Way of Overlord

Chapter 680: Commanding

He took two quest at the same time and since then there is no mention of any other quest.From this Aeryon could tell that these two quest, once it is completed would give him hefty rewards if he succeeds

As for the other quest that he must have missed out, he believes that taking a large quest like this is better.

Not to mention that small quest, while it does give small rewards here and there, could lead him taking unnecessary risk.

The system might look like a game system, but the world he is in is not a system

Small quest usually involves him fighting a famous warriors, or personally subjugating a tribe, or hunt some beast of the Steppe.

None of this is hard for him. But there is always the fact that many people in the Steppe wanted him dead.

There is a high chance that the moment he had some alone time in the wild, there would be a band of bandits trying to take his life.

Assassins disguised as bandits.

Of course, with his strength, he is quite confident he could defeat a few dozen men and even more by his lonesome.

But there is no reason to take unnecessary risk.

So, it is better to focus on these two quest.

And of those two quest, one of them is about to be completed so how could he not be happy.

Not only would he be able to get the land, he would also get rewards. Aeryon believe that without his system while he could still achieve some kind of success, it would not have been as fast as he did today.

"But while it is close, there is always a chance for a mistake" he reminded himself as he let the water washes over him.

He did not yet defeat the three tribes, Chagai, Nergui and Ultar but it would not be long now.

"All I need now is some confirmation"

Right now, the quest window is golden. He believes that he could send the quest now and get the rewards.

But he would not.

That would be such a short-sighted move

He had defeated some forces of the west and Chagai, Nergui and Ultar tribe had their places breached and their foundation shaken. But they did not yet crumble.

Out of the three, it was the Ultar that is about to crumble the fastest

It is ironic considering that Ultar tribe is the strongest in offensive among the three tribes.

He and Mayeux had discuss this matter.

They knew that the Ultar tribe is the strongest offensively among the three tribes.

But it is precisely because of that he had sent Mukhulai and Burchu there

And he even gave them temporary title of Noyan

with each one has the power to command ten thousand men, an Honoured Noyan, temporarily holding the power of ten thousand men

If they succeed in this war, the Honoured Noyan would no longer be Honoured and those two would be rewarded ranks and titles and other treasures

If he has enough men, it would not be out of the realm of possibility for Aeryon to award them with the rank of Noyan.

Burchu is still young and he did not have many experience in fighting and commanding so many men.

Mukhulai even though everyone knows he had never lost a battle as a commander; he too had never commanded so many men.

In other words, he had no prove that he is fit to command ten thousand men.

Some people can command small units effectively but when they command ten thousand men, they falter

Because commanding small unit is easy, commanding a large army is hard.

In statecraft it is the same. It is easy to bring order to a small nation but it is harder to bring order to a big country

The bigger it is, he more the people, the slower certain things are.

Small countries could do things more efficiently because while they do not boast as large population and do not boast large territory, their range of action is smaller.

And any impacts of certain policies could easily be tabulated and any mistake could easily be roll back.

Of course, small nation and big nations have their pains and tehri advantage and disadvantage,

Small nations could achieve great governance but since they are small, any threat of a powerful nation could destroy them

The command of men is the same.

Ten thousand men in the Steppe means ten thousand horses.

You must know where to pitches your tent, know how to prevent diseases, know how to settle for logistic and know how to do all of this and at the same time settle dispute between soldiers.

Mukhulai did not have experience and to the eyes of many other talents this might seem like excessive favouritism.

It is like putting someone at work while the description says that the worker must have three years of experience or more in the scope of the job

However, Aeryon also knows that for a commander to gain experience, you must first entrust them with the responsibility

Any employee would not have three years of experience if you could not even start

But Aeryon had seen the talent of these two men and he could tell that they could do it

However, what he could see, is not what others could see.

Aeryon has always emphasizes fairness and merit.

While it is true that he sometimes breaks convention and added ranks and titles to certain people based on his favours, most of the times, those choices he makes is something everyone understand

Belarion for example is given the rank of Noyan the moment Aeryon could muster ten thousand men.

Belarion at that time also have never coadded ten thousand men.

But did anyone object? Did anyone even show any sign of dissent?

None.

Many even supported it and many called it a wise decision.

None of them say he favoured Belarion excessively and none of the elders objected and none of the military men even utter any signs of dissent.

Is it because they feared him and did not say anything?

No, that was not the case at all.

It is because whether they were the men of Brolgadhr or the other generals and colanders of other tribes, they understood the reason

Sometimes, an appointment of a high-ranking general does not always have to adhere to the rules.

Sometimes, it has to adhere to the political concern

Everyone understands why Aeryon choose Belarion.

Aeryon forces at that time was getting bigger and bigger and he needed someone he could trust without doubt to hold certain powers so that he could free his hand to govern

And his other men also wanted a supervisor.

Because these chief understood.

Aeryon forges his rule with both reward and intimidation. Aeryon had killed a tribe before but unlike the other tribes, he did not kill those who surrenders.

One could even say compared to other tribe leader in the Southern Great Steppe, he is benevolent and kind.

Some of his methods if it were used in Yan dynasty would not be given the reputation of being kind.

But compared to the brutal treatment of other tribes Aeryon is like a shining beacon of virtue.

He did not only treat his men well; he also treats those who surrender with grace. He did not hesitate to kill those who disobey but for those who surrenders, he afforded them the best he could and he has the demeanour of ancient heroes and virtuous men.

He also did not kill talented people.

So, his killing....was not a massacre. But there is one crime in the new laws of the Khan that constituted a massacre of the entire clan and tribes

Treason.

Aeryon was very clear on this. Aeryon understood the power of tribalism and its hold upon the clan and the tribe relations

Aeryon could forgive even those who did not surrender and afford warriors who clashed with him with burials and honours such heroes.

He admires people who kept their words, he admired people who would die for their chief and admired people who would die for their tribe.

However, those who surrenders to him and decided to betray...that is a behaviour of rats.

If Aeryon had treated them well, and did not short-change them of anything, then to betray because of interest would be the behaviours of rats. Aeryon was very generous to others and he even said, if he had treated them wrong, if the wrong truly came from him, he would reflect

But reflection is one thing. Punishment is others. Treason could not be encouraged and so the most terrible punishment would be imposed on them.

Aeryon did not kill babies. Even those who he hates, he would not kill baby. There is a certain contradiction to Aeryon

He is ruthless but at times he is excessively kind. But he is also very confident. An insecure man would fear that the descendant of those he killed would seek revenge.

But Aeryon does not fear people seeking revenge against him.

So, he could spare the descendant but this does not mean letting them off the hook. He would either exile them or keep them under surveillance.

Sometimes, there is even a use for these treasonous people descendants. Aeron could even lure other people that have rebellious intention by using these descendants.

However, Aeryon is not worried that the descendants of those who he defeated would try to harm him.

He believes that as long as he holds great military power and great influence in the Steppe, even if that person wanted to rebel, he could not.

Rebellion is not an easy thing to do.

Treason is easy, rebellion is hard.

..