General Qin

Helan Grassland.

General Zhao Tuo of the Qin State stood on a small field, looking at the wilderness that can't be seen in the distance, looking at the cows and sheep with their heads bowed all over the ground, and the herdsmen of the Yue family grazing. Come to think of it, I wanted to read a poem at that time.

But Zhao Tuo still held back. Experience from later generations told him that reading poems for nothing is not a good habit.

He thought of the emperor's edict he had just received, and whispered softly: "I can finally go back."

This sentence expressed the aspirations of countless Qin soldiers in the army.

It is now November of the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shihuang, and it has been almost a year since they were conscripted and far away from their hometown.

After nearly a month of messenger exchanges, their army in the Northern Expedition finally received a commendation from the emperor, as well as an edict agreeing to the squadron.

With the emperor's edict, the Qin army can embark on the return journey home.

However, during this month, Zhao Tuo did not stay idle here, but arranged the affairs on the grassland properly through various actions.

First of all, the fire he set off to lure Touman Shanyu back to his aid burned for many days. During that time, the entire grassland was shrouded in black smoke. color change.

Fortunately, the terrain of the Yinshan Grassland is special. The Beihe River in the south prevented the fire from spreading, and the large and small lakes in the east further restricted the way for the flames to spread.

When the fire was finally extinguished, only about half of the Yinshan Grassland was burned, leaving a living wilderness for the nomadic people living here.

The Huns who survived on the grassland were scared out of their wits.

The Qin army set fire to Mancheng, the head of the Huns, and burned most of the tens of thousands of tribesmen and hundreds of thousands of livestock that Shanyu grazing nearby. Can be spared, many casualties.

For the Huns who survived, the fire was terrible enough, but the news that spread on the steppe afterwards was even more terrifying than the flames.

Tu Shanyu, the Huns standing up for heaven, was captured and killed by the Qin army, and his head was passed on to the public.

Together with Shan Yu's head, the heads of the Xiongnu princes, such as Zuoguli King Wuluxu and Youguli King Xu Budang, were present, and they almost wiped out all the high-ranking Xiongnu officials.

This is the case at the upper level, but the Huns at the lower level also suffered heavy losses under the joint siege of the Qin army and the Yuezhi people. More than 30,000 people died in battle and were captured.

The result of such a war shocked and frightened the people of the grassland. Some Huns fled to Mobei under the leadership of Hou Huyantiao, the capital of Zuogu, who escaped by chance, and escaped from this sad land.

The remaining Huns were recruited by the newly appointed Shanyu Yihanxie of the Qin people.

The cold winter is approaching, and it is not a good choice to flee to the desolate Mobei at this time, the chance of ordinary herdsmen surviving is too low.

In this case, it would be better to join the Qin people. According to Yi Hanxie's propaganda, as long as they surrender to the Qin people, they can continue to stay on this grassland to graze.

In the end, the number of Xiongnu gathered by Yihanxie reached about 150,000, and there were hundreds of thousands of livestock.

It sounds like a lot, but in fact, most of them are the old and weak women and children who had stayed behind. In addition to some of the Huns sent back by the Qin army, the number of soldiers who can fight is only about 30,000 to 40,000, which is about the same strength as the two Yue clan who took refuge in the Qin army. .

"The Xiongnu still have some tribes near Longcheng in Mobei. Huyantiao led people to flee there. The name Xiongnu will probably continue to be used. This way, there will be one Xiongnu in the north and south of Yinshan Mountain, forming a situation of two Xiongnu in the north and south."

Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo smiled faintly.

He didn't care about the escaped Northern Huns.

Now that Touman is dead, Mao Dun is still young and still hostage in Donghu. Without the leadership of the hero, those three melons and two dates that were maimed in Mobei can't make any big waves.

Moreover, Yi Hanxie led the southern Huns to surrender to Qin. After being influenced by the culture of Zhu Xia, these Huns would go further and further away from their compatriots in the north, and eventually become the real vassals of the Qin people.

Zhao Tuo had even begun to figure out how to Qinify the Southern Huns in order to truly control them.

Marriage?

Naturally it is impossible.

However, the Xiongnu Shanyu and the sons of many nobles can go to Xianyang to "study abroad" to learn the culture of Zhuxia, and use special "textbooks" to brainwash them and promote the idea of ​​loyalty to Great Qin.

At the same time, the city was opened to the surrendered Southern Xiongnu, and products representing Zhuxia culture were used to infiltrate the lives of ordinary herdsmen.

