Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 460 Liu Bei: It’s better to have more Yubi City and Diaoyu City!
Liu Bei stayed in Bingzhou for half a year, surveying the fields and fighting the Huns. After dealing with many matters, he led his army north along the water control route to Dai County in Youzhou. While Bu Zhi and the officials of Dai County were welcoming him, he temporarily settled in a mansion in Sanggan County.

"Zishan, have the Xianbei in the north of Dai County made any unusual moves recently?"

Liu Bei learned that there was a mountain spring called Tianchi near Sanggan. The pool was on a high mountain, with a circumference of more than a mile. The water in the pool was clear and calm like a mirror, deep but not flowing. The clear spring water flowed into the pool, reflecting the bright light. The water would not dry up even in droughts or overflow in floods, and no one could measure its depth.

Sanggan Tianchi is as famous as Naxian Qiuyuan in Anding County of Liangzhou.

When Liu Bei heard Bu Zhi talk about the beautiful scenery of Dai County and praised Tianchi Lake, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and immediately became interested.

So the next morning, Liu Bei took Zhao Yun, Dian Wei and other soldiers to climb the mountain, leaving only Xu Chu to look after Liu Yong. Before leaving, he touched the prince's head and told him to rest more today.

After all, Liu Yong was young, and the mountain road was rugged and difficult to travel. How could he have the energy to climb the mountain after the long journey?

Liu Bei and his party climbed for several hours and finally reached the top of the mountain at 3:00 p.m. They looked out at the clear water of the pond, where the mountains, rivers, flowers and trees were all reflected. From time to time, a breeze blew by, and the chirping of larks echoed around the pond bank.

It is indeed a rare beautiful scenery that makes people forget all their worries in an instant.

Liu Bei and the others strolled along the bank of the pond and unknowingly asked about the Xianbei.

"Reporting to Your Majesty..." Bu Zhi immediately stopped, gathered his thoughts, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Under the swift attack of the Youzhou cavalry, some of the Xianbei tribes within the Great Wall surrendered to the Han Dynasty, while others fled beyond the Great Wall."

"In addition, the Wuhuan people in various counties have also been completely conquered, and the prefectures and counties are registering them as citizens."

"The Xianbei Budugen and Kebi Neng's tribes north of the Great Wall have formed an alliance. According to some unconfirmed news, the two Xianbei Khans are also lobbying for an alliance with other tribes in the east."

"This will allow the Xianbei to reunite the southern desert and counter the Han army."

With the reunification of the Han dynasty, the century-long chaos caused by the Qiang and Hu people in the northwest was resolved, and the Southern Xiongnu was also dealt with.

At the same time, news came from the Western Regions that Han envoys had visited the former and later states of Cheshi again, borrowing troops to defeat Pulei, causing this small country to perish once again.

The Pulei people fled northward with the panicked Hexi Xianbei and stayed away from the Tianshan Mountains ever since.

More than a thousand Han troops and civilians set out from Dunhuang to occupy Shuyu Valley City and a large oasis nearby. The Han Dynasty opened up the Yiwulu Road again. From then on, caravans set out from Luoyang and Chang'an, going along Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang, crossing the Yiwulu Road and reaching the foot of the Tianshan Mountains in the Western Regions.

Retaking this place meant that whether the Han envoys went to Qiuci and Shule, or the further Wusun and Dayuan, or even the further Kushan and Parthia, they would no longer be obstructed by the nomadic peoples of the grassland.

When General Zhang He arrived at the city, he rode his horse to observe the area over a hundred miles away and ordered the Han army to cultivate land on the spot to be self-sufficient, thereby reducing the amount of food and fodder transported from Dunhuang and Jiuquan.

At the same time, beacon towers were built every fifteen miles, with a tower commander and more than ten tower soldiers. Horses, bows and crossbows, arrows, armor, water, food, and firewood were placed in the towers to guard against the Xianbei.

Before the news of the destruction of the Western Regions reached Youzhou, Budugen on the grassland learned about it faster than the Han family. The leader of the Xianbei in Hexi came to him in tears to seek justice.

