My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 348: The Humble Military Official

The winter snow begins to melt and all things come back to life.

In the spring of the second year of Emperor Rong's reign, a drizzle of spring rain quietly descended on the Guanzhong land.

In late February of the spring, Liu Rong completed the first land-recording ceremony of his imperial career at the Sheji Altar in the eastern suburbs of Chang'an.

At the same time, Empress Cao Shu, also known as Empress Cao, also brought the wives of ministers, officials, meritorious officials and nobles to the Pepper Room Palace to complete Liu Rong's first silkworm ceremony of this reign.

——The emperor personally plowed the land to open it, setting an example and encouraging all the men in the world to work hard;
——The Empress personally peeled the cocoons of silkworms to make silk, setting an example and encouraging women all over the world to weave diligently.

This is the most ideal operating model of a small peasant society in the feudal era as recognized by later generations: men farm and women weave.

It is just different from the stereotype of later generations that "farmers will do this spontaneously": men farming and women weaving is not only a universal value of feudal society, but also a social model that the feudal regime strongly advocates and promotes.

The emperor tills the land himself and the empress raises silkworms herself, which is the most straightforward body language to tell the world: even if the emperor and the empress are a couple, the man has to till the land and the woman has to weave!
Why don't you two?

Do you have one more arm than the emperor, or does your wife have one more leg than the empress?
Since he was setting an example for the people of the world by leading by himself, the news naturally spread throughout the Han Dynasty at an extremely fast speed.

The channel was also very simple: local county governments posted notices on the bulletin board outside the government office and sent special scholars to read the contents of the notice for three days.

Then, everyone in the world knew that in Chang'an, the emperor and the empress were "the man farmed and the woman wove"...

The Ji Tian Ceremony, the Qincan Ceremony, as well as the Heaven and Ancestor Worship Ceremony held on the same day, all follow the same routine every year and there's really nothing much to say about it.

Just when Liu Rong finished his busy day and returned to Weiyang Palace tiredly in the afternoon, the news about the Xiongnu envoys, which the Han military officials had been waiting for for a long time, appeared on Liu Rong's desk on time.

"You went to Hetao?"

Sitting upright on the imperial couch, Liu Rong frowned and looked at the memorial in his handwritten by Yu Hou Luan Bu, and asked a question:
After reading the memorial carefully, he lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before handing the bamboo slips to his side, which were then taken by a palace servant to be passed on to the ministers in the hall.

"It is said that the military minister intends to lead the Chanyu Court and his main force on a northern tour after the beginning of spring, in accordance with the Xiongnu custom."

"Before leaving Munan, Junchen hopes to 'renew the alliance' with our Han family."

"——They said they were 'revising the alliance', but they never mentioned the marriage or the dowry my Han princess would give when she got married."

"Jun Chen is asking for peace."

···
"And this time, the military minister's envoys did not come to the court from Yanmen Pass as usual, nor did they come from the north, Shang, or Dai to knock on the pass."

"After losing Hetao for just one winter, they sent envoys to contact our Han family from Hetao to seek peace. This is a humble gesture."

"It's just that the meaning behind all these things is somewhat intriguing..."

By the time Liu Rong finished speaking, Prime Minister Liu She had already roughly read the contents of the bamboo slips.

Liu She also agreed with Liu Rong's opinion and nodded heavily.

——Just looking at this memorial, I can’t actually see any problem.

In this memorial, Luan Bu mainly described the Xiongnu Chanyu: the main intentions expressed by the military officials to the Han Dynasty through the envoys.

The content is well-balanced, and Junchen's attitude is very humble, but it is also very consistent with the attitude that a leader of the defeated side should have when he wants to make peace after the defeat.

Luan Bu also said with a hint of humility: Junchen's humble attitude is the "humility" that has never been shown by the Xiongnu Chanyu in facing the Han family since the founding of the Han Dynasty - to be more precise, the Xiongnu Chanyu has never been shown in facing anyone or any force.

Put this way, everything seems to be extremely normal.

However, one only needs to randomly pick out a letter from the Xiongnu state in previous years from the Shiqu Pavilion in the Weiyang Palace, or a memorial from a general expressing the Xiongnu Chanyu's intentions, and by comparing the two, one can quickly discover the abnormality.

——The strongest weapon of the Huns has never been the knife in their hands, but the mouth on their face!

Although the Huns have hardly suffered any serious losses at the hands of the Han Dynasty since Emperor Taizu Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, it is still impossible to ignore the Huns, as they seem to be born with a tough attitude.

In the fifth year of Emperor Taizu Gao, the Han and Xiongnu fought a battle at Pingcheng. Maodun, the Xiongnu Chanyu, launched a surprise attack first, and then instigated Han Wangxin to rebel, which was considered to be the first mover.
But after Emperor Taizu Gao led the army in person and rushed to Dai and Zhao, Maodun's previous military achievements were almost completely reversed.

