A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 163 Standoff
After leaving the secret chamber and returning to their royal residence, the three kings secretly ordered their confidants and powerful figures in the vassal states to go to other places and create unrest.

King Zhao Liu Pengzu's expression gradually turned cold.

In the shadows, the Xiongnu envoy Zhongxingfa emerged and couldn't help but applaud Liu Pengzu, exclaiming, "Excellent reason! Excellent plan! Your Highness, King Zhao, brilliant!"

As a father, one always wants to give the best to one's son, and Emperor Xiaojing was no exception.

Liu Pengzu obtained the State of Zhao, Liu Duan obtained the State of Jiaoxi, Liu Ji obtained the State of Jiaodong, and Liu Shun obtained the State of Changshan. These were all quite good among the fiefdoms of the feudal lords.

Once these places descend into chaos, the emperor of the Han Dynasty will have to send troops to suppress them. At that time, the Xiongnu elite cavalry, led by Liu Chang, the Marquis of Wushi of Zhao, and the powerful local magnates of Zhao, will descend like divine soldiers into the Dai region, taking control of the Dai region at the fastest speed and with the least cost, thus resolving the centuries-old crisis on the grasslands.

The King of Jiaoxi, the King of Jiaodong, and the King of Zhongshan of the Han Dynasty only thought they were helping the emperor. By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. If they didn't want to die, they had no choice but to follow Liu Pengzu down this dark path.

With the dynasty on the verge of collapse, Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty would inevitably want to seize the opportunity to regain imperial power. However, Emperor Liu Ju refused to give in, and the struggle between the imperial family father and son would result in mutual destruction. The only way to invite a vassal king to take over Weiyang Palace was to do so, and only Liu Pengzu could do it. What an ingenious plan!

What a deep and cunning scheme!

Amazing.

Zhongxingfa was extremely fortunate that his family had betrayed the Han Dynasty. The scheming in the Central Plains was so ruthless that people died without even knowing how. In comparison, the Xiongnu, who relied on brute force, seemed so "simple and honest".

"I am also a descendant of Emperor Xiaojing."

Liu Pengzu was impressed by Zhongxing Fa's majestic aura. As fellow sons and grandsons of the emperor, if we were to talk about generational succession, his ancestor was Emperor Xiaowen, while Liu Ju's ancestor was his father, Emperor Xiaojing. In their battle of wits, he was confident that he was second to none.

"The Great Chanyu entrusted me to convey his highest respect to His Highness Prince Zhao. The Great Chanyu is determined to help His Highness Prince Zhao become the new emperor of the Han Dynasty in order to rebuild the marriage alliance between the two countries."

Zhongxingfa bowed slightly, his attitude humble and respectful, "Our Great Xiongnu Chanyu's main force and the Left Wise King's main force are willing to mobilize all their elite cavalry to conquer the Dai region, in order to assist His Highness King Zhao's plan."

"how many people?"

"There are 120,000 elite cavalry."

"so little?"

Liu Pengzu's gaze towards Zhongxing Fa revealed his displeasure. "Does Yizhixie Chanyu not know the importance of the Dai region to the Xiongnu?"

“It’s very clear, but this is the limit for our race.”

The Bank of China shrugged helplessly.

The Han Dynasty's more than ten years of campaigns against the Xiongnu were not without effect.

Nomadic tribes weren't truly composed entirely of soldiers. The Xiongnu, with a population of one million, had around three hundred thousand archers—and this was under ideal circumstances. In reality, during the reign of Chanyu Junchen, serious internal divisions arose within the Xiongnu. Many upper-class nobles couldn't accept Chanyu Junchen's actions—his adherence to the advice of Han traitors like Zhongxing Shuo, his attempts to alter the Xiongnu's political structure, his centralization of power in Longcheng, his imposition of taxes, and the abolition of war revenue—all of which were unacceptable.

Among the Xiongnu, fighting is everything. Their most prominent characteristic is that they put personal interests first. When they see something profitable, they flock together like birds; when they see something overwhelming and they are defeated, they scatter like beasts. The benefit of war is to plunder things, and plundering things is to survive better. No matter how good the promises made by the Chanyu and the Left and Right Wise Kings are, I only care about how much grassland I can get. If I can't get grassland, why would I fight the Han army to the death?
Therefore, in the law of the Xiongnu, "whoever brings the dead back to the grasslands inherits the family property of the deceased." So, the Xiongnu valued their own lives the most; otherwise, their wives, children, cattle, and sheep would belong to others.

