Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 435 Budugen: How to fight when the odds are against you?
The Xianbei leader widened his eyes, looked at the Han scholar with anger, and said angrily: "Then what do you think we should do?"

"Do we really have to kowtow and submit to the Han emperor like the Xiongnu?"

"If they are all left in the Central Plains, the tribe will be left without a leader. How can we possibly compete with the remaining Xianbei tribes in the central and eastern parts?"

"I see that even though you married a noblewoman, your heart is still with the Han people. Are you 'Li Ling' or 'Su Wu'?"

The Xianbei and the Han people were getting closer and closer, and as high-ranking Xianbei people, they naturally knew the Han people's stories.

The former surrendered sincerely, while the latter, although marrying a Hu woman, still had his heart towards the Han family and never truly accepted the Hu people.

Who knows if the other party has such thoughts, always thinking about escaping back to Han territory, and even leading the Xianbei to death.

The Xianbei leader suddenly discovered that ever since this beast became the Khan's trusted aide, their Xianbei tribe had been suffering setbacks. Not only had the frequency of foraging for grass decreased, but they also had to protect the pastures to prevent the Han people from grazing and harvesting grass.

The grassland originally enjoyed exclusively by the Xianbei became shared by the two families due to the other party's unreasonable demands.

It seemed that suddenly, a powerful nomadic tribe appeared in Youzhou and became a buffer zone.

The problem is that this tribe, with the support of a large and powerful people, has a small number of people but strong fighting power.

If you lead your army southward to plunder, he can follow the water and grass to attack your fatal weaknesses, specializing in livestock such as cattle and sheep, and killing horse slaves.

If the herdsmen gathered together, the nearby water and grass would be eaten up quickly; if they dispersed, they would be defeated one by one, making the Xianbei extremely uncomfortable.

In addition, they also used benefits to induce tribes that had a hard time surviving. As long as they provided the Han family with information about other tribes, they could obtain trade channels with Han merchants.

Under the blockade of trade, many tribes took risks and secretly leaked the affairs of other tribes. In addition, some wealthy families in border counties also secretly sold salt, iron, sugar and other items, making it impossible to find out the source of some tribes' goods.

Some tribes not only traded with the powerful families, but also sold information to the Han army in exchange for goods.

The Han people have changed their previous style and become so rampant. They must have some kind of support. It is possible that there are spies from the Han people hiding in the Khan's tent.

After all, the Han people are always different from the Hu people. They believe that life is what I want, and righteousness is also what I want. If I can't have both, I will sacrifice my life for righteousness.

Who knows if this bastard was sacrificing himself for justice, so that he could be as famous as Su Wu among the Han people for hundreds of years.

When Lord Xianbei thought of this, his teeth chattered and a chilling coldness flashed in his eyes as he looked at the scholar with a goatee.

He was the only survivor of the Julu Feng clan, who had first risen up in rebellion against the land transfer several years ago and was brutally killed by Liu Bei as a warning to the rest.

When Feng Li heard the Xianbei people's questions, he was stunned for a moment, and his bearded hands became stiff.

Is it necessary for him to risk his life in his current situation?

He did not want to assassinate Qingji's Yaoli, and there was no need to exchange the lives of his clan members for the life of the barbarian leader.

They are indeed barbarians, who have only a vague understanding of Han Chinese allusions and yet dare to use them to make trouble.

Feng Li despised the Xianbei people in his heart, but he did not show it on the surface. He turned sideways and bowed to Budugen, explaining, "My clan was slaughtered, and I swore to be irreconcilable with the Liu and Yuan families. How could I have the heart to get close to the Liu family? I hope the Khan will understand."

After a short pause, he continued, "Since I stayed in Xianbei, the Khan gave me a noblewoman as a wife and several of her as concubines. Therefore, I am always grateful and always considerate of the Xianbei. If the Khan believes in the slander, please dismiss the assistants and let me go home to reunite with my wife and children."

After saying that, he bowed to Budugen and stood up to leave. Budugen shook his head slightly at the Xianbei masters under his account, raised his hand to call Feng Li, thought for a while and said his plan: "Decades ago, the Han Dynasty declined, and the Xianbei were strong. My grandfather worked hard and made the surrounding tribes submit to him. He commanded more than 200,000 soldiers and was feared by the south of the desert and the Central Plains."

"Now that the Xianbei have been divided, the Han Dynasty has been unified again. At this time, the Han is strong and we are weak. We cannot compete with the Han army for supremacy."

"Han people all value reputation. If I submit to the Han emperor and can gain his contempt for the Xianbei tribe, that would be a good thing."

"Although the Western Xianbei obeyed my orders, they pretended to obey but secretly disobeyed. I sent people to Dayuan to ask for horses to ease the conflict with the Han Dynasty."

"I don't want to return empty-handed, so I ordered the Western Xianbei to attack Dayuan and retrieve the Heavenly Horse myself. These tribes seemed to have obeyed my orders, but they ended up dragging their feet all the way. Now they are still to the north of the Western Regions, not even close to the Wusun."

"From this point of view, if I want to unify the grasslands and defeat Kebineng and others, I must first reintegrate the Western Xianbei before I can go back and deal with the rest. At this critical moment, I must not make enemies with the Han emperor."

Budugen thought for a long time and finally decided on how the Xianbei tribe should deal with Liu Bei's trip to Bingzhou.

Small-scale frictions with the Han people on the grasslands were common for decades or even hundreds of years.

But we cannot send tens of thousands of cavalry to invade the border and attack and kill county magistrates and prefects, otherwise it will completely anger the Han Dynasty.

By that time, the Han army will come with all their might from Bing and You states. How can he contend against the Han with his strength that cannot even integrate the grasslands?
"The Xianbei will first show weakness to the Han, swallow their anger and unify the south of the desert, and then compete with the Han court."

Budugen said in a calm and powerful voice.

When the leaders of the various tribes in the tent heard this, they looked at each other.

They really wanted to ask the Khan, if the Han people were still caught up in the civil strife among the princes, the Xianbei would have a chance to unify the grassland from west to east.

But the reality is that the Han people have started grazing on the grasslands. Do we have time to unify the south of the desert?

Even if Tan Shihuai Khan were to be resurrected, he would not be able to say with confidence that he still has a chance to integrate the Xianbei tribes...

After thinking about it, he decided not to ask. After all, everyone respected Budugen as Khan because he looked very much like Tan Shihuai and had the dignity of a leader.

Otherwise, it would be better to surrender to Kebi Neng Khan. At least he is the strongest among the Xianbei tribe now.

Budugen, who was sitting on the main seat, saw that everyone had strange expressions, and he sighed in his heart.

He also wanted to lead his tribe south to intimidate Bingzhou and let the Han emperor know that the Xianbei were not as weak and vulnerable as the Xiongnu.

If you dare to push too hard, don't blame him for launching a massive attack on Bingzhou to let him know how powerful you are.

Unfortunately, the Xianbei tribes in the west were already obedient to the royal court outwardly but rebellious inwardly, so it was not possible to single out a few tribes to help rebuild the royal prestige.

Not to mention a full-scale war with the Han Dynasty, the Khan of the central region, Kebi Neng, would be enough to give him a hard time.

"Didn't Feng Li say that once chaos breaks out in the Central Plains, it will take twenty years to unify them? Why was Liu Xuande able to unify the world so quickly?"

Budugen couldn't hold back his emotion and sighed.

How can we fight when the Han people don’t give others time to develop?
(End of this chapter)