At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 560: The Han Envoy to the Xiongnu

May 33, 5rd year of the Han calendar, Prince's Mansion.

"Your Highness, a war broke out again between the Xiongnu and the Parthian Empire. The Xiongnu have assembled an army of 20 and are determined to annex the Parthian Empire," said Zhang Pijiang.

"Huns?" Xu Aimin didn't react for a moment. During this period of time, he was mainly inspecting the establishment of agricultural cooperatives in rural areas of Guanzhong. After all, his father often taught him that without the right to investigate, there would be no right to practice. He had to go to the local rural areas in person to see if the farmers were really willing to join the agricultural cooperatives.
According to the survey, farmers in Guanzhong were very supportive of establishing agricultural cooperatives. Of course, this was also due to the court's support for agricultural loans, which allowed them to buy tractors and fertilizers. At the same time, the court guaranteed the purchase of their agricultural and sideline products, thus maximizing their interests.

Of course, there are many corresponding shortcomings. The biggest shortcoming is the lack of talent in the countryside. Even though the Han court mobilized students from farming families and agricultural colleges, there are still not enough talents to organize agricultural cooperatives. In order to solve the problem of talent shortage in rural areas, Xu Aiming plans to mobilize more students from colleges to participate in rural construction.

So during this period of time he stayed almost entirely in the rural areas of Guanzhong and knew very little about what was happening in the outside world, let alone what was happening in the Xiongnu Kingdom.

Zhang Pijiang could only take out a map of the west of Shenzhou and explain, "In March of this year, the Xiongnu began to gather their army. The latest news from Ji State is that the Xiongnu intends to gather 20 troops to attack the Parthian Empire. This is almost the entire country's military strength. With such a large army, Junchen will obviously not be satisfied with just ceding a few cities."

In the three previous battles between the Huns and Anxi, the number of troops each time was between 3 and 5. This time, the number of troops was increased several times, and it was obvious that they had a big intention.

Xu Aimin knew that Zhang Pijiang was afraid of the Xiongnu, so he asked, "How strong is the Parthian Empire?"

Zhang Pijiang said: "The population is roughly around 4 to 5 million. Its system is similar to that of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, all of which are slave aristocrats. Usually, they use a small number of aristocratic private soldiers to suppress local areas. When there is a national war, they hire a large number of mercenaries to fight. The soldiers that Parthia can hire do not exceed 100,000, but mercenaries can only fight in favorable battles. If they win, they will be unstoppable, but if they lose, they will be defeated. Their combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the Huns' self-cultivating peasant soldiers."

In terms of external affairs, Seguru was their original suzerain state. About 100 years ago, the Parthian Empire took advantage of the civil strife in Seguru and established itself as a king and established the current Parthian Empire.

The Kingdom of Seguru has always wanted to re-annex the Parthian Empire, but its country is corrupt. Although it has a vast territory and a large population, it is still inferior to the Parthian Empire in terms of military strength.

However, over the past decade or so, the Xiongnu Kingdom continued to expand westwards, causing panic among the surrounding Sai people. The Seguru Kingdom had changed its attitude towards the Parthian Empire and began to support them in resisting the Xiongnu.

The small countries around them were similar to the Seguru Kingdom. They were worried about being annexed by the Xiongnu Kingdom and formed an alliance with the Parthian Empire. "

Zhang Pijiang explained: "Although there are many countries in this area, they are all of the same race and are naturally close to each other. On the contrary, the Xiongnu are foreign invaders, and the Sai people are more afraid of them. Moreover, the Xiongnu's military strength is far greater than theirs. They have destroyed more than ten Sai people's countries and large tribes. The Xiongnu in the area west of Shenzhou is already a threat to children who cry at night."

The Xiongnu were also a nation that was good at learning. After Ji Zhou led the remnants of the Xiongnu to escape to the Western Regions, they learned the most thorough system of the Han Dynasty, which was the system of receiving land for military merit. As long as the young people of the Xiongnu reached adulthood, they could be allocated 100 acres of land, or 1 acres of grassland. The people who were allocated these lands only had to assume the corresponding military responsibilities. The soldiers who were allocated land would temporarily serve as infantry and had to provide their own weapons and armor during war. The people who were allocated grasslands had an increased demand for providing war horses.

