Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 112 Let the West flow with blood!
Time flies. It has been three years since Zhao Shuo returned to the Hulunbuir grassland.

A lot has happened in these three years.

Su Na, with her heterochromatic eyes, gave Zhao Shuo a son and a daughter. The son is two years old and is named Zhao Yan. The daughter is now eight months old. On the night she was born, many fireflies appeared outside the tent. Fireflies are rare in Hulunbuir, so Zhao Shuo was amazed by this and named her Zhao Ying.

Hulan also gave Zhao Shuo a son, Zhao Yi, who was only two months old. Alia, the most beautiful woman in the Naiman tribe, was also six months pregnant.

Hua Zheng's belly was also moving, and it seemed that she was about to give birth to her second child.

Zhao Ying didn't inherit her mother's heterochromatic eyes, but she had a pair of large, pure eyes, dark and bright, like obsidian washed by the water of the Kherlen River. Zhao Yi had been restless and moving violently in Hu Lan's womb, and now, at two months old, he was kicking vigorously against the blanket.

Zhao Yan is a little less troublesome than Zhao Yi. He is only two years old and can already speak fluent sentences. Moreover, he is in very good health.

Zhao He was already eight years old. Whether it was due to adequate nutrition or the excellent genes of Zhao Shuo and Hua Zheng, his height exceeded 1.3 meters. This would be considered normal in later generations, but among boys of the same age in this era, he was like a crane among chickens.

He no longer needed to ride the "Han Gong Guo Xia Ma" and could just ride a small stallion and gallop on the grassland with Zhao Shuo.

Recently, Zhao Shuo often took Zhao He for horseback riding and taught him archery.

Zhao He had an extraordinary talent. In just one week, his archery skills had become quite decent. He quickly grasped the traditional Mongolian archery techniques of aiming and releasing.

In addition to archery training, Zhao Shuo also taught Zhao He some strength training. A child's muscles and bones haven't fully developed yet, so weight training or even extreme training is completely unfeasible. Instead, Zhao Shuo taught him some modern training methods: step jumps, crab crawls, hip bridges, side leg raises, and rope skipping—to build a solid foundation first.

In addition to physical development, Zhao Shuo also did not let Zhao He fall behind in cultural aspects. He directly taught Zhao He simplified Chinese characters.

As for what to do if traditional Chinese characters are prevalent in the Central Plains at this point? There's no need to worry. Zhao Shuo believes that simplified Chinese characters will eventually become popular in the Central Plains. Otherwise, wouldn't his creation of a Mongolian script that includes simplified characters be in vain?

Batu is getting older, but he still likes to follow Zhao He and play like when he was a child.

I come to Hulunbuir Grassland about once every three months and stay there for half a month each time.

At these times, the diligent little Zhao He would regain his big brother self. Not only would he keep Batu in good stead, but he would also share the games Zhao Shuo had taught him with this little fanboy. This made Batu even more reluctant to leave. Every time he was picked up, he would tear up and quickly set a date for his next visit.

The Hulunbuir grassland is becoming more and more prosperous.

Among the craftsmen captured by Zhao Shuo in Zhongdu, there were some who were good at digging wells.

Zhao Shuo had them dig wells in areas with lush pastures but no rivers or lakes. So far, they've dug thirty wells.

But don't underestimate these thirty wells.

If history had developed normally, it would not have been until Genghis Khan's death and the succession of Ogedei that craftsmen from the Central Plains would have been allowed to dig wells on the grasslands. Ogedei often said that he had four major contributions to the Mongol Empire, and digging wells on the grasslands was one of them, on par with the "destruction of the Jin Dynasty."

This shows how important wells are to the people of the grassland.

It's a simple truth: nomadic peoples have always lived by following the path of water and grass. Grass is easy to understand: they graze wherever the grass grows lushly. The so-called "water" refers to rivers, lakes, and ponds.

Even if the grass is lush, long-term grazing is impossible without nearby rivers or lakes. Otherwise, where would the water for livestock come from? And where would the water for human consumption come from?

