Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 335 The most important thing in doing great things is to endure.
Xia Prefecture, Tongwan City.

Once the capital of the Hu Xia Kingdom and an important town of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was once devastated by war, but under the governance of Yuwen Luosheng, it has been revitalized.

Tongwan City was built on the banks of the Wuding River, surrounded by lush vegetation, capable of supporting a population of 50,000.

Of course, not all of these 50,000 people were soldiers; many were herdsmen and artisans.

Tongwan City is not yet at its peak, but it still has over 30,000 people. This is a significant increase compared to before the Six Garrisons uprising.

This is not because Yuwen Luosheng had more resources than the Yuan clan princes, such as Guangyang Prince Yuan Shen and Linhuai Prince Yuan Yu, who were in charge of Hebei back then, and thus could recruit more people to serve him.

Conversely, after the Six Garrisons Rebellion, Tongwan City lost the support of the Luoyang court, and Xia Prefecture had far fewer resources than before.

But life always finds a way!

When the Northern Wei dynasty, which ruled the entire Northern Dynasties, collapsed, the border regions did not continue to move towards Sinicization. Instead, they regressed, with most of them transforming from agriculture to nomadic life.

This is not an unwise move; on the contrary, it is self-protection.

The organizational structure of nomadic tribes is unstable, resulting in low organizational costs and minimal internal friction. However, if led by a powerful leader, they can unleash astonishing strength.

Yuwen Luosheng can be said to have acted in accordance with the times.

He was originally from Wuchuan, and his men were soldiers from the Six Garrisons, so he was very familiar with this kind of thing.

After some effort, Yuwen Luosheng's strength had increased compared to before, and he could mobilize more than 10,000 soldiers from Xiazhou.

"Uncle, this is wonderful news!"

Yuwen Dao walked up to Yuwen Luosheng, who was looking after horses in the city's stables, with a delighted expression.

The stables in Tongwan City are very large, almost like a super-large ranch with city walls, housing nearly 10,000 horses.

Yuwen Luosheng glanced at his nephew and asked:
Why are you so carried away?

"News has come from Chang'an that Ono So has sent an envoy to exchange land with us!"

Yuwen Luosheng's expression changed, and he asked:

"What location should we change to?"

"We should exchange Xi'an Prefecture for our Dongxia Prefecture."

Although nomadic peoples have low organizational costs and low internal friction, they have one thing in common with agricultural peoples: they need to eat salt.

Even nomadic peoples, who have no fixed abode, still need to regularly go to the salt fields to buy salt.

The people of Lingxia would naturally not travel all the way to Hedong to buy salt. Moreover, unlike in the past, the Luoyang court could no longer command the prefectures and counties to organize caravans and laborers to transport salt here.

Therefore, the best place for them to buy salt was Xi'an Prefecture.

Xi'an Prefecture is not a large area, but it was separated into a separate prefecture because it contains an important resource: salt!

The Xi'an Salt Lake is much smaller than the one in Hedong, but it is the most important salt field in the Lingxia region.

The current governor of Xi'an Prefecture is Shedi Gan. Ever since Yuwen Luosheng led troops to attack the Shedi tribe, the two sides have been at odds, resulting in a shortage of salt resources in Xia Prefecture.

Director Yuwen was very excited and said:
"If we change locations and gain control of the salt fields, we won't have to worry about salt anymore."

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Luosheng's expression turned serious. Suddenly, he lost all interest in looking at the horse.

"Disaster is imminent!"

Yuwen Dao listened, not understanding, and asked:

"What does Uncle mean?"

Yuwen Luosheng did not explain, but instead rode back to the governor's mansion with Yuwen Dao, carefully reviewed the intelligence sent from Chang'an, and then wrote another letter.

After writing the letter and sealing his mouth, Yuwen Luosheng looked at Yuwen Dao and asked:

"Bodhisattva, is the land of Xi'an Prefecture so easily exchanged?"

"There are more than one salt lake in Xi'an Prefecture. It wouldn't be a problem to give us one of the salt fields. Why can't we exchange them?"

In Yuwen Dao's view, this is technically feasible.

But Yuwen Luosheng laughed and said:
"Bodhisattva, do you think that Yuan Ji is favored by Da Ye Shuang and has close ties with you on a daily basis? Is Da Ye Shuang really your uncle?"

Yuwen Luosheng's words carried a hint of reproach, and Yuwen Dao responded with a sneer.

"Uncle, are you worried about Heba Yue?"

Yuwen Luosheng nodded and said:

"Think about it, although Xia Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of our Yuwen clan and Xi'an Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of the Shedi tribe, they are nominally under the jurisdiction of Grand Commander Heba Yue. If we secretly exchange territories and this is passed on to Ling Prefecture, what will Heba Yue think?"

Director Yuwen was aware of the intricacies involved, but he still felt somewhat resentful.

"So what? My uncle is also a deputy commander-in-chief. My Yuwen clan has a strong and well-equipped army. Do we have to ask him for instructions on everything?"

