novelAbuy Chapter 66: The Memorial to the Threat of the Empire in the Northwest!
Chapter 66: The Memorial to the Threat of the Empire in the Northwest!
In the sixth year of Yuanding (111 BC), in late September.
As the year draws to a close, a strong festive atmosphere fills Chang'an City, with nobles, officials, and ordinary people alike preparing to welcome the new year.
The Prince's Palace (Bowang Garden) welcomed a guest who had traveled a long way from the Hexi Corridor.
"Your Highness."
"This humble general has fulfilled his mission and brought Zhao Chongguo here."
Li Yu, travel-worn and weary, entered the palace to report.
"This humble general, Zhao Chongguo, pays his respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince."
A burly man with a beard standing beside him immediately bowed and greeted him, his voice booming like a bell, echoing throughout the entire hall.
At only 26 years old, Zhao Chongguo was tall and strong, with a resolute face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. His skin was slightly rough due to wind, sand and sun exposure, and bright black pupils were set in his deep-set eyes. Every move he made exuded the boldness and ruggedness of a man from Longxi.
"Li Yu".
"Well done."
Liu Ju first turned his gaze to Li Yu and encouraged him, "I can see that you have grown since your trip to Longxi."
"Your sister heard you're back and prepared some food and drinks. Don't go home today; go see her first."
"promise."
Upon hearing Liu Ju's words, Li Yu couldn't help but walk towards the inner garden.
Since Li Gan died, the only family member he cared about was his younger sister. Now that she was the Crown Prince's Consort, everything he did was not only to wash away the stains on Li Gan's body, but also to ensure that his sister had someone to rely on.
"Zhao Chongguo".
"Your Highness."
Zhao Chongguo straightened his body and faced Crown Prince Liu Ju directly.
"In the second year of Yuanshou (121 BC), the Marquis of Jingheng, the Champion General, expanded into Hexi. Your Majesty adopted the suggestion of Zhang Qian, the Marquis of Bowang, and decided to resettle people to strengthen the border, establish prefectures and counties, and strengthen control over Hexi and other places, thereby weakening the Xiongnu."
"In the third year of the Yuanshou era (120 BC), Shandong (east of the Taihang Mountains) was flooded, and the empire relocated 70 disaster victims to Hexi, Shuofang and other places."
"In the fifth year of the Yuanshou era (118 BC), His Majesty issued an edict to relocate hundreds of thousands of wicked officials and commoners from all over the country to the border regions."
"This spring, His Majesty ordered the officials in charge of opening up fields in Shangjun, Shuofang, Xihe, and Hexi to send 600,000 soldiers to guard the fields."
"The Han Dynasty carried out a ten-year migration program in the Hexi Corridor, which was extremely costly."
"You were originally from Shanggui in Longxi (present-day Tianshui, Gansu). In the fourth year of Yuanshou (119 BC), your whole family moved to Lingju County in Jincheng Prefecture."
"Lingju is adjacent to Wuwei County, so you must be very familiar with the Hexi Corridor."
"I want to know the current situation of my great Han Dynasty in Hexi."
Liu asked frankly.
"Hexi!"
Zhao Chongguo was taken aback for a moment, then came to his senses and said solemnly, "Your Highness."
"Throughout the empire's history, we Han Chinese have migrated people to the border regions. We have reclaimed wasteland and cultivated the land in the Hexi Corridor, and built cities to live in."
"Over the past ten years, significant progress has been made. The four commanderies of Hexi are now filled with Han customs, and the Xiongnu are nowhere to be seen."
"Um."
Nodding slightly, Liu Ju did not express his opinion, but continued to ask, "Who do you think is the Empire's most important enemy in the Northwest right now?"
*Whoosh!*
Zhao Chongguo suddenly looked at the Crown Prince, his dark and deep eyes seemingly containing a galaxy of stars, making him unfathomable.
After a long pause, he slowly replied, "Please forgive my boldness."
"The Xiongnu people were repeatedly attacked by our Han army and lost the Hetao and Hexi regions."
"The northeast of the Han Dynasty was protected by the Wuhuan and Xianbei, and beyond the Yin Mountains, there were also five vassal states guarding it."
"The Yuezhi, Dayuan, Wusun and other countries in the Western Regions all had trade relations with the Han Dynasty and were not threatened or lured by the Xiongnu."
"After Yizhixie died, his son Wuwei took over as the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu and moved his tribe to the northern desert, where they migrated far away to avoid war and recuperate."
"The population of the four prefectures in Hexi is no less than 500,000. The empire has established eighteen commanderies in the northwest, forming an impregnable defensive line from Dunhuang to Anding."
"Even if the Xiongnu recover and want to invade the Han Dynasty, they will never start from Hexi."
