The Dothraki seemed baffled by numbers greater than ten and the “complicated” management system.
Dany furrowed her brows.
Drogo’s forty thousand screamers had operated in units of *khas*, the smallest collective unit within a *khalasar*, led by a *ko*.
Drogo himself only needed to manage a few dozen *kos*.
In other words, the Dothraki only had three military ranks: Khal, *ko*, and screamer.
In truth, a Khal and a *ko* were practically the same tier, just as a *ko* and a screamer were of the same tier.
A Khal was simply the strongest *ko*, and a *ko* was the strongest warrior.
There were at most two degrees of separation between the three.
The horse people were primitive—so primitive that they had almost achieved true democracy.
But she didn’t want that kind of democracy.
If the Dothraki were a bit more feudal, a Khaleesi’s fate wouldn’t be so miserable.
At the very least, she could have been a queen regent.
Dany’s true purpose in reorganizing the *khalasar* was to establish a strict hierarchy.
With a hierarchy, they could rapidly transition into a centralized feudal society.
Since feudalism had already existed among other nations for thousands of years, they only needed to borrow and adapt it, not invent it.
Simply put, this world possessed the productive forces necessary to support feudalism.
Dany’s minimum requirement for the Dothraki was to establish a “Golden Family” centered around her own bloodline.
Before the rise of Genghis Khan, anyone on the great steppes could call themselves a “Khan”—the equivalent of a horseman’s Khal.
Bloodline didn’t matter; it was based solely on personal valor and military strength.
At that time, the Mongols didn’t even have a proper inheritance system linking bloodlines to surnames.
It was almost exactly like the horse people right now.
But after Genghis Khan unified the northern deserts and established the Mongol Empire, only a Borjigin could be called Khan.
If you weren’t a Borjigin, you had to marry a woman from the Borjigin family, ensuring your sons would still carry the Borjigin bloodline.
These Borjigins shared a resounding and magnificent title: the Golden Family.
Whether she could conquer the world, Dany hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.
But with three dragons in her possession, failing to forge her own Golden Family would be a complete waste of such excellent resources and opportunities.
The currently disorganized Dothraki were practically a god-given foundation for an empire.
The chance to create a Golden Family would only come once.
The original Dany had been a bit naive, or perhaps she had formed an obsession like Murong Fu, constantly dreaming of returning to Westeros to be queen.
For heaven’s sake, she was tens of thousands of miles away from Westeros!
Furthermore, the nobles there were all…
well, their political scheming skills were maxed out, their martial skills were maxed out, their ambition and lust for power were maxed out, their ruthlessness was maxed out, and their loyalty was maxed out—uh, in the negative.
Every single one of them was a backstabbing wretch.
Oh, right, the harsh environment was also maxed out, and every so often, the Others would pop out to destroy the world.
She wouldn’t even want that wretched place if it were handed to her for free.
Therefore, no matter how difficult it was, the reform of the Dothraki could not stop.
“Aggo, what is five tens?” she asked her bloodrider.
Aggo thought for a moment and replied, “Is it fifty?” Dany nodded and asked again, “And what is five fifties added together?” This time it took him much longer.
He grimaced, counting on his fingers for quite a while before answering uncertainly, “Two hundred and fifty?” “You got it right!” Dany spread her hands, encouraging him.
“But didn’t you say there were also captains and commanders?
If you take them out, how many riders are left?” he asked.
“Why would you take them out?
If you are the commander, the other two hundred and forty-nine men are all warriors under your command,” Dany told him.
“But…” Aggo looked conflicted.
“The captain is also the commander’s warrior?
Isn’t a captain a *ko*?
A *ko* serves the Khal, but doesn’t count as…” Aggo was clumsy with his words.
Unable to perfectly express his thoughts, he gestured wildly in his excitement but couldn’t form a complete sentence.
But Dany understood his problem.
It was the same old issue: the horse people were not accustomed to a multi-tiered hierarchy.
“This is a new rule.
Everyone will slowly get used to it.” She could only use her authority to force them to adapt.
Jorah understood Dany’s intentions and offered his advice.
“Khaleesi, do not use unfamiliar terms like squad and battalion.
The horse people have their own ways of dividing their forces.” Squad and battalion were military formations Dany had translated from the Common Tongue into Dothraki.
Jorah recognized them, but it was the first time Jhogo and the others had heard them.
“They do?” Dany looked confused.
“Why didn’t I know about this?
What are they?” “Do you know the words *niru* and *golehu*?” Jorah spoke two Dothraki terms.
“*Niru* means hunting party, and *golehu* means banner.” Dany repeated the words, looking at the knight in confusion.
“These are military formations?” ‘That sounds like the Manchu Qing Dynasty,’ she thought.
‘Coupled with the Dothraki’s braids and savage customs, they are very much like the wild Manchus of the primitive era, just waiting for a Nurhaci to come and reform their military system.’ In truth, when the original author of *A Song of Ice and Fire* wrote the books, he referenced many real-world events, terrains, geographies, and races.
The Dothraki were a mix of the Manchus and the Mongols.
If one day Dany unified the Dothraki, then rode her dragons and led the horsemen to conquer the world, it would truly be the equivalent of bringing a knock-off version of the Great Qing Dynasty to the foreigners of this alternate world.
Jorah smiled and said, “According to horse people traditions, a hunting party is usually a group of ten.
If there are too few people, they can’t handle fierce beasts like lions.
If there are too many, there isn’t enough prey to go around.
Ten is just right.
“Actually, in Westeros, when we nobles go hunting, a large group gathers before entering the woods, but once inside the hunting grounds, everyone splits up.
It’s also usually about ten people to a squad.” “I see,” Dany said thoughtfully.
