My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 585 Stop fooling around~
It was precisely because of the Han dynasty's—especially Liu Rong's—defense as if facing a formidable enemy that no trouble arose in the Hetao region during the Battle of Gaoque.

Only after the Battle of Gaoque could the stability of the Hetao region be considered truly realized.

The Hetao region is no longer a frontline where it could face the Xiongnu army at any time or become a battlefield.

Once controlled by the Xiongnu and serving as the southern gateway to the Munan region, Gaoque has now become the northern gateway for the Han dynasty, allowing them to advance into Munan or retreat to protect the Hetao region.

With Gaoque acting as a barrier, even the most rebellious elements in the Hetao region, no matter how much wishful thinking they might have, had to calm down and think things through carefully.

As I said before;
Gaoque was almost impossible to conquer from the outside by manpower alone.

The Han dynasty's victory at the Battle of Gaoque can be attributed to a combination of favorable timing, geographical advantage, and popular support, with a significant element of luck also playing a part.

The fact that the Han dynasty was able to capture Gaoque from the Xiongnu with almost no cost was not only a military feat but also a miracle!
A miracle is called a 'miracle' because it was originally impossible, but inexplicably happened and became a given reality.

But such a miracle is unlikely to happen a second time.

If we say that the Han dynasty was able to capture Gaoque because it had all the advantages of timing, location, and popular support, and was blessed by good fortune and the nation's destiny, then this miracle was made possible.

In that short period of time, assuming the Han dynasty did not rapidly decline and decay, the Xiongnu's desire to retake Gaoque was not a dream, but a fantasy.

In this way, the situation becomes clear to the nomadic tribes in the Hetao region.

—Gaoque can no longer be taken back by the Shanyu Court.

For at least the next 30 to 50 years, there is no need to consider the event of 'Shanyu Court retaking Gaoque' as a probable occurrence.

Since Gaoque was controlled by the Han people and it was virtually impossible for it to change hands again, the Han people's control over the Hetao region was already practically impregnable.

Because the southern and eastern parts of the Hetao region were Han Chinese territory;
The northern part, originally Gaoque, was the southern gateway to the Xiongnu's southern region, but now it has become the northern gateway to the Han-controlled Hetao region.
In other words, the east, south, and north sides of the Hetao region were completely enclosed by the Han people.

The only remaining area is Hexi in the west—not to mention posing a threat to the Hetao region or shaking the Han people's control over Hetao, it is now in dire need of its own survival and can only pray that the Han people will not rush to move westward from Hetao. It dares not to have any further thoughts about the Hetao region.

In short: The Han people, who had already controlled the Hetao region from the east and south and occupied it by force, locked down the northern part of the Hetao region after the Battle of Gaoque.

In the next two or three years—or at most five years—Hexi will become another 'new land of service' in the eyes of the Han people, just like Hetao.

In this process, the only measure that the Xiongnu Chanyu court could take, and which it had already put into action, was to block Gaoque from the north, doing everything in its power to keep the Han people at Gaoque and not allow them to set foot in the southern part of the Mu region.

At the same time, they shifted their strategic focus westward, attempting to weaken the Han people's national strength by extending the battle lines and the Han people's logistical supply lines.

In a way that would be easier for people to understand in later generations, it was about trading space for time.

Even so, for the Xiongnu Chanyu court, this move was still not a particularly clever or wise method, but rather a last resort that was not a solution at all.

—Changing locations temporarily only works if you can hold out for a long time while the other party can't.
And as time goes by, you will become stronger and your opponent will become weaker.

Now, between the Han and the Xiongnu, who is less afraid of protracted conflict and less eager for a decisive battle?
At first glance, it seems that the Han people had higher logistical costs and greater pressure, and that the further they fought, the more difficult it became.

In fact, whether from the perspective of national strength development and accumulation, or the progress of science and technology and civilization, the Han dynasty was undoubtedly the one less afraid of a protracted war.

—What can nomadic people achieve by waging a protracted war?
For over fifty years since the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu people have been the absolute rulers of Earth in this plane of existence!
The result was quite unexpected—after dominating the planet for fifty years, the Huns still hadn't learned to count!

Even the most basic and fundamental human skills, such as counting cattle and sheep and calculating the increase or decrease in the number of individuals in a herd, were not learned by the Xiongnu.