At this point, the Han and the Huns ended in a draw.

In the second half of the battle, Maodun lured the enemy deep into his territory and besieged Emperor Taizu Liu Bang on Mount Baideng, which was another reward.
However, the counter-encirclement launched by the main force of the Han army immediately afterwards forced Maodun to not only release the encirclement on his own initiative, but also to quickly escape from the counter-encirclement launched by the main force of the Han army.

At this point, the two sides ended in a tie again.

At the end of the subsequent battle, although the Han army was filled with the humiliating atmosphere of "Your Majesty was trapped in Baideng and almost fell into trouble", the Han army officers and soldiers were still very clear about what they should do.

——Recover Daibei and take back Yunzhong, and eliminate most of the Xiongnu forces and spies who had inserted into the northern counties of the Han Dynasty!
At this point, the Han family had actually won a small victory.

But at that time, when Emperor Taizu Liu Bang arrived, he felt embarrassed and humiliated because he underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, which led to him being trapped at Baideng.
Secondly, after the Battle of Pingcheng, Liu Bang roughly understood that if he fought against the Huns who came and went like the wind, unless he had absolute overwhelming strength, it would take more than ten or twenty years to determine the winner.

Considering that at that time, the princes of different surnames in Guandong still had their own ulterior motives, undercurrents were surging within the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty itself was built on ruins and needed to be rebuilt.

To put it bluntly, even if we can win, we can't afford to waste time.

Taking all these factors into consideration, Liu Bang finally decided to make a concession: to shake hands and make peace with the Huns!
While shaking hands and making peace - that is, forming an "alliance", they clearly defined the Great Wall as the dividing line between the Han and the Xiongnu, and at the same time, they arranged marriages with the Xiongnu to stabilize them, so as to buy enough time and strategic space for the Han family to deal with internal problems.

The above is the most concise and popular summary and review of the Han-Xiongnu Pingcheng Campaign.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Han did not lose the Battle of Pingcheng;
Not only did I not lose, I even gained some advantage!
If it weren't for the internal problems - there were princes of different surnames that needed to be dealt with, and the Han Dynasty was eager to enter a period of stable development, the Battle of Pingcheng would probably have continued, and it was definitely not going to stop there just because the Huns wanted to shake hands and make peace!
Regarding this war, the Han Dynasty never mentioned words like "did not lose" or "gained a small advantage" either in public opinion or in historical records.

Instead of drawing a realistic conclusion of a "small victory", it created a pessimistic atmosphere of humiliation and grief throughout the country, and future generations, monarchs and ministers talked about the "Shame of Baideng" all the time.

The reason for this is that, as far as Chinese civilization is concerned, no one has the nerve to say that the Han Dynasty won the Battle of Pingcheng.

From the moment Emperor Taizu Liu Bang was trapped in the siege and his life and death were controlled by the Di chieftain, the Battle of Pingcheng between the Han and the Xiongnu was already a sure loss for the Han Dynasty. The only difference was whether the loss was more or less. If the Battle of Pingcheng ended directly after the siege of Baideng, the Han Dynasty would have lost everything, and both its reputation and its reputation would have been completely lost!

According to the actual development of the battle, the Han Dynasty only managed to regain some face.

It is no exaggeration to say that even after the Battle of Baideng, the Han people learned from their mistakes and fought back directly to Longcheng, beheading Maodun Chanyu who dared to surround Taizu!

Taking the heads back to Chang'an and parading them through the streets, and then taking them to the ancestral temple for memorial service - for the Han dynasty, this was not considered a "great victory in the Battle of Pingcheng" at all;
Instead, it can only be regarded as "revenge obtained" and "shame washed away".

To put it bluntly, it's a tie.

The reason for this is that the Chinese nation wants to save face.

As long as they lose face, the Chinese nation will not feel that they have a chance to "win";
Only when the other party is embarrassed, or even pays a price for humiliating themselves - including but not limited to the price of their lives, will the Chinese feel: Well, it's even.

What about the Huns?

Hey!
——In the Battle of Pingcheng, the Han won a small victory and the Xiongnu lost a small defeat;
As a result, after the war, the whole grassland was spreading the news: the emperor of the Han people was frightened by the greatest Huns' Khan, Maodun!

They were too scared to continue fighting, and they knelt on the ground and kissed the toes of Maodun Chanyu, begging the great Maodun Chanyu to have mercy and grant peace to the Han people!

The great Maodun Chanyu had mercy on the Han people and granted them peace. In order to thank the great Maodun Chanyu, the Han emperor was willing to offer his most beautiful daughter to Maodun Chanyu for his enjoyment!
It can only be said that any civilization that is related to shamanism - whether it is the Huns of this era or the Indians of later generations - is more or less abstract.

