Tiger Guards

Chapter 575 Massacre

North of the Yin Mountains, soil erosion is not as severe as Zhao Ji had imagined.

It's not yet a vast expanse of Gobi Desert or desert; the area around Yinshan is still covered with green mountains and dense, continuous grasslands.

As his armed nomadic army continued its westward movement, the scale of nomadic life also shrank as pastures were divided among the various thousand households.

The severe climate change in recent years has also caused continuous damage to the nomadic tribes in the plateau region north of the Yinshan Mountains.

These nomadic tribes either migrated westward to escape the harsh winter or struggled to survive.

In fact, they also wanted to migrate south to the four commanderies of Yunzhong, but after the Xianbei royal court moved west to Shuofang, it indirectly became a new barrier for the Han border.

During their period of dominance, the Xianbei people were not afraid of the tribes north of the Yin Mountains. These tribes were already struggling due to the harsh climate, and even if they united, they could not challenge the Xianbei people.

On the contrary, the Xianbei people south of Yinshan would routinely drive their herds of animals northward to graze, thus oppressing the nomadic tribes on the northern plateau.

Under the continuous oppression of the Xianbei people, no powerful heroes could ever emerge here, and the various tribes could never be united. The tribes could only struggle to survive under the expulsion of the powerful Xianbei people and the oppression of the harsh climate.

Survival was already difficult, let alone having enough resources to expand the tribe.

As for migrating westward... it wasn't an easy migration.

Unnecessary migrations, especially along unfamiliar routes, can cause unexpected losses to humans and livestock that are beyond imagination and cannot withstand.

When Zhao Ji's armed nomadic army rolled westward, these tribes had no choice but to grit their teeth and migrate westward.

If they did not want to migrate, the Xianbei, Qiang, and Xiongnu tribes, who had an extreme advantage in military strength, would harden their scalps completely, then feed on them like maggots, and finally rot into mud.

Although Zhao Ji lacked prisoners and laborers, he really dared not accept these distant nomadic tribes.

Even the enemy's herds, except for exceptionally superior breeding animals and female livestock, were captured and slaughtered on the spot for military use.

The Hu Yi Cong troops who participated in the battle, although they wanted to annex the people and livestock of the other side... had been suppressed by Zhao Ji for a long time, and rarely encountered such unrestricted killing, so they naturally unleashed their potential and searched and hunted the nomadic tribes along the way like wolves and tigers.

They would exchange the heads of these nomadic tribes for military scrip issued by the Grand Marshal's camp, and then use the military scrip, which represented military merit, to exchange for ironware. Alternatively, they could accumulate enough military scrip to directly elevate their status.

Those who served under the jurisdiction of each thousand households and their herdsmen could use military bonds to be promoted to Zhao Ji's direct subordinates. They could then migrate with their families and herds to Shangjun, Xihe, or Beidijun.

Only those who made the greatest contributions were allowed to move into the Marquisate of Pingyang.

Those who move to the Marquisate of Pingyang can purchase ironware or other utensils without restriction.

Zhao Ji only granted the Xiongnu nobles a monopoly on business, but did not severely crack down on the smuggling activities of the Xiongnu herders.

As long as there is profit, there will be smuggling activities.

The Xiongnu herders, who could count their cattle and sheep, could naturally calculate the profits from smuggling.

The Xiongnu herders, who had no shortage of livestock and wilderness survival skills, naturally formed smuggling caravans.

Zhao Ji didn't care much about these things.

In any case, the smuggling herders are infringing on the monopoly on business rights, while the official smuggling by the Xiongnu nobles is the real target.

Besides machine guns and railways, which could make herders sing and dance, the substantial commercial profits could also make herders sing and dance.

Zhao Ji has always valued manpower, and his unusual behavior has caused discomfort among the staff of the shogunate.

But Zhao Ji offered no explanation, and these people could only watch helplessly as the newly formed Zhu Hu Yi brought in cartloads of heads to claim their merits, and also escorted large herds of beasts to exchange for military scrip.