"Because the Gobi Desert stretches for three thousand miles from Mobei to Hexi, where water is scarce, making it difficult for troops to march."
"On the other hand, from the northern desert to the Yin Mountains, it is more than two thousand miles long. There are rivers and mountains along the way, and the water and grass are abundant, which is convenient for marching."
"The Hexi Corridor is already in the hands of the Han Dynasty, and no one can take it away."
"The most important areas for the empire's northwestern border defense are Jincheng County and Longxi County."
"Jincheng Commandery has only one Western Commandant, Longxi Commandery has only one Southern Commandant, and the nearest Commandery, Tianshui Commandery, also has a Mi'ai Cavalry Commandant."
"The combined military strength of Jincheng and Longxi prefectures is about 15,000 men, and even including Tianshui prefecture, it is less than 30,000 men."
"Does Your Highness know how many Qiang people there are in the northwest?"
"continue."
Liu Ju heard the information he wanted and gestured.
"promise."
Zhao Chongguo clearly stated: "In the fifth year of Yuanding (112 BC), the Xianling Qiang, together with the Fengyang, Laojie and other tribes, numbering over 100,000, attacked the Han Dynasty, but were suppressed."
"After this battle, the Qiang people were driven south of the Huangshui River and retreated to the area of Xihai (present-day Qinghai Lake) and Yanchi (present-day Chaka Salt Lake)."
"The Qiang people do not have a monarch or a leader. When they are strong, they divide into tribes and become chieftains; when they are weak, they become dependent on others."
"They fought each other to rebuild their tribal power."
"The Xianling Qiang, Han Qiang, Kai Qiang, Shaodang Qiang, Lejie Qiang, Beinan Qiang, Fengyang Qiang, Laojie Qiang, Zhong Qiang, Dangjian Qiang, and other tribes distributed in Jincheng and Longxi beyond the Great Wall still number in the hundreds of thousands."
"The Qiang people are naturally fierce, brave, tenacious, and valiant, and they value strength above all else."
"They are different from the Xiongnu. In addition to raising cattle and sheep, they also cultivate wasteland and farm, and their threat is growing day by day."
"Han men living in Jincheng and Longxi prefectures often died not at the hands of the Xiongnu, but at the hands of the Qiang people."
When this was mentioned, the young man's face became more solemn than ever before. The Qiang people were the greatest enemy of the Han Dynasty in the Northwest, without exception.
"Hundreds of thousands."
Liu repeated the number to himself, his brow furrowed.
The Qiang people were a branch of the Western Rong, originally distributed south of the Hexi Corridor. During the Yu and Xia dynasties, some of the Qiang ancestors stayed south of the Yellow River because of their merits in assisting Yu the Great in controlling the floods. They were enfeoffed as the Jiang clan state. During the Zhou dynasty, the Western Rong attacked Haojing and killed King You of Zhou. Some of the Qiang people in Guanzhong migrated east to the vicinity of Luoyang.
Then, when the Qin state conquered the Western Rong, the Qiang people in the Longshan area of present-day Gansu migrated to southern Shanxi and the Songshan area of Henan. After the Warring States period, the Western Qiang began to migrate to the Central Plains on their own initiative. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the distribution pattern of "Eastern Qiang" and "Western Qiang" gradually formed.
The Western Qiang are still the Qiang people who originally lived in the vast area of Longyou region of Gansu, Huangshui River Valley of Qinghai, south of Hexi Corridor, and west of Tao and Min prefectures.
The Eastern Qiang refers to the Qiang people who migrated to the areas of Anding (present-day Yulin, Shaanxi), Shangjun (present-day Guyuan, Ningxia), and Beidi (present-day Ejin Horo Banner, Inner Mongolia). These people had basically been Sinicized, and the empire did not include them in the registered households, but set up officials and military commanders to manage them strictly.
By now, the Eastern Qiang have largely assimilated into the Han Dynasty, while the Western Qiang have become the greatest threat to the empire's northwestern border.
This situation was very common during the Han Dynasty and even continued into the Wei and Jin Dynasties. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Yao Chang, the leader of the Qiang people, established the Later Qin Dynasty with its capital in Chang'an and controlled Guanzhong and other areas, enjoying unparalleled power for a time.
The Qiang people are scattered throughout the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, numbering well over a million, if not hundreds of thousands. Their vitality is like wild grass, growing back after the spring breeze.
PS: The size of troops commanded by the Commandant and Cavalry Commandant in the Western Han Dynasty ranged from several hundred to several thousand, with most likely between 2000 and 5000 men.
The border commandery had a force of about 4000 to 5000 men, including about 1500 beacon fire soldiers (dispersed garrison soldiers responsible for early warning by beacon fires), plus 2000 to 3000 garrison troops (including infantry and cavalry, who were the main fighting force) directly under the commandery.