Volume 1: War Dragon in the Wild Chapter 39: The Great Gathering at Lin (Part 1) Worry-Free

  (Thanks for the continued support from "Zhao Wu Xu 2014", "Hu Ye Bu Rao" and "Ye Song Ye Zhen Ming 0828", you are all old friends!)

  The May Assembly at Dragon City: Every May, the major and minor chieftains gather in Dragon City, led by the Shan Yu to worship their ancestors, lands, and spirits. This is the most important and solemn ritual of the Xiongnu people.

  August Conference of the Khan: Every August, all the Khans gather at the royal court for a grand conference. This is an administrative conference. The main purpose is to count the population and livestock, and to conduct trials and other administrative matters.

  These were the two most important court-level meetings of the Xiongnu era, and the Xianbei people, who had been vassals and subjects of the Xiongnu for nearly a thousand years, also accepted these two important traditions without any psychological barriers. During the era of Tan Shi Huai, the Xianbei unified and held several grand gatherings at Longcheng. However, although the name of the gathering remained unchanged, the location changed, from the Xiongnu royal court's Longcheng to the foot of the Great Xianbei Mountain, by the banks of the Rao Le River. Nevertheless, the glory of the Xianbei came quickly and went just as quickly. After Tan Shi Huai's death, the Xianbei split into three branches, attacking each other, and the May gathering at Longcheng (Rao Le River) became a thing of the past.

  The Dragon City Conference is over, but the August Congress in Lin has continued. After all, it's just an administrative meeting. If the site is large and there are many people, a large administrative meeting will be held; if the site is small and there are few people, a small administrative meeting will be held. Calculating population and livestock numbers, as well as criminal judgments, are essential tasks that must be carried out, whether or not there is a Khan to preside over them.

  The three branches of the Xianbei, every August, would each hold their own "Kulun Conference" and invite neighboring or friendly forces to participate in order to boost morale. For example, the Western Xianbei would generally invite the Southern Xiongnu, the Tugehu, the Qiang, etc.; while the Central and Eastern Xianbei would invite the Three Counties Wuhuan, Goguryeo, Buyeo, Mohe, etc. Of course, there was one force that all three branches of the Xianbei would vie to invite: the Protector of the Wuhuan who governed the Wuhuan people and the Xianbei.

  The Protector of the Wusun, Wei Su, had only one person, how could he be in three places at once? Moreover, after half a month, he would have to attend the Wuwan people's Kuilin meeting. This kind of thing cannot be entrusted to an envoy, and must be attended personally; otherwise, it will inevitably offend one side. Previously, the Protector of the Wusun had often used the method of rotation, so that everyone had no complaints. Although the Han Dynasty was weak at this time, the Protector of the Wusun was also increasingly discredited in the eyes of the alien nations, to the point where it was shouted and killed, but the gold medal used as a face-saving device was still not bad.

  This year's gathering, the Hudu Wulan school lieutenant happened to be in the middle of Xianbei, also known as the Kebi Neng department. This can also be understood, why the Hangou department received an invitation. But is it just because of the rise of the Hangou department that the Kebi Neng cannot ignore?

  Ma Xun threw out this question and asked Tian Yu.

  "No," Tian Yu replied without hesitation, "it's because of a runaway slave."

  Ma Xun nodded and smiled, heroes see things similarly.

  How did the Xianbei rise? They raided other tribes, rescued Han slaves, and then combined with the Han slaves to form a tight-knit group. They had a centripetal force and cohesion that other tribes didn't have. But the question is, by rescuing slaves, inciting them to escape, and gathering escaped slaves, aren't you just undermining the foundations of various tribes and sucking their blood? Whether it's the Xianbei or the Wuhuan, how could they remain indifferent to this? If Ma Xian allows things to continue like this, the northern tribes will eventually be ruined.

  In the face of Ma Xian's aggressive momentum, the Xianbei people tried to probe, and the Wuhuan people took action. The result proved that force is not feasible, so next will be negotiations. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the great assembly at Lin, it would be best for Qiepi Na, the leader of the central Xianbei, to come forward in person.

