Han officials

Chapter 245 The Grassland Gathering [12]

"Busabo, do you want to become the King of Dingling?"

Like the whisper of a demon, upon hearing these words, Bu Sabo trembled involuntarily.

He, who had just been half respectful and half fearful, suddenly couldn't help but show excitement on his face.

Unlike Tadun, a seasoned veteran well-versed in Han affairs, Busabo, who lived deep in Beihai, was obviously much more direct.

He immediately knelt on the ground and suddenly pulled a dagger from his waist.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Yun frowned and immediately stepped in front of Wei Zhe.

However, Wei Zhe didn't take it to heart at all, and didn't even blink. Instead, he looked at Bu Sabo with curiosity.

What a joke! With so many Han soldiers present, even if Bu Sabo had the bravery of Lü Bu, he couldn't possibly harm a single hair on his head.

And indeed, that was the case. Bu Sabo slashed his own forehead with his backhand, and blood gushed out immediately.

Ignoring him, he simply grew three fingers and smeared three bloody streaks down his forehead.

Then, Bu Sabo respectfully placed the dagger in front of Wei Zhe, and said with a devout expression:

"The gods bear witness, Bhusabo will be your eternal servant!"

"The Dingling people will be the whip in your hand, and will never betray you for generations to come!"

Seeing this, Zhao Yun couldn't help but shake his head speechlessly.

He didn't know what was wrong with these barbarians, why they liked to have surgery on their faces so much.

The Xiongnu people were like this, and so were the Dingling people.

However, the Xiongnu people generally used knives to cut their cheeks primarily to express mourning, which is different from the Dingling people.

Of course, in essence, it all means "to pledge one's will with blood," perhaps this is the grassland version of swearing an oath of blood.

Regardless of the etiquette, Busabo's actions clearly demonstrate that he truly desires to become the King of Dingling.

This was exactly what Wei Zhe wanted to see, so he immediately picked up a dagger, tucked it into his waistband, and accepted his loyalty.

……

Regardless of what schemes Wei Zhe had against the Dingling people, his mission was finally accomplished after obtaining Budugen's head.

In his moment of triumph, he couldn't help but feel a desire to show off his martial arts skills.

However, the "Fenglang Juxu" (封狼居胥) is out of the question; with Huo Qubing preceding him, probably no one will remember the second person.

So Wei Zhe simply picked up his operations on the Korean Peninsula again, preparing to erect an "Arctic monument" in the North Sea.

After all, Beihai is arguably the northernmost point that Han Chinese troops can reach at present; they really can't go any further than that.

But after Wei Zhe expressed his thoughts, Tian Feng said with a helpless expression:

"My lord, I'm afraid this won't work. Even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice!"

To reduce logistical pressure, they didn't even bring much food; they drove sheep along like the Hu people. Why would they carry something like a stone tablet?

There are plenty of large stones around Beihai, but it's too late to chisel them out for the monument now.

Besides, a small stone tablet lacks grandeur and would only embarrass the Han people.

Upon hearing his words, Wei Zhe couldn't help but feel troubled.

Upon hearing this, Yan Rou suddenly had a flash of inspiration and immediately smiled and said:
"My lord, I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work."

After saying that, Yan Rou didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly stated her thoughts.

There were originally more than twenty islands in the North Sea (Lake Baikal), the largest of which was about 150 miles long and 30 miles wide, covering a total area of ​​1,000 miles.

Upon hearing this, Tian Feng was astonished; he had no idea that Beihai was so vast.

Wei Zhe wasn't too surprised, after all, it had been measured long ago that Lake Baikal's area was about two-thirds the size of South Korea, roughly the same size as Hainan Province. But what was most awe-inspiring was its depth: an average depth of 744 meters, with a maximum depth of 1642 meters, deeper than many oceans.

Otherwise, Lake Baikal would not have been called a "sea" by the ancient Chinese.

When Yan Rou was stranded on the grasslands in her early years, she heard people say that there was a stone mountain on this island, which was completely black and very magical. Moreover, its fractures were like mirrors, and it was revered by the Hu people as the abode of the gods.

Upon hearing this, Tian Feng frowned slightly and said:
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas, in the chapter on the Seas Within, says, 'Within the Northern Sea, there is a mountain called Youdu Mountain, from which the Black Water flows...' This must be the mountain they are talking about!"