"You are confused!"

Yuwen Luosheng snapped, but seeing Yuwen Dao's expression, he patiently explained:

“I know you can’t stand the arrogance of Heba Yue’s subordinates, but the reason we can sit safely in Tongwan City is because we are all from Wuchuan, connected by blood. If we are united, we will both benefit; if we are divided, we will both suffer!”

Director Yuwen was young and impetuous, but that didn't mean he was brainless; on the contrary, he was very intelligent. Even when he was very unhappy, reason still prevailed.

"Uncle is right!"

Seeing this, Yuwen Luosheng was very satisfied and said:
"Remember, to achieve great things, one must first have great potential; never be a petty and narrow-minded person."

Yuwen Dao listened to his uncle's words, but he was still worried.

"But we're also short of salt. Are we really going to give up this great opportunity for Heba Yue?"

Yuwen Luosheng sighed:

"It seems like we've gotten a great deal by exchanging some barren land for a salt field, but the road from Shuozhou to Guanzhong will be open. Once Guanzhong supports us, tribes from Hebei and other places will migrate to Xiazhou and gradually encroach on Xiazhou's land, which will inevitably cause future trouble."

"Then we won't agree?"

Yuwen Luosheng shook his head and said:

"I'm afraid that won't work either. Think about it, Xia Prefecture is short of salt now, and the tribes in Hexi are about to move south. If Da Yeshuang exchanges land with us, we will have gained a great advantage. If we don't agree, not only will we offend Da Yeshuang and the tribes in Hexi, but if we look for a pretext to attack Xi'an Prefecture or fight the Shedi tribe in the future, we will be without a legitimate reason and will become the target of everyone's criticism."

Upon hearing this, Director Yuwen frowned, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

"Then let's just kill the envoy and be done with it, as if this never happened."

Yuwen Luosheng shook his head again and said:

“You can kill him once, but can you kill him every time? Besides, the Prince of Nanyang is the emperor’s envoy and has the imperial staff. If he dies in Xia Prefecture, I, as the governor, will bear the primary responsibility. At that time, it will be perfectly justified for Da Yeshuang to raise an army to punish him.”

Upon hearing this, Director Yuwen frowned and said:

"Why is this so difficult? What should we do?"

Yuwen Luosheng stood up. In truth, he didn't have a good solution either, but simply said:
"Send someone to deliver this letter to Lingzhou and give it to Heba Yue. Explain the current situation to him and ask him to prepare troops for the war."

"Where is that gold ingot torch?"

"When he comes, treat him well and protect him, but don't let him see me."

"But dragging it out like this isn't a long-term solution."

Yuwen Luosheng sighed:
"Let's drag this out for as long as we can!"

……

Lingzhou, Huile County.

Although both Lingzhou and Xiazhou were ravaged by war, Lingzhou had a much higher potential for development compared to Xiazhou.

The Lingzhou region at the foot of Helan Mountain was originally an important pasture and habitat for the Xiongnu, but it was later reclaimed by Wei Qing. Its conditions for both agriculture and nomadic life were far superior to those in the Xiazhou region.

After Heba Yue occupied Lingzhou, he also devoted himself to its development. His management strategy was actually the same as Yuwen Luosheng's, which was to accelerate the tribalization of the Lingzhou region.

However, unlike Yuwen Luosheng, Heba Yue did not completely become tribalized, but instead adopted a parallel system.

Let the old and weak among the Hu and Han people stay to farm, and select the strong among them to serve as soldiers.

Compared to the system adopted by the Northern Wei Dynasty, in which Han people farmed the land and non-Han people served as soldiers, Heba Yue undoubtedly took a step forward.

He enforced the law fairly and his rewards and punishments were clear. Therefore, even among the mixed Han and non-Han population, no one was dissatisfied; on the contrary, they were all willing to serve him.

Heba Yue, the Grand Commander, had more and stronger troops under his command than Yuwen Luosheng, the Deputy Grand Commander.

Upon receiving Yuwen Luosheng's letter, Heba Yue immediately summoned Zhao Gui to discuss the matter.

"Is Ohno Sō going to attack us?"

After reading the letter, Zhao Gui was not worried.

"The military intelligence sent by Lei Shao recently also says that the Hedouling Bufan tribe in Yuanzhou has been making frequent unusual moves lately. The Hedouling tribe is less than two hundred li away from us, so we must be on guard!"

He Bayue listened and gave a wry smile.

Erzhu Rong died, and the mountain that had once weighed heavily on the northern people was removed.

Heba Yue also took a step forward from being a Grand Commander under the Tianzhu General's Mansion to becoming a regional lord. However, he did not enjoy this carefree life for long before the price came.

Without Erzhu Rong, Heba Yue was no longer subject to suppression from Jinyang, and Li Shuang from Guanzhong no longer needed to worry about pressure from the east, so he came towards them.

"I know we'll have to fight Ohno Sawa, but now's not the time!"

Zhao Gui nodded; this was indeed not the right time.

