Chapter 769: The Hu people outside the Xia Dynasty and the major events of the emperors of the late Han Dynasty (End!)
In this world, there is always a saying that goes like this: This is the world of the Su Wang.
Whether they are the people of the Xia Dynasty or the people of the grassland, they all know the existence of this sentence, and many people believe it without a doubt.
Ji Zhao’s fame on the grassland might be even higher than he imagined.
On the grasslands north of the Xia Dynasty, there are many Hu people. Some of them were born Hu people, and their ancestors had been Hu people for thousands of years. There were also many losers in the Central Plains who were driven to the grasslands.
The oldest ones were driven to the grassland since the Yellow Emperor era, and the most recent ones entered the grassland to escape the war at the end of the Han Dynasty.
It is not possible to farm on the grassland, so people have to take the path of nomadism. What does nomadism mean?
Historical books say that they lived near water and grass, and they drove their livestock all year round. After eating all the pasture in spring, they migrated to the winter pasture to continue eating. This was called changing pastures.
Even if the best farmer from the Central Plains comes to the grassland, he will become a grassland person.
Because there is no land to grow crops here and people can only graze, geography has a huge impact on people.
But the grassland did change after all. Countless Han people who chanted the name of Su Wang integrated into it, and the traditional grassland belief in the gods of sky, sun, moon, mountains and rivers changed.
The change is slight, or rather, it is the difference between the King of the grassland and the King of the Central Plains.
Moreover, even if they had the same beliefs, it would not prevent the hostility between the grassland and the Central Plains, nor would it prevent the cultures of the grassland and the Central Plains from being completely different.
Not to mention the pure grassland, even the Yan State, which was transformed by the Luo State, had a complete Xia culture since its birth.
But after more than a hundred years of development, because of the fishing and hunting way of life, both the political atmosphere and cultural characteristics of the country are very different from those of the Central Plains.
For example, in the State of Yan, the Murong family was strong enough to threaten the royal family, but the royal family did not eliminate the Murong family. This was unimaginable.
This is why most of the Central Plains gentry were unwilling to surrender to the State of Yan. They had adapted to the political rules and regulations of the Central Plains, and they were unwilling to reshape the political ecology of the State of Yan.
The people in the Central Plains do not like to distinguish between the tribes on the grassland that have blood feuds with each other, nor do they like to distinguish between the different races among them. As long as they live on the grassland, they are all called Hu.
Although this method was rather foolish, it led to the grassland tribes that were originally in conflict with each other to actually identify with each other. This was not only true for the Hu people, but also for other barbarians.
But the advantage is that it sets up a target for the Han people in the Central Plains. When they want to attack the grassland tribes, they don't have to worry about not being able to do it because they were once Han people. It can only be said that there are pros and cons.
The living conditions of the Hu people on the grasslands have been very poor since ancient times. Only the defeated would go to the grasslands, while the victors would stay in the fertile land of the Central Plains.
One can imagine what the living environment is like on the grassland.
Natural disasters have been prevalent in the Central Plains in recent years, but natural disasters of this magnitude are nothing for the grasslands.
The white disaster and black disaster on the grassland are disasters that can destroy everything. Luo Ling originally spread the white disaster on the grassland, resulting in the death of countless Huns.
Throughout the pre-Han dynasty, the Hu people on the grasslands either served as dogs for the Han Dynasty or were beaten to death by it.
The fact that the generals of the Han Dynasty executed the Xiongnu Chanyu twice on the shore of the North Sea will always be a nightmare in the hearts of the heroes of the grassland.
After entering the Later Han Dynasty, this situation changed somewhat. Although it was still impossible for the grasslands to invade the Han Dynasty, at least they could fight back and forth on the border.
This is how it is with grasslands and farming, their power waxes and wanes, the grasslands can never be completely wiped out, as long as the grasslands are still there, there will always be tribes on the grasslands.
People cannot be repopulated on the grassland, but people from the Central Plains will flee to the grassland to avoid heavy taxes.
Many people may not understand why farmers would flee to nomadic life, because heavy taxes and levies are more ferocious than a tiger.
