Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 299 293. Driving the Tiger to Devour the Wolf
On the hills and mountains southeast of Danyang County, there are wooden houses quietly located, where many people wearing animal skins and looking naked like savages live.

Of course, there were also people dressed in cloth but with disheveled hair who occasionally appeared in this place that looked like a mountain village.

"Chief, there is news about our brothers who came down the mountain a few days ago..."

A man wrapped in animal skins hurried into the largest wooden house in the mountain village. This most "luxurious" house naturally belonged to the leader of this Shanyue tribe.

"Where are they? How are they looting the Han people?"

Upon hearing the news, the leader hurriedly asked the person who came. The Shanyue people were not having a good time these past month. It was heard that from time to time, the men from other tribes who went down the mountain to plunder never came back. However, the resources on the mountain were too scarce. If they wanted to feed the hundreds of thousands of people in the Shanyue people, relying on just a few forests was definitely not enough.

Therefore, the Shanyue people could only go down the mountain to plunder the surrounding Han villages and counties, and the same was true for the plundering team of this tribe this time. However, unlike in the past, they could return home in five or six days at the slowest and three or four days at the fastest. Now, it has been almost ten days, but there is no news at all, which makes the leader extremely worried.

They were just a relatively small Shanyue settlement, with a total population of no more than tens of thousands, and they could only send out two to three thousand strong men. Once all these people were wiped out, it would be a question whether their settlement could continue to survive.

Not to mention others, if only the elderly, the weak, women and children are left in one’s own settlement, the surrounding settlements will swallow it up without the help of others. In the general settlement structure of these primitive societies, women and children are also resources.

"The leader... only a few dozen people came back. They said they were defeated by the government troops at the foot of the mountain, and most of them were captured. They were... released."

When mentioning these people who were released, the man who came to report to the leader couldn't help but hesitate.

"The government troops are so kind, can they release them? If those guys from the Eastern Wu captured our brothers and sisters, they would hand them over to their noble families as slaves."

Mentioning the leader of the government army, he was also angry and hateful. Those Dongwu people captured the Shanyue young men who came down from the mountains and made them slaves or tenants without saying a word. It is said that they really could not live or die, and could only work for those aristocratic families until they died.

"Chief, according to the people who came back, the situation down the mountain has changed. The Sun...Sun something from the Eastern Wu was killed, and now the Han army is coming."

This man was not very clear about what was happening down the mountain. It was already his limit that he could barely understand that the current government troops were two different groups from the previous ones.

"What?! Sun Quan is dead?"

The leader was extremely surprised. As the head of a tribe, he naturally knew who Sun Quan was, and he also knew that Sun Quan wanted to wipe out the Shanyue people as soon as possible. Now that he heard that Sun Quan's Wu Kingdom had perished, how could he not be surprised?
"Han army... Could it be the Han army from Jingzhou?"

The leader muttered to himself for a few words, but felt that the future was getting darker. He had heard that Dongwu was beaten badly by the Han army in Jingzhou last year, and suffered heavy casualties. Now that the Han army has occupied Jiangdong, won't Shanyue have a harder time?
You must know that the Jiangdong Army, which has always been famous for its weak infantry combat, can conquer the Shanyue at will, let alone the Han Army?
"Chief, the brothers who came back said that the Han general told them that as long as we come down from the mountains, we can become ordinary citizens. They said that there are still many uncultivated areas in Jingzhou, and asked us to cultivate the fertile land in Jingzhou."

Seeing that the leader did not continue speaking, the man could only continue reporting carefully.

"The Han people said so?... Who knows if this is a trick of the Han people? It is not credible. The people of Dongwu have said so before." The leader shook his head and was still full of doubts about the Han people's promise.

Similar incidents happened frequently in Danyang County, and the local Shanyue leader Fei Yin also knew about it.

Fei Yin was a member of the Feizhan tribe. In the past, Feizhan was granted the seal of Cao Cao and was appointed as the governor of Qichun. Later, he was killed by Lu Xun, who was only 21 years old. Later, Fei Yin, as a member of the Feizhan tribe, inherited his position and led the Shanyue in Danyang County to continue to fight against the Eastern Wu.

"Alas... the Han army is not comparable to the Wu army."

As the commander of the army, Fei Yin knew more. Or he could be considered a warlord. He knew how the Han army invaded Wu with overwhelming force and slaughtered the Wu army that could easily defeat his men like chickens and dogs. He even knew about the recent defeat and death of Wu Emperor Sun Quan.

He also learned about the recent propaganda of the Han army from various channels. Fei Yin was also a little confused about this. If what the Han army said was true, then they would not have to stay in the mountains where resources were almost scarce, and they could just go to Jingnan and other places.

If the Han army deceived them, how could they fight against the Han army? Recently, many leaders sent people to Fei Yin, asking him to think of a way to fight against the Han army's step-by-step offensive.

"Well, let's send someone to talk to the Han army first. I hope they won't be like the Eastern Wu and capture us to be slaves of the aristocratic families."

Fei Yin shook his head and decided to try to make contact with the Han army first.

In fact, what Feng Xi said was not a lie. As for the Shanyue people, Feng Xi planned to assign most of them to places like Jiaozhou and Jingnan where there were vast areas and few people.

Especially in Jiaozhou, there were originally many Zham people in Jiaozhou. Although the situation in Jiaozhou had improved after Feng Xi's efforts to divide and win over the Zham people, Feng Xi did not mind making the Zham people more divided.

If the Shanyue people went to Jiaozhou, it would be difficult for them to integrate into the local Cham tribe, as their culture and language were similar to those of the Han people, and they would eventually have to stick together with the Han people. In this case, subtle assimilation would be necessary.

After a few generations, who can still remember which ethnic group they are from?
As for the Shanyue people who had surrendered to the Han army, Feng Xi was also generous in showing them favors and publicity. People in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period knew about the idea of ​​spending a fortune on horse bones, so how could Feng Xi not know about it?
The influence of this role model effect was quite obvious. Knowing that the Shanyue who came down the mountain to seek refuge could get fertile land in Jiaozhou and no longer have to suffer from hunger, many small Shanyue tribes simply went down the mountain to seek refuge with the Han army.

The Han army kept their word and assigned them to Jiaozhou to cultivate the land.

As for the open and covert struggles between the Shanyue people and the Cham people? The Han people, as the highest ruling class, don't care, as long as they follow the laws.

Once the hatred between the Shanyue people and the Zhan people begins, it will continue like an endless chain. As "neutrals", the Han people only need to enforce the law impartially and they will naturally gain a good reputation from both sides.

(End of this chapter)