The Hulunbuir grasslands, covering over 100,000 square kilometers, equivalent to an entire province in the Central Plains, could only accommodate Zhao Shuo's 5,000 households, totaling only about 30,000 people. Besides productivity limitations, one reason for this was that the nomadic range of the herders was limited to the vicinity of rivers and lakes.

They appear to live on the grassland, but actually they live by the water.

Therefore, the existence of a well is equivalent to having an additional grassland of dozens or hundreds of miles for nomadic life.

What's the point of all that gold, silver, and valuables? Sooner or later, they'll all be gone.

However, a well is equivalent to leaving a long-lasting wealth for future generations.

Countless herdsmen, when roaming near the well, kowtowed to the well to thank Zhao Shuo for his kindness.

As the number of wells increases, Zhao Shuo's reputation on the Hulunbuir grassland will become higher and higher and more deeply rooted.

The wall-less city of Khalkhagui has been built.

On the day the city was completed, Temujin came specially to watch the ceremony.

Temujin was very satisfied with the layout of Khalkha City and had asked his craftsmen to build a city with a similar layout on the southern foot of the Hangai Mountains and the upper reaches of the Orkhon River as the capital of the Great Mongol Empire.

But since it is the capital, even if we no longer have to worry about enemy attacks, we still have to build city walls. The project is huge and it will probably take another year to complete.

Temujin named this capital city Khara-Khara.

It is obvious that Horqin City will become the political center of the Great Mongol Empire, and Khalkha City will become the economic center of the Great Mongol Empire.

Now the workshop under Zhao Shuo is developing very well.

First, following the example of the three governors of Fu, Huan, and Chang, Zhao Shuo told the newly arrived craftsmen that they would be free after serving for twenty years. If they served less than twenty years, their sons would take over the remaining service.

Secondly, while serving in the army, their wages were 70% of the normal worker's salary. This was already quite a bit, as the workshop's profits were high, and Zhao Shuo's artisans were paid well. This 70% salary was already double what they had earned as "artisan households" for the Jin Dynasty.

Moreover, the Jin Kingdom often did not pay wages for entire years, and only gave a small amount of food rations.

The craftsmen under Zhao Shuo's command were paid their monthly wages on time.

Third, respect talents.

Zhao Shuo divided craftsmen into eight levels.

Level one craftsman is the lowest and level eight is the highest.

As a famous eighth-level fitter, Zhao Shuo actually referred to the experience of later generations.

If your skills improve or you make special contributions, you can be promoted and receive more money and benefits.

As a result, in less than half a year, the workshop's output saw a huge surge.

The long-term problem of supply and demand imbalance of products in Zhao Shuo's workshop has been greatly alleviated.

Three months later, Zhao Shuo's workshop had two more flagship products.

The first one is the glass mirror.

Of course, this glass mirror is not the silver mirror commonly seen in later generations, but a mercury-tin mirror covered with glass.

Amalgam is an alloy of mercury and tin.

First, melt the tin and pour it onto a copper plate. Once the tin solidifies, add the mercury. After a quarter of an hour, a layer of mercury and tin, bright and shiny, will appear. Then, cover it with glass, and you have a brand new mirror.

In fact, the Chinese discovered the mercury-tin reaction as early as the Warring States Period. However, tin easily oxidizes, quickly turning black and making it far less practical than bronze mirrors. Now, in Zhao Shuo's workshop, he uses glass to tightly cover the mercury-tin mixture, preventing it from coming into contact with oxygen. This prevents the oxidation reaction and allows him to produce practical glass mirrors.

With Zhao Shuo's suggestions and the skilled craftsmen from Zhongdu, the project was a natural success.

The second is the telescope.

Convex lens, concave lens.

All Zhao Shuo had to do was explain the principle to his skilled craftsmen, and the rest was just a matter of spending time and fine-tuning it.

For the skilled craftsmen from Zhongdu, it was absolutely no difficulty at all.

Of course, the military significance of the telescope is too great to be leaked.

