Jinting Han people

Chapter 203: The End of the War (4k)

This time, Liu Xian didn't dream. He simply felt like he'd slept for a long time, his consciousness sinking into a void, as if he had belonged here long ago and would continue to belong here for a long time to come. Was this the scene that wandering ghosts encounter after death? Or was it something that only occurred during sleep?

Liu Xian, of course, didn't know the answer. He was simply too exhausted, too tired to even notice his own fatigue. War was truly a demon, forcing men to become like clams in a river, constantly devouring silt, then using their own flesh and blood and will to transform this silt into glittering pearls. Ultimately, did men win the war, or did war win men? This was a question worthy of deep reflection and scrutiny by all generals.

But Liu Xian couldn't think at this moment. He just breathed unconsciously for a long time. When the accumulated fatigue had dissipated completely, he woke up leisurely. Unexpectedly, when he opened his eyes again, he didn't see the roof of the military camp before him, but seemed to be back in the familiar Xiayang courtyard.

A gentle autumn morning breeze blew through the swaying door curtains, bringing in the golden sunlight from outside. Inside, everything was neatly arranged: books piled like hills, bows and arrows hung on the walls, and a bouquet of pure, snow-white chrysanthemums in a vase on the table counteracted the strange, bitter aroma of traditional Chinese medicine from the nearby ceramic jars.

Liu Xian looked at everything in front of him in a daze, and subconsciously began to recall the past before he fell into a coma. He immediately remembered the rumbling military drums, the surging crowds, the flying arrows, and the blood-stained grass under the morning glow.

This startled him, and he sat up immediately, feeling a tearing pain in his chest. Liu Xian looked down and saw that his chest was covered with herbs and a bandage. However, the wound was scabbed, indicating that a considerable amount of time had passed since the battle.

How much time had passed? Was he victorious in the Xiayang courtyard? What exactly happened in that battle, and what was the outcome?

While he was thinking, he heard a noise at the door. He looked up and found it was Lu Zhu. She was eight months pregnant at the moment. She was wearing a loose bird-patterned gown and walked in very slowly with a bucket of charcoal in her hand. Lu Zhu subconsciously raised her head to look at Liu Xian. Seeing him sitting upright on the couch, she couldn't help but smile with joy as if a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She put down the charcoal bucket in her hand, sat down next to Liu Xian, touched his forehead and said:

"You've been lying in bed for five days now. The wound was only an inch away from your heart. You almost died."

Then she sent someone to notify Li Sheng, Xue Xing, Zhang Gu, and the others. When everyone heard that Liu Xian had regained consciousness, they immediately rushed over, and the small courtyard was soon filled with people. Of course, there were more than just Liu Xian's subordinates; Li Ju, his sworn brother, was also stationed in Xiayang. They all came over, but when they met again, Liu Xian was shocked because everyone looked very different compared to when he fell unconscious.

The main thing is that everyone was injured.

Zhang Gu seemed to have been cut on his eyebrow, and now there was a long scar at the corner of his eye; Xue Xing seemed to have a broken arm, and now had a splint hanging on his chest; Sun Xi was limping with a crutch, and it was said that he was shot by an arrow in the knee; Li Sheng, who was conducting and beating the drums under the mulberry tree, did not have any serious injuries, but there were some small scratches on his face, which broke the scholarly air.

Needless to say, Li Ju was the one guarding Liu Xian. Apart from some scratches, the fingers of his right hand were wrapped in cloth, which was obviously caused by excessive archery and the bowstring had injured him.

It can be seen that everyone has gone through a hard battle.

Liu Xian couldn't help but laugh as he looked at their miserable plights. He asked, "What's going on? When did our Xiayang County Government become a camp for wounded soldiers?"

When he laughed, everyone else laughed too. Li Ju said, "Brother, you don't know how scared we were when you were shot by the arrow."

Liu Xian also smiled and said, "I just wanted to ask, what exactly happened?"

After Li Ju's narration, Liu Xian finally understood what happened.

After Liu Xian was struck by an arrow, Li Ju and his men were shocked and enraged. They led their men in a fierce battle while they carried the unconscious Liu Xian to the platform. The Xiongnu were now frantic, completely different from their previous actions. They attacked the Jin army with a reckless abandon. Even those struck by arrows and with broken limbs, as long as they could move, continued to attack with all their might.

Despite this, Li Ju and his men refused to give up easily. Despite being surrounded by enemies many times their number, they continued to protect their flags and drums. They fought off several attacks from the Xiongnu, and at one point, everyone was wounded and on the verge of collapse.

