My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 586: Foreign vassal
Getting back to the main point, it's the same old story.

The Han-Xiongnu war did not make the Xiongnu people truly realize that the Han Dynasty was no longer the "easy target" that had been exploited by the Xiongnu for decades, with marriage alliances used to seek temporary peace.

Even the Battle of Hetao-Mayi failed to make the Xiongnu, who had lost Hetao, realize that the Han dynasty had grown into a formidable adversary.

Until the Battle of Gaoque.

It wasn't until the Battle of Gaoque between the Han and Xiongnu, in which the Han dynasty captured the formidable pass at minimal cost, that the Xiongnu finally realized: the world had changed.

The Han people are no longer the poor and weak regime of the past, which, even if it could win on the main battlefield, simply could not afford to fight or bear the expenses of war.

In fact, even setting aside the rapid rise of the Han dynasty in the past few decades and the stagnation of the Xiongnu themselves—and disregarding the rise and fall of the strength of both sides, the current strategic situation has already undergone earth-shattering changes with the three consecutive Han-Xiongnu wars.

Before these three wars, the Xiongnu had the upper hand, able to fight and stop whenever they wanted, come and go as they pleased.

The Xiongnu wanted to fight, but the Han army could not defeat the Xiongnu on the main battlefield due to the advantage of different troop types.
The Xiongnu wanted to stop, but the Han dynasty simply didn't have the capacity to sustain the war. They could only breathe a sigh of relief and be thankful that the Xiongnu had stopped.

The Xiongnu realized that the Han dynasty was no match for them and could only retreat to defend cities and passes, leaving the villages unprotected by the city walls to be burned, killed, and looted by the Xiongnu.

The Xiongnu wanted to leave, and the Han dynasty couldn't stop them. They could only watch the Xiongnu's departing figures with sorrow, and then helplessly carry out post-war reconstruction...

The victories in these three wars were achieved step by step, gradually turning around the strategic disadvantages faced by the Han Dynasty.

The original situation was that the Xiongnu could fight whenever they wanted, stop whenever they wanted, come whenever they wanted, and leave whenever they wanted.

After the Battle of Chaona, the Han dynasty possessed the strength and experience to prevent the Xiongnu from "wanting to come but being unable to," or at least prevent them from breaching the country's borders.

The Battle of Hetao-Mayi – Mayi was a separate battlefield, allowing the Han to prevent the Xiongnu from leaving even if they wanted to;
In the Hetao battlefield, the Han dynasty shifted from defense to offense, taking the initiative to strike, making it impossible for the Xiongnu to stop.

At this point, the only strategic initiative the Xiongnu had left was the ability to "fight whenever they wanted."

The basis for this strategic initiative is Gaoque.

With Gaoque in hand, the Xiongnu could cross the river and set foot in the Hetao region whenever they wanted to fight.

However, after the Battle of Gaoque, this last remaining strategic initiative and first-mover advantage were also seized by the Han dynasty.

Now, the Han borders are secure, the Hetao region is peaceful, and internal hostile forces can no longer cause any trouble. They can only accept the reality of either being destroyed or truly submitting.

The existence of Gaoque allowed the Han people to regain the strategic initiative that had once belonged to the Xiongnu.

Now the Han dynasty can fight whenever it wants—as long as it wants to fight, it can go north from Gaoque and disturb the south of the Mu!
They can stop whenever they want—if they don't want to fight anymore, they can retreat to Gaoque at any time, pull back their defensive line, and make it impossible for a battle to break out.

They could go wherever they wanted—if they wanted to go to Hexi, they could go west from Hetao; if they wanted to go to Munan, they could go north from Gaoque; or they could go along the Daibei Mayi line or the Yanji Yuyang line, all of which could become bridgeheads for the Han people to go north to the border.

They could retreat whenever they wanted—if they didn't want to fight anymore, or if they had fought enough, the Han people could withdraw to the Hetao region or the area north of the wall at any time, without worrying about the Xiongnu pursuing them.

This is the true reflection of the saying "offense and defense are easily interchangeable".

All the strategic initiative, choices, and first-mover advantage that once belonged to the Xiongnu have been taken back by the Han.

In order to avoid being swept away by the Han army in one fell swoop, the Xiongnu had no choice but to block the Gaoque Pass to protect the south of the Mu, and then shift their strategic focus westward, so as to turn the Han army that went out to fight beyond the Great Wall into an 'expeditionary force' in a certain sense.

Aside from increasing the difficulty and cost of the Han dynasty's campaigns beyond the Great Wall, the Xiongnu had no other effective measures to gain an advantage in their struggle against the Han.

That's why Liu Rong said: "The three battles of Chaona, Hetao-Mayi, and Gaoque have already made the Xiongnu people's eyes 'clear'."

There was a time when the Han dynasty desperately wanted to avoid war with the Xiongnu and desperately wanted to avoid news of the Xiongnu invading from the south.

Now, it is the Xiongnu who do not want to fight with the Han, and they desperately do not want to receive military reports from the Han army marching north beyond the Great Wall from Gaoque, or from Daibei, Yanbei, or even Yunzhong.

