Chapter 271 Han Xin, Luoling to the North
Everyone who hurried into the palace had solemn looks on their faces. Most of them didn't know what had happened that could have caused Liu Bang to make such a big fuss.
He actually summoned almost all the Chehou in Chang'an City into the palace.
Fan Kuai walked quickly to Zhang Liang and asked in a low voice: "Liu Hou, what do you think happened?
You know, the previous rebellion by the Prince of Yan did not cause such a big stir, could it be that the most powerful Prince of Huainan is rebelling?"
Ever since Liu Bang gave up the idea of changing the crown prince, Fan Kuai's status has risen rapidly because of his status as Liu Bang's brother-in-law.
Zhang Liang said softly, "It is definitely not Ying Bu who is rebelling. I just saw General Han Xin and Anyang Marquis Luo Cai coming. A mere Ying Bu doesn't have the nerve to be so bold."
Fan Kuai was shocked and Han Xin was called over.
After Xiang Yu's defeat and the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Han Xin never led troops again. He stayed at home, annotating ancient military strategies and preparing to write his own "Huaiyin Military Strategy".
Everyone was tacitly aware of this situation and no one said anything.
Han Xin should have reached the point where he could no longer be given any more titles or rewards, but he voluntarily abdicated the throne, and he and his wife received the title of Marquis Che with a total of 40,000 households.
If he makes more achievements, the number of his households will certainly not be increased anymore. From 30,000 households to more, when Wenxinhou Lu Buwei granted Luoyang 100,000 households, he was basically not considered a subject.
Either Luo Cai should be given an additional title, or Han Xin's child should be given an additional title. If a young child is made a marquis, the power would be really too great.
All the ministers filed in and saw Liu Bang and Luo Yi sitting upright, so they all knelt down according to their respective seats. Naturally, no one dared to come too late for such an occasion, and soon the palace door was closed with a creaking sound.
Liu Bang nodded to Luo Yi, and Luo Yi said directly: "Gentlemen, His Majesty summoned you here because the Huns invaded."
Luo Yi's words not only failed to clear up everyone's confusion, but made everyone even more confused. Was it necessary to gather so many people just to deal with a mere Hun invasion?
Luo Yi said solemnly: "The northern Hu tribes have been unified by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu is now a powerful enemy with hundreds of thousands of people who can draw bows. It is definitely not the same as what Qin, Zhao, and Yan saw at the beginning."
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire palace fell silent, and everyone was a little stunned. Could the Hu people also unify?
Those tribes that lived by following water and grass had different languages and customs. Without the Zhou rituals established by King Su, without the elegant language used in all countries, and without mutual recognition among the various states, how did they unify?
What kind of lord could accomplish this?
But no matter how many doubts they had, they had to suppress them in their hearts, because the news was too terrifying. The Chinese people were once again facing the threat of barbarians!
Ever since Duke Huan of Qi united the nine states and brought peace to the world, although there have been wars among the five states of Qi, Jin, Chu, Qin and Luo, they have been in step in steadily cracking down on the barbarians.
Most of the Xia kingdoms were destroyed by their own people, and very few were destroyed by barbarians.
The kind of barbarian counterattack in the early years of Duke Xuan that almost overthrew the rule of Zhou was even less likely to happen.
But now!
An unprecedentedly powerful barbarian country was actually located in the north of the Han Dynasty. From Liaodong to northern Shanxi, and then to Longxi, all of these were their lands.
Everyone knew why Liu Bang summoned everyone here. This was a real big trouble.
Seeing that everyone was aware of the seriousness of the problem, Luo Yi said loudly: "Gentlemen, a hundred miles west of Chang'an City is the old land of Fenghao of the former Zhou Dynasty, where my ancestor King Su once called on all the princes of the world.
From the shores of the East China Sea to the west of Qinchuan, from the wasteland north of Yanzhao to Lingnan and even Qiongzhou, this is the place where the Su King lowers his eyes.
For the past thousand years, our ancestors have defended the rule of the Xia people on this land.
Now it is the Han Dynasty, and you are all meritorious nobles of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, it is your unshirkable responsibility to defend the rule of the Xia people in the land where King Su is looking down on you.
Now the Xiongnu are trying to covet the land of the Han Dynasty and plunder the people of the Han Dynasty. Your Majesty is furious and the people are crying blood. Are you willing to show your loyalty this time?"
These words made the nobles from Shandong excited.
"Your Majesty, I ask for a fight!"
As soon as Luo Yi finished speaking, Fan Kuai and others immediately stood up and challenged Liu Bang to fight.
These powerful generals naturally could not escape, but the most crucial thing was the commander. Liu Bang originally wanted to fight the Huns' Chanyu personally.
But Luo Yi said something that dispelled Liu Bang's idea. "You are the supreme emperor. If you lose to the barbarians, even if you lured them into a defeat, it would be a huge blow to morale. It would not look good in history books in the future. I suggest you send one of your trusted generals to serve as the commander-in-chief."
In fact, what Luo Yi was thinking was that fighting the Huns was a matter of great importance, and since there was a stronger Han Xin, there was no need to use Liu Bang.
Liu Bang was a person who could easily become arrogant at times. Once he got too angry, he would not listen to advice and would only admit his mistakes after he had made them. However, an emperor could not make mistakes in matters like fighting the Huns. Once he did, the whole world would have to pay the price.
