sit wherever you like."

"Anyway, the entire Liao Dynasty belongs to you. You can sit wherever you want."

As he spoke, Li Xiao began to take off his armor.

This thing is very troublesome to put on and take off, but there is no other way. Wearing this armor in front of the new recruits will help establish Li Xiao's image and prestige.

Clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse. This thing can still fool people.

"Let me do it!"

Seeing how hard Li Xiao was struggling, Xiao Yanyan shook her head and smiled, then walked forward to help Li Xiao take off his armor.

After all, this thing is quite heavy and normally requires two people to wear it.

Li Xiao did not refuse, but laughed:

"The dignified Princess of Chu personally removed my armor for me. This treatment is unique in the entire Liao Dynasty."

Xiao Yanyan stood behind him, untying the ropes one by one, and sneered, "Still so slick."

But what Li Xiao said was not wrong.

This was the first time Xiao Yanyan had taken off armor from a man other than Xiao Simo since she grew up.

Li Xiao was treated graciously.

"This is a reward for you." Xiao Yanyan said.

"I risked my life crossing the Alai Mountains and attacking the Naimans, and this is the reward?"

"Tsk, there will be more when you come back."

"How is your selection of people going?" Xiao Yanyan asked behind Li Xiao.

Soon, the arm armor on Li Xiao's two arms was removed.

Looking at Xiao Yanyan picking it up with one hand and hanging it on the wooden rack, Li Xiao looked at her sideways.

This woman is quite strong.

"The people have been selected and the training is almost done."

"We can set off in two days." Li Xiao said.

Xiao Yanyan nodded slightly and continued to unbutton Li Xiao's breastplate, which was even heavier.

"I'll do it~"

Seeing Xiao Yanyan struggling, Li Xiao took the armor from her and hung it on the wooden rack.

When he turned around, he found that Xiao Yanyan was staring at him.

"What's wrong? Is there something dirty?"

Li Xiao touched his face and didn't care too much. On the battlefield, who cares whether their face is clean or not.

Xiao Yanyan shook her head: "No~"

"It's just that I owe you another favor."

In Xiao Yanyan's opinion, Li Xiao crossed the Alailing Pass this time just for her.

Before, Xiao Yanyan had even made preparations to go to Northern Naiman.

But at the critical moment, Li Xiao's appearance was like a ray of holy light, illuminating her helpless heart.

It's this boy again.

When he was in desperate situation facing the pursuit of the Qarluk people, it was also this young man who saved him.

"Ha~"

Looking at Xiao Yanyan's serious expression, Li Xiao suddenly found her cute.

He shook his head and said, "Since I owe you a favor, I'll just pay it back slowly."

"If you really can't pay it back, there's no other way but to pledge your love to me."

Hearing Li Xiao's words, Xiao Yanyan glared at him and asked, "Are you being respectful?"

"I'm six years older than you."

Li Xiao untied his skirt armor and put it on the wooden frame, saying nonchalantly, "What's wrong with being six years old?"

"Have you ever heard the saying, 'A woman three years older than you is a treasure'?"

"Six years older, I can still hold two gold bricks."

Li Xiao seemed to be joking with Xiao Yanyan, but Xiao Yanyan fell silent.

Her eyes were fixed on Li Xiao's busy figure, and suddenly a faint voice said, "Do you really want to marry me?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the tent immediately became quiet.

Li Xiao stood there in a daze, looking at Xiao Yanyan in astonishment.

How should he respond to this?

Are all Khitan women so tough?
"What do you mean?" Li Xiao clicked his tongue and said guiltily.

No way?
This woman is so direct?

Could it be that his heroic act had touched her? Had Xiao Yanyan become a love-brained person?
If Xiao Yanyan really insists on marrying me, should I agree?
It seems like I have no choice but to agree!
With Xiao Simo's military order, Li Xiao has to marry her even if he doesn't want to!

Otherwise, should I just reluctantly accept her?
Looking at Li Xiao's stunned gaze, not knowing what was going on in his mind, Xiao Yanyan suddenly sneered, "Idiot."

"I'm just kidding."

"I, Xiao Yanyan, am not an ordinary woman. I won't marry anyone casually like those ordinary women and then give birth to lambs one by one like a ewe."

"I want to be a female general and help my brother pacify the world."

Xiao Yanyan raised her head, like a proud white swan.

Li Xiao also came back to his senses and breathed a sigh of relief.

But for some reason, there was also a sense of loss in my heart.

"Oh, you are ambitious."

Li Xiao laughed and said to Xiao Yanyan with certainty, "If you achieve something in the future, Princess Pingyang might even bow down to you."

The two quickly ended the topic and turned to talk about how to cross the Alai Mountains and how to cooperate with the army in the west of Jinshan to encircle and suppress the Naiman army.

The two chatted about many things while eating mutton.

When Xiao Yanyan was about to leave, she suddenly turned around and looked at Li Xiao while standing outside the tent and said.

"Li Xiao, come back alive."

"I'm waiting for you."

After saying that, Xiao Yanyan turned around and left, leading her men out of the military camp.

Li Xiao shook his head and smiled.

wait for me?

What are you waiting for me to do?

"This woman, is she trying to honey-trap me?"

(End of this chapter)