November 3, noon.

The steppes of the northwestern part of the Valstad Empire, the nomadic autonomous region of the Saker falcon and the Golden Horde.

Reich Marshal Ivan Mikhailovich Ivanovsky turned over and dismounted in a swift and elegant posture and walked towards a round felt tent.

In front of the tent sat a man of about fourteen or fifteen years old, and when he saw the handsome face of Yi Wan, the child bowed with joy on his face:

"Your Majesty King Ivan Khan! You're back! ”

The marshal lowered his head, pouted at the boy, and rubbed the boy's short blonde hair vigorously with one large hand:

"Sasha! I haven't seen him for half a year, I haven't seen much of my height, and my ability to pat on the back has increased a lot! Don't put your beard here, I'm just an ugly soldier, not a noble Khan king. ”

The boy looked very unconvinced, and his freckled face turned red:

"I wasn't wrong! Brother Gregory told me!

Her Majesty the Empress has restructured our steppe tribal alliance into the Golden Horde Autonomous Region, with the intention of restoring the ancient system, and as a direct descendant of the royal family of the Golden Horde of the Saker, and also the strongest warrior on the steppe, it is not an exaggeration to call you the King of the Khan! ”

"Hahahaha!" Yi Wanshuai laughed loudly: "Guy, your mouth is quite powerful!" I'm begging you, don't call me King Khan anymore, we coarse people can't afford to use such titles! You can just call me sir. ”

He pinched the boy's fleshy face and asked, "Have all the chiefs of the tribes arrived?" ”

The boy Shasha Ying became very fast, and immediately changed his name: "Everyone is here, they are all waiting for you inside, Lord Ivan!" ”

Yi Wanshuai lifted the curtain of the tent, and the huge felt dome tent was full of people

Dozens of adults dressed in traditional grassland fur costumes sat in a circle, several of them appearing to argue, pointing at each other's noses and scolding each other, one of them agitated, his palm gradually approaching the hilt of the knife on his belt.

The boy Shasha shouted, "Quiet! The patriarch of the Saker tribe, Lord Ivan is back! ”

The air inside the tent seemed to freeze, and the two waves of enemies who were originally ready to make a big move instantly withdrew their hands, and their expressions became relaxed.

The tall man in front of him, dressed in the uniform of a magnificent imperial marshal, was undoubtedly the most powerful person in this tent.

He is a heroic figure in the blood of the steppe khan, leading the steppe lancers in the war, and now, this person is a big red man in front of Empress Valstad, and a famous cavalry marshal in the empire.

The chiefs of the tribes flattered him so much that he almost knelt down and licked his boots.

Yi Wanshuai showed a look of disgust,

He didn't like these oily tribal patriarchs in front of him, in his eyes. These old fellows are good for nothing but drunkenness and bragging, and they can do anything dirty to keep their position as patriarch.

On the contrary, Ivan likes young people or children, especially the kind of stunned young people who like to be brutal, and he likes those who talk less and do more.

Ivan Mikhailovich Ivanovsky did not need a rhetorical politician in his army, he just needed warriors, and this time he came precisely for this.

Yi Wanshuai walked quickly to the center of the tent, coughed lightly, and said:

"I won't talk much nonsense, the reason why I came back this time, you should have known when you received the news that you came here for a meeting, that's right, I have promised His Majesty the Emperor to urgently set up a cavalry army composed entirely of steppe people."

The tribal patriarchs nodded one after another, and Marshal Yi Wanshuai continued:

"This cavalry corps has two cavalry divisions, each with three regiments, a total of six regiments, each regiment under three cavalry squadrons, and a squadron of about 90-110 people,

After all, about 10,000 people need to be recruited, and they are divided into light cavalry and heavy cavalry according to the height and weight of soldiers and horses. ”

An old man with a gray beard raised his hand, stood up and said, "Lord Ivan, our steppe has already sent more than 50,000 soldiers to His Majesty the Emperor's army, please forgive me for questioning, the population of our steppe is not large,

Take my tribe, after the last wave of conscription, the ratio of men and women in the tribe was seriously imbalanced, and now that we are facing a cold winter, we need more male strong laborers, and we really can't take more people......"

Yi Wanshuai glared at the old man, looked at it carefully for a few seconds, and then said slowly: "If I remember correctly, you are the cousin of the patriarch of the Red Goat Tribe, Alexander Makarov?" ”

Lao Rutou said: "That's right, it's a great honor for you to remember me." ”

"Excuse me, why didn't your cousin Vasily come to the meeting as the patriarch?"

"Oh, it's really unfortunate, he was sick two years ago, he had a high fever, and he was weak all over, so I asked my old brother to attend the meeting on his behalf."

At this time, the boy Shasha, who was serving tea and pouring water on the side, shouted: "Lord Ivan! He lied! When I was herding sheep yesterday, I saw Patriarch Vasily cuddling with Aunt Lyudmila! Panting like two big animals, those two people are very energetic, kissing each other to be half old, not like sick! ”

The child's childish voice echoed through the tent, and after a brief silence, a burst of laughter erupted, and the chiefs of the tribes leaned back and forth, and some even coughed out of their dentures with laughter.

The old man, whose lying was exposed, turned red with shame, and he angrily pointed at the boy and scolded: "Fuck! You unlucky boy, get out of here, it's not your turn to talk too much! Then he made a gesture to reach out and hit the boy.

Yi Wanshuai stepped forward, his tall and strong body was like a wall in front of the old man, and he glared at the old man with those cold, murderous eyes:

"What? Mr. Alexander Makarov? The lie has been exposed, and you are still going to beat this honest child? Don't think you can cover it with one hand if you have power!

As long as I, Ivan Mikhailovich, live, my Saker tribe will not condone such a thing!

If you dare to touch this boy, I will send troops to remove your cousin Vasily from the position of tribal chief!" Bringing his scandals to the public, I have always done it! ”

The old man fell to his knees at once, he was so frightened that he almost peed his pants, and even the other people in the tent fell silent, and they knew that these words were also being heard to them.

In this steppe in the northwest of the peninsula, since ancient times, the heirs of the Saker Golden Horde have the right to appoint and dismiss the patriarchs of various tribes at will, and there have even been cases where the patriarch was sent to the imperial capital for trial by Marshal Yi Wanwan for abuse of power, which is by no means alarmist.

After a while, the other patriarch also began to complain, but his tone was much softer: "Lord Ivan, please understand our difficulties, there is a shortage of labor!" I really can't take out so many people! ”