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

Chapter 157 All the lands touched by the sun belong to Mongolia. Let's see what lies at the end of the world!
Zhao Shuo didn't directly reveal what the gift was, only saying that everyone would find out when they saw it. Originally, these gifts were intended to be given to Jochi upon their departure. Now that they were talking about the various gains from the western expedition, they decided to give them to Jochi now, and also let everyone see the good things from afar.

When Zhao Shuo ordered someone to bring the parting gift he had prepared for Jochi, the Mongol nobles present all went to the courtyard to see it. Their eyes practically lit up, and they exclaimed in amazement.

"Go back to the Eternal Heaven! Am I dreaming?! BMWs are usually incredibly rare, how come they're everywhere now?"

"They're all the same variety! Doesn't that mean we can breed them together and increase their numbers?"

"Look at those eyes! Not only does he own a BMW, he's probably quite intelligent too!"

"Your Highness, you've struck gold this time!"

……

The gift Zhao Shuo gave to Jochi was forty-one fine horses!
Forty of the horses were over four feet seven inches tall at the shoulder, their coats were entirely chestnut red without a single stray hair, glossy and shiny, and shone brightly in the sunlight.

The saying "For every inch a horse grows taller, its price increases by a thousand pieces of gold" is somewhat exaggerated, but it is true that for every inch a warhorse's shoulder height increases, its price rises by 50%. Four feet six inches is the tallest warhorse that most people have ever seen in their lifetime.

A warhorse, needing nothing else, only needs to be four feet seven inches tall to be called a precious horse!
Moreover, all forty horses had similar coats, straight noses, broad foreheads, large and protruding eyes, short and sharp ears, elegant necks, and short and sturdy backs, clearly indicating that they came from the same breed.

The appearance of an exceptionally tall and magnificent steed within a particular herd was something these Mongolian nobles, while greatly admired, wasn't particularly remarkable upon closer examination. After all, given their high status and power, acquiring a fine steed wasn't too difficult for them.

But it's incredibly rare for these BMWs to come from the same breed.

That means their tall, majestic steeds can be passed on to their offspring.

Now it's forty horses, but in the future it will be four hundred, four thousand, or even forty thousand!
What did warhorses mean in this era? They were equivalent to tanks in later times.

BMW is like the most advanced tank.

A stockpile capable of mass-producing BMWs is equivalent to an advanced tank production line!
Its significance is truly beyond description.

No wonder these well-traveled Mongolian nobles exclaimed in surprise!
The other horse was a foal.

Batu and Zhao He came together, constantly stroking the back of the foal, looking as if they loved it dearly.

As the noise subsided, Batu raised his head and said to Jochi, "Brother Zhao He has already given me this colt. It's very clever. I named it Ulan. It hasn't even been half an hour, and when I call Ulan, it looks at me as if it understands what I'm saying."

Ulan, translated into Chinese, not only means red, but also symbolizes passion, courage, and perseverance. It is commonly used as a place name or personal name in Mongolia.

It seems that Batu really likes this little pony.

"Is there such a thing?"

Jochi was already very happy to receive these forty fine horses.

Now, he was both surprised and delighted, and looked at Zhao Shuo, saying, "Are all these BMWs so smart?"

Zhao Shuo explained carefully: "This kind of horse is called the Sakrawi horse. It is a precious breed that the Bedouin people of the Arab Peninsula have spent hundreds of years cultivating. I managed to get eighty of them through a merchant named Lamed."

“Why don’t we split it in half, and I’ll give you forty of them. This foal was born to a Sacramento mare six months ago.”

"I can't say for sure whether all forty adult Sakravi horses are as intelligent as this foal. However, these horses are indeed very intelligent, but they have two drawbacks. First, unlike our Mongolian horses, they are not as tolerant of roughage and must eat very lush pastures or concentrated feed, so it is not easy for the population to expand."

"Secondly, warhorses are intelligent and have delicate emotions, so they are not easy to train roughly. As far as I know, their original owners personally trained them from when they were foals to maximize their fighting power."

Jochi waved his hand and said, "These are not advantages at all. The Kipchak Steppe has plenty of fertile pastures, enough for them to breed. Raising them from a young age is no problem either. Let's take those nobles' young sons back and train them first, so they can go to the battlefield together when they grow up."

"Once more of these fine horses have been bred, they can be gradually distributed to the young men of ordinary soldiers. At that time, we can replace the main warhorses of our descendants with 'Saklavi' horses to conquer more lands!"