Even if other factions didn't have the right glass, they certainly had valuable pure crystal, right? They could easily replicate the telescope at any cost.

In terms of people's livelihood, after hearing about the huge benefits of cotton planting, Temujin ordered Hunan to fully promote cotton planting in Xinjiang.

Well, actually, there is no need to push it with all your strength.

How much money can you get from herders?
Now half of the income of Mongolian nobles comes from their caravans.

It was heard that Zhao Shuo had a new thing and needed a large amount of cotton as raw material. The Mongolian nobles who were granted fiefs in Xinjiang had already vigorously promoted the cultivation of cotton.

What if we plant too much cotton but don’t have enough food?
We can buy it from Xixia. If Xixia doesn’t give it to us, we will fight!

Moreover, picking cotton is too labor-intensive. The Mongolian nobles in Xinjiang are already ready to find a reason to attack the Xixia people again and capture some slaves to pick cotton.

Lu Zibu also promoted writing on the grassland.

Not only that, he has been on the grassland for six or seven years, and has several loyal disciples who follow him to promote the technology.

Lu Zibu wrote several letters to the Southern Song Dynasty, inviting other literati to come to the grassland and help him promote writing, but no one agreed.

Perhaps those people will not realize what they have missed until Zhao Shuo drinks from the Yangtze River.

Xin Yu did a good job in Khwarezm, so Zhao Shuo recruited him to the Hulunbuir grassland and asked him what other job he wanted to do or whether he wanted to continue doing business.

Xin Yu said that while he certainly wanted to work for Zhao Shuo, it wasn't about the money. However, a caravan wasn't just a caravan; it was also a convenient place for spies. If Zhao Shuo was interested, he could offer him some support and try his hand in Khwarezm. If he proved successful, he could return to serve him.

Imperial City Administration of the Great Song Dynasty?
The Jin Dynasty's Imperial Household Department?

The Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard and the East and West Factories?

The Sticking Rod Office of the Qing Dynasty?
There is something special about this Xinlu!

Zhao Shuo immediately gave Xin Yu five thousand taels of gold and fifty people, allowing him to act as he pleased in Khwarezm.

Xin Ru was merely trying his hand in Khwarezm, but Zhao Shuo knew that within a few years, a major war would rage between the Mongols and Khwarezm. Currently, Xin Ru was merely a sideshow in Khwarezm.

In short, Mongolia has been recuperating and full of vitality in the past three years.

But the Central Asian region was in chaos.

Qubilai, the son-in-law of the Western Liao Dynasty, colluded with the Western Karakhanid Khanate and the Khwarezmian Empire, which were vassal states of the Western Liao Dynasty. The three kingdoms jointly launched a surprise attack and surrounded the royal court of Zhilugu, the Khan of the Western Liao Dynasty. Zhilugu had no choice but to surrender.

Qubilai officially became the Khan of Western Liao, and together with the Western Karakhanid Khanate and the Khwarezmian Empire, made a plan to divide the Central Asian region among the three countries.

However, the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, the original vassal state of Western Liao, refused to submit.

Qubilai sent the Western Liao army to attack the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, burning pastures, looting cattle, sheep and women, and killing all males in sight, turning all areas outside the capital of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate into a living hell.

Two years later, the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate finally could not hold on and chose to surrender.

Quchuli moved the capital of Western Liao to Kashgar.

This move greatly infuriated Khwarezm.

Because the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, like Khwarezm, believed in Islam, while Qubilai and the Western Liao army under his command believed in Buddhism.

Therefore, all previous agreements were invalidated.

Not only did Khwarezm become hostile to the Western Liao Dynasty, but it also destroyed the Western Karakhanid Khanate.

Therefore, the west of Mongolia is Western Liao, and the west of Western Liao is the once powerful Khwarezm.

……

June 1215, AD.

The early morning sun penetrated the mist and shone on the noble city of Khalkha, giving the entire city a golden glow.

