Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2656 The Battle of the Steppes, the Peril of the Tuoba

At its peak, Southeast Asia had a population of around two million.

Most of them are concentrated in the northern part of Southeast Asia.

However, in recent years, Southeast Asia has also experienced years of war, which has caused great damage to its population.

According to Yang Su, although a detailed count has not yet been conducted, based on rough calculations and estimations, it is highly likely that only slightly more than half of the population of Southeast Asia remains after these successive wars.

From the time the Kushan Empire entered Southeast Asia, more than a decade of war severely injured nearly half the population, a truly terrifying proportion.

After all, from the Kushan Empire to the present-day Great Jin Empire, neither side has held back in its conquest of Southeast Asia.

On the Jin side, Yang Su simply refrained from large-scale killings, such as massacres of entire cities, but that did not mean his methods were benevolent.

As for Chang Yuchun, he fought his way through.

After all, Bai Qi and Yang Su in the north were actually being watched over by the Crown Prince, who was trying to appease them. But Chang Yuchun in the south was left unattended.

Fortunately, although the population has been reduced by nearly half, this vast Southeast Asian region is now left with only a million export workers.

However, over 99% of them are under 40 years old. In times of war, the first to be eliminated are the elderly and children, who have weaker survival skills!
With only a million people remaining, even without imposing so many restrictions on the enfeoffed princes, they would not pose a threat to the central government within a few generations.

Not to mention, the imperial court imposed so many restrictions on the princes.

In military matters, for example, the imperial court strictly regulated the total number of troops that each person could command as a king. The smallest number of troops might be only a few thousand, and even the largest number would not exceed 15,000.

How could such a small force possibly threaten the central government's million-strong army?

Do you really think everyone is Zhu Di?
Even Zhu Di, to a large extent, relied on the incompetence of his opponents, which constantly gave him opportunities. Besides that, his own ability and luck also played a part.

………………

grassland.

After the death of Tuoba Zhu, the king of the grasslands, the grasslands officially broke the previous balance and entered a period of chaos during the power transition of the Tuoba Wei dynasty.

In recent years, the Manchu Qing dynasty has been in continuous decline. The Tuoba Wei and the Manchu Qing were originally in a state of weak alliance against strong forces. However, their situation was different from that of the three families of Wei, Shu and Wu at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu during the late Eastern Han Dynasty were adjacent to each other. However, the third kingdom on the grasslands, the Yuan Dynasty and the Manchu Dynasty, were not adjacent to each other.

If the Manchus wanted to expand, they had no choice but to either attack the Central Plains, the Tuoba Wei, or get involved in the chaos between the Jin and Tang dynasties.

The latter two both have to face the Great Jin.

The difference in difficulty between this and that of the Tuoba Wei dynasty is self-evident.

Therefore, even knowing that taking action against Tuoba Wei at this time might ultimately cause an imbalance in the grasslands, Xuan Ye was still willing to take the gamble.

In recent years, the Qing Dynasty declined amidst internal strife.

To become stronger, you have to take risks.

Seize this opportunity to tear a piece of flesh from Tuoba Wei and use it to strengthen yourself.

At the same time, Xuan Ye was well aware that without Li Tang's assistance, the chances of holding out were slim. Their only opportunity lay in utilizing the mountainous terrain of northern Jin to prolong their existence. The Great Jin's ultimate goal would eventually be the Yuan Mongols, or even the grasslands. For one thing, how many losses did the Great Jin suffer in the battles of Xizhou and Liangzhou?
Su Dingfang was the first high-ranking military officer of the Great Jin to die in battle so far. Moreover, all of them died in battle. Not only did he die at the hands of Murong Ke, but his sons, Su Qingjie and Su Baotong, also died in that battle.

Fortunately, Su Qingjie, Su Baolin, and Su Baotong all had descendants still living in Luoyang; otherwise, their entire family would have been wiped out.

In addition, there were Xun Yu, the governor of Xizhou, Wang Shouren, the prefect of the county, and fierce generals Yu Yixian, Wu Ya, Shi Hongzhao, Ji Leizhen, as well as Ma Yuan, Meng Ao, and others who had previously been lost in Liangzhou.

Xuan Ye did not believe that the Great Jin Dynasty would let this matter go.

Even if we don't mention that, Xizhou and half of Liangzhou are still in the hands of the Yuan Mongols.

As long as the conflict between the Great Jin and the Yuan Mongols begins, the Yuan Mongols will naturally have no time to care about the Manchus.

Therefore, even among the three families on the grassland today, if the two weaker families fight each other, or even if one is strong and the other is weak, the middle family will be the weakest.

Although it would only disrupt the balance of the grasslands and was even an unwise move, Xuan Ye still did it.

In Emperor Kangxi's view, the survival of the Qing Dynasty should never depend on the alliance of two weak parties, but rather on self-strengthening. Only when the Qing Dynasty's national strength is strong can it have a chance to survive.

In addition, to prevent the imbalance of the grassland situation after this battle from affecting the Qing Dynasty, Xuan Ye actively established diplomatic relations.

For this diplomatic relationship, Xuan Ye preferred the Great Jin.

The Manchus were very powerful, as were the Yuan and Jin dynasties.

Xuan Ye wouldn't mind if he had the opportunity to align himself with one side and gain time to develop. In fact, if the Yuan Mongols didn't attack the Manchus, Xuan Ye wouldn't mind temporarily aligning himself with the Yuan Mongols.

If he is no match for his opponent, he doesn't mind lying low for a while.

Anyway, he will naturally grasp the right balance.

Furthermore, regardless of whether this matter succeeds or not, let's give it a try first.

In addition, Xuan Ye sent people thousands of miles into Central Asia and South Asia in an attempt to make contact with the Second Persian Empire and the Kushan Empire.

The Second Persian Empire was an ally of the Mongol Empire, turning the friend of the enemy into one's own.

More importantly, for the Kushan Empire, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. This principle applies everywhere.

Most importantly, these two empires were not only powerful, but also had no conflict of interest with the Qing Dynasty.

In addition, for some reasons, Xuan Ye temporarily handed over the throne that was within his grasp to Huang Taiji's son and first installed a puppet emperor.

However, he still had his eye on that position.

Therefore, he wanted to use the victory in foreign wars to establish greater prestige among the Manchus, so that he could ascend to that position.

Therefore, the Manchu Qing dynasty began a major war against the Tuoba Wei dynasty.

At the same time, the Yuan-Mongol war against the Tuoba Wei also began.

The three powers of the grasslands—the Mongol Yuan, the Manchu Qing, and the Tuoba Wei—simultaneously launched attacks against the Tuoba Wei. Moreover, at this time, the Tuoba Wei was at a crucial juncture in establishing a transition between the old and new dynasties.

Clearly, Tuoba Wei was now in a precarious situation, and one wrong move could very well lead to utter ruin.