My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 527 Steady Progress
If we list all the internal and external problems facing the Han Dynasty today and make a table, it is not difficult to find that with development, the problems of the Han Dynasty have not decreased, but have become more and more.

——During the reign of Emperor Gao, the Battle of Pingcheng between Han and Xiongnu led the Han Dynasty to completely establish a fifty-year-long policy of marriage alliance as a stopgap measure for dealing with external military affairs.

For the Han family at that time, external threats did not need to be considered too deeply or carefully.

Huns?
Just marry the bride.

Sending a princess over every now and then, under the euphemism of "sending a princess as a marriage partner", would at best allow the Huns to live in peace for a few years. At the very least, it would make the Huns restrain themselves when invading the border.

Lingnan Baiyue?

Just comfort her.

The old man Zhao Tuo proclaimed himself emperor every now and then, so he sent an expert on the South Vietnam issue: Taizhong Daifu Lu Jia, to ask Zhao Tuo to give up the title of emperor and be a Han minister.

As long as Zhao Tuo was willing to give up the title of emperor - even if it was just a symbolic expression of submission, the Han Dynasty would not bother to care about other trivial matters.

What about the Yellow House with Left Banner and the regent? Just let Zhao Tuo mess around in Lingnan.

But as time went on, as the Han Dynasty became more and more powerful and more and more "like" a real feudal unified dynasty, the external threats from these two directions began to cause more and more headaches for the Han Dynasty.

When dealing with the Huns in the north, the Han could no longer mindlessly throw out the word "marriage alliance" and then act as if they were doing their best and leaving the rest to fate, while allowing the Huns to wreak havoc in the north.

Whenever the Huns made a move, the Han Dynasty today had to make strategic preparations according to the standards of national war in order to deal with the Huns' "bold" and "overconfident" invasion.

The same is true in the South.

As for the Baiyue in Lingnan, especially the old turtle Zhao Tuo, the Han Dynasty kept an increasingly close eye on him, and their tolerance for him became lower and lower.

During the reign of Emperor Gaozu, the Han Dynasty's request to Zhao Tuo was that he would submit to the Han Dynasty as long as he accepted the "Seal of the King of Nanyue".

During the reign of Empress Dowager Lü, it became the case that as long as Zhao Tuo did not refer to himself as "I" in his memorials sent to the court in Chang'an, it would be fine.

As for Lingnan, Zhao Tuo was called the police when he went in and out, and his documents were issued according to regulations. All the ceremony was like that of the emperor. The Han Dynasty was too lazy to intervene, nor could it be managed.

During the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xianjing, people were sent to Lingnan every now and then to persuade Zhao Tuo to behave himself, thus saving face for both sides.

As long as Zhao Tuo did a good job on the surface - as long as he did less things to claim to be a king or an emperor, the Han emperor would be pleased and would not care what Zhao Tuo did specifically in Lingnan.

So much so that during the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, Zhao Tuo, at the invitation of King Liu Bi of Wu, sent troops from his own Kingdom of Nanyue, as well as the Minyue and Donghai states which were also located in Lingnan, to join Liu Bi's counterattack army, and the court in Chang'an did not settle the score after the event.

Not only did he not settle scores later, he even tried his best to prove for Zhao Tuo and Lingnan that Lingnan absolutely did not send a single soldier during the Wu-Chu Rebellion!
what?
You said that many rebel soldiers speaking with South Vietnamese accents died under the Liang capital Suiyang?

fake!

False news!
It was all because of that old villain, King Wu Liu Bi, who had evil intentions and was trying to alienate the central government in Chang'an from the simple and honest people of the Baiyue in Lingnan!

The late emperor at that time was more anxious than Zhao Tuo himself, because he was more afraid that Zhao Tuo would be clearly identified as a participant in the Wu-Chu Rebellion.

But today, just a few years later, the Han Dynasty no longer treats Nanyue as it did in the past, as long as they can save face, and they don't care about what Zhao Tuo does specifically.

——Before and after the Battle of Chaona between Han and Xiongnu, Zhao Tuo proclaimed himself emperor again in Lingnan!
Immediately after the war, Zhao Tuo became "inconsistent" again. He sent envoys to pay tribute and said that he had done something stupid because of old age and confusion.

Therefore, on the eve of the Battle of Hetao-Mayi between the Han and the Xiongnu, before Zhao Tuo could start playing the snake-rat-two-end game, Liu Rong took the lead in sending envoys to Lingnan to remind Zhao Tuo: the same trick would not work if used a second time.

