The top of Danhan Mountain, where the Tuoba Xianbei tribe worship ceremony was held for several years, is a place to decide the major affairs of the tribe. Where the powerful Tuoba Xianbei will go depends entirely on the result of this ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven. Although the face-to-face competition between the two tribes of the East and West only took place on the altars of the mountain tops of dozens of feet in radius, the mountains and grasslands in the northern border thousands of miles east are like the summer before the thunderstorm, the air is stuffy and makes people feel depressed and panicked.
From mid-July, Tuoba Xianbei, which had been fiercely confronting each other, frequently causing huge casualties and injuries, stopped fighting each other and waited for breath. Although they were still eyeing each other, no matter the Xianbei soldiers, tribes, and chiefs, they all understood that fighting again was meaningless, and the future path would be decided on Danhan Mountain. Ei Lu, either Luguan or Yilu, no matter what, Tuoba Xianbei, who had experienced fierce internal strife, would usher in a new Great Chanyu, and the soldiers only needed to move towards the direction pointed by the Great Chanyu flag.
In addition to the Tuoba Xianbei tribe, there are more eyes that are also betting on the top of Danhan Mountain.
In Jinyang City, the Bingzhou Governor's Mansion, which Lu Yao was still building when he left, has now been basically completed. Majestic and gorgeous buildings rose up on the former site of the Governor's Mansion. The list is like a Tangchi in Jincheng, the heavy buildings are like cloud towers, and the flying pavilions are like long rainbows passing through the sky. It is really full of atmosphere. On a tower in the northeast corner of the Governor's Mansion, Liu Kun sat in the main seat, and several people stood with him.
Among the current senior officials of the Great Jin Dynasty, Liu Kun is a very small number of talented and strategic people. As the governor of Bingzhou, he had long investigated the powerful neighbors in the northern part of Bingzhou and was well aware of the inside story. At this critical point when the situation in the Tuoba Xianbei was about to change, he was the only one who prepared for the preparations and tried every means to seek benefits for China and North Korea.
Liu Kun leaned over and looked at the map carefully. His two thick black eyebrows were locked deeply, occasionally unfolding, and he felt a little excited. His fingers paused slightly at the Xinxing County, and then he turned north, turned west through Yanmen.
He stopped at Dingxiang, Jiuyuan and other places, and knocked it lightly twice.
As his fingertips moved, the mountains, fields, rivers and cities that were thousands of miles away in the northern border emerged in his mind. Liu Kun closed his eyes and thought deeply, and did not speak for a long time.
In the early years of the Later Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu, who had been on the grasslands for thousands of miles and had competed with the Central Plains regime for hundreds of years, finally collapsed under the persistent military and diplomatic offensive of the Han Dynasty. Some of them were attached to it and were called the Southern Xiongnu; and the Northern Xiongnu who lived in the north of the desert finally embarked on a journey of migrating westward. However, the vast northern grasslands did not gain long-term tranquility. In just a few decades, the Xianbei people captured the old land of the Xiongnu and became the new opponent of the Central Plains court.
Ridiculously, the rise of the Xianbei people was actually closely related to the great support of the Han Dynasty. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to drive the Xianbei people to fight against the Xiongnu, the court paid huge sums of money every year. According to historical records, Qingxu and the two prefectures alone had to pay 270 million yuan for this every year. With the help of the Central Plains regime, the Xianbei people did indeed complete the task of fighting against the Xiongnu. But after the decline of the Huns, who could compete with the Xianbei people?
At the end of the Han Dynasty, leaders of the talented and strategic Xianbei tribes such as Tan Shihuai and Ke Bineng rose one after another, combining many scattered Xianbei tribes into a powerful military alliance. From Yunzhong, the east of Wuyuan to the Liaoshui River was all Xianbei courts. Taking advantage of the Central Plains when the Central Plains were storming, hundreds of thousands of Xianbei cavalry continued to invade and kill and loot on the borders of Liangzhou, Bingzhou and Youzhou, and even intervened in the battles between warlords, provoking one tragic war after another. Even after Cao Wei unified the north, the Xianbei still invaded the borders several times. The military and civilians of Youbing and the two states in the northern border suffered huge casualties.