Zhao Shuo woke up from his deep sleep, and beside him was Hua Zheng, naked and with a slightly bulging belly. After her pregnancy, Hua Zheng had become even fairer and more charming due to her good nutrition.

Zhao Shuo was also naked. His strong and muscular body was covered with clear muscle lines. More than ten years of fighting had left many scars on his strong body, including knife wounds, arrow wounds,

Stab wounds. These wounds added a wildness and charm to his muscular body. Strangely enough, he didn't feel any discomfort or hidden injuries. Perhaps this body was gifted.

Zhao Shuo gently pulled out his arm and prepared to put on his clothes.

However, pregnant women are very sensitive and Hua Zheng was still woken up.

The couple looked at each other and smiled.

Then Zhao Shuo lowered his head and kissed Hua Zheng on the cheek, and started to touch her.

When the couple got up and washed up, the mist outside had been completely dispelled by the sun, and the maids had already prepared breakfast.

Little Zhao He was at a sleepy age, so there was no need to worry about him right now. The other children all had breakfast with their mothers. Zhao Shuo often went out on patrol at noon and didn't come home for lunch, so he followed the same schedule as breakfast. Dinner was the only meal the Zhao family ate together.

"Prince Consort, Princess, please enjoy."

The four Jurchen maids bowed and retreated.

Next to a plate of sliced ​​roast lamb legs was a dish of wild leek sauce, a plate of freshly peeled milk skin, a bowl of stewed beef, two pancakes, and a pot of steaming milk tea. This was Hua Zheng and Zhao Shuo's breakfast today.

After breakfast, Zhao Shuo rode on Jin Shanshan, called Gerile, and came to the workshop under the escort of thirty black riders.

There was no prior notice for this inspection. Sun Wei only came out hurriedly to greet them when they were twenty meters away from his office.

"Sun Wei pays his respects to the Prince Consort!" Sun Wei was obviously a little nervous.

"Don't be nervous. The inspection we gave you in advance was to see what your best performance would be. I came to see you on short notice to see how you normally behave. Even if there are some minor mistakes, I won't blame you."

"Yes, yes, yes. But I wonder which workshop would you like to visit, Prince Consort? Or would you like to visit all of them?"

"We're mainly looking at the ironworks. Lead the way."

"Yes." Sun Wei introduced as he walked. "Today, a total of 140,000 spears, broadswords, and single-sided heavy axes made of Wootz steel have been produced. The Prince Consort has distributed 100,000 of them. We still have 40,000 in stock. Therefore, we have recently reduced production. Most of the craftsmen in the ironworks are producing armor, bows and crossbows, and cotton armor."

"Well, how many cotton armors are being produced now?"

"There are now over 5,300 of them, all made according to the pattern ordered by the Prince Consort."

When Zhao Shuo wanted to produce cotton armor, he did it in one go, completely following the style of the mature cotton armor of the Qing Dynasty.

First wet the picked cotton and pat it repeatedly to make very thin cotton sheets.

Then, multiple such cotton sheets were stitched together to form a very thick and solid cotton cloth. Iron armor was placed between the two layers of cotton cloth, and it was fixed inside and outside with copper nails.

This kind of cotton armor is not only very effective in defending against firearms, but also has a strong cold-proof effect.

However, now is not the time for the cotton armor to show its power. What Zhao Shuo is most concerned about are the swords and guns made of Wootz steel.

In fact, the steelmaking routes of Wootz steel and China are completely different.

During this era, China mainly used two methods to make steel. One method was the pouring method, which involved mixing wrought iron and pig iron together for smelting. The advantage of this method was that it produced a high output of steel, but the disadvantage was that the quality was relatively average.

The other is the hundred-fold steelmaking method, which involves repeatedly heating and hammering pig iron to gradually remove impurities and improve the quality of the steel.

Wootz steel is produced using the crucible steelmaking process. Specific auxiliary materials and iron ore are first combined in a crucible to create crude steel. Pig iron, wrought iron, and some carbon-rich materials are then added and further smelted to create Wootz steel.

