Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 367: Grassland Balance
Princess Chenliu took out another memorial.

The memorial is Su Ze’s latest invention.

In the past, official documents of the court were written on silk.

Su Ze thought this was a waste, so he stipulated that except for more important official documents to the outside world or institutional laws, which should be written on silk, all official documents transmitted between institutions should be written on paper.

However, pure paper is easily damaged and inconvenient during the transmission process, so Su Ze "invented" this kind of memorial with a hard cover.

The folded memorial looks very neat. The amount of paper used is determined according to the length of the words written. It also facilitates the transmission of official documents between government offices, as everyone has enough space at the back to write down their opinions.

Judging from its thickness, this memorial must have at least two thousand words. After Su Ze opened it, his eyes lit up.

I didn’t expect Dugu Xin’s handwriting to be so good?
The handwriting reflects the person. Dugu Xin's handwriting is elegant and has its own characteristics. Su Ze was left with a good impression at first sight.

Next, Su Ze read the contents of the memorial and quickly immersed himself in it, admiring it as he read.

Princess Chenliu waited until Su Ze finished reading and couldn't help asking:

"Is Dugu Xin's memorial so good? How could it make Su Lang so impressed?"

As Su Ze's status grew, he had long since become disenchanted with historical figures, and Princess Chenliu rarely saw him excited.

Su Ze nodded and said:

"Dugu Xin really knows the grasslands very well. If we really follow his approach, the northern border will be stable for 30 years!"

Princess Chenliu was shocked. This evaluation was extremely high.

Her ancestor, Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao, who was the most martial emperor, once defeated the Rouran people, captured millions of livestock and hundreds of thousands of people, and was praised at the time for keeping the grassland stable for twenty years.

In fact, this evaluation is not wrong. Twenty years later, the Rouran people made a comeback.

Su Ze said that Dugu Xin’s plan could bring peace to the grassland for thirty years!

Because he understood Princess Chenliu's political abilities, Su Ze often discussed political affairs with her.

He said:
"Dugu Xin's plan is very simple to say, which is to maintain the balance of power among the various tribes on the grassland and prevent the emergence of an empire that can integrate all the power of the grassland."

"To put it simply, it is a grassland balance plan. We will suppress the rising tribes and support the declining tribes that are close to us, so that the grasslands will be in internal strife and unable to go south to plunder."

Princess Chenliu immediately understood that this was in line with the grassland conference proposed by Su Ze back then. No wonder Su Ze was so surprised.

Then Princess Chenliu suddenly said:

"By doing this, aren't you harming the Emperor Shouyang's sister?"

Su Ze was shocked. Could it be that his wife knew about his affair with Princess Shouyang?
Or is it a test based on a woman's intuition?

Su Ze looked normal and said directly:
"Actually, this is not the case. In fact, it is helping Princess Shouyang."

"Why?"

"The Central Plains may have a dynasty with a queen mother as regent, but have you ever seen an empire ruled by a kheduan on the grassland?"

After listening to this, Princess Chenliu also felt that it made sense.

The grassland assembly system established by Su Ze actually accelerated the decline of Rouran. This group decision-making further weakened Rouran's ruling power on the grassland.

This was not Su Ze setting a trap for Princess Shouyang and his son. On the contrary, they mother and son were unable to control a powerful grassland empire. A declining Rouran was the limit of what they could control.

There's no way around it, people on the grassland naturally worship the strong.

The basic logic of grassland civilization and agricultural civilization is completely different.

What agricultural civilization requires is accumulation, so the elders are respected in agricultural civilization because they have accumulated knowledge and life experience.

Since the establishment of Han civilization, civil governance and military achievements have been placed on the same position, and military achievements do not require the emperor to go to war personally. Neither Qin Shihuang nor Emperor Wu of Han had ever been to the battlefield, but that did not prevent them from being emperors with strong martial virtues.

In the Central Plains civilization, there could be female queen dowagers who expanded the territory, but it was impossible for a female Khan who led troops to fight on the grasslands.

Compared with agricultural civilization, the survival level of nomadic peoples is very low.

"A fortune of millions does not count as long as one is able to breathe." Even before Su Ze traveled through time, there was still such a saying in the grassland area.

A disaster or a defeat could break the fragile balance of the tribe and cause the entire tribe to fall into despair.

Women and children cannot bring a sense of security to the entire tribe, nor can they turn the tide in desperate situations.

On the other hand, a strong tribe cannot tolerate a woman and a child holding the highest power in the tribe.

Being able to maintain a weakened Rouran was the basis for Princess Shouyang to serve as regent through Kehadun.

There will inevitably be many competitors for the throne of a powerful Khanate, the most famous of which is Princess Daye of the Sui Dynasty. Princess Daye married Qimin Khan, Shibi Khan, Chuluo Khan, and Jieli Khan successively. After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, she also instigated the Turks to become enemies with the Tang Dynasty, and was finally killed by Li Jing.

The previous Khan died. It was impossible for a powerful grassland empire to be ruled by women and children. After the new Khan challenger became Khan, he would marry the wife of the previous Khan.

