Touman City was the location of the Xiongnu royal court. After the Xiongnu split into two parts, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Northern Xiongnu were defeated and migrated westward and disappeared without a trace, while the Southern Xiongnu submitted to the Han Dynasty. Touman City is now the royal court of the Southern Xiongnu.
It is said that Marquis Dingshan led a thousand soldiers into the grasslands to search for and annihilate the Xiongnu tribes. Wherever he went, he left no survivors. In just half a month, more than ten tribes, large and small, that did not have time to escape, and more than 10,000 people were mercilessly slaughtered by Marquis Dingshan. This does not include those tribes that have not yet been discovered and slaughtered. If no one from those tribes escaped, the number might have doubled or even tripled. Moreover, the twelve thousand Xiongnu soldiers they sent to plunder the Han Dynasty were all slaughtered by Marquis Dingshan in Bingzhou.
Upon receiving the news, the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu was shocked, terrified, and filled with regret.
Now, almost all the Xiongnu tribes on the grasslands know that Marquis Dingshan is coming. They are all trying to avoid him, fearing that he will find them and slaughter their tribes. Most of them have already migrated to the royal court. Even some large tribes with tens of thousands of people are doing the same. After all, if tens of thousands of Xiongnu soldiers are killed, their tribes will still have the old and weak, and they will not be able to stop Marquis Dingshan.
In the royal court, the Xiongnu Chanyu asked the leaders of his various tribes, "What should we do now? Marquis Dingshan is attacking; how should we respond?"
“Chanyu,” a Xiongnu tribal chief stepped forward and said, “Although Marquis Dingshan is incredibly powerful and can fight against ten thousand men, he is still a human being, not a god or demon. He will get tired and die. We can gather the warriors of various tribes and surely kill him by besieging him.”
"Alas!" The Xiongnu Chanyu sighed and said, "How could I not want to kill Marquis Dingshan? After all, Marquis Dingshan has killed too many of our warriors and people. But to kill Marquis Dingshan, how many warriors would we need to gather to besiege him, and how many more warriors would we need to sacrifice to kill him? Twenty thousand, or thirty thousand? Marquis Dingshan killed all twelve thousand warriors who went to plunder Bingzhou in just one day. I'm afraid that sending only ten or twenty thousand people would just be sending them to their deaths. Moreover, if we fail to kill him and he escapes, there will probably be endless troubles in the future."
"Chanyu, to kill Marquis Dingshan, we would have to sacrifice at least 20,000 to 30,000 warriors, or even more. The price we have to pay is too high, and other tribes on the grasslands might even take the opportunity to attack us. The risk is too great. I think we can sue for peace." The Left Wise King of the Xiongnu (a noble title of the Xiongnu) said, "Nominally, we are, after all, a vassal state of the Han Dynasty. The main reason Marquis Dingshan came to attack this time is that our warriors went to the Han Dynasty to plunder and kill many Han people. If we can make sufficient compensation and promise him that we will not go to the Han Dynasty to plunder Han people again, we should be able to make Marquis Dingshan stop killing our Xiongnu tribes."
“I agree with the Left Wise King’s words. The cost and risk of killing Marquis Dingshan are too great. Moreover, Marquis Dingshan enjoys too high a reputation among the Han people. Even if we really kill him, I’m afraid it will provoke retaliation from the Han people after the war in the Central Plains ends,” said the leader of a large Xiongnu tribe. The cost was simply too high, and this cost would be borne by their various tribes.
The Xiongnu tribal leader who proposed killing Wang Han once again raised his objection: "But we have been plundering Han people for generations, and many things in our tribes are obtained by plundering Han people. If we promise to Marquis Dingshan that we will no longer plunder Han people, many of our resources will have no source in the future. If we make sufficient compensation, then our lives will become very difficult."
“The hardship is only temporary,” said the Left Wise King. “We can simply avoid conflict with Marquis Dingshan, but we can divert the trouble to other races and use Marquis Dingshan to suppress other races on the grasslands. We can then reap the benefits, and it’s not impossible that we can even use this opportunity to unify the grasslands. Of course, it would be even better if they could kill Marquis Dingshan.”
After hearing the words of the Xiongnu Left Wise King, the leaders of the other tribes nodded in agreement, and the tribal leader who had proposed killing Wang Han no longer objected.
Seeing that his tribal leaders had finally reached a consensus, the Xiongnu Chanyu asked, "Left Wise King, are you confident that Marquis Dingshan will agree to our request for peace?"
"Yes," the Left Wise King affirmed, explaining, "Firstly, the Central Plains are currently in chaos, with various warlords vying for power, so Marquis Dingshan's main focus will undoubtedly remain there. Secondly, although Marquis Dingshan can fight against ten thousand men, he cannot possibly defeat our entire Xiongnu race with just himself and the thousand soldiers he brought. A deadly battle with us would not be advantageous for him, and might even prevent him from attending to the Central Plains. His current actions are likely to vent his anger for the Han people killed by our warriors, using the slaughter to warn us. Therefore, he will not continue to fight us to the death. If we sue for peace and make promises and compensation, we will surely be able to stop him, and then we can secretly guide him to deal with other tribes such as the Xianbei who are also plundering Han people."
After listening, the Chanyu agreed with Zuo Xianwang's suggestion and said, "Then let's do it according to Zuo Xianwang's method. Zuo Xianwang will be responsible for seeking peace with Marquis Dingshan."
"Uh...yes, Chanyu." Zuo Xianwang hesitated for a moment. Seeing the way Dingshan Hou had slaughtered everyone on his way here, although he was confident, he did not want to take any risks. However, since their Chanyu had already named him, and none of the other tribal leaders were fools, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to Wang Han to seek peace.
They underestimated Wang Han's determination to eliminate them, and they underestimated just how powerful Wang Han's cheat system was.
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