As a result, at this critical moment, a surprise force appeared on the battlefield. It turned out to be the cavalry led by Beigong Chun.

That night, upon hearing the drumbeats, he did not rush back to reinforce. Instead, he rushed to the Longmen Ferry crossing and pushed back the soldiers, especially the cavalry, who were huddled near the ferry. After organizing a force of nearly a thousand cavalry, he finally led them back to the battlefield, where he joined Zhang Guang's troops, who were still engaged in fierce fighting, and unexpectedly reached the rear of the battlefield.

At this critical moment, when both sides were exhausted from fighting, thousands of cavalry joined the battlefield, instantly disrupting the balance. The Xiongnu were not unwilling to fight, but were unable to fight. Beigong Chun easily defeated and dispersed them.

By the time Beigong Chun had completely secured victory, killed most of the Xiongnu, and driven some out of the camp, it was already 5:30 AM, the twilight hour. The Fenyin camp was littered with corpses—both Xiongnu and Jin—with severed limbs and arms scattered to the ground, making it impossible to tell whose belonged to whom. The only way to count casualties was by head count.

In this battle, the Xiongnu probably lost over 3,000 men, while the Jin army was killed in a night raid, numbering over 3,000. Thousands more perished in subsequent battles. In just half a night, over 7,000 men perished on this battlefield, and those who survived were all wounded. To describe this battle as a battle of over half its casualties is no exaggeration. Even among the major wars of the past century, this ranks among the most brutal.

Until now, Li Ju is still responsible for cleaning up the battlefield, but the rest of the troops have already embarked on their journey back home.

When Liu Xian heard this, he couldn't help but be a little shocked, and then he felt a sense of luck: he was very lucky to be able to survive such a battle.

He then asked Li Ju, "But what happens next? After repelling these several thousand Xiongnu, don't they still have tens of thousands of people in Jishan? What should we do with them?"

Li Ju quickly answered this question: "Three days ago, they all surrendered."

"Ah?" Liu Xian felt a little unbelievable. With so many casualties and a deep-seated feud between the two sides, the Huns surrendered so easily? In his memory of that night, the Huns had demonstrated a determination to fight to the end, regardless of casualties.

Li Ju was also very moved by this. He sighed and said, "Brother, this is all Hao San's idea."

It turned out that the man Liu Xian had ordered Li Ju to kill was indeed Hao San, the Xiongnu rearguard commander. He had been responsible for everything from the night attack to the final desperate charge. However, during this final charge, the Xiongnu were deeply divided. It was Hao San who, despite the majority's opposition, advocated for one more all-out charge. If they succeeded, it would be a complete victory; if they failed, Hao San suggested that the Xiongnu surrender, and he would willingly accept his death.

It was this disregard for life and death that moved Hao San to the heart of his men, leading him to launch a charge that Liu Xian would never forget. However, the outcome was unexpected: Hao San, seemingly on the verge of victory, died mid-charge. The Xiongnu, deeply grief-stricken, continued to fight even after his death, but ultimately met with defeat.

After the defeat, the Huns took back Hao San's body. Three days later, they sent a hundred people to carry Hao San's body, as if they were carrying the lives of 200,000 people, and surrendered to the Jin army.

Twelve other Xiongnu leaders, including Bu Zhi, Jin Xiu, Liu Xiuyun, and Qiu Tong, also perished in this battle. By comparison, while the Jin army also suffered heavy casualties, they suffered few generals, a blessing in disguise. Upon hearing this, Liu Xian remained silent for a long time. Honestly, he felt a certain admiration and respect for this Xiongnu leader. Unlike Sun Xiu, this Xiongnu leader had done everything in his power for his people, even risking his own life. Even he himself probably couldn't have done better.

In peaceful times, Liu Xian felt he could become friends with this Xiongnu leader, just like he had with Liu Cong and the others. It was simply time and fate that made them rivals. But he was also a respectable opponent. The wound on his chest, just half an inch away from his heart, was enough to etch his memory forever.

But no matter what, this storm is finally over.

However, as the wound moved, he immediately thought of a question: "By the way, who shot me? Do you know?"

"It was Tai A Gu who was chasing us last night," Xue Xing said. "I wanted to find him and kill him to avenge the county lord, but he escaped alone before surrendering."

Escaped? Liu Xian felt a little sorry, as he had wanted to recruit this sharpshooter. However, following the topic, he asked about the aftermath and asked, "What are we going to do with all these Xiongnu people now?"