It can be said that Princess Shouyang was able to come to power thanks to the special historical opportunities created by Su Ze and Su Ze's long-term support for her.

However, this kind of support can only maintain the current scale of Rouran. After all, the grassland is too far away. Even if Su Ze has a system, the support he can provide is limited.

Princess Chenliu did not suspect anything and the matter was covered up.

Su Ze read Dugu Xin's memorial again and could only sigh that Dugu Xin did have a strategic vision.

Going to the North is indeed a great achievement.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, the Turks rose during the years of chaos in the north, and then became the overlords of the grassland during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Unite the weaker party to suppress the stronger party, maintain the fragmentation of the grassland, and keep all tribes in a position where they are neither high nor low.

This is why the Qing Dynasty, which was at the peak of feudal dynasty ruling technology, was able to maintain the grasslands without any major threats since Junggar.

In fact, the stable situation in the north during the early Sui and Tang dynasties also benefited from this theory of "grassland balance of power".

The key strategy proposed by Dugu Xin was to cross the Yellow River and rebuild Wuyuan City, which was the place where Liu Han Baling and Hou Mo Chen Shun fought a great battle, and to establish towns in the north to interfere with the grassland.

Wuyuan is indeed a very important area. Wuyuan controls the entire Hetao region. It is an area that can be used for both farming and grazing. It is a key area for competition between farming and nomadism.

Since the Northern Wei Dynasty completely abandoned the Six Garrisons and began civil strife, it lost its barrier in the north.

Rangers from the grassland often appeared north of the Yellow River, but they only went south to plunder sporadically and had not yet settled down on a large scale.

But Dugu Xin also said that it was only a matter of time before the grasslands moved south.

No tribe could stand to see fertile pastures lying empty; when the Northern Wei's deterrent power further declined, these areas would inevitably be occupied.

Therefore, now is the best time to build Wuyuan City, which will serve as a fulcrum for reorganizing the northern defense line.

The more Su Ze looked at it, the happier he became. The issue in the north was indeed a problem that had always been a headache for Su Ze.

In history, from the struggle for supremacy between the Eastern and Western Wei after the split of the Northern Wei Dynasty to the confrontation between the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, the grassland played an important role. If the northern border was not peaceful, a large number of troops would be needed to garrison it, which would consume a lot of military resources.

Dugu Xin was able to see the problem in the north at this time and proposed this theory of balance of power. I can only say that he is a talented person!
Su Ze said:

"Wonderful!"

Dugu Xin also proposed that not only military means but also diplomatic means should be used. He even sought advice from Gao Hui, who had just returned from a diplomatic mission to the grassland, and repeatedly asked him about things on the grassland. He also gained an intuitive understanding of the current situation on the grassland.

Princess Chenliu smiled and said, "So, Su Lang agrees to this marriage?"

"marriage?"

Su Ze was a little at a loss. Princess Chenliu rolled her eyes at him and said:
"You want to send Dugu Xin to the northern border and not let him marry Yuyao? How long do you want to keep Yuyao?"

Su Ze was a little surprised. He didn't expect that he would reach the age to decide on his sister's marriage so soon.

But now it seems that the girl is really not worth keeping, Su Ze can only say:
"Then this matter can only be left to my wife to organize."

Princess Chenliu smiled and said:
"When choosing for Yuyao, it was also your husband who agreed. How come you are reluctant to let him go now? I think Dugu Xin is indeed a talented person. Yuyao should not suffer if she marries him."

Su Ze nodded. No matter what Dugu Xin was like in history, the current Dugu Xin was just a remnant of the Six Garrisons under his command. Moreover, if he could not suppress Dugu Xin with his prestige, then all his time travel and the system would be in vain.

Organizing a wedding is really troublesome, but fortunately, the Su family now has a hostess, so Princess Chenliu can naturally take care of such things.

She immediately summoned the ladies of Yongle City to help, and Baizhang Tower became a nest of beautiful women every day, which made Su Ze unbearable and he moved back to the military camp.

Today, Yongle City is filled with joy, and the gate of Yongle Temple is open to welcome pilgrims who come to fulfill their vows and pray for blessings.

At this time, a foreign-looking monk, along with his disciples and luggage, crossed the Yellow River from Longmen Ferry and arrived in Yongle City.

This foreign monk was Bodhidharma Bodhi, who came from afar to the Central Plains to spread Buddhism, and his disciple Huike.

Bodhidharma stopped and walked along the way, sometimes he would stay in a small temple in the countryside for a month before leaving. So he started from Luoyang on the Buddha's Bathing Festival last year, and it took him a year to reach Yongle City.

After crossing the Yellow River, Bodhidharma learned that Su Ze's general headquarters was in Yongle City, so he took his disciples to Yongle City, wanting to meet General Su, who was famous in Guanzhong.

As an ordinary monk, he needed the introduction of a local monk if he wanted to meet Su Ze. So he naturally went to Yongle Temple, the only Buddhist temple in the city, to stay the night.

Tiger Vanguard has killed me thirty times.

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(End of this chapter)