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

Chapter 684: Splitting the Huns

On July 54, the 7th year of the Han calendar, news of the Allied victory reached Chang'an City via telegram. The 3-strong Hun army was completely wiped out by the Allied forces. The Huns' Chanyu Junchen drew his sword and committed suicide. The Huns' Grand Marshal Xia Jie died on the battlefield. 20 Huns soldiers laid down their armor and surrendered.

The whole city of Chang'an cheered, and all kinds of firecrackers and fireworks were set off all day and all night, decorating the entire city like a festival.

Zhou Yafu's reputation also reversed 180 degrees in one day, from a son of a tiger father to a son of a tiger father. Some people said that he was King Zhuang of Chu, who would make a big splash if he did not make a big splash. And the war dragged on for a long time, and some people defended him, saying that he only brought 1 Han soldiers, but defeated 20 Huns, so it was reasonable to take some time. As for how many of the 20 troops were Huns, and how many allied troops there were, they were ignored by the people in Chang'an. Everyone was satisfied as long as they knew that the Han Dynasty was still invincible.

Emperor Xu Aimin was also very delighted when he received the battle report from the front line. This was the first large-scale war he had fought since he became the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. Being able to completely annihilate the enemy and kill the enemy leader was a significant boost to his prestige. It would also be regarded as an achievement recorded in history in the future and would greatly enhance his status as an emperor.

The main force of the Huns had been annihilated by the Allied Forces. Just as Xu Aimin was discussing how to deal with the Huns and end the war, the situation in the Huns Kingdom suddenly changed.

After learning that the main force of the Xiongnu had been annihilated, the leader of the Northern Xiongnu, Yizhixie, committed suicide.

In the name of resisting the Han and aiding the Xiongnu, he led 100,000 cavalrymen into the Xiongnu territory and occupied the northern territory of the Xiongnu. The prefects of the Xiongnu counties not only did not resist, but opened the city gates to welcome Yizhixie's army. The six northern counties of the Xiongnu were occupied by Yizhixie.

In recent years, Yizhixie has been developing his power within the Xiongnu country. In addition, he led Xiongnu soldiers to expand the north and always presented himself as a brave man, which made him popular among the Xiongnu people. A leader like him actually met the expectations of the Xiongnu people more than a monarch or his ministers, so his power within the Xiongnu country was very great.

Only Junchen could suppress him. Now that Junchen is dead, his shackles have been completely removed. At the same time, the current situation of the Xiongnu Kingdom is extremely dangerous. For the Xiongnu nobles, Yizhixie is obviously a good leader who can help the Xiongnu Kingdom overcome the crisis.

Faced with the pressure from the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu nobles were a little panicked at this time. They divided into two factions. One faction believed that Yizhixie was extremely brave and had rich combat experience, and was more suitable to be the current Khan of the Xiongnu.

But the other faction believed that Yu Shan was the legitimate successor of the Xiongnu, and that Yizhixie's disregard for the overall situation and his attempt to split the Xiongnu were the root cause of the unrest in the country. As a result, neither faction was able to convince the other, which directly led to the division of the Xiongnu.

Faced with his uncle's invasion, the Xiongnu Prince Yu Dan did not sit idly by. On the one hand, he stayed in Xinqufu and summoned troops to prepare to resist his uncle's invasion. On the other hand, he sent the Xiongnu's high priest Ouyang Rong to Chang'an to seek peace.

The allied commander Zhou Yafu noticed the internal turmoil in the Xiongnu country. On the one hand, he cleared out the remaining Xiongnu forces in Seleucia, and on the other hand, he reported this intelligence to Chang'an City and asked the emperor to instruct on the next military move.

August 54, 8th year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, Jianzhang Palace.

Faced with the sudden situation within the Xiongnu, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty summoned high-ranking civil and military officials of the Han Dynasty to discuss the matter.

Xu Aimin asked: "Now Yizhixie suddenly appears. How do you think the Han Dynasty should respond?"

Chen Lei said with a tired face: "Your Majesty, the civil strife in the Xiongnu is a good thing for our Han Dynasty. Let the Xiongnu admit defeat and pay compensation. Then watch Yu Shan and Yizhixie kill each other. Instead, you should focus more on the internal affairs of the Han Dynasty."

Chen Lei has been extremely busy in the past two years. One good thing about industrial upgrading is that productivity has increased rapidly. For those that have developed well, production capacity and profits have increased exponentially, which can bring more tax revenue to Dahan and more products to society.