The Xiongnu relied on this combat system of awarding titles based on military merit to defeat a number of slave-based aristocratic states in the Western Regions. (In fact, looking at history, the Tang Dynasty's Fubing, the Jin Dynasty's Mengke system, the Ming Dynasty's Junhu system, and the Qing Dynasty's Baqi system were all military merit-granting land systems in a different disguise. In fact, the two thousand years of feudal history of the Celestial Empire has taught all heroes a truth: whoever wins the peasants wins the world. If you really travel through history, even if you don't know any inventions, and just do a good job of dividing the land and building up the army, the probability of winning the world is more than 7-8%.)
After Junchen returned to the Xiongnu Kingdom, he organized the Xiongnu Kingdom to fully sinicize and established a military industrial system that was sufficient for the Xiongnu’s conquests. Ordinary Xiongnu soldiers did not even need to carry weapons and equipment. The Xiongnu Kingdom directly provided weapons and armor, and each Xiongnu soldier could be armed with dozens of kilograms of iron. This directly increased the combat effectiveness of the Xiongnu soldiers to a new level.

Although the Huns had a Parthian Empire to the west that had not yet been completely wiped out, they had conquered a small number of countries and nomadic tribes to the south of the Huns. The border of the Huns extended directly to the seaside, opening up a maritime trade line with the Han Dynasty.

Xu Aimin thought for a moment and said, "If the Xiongnu annexed the Parthian Empire, the Xiongnu's territory and population would almost double."

Zhang Pijiang said: "By then, the population of the Xiongnu Kingdom will exceed 10 million, making it the third most populous country in the world and the second largest country in terms of area, but its combat power will far exceed that of the Kushan Kingdom."

The Kushans had become a laughing stock among the aristocrats of the Han Dynasty. A powerful country with an extremely large territory, a population of over 10 million, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, no matter how you looked at it, was more powerful than the Seven Kingdoms of the Warring States Period. However, such a seemingly powerful country was beaten by the Indian Trading Company and had no choice but to beg for mercy. In recent years, the Kushan envoys filing complaints at the princes' conference has become a popular event among the princes of the Han Dynasty.

Of course, fortune and misfortune are interdependent, and the same principle applies to the Kushan Empire. If they had not appeared so weak, they would have been suspected and suppressed by the Han court based on their land area and population. After all, among the hundreds of vassal states of the Han Dynasty, the largest and most populous Ji State had a population of just over one million and an area of ​​only three or four counties. In all aspects, the gap between them and the Kushan Empire was nearly 10 times.

Relatively speaking, the Xiongnu Kingdom was different. It had a large area, a large population, and strong combat power. It was a well-deserved overlord-level force in the center of the World Island, and was naturally easily suspected by the Han court.

Xu Aimin looked at the location of the Xiongnu Kingdom and said, "It's so far away that the imperial court is really out of reach."

The main strategy of the Han Dynasty was to expand its influence to the New World and establish vassal states.

But this does not mean that the Han Dynasty had no expansion in the East. On the contrary, the expansion was extremely rapid. Wherever the Han Dynasty's maritime merchants went, the Han Dynasty's navy would follow within a few years. If there was a country, trade relations would be established. If there was no country, the Han Dynasty would occupy the coastal area and establish port colonies.

The Han Dynasty's Tianzhu Fleet has established three naval bases in the center of the World Island and seven colonization sites in the Yanzhou Continent. According to the plan of the Han Dynasty Navy, their naval bases will surround the entire World Island and Yanzhou, connecting the New World from the west to form a complete global trade network. At the same time, this is also a strategic network surrounding the World Island.

But this network has just been formed, and the power that the Han Dynasty can project to the World Island is extremely limited, that is, a few warships and a few hundred soldiers. It is obviously unrealistic to want to restrict the actions of the Xiongnu Kingdom with this military force. If the Xiongnu Kingdom does not give the Han Dynasty face, then the Han Dynasty will lose face in the center of the World Island.

"Did the princes of Parthia bring weapons and equipment back to their country?" Xu Aimin asked.

Zhang Pijiang shook his head and said, "The imperial court does not allow weapons and equipment to enter the World Island Center. They only brought back some iron ingots, which were made into weapons and equipment by their own craftsmen. Maybe some sea merchants smuggled cannons and muskets to them."

Xu Aimin said: "Let the Tianzhu Trading Company sell a batch of cannons and flintlock rifles to the Parthians so that they can withstand the attack of the Xiongnu."

Xu Aimin couldn't let the Huns grow. Unlike Xu Fan, Xu Fan had never been a citizen of a hegemonic country, nor did he understand the hegemon's thinking. Instead, he lived in an era when the hegemon suppressed the second, so he was extremely disgusted with this behavior. Even though he had noticed the potential threat of the Huns to the Han Dynasty, he at most did not support the Huns' westward expansion, but did not suppress them further.