On that occasion, Zhao Tuo was not in a hurry to proclaim himself emperor, but he also paid close attention to the development and outcome of the Hetao-Mayi Campaign between the Han and the Xiongnu.

In the end, the Han Dynasty won a great victory and captured Hetao. Zhao Tuo was the first to report to Chang'an, stating that Nanyue would always be a vassal of Liu Han and would not dare to have any second thoughts.

Liu Rong's reply was no longer like that of Emperor Gao, Empress Dowager Lu, Emperor Taizong, or Emperor Xiaojing. He cursed "old immortal" and "old turtle" while praising Zhao Tuo for his deep understanding of justice.

Instead, he warned Zhao Tuo in righteous words: The Han Dynasty is no longer what it used to be, and its attitude towards internal and external vassal states is different from before. He hopes that Lingnan will "act within its capabilities" and not make mistakes.

Don't say it is unpredictable!

The value of these seven words is obviously self-evident.

There is no Chinese who does not understand the meaning of these seven words and the scenarios in which they apply.

Such fierce and tough words were unimaginable for the Han people in the past.

but now?
——After receiving the tough words from the court in Chang'an, the so-called "Emperor Wu of Nanyue" Zhao Tuo dared not even fart.

The reason is simple: the Huns in the north have been increasingly declining under the attack of the Han army.

After decades of development, Liu Han, with his accumulated strength, has gradually returned to his rightful position as the Celestial Empire.

Zhao Tuo had seen a Chinese regime that was not weak towards foreign races, and could fight and win whenever it wanted.

Zhao Tuo knew very well that such a unified regime that could treat foreign races and deal with the northern nomadic peoples with ease, not to mention himself, the "Emperor Wu of Nanyue", even the former overlord Xiang Yu and Liu Ji, the King of Pei, would have to wait patiently until the death of Emperor Zulong, and the second emperor's reckless behavior would lead to chaos in the world.

As for why, as time went by and the Han Dynasty grew faster and stronger, the Huns in the north and the Baiyue in the south became more and more of a headache for the Han Dynasty, it was not because the external threats from these two directions grew faster and became stronger than the Han Dynasty.

Rather, it is because with development and the increase of strength, the Han Dynasty's expectations of external threats in these two directions are becoming higher.

It is like a street beggar in later generations who has no food to eat and goes hungry for eight or nine meals in three days. Naturally, he has no time to think about the future, such as whether he should apply to Peking University or Tsinghua University.

For this beggar, this meal was enough to fill him up and there was still some food left for the next meal. This was already a very satisfying thing.

But one day, this beggar, with the help of a kind-hearted person, turned his life around and got a job that was not very decent but could barely support himself, such as a waiter.

At this time, having enough food is no longer the beggar's only desire.

- At least the beggar's request is no longer simply "eat well this meal and not go hungry the next one", but will become: to have enough to eat in the next few months, and if possible, it would be best to save some money to find a place to live that can shelter from the wind and rain.

This change in expectations is also evident in ordinary people.

In an era when everyone was poor, the most ordinary people wanted was a small business and a stable job for the couple.

In daily life, if one can eat meat once a year or two, and have a meal of fine grains every now and then, that is already a "life like a god."

But after society became prosperous, people were no longer satisfied with just three turns and one ring - they began to envy cars and mobile phones.

People are becoming more and more particular about food, and are starting to compare which restaurant's chef is better or which hotel's banquet dishes are more sophisticated.

Later, when everyone became richer, expectations became higher, and the things they pursued became more and more "ambitious". Luxury cars~
Luxury house~
Famous brand watches, celebrity models~
Even country-style luxury goods, rag dolls that are more expensive than gold - the main point is that it doesn't matter if it's right, as long as it's expensive.

This is human nature, and it is expected to improve with the progress of social level and civilization development, which is understandable.

It’s just that similar situations naturally exist in political regimes and civilizations.

——When the Han dynasty was weak, its expectation for the outside world was to avoid a war;

The Huns in the north and the Baiyue in the south should avoid fighting each other as much as possible, and internal problems should erupt as late and with less force as possible, so that the Han Dynasty can get as much time as possible to deal with these problems one by one.

However, as the Han Dynasty has become stronger and more powerful than before, and has even upgraded its weapons, it is inevitable that it will put on airs and adopt more arrogant and tough attitudes and measures due to higher expectations.

People in later generations often say: What really makes people suffer is not limited poverty.

But infinite desire.

Because of desire, people will constantly raise their expectations and constantly increase the things they "want to get".

In any biological group, ordinary members who make up the "vast majority" rarely get what they want or achieve their dreams.

