Chapter 586

The Xiongnu at this time, although not as famous as the Xiongnu in the early Han Dynasty in original history, who besieged Emperor Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, at Baideng Mountain, giving the newborn Han Empire great humiliation and making the Han Empire regard them as a major enemy, were still a powerful force on the grassland. Over these years, the Central Plains had also gained some understanding of the changes in the forces on the grassland.

Now, the Qin state had annihilated the Xiongnu, crossed the Yinshan Mountains, and occupied the Xiongnu’s royal city, Touman City. This was equivalent to the vast grassland north of the Yinshan Mountains all belonging to the Qin state. This was the merit of expanding territory! And this time, the land obtained from expanding territory was much larger than the land obtained from annihilating the Regarding Baiyue.

In the past, King King Wuling of Zhao imitated the Hu clothing and cavalry archery, drove the Linhu and Loufan to the north of the Yinshan Mountains, established commanderies such as Lord Yunzhong in the area seized from the aliens, and built the Zhao Great Wall along the Yinshan Mountains. Jiuyuan City also came from that period.

Later, the Linhu and Loufan moved north and merged into the newly rising Xiongnu, who constantly rose and became stronger north of the Yinshan Mountains, their momentum once surpassing the original hegemons of the grassland, the Donghu and Yuezhi. Their ambitions also gradually expanded. Many years ago, when the Zhao state still existed, they had led troops to attack the Zhao state and were finally defeated by the Zhao general Li Mu at Yanmen Commandery. Since then, the Xiongnu had not dared to send a large army south for a long time, but every autumn and winter, when the grass on the Xiongnu pastures withered, small teams of people would constantly raid the border areas of the Central Plains, plundering border residents. So over the years, the Xiongnu gradually became a major border threat.

Today, in the era of the First Emperor, Ying Zheng.

On the basis of Lord Yunzhong and Jiuyuan established by King King Wuling of Zhao, they had crossed the Yinshan Mountains and reached the north of the Yinshan Mountains, pushing the border of the Qin state forward by a long stretch.

Since then, the Great Wall of the Zhao state could basically be abolished.

This city was no longer the limit of the Qin state’s border; the new border of the Qin state was... Touman City!

The Qin state would use this city built by the Xiongnu to replace the original Jiuyuan City as the vanguard city of the Qin state’s border.

At the same time, because all the Xiongnu pastures north of the Yinshan Mountains had been occupied, the Qin state had gained a vast grassland. From now on, there would be endless warhorses.

Even without the help of those tools, the Qin cavalry would have no problem catching up to and even surpassing the Xiongnu cavalry.

Xianyang.

When the news of the Xiongnu’s annihilation spread, all the civil and military officials were filled with joy.

Immediately after, they began to busy themselves with preparing for another matter.

That was preparing to welcome the triumphant return of Meng Tian’s army.

After annihilating the Xiongnu, Ying Zheng had prepared to recall Meng Tian, while his deputy generals, as well as Li Mu, remained stationed in Touman City under Ying Zheng’s orders. Although the Xiongnu had been annihilated, they had only just occupied that area. To prevent accidents, a large army had to be sent to guard it. One reason was to prevent the Xiongnu’s remaining forces from counterattacking and to completely turn that land into Qin territory; the second was to guard against the Donghu and Yuezhi, preventing them from taking the opportunity to come and pick up the spoils.

As for why Meng Tian was recalled? Of course, it was because Meng Tian had made the greatest contribution this time, and Ying Zheng had to reward him for his merits. Besides that, he was also prepared to take Meng Tian along for the Fengshan ceremony he had prepared.

Time passed slowly.

On this day, when Meng Tian led many personal guards of the Golden Fire Cavalry to step onto Baqiao Bridge, Ying Zheng brought all the civil and military officials to Baqiao Bridge to welcome Meng Tian.

This was a rare honor.

It should be known that the only person worthy of Ying Zheng’s personal welcome before was Su Xuan, who had returned from seeking immortality at sea.

Today, Meng Tian became the second.

"Your subject, Meng Tian, pays respects to Your Majesty the Emperor!"

Seeing Ying Zheng, Meng Tian, wearing his helmet and armor, walked over with many generals and colonels to pay his respects.

"General Meng, no need for such formalities!"

A faint smile hung on the corner of Ying Zheng’s mouth as he looked at Meng Tian in front of him.

The Meng family had served the Qin state for generations, and Meng Tian could be considered one of his childhood playmates. It could be said that compared to Li Xin, Meng Tian had a closer relationship with him and was more trusted by him.

Meng Tian had lived up to his high expectations and defeated the Xiongnu, and Ying Zheng was very satisfied.

Of course, he also saw Meng Tian’s hard work. There was an extra hideous scar on Meng Tian’s face, which must have been caused during the battle with the Xiongnu. At the same time, compared to the high spirits he had when he left, the current Meng Tian had become much more weathered.

Life on the border, although not long, was indeed quite hard, especially when Meng Tian was fighting the Xiongnu on the border and had treacherous people like Zhao Gao holding him back.

Thinking of this, Ying Zheng said to Meng Tian again, "General Meng has worked hard!"

Hearing this, Meng Tian bowed again, "This is all what your subject should do!"

Ying Zheng nodded and said to Meng Tian, "General Meng has come from thousands of miles away from the Mobei region, which is truly exhausting. This is not the place to talk; let’s go back to Xianyang and talk."

Thus, Ying Zheng took Meng Tian and many triumphant soldiers back to Xianyang.

In the Xianyang Palace, a grand state banquet had been prepared.

After Meng Tian and Ying Zheng arrived, they started eating directly.

During this process, Meng Tian saw the National Master Su Xuan, who was sitting beside Ying Zheng.

When he looked at Su Xuan, Su Xuan also gave him a faint smile.

After they were full of wine and food, Ying Zheng ordered the eunuch beside him to bring an imperial edict and read it out.

"Inner Historian Meng Tian led two hundred thousand troops to annihilate the Xiongnu, guarded the safety of the border, and expanded the territory by a thousand miles. From now on, the Hu people dare not go south to graze their horses. Meng Tian’s contribution is very great. Not conferring a marquis is not enough to express his merits. Now, Meng Tian is conferred as the Marquis of Jiuyuan, with a fief of fifteen thousand households in Jiuyuan Commandery."

As this imperial edict was announced, the civil and military officials in the hall were not very surprised.

In the Qin state, one could not be conferred a marquis without military merit, but there were exceptions. In the past, Lao Ai, because of the Empress Dowager, was conferred as the Marquis of Changxin without any merit. It can be seen that as long as His Majesty the Emperor is willing, it is not a difficult thing to confer a marquis title on anyone.

Earlier, Li Xin was conferred as a marquis by His Majesty the Emperor for annihilating the Regarding Baiyue and making great contributions. Today, Meng Tian annihilated the Xiongnu, and his merits were even greater than Li Xin’s, so it was not strange that he would be conferred as a marquis.

The only thing that was somewhat surprising was the title of this marquis.

"Marquis of Jiuyuan!"