But his son Xu Aimin surpassed Xu Fan in this respect. When he was born, the national strength of the Han Dynasty was at its peak. In his view, the Han Dynasty was the natural overlord, and the order of the entire world should be set by them, the Han people, and all countries in the world should obey the orders of the Han Dynasty.

Now the expansion of the Xiongnu has obviously endangered the hegemony of the Han Dynasty. He has no moral guilt. After knowing the threat of the Xiongnu, he directly wants to suppress the Xiongnu. This is the natural instinct of the boss to suppress the second. He only knows that the growth of the Xiongnu has challenged the order of the Han Dynasty, and the Xiongnu country deserves death.

Zhang Pijiang said: "This alone is far from enough. I think it would be best for the court to send an envoy group with military officers to closely observe the war between the Xiongnu and the Parthian Empire and have a clear understanding of the Xiongnu's strength. Only in this way can we formulate a reasonable strategy to deal with the Xiongnu." Zhang Pijiang paused and said: "The Xiongnu is a big country. The court should pay attention to them and formulate a long-term strategy. A strong country cannot appear in the center of the world island. As long as such signs appear, the court should suppress it. The more divided this area is, the more beneficial it is to the hegemony of the Han Dynasty."

Although Zhang Pijiang sympathized with Jin Zhe and his men, seeing that they were unwilling to distribute land to ordinary people, Zhang Pijiang understood that the Parthian Empire was in danger. This war would depend on Junchen's determination. If he was determined to make the Parthian Empire disappear into thin air, then the Parthian Empire would be annexed by the Huns.

What he was thinking about now was not how to preserve the Parthian Empire, but the strategy after the Parthian Empire was annexed by the Huns.

Xu Aimin frowned and said, "Not many people in the court know about the area west of Shenzhou."

Although the Han Dynasty opened its eyes to the world, what it saw was a group of people of pleasure, which instead increased its arrogance. The Han officials waited for countries in other regions to pay tribute. Those with primitive civilizations directly established vassal states, and those with countries engaged in trade. There were not many people willing to take the initiative to understand these countries, and they were mainly maritime merchants who came for business.

Zhang Pijiang said: "I am willing to be the envoy of the Han Dynasty and go to the Xiongnu Kingdom."

May 33th, the 5rd year of the Han Dynasty.

Zhang Pijiang was appointed by the imperial court as an envoy to visit the Xiongnu Kingdom. This incident caused a sensation among all the major powers in the center of the world island.

The overlord at the easternmost part of the world is finally beginning to influence the countries at the center of the world island!
Especially for countries like Parthia that were under great pressure from the Xiongnu, they most wanted to win over the Han Dynasty to stop the Xiongnu's offensive. Even if they did not support them, selling them more muskets and cannons would be good. In order to resist the Xiongnu, the Parthian Kingdom did not hesitate to sell everything it had. They bought the Han Dynasty's muskets and cannons directly at the price of silver. If it were not for the white slave trade, the Parthian Kingdom would have been emptied by the Han Dynasty's maritime merchants. They had accumulated wealth in gold and silver for thousands of years, but now there were only a few left.

The Xiongnu were on high alert, especially Junchen and other Xiongnu high-ranking officials, who had a better understanding of the Han Dynasty. In the past two years, they discovered that the weapons and equipment of countries like Parthia had improved significantly, with more armored vehicles, artillery and muskets in the army. It was difficult for the Xiongnu to form a generation gap in weapons and equipment, which had hindered their expansion momentum to a certain extent, because now the bloodshed and sacrifice they paid for every expansion were 10 times the original amount.

They sent envoys to complain to the Han Emperor, but the Han Emperor did not stop the Han maritime merchants' behavior. This made the Xiongnu high-level officials realize that the Han Emperor had changed his support for the Xiongnu.

The former Han emperor supported them in their march westward. To support them, the Han army sold them discarded weapons and equipment at extremely low prices, and even allowed them to recruit Xiongnu people from the desert. Without the millions of Xiongnu people recruited from the desert, the current Xiongnu state would not have been established. Without a dominant ethnic group, the Xiongnu state could only disappear quickly in the dust of history like the Western Liao state in history.

Now the Han Dynasty's sea merchants are unscrupulously selling steel, weapons and equipment, and even artillery and muskets to the Parthian Empire, and the Han emperor did not punish them. If Liu Bang were alive, he would definitely complain that he, a prince of the Han Dynasty, was not as good as those Han merchants.