It wasn't until the reign of Empress Lü that, during the process of the Han dynasty making peace with the Xiongnu through marriage, a learned eunuch named Zhonghang Shuo was inadvertently sent as part of the dowry to the grasslands. This allowed the Xiongnu to take advantage of the situation and learn to count cattle and sheep and calculate profits and losses.

What can a nomadic civilization, which is only at the 'quasi-human' stage, do if given another thirty or fifty years?

It's likely that within thirty to fifty years, they will be eliminated by the 'eighty-year cycle of nomadic regimes' on the grasslands...

In fact, after the founding emperor Modu Chanyu conquered the land and established the Xiongnu people as the hegemon of the grasslands, the Xiongnu people ushered in their peak period and their only opportunity for civilization advancement during the reign of the second emperor, Lao Shangjizhu Chanyu.

Unlike other nomadic rulers who were severely unbalanced, obsessed with fighting and killing, and who rose to power through the law of the jungle, Lao Shangji Zhou Chanyu clearly recognized the superiority of Chinese agricultural civilization and the shortcomings of grassland nomadic civilization.

At the same time, Lao Shang Chanyu clearly realized that the power of agrarian civilization lay in the speed and difficulty of accumulating comprehensive national strength.

—To escape poverty and weakness, the Chinese agrarian civilization didn't even need to do anything proactively!
If we simply do nothing, or rather, minimize disruptions, and allow the people to settle down and farm year after year, Chinese agricultural civilization can quickly overcome its period of weakness and naturally grow strong.

In contrast, the nomadic people of the grasslands live on barren grasslands, struggling against nature, against the land, and against each other.
Despite all the competition, the total amount of resources and the population limit are fixed, so there is no real upper limit to development.

Unfortunately, although Lao Shang Chanyu recognized the problem, he was unable to find a real solution to the problem in his lifetime.

Abandoning the roots of nomadic civilization and embracing agricultural civilization is neither realistic nor in the interests of the nomadic nobles, including the old Chanyu, nor the old order of the grasslands.

Systematically reforming the steppe order under the control of the Xiongnu Chanyu court is not something that can be accomplished overnight, nor can it be done by one or two consecutive Xiongnu Chanyus.

Ultimately, with no other option, Lao Shang Chanyu could only choose what he considered the most effective, and also the only, solution with a chance of success.

—The destruction of the Han dynasty!
—To overthrow China!
—If this most advanced agricultural civilization in the known world is destroyed, then the second most superior nomadic civilization will naturally become the best.

Unfortunately, despite his elaborate schemes, the old Chanyu launched a sudden attack, nearly sending his main force into Guanzhong and even to the gates of Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty, but ultimately failed.

Having failed to destroy the Han dynasty and unable to transform the backward nomadic civilization system, Lao Shang Chanyu ultimately died with either resentment or regret.

As for the succession of the old Chanyu, the current Junchen Chanyu inherited the throne, which can be said to have taken advantage of the general trend and inertia known by the two generations of Chanyu, Maodun and the old Chanyu, and pushed the Xiongnu Empire to its peak.

But as the saying goes, what goes up must come down. Whether you say the Xiongnu's rise and fall was inevitable, or that things inevitably turn around when they reach their peak, or that nomadic civilizations had huge institutional flaws and were too backward;
Or perhaps they were outmatched by the agrarian civilization, or bullied by Liu Rong, a time traveler with cheat codes...

In conclusion, the Xiongnu people have long passed their peak and are now on a downward spiral of decline.

In contrast, the Han dynasty, after fifty years of consistent recuperation and accumulation of strength since its inception, rapidly boosted its overall national power by relying on the first golden age of civilization in Chinese history and even human history: the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing.

Moreover, Liu Rong was certain that after the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, the Han dynasty only had the ability to fight against the Xiongnu, but was far from reaching the limit or peak of its national strength.

Even without Liu Rong, the time traveler, causing trouble, the Han dynasty would still have reached its true peak during the reign of Emperor Xuan, after the reigns of Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan, in the next few decades or centuries.

Only then, under the rule of Emperor Ping of Han, who said, "The one who will bring chaos to my family is none other than the Crown Prince," did the dynasty gradually decline.

This means that the Xiongnu were on the decline, and as time went on, they would become weaker and less resilient.