Luo Yi now only hopes to resolve this matter through Dahan, and not let his elder brother waste the family's wealth to do it.
Facing the surging public sentiment, Liu Bang was very satisfied and said loudly: "I am the emperor of the Han Dynasty and the father of all my subjects. Now the Xiongnu want to harass and kill my subjects. Is this something I can tolerate?
I am extremely angry and I am determined to lead an army of 250,000 to fight the Xiongnu!"
There was even more noise in the hall. These people had all been through life on the brink of death and had not yet been corrupted by the material world. They were able to fight and dared to do so. They all clamored to teach the Huns a lesson.
Liu Bang glanced at Han Xin and shouted, "Where is the general?"
There was only one great general in the Han Dynasty, and that was Han Xin. Especially after Han Xin semi-retired, Liu Bang raised the rank of the great general to the same level as the three officials.
Everyone did not find it very strange. To face such a powerful enemy, either His Majesty himself or Marquis Huaiyin would have to take the lead, without exception.
Han Xin, who had his eyes closed to rest, stood up from his seat, bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I am here."
Then he stood up, and his tiger eyes scanned everyone in the room, with endless murderous intent bursting out of his eyes.
Even though he had not led troops for several years, he was still the invincible military genius. Within three years, he led the Han army to pacify the world, and even the invincible Xiang Yu had to surrender before him.
His own strength suppressed the princes so much that they could not speak a word and lived in fear day and night.
Even though he was unemployed at home, he was now facing a powerful enemy like the Huns. If he was reinstated, he would be second only to the emperor and above everyone else.
Liu Bang was not vague and said directly: "This time, General Han Xin will be the commander-in-chief of the expedition against the Xiongnu. He will command 250,000 troops from three routes and be given the title of Grand Marshal. He will be in charge of all military affairs and all the princes of Yan, Zhao and Dai will obey his orders."
In order to facilitate Han Xin's performance, Liu Bang gave him a lot of command power. Han Xin bowed slightly again and thanked him, "Your Majesty, I will definitely fulfill your mission."
“Yes!”
All the ministers said in unison.
With the order given, a large number of people from Guanzhong began to be transferred, and Xiao He looked at the warehouse which was basically full of rats and felt like crying.
In the past two or three years, they had finally accumulated some food and grass, but as soon as the army started, they were all emptied out. The empire's finances were still relatively healthy, but no matter how good he was at finance, he could not create food and grass.
…
Troops were being deployed in Chang'an City, and Luo Yi was doing his best to resolve the matter, but he didn't know that Luo Ling in Zhao City was already preparing to leave the city where he had been for so long.
He had a clear understanding of the situation in the world and knew that as long as Han Xin led the army to fight, the Han army would not be defeated, but it would be equally impossible to win a big victory.
The biggest advantage of the people who draw bows is that they can come and go like the wind, and if they cannot win, they can just run away. The initiative of attack is completely in the hands of the Huns, which is completely different from the war in the Central Plains.
Moreover, the Central Plains is in the recovery period from the trauma of war, and food and grass are in short supply. Continuous wars will wipe out all the savings that have been slightly recovered in the past few years.
The Xiongnu was in a period of integration, and a war with them at this time would even help him complete the integration. After all, a Chanyu who could unite the grassland tribes would definitely be able to use war to eliminate the dross and retain the essence.
Then the Han Dynasty would be forced to face a nomadic empire that reached its peak prematurely during its rise.
Luo Ling couldn't allow this situation to happen, so he decided to go to the grassland.
Following Maodun's order, the grassland is now in turmoil. This is the first time that the kings of various tribes, big and small, on the grassland have seen so many tribal leaders.
Some of them were Xiongnu, and some were Donghu. These archery people, who had different languages and customs in the past, were united under the banner of Xiongnu under the leadership of Maodun and became Xiongnu.
These Huns gathered under several main tents.
Especially under the command of Maodun Chanyu, almost 60% of the cavalry of the entire grassland were gathered. All of them grew up on horseback and were best at riding and shooting.
It was under such circumstances that Luo Ling came to the grassland.
When his car drove out of the Great Wall and headed north, the environment along the way became very different from that in the Central Plains.
There are vast stretches of grassland that stretch as far as the eye can see. Contrary to what many people imagine about grassland, the grassland is actually not flat, but a series of raised hills, but the slope is very gentle and horses can run on it.
The one who came out with Luo Ling was Qiao Yun, who drove the car for him. He did not bring any brave warriors with him because if they really encountered a large group of Huns on the prairie, a small number of brave warriors would be of no use.
Luo Ling could have directly used the guard props to protect him and Qiao Yun as they left. If they encountered a small number of Huns, Luo Ling and Qiao Yun would be enough to kill them.
Qiao Yun drove the car and asked with a smile: "Master, where are we going?"
Luo Ling glanced at the gurgling water and said softly, "Just follow the stream. On the grassland, there is no direction. Everything is straight ahead."
Qiao Yun understood and realized that if he followed the flow of the water, he would definitely meet someone.
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In ancient China, the emperor had both human and divine attributes. On the one hand, he was secular and ruled over his subjects. On the other hand, he claimed to be appointed by heaven and the son of heaven. However, with the continuous promotion of the ancestor god Su Wang and the strong historical tradition, the Luo family seized a large part of the sacrificial rights that belonged to the emperor. As the imperial power became increasingly powerful, this was a powerful check on the imperial power. - "The Change of Ruling Power"
(End of this chapter)
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