At this point, Yan Rou smiled slyly and said:

"Since the army is currently lacking a monument, why not use this mountain as a monument?"

"Use the mountain as a monument?"

Wei Zhe was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but stroke his beard and laugh. "A brilliant idea! This is exactly in line with the spirit of our Han people!"

Although both involve inscribing achievements on cliffs, if Wei Zhe had carved the three characters "Arctic Monument," his achievement would have been on a completely different level than Dou Xian's.

Who in history could erect such a boundary marker?
Even disregarding the size of the "Arctic Monument," the rocky hill on the island in the middle of the lake is indeed an excellent location, which should be enough to be remembered by future generations.

Wei Zhe immediately ordered the army's craftsmen to handle the matter. The lack of boats was no problem; building some rafts would suffice.

Not long after, the words "North Pole Monument" were engraved on Youdu Mountain in the center of Beihai Lake.

On a cliff with a smooth cross-section, Han Dynasty craftsmen even carved the following inscription:
"Any barbarian from all directions who dare to offend us shall be executed!"

"They will surely destroy their country, exterminate their race, and wipe out their descendants!"

The above text was even written by Wei Zhe himself, which can be considered as leaving behind a masterpiece of calligraphy.

However, erecting the "Arctic Monument" was just a side project; Wei Zhe's main focus was on the Dingling tribes in the North Sea.

……

The nomadic tribes living around Lake Baikal have a very long history.

They were considered a group because they mostly used a tall wooden cart with ten wheels when moving.

In Han China, they are called Dingling people, while on the grasslands they are called Tiele people.

The Chule River flows at the foot of the Yin Mountains.

The sky is like a dome, covering the vast wilderness.

The sky is blue, the wild is vast.

The wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep.

The widely circulated "Chilile Song" from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period depicts the life of the Nan Dingling.

A branch of the Tiele people in the north later evolved into the Uyghurs, who were the ancestors of the later Uyghur people.

However, the various tribes of Dingling today are not as glorious as they were in later generations; they are living in a state that is even more primitive than that of the Xianbei people.

The Xianbei people had entered the Iron Age, but iron weapons were rare in the Dingling tribe. Most of the tribe's warriors used primitive weapons such as stone axes, bone arrows, and wooden maces.

Even iron pots and copper jars were luxury items that only tribal elders could use.

If ordinary Dingling herders want to drink some hot water, they can only break a groove in a stone, pour in clean water, then light a fire to heat up their ancestral small stones, and finally put the scalding hot stones into the water trough.

Once the stone has cooled down, hot water will be available.

Wow, this is natural mineral water, so authentic!

Therefore, everything should be viewed in comparison. Compared to the Dingling, the Xianbei people were considered civilized.

Bayar, the leader of Nightingale, also looked disgusted by this.

Even though his ancestors also migrated from Beihai, after living in the southern desert for nearly a century, he had long been assimilated by the surrounding Han and non-Han cultures, and naturally looked down on his poor relatives who remained in his hometown.

It was precisely because of this traitor that Wei Zhe was able to have some understanding of the situation in Bei Dingling.

Inside the command tent, Bayar introduced:

"Although there are more than a hundred Dingling tribes around Beihai, they actually belong to six families: Dili, Yuanhe, Huli, Jiepi, Hugu, and Yiqijin."

The Dingling tribe was formed by the alliance of six tribes.

However, during the Former Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu forcibly relocated the Dingling Hugu clan and other tribes to the south, which led to the formation of the Southern Dingling.

However, the Dingling population is not large; including the elderly, women, and children, the total population is only around 100,000.

With a small population, multiple branches of government, and outdated weaponry, it's no wonder that even after the Xianbei split, they were still able to suppress them.

Therefore, Wei Zhe didn't need any special methods to deal with these disorganized Dingling tribes.

He simply ordered Zhao Yun and others to lead troops to search for the scattered remnants of the Xianbei army. The surrounding Dingling tribes came to pay homage in fear and trepidation, and their gifts were the heads of the fleeing Xianbei nobles.

There was no other way; to these Dingling tribes, Wei Zhe's existence was that of a ferocious behemoth.

The less he said, the more worried the surrounding Dingling tribes became, fearing that he wasn't satisfied with killing all the Xianbei.

If that's the case... then they have no choice but to run away.

Fortunately, Wei Zhe wasn't that bloodthirsty. He only convened the grassland assembly after seeing that the Dingling tribe had almost all arrived...

(End of this chapter)