The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 233 Rabbit Hair River

Several Taiji met with Wang Xin, and after some discussion, none of them could make a decision.

At the former site of the Xiongnu chieftain, in Zhou Jun's camp, several Taijis gathered in silence, none of them willing to speak first. Why had the situation turned out this way? Chi Na Taiji's eyes were complicated as he sighed, "This General Wang is like a devil. He is much more difficult to deal with than Fatty Feng."

Everyone nodded in agreement. This person had no bottom line and no regard for credibility, yet he was incredibly powerful and knew how to win people over. He dared to give Shuo Erhui a high position after only meeting him once.

"What exactly does he want to do?" another Taiji asked.

“Barth, you’re the smartest, tell me.”

The Taiji, who was being watched by everyone, had been deep in thought. After a moment, he hesitated and said, "He should take advantage of Ou Yanhu's northern expedition to get rid of the Chanyu first. This person's ultimate goal is probably Ou Yanhu."

"hiss."

Some people instinctively gasped.

Even when Fatty Feng was still around, his approach to the Dabansheng region was mainly one of division and appeasement, without any intention of eliminating the various tribes of Dabansheng. Although he later considered utilizing the Dabansheng region, when Fatty Feng first arrived in Datong, he did indeed fight several battles with the various tribes, resulting in losses on both sides.

"His appetite is too big."

"But he was cunning enough; who would have known that he would deceive the Chanyu in public?"

"He deceived the Chanyu, can he also deceive Ouyanhu?"

Everyone chimed in with their opinions, and in the end, they concluded that with Wang Xin's strength, he couldn't possibly be a match for Ou Yanhu. In fact, if they hadn't believed Wang Xin's lies, which led to the leaderlessness of the Shanyu tribe, Wang Xin wouldn't have been able to win so easily.

Bart analyzed Wang Xin with this goal in mind. He spoke very slowly, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the other Taijis stopped and listened carefully to him. Bart's tone was slow, as if he had carefully considered every word.

“He doesn’t trust us, but he can’t completely eliminate us either. So by having us send half of our livestock, even if Ou Yanhu returns to Dabansheng next year, our strength will be greatly diminished even if we surrender to him, while he will still gain a lot of benefits.”

Bart's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he spoke faster. "Whether the Chanyu is in chaos or not is irrelevant to him, but it is crucial for us. Tribes that want stability must agree to his conditions. Tribes that are unwilling to agree will be threatened by him. Once they leave the fertile grasslands of the Chanyu's territory, Dabansheng will be owned by someone else. No matter how desolate other places are, they will suffer huge losses as well."

After listening to Barthes' analysis, no one objected and believed him without a doubt.

Chi Na nodded, having understood the situation. Unwilling to obediently hand over half of the livestock, and unwilling to accept such humiliation, he made up his mind and said, "I have decided to go north and seek refuge with Ou Yanhu."

The others remained silent, all hesitant.

Are raw beards so easy to beat?

The Shenghu were so poor they were practically dead, living in the middle of nowhere. This was a headache not only for the Great Zhou, but also for their own people. Every year, they secretly traded their already meager resources with the Shenghu.

Ouyanhu's northward conquest of the Shenghu and his so-called dream of unifying the desert were all just idle talk. If these tribes were willing to join, they would have joined long ago. Many more tribes' leaders were unwilling to endure hardship.

The main problem is that there's no benefit to them. Unifying the desert is Ou Yanhu's business, and they won't get any advantage from it.

They gave everything, and when Ouyanhu's sons and grandsons ruled the desert, they found themselves an irresistible ruler, and their numbers were even greater.

Day two.

Upon learning that Chinattaiji had left, Wang Xin was not surprised. What surprised him was that the other Taijis had stayed, and he couldn't help but laugh. "General, what makes you laugh?"

Shuo Erhui asked.

Shuo'erhui originally had more than 400 men, but after fighting all the way, he lost 30 or 40 men. He selected about 100 men from the slaves. Others thought he was already very sensible, but he still took the initiative to come to Wang Xin to explain.

Wang Xin did not hide anything and laughed, "Whether they are noble sons of the Hu people or noble sons of the Zhou people, they are all the same; not many of them can endure hardship."

During the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the most powerful Mongol force was the Southern Mongolia, during the reign of Altan Khan. They unified the Hetao region and built Guihua City in the Dabansheng area, submitting to the Ming Dynasty and obtaining trade permits, which led to a period of prosperity.

People are not afraid of hardship, but they are afraid of comfort.

During a period of stable trade and economic prosperity, the once powerful Anda Khan tribe eventually disintegrated, becoming a no-man's-land, which ultimately benefited Ligdan Khan. However, Ligdan Khan was a second-generation ruler who was ambitious but incompetent; he had been given a unified desert for free—something even Anda Khan couldn't achieve—but he messed it up.

Just as the Great Zhou Dynasty was decaying after stabilizing, Feng Yong's efforts brought stability to the Hetao region, and the trade between the two sides unexpectedly brought peace and tranquility.

There were slaves in the grassland tribes, and there were also destitute refugees in the interior.

The sons of nobles lived a life of debauchery, while the steppe princes also lived a peaceful and prosperous life.

But this time it actually benefited me.

The obedience and compliance of these tribes saved him his most precious time and accelerated his plans.

The army was stationed in the former territory of the Shanyu tribe, which was also the most fertile area in the region. Wang Xin's chariot camp had a lot of livestock, and each armored cavalryman had two horses. In addition to Shuo Erhui, who was currently following him, there were nearly two thousand livestock.

As for the current spoils, most of them were lost, but some were recovered.

There are fewer horses, but more cattle and sheep, numbering in the thousands. However, compared to the original number in the Xiongnu territory, this is pitifully small. No region can withstand war, and the grasslands are no exception.

The hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep in the Shanyu region will be directly or indirectly affected, with at least a quarter or a fifth of them dying.

Every day, Shuo Erhui's men and Zhang Can's cavalry would go out to search for stray cattle and sheep and drive them back. There were about one or two hundred head of cattle and sheep every day, so there was no need to worry about maintaining a balance. These days, they drank mutton soup and ate beef every day. At first, they enjoyed it very much, but after eating it for a while, they got tired of it.

A few days later, Batel was the first to send over cattle and sheep. There were a total of nine hundred sheep, sixty cattle, and thirty-odd horses.

With a wave of his hand, Wang Xin not only gave him Batel's original territory, but also the surrounding areas. With Batel's example, the other Taijis no longer hesitated.

The Hu people were nomadic; those who could run away had already fled.

Staying at the site of the former Shanyu City is to discourage those who are still hesitant. Not only this time, but we will come again in the future. Any tribe that has not submitted will be completely wiped out once discovered.

Having amassed a bounty of spoils, tributes, and deep-seated hatred, Wang Xin finally departed. Instead of returning to Weiyuan Pass, he went to the vicinity of Chier Mountain.

The pastures here are lush, and the river is not far away; this is the best place in Tu Mao Chuan.

(End of this chapter)