Moreover, the ore required for Wootz steel is produced in Tianzhu, which Zhao Shuo does not have.

However, the essence of steel is to adjust the carbon content and add some other materials to adjust the properties of the steel.

Zhao Shuo knew this basic principle.

He gave Harish some detailed instructions, and with the help of the excellent blacksmiths from Zhongdu, Harish finally produced wootz steel that met the requirements a year and a half ago. After another year and a half of production, all the swords and guns under Zhao Shuo's command were made of wootz steel.

The standard Damascus sword is made entirely of Wootz steel.

However, the weapons Zhao Shuo needed were heavy weapons that could penetrate armor on the battlefield. There was no need to use Wootz steel for all of them. Only the blades, spear heads and axe blades were made of Wootz steel.

The reason Zhao Shuo came this time was to check the quality of these Wootz steel weapons and whether they were stable.

"It's this knife, this spear, and this axe. Geerle, you try it out."

In the iron workshop, there were more than a hundred newly made Wootz steel swords, guns and heavy axes. Zhao Shuo randomly picked up a long sword, a heavy iron gun and a single-sided heavy axe.

Zhao Shuo is too strong, so I'm afraid he won't be able to test out the true effects of these weapons.

So, he chose Gerile.

Gerile's martial arts has always been his biggest weakness, and he is only slightly better than the most ordinary grassland warrior.

Swish!
Geerle took out a pre-prepared scarf and threw it into the air, then raised his Damascus heavy knife and swung it at the scarf. The scarf, floating in the air and almost weightless, was cut in half by Geerle's swing.

This is the most basic and pretentious application of the Damascus knife.

The Chinese people often use the phrase "it can cut hair and chop iron like mud" to describe a precious sword.

Cutting off the almost weightless scarf floating in the air is several times more difficult than "breaking hair with a blow".

Ten years ago, Saladin used this trick when negotiating with the Crusaders, which greatly surprised Richard and his accompanying knights, who had seen countless famous swords in their lives.

From that day on, a legend spread across Europe: There was an unknown metal material in the East, and the swords forged from it were extremely sharp, which aroused the knights' endless desire for such swords.

And now, the Damascus sword has become the standard equipment in Zhao Shuo's army.

Then, there was the heavy iron spear.

In terms of strength alone, Gerile may be slightly inferior to ordinary grassland warriors, and he mainly wins by relying on skills learned and practiced hard.

but--

"kill!"

With a loud shout from Gerile, the spear equipped with Wootz steel directly broke a Xixia wart armor!
"cut!"

Geerle held his breath, swung the single-edged axe, and chopped through three layers of ordinary iron armor!
"Good gun! Good axe!"

Although he had seen the power of these weapons before, this test still made Geerle exclaim in admiration.

Zhao Shuo was also very satisfied with this impromptu spot check and said, "Tang Taizong Li Shimin once said that he conquered the world by relying on strong armor and powerful weapons. Now, whether our armor is the strongest in the world is hard to say.

However, when it comes to the word "weaponry," we are truly the best in the world. Sun Wei, you've done a great job. Not only have you created such a sharp instrument, but you've also been diligent and conscientious, maintaining consistent quality.

Sun Wei's face flushed crimson as he bowed respectfully, saying, "I am willing to die for your Majesty!"

Zhao Shuo then visited other workshops and checked the quality of other goods. Non-military products were bound to have some minor flaws, so Zhao Shuo gently urged Sun Wei to focus on improving quality and not tarnish his brand.

After a simple lunch, Zhao Shuo rode at full speed to the horse farm.

The number of horses in Fuzhou, Changzhou, and Huanzhou has now reached 160,000. However, newborn foals must be at least three years old before they can be used in service, so there is actually nothing to see.

Today, Zhao Shuo went to the Hulunbuir grassland horse farm, which is seventy miles away from the city of Kharkha.

It is presided over by Zhang Yong, who is good at matching horses.

Now, two hundred Arabian mares have bred four hundred foals, bringing the total number of Arabian horses under Zhao Shuo's command to eight hundred.