After the heads were examined and burned, and the herd of beasts was slaughtered, the Hu soldiers who had received their military stamps would excitedly break away from the central army group and hunt again. When they passed by the ruins of a nomadic camp, everything that could be burned had been burned, leaving only the charred remains of the beams and timbers used to build tents and earthen houses.

Zhao Ji rode in and saw that ditches had been dug in the low-lying areas of the camp, covered with a layer of soil that was not very thick.

It's inevitable that Zhu Huyi would be perfunctory and superficial in doing these tasks.

However, it can be considered a concentrated burial, fulfilling the requirements of the Grand Marshal's headquarters.

Otherwise, dumping the corpse in a low-lying area would attract mosquitoes and scavengers; or a heavy rain on the grassland would wash away or soak the remains, allowing diseases to spread with the flood.

Even if the floodwaters are absorbed by the grasslands, the pathogenic factors they carry will not disappear quickly, which is a hidden danger.

Objectively speaking, in order to ensure the collective safety of the nomadic army, Zhao Ji had no choice but to abandon the nomadic population north of Yinshan.

These people either wisely fled westward, or they were hunted down and killed by the various barbarian tribes.

This is not even a matter of the safety of the nomadic army of over 200,000 people and livestock, but rather a matter of the safety of men and women in the four prefectures of Yunzhong and throughout the entire Grand Marshal's shogunate.

As for indulging in killing to reward the newly formed Hu tribes and increase their enthusiasm for assimilation... these are unplanned gains.

In fact, this ruthless attitude of not restricting killing is what makes the Hu people who join in feel even more awe.

Right there in these ruins, Zhao Ji stopped his horse on a high point, raised his hand to pull up the scarf around his neck, covered his mouth and nose, and then said to those around him, "There are differences in race. What they take for granted as a minor illness may be a major epidemic that wipes out hundreds of thousands of my troops."

The newly arrived Ma Chao stood silently in the crowd, listening intently. He didn't want to stand out too much before he had figured out Zhao Ji's personality and martial prowess.

Zhao Ji was neither surprised nor lonely when no one responded.

He didn't want to push things too far, but life was too hard for the tribes north of Yinshan. So hard that regardless of gender, age, or strength, they all had a tradition of catching and eating rats.

Some tribes even hoard the bones of rats they've eaten and collected... In extreme climates, these dried and fragmented bones can be used to make soup and save lives.

Even the nomadic tribes that could endure the harsh winters north of the Yin Mountains... well, even Cheng Yu would feel out of place here.

All Zhao Ji could do with such tribes was to completely isolate them from his rule!
Either physically eliminate the enemy, or force them to migrate westward to wreak havoc on other city-states and regions.

It's not like Zhao Ji personally killed them one by one. As long as he doesn't want to see the northern tribes of Shanxi appear in front of him, the people around him can do it for him.

Therefore, the destruction of the tribes north of the mountains and their arduous westward migration would never be seen by Zhao Ji.

All Zhao Ji could see were the heads that the Hu Yi sent to report their achievements, and all he could do was supervise the officials and soldiers to burn these heads.

North of the Yin Mountains, the nomadic tribes had to endure harsh winters, so the area for human and livestock activity was not very large.

There are numerous traces of wild animal migrations here, often involving tens or hundreds of thousands of animals!
Before winter arrives, these large herds of wild animals migrate to warmer areas.

They will migrate here again to breed the following spring.

Therefore, the meadows near and far are dense within the area where the army is active.

Occasionally, you might even encounter herds of bison or gazelles, so large that... it's impossible to capture them all!
This place has no shortage of meat resources, but it lacks meat preservation technology.

The harsh winters of recent years have led to sparse populations on the vast grasslands north of the Yin Mountains, resulting in rapid ecological recovery.

In fact, the Hetao region, where the four counties of Yunzhong are located, has also experienced similar effects. Because the population is less than a quarter or a fifth of what it was at its peak, the vegetation shows signs of recovery.

(End of this chapter)