‘I’m still not grounded enough.
I need to understand the masses more deeply in the future,’ she thought to herself.
“As for the *golehu*…
Khaleesi, you know that every time a *khalasar* moves out, outriders scatter in all directions, right?” Jorah asked.
Dany nodded.
Her *khas* warriors had also served as outriders for Drogo.
It seemed that every *khas* took turns performing this duty.
Outriders had to range as far as a day or two’s ride ahead of the *khalasar*.
It was the most exhausting and dangerous job, and no one could keep doing it for long periods.
“Depending on the size of the *khalasar*, the number of outriders sent out varies.
They are usually grouped into hundreds, and the men in the same group carry the same banner.
“If two *khalasars* meet, they don’t engage immediately.
They roughly judge the other’s strength by the number of their banners, thereby avoiding a pyrrhic victory where the losses outweigh the gains.
“Therefore, as you could see, Drogo’s *khalasar* had many different kinds of banners.
“Similarly, they call a scouting party of a hundred men a *golehu*,” Jorah explained carefully to Dany.
Dany suddenly asked, “Would anyone intentionally use fake banners to deceive the enemy?
For example, having ten men use one banner.
Or bluffing by deliberately sending out more outriders to make the other side think they have more men.” “Uh…” Jorah was stunned.
“That goes against the traditions of the horse people!” “No one would do that,” Aggo and the others chimed in.
Jorah thought about it carefully and said solemnly, “Khaleesi, look at the camp around us.
The traces of life are too obvious.
“Wherever a *khalasar* moves, there are signs of people and livestock living there.
The most obvious are the ashes from the campfires.
Since everyone has to eat, one can roughly estimate the size of your *khalasar* by the number of cooking fires.
“You might be able to deceive the other side with outriders, but when they discover that the number of campfires from your previous camps doesn’t match, the enraged Khal will most likely turn right around, and then…” “Then you surely don’t know that cooking fires can also be faked, right?
For instance, if I have few men, I can deliberately light extra campfires to scare the enemy away.
“Or, for example, if I have a massive army, I can deliberately build fewer fires.
Then, when that angry Khal who thinks he’s been tricked comes chasing after me, I can comfortably ambush him,” Dany said with a strong sense of superiority.
“Uh…” Not only were the almond-shaped eyes of Jhogo and the other simple horsemen wide as saucers, but even Ser Jorah, who prided himself on years of high-class knightly education, stood dumbfounded with his mouth agape.
‘Seven Hells, you can do that?’ Jorah thought.
‘But…
it actually seems theoretically viable.’ Jorah looked at his “innocent” little princess with an odd expression.
Could she be a natural-born military genius?
Still, it felt a bit underhanded, completely contradicting the spirit of chivalry.
‘Alas, it seems that lacking a proper Westerosi noble education from a young age, she has been led astray by cunning merchants,’ he concluded.
“Khaleesi, the Dothraki Sea may be vast, but if you trick the first *khalasar*, the others will soon learn of it,” Kovarro said, finally reacting.
‘There are still plenty of the Thirty-Six Stratagems left.
If I use them all once…
even if the great Dothraki grass sea is boundless, there probably won’t be many *khalasars* left,’ Dany thought.
“Enough,” Dany waved her hand, making the final decision.
“The commander of a ten-man squad will be called a decurion, and the commander of a hundred-man battalion will be a centurion.
For now, we only have centurions.
In the future, when the tribe grows larger, we can have commanders of a thousand, and commanders of ten thousand.
Increasing by multiples of ten like this, you should all be able to remember it clearly, right?” Decurion, centurion, and commander of a thousand—even translated into Dothraki, the terms were clear and straightforward.
Anyone with normal intelligence could understand them.
Aggo held out his two hands and nodded.
“I have ten fingers.
If I count slowly, I should be able to figure it out.” “From now on, all banners will be changed to a unified black dragon flag, representing the black dragon in my arms.
From this day forward, I am not only your Khaleesi, but also your commander of a thousand, temporarily leading a direct centurion squad.” At present, the tribe had over two hundred people.
She naturally couldn’t call herself a centurion, otherwise someone else would hold the same rank as her.
“Yes, my bloodriders and Dragon Guards are all centurions.
There will also be a militia centurion specifically to manage the tribe’s herdsmen.
We have few people right now, so your squads won’t be at full capacity.
You’ll be decurions holding the title of centurion, but let’s get the framework set up first.” The group discussed inside the tent for two or three hours.
Once Dany finalized the system, it was implemented immediately.
First, they separated the military from the civilians.
Males between the ages of fifteen and fifty were classified as screamers, evenly distributed under the five centurions—she herself also commanded one.
Then, they functionally grouped the civilians: horse breeders, cooks, healers, craftsmen…
Just as Dany was reorganizing the registry for the elderly, weak, women, and children, a commotion broke out among the horsemen warriors in the clearing nearby.
A few of them had even drawn their *arakhs*.
Dany hurried over and ordered her direct subordinate screamers to separate the troublemakers.
Riding her silver horse, she looked down at the red-faced, thick-necked Dothraki warriors and asked, “What is going on?” “Khaleesi, I am stronger.
Let me kill that bastard,” one horseman shouted loudly.
The horseman he was pointing his *arakh* at also yelled, “Kill me?
Don’t stop us, I’m going to peel off his face.” Both men were veteran members of Dany’s *khas* and had protected her together for over a year.
Yet, turning on each other at the drop of a hat like this was very Dothraki.
Jorah explained, “They want to duel for the position of decurion, but we only have this handful of people left.
We can’t afford the casualties.” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Otaku_Senpaii Want more chapters?