In short, the Xiongnu were afraid.

As long as they can avoid fighting with the Han, the Xiongnu people can still "marry off their daughters to beg for peace."

Although the Xiongnu's status as the overlord of the grasslands and their long-held arrogance might make them feel awkward and unable to swallow their pride for a while, in the end, the Xiongnu will calm down and pay whatever price they can for the peace on the Han-Xiongnu border.

This gave Liu Rong considerable strategic flexibility.

The Xiongnu did not want to fight;
If the Han people want to fight, they can grit their teeth and fight; if they don't want to fight, they can simply choose not to fight.
Whether to fight or not is up to the Han dynasty—which is essentially Liu Rong's mood.

This is where things get really interesting.

Three consecutive major battles ended in complete victory for the Han dynasty, and the Xiongnu people would inevitably avoid fighting in future Han-Xiongnu wars.

If the Xiongnu avoid war, the costs and resources required for the Han to achieve victory will inevitably increase.

This means that if Liu Rong led the Han people to continue fighting despite their difficulties, the final result would be that the Xiongnu would suffer greatly, and the Han people would not fare much better. At most, they would be able to vent their frustrations and get some relief.

But if we don't fight~
Hey!
The Xiongnu people could not obtain what they wanted, but for the Han people, it was merely a convenient favor.

This means that Liu Rong could use the threat of "If you don't obey, I'll bite the bullet and beat you" to force the Xiongnu to agree to some of the Han's excessive demands.

The final result was that the Xiongnu cut off their own flesh to feed the eagles in order to survive, while the Han dynasty could continue to recuperate and build up its strength while receiving war reparations from the Xiongnu.

Furthermore, for the Han people today, recuperation and building up strength no longer means that they cannot use force at all and must lie low.

— Fighting the Xiongnu would mean deploying tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of troops in a medium-to-large-scale campaign that would last for several months or even a year and a half. That would be a violation of the principles of recuperation and rest for the people.

But what if we send out 10,000 or 20,000 troops to wander around the Korean Peninsula and flex our muscles?

There was no need for the court to discuss it; the national treasury would cover the cost—Liu Rong would personally pay out of his own pocket, using funds from the Imperial Treasury, which was more than enough to cover the expenses.

Especially given that the Xiongnu clearly stated they "did not want to antagonize the Han and start a war," and would therefore cherish the hard-won peace and be happy that the Han would not cause trouble on the grasslands, Liu Rong could completely free up his hands to focus on dealing with the Korean Peninsula.

It's not really a dish to call it a meal.

For thousands of years, the Korean Peninsula has never been hostile to any of the Chinese regimes in the Central Plains. To be precise, it was neither hostile nor friendly—the two sides had virtually no interaction whatsoever.

The existence of Mustard Seed Joseon gave the Korean Peninsula some understanding of Chinese civilization. It can be said that the Korean Peninsula's attitude towards Chinese civilization was neutral to friendly, as well as curious.

In addition, given the inherently strong assimilation capabilities of Chinese civilization, as well as its advanced nature and superior system, the Korean Peninsula still harbors a certain longing for the Han Dynasty.

Liu Rong vaguely remembered the scene at the end of the first year of the late emperor's reign, when the court held a grand court ceremony to summon vassal states from both inside and outside the capital to pay homage.

At that time, the late emperor's intention was actually to test the warlords in the east and see which ones dared to come to Chang'an and which ones did not.
Then, by observing whether the various clansmen and feudal lords came or not, a preliminary judgment could be made on the stance of each feudal lord regarding whether they were 'rebellious' or not.

The final result had some expected parts and some unexpected parts.

As the leader of the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, and the rebel leader who regarded the late emperor as the "enemy who killed his son," King Liu Bi of Wu claimed to be ill and refused to attend court. He even brought up the edict specially issued by Emperor Taizong, which allowed King Liu Bi of Wu to not attend court in Chang'an. This was undoubtedly no surprise to anyone.

That makes sense;

As early as the early years of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, Prince Liu Xian of Wu was angered by the then Crown Prince, who was also the late Emperor, who smashed a chessboard open. After that, Prince Liu Bi of Wu never went to Chang'an again.

Emperor Taizong felt guilty for killing someone else's son with a chessboard, so he didn't pursue the matter too much. He even provided a legal basis for King Wu Liu Bi's refusal to attend court: he was granted a dove-shaped staff and allowed King Wu to not attend court.

Of course, there were quite a few unexpected incidents during this process.

—After the late emperor killed Prince Liu Xian of Wu by smashing a chessboard, Emperor Taizong's first reaction was to handle the matter discreetly and try to quell the situation.

So they sent people to collect the remains of the Wu prince and hastily sent them back to Guangling, the capital of Wu, without giving an explanation or showing him any respect.

The heir to the mantle died a humiliating and tragic death in Chang'an. King Liu Bi of Wu was filled with grief and anger, and showed no respect to Emperor Taizong. He directly said, "Since he died in Chang'an, bury him in Chang'an." He then ordered that the body of Crown Prince Liu Xian of Wu be sent back to Chang'an.

