Chapter 293

Le Luoluo was stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to digest this result, or perhaps still holding other expectations, and asked uncertainly: "Ku Ji Da—"

Old Zou Ye interrupted his son: "Speak Han Chinese."

This was a habit Le Luoluo had developed since childhood. In order to train his Han Chinese, father and son would always speak in Han Chinese when they were alone. But Le Luoluo's heart was surging with confusion and anxiety at this moment, and he had blurted out barbarian language. Hearing his father's correction, he immediately switched back to Han Chinese and said:

"Didn't trick him? So... so what does father mean..."

Old Zou Ye's eyelids trembled, seemingly wanting to roll his eyes, but he could only manage to lift half of them. His clouded pupils slid upward for a moment before falling back to their original place, and he said with some annoyance:

"It means that even I cannot judge whether it is true or false. Before, I thought the matter of the Han court mobilizing troops was seven parts false and three parts true. But after talking with him, I am even less sure; I feel it is six parts false and four parts true, or even four parts false and six parts true? Three parts false and seven parts true? Who knows; this kid has a way..."

Old Zou Ye closed his eyes and recalled the scene just now. Before, without any warning, he had suddenly grabbed Wang Yang's wrist and gone straight to the point, throwing out a key question, just to make Wang Yang reveal a flaw while his mind was off guard. A guilty person would often be in a hurry to defend themselves, and a righteous person might also immediately refute—but these reactions did not apply to Wang Yang.

Because Wang Yang was scheming and had depth. As an envoy, if he truly had confidence, he would neither need to respond in a hurry nor need to rush to clarify. The most natural reaction would instead be to care about the source of the other party's information.

Therefore, when Wang Yang asked that question, "Why would you think that, Zou Ye?" without haste, and his pulse was not abnormal, Old Zou Ye knew that regardless of whether this person was telling the truth or a lie on this issue, this was a very, very difficult opponent to deal with...

Le Luoluo watched his father close his eyes and ponder, expecting his father to say something else to turn the situation around, but after waiting for a while, he never heard his father speak, and the last bit of hope in his heart was extinguished. He felt a bit lost and frustrated, and said dejectedly:

"So... we really have no other choice..."

Old Zou Ye still kept his eyes closed, his withered fingers rubbing the weave on the quilt, and said in a low, hoarse voice:

"There has never been a time in the world when there was no choice. As long as one can bear the cost, there is always a choice, always..."

Old Zou Ye suddenly opened his eyes. Beneath his layered eyelids, those eyes that had settled for who knows how many years of wind and frost looked quietly at his distracted son. His voice was not high, but it carried a cadence like striking stone to make fire:

"The key is to see you, how do you want to choose?"

Le Luoluo's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. After a long while, he spoke solemnly:

"The military advisor said—"

"He is right, and it is not just what he said. The Han is like a great river, and we are like a water pool. Now we want to connect the river and the pool. It seems like only a small hole has been opened; the river is still that river, but is the pool still that pool?"

Le Luoluo was stunned, and a huge sense of unease suddenly surged in his heart, as if he had heard the faint sound of the ice cracking beneath his feet, but he could not see where the crack had spread.

His heartbeat quickened, and even his voice became a bit airy: "Please father, speak in more detail."

Old Zou Ye glanced at his son, his tone mocking and dissatisfied:

"In more detail? You, this young lord, are now so scared that your face has turned white. If I go into more detail, what will you do if you get scared into a faint? I don't have the strength to support you."

Le Luoluo was stung by his father's words, his face burning. He scratched the back of his neck and stammered an explanation: "There are no outsiders here, and I wasn't hiding my expression..."

"This kind of thing doesn't have to be about hiding your expression to work. The divine eagle under Pan Wang's command would still preen its feathers even if it were struck by lightning near its nest. If you can't do this, then start practicing from small things, or hide it. Keep hiding it until you are used to it, until you have even deceived yourself. Only in this way can you be calm and composed when you truly encounter things. Remember, as a Zou Ye, you can be afraid, but never show a look of fear."

