My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 601 No way...

In a moment of mental leap, Liu Rong subtly propelled the process of knowledge dissemination before quickly refocusing his attention on the most pressing matter at hand.

—The Korean Peninsula.

Liu Rong had already sorted out the handling plan for the Korean Peninsula and the details of each step of the plan.

However, there was one thing that Liu Rong had inadvertently forgotten, and he only remembered it after being reminded by the generals.

The Korean Peninsula in this era was not only inhabited by the indigenous regimes of Korea itself, but also by Wiman Joseon, which originated from the Central Plains.

To the northwest of the Korean Peninsula and to the northeast of the Yan Kingdom of the Han Dynasty, there are two other forces that are currently weak but have a glorious past and are very likely to dominate the grasslands in the future.

—The Xianbei people and the Wuhuan people.

History enthusiasts of later generations will likely be familiar with these two ethnic groups.

The 'glorious past' of these two ethnic groups can be traced back to the previous steppe overlords before the Xiongnu: the Donghu people.

More than a thousand years ago, during the Yin and Shang dynasties, the Donghu, as a nomadic regime—or rather, the name of a tribal alliance—first appeared in the records of Chinese history.

According to later scholars, the Donghu tribal alliance existed for more than 1,300 years, from the Yin-Shang period to the Qin-Han transition.

For at least two hundred years, they existed as rulers of nomadic peoples of the grasslands—or rather, as one of the dominant powers of the grasslands.

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Donghu bordered the Yan state to the north and south, and was located northeast of the Zhao state.

Later, they were defeated by Qin Kai, a general of Yan, and had no choice but to relocate to the Laoha River and Xilamulun River basins in the upper reaches of the Xiliao River.

At that time, many powerful states built the Great Wall to defend against the Hu (barbarians).

The Great Wall built by the Yan state was to defend against their northern neighbor: the Donghu people.

Later historians believed that the term "Donghu" originated from the logic of "they lived east of the Hu people (Xiongnu)".

To the east of the Hu people (Xiongnu people) were naturally the Donghu people.

However, some people believe that the name "Donghu" is a transliteration of the ancient Altaic language family, namely Mongolian-Tungusic.

The characters "Donghu" are actually a variant spelling of the word "Tonggu (Si)," or a transliteration of it.

—In the Old Altaic languages, the word "tong" in "tonggu" is translated as willow tree, and "gu" as river.

The meaning of the two characters "通古" is roughly that of Liutiao River, or a river whose banks are covered with willow trees.

Adding the character '斯' at the end forms the word 'Tunguska'.

Based on the fact that this word is used to refer to this tribe, it can be basically concluded that Tungusic means "a people living along the Willow River".

Furthermore, later research has confirmed that the Donghu ethnic group comprised members of at least two language families.

One is the Mongolic language family, and the other is the Tungusic language family.

After the defeat and division of the Donghu, these two groups gradually evolved into more ethnic groups, which continued into later generations.

The Mongol, Evenki, Daur, and Manchu ethnic groups, which still exist and continue to be passed down to later generations, are all descendants of the Donghu people, as confirmed by later historical research.

However, in later times, the term Tungusic no longer refers to the Donghu people of two or three thousand years ago, or the descendants of the Donghu such as the Mongols and Daurs, but specifically to the Evenki people.

Therefore, the Evenki people were also known in later generations as the Tungusic people...

Having learned about the origin of the name "Donghu" and its descendants, let's turn our attention back to the period before and after Qin Shi Huang unified the world.

The Donghu people rose to prominence during the Yin and Shang dynasties and became the dominant force on the grasslands around the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, much like the Xiongnu people of today.

However, the Donghu people at that time did not suppress Chinese civilization to the point of being unable to raise their heads like the Xiongnu people in the first fifty years after the founding of the Han Dynasty.

On the contrary, under the repeated attacks of famous generals of the Warring States period, such as Qin Kai of Yan and Li Mu of Zhao, the area controlled by the Donghu people continued to retreat eastward and northward.

Historical records show that the states of Yan and Zhao each expanded their territory northward by hundreds of miles, occupying land that originally belonged to the overlords of the grasslands: the Donghu people.

Later, the six kings were defeated, the world was unified, and the First Emperor unified the world.

The Donghu people, who had been repeatedly suppressed by the states of Yan and Zhao, were naturally no match for the unified Qin Dynasty. In just a few years, they were defeated by Qin general Meng Tian and fled in terror, daring not to venture south to graze their horses.

On the one hand, this undoubtedly dealt a serious blow to the Donghu people's dominant position on the grasslands.

On the other hand, the Donghu people's unconditional retreat in the face of the Qin cavalry also gave some small tribes in the border area between the grasslands and the Central Plains an opportunity to grow stronger.

For example, the Xiongnu were once an insignificant small tribe on the grasslands, caught between the Central Plains of China and the Donghu people, the overlords of the grasslands, barely surviving.

