Way of Overlord
Chapter 401: Following the True Dragon

Chapter 401: Following the True Dragon

But to the young, it is cowardice.

To the old, it is protecting a legacy and protecting the tribe. The old and young have different objective and so the way they look at things also become different

Hence the old and young always fell into conflict. It is a rare thing for the young to understand the old, but it is also rare for the old to remember the impetuousness of the young

the old warriors are all dying nowadays and it is time for young people like him to stand on the center stage

Even if Jayeux did not say about the disadvantage of joining the Cha Ner Ul Alliance, he never was interested in bowing his head to Chadha.

And Ultar tribe and his tribe has some blood feud.

He is still not generous enough to forget all of these blood feud. After all, unlike some chief, Norgai is more of a warrior than a politician

Not to mention Nergui tribe who is even closer to his tribe border and have been in conflict with them for decades

If he surrenders to this people, what kind of treatment he could expect to get? He could guess one thing

It would not be a pleasant thing for him. And they might even look down on him for surrendering

He is a strong warrior and he needs to surrender to people like this? He would not accept it even if he has to die

Jayeux did not know what Norgai is thinking.

Instead, he continue by saying

"Then there is the Yindir and Dayan and Kazan tribe. As for Yindir, Dayan and Kazan even if they accept your surrender, they would find a way to limit your, restrict you and abolish your power. Then after taking your power, it would be like cutting the teeth of a lion. And what happens to a lion who lost his teeth and could only roar?"

Jayeux answered his own question

"He would get slaughtered"

"Hah. And the Kan wont?’ Norgai retorted

At this, Jayeux shakes his head

"he won’t. Out of all the chief in the Southern Great Steppe, he is the only one that I think would not do that"

"If you surrender before he even attacks, he won’t. He would even give you all kinds of privileges and benefit that he had never given before to all the chiefs that had surrendered to you"

"Why?"

"Three reason"

’Three?"

"Yes. Three reason"

And then Jayeux began outlining the three reasons

"First, it would be because of his ambition. Aeryon, the Kan has large ambition and I think even you could sense this"

Norgai nodded

It is undeniable that after all of the actions he had taken, he probably did not have small ambitions of just keeping himself safe.

He has been conquering all over, making alliances and securing allies and region and developing his tribe

This is not something people with small ambition would do

Jayeux continues

"His gaze is not focused on one region. He wanted to control the entire Southern Steppe and possibly the whole of the Great Steppe"

Hearing this Norgai did not think that Jayeux is exaggerating. In the past he also thought that Aeryon might only wanted to rule the Southern Great Steppe.

But when he thinks about it he realizes something. If he is able to take the Southern Great Steppe, would he stop?

An ambitious young man like Kan Aeryon? He knows he won’t. So, how would the Kan stop? Then the only way forward then is to once again unify the Steppe.

The Steppe is weak when it is divided Yet, each time it is able to unify itself it becomes a nigh unstoppable force.

Jayeux did not know Norgai thought as he continue speaking

"He would not mind it even if you hold twenty thousand men under your control. Because as long as you follow his order, he would not meddle in something unnecessary.

As long as you follow his order he could even free his hand instead of taking control personally and having the difficulty of reforming your army and instilling loyalty"

"Yindir, and Dayan are different. You would become a threat to them. They would find every way they could to strip you from the power of holding any warriors. They would try to strip your men of their loyalty towards you. The Kan on the other hand simply needs you to be loyal to him and not the entire tribe to be loyal to him. This could only happen if you are given a special position.

And this special position could only be achieved if you surrender first

"Yindir and Dayan why would they not able to do this? If Brolgadhr tribe could do this, count these two tribes do the same thing and entice me to join their tribe?" Norgai asked

Jayeux immediately answered

"They wanted to expand their tribe make their tribes stronger but they did not have any grand vision of what they wanted to do. Someone with an objective and someone without full direction of where they are going could not be compared with each other"

Jayeux did not say the rest of the sentence in which he believes that Dayan and Yindir simply wanted to protect their tribe

An expansion plan without a clear objective would create trouble along the way.

If they expands carelessly, they would get destroyed sooner or later. They also lacks any great ambition.

Of course, if they have more power, the ambition might rise.

But the vision determines whether the ambition could succeed and Jayeux made the assessment that the Dayan and Yindir tribe would fail if they have ambition that does not match their strength

"Second reason"

"It is because you help him now before he even rise to the top that it would benefit you immensely"

He paused for a second and then continue

"Helping the Kan right now instead helping him when you have no choice but to do so is clearly different. You are not surrendering because of force but because you admire him. You are not surrendering because you are afraid, you are surrendering because you see the true ruler of the Steppe" Jayeux smiles

What most people don’t understand, a surrender could be a shameful thing or it could be a glorious thing

The closest example is the establishment of Yan.

Those who were from Xun that surrender to Yan, during the late Xun dynasty are called traitors.

But Yan succeeded them and become even better dynasty than Xun and the reputation of those general is getting better as the years passes

They have the credit of following the true dragon. And instead of traitor they become meritorious and wise man that see the trend of the world and choose to follow a wise leader to pacify the world

Of course, if Yan dynasty had not been a good dynasty, or get overturned quickly just like Xun dynasty, those officials that surrender would not have such great reputation.

So great the reputation of these surrendered officials that their families are now noble families that last for generations.

Let’s think about the Wang Mang Uprising.

Many noble families also follow Wang Mang. But all of those noble families are called traitors and even till today, many of them could not be trusted by the Yan court.

What’s the difference?

The difference was that they lose.

If Wang Mang had succeeded, if Jiang Xiu did not appear and Wang Mang could make a new dynasty that is even better or stable, or last a bit longer, then those traitorous officials would become a meritorious officials.

So, Jayeux understand that the difference between a glorious surrender and a shameful surrender depends on many things

As long as you changed it a bit, a surrender could even strengthen you. Yan dynasty once scolded many small nations that rebels against them

That is idiotic.

The Yan dynasty accepted their vassalage not because they are generous but because they wanted prestige and reputation. The small nation wanted time.

Both get what they want. So, when the small nation become strong, it is time change the status quo. There is nothing wrong with that.

If Yan with all the time they have could not turns these small nations into a real ally, then it is not the fault of these nations. It just shows the incompetence of Yan

Jayeux of course could not use these example to convince Norgai. Not to mention Norgai would not understand the history of Yna, he would not accept such explanation.

All he could appeal was Norgai desire.

And there is nothing more potent than this.

Jayeux thought of all of this before formulating his next sentence.

He looks at Norgai and he could see that Norgai is slightly tempted. Now, it is time to increase the probability

Jayeux continue his words

"Even if future generation talk about this, they would just think of you as a wise leader who could see the changing winds in the Steppe and place your bet on the likely winner"

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