Le Luoluo's expression tightened, his face gradually becoming steady, and he nodded:

"Father's teachings, this son has remembered."

Old Zou Ye moved his body slightly to make himself lie more comfortably, and said slowly:

"This move by the Han court is not just opening a barbarian road, but also opening barbarian hearts. Before, we hid in the deep mountains, hearing the calls of birds and beasts in our ears, seeing the swaying of grass and trees in our eyes. If we could get by, we would share meat and drink wine; if we couldn't, we would plunder and fight in the wild. If we wanted to move, we would move. No matter which mountain corner we huddled in, even if we drank water dripping from rock crevices and chewed on roots covered in dirt, we could still get by. But once we have money, understand enjoyment, and see prosperity, that heart is like melting mountain snow, flowing outward along the gullies and ravines, and can never be taken back. The better the clothes we wear, the more family property we accumulate, if we are then asked to fight in the mountains and forests, eating wind and drinking dew, hiding and dodging to deal with the enemy, can we still do it? It's not just a question of whether we can, but also a question of whether we are willing.

What trade brings us is not just Han money, but also Han goods and Han customs. These things are like mountain mist, entangling in the village, winding around the tent entrance. You can't see them during the day, and you can't touch them at night, but after a long time, even the ballads the children sing are about the beauty of the Han lands. The Han-style dishes, fine wines, houses, and even the skirts of the girls in the tribe will be cut into the style of Han skirts. It's not that anyone deliberately taught them, and no one forced them to learn; it's just soaking in it day by day, and unknowingly, the taste in the seams of our bones slowly changes.

By then, we will rely on Han money in our hands, Han goods on our bodies, Han customs in our habits, and Han culture in our hearts. If you want to fight the Han people, can you fight? Is there anyone still willing to follow you to fight? Perhaps after a few generations, the Wenyang Tribe will become a commandery or county..."

Le Luoluo only felt a chill shoot up his spine to the back of his neck, as if he had been fiercely stabbed by an ice pick. After the bone-chilling cold came heat! Hot blood! It seemed as if all the blood in his body was surging toward the top of his head!

"It really is a plan to cut off our descendants! We must never let them succeed!!!" Le Luoluo clenched his fists, the anger in his eyes seeming to burn out.

Old Zou Ye shook his head in disgust and sneered:

"I just provoked you a little and you are like this. In the future, when you are in charge and implement a policy of friendship, how can you be steady?"

Le Luoluo was stunned:

"Friendship? Friendship with whom?"

"Nonsense, of course friendship with the Han. I would like to talk to the Xianbei and the others, but it has to be worth it! They are so far away; even if they dared to talk, I wouldn't dare to listen."

"But, but didn't father just say—"

"'Do not believe the words of others; people are truly deceiving you.' Words are spoken by people, and tongues are soft. The same tongue can sing barbarian songs and recite Han poems. The same words can be said from the front or from the back. I can say a set of words right now that are the opposite of what I just said, but I am too lazy to say them. If you really want to hear them, tell Wang Yang what I said, and then let him tell you; that kid will definitely say it much better than I can. Let's not talk about this for now. I only ask you, in a situation where we cannot rule out the possibility of a great army surrounding and suppressing us, do you have any other choice?"

Le Luoluo's eyes carried an unyielding stubbornness:

"Father said that there is always a choice."

Old Zou Ye smiled: "Yes, but there is not always a better choice."

Le Luoluo was silent.

Old Zou Ye stared at the blackened, aged bamboo joints on the ceiling and suddenly asked:

"Le Luoluo, when you heard me say those words about opening the barbarian heart just now, you were angry and said 'We must never let them succeed.' What was your purpose?"

Le Luoluo was a bit bewildered by his father's inexplicable question.

"Purpose? I don't have any purpose; I just... what purpose could I have?"

Le Luoluo didn't understand why his father asked this. Was he implying something?

Old Zou Ye said: "Relax, I don't mean anything else; I'm just curious why you don't want them to succeed."