Just as many people cannot understand why it is so easy for aristocratic families to hide their population, population census always requires strong push from the imperial court, and it cannot collude with the hidden people.
Because most people always think that the common people sell themselves as slaves in the aristocratic families, live a miserable life, and have to work for the aristocratic families, but in fact, heavy taxes and levies are more ferocious than a tiger, and it is easier to survive by farming for the aristocratic families than by farming their own land.
The grassland may die, and we will regret it later, but the Central Plains will really die now, which is the reason for fleeing to the grassland.
After many years of accumulation, the grassland is finally beginning to flourish again.
Driven by the fortune of heaven, it ushered in its own period of prosperity. If there was a true lord of the grassland now, perhaps he could really call himself the son of heaven, the son of heaven surrounded by the sun and the moon.
Just like the late Han Dynasty when talented people flourished, the Hu people began to usher in their own era.
When Ji Zhao saw the fortune of the Hu people in Tianzhu, he was thinking about a question: in his era, in the post-Three Kingdoms era, looking through the history books, how many names were included?
How many Hu people, how many Han people, this is part of the rules of the world. The game he traveled through is a game of family survival. The game does not change history, or it can be said that history is just a background board, and the family members are just a line of data. But after traveling through, those words became living people, so he immersed himself in it. He did not want to see the Five Barbarians Invading China again.
Of course, the most important thing is that he did not want to see the emergence of Yuan Qing. Even during the Five Barbarians Invasion of China, there were still people like Fu Jian and Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Han and Xianbei people finally created the prosperous feudal empire of the Tang Dynasty. Zhenguan and Kaiyuan were the eras that Ji Zhao most yearned for, but he really could not find any advantages in Yuan Qing.
The people in the Central Plains were thinking about how to ensure the smooth operation of the country, and the Hu people were also thinking about how to make their tribe survive this horrible natural disaster.
These nobles on the grassland certainly did not really want to make the lives of their herdsmen better, just as there were only a few emperors in the Central Plains like Emperor Taizong of Han, Emperor Xiaowen, who took the people as his responsibility.
But even if they were treated as resources and livestock, they did not want their tribe to be hit.
No matter who it is, they will eventually turn their attention to the South.
Only by occupying the warm environment where farming can take place can the entire ethnic group survive. This is exactly the same reason why Yan State moved south.
The reason why Yan State had been able to achieve considerable victories for so many years despite having a much smaller population than the Central Plains was that the Yan people were determined to occupy the land in the south.
When the early Han Dynasty mobilized soldiers to attack the Huns, it was for a similar reason: only life and death can best stimulate human potential.
If we don't fight this group of Hu people who have been thinking about fighting to the death, the final outcome will be hard to predict.
There are many people among the Hu people who can be called geniuses. After the geniuses in the Central Plains gradually began to decline, the heavens could not wait to bring out those familiar names among the Hu people.
Especially after Ji Zhao appeared at the location of the Heavenly Pillar and began to merge with the Dao, this was probably the last time that the Heaven directed the world to move forward.
In recent years, some books from the Central Plains gradually spread to the grasslands, and the existence of Yan State greatly enhanced the exchanges between the Hu people and the Xia people.
These Hu people, who are not only as brave as the Hu people but also have read Han books and are not bound by tradition, have unleashed such destructive power that it is frightening.
Between the white mountains and black waters of Liaodong, there emerged the State of Yan, one of the most powerful vassal states in the world today.
The individual combat power of the Yan cavalry is unrivaled in the world. To some extent, even the Xiliang Iron Cavalry is not as strong as this group of knights who walked out of the ice and snow.
But before the existence of the State of Yan, there were already a large number of Hu people in Liaodong. Perhaps it is not appropriate to describe it as "a large number". After all, with the production methods of the Hu people and the environment of Liaodong, it is not realistic to expect a large population.
But it must be said that the Hu people living in Liaodong were very powerful, whether it was the Wuhuan or the Xianbei tribe that was a mortal enemy of the Yan State. These Hu people known as the Donghu were all very strong.