In this way, both the upper and lower classes of the Southern Xiongnu were trapped and eroded by the influence of Zhuxia culture. The economic and cultural gap between the northern and southern Xiongnu would become wider and wider.

There may even be a situation where the Southern Huns regard the Northern Huns as savages, and the two sides will never have the possibility of converging.

Of course, these are only Zhao Tuo's preliminary ideas.

Its inspiration comes from the practice of the Han Dynasty in history. After returning to the court, he will write a letter to the emperor. At that time, many ministers in the court will discuss and complete the plan, which will naturally be better.

In addition to the Xiongnu, there were also two Yue clans who belonged to them. Zhao Tuo also had a similar idea, using the power of culture to truly integrate these grassland peoples into the Qin State.

However, the role of the Yuezhi people now is mainly to form a mutual surveillance situation with Yi Hanxie's Southern Huns.

During this month, Zhao Tuo redistributed the power distribution on the grassland.

The first was the Southern Huns who had defected to the Qin army, and they were relocated to the Taozhong Plain south of the Beihe River.

The Yinshan Grassland they originally occupied was distributed to the Yuezhi of the Guishuang tribe.

Although half of this grassland was burned by the fire, the population of Guishuang is not too large, just enough for them to use.

After staying for two years, this place is still a fertile and lush pasture, and Guishuang Xihou is quite satisfied with this.

The purpose of Zhao Tuo's arrangement is to let Guishuang Yueshi stand between the northern and southern Xiongnu, not only to prevent the northern and southern Xiongnu from communicating with each other. After the Qin army left, if Yi Hanxie had the heart to defect and wanted to lead people northward, he had to pass the Guishuang Yueshi hurdle first.

In the same way, the Southern Xiongnu were arranged in the "Taozhong Plain", just sandwiched between the Guishuang Yuezhi of the Yinshan Grassland and the Xiumi Yuezhi of the Helan Grassland, which could prevent the two Yuezhi from colluding with each other and monitor the The movements of the two Yuezhi.

Such a layout of mutual monitoring and mutual checks and balances by the Xiongnu and Yueshi can maintain the stability of the area after the Qin army leaves.

In the future, after the emperor migrated to Qin Shibian and set up counties here, the Qin people would be neighbors with these grassland peoples, and a three-party surveillance situation could be achieved.

Zhao Tuo's move can be described as well-intentioned.

Only after doing all this, can he leave this newly established territory with peace of mind, without worrying that there will be rebellion after leaving.

Footsteps came from behind.

"General, Su Jiasha, the noble daughter of the Yue family, asks to see you."

When the short soldiers came to report, Zhao Tuo said "hmm".

After a while, Su Jiasha walked over, she bowed and said: "General, my concubine has led people to capture the white deer."

"Oh? I really caught it."

Zhao Tuo nodded in satisfaction.

This woman did not disappoint him.

This time the Qin army won a big victory and returned to Xianyang. In addition to escorting a group of Xiongnu captives back to Xianyang, it is natural to present some special products on the grassland to the emperor to boast of the Qin army's martial arts, and at the same time let the emperor truly feel that he has controlled the country. piece of land.

Canglang, Bailu.

This is Zhao Tuo's choice. The gray wolf is a prairie wolf. It can be seen everywhere on the grassland. It is not difficult to catch it.

White deer are very rare. Su Jiasha took tens of thousands of people out and searched for several days before catching one.

With both the wolf and the deer in hand, Zhao Tuo should go back naturally.

Zhao Tuo turned his head, looked at Su Jiasha's face that was obviously different from that of a woman from Qin, and said with a smile: "You are going back to Xianyang with my army now, do you have any fear in your heart?"

Su Jiasha made many contributions in this war, and even captured and killed Touman Shanyu, which can be called the number one hero below Zhao Tuo.

In addition, she was a woman, which made her name very eye-catching, which aroused the emperor's curiosity.

Therefore, in the edict, the emperor specifically asked Su Jiasha and other heroes to go back to Xianyang with the Qin army to meet him, and he would give a big reward.

Looking at Zhao Tuo's resolute face, Su Jiasha was slightly distracted.

Then she chuckled and said: "My concubine admired Daqin since I was a child, and now that I can go to Xianyang, I am too happy to be in time, so I will not be afraid. And... isn't there a general here?"

"I?"

Zhao Tuo was startled, then shook his head and said, "Whether there is me or not, you are the hero of this Northern Expedition, and the emperor will not treat you badly."

Zhao Tuo didn't care about Su Jiasha's slightly disappointed eyes. He asked the short soldiers to recruit the long history of his subordinates, and then formally issued the military order.

"return after victory!"