This time, it was Xi An who explained. As the county magistrate, he had a better understanding of civil affairs. "This is indeed a difficult problem. The matter is currently being handled by Jie Xi, the governor of Yongzhou."

"Well, isn't it Sun Xiu?"

Xi An glanced at Li Ju. In his eyes, this was still an outsider. He couldn't express his dissatisfaction and said, "Sun Changshi is busy reporting his achievements."

Liu Xian understood. Sun Xiu's words definitely didn't involve him. Perhaps the difficulties of this victory were due to the incompetence of the generals, and the success was due to his wise command! Liu Xian didn't care about such things anymore and asked directly, "What do you plan to do, then?"

"The bodies of those bandit leaders must have been beheaded and sent to the three sides. As for the living ones, General Jie did not pursue them much."

This was only natural. Although the Huns had been defeated, their casualties were no more than 20,000, and there were still nearly 200,000 Huns waiting to be dealt with. Anyone with a bit of common sense would not force these Huns into a desperate situation when they themselves had suffered heavy casualties.

"But the remaining people are too numerous. It is simply not a solution to rely solely on the Western Expedition Army to provide for them."

"So, General Jie came up with an idea. He planned to pick out all the orphans and widows among the rebels who had lost their husbands and fathers, and sell them as slaves to the powerful clans in Guanzhong. This would probably solve the issue of whether nearly 40,000 people could stay or go."

This was a brutal method, selling 40,000 people directly into slavery. As participants in the war, Liu Xian had no idea what tragic fate they would endure. But he could imagine there would be no lack of discrimination against their dignity. This was the treatment of slaves from a conquered nation, and Liu Xian felt it all too well.

"Then there are still 150,000 people. What should we do with these people?"

Xi An smiled wryly and replied, "General Jie didn't have a particularly good solution. After discussing it with Lord Ouyang, he decided to split up the Xiongnu. Yongzhou has thirty-nine counties, and he plans to divide these 150,000 people into thirty-nine tribes, with each county responsible for roughly 4,000 people. Whether they're forced to do hard labor, become tenant farmers, or even killed off, the bottom line is that each of them must find a way to resettle them. We can't let them cause any more trouble or cause any more disaster."

Liu Xian couldn't help but smile bitterly while covering his wound: This is really a good idea. The good thing is that all the pressure is thrown on the subordinates.

At this point, Liu Xian only had one last question left: "What about these refugees in Hedong? Is there anyone to take care of them?"

After all, it was Liu Xian who was responsible for organizing these people. At this important time, Liu Xian still hoped that he could see a good beginning and a good end.

Xue Xing replied, "County Lord, the refugees from Fenyin, Pishi, and other places have begun to return home one after another. As long as the county magistrate is still there, there will always be someone to take charge. But the problems now are in Linfen and Jiangyi. As you know, the county magistrates in those places..."

Although Xue Xing didn't finish his words, Liu Xian already understood what he meant: in these places, the county magistrates and county heads had either abandoned their cities and fled, losing their official positions, or been killed by the Xiongnu. At this time, the court had not yet had time to send new officials, so the people under the jurisdiction of these county heads were left without a leader.

Liu Xian closed his eyes and thought for a while, then asked, "Jida, how many refugees are there in these places?"

"About 20,000 people."

"Twenty thousand people..." Together with the four thousand Huns assigned by the Jie Xi, there are almost twenty-four thousand people, more than twice the current population of Xiayang County.

Liu Xian gritted his teeth and said decisively, "Since no one cares, let's eat it all!"

This decision surprised everyone present, but Liu Xian smiled and said, "The court promoted me to county magistrate, so I must be a true county magistrate. With a population of 30,000, Xiayang is considered one of the largest counties in Guanzhong."

"Chi Nu, do it immediately! I bought nearly ten thousand gold worth of food before the war, so I can afford to feed them!"

Since Liu Xian had said so, Xi An naturally did not dare to neglect him. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the other subordinates also went to recuperate, leaving only Li Ju in the room.

Li Ju originally belonged to the Zhengxi Army, but was currently stationed in Xiayang. His face often revealed an expression of wanting to speak but not being able to. Liu Xian knew that he was probably under someone's instructions and had some political topics to discuss with him. Seeing that everyone had left, Liu Xian said directly, "Shihui, there's no one else here. If you have anything to say, just say it!"

"Brother, you have a sharp eye!"

Li Ju smiled, then immediately brought up a thorny topic: "Brother, Sun Xiu has been acting so recklessly, it's time to overthrow him!"

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(End of this chapter)