My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

The smoke of battle gradually dissipated.

The grasslands were littered with burning tents, dead warhorses, scattered weapons, and the remains of Hun warriors who could no longer stand.

The air was filled with the smells of blood, gunpowder, and a nauseating burnt smell.

But the terrible roar stopped.

The steel monsters that were spitting fire finally stopped.

The surviving Xiongnu people gathered in twos and threes, their eyes vacant and their faces ashen.

Some people knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing in the direction of the vanished hill.

Some people held their companion's body, silently weeping.

Many people just stood there blankly, not knowing what to do or where to go.

When Hunxie Wang was dug out of the pile of corpses by several guards, he was completely stunned.

He is still alive.

He had several knife wounds on his body, inflicted when he was knocked down by his own fleeing comrades, but they were not fatal.

He struggled to his feet and looked around.

He witnessed with his own eyes the flames engulfing the Great Khan's figure, and he saw the once invincible eagle of the grasslands vanish completely after that deafening roar.

"King Hunxie..." a guard beside him stammered, "What...what do we do?"

Hunxie Wang opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

What can he do?

Of the 50,000 cavalry, some died, some fled, and less than half remained, having completely lost their will to fight.

Those steel monsters were parked not far away, their dark cannon muzzles pointed at them, ready to spew out that terrifying flame at any moment.

And what about them?

Scimitar, bow and arrow, warhorse.

Compared to these monsters, the weapons that once allowed them to roam the grasslands were as laughable as children's toys.

Suddenly, a commotion arose in the distance.

Hunxie Wang looked up and saw a steel monster slowly driving out from among the steel monsters.

It stopped in front of the Han army formation, the top cover opened, and a person leaned out halfway out.

Black battle robe, golden armor.

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che.

Hunxie Wang's legs suddenly went weak.

It wasn't out of fear—though he was indeed afraid—but because he finally understood something.

They had no chance of winning from the very beginning.

They foolishly thought it was just the Han people bluffing.

result……

Hunxie Wang took a deep breath, pushed away the guards supporting him, and walked step by step toward the tank.

"The King of Chaos!"

The guards gasped in surprise.

He didn't turn around.

He stopped when he was thirty paces away from the tank.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, he slowly knelt down.

He took off the scimitar, held it in both hands, and raised it high above his head.

That was the highest form of surrender ceremony the Xiongnu people could offer – presenting a knife as a sign of surrender.

"By the Emperor of the Great Han," his voice was hoarse, yet clearly reached everyone's ears, "this treacherous subject, Hunxie, leading his remaining troops... begs to surrender."

He paused, then buried his head deeply, his forehead touching the ground.

"From this day forward, I am willing to serve the Han dynasty and never betray them."

The grassland was deathly silent.

Those Xiongnu who had miraculously survived watched their leader kneel there, watched the scimitar raised high, watched the large banner with Chinese characters fluttering in the wind—

Then, one by one, they knelt down.

First there were a few hundred people, then a few thousand, and finally tens of thousands.

The scimitar was untied and placed in front of him.

Head bowed, forehead touching the ground.

On the grassland, a dark mass of people knelt down.

No one spoke, no one resisted, and no one ran away.

There was only the sound of the wind and the occasional suppressed sob.

Liu Che stood on the tank, looking down at everything.

His face showed neither triumph nor elation, only an indescribable complexity.

Originally, when fighting the Xiongnu, he wished he could destroy them immediately.

But when that moment finally arrived, he felt, for some reason... as if he had lost something.

The Xiongnu Empire, which once burned, killed, and looted on the borders of the Han Dynasty, causing countless Han people to be displaced—

And so, she knelt at his feet.

He was silent for a long time.

The generals around him became uneasy, and even the Hunxie King, kneeling at the front, trembled slightly, thinking that the Han emperor was going to refuse their surrender and kill them all.

Then, Liu Che spoke.

"Raise your head."

Hunxie Wang raised his head and met those deep eyes.

Liu Che looked at him and spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Do you know why I have chosen to personally lead this expedition?"

Hunxie Wang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

Liu Che did not wait for his reply and continued:

"I've spent most of my life fighting the Xiongnu. I can't even remember how many times I've fought them, how many people have died, or how much money I've spent."

"I once thought that I would never see the day when the Xiongnu submitted."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the kneeling, trembling Huns.

"But my son, Liu Ju, has captured your Left Wise King alive."

"I myself will use these divine artifacts that I brought back to personally send Yizhixie to meet his Eternal Heaven."

His voice suddenly rose, echoing across the grassland:

"This is not my achievement alone! It is the achievement of the soldiers of the Han Dynasty! It is the blessing of the spirits of the past emperors of the Han Dynasty! This is—"

He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips:

"It's God's will! Finally, He's on the side of the Han!"

He looked down at Hunxie Wang.

"Your surrender is granted."

Hunxie Wang shuddered, then kowtowed heavily, his forehead hitting the gravel and drawing blood.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you for sparing my life!"

Liu Che waved his hand.

"I am not killing you because I am merciful, but because killing you would be pointless."

His voice was cold and rational.

"Your men are dead, but your women and children are still here. Rather than let them become orphans and widows, starving to death on the grasslands, it's better to—"

He paused, his gaze deep:

"Make them subjects of the Han Dynasty."

Hunxie Wang was stunned.

The Xiongnu people behind him were also stunned.

Subjects of the Great Han?

How could these Xiongnu people, who had been enemies of the Han people for generations, become subjects of the Han Dynasty?

Liu Che ignored their shock and continued speaking.

"King Hunye, I hereby bestow upon you the title of Marquis of Guiyi, and order you to lead your remaining people to relocate to the Hetao region, where Han officials will teach you farming and animal husbandry. Your women may intermarry with Han people. Your children may attend Han schools."

"Ten years from now, I will make you no different from the Han people."

Hunxie Wang was stunned.

He thought that the best outcome of surrendering would be being enslaved, and the worst outcome would be being killed.

He never imagined there would be such a path—

To become a Han Chinese?

He suddenly remembered something the old Chanyu had said many years ago, when he was still alive.

"What's most terrifying about the Han people isn't their swords, but their culture. They will use their culture to slowly and quietly turn us into them."

He didn't understand at the time.

Now, he seems to understand a little.

"This sinful subject..." His voice choked with emotion, "This sinful subject kowtows to thank Your Majesty for your divine grace!"

Behind him, the Xiongnu people also kowtowed and wept.

In those cries, there was the relief of surviving a disaster, the fear of the future, and a hint of indescribable complexity.

From now on, the eagles of the grasslands will have to fold their wings and learn to forage on the ground like chickens and ducks.

Liu Che watched all this in silence for a moment, then turned around and retreated into the tank.

"Issue my decree," his voice came from inside the tank, tinged with both weariness and satisfaction, "a triumphant return."

The tank started and slowly drove south.

Behind him were a group of Huns kneeling on the ground.

Surrounding him were cheering Han soldiers.

Liu Che leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Yizhixie died.

The Xiongnu surrendered.

The biggest knot in his heart in this life has finally been untied.

With the Xiongnu gone, the next targets are Japan and further west!

He suddenly laughed.

That smile held pride, expectation, and a hint of something indescribable.

"Return to Chang'an,"

He said softly.

"My conquest has only just begun."