Watching Li Chengyi and his men leave, Wang Decheng knew that the last bit of strength to protect him was gone. If he wanted to return to the Tang army camp, it would probably take half a day. Compared to others, he was still lucky.
"Sir, General Li has gone far away..."
One of his subordinates whispered a reminder that when Wang Decheng left the mainland, his parents did not look at him like this.
Wang Decheng moved his body somewhat awkwardly. In such a frontier area outside the Great Wall, the Tang army meant that he could settle down here. When he saw the 150 guards around him, he felt a little relieved. However, in such a large area, relying on only 150 guards was not enough.
"Come here, four of you. Which tribe are you from?"
After all, Wang Decheng was selected through the imperial examination. What should he do now? Since these four people in the labor camp have been working for a long time and have performed well, it means that they have accepted some of the things in the Tang Dynasty. What's more, these people's sons are still studying near the military camp. They will definitely not do anything that is detrimental to Wang Decheng.
These four people are the only young and middle-aged people among all the people. Wherever Wang Decheng looks, most of them are over 45 years old, and some are under 15 years old, or there are some women in their 30s. There are no young people at all. It can be seen how much damage this war has caused to these tribes.
"The first thing I will do upon taking office is that from now on, the four of you will become the heads of your respective tribes. Regardless of your previous identities or what you have done, I will issue you the documents of appointment."
After Wang Decheng finished speaking, everyone, including the four people close to the Tang Dynasty, had an expression of astonishment on their faces. You, the lord, have not done any investigation at all, and now you immediately appoint four tribal leaders. This is a bit too much.
"Wait a minute, sir. These people don't hold high status in our tribe. Their ancestors even fed horses. If we let them serve as tribal leaders, I'm afraid the others won't be willing to do so. This will cause instability in the tribe."
As the ancestor of the surrounding tribes, old man Gebangta naturally had to stand up and speak. In fact, these surrounding tribes originated from the same ancestor. Although they attacked each other in normal times, if they were to talk about their origins, old man Gebangta was the one with the highest seniority, so his words carried more weight.
"It doesn't matter if the tribe is unstable. Where should we start governing the unstable area? This is no longer your original administrative area. From the moment I arrived here, this is Ganyun County in the Anxi Province of the Tang Empire. I am the magistrate of Ganyun County. Therefore, for all matters in this area, I only need to consult the general in charge above, and you are responsible for carrying them out. If anyone is unwilling, please report to me at any time and have a good talk with him."
Wang Decheng said angrily, "You guys pushed back on the first order. What on earth do you guys want to do? Why don't you open your eyes and look at your current situation?"
"But, but, this is against the rules..."
"You are right, sir. We do not oppose the rule of the Tang Dynasty, but each of our tribes has its own way of inheritance. Now the leaders of the new tribes have been selected, and their ancestors are all the original leaders..."
Many people also stood up to oppose it. These people all had certain abilities in the tribe. If they followed Wang Decheng's distribution method, they would probably have to hand over their power. Not to mention enjoying some privileges in the future, they would probably have to herd sheep honestly under the leadership of the new tribal chief.
These four people who came out of the labor camp were once at the bottom of the entire tribe. Not to mention getting close to the position of the tribal leader, even if they got close to the tribal leader's tent, they might be beaten up by others. Now, without any investigation, they are promoted to tribal leaders. Then, won't those who bullied them in the past be in trouble?
"Shut up, everyone! Do you still have a say here? Winter is coming soon. As far as I know, you don't even have 1/3 of your food. If you want your men to survive, you must do as I say. The court has distributed a batch of old rations to you, but the quantity is small. If anyone disobeys my orders, I guarantee that your tribe will not get a single grain of food. If you can do as I say, I guarantee that everyone will receive food for the winter."
In addition to the 150 guards behind them, the Tang Dynasty court also provided them with a lot of food. The price of these foods was very high after being transported here, but in order to enable local officials to grasp the main power in the local area, the Tang Dynasty court believed that this must be done.
Relying solely on swords, guns, sticks and clubs may not necessarily make the local area governed very well, but if you give a slap in the face and then give a sweet date in return, as long as you can manage this matter well, you don't have to worry about suffering losses in the future.
Under Wang Decheng's carrot and stick policy, the opposing tribal leaders were speechless. When the Tang army was assigned a mission some time ago, the tribes almost took out all their surplus food. If they were unwilling now, I'm afraid many people would freeze to death in the winter.
For nomadic people, winter is the most difficult time to survive a snowstorm, when the snow may be more than half a meter thick. If they have built sheep pens and other things in advance, then they don’t have to worry about this. But if not, then the livestock living in the open air may not survive, and then they will just have to starve!
Livestock are the foundation of their survival. Now the Tang Dynasty court has taken away a lot of them, so their survival this winter has been greatly reduced. Now when they heard that they could be given a batch of food, these people's eyes became red with joy. So no matter what Wang Decheng said, even if those in power disagreed, I am afraid that the people at the bottom would agree. Those people only want to survive and have nothing else to ask for.