It was because he noticed the change in the attitude of the Han high-level officials towards them that Junchen and his men could not wait to launch this war to annihilate the country, because he was worried that if the Parthian Kingdom continued to survive and the Han Dynasty fully supported it, it would be difficult to destroy this country.

June 33, 6rd year of the Han calendar.

The Han envoys traveled thousands of miles across the sea and landed on the territory of the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu leaders were extremely cautious about the envoys and immediately began to discuss the Han's actions after they set foot on the Xiongnu territory.

The Xiongnu Kingdom, with its capital in New Qufu.

The old Chanyu summoned all the high-ranking officials of the Xiongnu to discuss matters and said, "The Han Dynasty has never been interested in the affairs of the Xiongnu. They like to build ports along the coast. What is the meaning of sending envoys to the Xiongnu this time?"

The old top laner was a bit Han-phobic. He had personally witnessed how the powerful Xiongnu Kingdom was destroyed by the Han Dynasty, his god-like father was killed on the grassland by the Han army, and their hometown was occupied by the Han people.

It was only after they fled to the Western Regions that the Xiongnu nation was revived, but at this time the Han Dynasty became even more powerful. Especially people like Laoshang Chanyu who saw the strength of the Han Dynasty in the outside world would unconsciously exaggerate the strength of the Han Dynasty. He was worried that the Han Dynasty would cross the sea to attack the Xiongnu. If such a thing really happened, he didn't know where in the world there would be a place for the Xiongnu.

The high-ranking officials of the Xiongnu State were silent. They knew that the Han Dynasty was powerful, but the two sides were too far apart. Without sufficient information, they did not know what the Han Dynasty's envoys were going to do in the Xiongnu State.
Jun Chen said, "Father, don't worry about what the Han envoy wants to do. Our Xiongnu army has already assembled. The most important thing now is to destroy the Parthian Empire. The Parthian Empire is the biggest obstacle for our Xiongnu to occupy the fertile land along the Mediterranean. As long as this obstacle is removed, our Xiongnu can establish a dynasty as powerful as the Han Dynasty. Then we can share the world with the Han Dynasty."

Junchen worked as a blacksmith apprentice in the Han Dynasty for several years. He not only learned the blast furnace technology of the Han Dynasty, but also learned the character of the Han overlord.

I paid such a high price not to make the Xiongnu just a younger brother of the Han Dynasty. The Xiongnu also wanted to establish its own hegemony like the Han Dynasty.

Taking the Han Dynasty as an example, Junchen wanted to establish a huge Xiongnu Empire to the west of the World Island and divide the world equally with the Han Dynasty.

But Laoshang Chanyu looked at Zhang Yuan. He had been to the Han Dynasty many times to attend the conference of princes and was considered an expert of the Han Dynasty within the Xiongnu country.

Zhang Yuan said with a bitter face: "The Han Emperor has no ill feelings towards our Xiongnu country, but the crown prince of the Han Dynasty does not want our Xiongnu country to grow stronger. The envoy of the Han Dynasty this time, Zhang Pijiang, is the playmate of the crown prince of the Han Dynasty. It was also he who started the event that the noble children of countries like Parthia went to school in the Han Dynasty, which led to the growth of the military strength of countries like Parthia. I think he came to our Xiongnu country for no good reason."

Yizhixie said proudly: "Father, why should you be afraid of the Han? The Han are indeed the overlord in China, but in this land of the Western Regions, our Xiongnu Kingdom is the overlord. The Han army cannot cross tens of thousands of miles to attack us, and their fleet cannot land and bomb us."

Laoshang Chanyu said: "But the Han can arm our enemies with armor and kill our Xiongnu warriors with artillery."

Zhang Yuan also said, "Your Highness, what you are talking about is all about the past. Starting this year, the Han Dynasty will build a railway network in the Western Regions. There will be railways connecting Chang'an to the westernmost Kingdom of Qiuci. With the speed and efficiency of the train, the imperial guards in Chang'an can reach Qiuci in just five days. The nearest territory to our Xiongnu Kingdom is no more than a thousand miles away."

The Han Emperor also invited the Xiongnu Kingdom to build railways to connect the Xiongnu’s railways to the Western Regions, so that the Silk Road might be able to continue.

Zhang Yuan refused with a cold sweat. If there really was such a railway, it would be much easier for the Han army to attack.

"So what if the Han army comes? The Han army has artillery and muskets, which my Xiongnu country also has. If the Han army really dares to attack my Xiongnu country, I will make sure that they will never return." Yizhixie said unconvinced.

(End of this chapter)