But on the other hand, these high-quality productive forces also broke the industrial balance formed in the Han Dynasty over decades. Take the textile machine as an example. After the steam engine was replaced by an electric motor, the production efficiency increased by more than two times. Because of the stability of the motor, the quality of the woven cloth was also greatly improved, the price of the cloth dropped, and ordinary consumers benefited.

Facing the electric-powered textile machines, the traditional steam textile machines were completely defeated and had no chance to fight back. Those factories that did not have time to transform were in a bad situation. They went from being able to survive to being directly loss-making. The high-tech steam engines became the backward production capacity of the Han Dynasty, and the electric motors were rapidly replacing the backward production capacity of the Han Dynasty.

And this is just one of the industries that has undergone industrial upgrading. The reason why electricity and internal combustion engines are called the second scientific and technological revolution is because the progress they bring is all-round and industry-wide. In other industries, the use of electric motors has resulted in more powerful power, more stable production, and the ability to produce better products at extremely low prices.

The current limitations of Dahan's industrial upgrading are the production of motors, the lack of talent, the contradiction between the time required to train motor talents, and the time required to build coal-fired generators and establish power grids and other infrastructure.

In the vast land of Dahan, as soon as the coal-fired generators were built and the power grid was successfully established, the old, bulky and noisy steam engines were quickly replaced.

This process was extremely painful and difficult. The pain was no less than the elimination of handicrafts during the first scientific and technological revolution. More advanced machines and fewer people could produce more goods, which was equivalent to the large-scale elimination of craftsmen who had adapted to the steam age within the Han Dynasty.

The speed of expansion of new high-tech industries could not keep up with the speed of elimination. He dared not look at the statistics of Dahan's unemployment rate in the past two years. Even if Dahan arranged for these craftsmen to transform and help them find new jobs, these craftsmen had been operating steam engines for almost their entire lives. It would not be easy for them to transform when they were about to retire.

He is now busy with the new global industrial layout, placing unemployed craftsmen in overseas industrial zones to stabilize the employment rate, and launching a new round of large-scale "going to the countryside" policy in the Han mainland.

He was also busy arranging the new industrial layout and the distribution of output and profits. The balance point was extremely difficult to strike. He had to ensure that the development of new industries was not affected and that new productivity quickly replaced old productivity. At the same time, he had to prevent the new productivity of the Han Dynasty from gaining too much profit, which would affect the distribution of interests within the Han Dynasty and cause the economic crisis to break out again in the Han Dynasty.

After all, productivity has increased, but the distribution of benefits has not kept up, supervision and management have not kept up, and production relations have not kept up, which will instead trigger conflicts within the Han Dynasty.

There are also conflicts between the old and new industrial zones, and the transformation of the old Han industrial zone. It is necessary to balance the interests of all parties, which can be said to have absorbed all of Chen Lei's energy. He really doesn't want to care about the affairs of the Huns thousands of miles away.

Xu Aimin also knew Chen Lei's hard work, but still said: "The war with the Xiongnu has been decided, and it can no longer consume much energy of the court. On the contrary, if we don't make good arrangements for the post-war situation of the Xiongnu now, I am worried that in 20 years, my descendants will have to worry about the Xiongnu again."

Jia Yi, Director of the Railway Department, suggested, "Your Majesty, the Xiongnu have repeatedly provoked our Han Dynasty. This Xiongnu civil war is a good thing for our Han Dynasty. The court can extend favors to the Xiongnu. Junchen has three sons. The court can support Junchen's three sons as kings, and at the same time enfeoff Yizhixie as the King of the Northern Xiongnu. This powerful Xiongnu country will be divided into four, and each force is only a medium-sized country with a population of several million. Such Xiongnu will never have an impact on our Han Dynasty again."

Military Counselor Chai Wu and Supervisory General Ding He said, "I agree to extend favors to the Xiongnu."

Over the years, the Huns continued to influence the Han Dynasty's global rule, and the Han military had long wanted to split up the Hun Kingdom.

But Zhang Pijiang objected, "Your Majesty, the Huns are not only the frontier of our Han civilization, they are the first line of defense of our Han civilization. It is not good for our Han if the Huns are too strong, but it is also not good for our Han if they are too weak. Rome, a powerful country in Daqinzhou, has been expanding to the north in recent years. Its territory is already the second largest country after our Han. After the end of the Civil War, Rome's population exceeded 10 million, and its industry is growing rapidly. It has become the strongest country in Daqinzhou. Carthage developed the three Celtic islands. It is said that they discovered several large islands in the north two years ago. Its country, land, population, and national strength are all growing rapidly, and its potential is huge. In addition, the population of Egypt has exceeded 10 million. After this war, the Seleucid Empire cleared the internal slave aristocracy. With its population of 10 million and its vast territory, it is not impossible for a powerful country to emerge."

