The Turks were a collection of military slave-owner regimes, and the Ashina clan could be said to be the largest slave masters on the grassland.
The remaining seventeen tribes of the grassland were slave-owning tribes that were slightly inferior.
This was the entire organizational structure of the Turks.
Therefore, for He Yijike and Mole, Fang Er's conditions were nothing more than the loss of some slaves.
Although the Turks often harassed and plundered the Great Tang, those small actions were merely collective activities where various tribes pooled their forces.
Apart from this, major wars had not occurred more than a few times since the founding of the Great Tang.
And this time, the two tribes had fled without gaining anything.
He Yijike and Mole had no objections to clearing their ranks, but they were troubled by how to find the soldiers who had killed the Tang people.
"Please guide us, Marquis. I have 13,000 troops under my command. How can we find those soldiers who owe debts in the fastest way?"
Mole nodded beside him.
The two tribes combined had over 20,000 troops, and if they had to recall them one by one, it would be too slow.
Fang Er was very direct: "Offer rewards and let your subordinate leaders report each other."
"Such a simple method, and you still need this Marquis to teach you? You deserve to not be Khans of the grassland!"
"Go quickly, this Marquis will wait here. I will give you one day!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Marquis, you are correct. We will go back and find those who owe blood debts!"
After the two bowed their heads to the ground, they got up and left.
Returning to their own troops, they followed Fang Er's method and had the leaders report and expose each other.
For a time, the two tribes became chaotic.
Biting and snarling at each other, it was quite lively.
In the end, the two tribes combined found nearly ten thousand people, which was a direct halving.
He Yijike and Mole were not foolish; they knew that some people were falsely accusing others for the sake of rewards.
However, Fang Er had made it clear: if any omissions were found, the entire tribes would be exterminated!
Therefore, the two were willing to kill a thousand by mistake rather than let one go!
"Heh heh heh, Marquis, we followed your instructions and found everyone."
The two came before the Tianhuo Army again and reported their achievements to Fang Er with flattery.
"Good!"
"Since that is the case, from today onwards, your two divisions will be merged into one. This Marquis will even rename you."
"Let's call it the Tian Kui tribe, and you two will be the co-leaders of the Tian Kui tribe. What do you say?"
Fang Er's eyes rolled. Since he had accepted them, he had to find a way to assimilate them slowly, and changing their names was the first step.
"Marquis, does the name Tian Kui have a special meaning?"
Mole asked with a confused expression.
"Tian Kui is the head of the thirty-six Heavenly Spirits in Taoism!"
They had heard of the Central Plains Taoism, but they didn't understand what Heavenly Spirits were. However, they clearly understood "the head of the thirty-six."
"Head means boss!"
"Good! Good! Good! Whatever Marquis says goes."
"Mole of the Great Tang grassland Tian Kui tribe pays respects to the Marquis!"
"He Yijike of the Great Tang grassland Tian Kui tribe pays respects to the Marquis!"
The two took two steps back and knelt down solemnly, kowtowing to Fang Er.
"Hahahaha!"
Fang Er laughed with satisfaction and gestured to the pillar beside him to help them up.
Then, he took out a pot of "Mendunlu" and threw it to them.
"This is my见面礼 (meet-the-gift) for you. Taste it."
Zhuzi took it first and handed it to the two after opening the lid.
Mole stared at the gleaming stainless steel pot and its exquisite leather cover, completely stunned.
"Such a precious item was bestowed upon me?"
He took the wine pot with trembling hands, a look of anticipation on his face as he brought it to his nose to sniff.
The rich aroma of wine went straight to his head: "Thank you, Marquis, for the gift!"
After bowing to Fang Er to express his gratitude, he tried a small sip.
Hiss~~~ Ah!
The liquor, over sixty percent alcohol, felt like a ball of fire from his mouth to his stomach.
Just one sip made him feel warm all over.
"Brother, quickly try it. The wine bestowed by the Marquis is simply heavenly nectar."
After taking another sip, Mole handed the wine pot to He Yijike beside him.
Fang Er sat on a stool, smoking, and was amused by their unsophisticated demeanor. He took out two scrolls of sheepskin from his怀里 (bosom) and threw them to Zhuzi.
"Honestly guard the grassland for the Great Tang. Such good things will be more than you can imagine in the future."
"These are the documents of your two tribes' allegiance. Come over and press your fingerprints."
Hearing this, the two quickly put away the wine pot.
They looked at the words on the sheepskin that Zhuzi had spread out before them, their faces full of embarrassment.
"Marquis, I cannot read."
Mole's old face turned red.
"Slap!"
He Yijike slapped him on the head: "The Marquis even bestowed such good wine, would he still deceive us? Press it!"
After saying that, he turned to Zhuzi and said sheepishly, "General, may I borrow your dagger?"
Zhuzi handed over the dagger at his waist and watched him warily.
He Yijike directly drew the knife from its sheath and cut his right hand.
Blood flowed out, and he smeared the blood over his palm before pressing it onto the allegiance document.
When he withdrew his hand, a clear bloody handprint was left on it.
Fang Er looked at the ink pad he had just taken out, feeling speechless.
"Forget it, I'll keep it. He casually put the ink pad back into his pocket."
After Mole followed He Yijike's example, cut his palm, and pressed his handprint on another allegiance document, Fang Er took out a token and threw it over.
The token was made by Fang Er from a steel ingot taken from his space the previous night, all handcrafted.
The palm-sized token was engraved with "Great Tang Tian Kui" on the front and a wolf's head carved on the back.
"This is a token of trust. If your tribe is in trouble, all you need to do is have someone hold this and go to the Great Tang for help!"
Holding the heavy token, the two felt as if they had swallowed a pill of reassurance and kept thanking him.
"Thank you, Marquis, thank you, Marquis!"
"Alright, it's getting late. Stay for lunch today, and after you've dealt with those people this afternoon, you'll follow this Marquis's army to Qikou tomorrow!"
Fang Er waved at them, then turned to instruct Liu Meng to prepare lunch.
ps: Fourth update.