  Ma Xian also needs such a solution, after all, the Han Gou Department is still too weak. It's okay to suck one or two mouthfuls of blood, but if you bite the Xianbei people and Wuhuan people too hard, they will unite to deal with him. At that time, even the protector of Wuhuan school can't protect him. Therefore, Ma Xian must attend this Linhe conference.

  At the tribal meeting, when Ma Xian announced his decision and reasons to the elders and various heads, everyone fell silent.

  After a while, Tang Nu said: "What I fear most is that the Xianbei people have evil intentions. On someone else's territory, if the Xianbei people turn against us..."

  At this time, Yan Zhi, who was a guest of the Han Gou Department, stood up and said: "My Yan family's private soldiers, 500 cavalrymen, are all standing on the side of the Han Gou Department. No matter how arrogant the Xianbei people are, they must consider the face of my brother. If Ke Bi has ulterior motives, even if my 500 cavalrymen die, I will protect General Ma."

  Yan Zhi is representing the Yan family to form an alliance with the Han Ge department, and a preliminary intention has been reached. It's just waiting for Yan Rou to come and finalize it. Unexpectedly, before Yan Rou arrived, Kou Bi Neng's invitation card came first. Yan Zhi, who is about to merge with the Han Ge department, naturally had to guarantee with his chest, declaring that they would share weal and woe together.

  As expected, Yan Zhi's bold words earned him many grateful glances, and old Mu Ji even bowed to express his gratitude as an elder.

  No one dissuaded Ma Xun, because everyone knew that this move was inevitable, and it concerned the future survival and development of the Han Gou Department. The adventure had to be taken, and in fact, every day the Han Gou Department existed was an adventure. To survive on this land of iron and blood, when and where did you not need to take risks?

  After this matter is over, next is to arrange the personnel for staying behind and following.

  Tian Yu is going. In negotiations, it's best not to let the boss take off his shirt from the start, otherwise once it gets stuck, there will be no room for maneuver. It's better to send a deputy first as a front desk, and Ma Hong hides behind the scenes, so that he can advance or retreat. Ma Hong is indeed a gangster, but which gang doesn't have a batch of legitimate businesses under its name? When he was wearing the title of chairman and general manager on his head, there were already many commercial negotiations, let alone this negotiation, he must know the way of negotiation.

  There's another thing that can't be said to anyone, Tian Yu is the deputy sent by Hu Wu Maru Jiaowei, the second-in-command of the Han Ge Department, and below Ma Hong it's up to him, if he doesn't take him away, how can he rest assured?

  Then, Wu Zui was going to go. One of the Han Gou cavalry leaders had already become equivalent to Ma Xian's guard leader. In addition, twenty Han Gou regular cavalrymen were also selected - even if there were more people, it would be useless, after all, this is someone else's territory, and if you really want to clean up, bringing a few hundred people wouldn't be enough to fill the gaps. Most importantly, there were too few Han Gou cavalrymen, with only about 400 riders now, half of whom were auxiliary cavalry. These newly freed Han civilians had not even mastered riding skills, let alone defending camps, and as for field battles? Or fighting against the Hu people in a field battle? Not even considering using this method to seek death.

  Few soldiers, many old and weak, the defensive power of the village is weak, and the surrounding wolves are watching - this is the difficult situation faced by Ma Xian and his Han Ge department. If not, how would Ma Xian rush to Ning County to meet with Xing Ju as soon as he heard the summons? Although he had reservations about the Yan brothers, he had no choice but to accept their request for an alliance. This trip north was no exception.

  Hango Department is like a newborn baby, really needs help and support, and more importantly, a suitable growth environment.

  "I've given you almost all of our military strength, you must take good care of the family." Ma Huan heavily patted Tang Nu's sturdy shoulder with his left hand. "No matter what situation arises, the principle is to defend the home, everything else can wait until I return."

  Tang Nu clenched his fists, his eyes slightly red, and bowed heavily.

  On August 3, Ma Xian, Tian Yu, Yan Zhi and Wu Zhuo each led their troops to bid farewell to Han Gu's thousands of soldiers for dozens of miles. They crossed the wet river and went north to Da Xianbei Mountain.