After Qin Shi Huang unified the country, until his death, the Xiongnu people were caught in a pincer movement, being bullied from both sides.

—The Donghu people in the north dared not provoke the Qin people, so they took their anger out on the weak Xiongnu tribe. They sent Luandi Modu, the son of the Xiongnu Chanyu Touman, to the Donghu royal court as a hostage, and also made the Xiongnu send money, horses and women.

The Qin people, inevitably, did not care whether you were a Xiongnu or a Donghu—as long as you were a Hu person, they would attack you without hesitation.

Thus, the Xiongnu tribe was caught in the middle and suffered for several years.

Until the death of the First Emperor, the once invincible Qin Dynasty collapsed almost overnight with the ascension of the Second Emperor.

The Xiongnu, who were originally attacked from both sides by the Donghu and Qin people, unexpectedly received an unprecedented opportunity.

—In the same year that the Second Emperor ascended the throne, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang launched the Dazexiang Uprising, and the Qin Empire was shattered overnight.

Subsequently, the Qin court ordered General Wang Li to lead the Qin Northern Great Wall Army south to quell the rebellion.

Qin Ting was in a hurry, and Wang Li was in a hurry to leave, so naturally there were many weapons and supplies that he didn't have time to take with him.

All of this undoubtedly benefited the Xiongnu people, who were so poor at the time that they were practically eating dirt.

The standardized bronze weapons manufactured by the Qin Shaofu, such as knives, swords, halberds, spears, and even precision weapons like crossbows, enabled the Xiongnu people, who were still in the Stone Age and Bone Age, to grow stronger than ever before.

In the years that followed, the Central Plains were busy with the struggle of "Qin losing its deer, and the whole world chasing after it".

Meanwhile, on the northern grasslands, the Xiongnu, who had received this great fortune, embarked on a path of vying for supremacy under the leadership of their powerful ruler, Modu Chanyu.

Starting with Modu Chanyu's killing of his father with a whistling arrow and his subsequent usurpation of Touman Chanyu, the Xiongnu people rapidly grew from a small tribe into a powerful third force on the grasslands, second only to the old hegemon Donghu and the newly emerging Yuezhi, within just a few years.

Moreover, unlike the Donghu and Yuezhi people who also used stone and bone weapons, the Xiongnu people at that time were already equipped with a considerable amount of advanced bronze weapons.

Due to the technological gap in weaponry, the Xiongnu, who had the least resources, the smallest territory, and the fewest troops among the three, ironically became the most powerful. However, even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse.

No matter how sophisticated their weapons were, the Xiongnu were ultimately just newly powerful 'greenhorns'.

At least that was the case from the perspective of the Donghu and Yuezhi people at that time.

Therefore, given the reality that the Xiongnu were the strongest of the three, neither the Donghu nor the Yuezhi lowered their stance to seek an alliance to resist the rapidly growing power of the Xiongnu.

The enemy was not clever, and the Xiongnu people naturally wouldn't let the opportunity slip away.

After confirming that neither the Donghu nor the Yuezhi believed that an alliance was necessary to curb the growth of the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu Chanyu, Luandi Modu, immediately decided to strike first!

At that time, Modu Chanyu had two choices.

First attack the Yuezhi to intimidate the Donghu, or first annihilate the Donghu to intimidate the Yuezhi.

The two are not exactly the same, but have obvious differences.

—The Donghu were the former overlords. Even though they were beaten to a pulp by the Yan, Zhao, and Qin people, they still retained their power and had a deep foundation.

In contrast, the Yuezhi, though also a newly powerful group, did not have a much deeper foundation than the Xiongnu, and their strength was naturally inferior to that of the old overlord, the Donghu.

Therefore, for Maodun Chanyu at that time, both of these choices were actually somewhat bad.

Attacking the Yuezhi first would likely be easier and smoother, but it would also very likely fail to deter the Donghu people, or even allow the Donghu to reap the benefits and then step in and wipe out the Xiongnu after the Xiongnu had achieved a Pyrrhic victory over the Yuezhi.

In summary, the process will go smoothly, but the result is likely to be unsatisfactory.

Conversely, we should first attack the Donghu people—if we can defeat the Donghu people, we will establish the Xiongnu as the new overlord of the grasslands, and the entire grasslands will be intimidated by the powerful strength of the Xiongnu!

Even the Yuezhi tribe, after the old overlord Donghu was driven from power, could no longer muster the desire to compete with the Xiongnu!
Correspondingly, the difficulty of arm wrestling with the Donghu people is exceptionally high.

The reason why the Xiongnu were so powerful at that time was because they obtained the fine bronze weapons that the Qin army had not had time to take with them when they marched south to quell the rebellion.

But war, especially war in the era of cold weapons, is ultimately about fighting people.

As a newly powerful force, the Xiongnu were well-equipped and ambitious, but ultimately lacked combat experience—especially experience in large-scale warfare.