Although Emperor Wen of Wei deliberately tolerated the Xianbei leader Ke Bi Neng as the King of Supporting Yi, the Xianbei invasion did not restrain him slightly. Liang Xi, the governor of Bingzhou, who was responsible for the defense of the northern border of Cao Wei at that time, Tian Yu, the governor of Wuhuan, and Bi Gui, the governor of Youzhou, were all famous generals and important officials. However, Tian Yu had the siege of Macheng and Bi Gui was defeated by Xingbei, and it was inevitable that he would be frustrated under the power of Xianbei cavalry.
It was not until the third year of Qinglong that the governor of Youzhou, Wang Xiong, sent warriors to stab Ke Bineng to death, and supported his brother and brother as king. In order to compete for the leadership of the tribal alliance, the Xianbei people had large-scale internal conflicts. Over the years, the species were separated and attacked each other. The strong fled far away, and the weak asked to surrender. Only then did the northern borders barely settle down.
However, the Xianbei people have already formed a climate and have not weakened because of this. After the split of the Xianbei tribe alliance, the tribes experienced decades of infighting and annexing, and each developed in different directions, gradually forming several huge branches. The Xianbei in the eastern part was respected by the three families of Murong, Duan and Yuwen, the Xianbei in the central part was headed by Tuoba, and the Xianbei in the western part lived in mixed with the Qiang and Hu. Among them, the Tuoba Xianbei population was nearly 2 million, and there were hundreds of thousands of knights who could ride horses and control strings, which was the most powerful of the Xianbei tribes.
No one dared to ignore this powerful tribe. Since the Han and Wei dynasties, both Wei and Jin dynasties have spared no effort to win over the Tuoba Xianbei. The gold coins and shreds given to the Tuoba family were given tens of thousands of yuan a year, and the two families had contacted and exchanged with the market. In return, the leader of the Tuoba Xianbei at that time, Li Wei sent his son Demo Khan to Luoyang and was deeply migrated. When the Jin Dynasty was attacked by the Han Dynasty of the Xiongnu, formed by the last descendants of the Southern Xiongnu, the Tuoba Xianbei Shanyu Yiyi even sent tens of thousands of people to support the Bingzhou Governor's troops and defeated the Xiongnu soldiers several times. This is the reason why the former Bingzhou Governor Sima Teng was so incompetent, but could last in Bingzhou for seven years.
After Liu Kun took over Bingzhou, he continued to implement the national policy that had been implemented for many years, appeased the Tuoba Xianbei, and received a warm response from Yilu, the western master of the Tuoba Xianbei. Although he was at a critical moment of competition between the East and West, Yilu, the western master, still went south and formed an alliance with Bingzhou. When the Jinyang army fought with Liu Yuan, Yilu even adhered to the alliance between the two sides and sent troops to aid Jinyang, annihilated tens of thousands of elite Xiongnu soldiers from the troops of Liu He, the troops of Zuoxian King Liu He, greatly damaged the vitality of the Huns and Han Kingdom.
Liu Kun has a arrogant and arrogant personality and has a high self-esteem, but he has to face up to the current severe situation. It must be admitted that the Tuoba Xianbei has now become one of the important supporters of the Great Jin court in the northern border, and it is also an indispensable support for him to fight against the Huns.
However, will this situation continue?
The competition between the Eastern Emperor Luguan and the Western Emperor will eventually determine the outcome. After getting rid of internal friction, will the Tuoba Xianbei led by the new Grand Shanyu still obey the court? When the decline of the Grand Jin court can no longer be covered, when tens of millions of miles of fertile land, billions of people and endless wealth are exposed to the eyes of the wolves like unprevented fat cattle and sheep; will the Tuoba Xianbei, the strongest of the Xianbei tribes extend their strong minions to the outside world?