"That useless Erzhu Zhao, he still can't take Luoyang after all this time."

If Erzhu Zhao captures Luoyang, then with the Erzhu clan holding back in the east, Li Shuang will have to keep some troops to guard Tongguan and Hongnong, and cannot send them all to Lingxia.

Even if a fight breaks out, their chances of winning are greater.

He Bayue was also helpless after hearing this.

“Reply to Yuwen Luosheng and tell him to be patient and delay as long as possible, waiting for a change in circumstances. If we can hold out until the Erzhu clan takes Luoyang and makes a strong push westward, our chance to turn the tide will come.”

Zhao Gui shook his head; this was the only way out.

"I'm afraid Ohno Sawa won't give us this chance!"

Heba Yue thought for a moment and said:

"Write a letter to Yuwentai!"

Zhao Gui was startled and asked:

"What?"

Heba Yue said bitterly:

"The Shuozhou army standing there is really too troublesome! Neither we, Yuwen Luosheng, nor Erzhu Tianguang want to see Daye Shuang's people continue to stand between us."
-
Tongwan City.

"Why hasn't Governor Yuwen seen me yet?"

Yuan Baoju ate roasted lamb leg, drank wine, and enjoyed the singing and dancing of beautiful women, surrounded by women on both sides, but he was not happy.

Director Yuwen stood to the side, smiling broadly with a fawning expression.

"Your Highness, please don't worry. Your uncle has gone out and won't be back for a while."

Yuan Baoju grumbled.

How could I not be anxious!

Director Yuwen gave a wink to the two dancers beside Yuan Baoju, who then offered Yuan Baoju a toast and said:
"Your Majesty, with us by your side, why are you in such a hurry? Do you find us unattractive?"

Yuan Baoju, drinking the wine offered by the beautiful woman, chuckled and said:
"This has nothing to do with you; it's my own business!"

"What could have made Your Majesty so anxious? Is it because the Queen is eager for Your Majesty to return?"

"If I get back late, that house in Tongye Lane will probably be gone."

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Dao felt disdain and thought it was something serious, so he said:

"With your esteemed status, what difficulty is there in acquiring a mansion?"

When it came to his profession, Yuan Baoju was no longer sleepy and began to talk at length.

"You wouldn't believe it, but houses in Chang'an aren't so easy to buy. Each neighborhood has its own unique characteristics..."

Yuan Baoju spoke at length, making Yuwen Dao somewhat drowsy, but he still forced himself to stay awake and asked:
"What's the problem with that house in Tongyefang?"

"I heard that the house was a secret residence for a powerful figure in Chang'an, where he kept his concubines and maids. The powerful figure's wife was fierce, and not long ago, after finding out about it, she planned to secretly sell the house and maids while the powerful figure was away from Chang'an. The King of Qin secretly sent people to handle the matter, moving the concubines and maids away, keeping only the house. That house is in high demand; once it's gone, it's gone forever."

Upon hearing this, Director Yuwen couldn't help but ask:

"Is Your Majesty not afraid of offending that important figure?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Baoju laughed and said:

"What am I afraid of? No matter how big that big guy is, can he be as big as the King of Qin? I am the King of Qin's brother-in-law."

Yuwen Dao looked at Yuan Baoju's arrogant demeanor with disdain.

The King of Qin is also my uncle-in-law!

However, Director Yuwen did not show it, but instead asked:

"How much money does the Prince of Nanyang need?"

"Money is a small matter; the main thing is that once I've accomplished this, I can ask the King of Qin for this reward!"

……

The next day, Yuwen Dao told Yuwen Luosheng the information he had obtained, which made Yuwen Luosheng grit his teeth in anger.

"Sending such a blockhead like Ohno Sou is really something!"

“Uncle, after Yuan Baoju entered the city, he sent money everywhere to inquire about your whereabouts. I’m afraid he won’t leave just like that. Judging from his appearance, he won’t stay long. I’m afraid he’ll cause trouble.”

Yuwen Luosheng was also troubled. At this moment, Heba Yue's letter arrived.

Yuwen Luosheng opened the letter, threw it on the ground, and angrily said:

"Endure...endure...do I need him to teach me that?!"

Yuwen Dao picked up the letter, read it once, and said:
"Third Uncle, this letter also mentions Fourth Uncle's matter."

Yuwen Luosheng sneered and said:
"He wants to drag Black Otter down with him? I think he's gone mad. Do you think the Yuwen clan is here to be his lackeys?"

Just then, a servant rushed in to deliver the news.

"My lord, Yuan Baoju somehow found out about your presence in the manor and is insisting on coming in to see you."

"Stop him!"

“We tried to stop him, but he claimed to be the emperor’s envoy. Stopping him would be disrespectful to the emperor, and we couldn’t stop him for long!”

Yuwen Luosheng drew his sword, and for a moment he really wanted to kill Yuan Baoju, but in the end he held back.

"I'm going to hide outside for a bit, you guys deal with him!"

……

(End of this chapter)