This means that desire, which brings people higher expectations, will most likely evolve into: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

You want a luxury car, a luxury house, and you want a domineering president to fall in love with me and become a phoenix.

But when I got to the blind date market, I saw - wow!

The president is as tall as Wu Dalang, and as heavy as Lu Zhishen. He has a big belly, a bald head, and a greasy face. Just looking at him makes one lose their appetite!
When you have spent a lot of effort to convince yourself to "suppress the nausea and accept this huge fortune", something even more devastating happens.

——I don’t think highly of you at all!

The girls who chase him can line up from Xinxiang to New York!
Among them, there are even beauties who are at the national goddess level!
You feel very depressed because your dream of marrying into a wealthy family, becoming the wife of a president, and living a shameless life with a young and wealthy president has been shattered.

But you have long forgotten that you are just an ordinary girl born in an ordinary family, with neither outstanding looks nor special talents.

The only difference between you and other ordinary girls is that you have a dream of marrying into a wealthy family and have the expectation of becoming the "president's wife".

Your frustration does not come from the cruelty of reality, but from the collapse of expectations.

In other words, as early as when you overestimated your own capabilities and built extremely high expectations that were seriously inconsistent with your own capabilities, your expectations were doomed to be shattered.

It's like a beggar who aspires to be the richest man in the world - it's a very ambitious ambition.

But one day in the future, when this beggar feels frustrated because he has not become the richest man in the world, people will not feel sympathy for him, but will only feel that this is how it should be.

Closer to home.

As the Han Dynasty grew more powerful, it naturally had higher expectations for dealing with external threats, namely the Xiongnu in the north and the Baiyue in the south.

The Han Dynasty's current attitude towards the Huns is: at the very worst, they must have an equal dialogue with the Huns, and this must be a "grant" from the Han Dynasty to the Huns, allowing the Huns to have an equal dialogue with them.

As for the Baiyue in the south, it was even more direct.

Liu Rong has openly stated in the court: The day Zhao Tuo passes away will be the day Lingnan submits!
While the old turtle Zhao Tuo is still alive, the Han family must begin preparing for the full submission of the Lingnan region in the future!
As long as Zhao Tuo dies, Lingnan will return to the embrace of the motherland, whether it submits voluntarily or passively.

This is the reason why the Han family has more headaches as they become more powerful.

——When dealing with the Huns, it is easy to make peace with them through marriage, but it is difficult to be tough.

When dealing with the Baiyue people in Lingnan, it is easy to appease them but difficult to intimidate them.

Whether it is a person or a political system, it is always very easy, worry-free and labor-saving to keep a low profile and a gentle attitude towards someone or a party.

However, a high-profile and tough attitude requires sufficient courage and determination, as well as real hard power to support it.

Not only that, it also requires more energy to carry out more detailed thinking and planning.

For example, the Han people’s attitude towards the Huns - in the past, they didn’t have to consider anything. They just waited for the Huns to ask for a high price and then paid them back.

Finally, the price was agreed upon, the supplies were sent to the grassland, and the princess returned to the grassland family. This was a marriage and an alliance.

Now, it is not that simple.

Every time they negotiated with the Huns, even if it was a diplomatic negotiation, the Han people had to be extremely alert so as not to miss any opportunity to oppress or take advantage of the Huns.

Even when meeting with the Hun envoys, the ministers inside and outside the court repeatedly considered their wording and even rehearsed it in advance, just to give the Hun envoy a wake-up call in the court and leave their names in history.

Expectations are rising throughout the Han Dynasty, inside and outside.

This is true both externally and internally.

During the reign of Emperor Gao, not to mention the common people themselves - even the officials only hoped that the people would not starve to death, or even that fewer people would starve to death.

But now, people inside and outside the court are clamoring for the eternal prosperity of "After the rule of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the Han Dynasty will be completely revived."

Naturally, all aspects of domestic politics, including but not limited to people's livelihood, clan relatives and princes, bureaucracy and many other aspects, are also flourishing under this general environment.

Fortunately, the person at the helm of all this is Liu Rong.

Under Liu Rong's stable operation, everything in the Han family is progressing steadily and moving forward steadily.

And in the distant grassland, with the belated return of Shanyu Ting, the already strange atmosphere on the grassland became even more confusing.

Shanyu Ting returned from the Western Expedition.

When Junchen returned to Munan and settled in Longcheng, the first thing he did was to urgently summon the Right Wise King: Luandi Yizhixie.

What will happen next, no one knows.

But everyone knows that this year, or even in the next few years, the grassland will never return to its earlier peace, tranquility, and peace...

(End of this chapter)