In this way, Emperor Taizong's goal of "handling it discreetly" naturally failed, and the fig leaf was completely torn off.

From that time on, Liu Bi, the Prince of Wu, almost never concealed his hostility toward the late emperor, or even toward Emperor Taizong and the central government in Chang'an.

However, with Emperor Taizong on the throne, Liu Bi, the Prince of Wu, dared not and could not rebel.

It wasn't until the late emperor ascended the throne that Liu Bi, the King of Wu, finally had the courage to raise the banner of rebellion and a 'legitimate reason' for it.

—The man who killed my son has actually become the emperor of my Han dynasty!
—I cannot tolerate this!

Even so, in his final proclamation announcing the start of his rebellion, King Liu Bi of Wu made no mention of his tragically deceased crown prince, Liu Xian. Instead, he stated: "The emperor's reduction of the power of the princes was due to the instigation of treacherous officials around him. Therefore, I am raising an army to purge the emperor's inner circle and execute Chao Cuo."

Against this backdrop, if King Liu Bi of Wu had actually dared to come to court to pay homage back then, the late emperor would have certainly been able to place Liu Bi under house arrest, or even eliminate him completely.

Therefore, it was no surprise to everyone that King Liu Bi of Wu did not pay homage to Chang'an back then.

The princes of the Qi and Huainan factions were summoned to court, which was also a matter of course.

After all, at that time, most of the kings of the Qi and Huainan factions were still unclear about their positions, belonging to the "fence-sitters" that both King Liu Bi of Wu and the Chang'an court were trying to win over.

It's perfectly understandable that he was summoned to the capital to see what conditions the court in Chang'an could offer.

As an aside—at that time, Liu Rong's porcelain, which he had been working on at the Imperial Household Department, had just gained fame. The then-King of Qi, Liu Jianglu, shamelessly demanded that Liu Rong hand over his craftsmanship, trying to get something for nothing.

Later, the late emperor told Liu Rong: Liu Jianglu was testing Chang'an to see what price he was willing to pay to win over the King of Qi, the leader of the Qi faction of kings.

Whether Liu Rong agrees or refuses has no bearing on Liu Jianglu's final decision.

From the very beginning, Liu Jianglu had decided to let King Liu Bi of Wu and Chang'an fight each other, while he himself would reap the benefits.

As for the porcelain manufacturing process, it was merely a casual experiment by Liu Jianglu, who was just testing the waters.

Closer to home.

The fact that the King of Wu did not pay homage, while the Qi and Huainan factions did, was not surprising at all.

However, Zhao King Liu Sui also claimed to be ill and refused to go to court, which was somewhat unexpected by the court in Chang'an.

After all, the lineage of the Prince of Zhao had no fundamental conflict or enmity with the lineage of Emperor Taizong or the late emperor.
Even if King Zhao Liu Sui had made up his mind to follow King Wu Liu Bi in raising an army, there was absolutely no need for him to expose his stance by refusing to attend court in Chang'an under the circumstances at that time.

It was precisely because Zhao King Liu Sui refused to attend court that the court in Chang'an saw clearly, or rather confirmed, his true nature as a 'potential traitor'.

With the added influence of Liu Rong, the time traveler, King Zhao ultimately failed to extend the rebellion beyond the territory of Zhao during the entire Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu—not even beyond the Zhao capital, Handan.

As for the other feudal lords—the King of Dai and the King of Yan all paid tribute, which was quite common.

King Liu Wu of Liang was the first to enter the court, naturally to discuss and plan how to deal with the rebellion with the late emperor.

It was around that time that the famous "Crown Prince" drama unfolded, forcing Liu Rong to put on a stellar performance and act alongside the late emperor for several months...

At that time, almost everyone's attention was focused on which of the warlords from Guandong had entered the court and which had not.
Soon after, the focus shifted to the explosive news of the Crown Prince and the Emperor's younger brother.

But Liu Rong vaguely remembered that those who came to Chang'an to pay homage at that time included not only the relatives and princes of Guandong, but also the vassal states of the Han Dynasty.

For example, the Baiyue people of Lingnan in the south—except for the old tortoise Zhao Tuo, the King of Nanyue, who did not come, the rulers of Minyue and Dongyue all took the initiative to submit memorials expressing their willingness to come to court.

At that time, the late emperor was busy promoting the "Policy of Reducing the Feudal States" and dealing with the Wu-Chu Rebellion that was about to be resolved. He had no time to deal with Lingnan, so he granted permission for the two feudal states of Minyue and Dongyue not to pay tribute, citing the "long distance".

In addition, vassal states in the southwest, such as Yelang, Mimo, Qiongdu, and Dian, also sent delegations to the court.

Of course, there were also nominally 'outer vassals' on the Korean Peninsula, such as Mahan, Jinhan, Byeonhan, and Jinbeon.

Yes;

Before the Qin dynasty could conquer the Korean Peninsula, it perished after only two generations. The Han dynasty became the new target for the Korean Peninsula to continue its tradition and submit to the Central Plains dynasties of China.

(End of this chapter)