The people of this fishing and hunting tribe are quite brave. Fishing and hunting have endowed them with superb archery skills and physical fitness. The scarce and hard-to-obtain food and the cold environment have pushed their endurance and physical strength to the extreme.
There were many Hu soldiers in the State of Yan, but more Hu people were hiding between the White Mountains and Black Waters. Naturally, the State of Yan did not have the ability to encircle and wipe out every Hu person. That was absolutely unrealistic, and even the State of Yan could not do it if it perished.
Not to mention the State of Yan, even if the Central Plains tried their best, it would be impossible to kill every single Hu person in the Baishan and Heishui areas. After all, the Central Plains has not been able to completely wipe out the barbarians in Jiangdong and the southwest until now, let alone the more powerful Liaodong.
There is a mountain in Liaodong called Daxianbei Mountain. The ancestors of the Yan State were exiled here, so they took many place names as their surnames.
These surnames were then spread to the surrounding Hu tribes, so many Hu tribes had their own surnames. Those surnames had the format of Han people, but they were not among the traditional Han surnames. Instead, they were surnames unique to the Yan people, such as Murong.
Among the many tribes calling themselves Xianbei, there were many surnames from the State of Yan. In the eyes of the Hu people, the State of Yan was also a state of Hu.
Because the Yan State was not Han Chinese, lived outside the Great Wall, and had a different culture from the Han Chinese, most Hu people called the Yan State Yanhu.
The Hu people believed that the Yan State was also a branch of the Xianbei, and that they all lived near the Great Xianbei Mountain.
As for the issue of Yan State's beliefs, this is not a problem. As mentioned before, the beliefs of the grassland people are very complex, and the belief in Suwang Changshengtian is not uncommon on the grassland.
The only difference is that Yan State is more cultured. These Hu tribes don’t understand how Yan State brought so many books to a cold and bitter place like Liaodong, but it is indeed impressive.
During the tribal wars, when the Yan State was fighting against the Hu people, the Hu nobles loved to snatch books from the Yan State. These nobles all knew Chinese characters, and it could even be said that many of them had a good understanding of Han culture.
The fight for the Liaodong land was ultimately won by the better organized Yan people, but the Hu people who were driven away by the Yan people were not complete losers.
The Hu tribe that emerged from the meat grinder in Liaodong has almost become a complete national system. Such an existence is almost a complete dimensionality reduction blow to other tribes on the northern grasslands.
These Hu people are more sturdy, have more advanced archery skills, and their riding skills are not inferior to the nomads.
The grassland, which had been somewhat neglected by the Central Plains, now had a sense of being unified. When the Central Plains was just moving from unification to division, a unified regime seemed to be emerging on the grassland.
Moreover, this regime does not only rely on picking up leaks. There are more and more geniuses in the tribe, and endless geniuses are crisscrossing the grassland.
During the most prosperous period of the Xiongnu, they had not actually completely conquered all the tribes on the grassland. During the years of confrontation between the Han court and the Xiongnu, there were always countless Hu cavalry serving under the Han court. In particular, there were many Hu people serving under the Liaodong Protectorate later. Even now, there are still many Hu people serving under the Wei State on the border.
Needless to say, nearly half of the people under the command of Yan State are Hu people. But now the Hu regime on the grassland has developed an idea of unifying all the people who can draw the bow. They not only have military geniuses, but also political geniuses. They are trying to integrate the loose tribes into a country with strong cohesion.
They first chose a resounding name for themselves, which was Xia. This word was different among the Hu people and represented antiquity and nobility.
Then these Hu people began to study how the Xiongnu lost to the Han Dynasty, and analyzed countless reasons, such as the Han Dynasty's equipment was more powerful, the Han people's national strength was stronger, and the Han people's generals were more outstanding. In the end, it was their Great Khan who told the real reason.
The original Xiongnu was not a country at all, but a loose alliance of tribes. Those kings ostensibly obeyed the orders of the Xiongnu royal court, but in fact each acted on their own.