In contrast, the Donghu people, as the former overlords, had an advantage in every aspect except for their weapons, which were inferior to the Qin weapons used by the Xiongnu.

If the Xiongnu could defeat the Donghu, they would be able to intimidate the entire grassland. This is precisely because the Donghu were difficult to defeat, and defeating the Donghu was enough to terrify people!
In the end, Modu Chanyu decided to fight to the bitter end in one battle, making the first battle the decisive one, and directly challenge the leader of the grasslands, the old overlord Donghu.

The final battle of that campaign could not even be described as 'tragic'.

—On the Donghu side, the arrows shot by the Loufan people seemed to want to turn the earth into a hedgehog;
The broken bows, whose strings had been snapped by the Loufan people, were piled up like a small mountain outside the Donghu king's tent!

—On the Xiongnu side, the Zhelan people were fearless and valiant. Even when the arrows shot by the Loufan people were like pincushions, they still gritted their teeth and tried their best to take another step forward and strike to kill another person.

Both sides deployed hundreds of thousands of troops, and the battlefield stretched for hundreds or even thousands of miles, with cavalry chasing each other almost everywhere on the grassland.

As a result, the grasslands were exceptionally lush and abundant the following year, but this also led to widespread water pollution and an outbreak of plague.

In that battle, the Xiongnu deployed all their elite troops, suffering heavy losses.

In that battle, the Zhelan people suffered heavy losses, with almost an entire generation dying.

But it was that battle that established the Xiongnu's absolute rule over the grasslands and their unquestionable hegemonic status.

It was that battle that made the Zhelan people a war fanatic on the grasslands, capable of stopping children from crying at night.

The Xiongnu won their gamble, winning that war that determined their nation's fate, and thus became the new overlords of the grasslands.

As the former overlords, the Donghu people suffered a crushing defeat. Even the Donghu king himself had his head cut off by Modu Chanyu and made into a wine vessel as a medal to demonstrate his achievements.

Thus began a new chapter for the grasslands; the old king fell into obscurity, and a new king ascended the throne.

Thus began the Xiongnu people's more than 100-year-long absolute rule over the nomadic people of the grasslands.

The Donghu people were reduced to a few remnants, or rather, remnants and remnants, who survived under the leniency of Modu Chanyu, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

With the war over, the Xiongnu-led tribal alliance, the Xiongnu Hundred Barbarian Empire, was established, while the Donghu tribal alliance collapsed.

The various tribes of the grasslands that were originally subordinate to the Donghu tribe all became slaves of the Xiongnu to varying degrees.

Those who fared better, such as the Loufan people who had proven themselves on the battlefield, were made lackeys by the Xiongnu and, together with the Zhelan and Baiyang tribes, formed the three chariots that the Xiongnu used to suppress the southern part of the Mu.

The two tribes that were in slightly worse condition were the ones that later generations would be familiar with, and which were also the two tribes that Liu Rong had to consider when he turned his attention to the Korean Peninsula.

The Wuhuan tribe and the Xianbei tribe.

Like the modern Xiongnu Empire, which governed tribes such as Loufan, Zhelan, Baiyang, Huyan, Qiequ, and Qiulin, the Donghu also governed many nomadic tribes.

Many of the nomadic tribes now ruled by the Xiongnu were once ruled by the Donghu people.

However, this absolutely does not include the Donghu and Xianbei tribes.

—During the period when the Donghu people ruled the grasslands, and in the early stages when the Xiongnu were able to dominate the grasslands, neither of these tribes existed.

After that decisive battle, the Xiongnu, who were able to dominate the grasslands, divided the direct descendants of the former overlords, the Donghu, into two parts according to their social status.

Part of the original Donghu nobles, and even the Donghu royal family, were exiled to Wuheng Mountain and named after it: Wuheng tribe.

Originally slaves of the Donghu, and specifically those who were loyal and direct descendants of the slaves, they were exiled to the Xianbei Mountains and, likewise, named after their 'territory': the Xianbei tribe.

Thus, the Xiongnu people created these two nomadic tribes, who were descendants of the Donghu and left their mark on Chinese history.

Later research and statistics show that after the Donghu lost their dominant position on the grasslands, until the new era, the Donghu descendants developed into more than a dozen tribes and ethnic groups.

There were two tribes, Wuhuan and Xianbei, as well as tribes that branched off from the Xianbei, such as Murong, Yuwen, Duan, Tuoba, Qifu, Tufa, and Tuyuhun.
Other tribes, such as the Rouran, Kumoxi, Khitan, Shiwei, and Mongols, have unclear development histories, but can be identified as descendants of the Donghu.

Later generations often mistakenly attributed the Mongols to the Xiongnu.

However, in fact, the Donghu people are the more accurate ancestors of the later Mongols.

Among the descendants of the Donghu, the Xianbei tribe is undoubtedly the most 'famous' and the most notorious in Chinese history, having caused the most harm to the Chinese nation.

(End of this chapter)