Chapter 8: The Xiongnu Separate and Fall

  After a month of practice and testing, Li Zhēng's capable subordinates gradually emerged - gold will always shine.

  Apart from Zhang Shan and Zhao Wu, several other people with their own strengths, prestige and management skills were promoted by Li Zhong to take charge.

  Zhao Wu was appointed as the chief steward, and all matters in the ranch had to go through him, with him only reporting to Li Zheng. Of course, although Zhao Wu's ability was average, managing several hundred people was still not a problem for him.

  Below Zhao Wu, there were four managers. They were in charge of construction, iron casting, animal husbandry and agriculture respectively. These four people were the most powerful and convincing in their respective management areas, and naturally became managers.

  Of course, Li Zhēn's definition of the ranch is a force with many aspects, and naturally there are more than just these few departments under its banner. But for now, the ranch has only just begun, and it's not necessary or suitable to have others yet.

  Zhang Shan didn't need to be mentioned, he was best at fighting and killing. So the newly established guard team on the grassland temporarily came under his command, making him a deputy commander. As for the commander, it was naturally Li Zheng himself.

  Originally, 50 of the 150 Hu slaves who were good at herding were selected and assigned to Zhao Wu's management. The remaining 100 people, together with 50 strong young men selected from the surrendered refugees, formed a guard team, totaling 150 people.

  Out of the 150 people, only 80 were soldiers responsible for defense and offense, 30 were scouts, and the remaining 40 were a hunting team specially used by Li Zhong to search for wild animal herds and capture them later.

  These three detachments appointed four squad leaders. The war soldiers were numerous and divided into two squads with two captains each.

  Li Zhēng came down from the hill and without saying a word, immediately called Zhang Shan and Zhao Wu over.

  First, Zhao Wufen was given the task of opening up wasteland and planting wheat and winter vegetables. At that time, there were not many vegetables suitable for autumn and winter growth, radishes and Chinese cabbage were the main ones - Chinese cabbage is also known as napa cabbage. In addition to these, there were also scallions, garlic and coriander.

  Having received Li Zhong's orders, Zhao Wu did not dare to slack off and immediately went down to start assigning tasks.

  Li Zhong smiled and thought it was good that he had someone under him. For ordinary things, there was no need to personally take care of them, just a few words would do.

  Then he gathered the guards, first entrusting two combat troops to take good care of the house, and then quietly went north with Zhang Shan and the hunting team.

  North of Lingzhou, although it is only a branch of the Helan Mountains, the terrain's steepness cannot compare to that of the main Helan Mountains. However, as one travels deeper, the mountains gradually become higher and more majestic.

  The sun rises in the east, and the white frost attached to the grass and trees melts away, as if a heavy rain had fallen. It becomes increasingly difficult to navigate through the mountains and forests.

  It wasn't until noon that a group of people walked out of the mountain forest.

  "That is..."

  Looking at the distant mountain ridge where a long dragon was faintly visible, Li Zhēng's mind turned: "The Great Wall?!"

  "What you said is correct."

  The captain of the hunting team beside him, Qiang people Kamu replied in a timely manner: "That is the Great Wall built during the Qin Dynasty to defend against the invasion of the Xiongnu people."

  Kam was one of the 150 prisoners of war slaves, because he was good at hunting and very strong, he was trusted by the prisoners of war, so he became the leader of the hunting team.

  Li Zhēn had long been well aware of the origins of these one hundred and fifty people. They were once warriors from a small Qiang tribe east of Lingzhou, who were defeated and captured in battle with another tribe.

  As for the terrain of Lingzhou and its surrounding areas, these semi-nomadic Qiang people were naturally most familiar with it.

  "It turned out to be the Qin Great Wall." Li Zhong slightly nodded, and turned to face Zhang Shan: "First go up the Great Wall to rest for a bit, and eat some dry rations."

  "Ah!"

  The horse ran to death looking at the mountain, the Great Wall seemed to be just on the not far mountain ridge, but didn't expect to climb up after walking for nearly half a day.

  Many people were panting with exhaustion, hastily sat down, took out dry rations, and prepared to fill their empty stomachs.

  Li Zhēn's physique had undergone systematic strengthening, and now he was even stronger than Zhang Shan. After walking for so long, he had only slightly broken a sweat, his face looked even more rosy, and he didn't feel tired at all. With the waistband knife pressed against his waist, he touched the ancient, mottled wall bricks, and Li Zhēn leapt onto the city wall. Standing on the Great Wall, gazing out at the distant mountains and rivers, a sense of superiority arose within him.

  At some point, Zhang Shan also climbed up.

  "What a magnificent sight! Master, I've been in Liangzhou for many years and yet I've never been to the Great Wall..."

  "Hah," Li Zhēng laughed and said: "One who has not been to the Great Wall is not a true hero, but now you are a true hero - the Great Wall has already been trampled under our feet, isn't it?"

  "Haha, you're absolutely right, milord." Zhang Shan laughed and said.

  Li Dang lowered his head, looking at the Great Wall under his feet, and shook his head: "When this thing was built in those years, I don't know how many people died. The foot of the Great Wall can be said to be piled up with white bones."

