Chapter 27: Hardness is not enough, softness is also not enough

  "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" appears in every chapter, thanks.

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  The banks of the Raole River (now Inner Mongolia's Salawusu River) are located in the foothills of the Greater Xing'an Mountains, with lush grass and dense forests, and vast plains, making it a rare pasture. The Xianbei people, or more accurately, the central Xianbei tribe, set up their yurts here.

  The Xianbei and Wuhuan both originated from the Donghu, who were destroyed by the Xiongnu. During the Han dynasty, after hundreds of years of continuous attacks from the Han court, the Xiongnu collapsed and split into two branches: the Southern and Northern Xiongnu. The Northern Xiongnu retreated to Central Asia, while the Southern Xiongnu surrendered and became a watchdog for the Han court's western border. However, this dog still had its wolfish nature and ferocity intact. When the Han was strong, it was a loyal and honest dog, but when the Han dynasty declined, it immediately bared its fangs, repeatedly invading border provinces, even once entering Chang'an, and eventually becoming one of the main culprits of the Five Barbarians' invasion of China.

  "The Records of the Three Kingdoms" states: "(The Xiongnu's power declined) However, the Wuhuan and Xianbei gradually became stronger. Due to the chaos at the end of the Han dynasty, China had many internal troubles and was unable to attend to external affairs. Therefore, they were able to occupy the southern regions of the Han dynasty, plundering and killing the people in the cities and towns, and the northern border continued to suffer from their attacks."

  After the Western Huns fled, a power vacuum appeared in the north of the desert, and the Xianbei and Wuhuan, who were originally slaves of the Huns, rose rapidly.

  Xianbei "rely on Xianbei Mountain, with the mountain as the number", "Xianbei" means auspicious beast or divine beast, its origin is from a tribe that has already become extinct in later generations. The "Shan Hai Jing" contains, "Jiao Duan" is a single-horned divine beast in ancient legend, Xianbei people named it, and took the horn of Jiao Duan cow as a bow, commonly known as Jiao Duan bow, together with Mo bow, known as the famous bow of the northern desert.

  In the mid-to-late Eastern Han, the Xianbei took advantage of the situation to occupy the Mongolian grasslands and annexed more than 100,000 remaining Xiongnu tribes, beginning to prosper. During Emperor Huan's reign, Tan Shi Huai unified the various branches of the Xianbei, dividing the land into three parts: the area east of You Beiping was the eastern part, from You Beiping to Shanggu was the central part, and west of Shanggu was the western part. Each of the three divisions had a "great leader" in charge, directly under Tan Shi Huai.

  In the fourth year of Guanghe (181 AD), the Xianbei chieftain Tan Shi Huai died, and his son He Lian succeeded him. However, He Lian was incompetent and corrupt, and his unfair governance led to half of his people rebelling against him. In the late years of Emperor Ling, He Lian was killed by an arrow while attacking Beidi Commandery. His young son Yan Man succeeded him, but later Yan Man's uncle Kui Tou took over as regent. After Yan Man grew up, he fought with Kui Tou for control of the tribe, causing their people to scatter. When Kui Tou died, his brother Bu Du Gen took over, and by that time, all the Xianbei tribes west of Dai Commandery had already rebelled, while the central and eastern Xianbei tribes east of Dai Commandery split into three factions: one led by Bu Du Gen, whose people were located in Taiyuan and Yimen in Bingzhou; another led by Kui Bi Neng, whose people were located in Dai Commandery and Shanggu in Youzhou; and the third consisting of the eastern Xianbei tribes Su Li, Mi Jia, and Que Ji, whose people were located in Liaoxi, Youbei Ping, and Yuyang outside the Great Wall.

  The Han Go Department established by Ma Xian is located between Yu Yang and Shang Gu, and the 300 cavalrymen of the Fu Luo Han tribe under the command of Jian Ti Department are the elite of the central Xianbei. Fu Luo Han is the cousin of Bu Du Gen, the great elder of the western Xianbei. At this time, the tribes under Fu Luo Han's jurisdiction were allied with Ke Pi Nai, who was the main ally of the central Xianbei. Therefore, Ma Xian's three surprise attacks on the Hu people on the north bank of the Nu River had a much greater impact on Ke Pi Nai Department than he could have imagined.

  As the sun set, dozens of riders came galloping from afar across the plain, all wearing felt hats and leather coats, clearly non-Han people. As they passed by, they exchanged greetings with the Xianbei cavalry on patrol and the herders grazing their horses and sheep, showing great familiarity. When this group of riders approached the heavily guarded, flag-fluttering giant yurt, the door curtain opened, and three men with white ermine hats, hat ornaments, and white feathers, wearing plain white robes, waist belts with animal-shaped buckles, and long knives hanging from their belts, welcomed them with big smiles.

  The knights dismounted one after another, and the first two young men in their twenties stepped forward, doffing their hats to greet the three men: "Yan Rou, Yan Zhi pay respects to Ke Bi Neng, Fu Luo Han, and also Xie Gui Ni Xiao Wang."

  Among the three men, one of them was also in his early twenties, with extremely thick eyebrows, protruding eyes, a round face like a plate, and whiskers like needles. He had a stout, sturdy, and robust physique, which made him look quite majestic. This man was none other than Zhongbei Xianbei's great leader, Kebineng.