In the end, Marquis Wushuang, Marquis Guanjun and Marquis Changping were able to penetrate thousands of miles of Xiongnu territory as if they were in an empty land and defeat tribal kings one after another. Otherwise, with the strength of hundreds of thousands of Xiongnu people at its peak, how could they have suffered defeats in succession, been weakened time and time again by the Han Dynasty, and finally been defeated in one battle.
Of course, there is a lot of truth in what the Xianbei Khan said. It can even be said that this is indeed one of the main reasons. It would be strange for a tribe like the Xiongnu to win against a legitimate country like the Han Dynasty in a head-on battle. However, it is indeed too outrageous that a grassland regime was directly destroyed by the Han Dynasty, and even the Khan was killed in battle twice.
Now they have learned this lesson. These Hu people who came out of Liaodong are highly organized. Although they do not have as many government offices as those in the Central Plains, their military organization is highly integrated.
In other words, the entire grassland is transforming into a military empire. In the past, tribes were gathered randomly, but now the tribes on the grassland are being reorganized, with soldiers as the basis, teams of 100, 1,000, and 10,000 people. The newly conquered tribes are broken up and reorganized according to soldiers, and with the addition of strict military regulations, the scattered grassland tribes are beaten and cried out in disarray as soon as they appear.
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After Cao Cao and Liu Bei became emperors, they each established their own country and had their own reign titles.
Cao Cao suffered a great defeat in Jizhou, and the Wei Kingdom suffered heavy losses. It was completely unable to move eastward in a short period of time. After he established his system and proclaimed himself emperor, he believed that Luoyang was not safe enough. Once the eight passes of Luoyang were breached, he might be captured at any time. So he focused all his attention on moving the capital to Chang'an. Those gentry who followed him also moved to Chang'an, including Luoyan, to prevent him from having any connection with the Han Kingdom. The main branch of the Hebei gentry was also moved away to prevent them from helping the Han Kingdom consolidate its rule in Hebei. He also used these people to remotely control Hebei.
Without this group of great nobles in Hebei, the remaining nobles would take the opportunity to establish their rule, and Hebei might not be able to provide assistance to Liu Bei for several years. After doing all this, Cao Cao was exhausted and suffered unbearable pain from a headache. He lay in bed for nearly a month before he died.
Crown Prince Cao Ang naturally succeeded to the throne without any troubles. With the new emperor established, the transition was relatively smooth for Wei, but it did cause some changes and instability.
Liu Bei took the opportunity to attack the eight passes of Luoyang in Wei State. The capital of Wei State was Chang'an, which was out of reach, and they also had to guard against attacks from the Xia State in the Western Regions. After all, they saw Ma Chao's previous experience too clearly.
Cao Ang considered that if he continued to mobilize food and troops from Chang'an, he would fall into a state of exhaustion, which would be detrimental to subsequent recovery.
Cao Ang then appointed Xiahou Dun as the General in Charge of the Eastern Expedition and the Governor of Sanhe, making him the de facto commander-in-chief of the Eastern Theater of the Cao Wei regime, leading all wars east of Qiaohan.
This was actually dividing Shaanxi and governing it separately, but Xiahou Dun's family and clan were all in Chang'an, so there was still a means of checks and balances.
In the past history, the first person to have this status was Ji Zhao.
The advantage of dividing Shaanxi is that it greatly reduces the political cost. Although Xiahou Dun is not good at fighting, he is good at governing. The generals of Wei State guarded the Xingyang defense line and resisted Liu Bei's attack with difficulty.
The State of Wu continued to encroach on the territory step by step, so it decided to take advantage of the State of Wei's weakness and attack Nanyang, capturing the last large stronghold in the west. After that, it would be able to attack or defend when facing the Central Plains.
Cao Wei, which was already exhausted, was naturally no match for the two countries, so it suffered another heavy blow, and Henan and Nanyang were both on the verge of collapse.
But no one in this world can be successful forever. When people are doing things, heaven and earth are working together, but when their luck is gone, they have no control over it.
