The Dothraki seemed to be completely confused by numbers greater than ten—and by what they considered a "complicated" management system.
Daenerys frowned slightly. Khal Drogo's forty thousand screamers operated in units called khalasar, and within a khalasar, the smallest basic unit was a khas, led by a kos. Drogo himself only needed to manage a dozen or a few dozen kos at most.
In other words, the Dothraki had only three ranks: khal — kos — screamer.In fact, khal and kos were essentially the same level, and kos and screamer were also effectively the same level.
A khal was simply the strongest kos.A kos was simply the strongest warrior.Between the three, there were at most two layers of difference.
The horselords were primitive—so primitive that they had almost achieved true democracy.
But Daenerys did not want this kind of democracy.
If the Dothraki had been a bit more feudal, Khaleesi's fate would not have been so miserable.
At the very least, she could have served as a regent dowager.
The true purpose of Daenerys's reorganization of the khalasar was to impose a hierarchical system. Once hierarchy existed, it could quickly transition into feudal centralization—because feudalism had already appeared among other peoples thousands of years ago. All that was needed was borrowing and adaptation, not innovation.
Simply put, this world already possessed the productive capacity required for feudalism.
Daenerys's minimum requirement for the Dothraki was to establish a "Golden Clan" centered on her bloodline.
Before Genghis Khan appeared, anyone could call themselves a khan on the great grasslands—equivalent to the Dothraki khal. Bloodline didn't matter; only personal strength and power did. At that time, even the Mongols lacked a mature system tying bloodline to surnames.
It was almost identical to the horselords of today.
But after Genghis Khan unified the Mongolian Plateau and founded the Mongol Empire, only those of the Borjigin clan could be khans.
If you weren't Borjigin, you had to marry a woman from the Borjigin clan—your sons would still carry Borjigin blood.
These Borjigin bore a resounding and glorious name: the Golden Clan.
Whether she could conquer the world was something Daenerys hadn't thought that far ahead about.
But possessing three dragons—if she couldn't forge her own Golden Clan, it would truly be a waste of such extraordinary resources and opportunity.
The Dothraki, currently nothing more than loose sand, were practically a heaven-sent imperial foundation.
The chance to create a Golden Clan would come once—and only once.
The original Daenerys had been somewhat naïve, or perhaps like Murong Fu, trapped in obsession—fixated on returning to Westeros to be queen.
By the gods' mercy, Westeros was tens of thousands of kilometers away!
And the nobles there—each and every one of them—Political scheming: maxed out.Martial skill: maxed out.Power and ambition: maxed out.Cruelty: maxed out.Loyalty: maxed out—…negative, every last one of them a pack of white-eyed wolves.
Oh, and the environmental difficulty was also maxed out. Every so often, those damn Others would crawl out to wipe out the world.
That broken land—Daenerys wouldn't want it even if it were given to her for free.
So no matter how difficult it was, Dothraki reform could not stop.
"Ago, what's five tens?" she asked her bloodrider.
Ago thought for a while and answered, "Is it fifty?"
Daenerys nodded, then asked again, "What about five fifties added together?"
This time he took much longer, grimacing as he counted on his fingers for a good while before uncertainly saying, "Two hundred and fifty?"
"See? You got it right!" Daenerys spread her hands encouragingly.
"But didn't you say there are captains and commanders too?" he asked. "If you remove them, how many riders are left?"
"Why remove them?" Daenerys replied. "If you're the commander, then the other 249 people are all your warriors."
"But…" Ago looked conflicted. "Are captains also warriors under the commander? Aren't captains kos? Kos serve the khal, but they don't count as—"
His words were clumsy. What he was thinking couldn't be perfectly expressed. He gestured wildly, agitated, but unable to form a complete sentence.
Yet Daenerys understood his problem.
As always—the horselords simply weren't used to multi-layered hierarchies.
"This is a new rule," she could only say. "Everyone will get used to it slowly."
Jorah understood Daenerys's thinking and helped suggest a solution."Khaleesi, don't use unfamiliar terms like 'squad' or 'company.' The horselords already have their own divisions."
"Squad" and "company" were Daenerys's adaptations from the Common Tongue into Dothraki. Jorah could understand them, but Qotho and the others were hearing them for the first time.
"They do?" Daenerys asked in confusion. "Why don't I know? What are they?"
"Do you know arakh-nok and gor'hesh?" Jorah used two Dothraki terms.
"'Arakh-nok' is a hunting party, 'gor'hesh' is a banner," Daenerys repeated, puzzled as she looked at him. "Those are unit structures?"
It sounded like the Qing dynasty to her—combined with Dothraki braids and savage customs. Like wild Manchus from a barbaric age, just waiting for a "Nurhaci" to reform their military system.
In truth, when the author of A Song of Ice and Fire wrote the series, he drew heavily from real-world history, geography, terrain, and ethnic groups.
The Dothraki were a fusion of the Qing and the Mongols.
If one day Daenerys unified the Dothraki, rode dragons, and led the horselords to slaughter the world, it would essentially be bringing a knockoff version of "My Great Qing" to another world's foreigners.
Jorah smiled and said,"It's a Dothraki tradition. Hunting parties usually form groups of ten. Too few can't handle beasts like lions; too many and there's not enough prey to share. Ten is just right.
