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

Chapter 83: Fighting North, Seeing the Aurora

"Listen clearly!"

"I am willing to die for your majesty!"

"Prince Consort, choose me! Choose me! I'm the best fighter in the tribe!"

"Choose me! I'm the fastest climber! Even the most agile monkey in the jungle can't climb faster than me!"

"I'm the best at mixing poisons with herbs from the mountains. I make all the poison arrows in the tribe!"

……

On the surface, Zhao Shuo's pension might not seem high, but considering the productivity of the jungle dwellers, the risks of disease, plague, hunting, and the harsh climate, which one wouldn't kill or cripple them?
The average life expectancy in the mountain village definitely does not reach forty years.

Struggling in the mountains, dying is just dying. Dying for Zhao Shuo would earn him ten years of pensions.

The warriors of the Tumati people expressed their opinions one after another and strongly demanded to join Zhao Shuo's army.

Zhao Shuo then ordered Tarhun to select the eighty most outstanding people from among them.

Of course, we can't trust Tarhun completely. Zhao Shuo plans to test them to see their true strength.

When Temujin heard about this, he was also very interested and came to watch with nobles such as Huoerchi, Hunan, Jochi, and Huduha.

"This is it."

The whip in Zhao Shuo's hand pointed to a steep cliff in the distance that he had chosen in advance.

This is a cliff that seems to have been washed out by a mountain torrent. It is about seventy or eighty feet high. There is no grass or trees on it, only moss that almost covers the entire cliff and weathered honeycomb-shaped holes. A red flag is erected on the top of the cliff.

Zhao Shuo said, "If you can reach the top of the cliff and touch the red flag within two quarters of an hour, you will pass."

"Isn't that too easy? They're the most powerful warriors of the Tumati people," Tarhun said. "Why not tie twenty strings of copper bells to the mountain? Anyone who touches the bells will fail even if they reach the top."

"That's fine. Go and set it up!"

"Yes."

Soon, Tarhun's fiery red figure nimbly darted across the cliffs, tying twenty strings of copper bells with horsetails to the cracks in the rocks. The thinnest cord was barely thicker than a hair. It seemed like if she took this test, it would be a piece of cake.

So, what about the others?
"set off!"

Following Tarhun's order, the first group of twenty people climbed up the cliff almost at the same time.

They spread out like geckos, climbing in various positions. Some used their fingers to climb directly, some used daggers to stab themselves into the cracks in the cliff, and some expertly used grappling hooks to grab onto the smallest protrusions in front of them for leverage. In three breaths, twenty human-shaped shadows had bloomed on the rock wall.

Chichichi~~
chi chi~~
In less than a quarter of an hour, a young man in his twenties wearing a bearskin suit raised the red flag on the top of the mountain.

Tarhun introduced him, "His name is Chierhan, and he just turned twenty this year. When he was five, his father was surrounded and mauled to death by three blind bears while hunting. Thanks to the help of the tribe, the orphan and his widowed mother barely survived. Now that Chier has been selected for the special forces, his mother can finally live a good life."

"The second person to reach the top of the mountain was called Chaturgen. He was the best hunter in the tribe. He was much better at making poison arrows and setting traps than climbing cliffs."

"The third one is Black Sar. He's good at lurking and tracking, and can imitate the calls of more than a dozen birds and beasts. Now that he's been selected for the special forces, he can finally marry the girl he loves."

……

Tarhun was very familiar with the warriors in the tribe and knew them all like the back of his hand.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the first group of twenty people all reached the top of the mountain, and the bronze bell did not make any sound.

The second, third, and fourth groups followed closely behind, all reaching the top of the mountain within a quarter of an hour.

Three of them accidentally rang the bell. Perhaps it was because they had special abilities in other areas, but were not as good at rock climbing as the others.

But Tarhun did not hesitate to replace three people and succeeded. These Tumati warriors were too terrifying. In terms of their ability to climb rocks and trees, rush through the jungle, and trap and hunt, they were far more outstanding than the special forces of later generations.