Zhao Shuo nodded and said, "That's what I think too. The Arabian Peninsula is mostly desert, and it would be a waste to rely on wastelands and oases to raise these Sakrawi horses. We have so many fertile grasslands, and we should do our best to expand the Sakrawi horse population so that we can realize the greatest value of this warhorse."

People in Central Asia and the West during that era called the Arabian Peninsula "Arabia." However, Zhao Shuo found this name too cumbersome. Under his influence, both Mongols and Han Chinese now refer to the peninsula south of Khwarazm as the Arabian Peninsula.

Zhao Shuo continued, "Even if the Arabs sell Saklavima abroad to deal with us, the numbers are nowhere near what we can match. We could drown them!"

These are Zhao Shuo's true feelings.

The reason he gave forty precious Sakrawei horses to Jochi was not only out of brotherly affection, but also because of the Kipchak steppe.

While the Mongolian steppes have many fertile pastures, the Kipchak Steppe receives twice as much rainfall. In terms of both quantity and quality, it certainly can't compare to the Kipchak Steppe. Zhao Shuo simply allocated horses to Jochi and Sakravie to jointly breed these precious warhorses.

This is the advantage of having a large territory.

Today, both the Kipchak Steppe and the Mongolian Steppe are in the hands of the Great Mongolian State.

When it comes to producing explosive warhorses, no force in the world can compare.

"correct."

Jochi suddenly remembered something and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Actually, I also prepared a parting gift for you, Ashoka: two hundred Kipchak horses. Fifty of them are over four feet seven inches tall, and the other one hundred and fifty are only four feet six inches tall."

"Moreover, the Kipchak people raised horses rather roughly, without distinguishing between different breeds, and these Kipchak warhorses were of different breeds. However, like our Mongolian horses, they were hardy and particularly adapted to cold climates."

Zhao Shuo, however, did not think that Jochi's gift was of low value at all, and smiled and said, "Jochi, your gift is just what I wanted."

“I built a horse farm on the Hulunbuir Grassland specifically to breed new warhorse breeds. Your warhorses are of different breeds, so you can use them to breed in that farm and see if you can breed a breed even better than the Sacramento horse!”

Even with the Sacramento horse, Zhao Shuo's horse farm, which breeds new horse breeds, is still extremely useful.

Firstly, it is possible to breed a superior variety compared to the Sacramento.

Secondly, although Sacramento was strong, incredibly fast, and very intelligent, he couldn't be invincible.

To put it bluntly, this type of horse is best suited for warm, dry plains.

In mountain warfare, they are no match for the new horse breed bred by Zhao Shuo using the Baicha Iron-Hoofed Horses. Whether the Sacramento horses, raised in dry, hot regions, will adapt well to the humid, hot climate of southern China is also a major question.

Sacramento horses are not tolerant of roughage and cannot withstand cold, which are also significant drawbacks.

Imagine this: Zhao Shuo's horse farm gathers the finest horses from across the land, crossbreeding them to breed warhorses best suited for various climates and terrains. What a sight it would be if warriors could ride the most adapted warhorses wherever they went!
The two hundred Kipchak warhorses that Jochi unintentionally sent were cold-resistant, hardy, and of various breeds, which was a pleasant surprise for Zhao Shuo.

The other dignitaries also smiled, their eyes filled with anticipation.

The Sacramento population is too small now and needs to be bred as soon as possible, so it's impossible to allocate them to others.

However, as the Sacramento population expands, how could they be left out?

The horse farm that Zhao Shuo mentioned for breeding excellent warhorses filled them with even greater anticipation.

Superior warhorses meant greater fighting power for the Mongol army. Victory meant land, wealth, and beautiful women—what more could they ask for? Just look at the riches reaped from this western expedition!
Ten days later, the Mongol nobles had all arrived, and the Kurultai was officially convened in Genghis Khan's golden tent. Even those who hadn't achieved great merit had still contributed their hard work; these people, who guarded the rear and ensured the western expeditionary force's safety, should also share in the spoils of war.

According to the provisions of the Great Yasa, those qualified to participate in the Kurultai were, in addition to Genghis Khan's relatives, the eighty-eight meritorious officials, plus the leaders of the Ongud tribe, making a total of eighty-nine people.

However, the things remain the same, but the people are no longer the same.

