Chapter 312: Three Kingdoms Kill

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Xiao Puxian and Xiao Seshe had just helped Zhao Yu into the bedroom when he let go of them, straightened his body, walked to the table on his own, and ordered: “Bring me a bowl of sobering soup.”

Seeing this, Xiao Puxian and Xiao Seshe—who had long been married to Zhao Yu—knew perfectly well he was not drunk at all, certainly not as deeply intoxicated as most people assumed.

Correct.

Zhao Yu was not drunk at all.

Even if he were in the recently recaptured, still dangerous city of Yanjing, let alone in his own imperial palace in Dongjing Bianliang, he would never allow himself to become drunk enough to risk mishaps.

Now that we’ve reclaimed Yanyun, can’t I enjoy some peace after a lifetime of war?

No.

Truly no.

The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers couldn’t stop the northern nomads’ hooves from advancing south—do you really believe a single Great Wall can hold back the Liao, Jin, or Mongols?

Humans are intelligent beings; they will always find a way to climb over this wall.

Some may wonder: why did Qin Shi Huang and Zhu Yuanzhang build the Great Wall? Wasn’t it to defend against northern nomads?

In truth, the Great Wall’s primary function was never defense, but early warning.

The watchtowers and beacon towers along the wall, in modern terms, were like surveillance cameras: when enemies broke through the wall, smoke signals rose at the breach, clearly visible from the walls of Yanjing, allowing troops to be deployed strategically along the invasion route.

Without the Great Wall, the northern frontier of the Central Plains would stretch thousands of kilometers—nomads on swift horses with curved blades would strike like shadows, vanish like wind, and you’d never know when they came, where they headed, or when they left.

Thus, the Great Wall was mainly for warning—if it truly could repel northern nomads, Chinese history would not have seen so many invasions by minority peoples.

Take the Great Ming as an example.

When the Qing army entered the pass and brought down the Ming, it was already the sixth time they had penetrated the Central Plains.

Before that, the Qing army had crossed the Great Wall five times to launch large-scale raids deep into Ming territory.

Fifteen years before the Ming’s fall, Hong Taiji had already led Qing forces through Mongolia, breached the Duan’an Pass, and first entered Ming territory to besiege Beijing.

That campaign led to Yuan Chonghuan’s execution.

A few years later, Qing forces split into four columns, attacking primarily through Datong and Xuanhua, breaking through multiple passes and invading the Central Plains again to plunder.

Then, Prince Ying Aji’e led his army through the pass, captured twelve cities, won all fifty-six battles, seized vast numbers of people and livestock, and slaughtered countless Ming troops.

Next, Dorgon, as Qing commander-in-chief, led his forces through the pass, captured Jinan Prefecture, looted and burned the city to ashes, and took 462,300 people and livestock captive.

Chongzhen, ignoring the Ming army’s inferiority in open battle, ordered Lu Xiangsheng to fight the Qing in the field—resulting in defeat and Lu’s death.

Chongzhen urgently recalled Sun Chengzong and Hong Chengchou from suppressing Li Zicheng, allowing Li Zicheng, reduced to just eighteen riders, to escape.

During the fifth Qing incursion, led by Abatai, Qing forces killed Prince Zhu Yipai of Lu and thousands of other princes and officials in Leling, Yangxin, Dongyuan, Anqiu, and Ziyang; captured three prefectures—Yanzhou, Shunde, and Hejian—thirty states, thirty-six counties, and sixty-six cities; took 369,000 captives and vast herds; and at one point, their advance reached Haizhou in the Southern Zhili province—modern-day Lianyungang, Jiangsu—nearly reaching the Yangtze River.

Of those five major incursions, two occurred when Qing forces entered in autumn, fought through the entire winter in the Central Plains, and only returned beyond the pass in spring; three times they marched past Beijing as if it were empty land.

Qing troops, laden with loot and captives, marched calmly across the Lugou Bridge—modern-day Beijing—lasting over half a month, while over a hundred thousand Ming soldiers stationed in Tongzhou dared not sortie.

Tianjinwei, the eastern gateway to Beijing, was occupied by Qing forces for over half a year; when they finally withdrew, they flew banners reading “Gentlemen, no need to see us off,” mocking the Ming army.

Even before the Qing entered the pass, northern nomads never ceased harassing the Central Plains.

In the fourteenth year of Zhengtong, the Wala leader Esen led a massive army south, first crushing the Ming main force at Tumu Fortress and capturing Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, then advancing unimpeded, breaching key passes like Juyong and Zijing, and pressing straight toward Beijing.

At that moment, the Ming capital teetered on the brink—had Yu Qian not stepped forward, rejected the proposal to relocate south, hastily assembled troops, and fortified defenses with the remnants of the army, the Ming dynasty would have collapsed then.

Even after this crisis passed, Mongol raids never ceased; during the Jiajing era, Mongol cavalry once again surrounded Beijing, burning and looting the suburbs for days before withdrawing.

And historically, the Mongols themselves, upon rising from the northern steppes, swept across Eurasia with unstoppable force, easily breaching the Great Wall, destroying the Jin dynasty, and annexing the entire Central Plains. To them, the Great Wall was merely a pile of bricks and stones—utterly useless against their iron hooves.

Clearly, neither the ruggedness of Yanyun nor the strength of the Great Wall could fundamentally halt the nomads’ southern advance—the pressure of their environment and their need for resources kept them forever eyeing the Central Plains; even temporary defenses might delay the impact, but could never stop the recurring collisions of north and south throughout history.

The successive emperors of the Song and many others believed Yanyun was a natural barrier against northern nomads.

But facts proved that holding Yanyun did not guarantee lasting peace.

Zhao Yu understood this clearly.

Thus, even after reclaiming Yanyun and completing unification, Zhao Yu dared not slacken.

For the Jin and Mongols Zhao Yu faced were far stronger and more formidable than the Mongols and Qing the Ming had faced—the Jin’s arrows, the Mongols’ cavalry, were terrifying forces. They were like wolf packs on the steppe: cunning, ruthless, greedy, always ready to pounce.