Liu Bei died in the army. Before his death, he appointed Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, Lu Shen, Liu Ye and Fa Zheng as regents to assist Liu Chan. One was a member of the royal family with a different surname, one was the heir of Luo Qi, one was a relative of the king and the original shareholder, one was a member of the royal family, one was the representative of people like Ma Chao who later defected to him, and they were also talents that Luo Qi had instructed to make important uses of. It was a foolproof arrangement.
At that time, the State of Yan went south to invade the Hebei area of the State of Han. The State of Han withdrew its troops from Xingyang, and the crisis in Guandong of Cao Wei was resolved. Faced with this situation, the State of Wu had no choice but to withdraw its troops as well, as no one wanted to make way for others.
A few years later, the King of Xia in the Western Regions was assassinated and the Western Regions were in chaos. In order to eliminate its worries and fight for the horse farms in the Hexi Corridor, Wei State brazenly attacked Xia State. Xia was defeated step by step and four counties were all occupied by Wei State. After eliminating the threat from Xia State, Wei State began to accumulate national strength. A hundred years after the Han Dynasty, although Guanzhong was not as prosperous as the previous Han Dynasty, it was a land of abundance after all, and there was no problem with land conditions and so on. Cao Wei relocated all the population in areas bordering other countries, and the influx of a large number of people from Guandong made this place prosperous again.
After several more years, the Han State, which had the deepest foundation, finally settled the affairs of Jizhou, and with its well-trained troops and sufficient food, it invited the Wu State to attack the Wei State again. The Han State attacked Xingyang, the Wu State attacked Nanyang, and Bingzhou attacked Hedong.
The State of Wu had been preparing for a long time and was the first to break through the pass. Nanyang finally fell into the hands of the State of Wu. However, at this time a large number of people in Nanyang had already been relocated by Cao Wei, which still shocked Cao Wei.
After Wu captured Nanyang, it stopped attacking. In addition, the Grand Commander Zhou Yu died of illness, so it turned to negotiate with Wei. Wei had no choice but to accept this. Lu Su succeeded him as the Grand Commander and stationed troops in Huainan.
The Han army was not allowed to advance before Xingyang. It was separated by a ferry in Hebei, and was hindered by the Yan and Wu states. It failed to break through the pass and retake Luoyang. Fa Zheng was dissatisfied but had no choice but to retreat. The old group of Han generals began to wither.
As the temperature in Liaodong grew colder, a large number of former Yan citizens migrated southwards and the population of Liaodong gradually declined.
Yan Lin tried to stop the Yan people from Liaodong from going south and set up a military control area in Liaodong. The Yan people were angry and said, "It is hard to survive in the extreme north in the severe cold. Our ancestors have been determined to go south for 150 years, but now they are blocked. The emperor built a palace in the south and enjoyed himself, while the people lived in the extreme north. How unfair it is."
Yan Lin was murdered in a mutiny and the new emperor ascended the throne. No one dared to stop the Yan people from returning south. A large number of Yan people entered Youzhou, and the population of Liaodong became increasingly sparse.
After several years, the new emperor of Yan was murdered by his subjects. The Murong and Gongsun clans of Yan united to seize power and suppressed the royal family of Yan. Chaos reigned in Yan.
The Han State took the opportunity to march north and conquer the entire Jizhou. The Yan State moved the people of Jizhou and fled into Youzhou. The power of the Han State reached its peak. It suppressed the Yan State in the north, repelled the Wu State in the south, and attacked the Wei State in the west. It was prosperous and became the number one among all the countries. It moved its capital to Fenggao.
Lu Bu has passed away, Bingzhou has become separatist, and Zhang Liao's prestige is not enough to completely subdue everyone, so he fell into internal disputes. Now Zhang Liao not only owns Bingzhou, but also has a part of Hedong, and his power is very strong.
The Han State lost one of its arms and wanted to form an alliance with the Wu State, but Wu's ministers disagreed, believing that the Han State was its biggest enemy. So when the Han State was at its most powerful, it became an enemy of the Wei State, the Yan State, and the Wu State. The Han State was in awe.