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The Battle of Pingcheng saw the Xiongnu suffer a minor defeat and the Han Dynasty a minor victory, but this was still the opinion on the grasslands.

Not to mention the friction that occurred later between the Han and the Huns.

——Word of mouth on the grassland: During the reign of Emperor Xiaohui, Empress Dowager Lu responded to Maodun Chanyu's suggestion of "do you want to have some fun?" by saying that she was not worthy of Maodun Chanyu's favor at all!

In order to express his guilt, he also recruited 100 of the most beautiful Han women and presented them to Maodun Chanyu!

In the fourteenth year of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's reign, the large-scale invasion launched by Laoshang Chanyu was so wild and rumored in the "unofficial history" on the grassland that nothing was left but shit.

What? Emperor Taizong knelt outside the city of Chang'an, begging the old Chanyu not to break through Chang'an~
What? Queen Mother Bo was willing to sacrifice her own body to beg the old Chanyu to withdraw his troops, but the old Chanyu despised Queen Mother Bo for being "old and ugly"~
So much so that Emperor Taizong personally wrote the Han-Xiongnu Alliance, expressing his willingness to serve the Xiongnu with the etiquette of a younger brother serving an older brother for generations.

The Han people, from top to bottom, actually have some understanding of this kind of public opinion, but they cannot express their grievances in words.

——You think he is bragging?

It is indeed blowing;

But you're saying that they're not as awesome as they say they are, right?

It just so happens that the other person is more awesome than you and can make you lose your temper!

Therefore, the Han people could only swallow their anger, accept the objective fact that they were "not as strong as the Huns" based on facts, and accumulate strength on the basis of facts in order to plan for the future.

On the other hand, the Huns were flattered by the bragging that was flying all over the grassland, and they became more and more arrogant. They even began to teach their descendants that the Han people were born weak and would never be able to defeat the powerful Huns.

It is precisely in this context of public opinion that the nomadic people of the grasslands have a natural contempt and disdain for the Chinese farming people;

They believed that Han farmers were nothing more than slaves kept by the Xiongnu in Han territory. When the autumn harvest came and the grain was harvested from the fields, the Xiongnu warriors, who were slave owners, would bring the grain grown by the "slaves" back to the grassland.

what?
The slave doesn't want to?
Rebellion against him!
Since you have no intention of being a slave, kill him!
If you can't bear to kill them, just bring them back to the grassland - keep them by your side and teach them how to be a good slave!
All of this was running very smoothly.

——The Huns boasted about their own strength, but they had enough winning power to back up their boasting. This boasting could not be blown apart, and no one had the strength to pierce the Huns' diamond boasting.

As time went by, even the Xiongnu Chanyu could not remember the actual situation - even the letters sent to the Han emperor were in the tone of an elder brother to his younger brother and junior, full of accusations and reprimands.

If nothing unexpected happens, this situation will not be completely over until Guanjun Hou conquers Longcheng and drags the entire Shanyu family back to Chang'an for a parade through the streets.

The Hetao-Mayi Battle in the past undoubtedly ruthlessly exposed the Huns' big tricks.

Everyone on the grassland was stunned!

What the hell?

Slaves turned over and became masters?

Isn't it said that the Han people are weak and can only work diligently to grow food for the brave soldiers of our Great Xiongnu?
How come they turned around and occupied our precious Hetao?

The collapse of faith often brings chaos and the collapse of order.

The Hetao Campaign shattered the Xiongnu's fantasy of being "invincible". The grassland, which had been relatively peaceful, immediately fell into unprecedented chaos.

If we say that the failure of the Right Wise King to capture Chaona Pass at the beginning of last year was simply due to the Right Wise King Yizhixie's "incompetence", at most it means that the Han people have become tougher and not so difficult to chew, but they are still meat on the chopping block after all;
The Hetao-Mayi Campaign told every nomadic people without any concealment that the Han people were neither the fat meat they had in the past nor the hard bones they had been thrust upon at the beginning of last year.

The Han people are already the knife for cutting meat!
Moreover, the Han people's knife is specifically used to cut the flesh of the Huns!
As a result, an unprecedented ideological chaos swept across the entire grassland.

——The noble lords in the Chanyu Court began to recover from their insane state and gradually realized that the gap in strength between the Han and the Xiongnu had narrowed to an almost negligible level.

The chiefs and kings of various tribes were confused, but they began to look for ways to rely on the Han people based on the most basic instinct of nomadic people: relying on the strong.

The lower-class herdsmen and slaves were even more confused, staring blankly at the Hetao region across the river.

Hetao...

Gone?

What should we do?
Do you want to follow the Great Chanyu and take back Hetao?
Or should we let the emperor of the Han people be our new 'Great Chanyu'...

(End of this chapter)