The Han Dynasty launched a heavy attack in the Western Regions and sent Han envoys to instigate internal strife in Hexi. The Xianbei Tuoba tribe surrendered to the Han Dynasty and also instigated other tribes to submit as well.

He also said that the Hetao area now belonged to the Han Dynasty, the powerful Xiongnu had been defeated, and the many Xianbei tribes in Hexi were sandwiched between the Helan Mountains and the Zhangye vassal state.

There is a possibility that they will threaten the troops stationed in the Western Regions, and they will definitely become the target of the Han Dynasty. Khan Budugen has no way to protect the Xianbei herdsmen, so it is better to surrender than to wait for death.

Look at how good the Han Emperor is to the Qiang and Di tribes. After they completely surrendered, not only are there no more evil officials oppressing them, but trade has also been smooth. All kinds of salt, sugar, tea, and daily necessities are transported to the market near the Qiang tribe in Liangzhou for them to buy.

These things make people envious and jealous when they hear about them.

Driven by interests and potential threats, the Hexi Xianbei quickly split into two factions, the pro-Han faction and the anti-Han faction. What started as a verbal dispute evolved into a fight.

Faced with the sudden internal and external troubles, Budugen had to give in and make peace with Kebi Neng to form an alliance. If the other party refused and wanted to take the opportunity to annex him, he planned to lead the Xianbei tribes in the west and throw himself directly into the arms of the Han Dynasty.

In order to completely frustrate Kebi Neng's idea, he also had to lead the Han army to wipe out Kebi Neng in the central part.

Others might not fall for this and would just take advantage of the situation, but Kebi Neng, who wanted to emulate Tan Shihuai and become a true Khan of the grassland, had to suppress his greed.

Ke Bineng thought about it for several days and reluctantly agreed to the other party's alliance.

The internal affairs of the Xianbei were complicated. Even if Bu Zhi sent merchants out to the grassland to bribe some tribal leaders, he could not find out what was going on in the Xianbei Khan's tent.

However, the news of the alliance between the two tribes was enough to make the Han court focus on the Xianbei people.

The Han Dynasty could not tolerate the emergence of any trend of unification on the grassland again.

Even Emperor Xiaoling, who had brought disaster to the Former Han Dynasty, sent 40,000 cavalry to the grassland when he learned that Tan Shihuai had unified the south of the desert and was threatening the Han Dynasty like the Huns. Unfortunately, the result was contrary to his expectations.

"A few months ago, I wanted to lure Budugen to lead the Xianbei cavalry to attack Yunzhong, and then let Fengxian take a detour to cut off their return route."

"However, the enemy actually fled far away to Bingzhou. Now that the Xiongnu has been defeated, the alliance of the three Xianbei tribes is inevitable. Man-made disasters can be avoided in advance, which is nothing more than killing people, but natural disasters cannot be avoided."

"Zishan, in addition to cultivating more fertile fields and storing grain and grass, you must also pay more attention to the Xianbei outside the Great Wall and the surrendered tribes that migrated from the north. You must disperse them and guide the Hu people to assimilate."

Liu Bei looked at the Tianchi Lake and gave Bu Zhi earnest instructions.

He turned and looked at the nearby mountains, lamenting that the weather was becoming increasingly bitter and cold.

If one day even the Sanggan Lake is facing drying up and rainfall is scarce in the northern part of Youzhou, the Han Dynasty will have no choice but to rely on the mountains, strong cities and fortresses to resist the Hu cavalry all year round and protect Hebei.

We should select a few more sturdy cities like Yubi City and Diaoyu City in Youzhou. The wells they dug can connect to underground rivers, allowing the Hu people to crash into them and suffer bloody heads.

It can also be regarded as a gift from Liu Xuande to the various Hu people who will invade Youzhou in the future. Even if the signatories are no longer Xianbei but Rouran and Turks, it is not bad.

Liu Bei couldn't help laughing as he thought that when he went to Ji County to see Yunchang, he would instruct him to find a few more places in Youzhou that were easy to defend and difficult to attack, and that would also control the important roads in the north, which would be of great use in the future.

(End of this chapter)