"When these four countries become powerful, they will also be a huge threat to our Han Dynasty. Keeping the powerful Xiongnu Kingdom can suppress the powerful countries in Daqinzhou and play a positive role in our Han Dynasty's global rule."

Zhang Pijiang was against weakening the Xiongnu Kingdom too much, as it would not be good for the Han Dynasty in the long run. The Han Dynasty's global hegemony was bound to have challengers, and any measures that aimed to solve the problem once and for all would be futile.

The Han Dynasty has been developing rapidly in recent years, but other countries are developing at a fast pace. Any slackness may lead to new challengers to the Han Dynasty.

When Xu Aimin heard this, he said, "Bring me a global map."

Several servants carried a huge blanket, and then spread it out, and a global map appeared in front of everyone.

Xu Aimin looked at the Roman Empire and was surprised to find that Rome, which was originally a medium-sized country in his memory, had increased its territory several times. Its territory was vast and comparable to the Central Plains. Although the population of Rome was not large now, only about 10 million, it had to be admitted that the Roman Empire laid the foundation for the Romans to become a strong country. As long as the population of Rome grew, it would become a regional power, and its danger level was not much worse than that of the Huns.

Then there are the Carthaginians, the younger brothers of the Han Dynasty. Although their land area is not large, they have many islands, all of which are located on various shipping routes. The trade between Carthage and the Han Dynasty has always been among the top five, with tens of billions of dollars every year. More importantly, Carthage is one of the few countries with a trade surplus with the Han Dynasty. From this point alone, Carthage has great potential. Then Egypt and the Seleucid Empire are both populous and vast countries. As long as these countries enter the normal development track, they can become regional powers. Among them, the Seleucid Empire has experienced this war against the invasion of the Huns. The rebels have become the only legitimate political power in the Seleucid Empire. They have thrown off the historical baggage and ruthlessly cleansed the nobles. As long as the industry of the Seleucid Empire develops, a great power will rise.

From this perspective, the Han Dynasty really cannot weaken the Xiongnu Kingdom too much, otherwise the Qin civilization will expand eastward.

General Zhenhai Liu Bi said: "Your Majesty, you should simply divide the Xiongnu into two countries, the north and the south. In this way, the Xiongnu people will be divided into two countries with a population of tens of millions, which will be enough to deal with the four major powers in Daqinzhou, and the threat to our Han Dynasty will be greatly reduced. Moreover, the northern and southern Xiongnu will inevitably be hostile to each other, and the Xiongnu people will not have the energy to influence our Han Dynasty to formulate global rules."

Zhang Pijiang said: "I agree with General Zhenhai's suggestion."

The acting prime minister Fang Hao, Dian Qing, and the imperial censor Zheng Qi also agreed with Liu Bi's opinion.

Xu Aimin said: "Okay, let's divide the Xiongnu Kingdom into two. Prime Minister, you should prepare for negotiations with the Xiongnu and make them pay compensation, and this war can be over."

Then he looked at the military supervisor Ding He and said, "Old General, the allied forces have won a great victory. Please arrange for the reward of the heroes!"

These were the first batch of meritorious officials who were granted fiefs by Xu Aimin. In the feudal era, these meritorious officials were considered Xu Aimin's team.

Ding He bowed and said, "As you wish."

August 54, 8th year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City, suburbs.

When the Southern Xiongnu envoys arrived outside the city of Chang'an, what came into view was the towering World Expo Building that reached into the clouds. It looked unusually bright under the sunlight. Then there were some slightly shorter skyscrapers. These skyscrapers together formed a steel forest. Such scenery could only be seen in the city of Chang'an in the whole world.

Ouyang Rong exclaimed: "This is Chang'an City, worthy of being called the City of Light and the Capital of All Nations. It is truly indescribable how magnificent it is."

Ouyang Rong is the youngest son of Ouyang Xun. He was born in the desert and grew up in the Xiongnu Kingdom. As for Chang'an City, he had only heard people introduce it as the capital of all nations, but he had never seen it with his own eyes. But today, he was convinced that it was worthy of its reputation.

"Chang'an City, I'm finally back!" a voice shouted.