Of the current 88 meritorious servicemen, 17 have either died in battle, passed away due to old age, or were too ill to attend, leaving only 71, who are represented by their sons. The scene was a mix of elderly men in their eighties with white hair and teenagers of 16 or 17 who had just started growing beards, making for a rather uneven group.

But these are the very people who determine everything in this largest empire in history, including the change of the country's supreme ruler.

First, Temujin rewarded those who had not participated in the western expedition.

This includes Temujin's younger brother, Temuge, and the commanders under Temuge's command.

This included Muqali and his commanders. However, Muqali was seriously ill and unable to get out of bed, so this time his son, Bolu, took over the command.

Zhao Shuo also received a share, because his subordinates guarded the three prefectures of Fu, Huan, and Chang, as well as Henan and Hebei. They had worked hard even if they hadn't made any great contributions.

According to the old Mongolian custom, those who participated in the war received 70% of the spoils, with Temujin receiving 30%. This time, Temujin divided 10% of the spoils among Temuge, Muqali, and Zhao Shuo. Each person received one-third, and then they distributed the rest among themselves.

Even just one-third of 10% is remarkable!
Thirteen thousand taels of gold!
Eighty-nine thousand taels of silver!

Two million three hundred and seventy thousand bolts of various kinds of cloth!
One hundred and six boxes of various jewels!

……

The generals on the western expedition, accustomed to mountains of gold and seas of silver, didn't think much of it; they considered it a deserved reward for the soldiers left behind. But those soldiers had never seen so much wealth before.
They knew, of course, that the soldiers on the western expedition had reaped a very rich harvest, with even ordinary soldiers receiving valuables worth five hundred taels of silver.

But I never dreamed that I would gain so much.

Both Temuge, who stayed behind on the grassland, and Bolu, the son of Muqali who had just joined the army, were breathing heavily.

In addition, the gifts presented by each country must also be accounted for.

Temujin took out half and divided it equally among everyone present.

These two people have received another tens of thousands of taels of silver worth of valuables!
The seven princesses of Western Xia were also divided up.

Of course, Temuge and Bolu didn't get any of these seven princesses. Temujin got one, each of his four sons got one, Zhao Shuo got one, and Subutai also got one.

Over the years, Zhao Shuo has acquired several princesses of various kinds, even his subordinate Zhang Mancang has acquired a princess from Khwarazm. Now that Zhao Shuo has acquired a princess from Western Xia, he is completely unmoved.

Temuge and Bolu, however, never received a princess!

So this is how effective conquest is! Not only do you gain vast amounts of land and wealth, but other nations also offer you beautiful princesses as concubines!

"Genghis Khan, on the next expedition, you must make me the vanguard! I will become Genghis Khan and wipe out all enemies!"

No sooner had the rewards been bestowed than Bolu couldn't wait to express his opinion.

"Let me go to war too! Although Genghis Khan has bestowed so much wealth upon me this time, I didn't seize it with my own swords and bows. I feel really uneasy about it!" Temuge followed closely behind, also yearning for conquest and for the thrill of battle.

"I am willing to die for Genghis Khan!"

"I am willing to kill all enemies and wipe out all those who resist for Genghis Khan!"

……

The other Mongol commanders who remained also expressed their opinions.

Temujin smiled broadly and said, "Don't worry, the world is vast, and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to fight in the future! Our Mongol territory will only grow larger and larger. The wealth, land, and even beauties we capture will also increase!"

"One day, the iron hooves of the Mongols will trample across every land from the east where the sun rises to the west where it sets! We will seize the whole world and make it tremble beneath our hooves! We will make our descendants possess the whole world!"

The crowd bowed in unison, saying, "We are willing to follow the Great Khan, from the rising sun in the east to the setting sun, to conquer the entire world!"

It must be said that this westward expedition greatly broadened the horizons of the Mongols.

Previously, when they attacked the Jin Dynasty, it was for two reasons: revenge and the wealth and possessions of the Jin people.

But this westward expedition made them realize that the world is vast, and that there is not only the Jin Kingdom, but also the Song Kingdom in the south.

There, too, are abundant gold and silver treasures, and countless beautiful women.

There is even a more fertile grassland than the Mongolian grasslands, the Kipchak Grassland.

What will we gain if we continue westward?
Now, after Temujin's words, a new ambition rose in their hearts: to seize the entire world and establish a vast empire to rule it! Let all the lands touched by the sun belong to Mongolia!
They all wanted to see what lay at the ends of the earth.
(End of this chapter)