Liu Kun has made countless efforts to weigh and calculate the ceremony of the heaven sacrifice, and has made many targeted arrangements. He ordered Wen Qiao to visit Danhan Mountain for the envoy to watch the ceremony, and Lu Yao and Ding Miao used troops from Jizhou to serve the county, and there were many other arrangements ready to go and could be put into use at any time. But after all, he faced such a huge Tuoba Xianbei tribe, and wanted to use the power of a mere Jinyang to mobilize the situation of the strong tribe in the northern border. For example, if a small beast attempted to get meat when the two tigers were fighting each other, it would inevitably make people feel a little doubtful.
Liu Kun pondered, and his slender and powerful fingers slowly retreated from Jiuyuan and Dingxiang area, and landed in Yanmen County again. He asked in a deep voice: "Xizhi, do you think that Lu Guan or Yilu will win in this ceremony of sacrifice to heaven?"
The person called "Xizhi" was engaged in Bingzhou, and the people of Yanmen were in bloom. Although Mohan was a literati, he was strong and his face seemed older than his actual age because he had been attacked by the wind, swords and frost swords in the north for a long time. He was a great tycoon who lived in Yanmen for generations. He was deeply aware of the Hu clan's ills and had a strong clan power. Therefore, Liu Kun often asked him about the Hu clan's affairs in the northern border.
After hearing Liu Kun’s question, Mo Han respectfully replied:
"Lu Guan was an ordinary person among the various scholars of Liwei. For decades, he has been focusing on integrating the Tuoba Xianbei and rarely participated in matters outside the tribe. However, he has been expanding his power in recent years, and his methods are sophisticated and vicious. There are even rumors that Tuoba Yiyi's sudden death may not be separated from him. On the other hand, this person is fair in his work, generous and polite to his subordinates, and is very good at winning people's hearts, and has received support from many tribes attached to Tuoba Xianbei. The two tribes of Tuoba Xianbei were originally similar in power, but Lu Guan suppressed Yilu at a disadvantage and attracted a large number of rebellions from his tribes. In terms of current power, Lu Guan was only a slight difference from the position of Da Shanyu. In my opinion, Lu Guan was like Tan Shihuai and Ke Bineng. If he successfully obtained the rank of the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony, he would be afraid that the northern border would not have a peaceful future."
"Yilu is the son of Desert Khan. His father lived in Luoyang for a long time and admired the sinicization, so he was framed and died by the chiefs of various Hu tribes. Subsequently, the second son of Desert Khan, Tuoba Fu and Yiyi rose one after another, defeated various hostile tribes by force, and ascended the throne of the Great Shanyu. Yilu took the power of his father and brother and controlled the western part of the Tuoba Xianbei. The bravery and good fighting of his tribes were witnessed by our own eyes last year at the city of Jinyang. What is even more frightening is that the person quoted the Jin people's governance, formulated laws, and gradually transformed the annexed tribes into household registration. These measures caused dissatisfaction among many Tuoba Xianbei tribe chiefs, and therefore turned to the Luguan. But if Yilu successfully ascended the throne of the Great Shanyu and pushed these systems to the entire Tuoba Xianbei tribe, we can assert that the Tuoba Xianbei will become an unprecedented powerful Hu tribe regime in the northern border."
"Lu Guan and Yi Lu are both heroes among Hu Er. The competition at this ceremony for sacrifice to heaven must be a battle of dragons and tigers. Whoever wins will get the opportunity to show off, and whoever is likely to become the enemy of our great Jin. Therefore, what we need to focus on is not who wins and loses between Lu Guan and Yi Lu, but how to maintain the split situation of Tuoba Xianbei and how to make profits for our Jinyang. If the Tuoba Xianbei will eventually be determined by one, how to resolve the adverse impact it has brought to Jinyang." Mo Han bowed deeply: "In fact, the current situation is just as the lord decided before. What we have to do is just as planned before."
In fact, Liu Kun has discussed this topic with his subordinates many times, and his judgment has been clear. The reason why he asked Mo Han was actually just to use this to strengthen his confidence. Therefore, when Mo Han was talking, Liu Kun nodded slightly but said nothing.
After a long time, he said lightly: "Remember to tell Lu Chang to be careful and keep Wen Taizhen safe."
"Yes." Several people beside him responded.
*******
Chapter completed!