Those two hundred Arabian stallions became pure stallions.

Zhang Yong selected the best Mongolian horses, Liaodong horses, Dayuan horses and Xixia horses and hybridized them with them.

This inspection had been notified in advance, and Zhang Yong had been waiting at the entrance of the horse farm with thirty horses for a long time.

"My dear Prince Consort, look."

Zhang Yong pointed at the thirty horses and said, "They're only two years old, but they're already over four feet tall. By the time they're three, they should be even taller. Furthermore, these horses' endurance, tolerance for roughage, and resistance to cold weather are far superior to those of the precious Arabian horses, and are slowly approaching the level of our Mongolian horses."

Zhao Shuo nodded slightly and said, "Well, they are taller than ordinary Mongolian horses now. They are indeed tall and majestic. How about their speed?"

"It's only two years old now, so it's hard to say how fast it will be when it grows up. But right now, it's at least 20% faster than a Mongolian horse of the same age."

"Is it a breed?"

Zhang Yong said, "It's a breed. Initially, we selected a hundred mares of different breeds and crossed them with Arabian horses. Some were taller than this horse, and some were faster than this one, but after weighing all the factors, we decided that this horse was the most suitable for height, stability, and speed. By the age of two, thirty of them were over four feet tall."

Zhao Shuo asked, "What breed is that mare?"

"It's one of our best Mongolian war horses, the Baicha Iron-hoofed Horse. Look at their hooves, aren't they similar to the Baicha Iron-hoofed Horse?"

"What? Their mother is Baicha Iron-hoofed Horse? Even their hooves are similar?"

When Zhao Shuo heard the news, he was surprised and happy.

Of course he knew that the Baicha Iron-hoofed Horse was one of the best war horses in Mongolia.

This horse originates from a place called Baichagou, hence the "Bai Cha" in its name. The "Iron Hoof" refers to the horse's hooves, which are hard and resistant to cracks, allowing it to tread easily on rocky and rugged mountain roads.

Moreover, this horse is incredibly fast, just as the saying goes, "A thousand miles of gusts of wind and ten thousand miles of clouds cannot catch up with a horse with iron hooves."

Not to mention this era, even in the Qing Dynasty five hundred years later, the Baicha Iron-hoofed Horse was one of the best war horses.

This thing is recorded in history books.

The "Draft History of Qing Dynasty: Military History" records: "The iron-hoofed horse is indeed a sharp weapon of the country. The power of one horse is equivalent to that of three soldiers."

At that time, Kangxi personally led the second expedition against Galdan and urgently dispatched 300 iron-hoofed horses as the vanguard, but 287 horses were actually received.

They charged the basalt mountains with a slope of nearly 40 degrees, carrying their knights. Although their horses were not shod, only seven horses suffered serious hoof injuries. In contrast, even with horseshoes, the hoof damage rate for ordinary cavalry was over 40%.

Afterwards, Kangxi was overjoyed and announced that the Baicha Iron-hoofed Horse was prohibited from being hybridized with foreign blood. Every year, one hundred foals were selected to enter the official horse farm, and anyone who stole the Iron-hoofed Horse would be executed immediately.

Unexpectedly, the hybrid effect of the Baicha Iron-hoofed Horse and the Arabian Horse is so good.

Thirty percent of the descendants not only basically retained the characteristics of the "Iron Hoof", but also were so strong.

Coupled with its ability to tolerate roughage and cold, it is simply the most suitable warhorse for him.

Moreover, where is this?
Just the first generation of hybrids.

Zhang Yong used this as a model and selected the best from the best, and who knows what kind of excellent war horses he could breed.

Just imagine what the scene would be like if hundreds of thousands of super war horses carrying Eastern knights armed to the teeth rushed into Europe?
The Pope's tiara fell to the dust,

Burgundy wine ferments with the blood of the Rhine.
The Teutonic Knights' oath became a joke.
The monastery's collection of books turned into a raging fire!

(End of this chapter)