The traitors had witnessed the benefits of the Han dynasty's highly centralized power, unity, and the explosive contributions of its lower classes. In order to consolidate their own and their families' position among the Xiongnu, they vigorously persuaded the former Chanyu Junchen, now Chanyu Yizhixie, to change. The Chanyus, swayed by the pursuit of supreme power, supported the traitors' reforms, leading to mutual suspicion, infighting, and even warfare among the Xiongnu Chanyus and nobles. This resulted in a considerable number of Xiongnu nobles leaving the Xiongnu and fleeing westward or southward to surrender to the Han.

This resulted in the Xiongnu being in a state of non-peak for a long time, unable to maintain 300,000 elite cavalry. For more than ten years, the Han and Xiongnu fought one after another, with both sides inflicting heavy casualties on each other. In particular, after the Han general Wei Qing joined the battlefield, the two Xiongnu Chanyus, Junchen and Yizhixie, fought five battles against him. Not only did they not win a single battle, but they also suffered heavy losses, with more than 50,000 people killed or captured by Wei Qing.

Among the Xiongnu, the Chanyu's main force was the strongest, followed by the Left Wise King's main force, and the Right Wise King's main force was the weakest.

Not long ago, the Right Wise King's main force of the Xiongnu lost contact with the Chanyu's court. Even if one is unwilling to speculate maliciously, the Right Wise King and his more than 40,000 elite cavalry on the right wing are probably in grave danger.

The Xiongnu Chanyu's main force and the Left Wise King's main force together still have 200,000 elite cavalry. This time, they sent out 120,000, accounting for 60% of the remaining elite cavalry in the central and left wings of the Xiongnu.

The remaining 80,000 elite cavalry were tasked with defending against potential attacks.

The 10,000 light cavalry led by Li Guang, Li Gan, and Han Shuo were still on the grasslands. Apart from not seeing Li Guang, the tribe of the Xiongnu Left Wise King had already been attacked by the two young Han generals, Li Gan and Han Shuo, but the losses were not significant.

But these two "Han wolves" have also proven their capabilities, proving they are not to be underestimated or ignored.

The "flying wolf," whose whereabouts were unknown, made the central and left-wing tribes of the Xiongnu very vigilant and on guard.

Now that the cooperation has progressed to this point, Zhongxingfa is not afraid to "reveal his secrets" to Prince Zhao. In short, Yizhixie Chanyu attaches great importance to the Dai region and has spared no effort in obtaining it.

Liu Pengzu reluctantly accepted the interpretation of the Zhongxing Law.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhongxingfa inquired, "The Great Chanyu and the Right Wise King of the Chanyu have lost contact, and are therefore eager to know the reason. May I ask Your Highness, has the Han court received any battle reports regarding that Marquis of Champion?"

Yizhixie dispatched more than a dozen messengers to try to contact the right wing, but strangely, none of the messengers returned, and the right wing remained unreachable. The direction of the Right Wise King's headquarters seemed to have become a "tiger's mouth" ready to devour anyone.

"When I entered the palace during the day, the Xuan Shi Hall was holding an imperial court meeting. I only overheard snippets of conversation, all about the Nan Yue region and the southwestern barbarians. There was nothing about Huo Qubing. There was also no news about the Hexi army in the court or among the people. I suppose nothing happened. If there had been a great victory, the court would have already made it known throughout the world, just like the pacification of the south," Liu Pengzu said after thinking for a moment.

When the generals of the Han Dynasty went on campaign, news would constantly be sent back from the front lines. If there was a great victory, the whole country would celebrate. If there was no victory, it meant there was no victory. Liu Pengzu reassured Zhongxingfa.

"In this vast and desolate land, getting lost is not impossible."

Zhongxingfa's expression relaxed considerably, clearly comforted, and he said, "Even the most enlightened ruler could not surpass His Highness Prince Zhao!"

(End of this chapter)