A few years later, Luo Chu appointed Lu Su as the commander-in-chief and Lu Xun as the general to guard the north, and led the Wu army by land and sea to attack the Huai, Si and Xuzhou areas of the Han State in order to complete the last piece of the puzzle of the Wu State. In the face of the great achievement of the Northern Expedition, each family enthusiastically contributed. The Wei State had been preparing for many years and mobilized a large number of troops from Guanzhong to send troops to Guandong and attack Yanzhou from Xingyang. The Yan State sent troops to Jizhou, and the Han State had to fight on three fronts.
Guan Yu guarded Jizhou, Lu Shen guarded Yanzhou, and all the generals gathered in Xuzhou. After several years, Yan State ran out of food and had to retreat, but some great generals of Han State died.
Cao Ang died in Chang'an at a relatively young age, also due to a headache. His son Cao Rui succeeded him. Cao Rui did not have enough prestige, and was worried that the army might be in danger outside, so he withdrew the army to protect his throne.
The army led by Lu Su encountered Fa Zheng head-on and did not achieve a great victory, but no one expected that Lu Xun of Wu State flooded the Han army in the Huai River, won a great victory, and even led the army to capture Pengcheng.
Gan Ning was unstoppable under Lu Xun's command. In the Huaihe River Basin, where waterways are crisscrossed, the two were unstoppable. After learning the news, the Wei commander-in-chief who succeeded Xiahou Dun in guarding Luoyang led the Sanhe army to attack again. The Yan State also took advantage of the situation. Faced with a greater threat, the Han State could only retreat temporarily and garrison in the northern part of Xuzhou. However, the situation that Xuzhou was undefendable had become a foregone conclusion. The two countries confronted each other in the Huaihe River Basin, and neither side had the means to completely resolve the other.
However, Wu had the advantage and could put all the strength of the country into it, while Han had to face enemies from two other sides. At this time, the weakness of Han that it had no strategic location to defend was fully revealed, just like Wei and Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Once it was besieged by several parties, it could not even defend itself.
The Han State realized this and began to build key cities in several directions. In fact, it was mainly the Yan State in the north. It was not easy for the Wei State and the Wu State to attack the Han State.
However, the State of Wu was not willing to directly unite with several countries to defeat the State of Han. The State of Wei, which occupied Guanzhong and Luoyang, was also a powerful enemy.
Wei also has its own strategic plan and will not allow Wu to defeat Han. Now Wei's main strategic direction is to take down Shu from Guanzhong, and then completely take back Hedong. That would be a complete Western Qin, and it would be in a strategic advantage when facing Wu.
The military strength of Yan State was still very strong, but its war potential was insufficient. However, facing the Han State with scarce cavalry, it could withdraw even if it could not defeat it. The situation in Yan State gradually calmed down. After Yan State reached a balance, the domestic nobles reached a consensus, which was to seize the southern country first.
One is Jizhou, waiting for other countries to attack the Han State and see if there is an opportunity. In front of the Yan State, Jizhou is completely undefended. The cavalry of the Yan State can rush to the north bank of the Yellow River. If it is frozen in winter, they can directly rush to the north bank of the Huai River. Another option is Bingzhou. The Yan State can enter Bingzhou from Daidi without passing through the Eight Paths of Taihang. By seizing Bingzhou, Jizhou will be within reach.
King Zhang Lu of Hanzhong had died in Hanzhong, and the country was in chaos. Wei began to attack, and King Liu Zhang of Shu was trembling in fear in Chengdu as he watched the emperors with powerful armies. The ministers of Shu were discussing whether to defect to Wei or Wu. As for defending Shu, no one believed that it could be done.
After the Wei Kingdom conquered the Han Dynasty and occupied Hanzhong, King Liu Zhang of Shu sent people to the Wu Kingdom. After all, the treatment of those who surrendered to the Wei Kingdom was unknown, but the treatment of Liu Cong who surrendered to the Wu Kingdom was quite good.
I can finally write the main text. Two chapters will be posted at 12 noon tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)
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