  "The Qin people were brutal and perished after two generations. However, the Great Wall is a screen barrier in the north, which has protected the lives of the people for many years, making the northern land stable. This can be considered as the only good thing the Qin people did." Zhang Shan heard this and said:

  Li Zhong shook his head slightly, with a hint of disdain in his heart, saying: "Passive defense is not as good as active attack, the Great Wall is an inanimate object, and it's the people who decide the outcome...". He continued to shake his head: "But at that time, the Xiongnu were powerful, their cavalry was rampant, coming and going like the wind. At that time, the Qin state's cavalry had just begun to rise, and their training methods and tactics were not yet mature enough to cope with the Xiongnu's raids, so building the Great Wall was a helpless move."

  "This is indeed." Zhang Shan was deeply moved: "When our great Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu, it wasn't relying on the Great Wall!"

  Li Zhong didn't say another word, he just gazed far into the distance towards the north, gazing at the endless horizon, a surge of emotion rising in his heart. One day, his warhorse would gallop across the grasslands, trampling the barbarian hordes. Let this Great Wall beneath his feet become mere decoration, highlighting his illustrious and awe-inspiring name!

  After a while, Li Zhēng gathered his emotions and jumped down from the city wall. Seeing that Kemu Ke and others had almost finished their rest, he continued on his journey to the wild horse herd's habitat.

  After crossing the Great Wall, the terrain gradually becomes flat again, and the landform is somewhat similar to that of the grassland.

  As he moved forward, Li Zhong asked Kamu about the specific situation in this area.

  Kamukuo was indeed an experienced hunter, familiar with all the situations in this area, as if he had a virtual map printed on his brain.

  He knew by heart where there were herds of wild horses, where tigers and wolves might appear, and where rivers had deep pools.

  "This Great Wall to the north, should be the territory of the Xiongnu people?"

  Listening to Kemu Ke's introduction, Li Zheng suddenly turned and asked a question.

  "The emperor's words are indeed correct." Kamo spoke in a humble tone, saying: "This area belongs to the Hetao region, with abundant water and grass, making it an ideal place for herding. To the west, along the banks of the great river, there seems to be a separate tribe of Xiongnu. To the east lies the territory of the Xiongnu's main tribe, the Tuge."

  "Where is the Xiongnu?"

  As for the Tuge tribe, Li Zhong had some understanding of them when he exchanged with Zhang Shan. After all, the Tuge was a major tribe of the Xiongnu, with great power and tens of thousands of armored soldiers, and no one in the north did not know about it.

  But for Xiongnu Bie Luo, Li Zhong was a bit puzzled.

  "Master, the Bie'luo are not Xiongnu people, but slaves of the Xiongnu!" Kamo replied: "The Xiongnu once attacked the Western Regions, and the Bie'luo are a tribe composed of descendants of these Western Region slaves, who obey the Xiongnu."

  "So that's how it is!" Li Zhēng suddenly realized.

  "Some also heard about it." Zhang Shan said at this time: "The non-Han people of the Xiongnu seem to call themselves Jie people."

  "Who is this?!"

  Li Zhong was taken aback for a moment. In the chaotic Five Hu of his world's history, weren't there Jie people? Understanding the existence of this tribe, Li Zhong's eyes narrowed slightly, flashing a hint of cold light.

  "So, how powerful is this Xianbei tribe?"

  "The Bao Min may have several thousand households, with a population of over 30,000, and at least several thousand elite soldiers!" Ka Mu replied.

  "Hmm..." Li Zhēng secretly calculated. A tribe of tens of thousands of people, several thousand elite soldiers, to Li Zhēng, that was a massive entity.

  It seems we can't afford to provoke them in the short term.

  "The existence of this tribe poses a great threat to our pasture." Li Zhong deliberated: "The pasture must be developed and expanded, we must move away this rock and occupy more places with lush water and grass, this is our..."

  Li Zhong paused for a moment, then continued: "The Tuyuhun tribe is not easy to provoke. Relatively speaking, dealing with the Jie people is simpler... From now on, we should strengthen our understanding of them and it's best to send spies to infiltrate..."

  Li Zhong sighed slightly at this.

  There are not enough people under me, and there are too few trusted confidants. Departments like espionage and intelligence cannot be established in a short period of time.

  "It seems that we can only let the scouts pay more attention to collecting information in this regard..." Li Zhēng made up his mind.

  Zhang Shan and Kemu couldn't help but look at each other in dismay. What was the current state of the pasture? They couldn't even muster a decent armed force, yet Li Zhong, this master, had already begun to plot against the Xiongnu forces - wasn't that just pie in the sky?

  As they walked and talked, time flew by quickly, and when the sun was about to set below the horizon in the afternoon, they finally arrived at their destination.

  Standing on a hill, Kemu pointed to a nearby valley and slightly bent his body, saying to Li Zheng: "Master, that is the habitat of the wild horse group. The activity range of this horse group is only within ten miles around here, and when it gets dark, they will return here to rest." As he looked at the sky, he said, "They should be back soon."

  Li Zheng nodded and said: "You have found the horse herd, your merit is great."

  "It is an honor for slaves to serve their masters!"

  Satisfied, Li Zhēng nodded and said: "Since that's the case, let's hurry up and make preparations. Cut down some trees, and when the horse herd enters the valley, block the entrance of the valley - I want this entire horse herd!"

  "Ah!"