In contrast, the Han dynasty was on the path to a powerful revival, and with each passing day, the strength of the Han family would grow a little stronger.

Especially after capturing the Hetao region, the Han dynasty was no longer in a hurry to resolve the Xiongnu problem through a decisive battle that would 'gamble the fate of the nation'.

Time is on the side of the Han Dynasty.

As time went on, the Hetao region was able to raise more and more warhorses, and the Han people were able to train more and more cavalry to fight against the Xiongnu cavalry forces.

Every autumn harvest, the Imperial Treasury would have more savings, grain reserves, and all the necessary military supplies to provide for the soldiers on the front lines.

Most importantly, Liu Rong's existence ensured that the Han dynasty would be on the path to rapid prosperity every day.

With each passing day, the Han dynasty's overall national strength will increase, its institutional system will become more complete, its future development prospects will be better, and its development potential will be higher.

It is no exaggeration to say that if it weren't for the genuine national hatred, humiliation, and strong desire of the people that drove Liu Rong to seek revenge against the Xiongnu as quickly as possible whenever he had the chance, Liu Rong would actually have preferred to procrastinate.

If this weren't reality, but a game, Liu Rong's preferred way to deal with the Xiongnu would be to stall them by any means necessary.

In the end, the Xiongnu would almost destroy themselves, and the Han dynasty would have developed to an unparalleled level. Only then could they sweep through and conquer Asia. This was Liu Rong's ideal scenario.

Although it's impossible to do this in reality, Liu Rong, intentionally or unintentionally, still preferred to delay and wait a little longer.

Firstly, at this point in time, even the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in history has not yet arrived.

—In the original history, at this point in time when Liu Rong lived, the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing were just beginning to show signs of prosperity.

There are many things that time travelers can do, but there are also many things they cannot do.

For example, a pot of water needs five minutes to boil. Even if you are a time traveler, you still have to wait five minutes.
For example, it takes a person ten or twenty years to grow up. Even if you are a time traveler, you cannot make a five-year-old child become your most trusted commander of the Imperial Guard.

The same principle applies—as a time traveler, you can establish advanced systems, solve problems in a more cost-effective way, and even accelerate the development process;
However, the phrase "accelerating the development process" here does not mean shortening the reign of Emperors Wen and Jing, which originally took more than forty years, to three or five years.

It is true that Liu Rong's existence accelerated the development of the Han Dynasty.

However, the historical "Reign of Wen and Jing" is missing more than half of the "Jing" in Liu Rong's world, which is also an undeniable reality.

In a sense, at the point in time that Liu Rong was in, the Han dynasty was not much stronger than at the same point in the original timeline.

It was far less powerful than during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the original historical timeline.

Then there are the two peerless heroes, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, which still make Liu Rong feel a mix of longing and apprehension.

While it is said that the times create heroes, heroes often also create the times.

As the emperor, Liu Rong certainly understood that if he wanted to, he could find another pair of unparalleled talents in this world.

Even if they aren't as good as the historical Wei and Huo, they can at least make do.

On the other hand, Liu Rong had some lingering doubts, fearing that without Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and with someone else, the butterfly effect might alter the course of history, causing an unexpected blow to the rise of the Chinese nation.

Although the possibility was extremely small, Liu Rong still dared not gamble.

What if?
What if the Xiongnu people can only be dealt with and eliminated by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing?
What if everyone else who goes in is just feeding kills?

Don't say it's impossible!
Before Li Guangli, the Second General of the Han Dynasty, betrayed the Han and joined the Hu, no one had ever seen him as significantly inferior to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing!

Emperor Wu of Han provided even greater support to General Ershi than he did to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing!
Liu Rong could only determine whether historical figures were 'capable' or not through the perspective of a time traveler, in a hindsight manner.

Within a certain scope, Liu Rong prefers historical figures who have been tested and proven by history to those he has cultivated and unearthed, rather than cultivating and discovering people who do not exist in history.

—No matter how fragrant Cheng Bushi is, can it be more fragrant than Huo Qubing?

Even Cheng Bushi was promoted by Liu Rong based on historical memory;

What about other nameless individuals who failed to leave a mark on history?

Stop it!
All we can say is that Liu Rong was not originally superstitious.

But after experiencing a time travel that defies scientific explanation, there are some things that Liu Rong no longer dares to regard as 'ignorance' as he used to...

(End of this chapter)