Zhao Shuo was very satisfied.

Even Temujin, who was watching from the side, was full of praise, saying, "Excellent! It would be a shame to leave such brave warriors in the mountains and forests, where they would perish at the hands of wild beasts. Joining your spearhead troops is their best destiny. Ah Shuo, give them some money to settle down, and they will return to the army with me in three days."

The people in the mountains and forests are not as good as the people in the grasslands in terms of fighting skills.

Temujin conquered the people in the forest with the intention of stabilizing the rear, and he had no intention of recruiting soldiers from the people in the forest.

Zhao Shuo's formation of this special forces did give him an unexpected surprise.

Huoerchi was moved and said, "Genghis Khan is leaving now and won't stay for many days. I will show my filial respect to you."

Temujin glared at him and said, "Huh, why are you staying here? There are so many important matters in the royal court waiting for me to deal with. If it weren't for you delaying things, I wouldn't have come at all."

"Then...then...after you leave, what should I do for the Great Mongol Empire? It might atone for my sins."

"Just..."

Temujin's reason for enfeoffing Horchi here was actually just to fulfill his previous political promise. He just wanted Horchi to enjoy his wealth and prosperity and not do anything. But then he changed his mind and was afraid that Horchi would get bored and create another mess like the Tarhun.

He was too lazy to think and simply said, "Ashuo, find something for Huoerchi to do, so that he won't cause trouble all day long."

Zhao Shuo thought for a moment and said, "Then Huoerchi, you should continue to lead your people and conquer the north."

"I will have my caravan cooperate with you."

"When we encounter obedient tribes, we will trade with them with fine sheepskins, sweet wine, perfume, soap, and other goods to control and conquer them. If we encounter disobedient tribes, we will kill them all. In short, we will occupy as much land in the north as possible."

Temujin wondered, "The people in the forest are already suffering enough from the cold. What's the point of us wanting land further north? Even my Mongolian ancestors were unwilling to go there."

Zhao Shuo smiled faintly and said, "Every piece of land in the world is useful. In the future, as our Great Mongol Empire grows stronger, we will definitely need a lot of mineral deposits. Perhaps there are abundant mineral deposits in the bitter cold lands to the north. Even if we can't use them, there are still future generations to come."

To the north of Lake Baikal is the vast land of Siberia.

There are rich mineral, natural gas and forest resources there.

There is no powerful force in the Siberian region now. There are only some tribes that are weaker than the Tumati people. As long as Huoerchi pays enough attention, he can fight all the way to the end.

"Alright."

Temujin was indifferent to the matter and said, "Have you heard that, Horchi? Do as Ashu said."

Huoerchi was a little worried and said, "Is there an end to this? The further north we go, the colder it gets. I'm afraid there won't be a single living person for hundreds of miles."

"Yes," Zhao Shuo said, "conquer the north until you reach a place where there is only one day a year, with the first half of the year being daytime and the second half being nighttime. Then you can stop your advance. Oh, and there's a strange bird there with a white belly and a black back. It walks upright on two legs but can't fly. Capture a few of them and you'll have completed your mission."

In modern society, penguins are only found in Antarctica, not in the Arctic.

However, penguins also existed in the Arctic in ancient times. Similar in appearance to Antarctic penguins, they were not the same species, and were referred to by zoologists as "giant penguins." Around the 16th and 17th centuries, these giant penguins were exterminated by European colonists.

Temujin was puzzled as to why Zhao Shuo knew so much, but wasn't this just giving Huoerchi something to do? Perhaps Zhao Shuo had made it up.

He was too lazy to ask further questions and said, "When you catch a few of those strange birds for me, it will be considered as atonement for the sin of the Tarhun incident."

"Yes, yes, yes, I understand." Huoerchi nodded repeatedly.

After arranging for Huoerchi to go to the Arctic to catch penguins and leaving some salt, cloth and ironware for the special forces, Temujin and Zhao Shuo returned to the grassland together.

(End of this chapter)