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

Chapter 18: Making Qing Bows and Raising Good Horses

The Mongolian grasslands are now lacking everything.

After more than two hundred years of the Dark Ages, productivity on the grasslands had dropped to an extremely low level.

There was a shortage of gold, silver, cloth, ironware, and craftsmen...

The fact that a sable fur coat that Borte brought as a dowry became a generous gift from Temujin to Wang Han shows how scarce the people of the grassland were.

The golden armor Zhao Shuo received when he was ten years old is still a symbol of his status as a royal consort, which is enough to show how poor the new Mongolian state was financially.

Of course, no matter how low productivity is, Zhao Shuo can still do something.

I can’t even think about iron armor, but I can at least make some iron arrowheads, right?

We can always make some strong bows, right?

Thanks to Hua Zheng, among the five hundred households that Temujin gave as dowry, there were two blacksmiths and five bow makers.

Zhao Shuo taught these bow makers the methods of making Qing Dynasty war bows that he remembered, and asked the blacksmiths to make heavy arrowheads suitable for Qing Dynasty bows.

Why make Qing bows?

Because, in this era, any grassland man could be considered an excellent light cavalryman. However, heavy cavalrymen who could fight hard battles and make the final decision on the battlefield were very scarce for the Mongols today.

Five hundred of the bravest warriors have been selected. Shouldn't they be used to form the most scarce heavy cavalry in Mongolia?

In real history, the Mongols only began to develop heavy cavalry after they acquired a large amount of resources and craftsmen from the Jin Dynasty and Khwarezm. By the time the Mongol Empire was fully victorious, the proportion of heavy cavalry in the Mongol headquarters army reached nearly 40%.

Although Zhao Shuo is not good at making heavy armor now, he can definitely make a heavy bow first.

Qing Dynasty war bows were characterized by their large size, large bow tips, and high draw weight. They prioritized lethality over range and rate of fire. When engaging the enemy, the Qing army often employed close combat tactics, utilizing exceptionally skilled archery and the sheer force of their heavy bows to annihilate any remaining resistance.

And most importantly, the manufacturing threshold for Qing bows is not particularly high.

The level of Zhao Shuo's craftsmen is just enough to replicate it.

War horses also have a lot of room for improvement.

From the perspective of later generations, Mongolian horses can be regarded as inferior horses. They are short, run slowly, and have poor ability to jump over obstacles.

However, this kind of warhorse is often very tolerant and can feed on any grass or even endure long periods of hunger, making it very suitable for long-distance raids.

Based on this advantage alone, the Mongolian horse can be called the best war horse of this era.

Originally, the people of the grasslands certainly had the awareness of preserving excellent war horses and breeding high-quality war horses.

However, during the two hundred years of the Dark Ages, the herdsmen lived in fear of their own future. Even if they had this awareness, it was difficult to cultivate high-quality war horses on a large scale.

Zhao Shuo gathered all the horse breeders in his territory, selected tall and strong horses, and established a horse farm. On one hand, he fed concentrated feed during the horses' growth period to ensure adequate nutrition and cultivate tall and powerful war horses. On the other hand, he ensured that the best horses produced as many offspring as possible.

With such a virtuous cycle, Zhao Shuo will surely be able to obtain excellent horses continuously in the future.

Of course, whether it was the 500 standing troops, or the craftsmen and horse herders, they could all be considered full-time employees. With fewer than 5,000 households, supporting so many full-time employees was a heavy burden. It wasn't long before Zhao Shuo would have to resort to using his own savings.

"Relying solely on herding is definitely not enough. We still have to find a way to make money! Got it!"

As a time traveler, how could you possibly lack ways to make money?
It’s just that in the past, both the Mongols and Zhao Shuo himself faced tremendous pressure to survive and had no time to care about other things.

Now that the security issue had been basically resolved, Zhao Shuo was ready to start developing the economy. Developing the economy had many benefits, not only could he obtain much-needed resources, but it could also greatly increase the loyalty of his subjects.

And most importantly, it can increase Mongolia's voice in advocating the construction of a series of forces.

Indeed, throughout history, the Mongols left thousands of miles of barren land wherever they went. However, in the early days of Temujin's unification of Mongolia, he attached great importance to construction.

The trigger for the war between the Mongols and Khwarezm was the Khwarezmian looting of Mongol caravans. Later, as the Mongols became increasingly victorious and their destruction far outweighed their construction, they began to prioritize killing and looting over construction.

Now, Zhao Shuo wants to make the Mongols more deeply aware of the power of construction.

Just when Zhao Shuo was studying how to improve the productivity of the Mongols, Genghis Khan's messenger suddenly arrived, bringing Temujin's latest decree.

"Prince Consort Zhao Shuo, the Khan wants you to go to the royal court immediately. There is something important to discuss!"

What happened?
Zhao Shuo made some preparations and rushed towards Genghis Khan's court with twenty attendants.

Now Temujin's royal court is no longer in Zhezheyundu Mountain, but has moved to the Temeiyan grassland.

Three days later in the morning, Zhao Shuo and others arrived at their destination.

In Temujin's golden tent, besides Temujin himself, there was also an old man who looked to be about sixty years old, with a strong body, eyes like an eagle, and long eyebrows like snow.

Zhao Shuo recognized this old man. He was the old Mongolian minister Hu Nan, who was known as the "Crow Werewolf".

Long before Temujin became Khan, Hunan took his followers and left Jamukha and surrendered to Temujin.

He was not only brave and good at fighting, but also resourceful and good at handling internal affairs. Temujin praised him as "a wolf in the night and a crow in the day."

The bear-wolf in the dark refers to Hu Nan, who is good at night combat and is sharp and brave.

The crows during the day praised Hu Nan for his ability to gather his followers and soothe people's hearts.

Crows are very smart and good at collecting various items.

Now that Hu Nan is old, he rarely participates in battles and has always served as a prime minister in front of Temujin.

For all matters of military and national importance, Temujin would first work out a general plan with Hunnan and then discuss it with everyone else.

"Ashuo, the Khan of the Wanggu tribe, Alawusi, has arrived and wants to bring his entire clan under the wing of the Mongols."

As soon as Zhao Shuo sat down, Temujin told him this earth-shattering news.

It is indeed earth-shattering.

First, the Wanggu tribe had about 5,000 households, a considerable force on the grasslands. If the entire Wanggu tribe surrendered, it would greatly enhance Mongolia's strength.

Second, the Wanggu tribe had a master, and they were loyal to the Jin Dynasty!
Unlike the Mongolian and Kereyid tribes, which were only nominally enfeoffed by the Jin Dynasty, the Wanggu tribe was a true Jin Dynasty army.

The so-called Yi Army was the army of the Jin Dynasty composed of tribes from the northern border areas.

In terms of equipment, the Wanggu tribe is much stronger than the Mongolian army.

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Asking for a monthly ticket~
(End of this chapter)