Ouyang Rong looked in the direction of the voice and found that the soldiers were dressed the same as the Xiongnu, but most of the soldiers were white men with blue eyes, high noses, and burly bodies. He said with an unpleasant expression, "Zhonghang said!"

The Northern Hun envoys also discovered Ouyang Rong and his team. The leader stepped forward and said in surprise: "I didn't expect to see the high priest here."

Ouyang Rong said indifferently: "I didn't expect that Senior Brother would also come to Chang'an City."

He had a very bad impression of Zhonghang Shuo. Zhonghang Shuo was the prime minister of the Northern Xiongnu, but he often instigated Yizhixie to invade the Xiongnu. The current internal division of the Xiongnu was instigated by Zhonghang Shuo. Naturally, he would not have a good impression of such a person who split the country.

Zhonghang said, "Chang'an is my hometown, but High Priest, this is your first time in Chang'an City."

Then he said with regret: "The teacher was also a noble of the Han Dynasty. It's a pity that the teacher gave up the glory and wealth of Chang'an to pursue the Manifest Destiny.

And now you only recognize the Xiongnu as your homeland. Take a good look around Chang'an City. As long as you have been in Chang'an City, you will find that no matter how prosperous the Xiongnu is, it is not even one percent of the Han Dynasty."

Then he said viciously: "If it weren't for the teacher, I might have been an official in Chang'an."

He remembered everything that happened back then. His teacher Ouyang Xun brought him to the Xiongnu Kingdom, and Junchen exiled him to the northern border. Do you know how he lived in the northern border during those years? The temperature was minus 30 degrees Celsius in winter, and the cold wind could penetrate a person's body. If it weren't for the Han Dynasty's heating stove, he would have died in the northern border. So when Junchen died, he instigated Yizhixie to go south.

Ouyang Rong said angrily: "You are a vain minister. You are receiving salary from the Xiongnu, but you want to split the country for such a small matter."

Zhonghang Shuo said angrily, "You think that you are willing to be a Xiongnu. I am a Han Chinese. If you prevent me from being a Han Chinese, I will not let the Xiongnu have an easy life."

The two sides parted ways unhappily.

On August 54, the 8th year of the Han calendar, in the meeting hall of the Dianke Mansion in Chang'an City.

The Minister of Rites Chen Zhen summoned Yu Shan's envoy Ouyang Rong and the Xiongnu envoy Zhonghang Shuo.

Chen Zhen looked at the two and said, "The emperor has only a few requests. The Huns must apologize for invading the Seleucid Empire, all Seleucid spies who have fled to the Huns must be repatriated, and the property looted by the Northern Huns must be returned."

Ouyang Rong nodded with a serious expression and said, "We will definitely do as you say."

"The Second Allied Forces' military expenditures for this year have reached 200 billion, and all of this money will be compensated by your Xiongnu Nation."

Ouyang Rong stood up quickly and said, "200 billion is too high. Even if the Xiongnu Kingdom sells everything it has, it can't afford it."

"This is your problem. If you, the Huns, dare to provoke a war, you must bear the consequences of war." Chen Zhen said calmly.

Ouyang Rong said: "My Xiongnu country has a million soldiers and is still able to fight. If the imperial court wants to exploit my Xiongnu country in this way, we can only fight to the death."

Chen Zhen smiled and said, "The court has also thought about it for you. We are worried that you Xiongnu will have difficulty in bearing this debt. You, the Northern Xiongnu and the Southern Xiongnu, will each bear a portion of the debt, and the territory that belongs to you will be divided according to the amount of debt you bear."

Ouyang Rong argued: "There is only one Xiongnu country in the world. I hope Chen Dianke understands this."

Zhonghang Shuo smiled and said, "We, the Northern Xiongnu, are willing to assume this debt. We only ask the emperor to appoint Great Khan Yizhixie as the Khan of the Xiongnu. And Ouyang Jishi was right about one thing. There is only one Xiongnu country in the world, and that is the Xiongnu country that belongs to Great Khan Yizhixie."

Ouyang Rong said angrily: "Yu Dandan is the prince of Junchen Chanyu, he is the legal heir to our Xiongnu Kingdom."

Zhonghang Shuo said calmly, "The Xiongnu were founded on military merit and have always been based on appointing talented people. Great Khan Yizhixie opened up the northern Xiongnu territory for the Xiongnu, but Yushan the Younger caused the death of Junchen Chanyu on the battlefield and also killed hundreds of thousands of Xiongnu soldiers. How can such a prince inherit the throne of Chanyu?"

(End of this chapter)