What kind of question is this?

Le Luoluo thought for a moment and said: "I want to protect the barbarian tribe!"

"Does the barbarian tribe need you to protect it?"

"Ah?"

Old Zou Ye looked at the ceiling and didn't speak.

Le Luoluo was confused: "Father, you..."

"'Stupid are you Jing barbarians, the great state is your enemy.' This is a line from the 'Book of Songs: Lesser Odes.' I was very angry when I first read it, thinking that this was the Han people insulting us. Later, I learned that Jing barbarian did not refer to our barbarian tribe, but a country called 'Chu' at that time. However, this poem is actually very applicable to us. We have fought with the 'great state' for generations, and we have been poor for generations. From the time we built our tribe until now, we have always been trapped in the mountains, without even our own writing, while the Huaxia culture has become more and more prosperous, and the clothing and headwear have become more and more brilliant. The Han people often praise the Great Emperor Xuanyuan (Yellow Emperor), saying that he conquered the world and pacified the chaotic world, so there is the Huaxia of today. I have always been thinking, if those tribes that were conquered at the beginning had not submitted, but were like us, huddled in deep mountains where no one cared for them, what would it be like? Maybe they would have been exterminated long ago, or maybe they would be like us, poor until now. Then their descendants would only be able to guard the few vague ballads passed down by their ancestors, while envying the prosperity outside the mountains, struggling to survive in the forest and wilderness.

What is our purpose in protecting the Wenyang Tribe? It is not to guard a useless name and let it rot into mud in the mountains, nor is it to ensure that we can wear barbarian clothes, eat barbarian food, celebrate the Blood Vine Festival, and attend the Mountain God Sacrifice forever. In fact, none of these are as important as we imagine. No matter how loud the drums of the Blood Vine Festival are, and no matter how prosperous the sacrificial fire of the Mountain God Sacrifice is, they cannot fill an empty grain bag or block the bone-chilling mountain wind. We guard these rules because we cherish the feelings of our ancestors, not to let these rules become the ropes that strangle our necks. That way, we would truly become 'stupid Jing barbarians'! We protect the Wenyang Tribe to let the tribespeople live a good life, let the children be full and warm! Let us no longer need to use one head after another to fight for a chance to survive; this is the purpose of protection.

There is no such thing as a free prey in the world; everything has advantages and disadvantages. If the Wenyang Tribe wants to be prosperous and develop, it must pay a corresponding price. I think that the barbarian not being able to defeat the Han is the general trend. Those who resist will either disappear without a trace or continue to be poor in the mountains for hundreds of years, and eventually, there is only one path, which is to be annexed by the Han; it is just a matter of time. Since it is a matter of time, it is better to be early than late! If the Wenyang Tribe is destined to perish, I hope the bloodline of the tribe can flow into the great river like a mountain stream, walk out of the deep mountains, walk out of the old forests, and flow magnificently under the sunlight along the great river, instead of being silently dried up on the chaotic stone beach.

And as Zou Ye, the only thing you need to do is to stare firmly at this process and strive for the greatest interests for our tribe. If one day the tribespeople need you to protect them, then you stand out and use your sword and blood to carve out a path for the Wenyang Tribe! Prove to the people of the world that our barbarian bones have not yet been destroyed!

But if the tribespeople don't need your protection, then you just watch silently, and don't use the name of protection to act as an obstacle. Remember, true protection is not to circle the tribespeople, but to let them have the confidence to walk toward a broader world."

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Note: The Yongming era was in a cold climate stage. It doesn't count as a little ice age, but it is a bit like one. The climate and ecological environment are different from today. For example, during the Southern Dynasties, frost and snow weather were often seen in Nanjing, and sometimes the snow was several feet thick. In general, it was colder than today. Therefore, Old Zou Ye could use snow as a metaphor in this chapter, and Le Xiao Pang could mention the example of taking a hot spring bath in the snow before. Interested readers can read Li Wentao's "Research on the History of Environmental Changes in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties" and Elvin's "The Retreat of the Elephants."