"In Westeros, when nobles go hunting, a large crowd gathers before entering the forest. But once inside the hunting grounds, they split up—usually around ten people per group as well."
"So that's how it is…" Daenerys murmured thoughtfully.
Still not grounded enough, she thought. In the future, she needed to better understand the masses.
"As for gor'hesh, Khaleesi," Jorah continued, "you know how scouts spread out in all directions before a khalasar moves, right?"
Daenerys nodded. Her khas warriors had served as scouts for Drogo before, rotating through the task.
Scouting ranged one or two days' ride ahead of the khalasar—it was the most exhausting and dangerous duty. No one could do it long-term.
"Depending on the size of the khalasar, the number of scouts differs. Roughly every hundred men form a group, each group carrying the same banner.
"When two khalasars meet, they don't fight immediately. By counting the enemy banners, they can roughly judge the other side's strength and avoid costly victories.
"That's why Drogo's khalasar had many kinds of banners.
"And a hundred-man scout unit is called a gor'hesh," Jorah explained carefully.
Daenerys suddenly asked,"Couldn't someone deliberately use fake banners to deceive the enemy? For example, ten men using one banner—or deliberately sending out extra scouts to pretend they're stronger than they are?"
"Uh…" Jorah froze. "That goes against Dothraki tradition!"
"No one would do that," Ago and the others echoed.
Jorah thought carefully, then said seriously,"Khaleesi, look at the camps around us. The traces of living are far too obvious.
"Wherever a khalasar passes, there are signs of humans and animals. The most obvious are fire ashes—everyone has to eat. By counting hearths, one can roughly estimate the size of a khalasar.
"You might deceive them with scouts, but once they notice the number of cooking fires doesn't match, an enraged khal would likely turn back immediately, and then—"
"Then you clearly don't know that cooking fires can be faked too," Daenerys interrupted smugly."If I have few people, I light many fires to scare the enemy.If I have many people, I light fewer fires—then when the angry khal who thinks he's been tricked chases me, I ambush him at my leisure."
"Uh—"
Not only did the simple-minded horselords stare wide-eyed, even Ser Jorah—who considered himself well-educated in knightly arts—stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape.
Seven hells… you could do that?And… theoretically, it actually worked.
Jorah looked strangely at his "pure" little princess.Was she a born military genius?
But it felt a bit… dirty. Completely against knightly spirit.
Ah well. Growing up without proper Westerosi noble education, she'd clearly been corrupted by crafty merchants.
*(PS: Daenerys grew up in the Nine Free Cities. Westerosi people looked down on profit-driven merchants.
To be fair, although Westerosi also loved the game of power, they had more bottom lines than the merchants across the Narrow Sea. Or rather—Westeros still had a few good people, while the Nine Cities were mostly scoundrels and rogues.)*
"Khaleesi, the Dothraki Sea is vast," Qotho finally reacted. "But if you deceive the first khalasar, the others will soon hear about it."
The Thirty-Six Stratagems were many. Use them all once…Even the endless grass sea probably wouldn't have many khalasars left.
"Enough," Daenerys waved her hand, finalizing the matter."Ten-man units are led by ten captains. Hundred-man units by hundred captains. For now, we only have hundred captains. In the future, when the tribe grows, we'll have thousand captains, ten-thousand captains.
"Growing by tens each time—surely you can remember that clearly, right?"
Ten-captain, hundred-captain, thousand-captain—translated into Dothraki, the structure was equally clear. Anyone of normal intelligence could understand it.
Ago raised both hands and nodded. "I have ten fingers. If I count slowly, I should be able to keep it straight."
"From now on, all banners will be replaced with a unified Black Dragon Banner, representing the black dragon in my arms.
"From this day forward, I am not only your Khaleesi, but also your thousand captain, temporarily commanding a hundred-man unit."
The tribe already exceeded two hundred people—she couldn't call herself a hundred captain, or she'd share rank with others.
"My bloodriders and dragon guards are both hundred captains. There's also a militia hundred captain to manage the herders.
"We're short on people right now, so your units won't be fully staffed. Ten captains will temporarily hold hundred-captain titles—we'll build the framework first."
They discussed matters in the tent for two to three hours. Once Daenerys finalized the system, it was implemented immediately.
First came the separation of military and civilian populations.Men aged fifteen to fifty became screamers, evenly distributed under five hundred captains—including one under Daenerys herself.
Then civilians were grouped by function: horse breeders, cooks, healers, craftsmen—
Just as Daenerys was reorganizing the household registration of the elderly, women, and children, loud shouting suddenly erupted from the open ground nearby. Several horselords even drew their arakhs.
Daenerys hurried over, ordering her screamers to separate the troublemakers.
Mounted on Silver, she looked down at the red-faced Dothraki warriors and asked,"What's going on?"
"Khaleesi, I'm stronger—let me kill that bastard!" one man shouted.
The warrior he pointed his arakh at roared back, "Kill me? Don't stop him—I'll peel his face off!"
Both were old members of Daenerys's khas, having protected her for over a year. Now they were at each other's throats—utterly Dothraki.
Jorah explained,"They want to duel for the position of ten captain. But we don't have many people left—we can't afford the losses."
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)