  On the left side of Kui Bi, there was a man about 35 or 36 years old, slightly tall, with rough features and long hands and short feet. This person was Fu Luo Han, the lord of the Ge Ti department. And the person behind Fu Luo Han was his eldest son, Xie Gui Mu, who had been driven out by Ma Xian's single spear and horse.

  Kui Biner burst out laughing: "Three months have passed, and I've finally seen Yan Shi Zhongkun again! It's truly delightful!" Kui Biner's laughter was loud and boisterous, giving people a very refreshing feeling. Of course, his enemies would never think that way.

  Yan Rou was about 26 or 27 years old, very tall, with a narrow and long face, eyes as thin as a knife, and a short beard under his chin, which made him look quite elegant. His skin tone was dark red and rough due to years of traveling, but between his eyebrows, there was a hint of a scholarly air that was rarely seen in Xianbei people. This was not surprising, because Yan Rou was not actually a Xianbei person, but a Han Chinese from Guangyang (now Beijing Fangshan). In his youth, Yan Rou was kidnapped by the Xianbei people and relied on his cleverness and basic knowledge of literature to gain their trust. He was quite skilled in divination and fortune-telling, which made him popular among the Xianbei and Wuhuan people. Over the past decade or so, as a Han Chinese, he had been active among the three branches of Xianbei and the three counties of Wuhuan, from the leaders to ordinary herders, no one did not respect him, which was also an unusual phenomenon.

  Yan Zhi is three years younger than Yan Rou, and his appearance also has five or six points of resemblance to his elder brother. Although he did not have the same experiences as his elder brother, he was taken out of the pass by his elder brother who returned from beyond the pass when he was a teenager and trained in the wilderness. In the past five or six years, he has made some achievements and is now his elder brother's right-hand man.

  The Yan brothers took advantage of their own strengths and engaged in border trade, exporting salt, tea, cloth, grain, ceramics and other necessities to the Hu people, while purchasing fur, jade, sheep and other goods for sale. Of course, the Yan brothers could not be content with just selling these legitimate but low-profit items; their true source of profit came from smuggling iron tools, gold and copper, horses, and slaves. With these huge profits, they quickly became wealthy, owning a fortune of tens of thousands and even forming a private family army composed mainly of Hu people, with as many as 500 men and horses, which was a considerable force wherever it went.

  The two brothers were trading with the Wuhuan people in western Liaoning when they received a summons from Qibi Nan and hurried over, knowing that something important must have happened. When the brothers entered the tent, they learned from Xiegui's mouth that by the banks of the Nuoshui River, Han Gaobei had dueled with Ma Xian, lost three battles in a row, and fled for a thousand miles; to this day, the entire tribe has not recovered, and it was hard to believe at first.

  Half a moment later, Yan Rou spoke in a toothache-like voice: "This Han Gou Department, I also heard about it when I came north this time. According to the news, it is a group of Han people who escaped from slavery and were led by a Han person named Ma Hong. They set fire to the Wulan Bone Force Department. Before I came, I heard that Khan Lu Wang was extremely angry and was mobilizing his troops to prepare for the annihilation of the group. I originally thought that with Khan Lu Wang's powerful military strength, it would be easy to annihilate a small group of escaped slaves, like eating meat. However, after hearing what Xi Gui Muduo Small King said, Ma Hong's bravery is indeed rare, and if Khan Lu Wang doesn't send his elite cavalry, he may not be able to conquer them!"

  Yan Rou said this when she was facing Xie Gui Ni, and keenly discovered that this young man who had always been proud of his bravery had a shocking expression. Every time Yan Rou mentioned the name "Ma Hong", Xie Gui Ni would involuntarily shudder and his eyes would twitch slightly. It wasn't that Yan Rou was used to pretending to be a ghost or anything, but rather she was good at observing people's expressions, something ordinary people wouldn't notice. This made Yan Rou even more surprised and curious about this Han Gou department general Ma Hong who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

  When the Yan brothers had digested this news, Qie Bi Neng finally revealed the reason for inviting them: "In one month, the Han Jue department has attacked our department's account in four places, kidnapped our civilians, and looted our property. As the leader elected by the masses, how can I stand idly by and see the masses suffer? I originally wanted to raise troops to punish them, but I respect Ma Xian's righteousness and bravery. If he is willing to return my kidnapped people and property, and obey my orders, I will let bygones be bygones and allow him to build an account south of the Wei River."

  The Yan brothers exchanged a look, finally understanding that Ke Bi Neng wanted to borrow their identity as Han Chinese and their reputation to act as mediators, with the intention of pulling this group of new troops with great potential into his own camp.

  Yan Rou's mind was sharp and agile, even surpassing that of Ke Bi. In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through her mind: Han people, escaped slaves, unknown strength. But this leader, with his own strength, had killed three great warriors of the Xiongnu tribe, and was absolutely a rare and fierce warrior. He alone was worth making a great effort to win over.

  Having thought of this, Yan Rou's mind was made up, and she respectfully said: "Your Excellency has given an order, how dare I not obey?"

  Kuaiji laughed loudly and said with great delight: "With a worthy leader like you, why worry that the Han troops will not submit?"