Chapter 65: Well Struck!

Beneath the heavens, green fields spread into shade.

Inside the great tent, exquisite woolen mats were spread, incense burned, and sweet grapes and various drinks were laid out.

Today, an envoy from the clouds was to meet with the Rouran Khagan's envoy in a cordial yet courteous audience.

"If you wish to ally with my lord and attack the Liuzhen rebels, besides compensating my lord's expenses for setting out, you must also cede the lands of Monan to my Rouran, for my tribespeople to dwell upon."

Inside the great tent, the Rouran Khagan's envoy was spouting off at the mouth.

If the Liuzhen rebels were Xianbei people who had been betrayed by their own kin in Luoyang and lost their future, becoming men of grievance, then these Rouran were men of grievance who had never had a future to begin with — there was no "losing" to speak of.

Why are the peoples of the steppe so hard to fight?

Very simple — because the armies of the Central Plains cannot find them, and even if they find them and defeat them, there is little profit to be gained. It's a pure losing proposition; better to just build the Great Wall.

The Xiongnu declined, the Xianbei rose; the Xianbei marched south, and the Rouran rose.

If things had followed the original script, the Rouran should have become the next Xiongnu, the next Xianbei — the overlord of the steppe.

Thirty thousand archers strung; their domain stretching north to the Han Sea, east to the Liao River, west past the Congling Mountains, and south to water their horses at the Yellow River.

Yet Northern Wei was an utterly exceptional existence.

If the Han people beyond the Great Wall cannot find you, do you think the Xianbei cannot find you either?

How the Rouran were bullied!

Being bullied would have been bad enough, but the key was that the Xianbei established the "Pingcheng Model," which allowed them to grow their economic and military strength by fighting the Rouran, forming a virtuous cycle — utterly different from the Qin and Han periods.

Where could the Rouran go to reason!

But now things are different.

The Liuzhen have fallen into chaos; the Liuzhen troops, who were originally the main force bullying the Rouran, have now become rebels, and those Sinicized Xianbei are instead begging the Rouran to attack these Liuzhen troops.

Old grudges and new hatreds combined, and the Rouran envoy felt an indescribable sense of triumph.

The Rouran envoy was fervent and impassioned, but the group of Han people in the tent led by Li Shuang could not comprehend the Rouran's state of mind at all.

Li Shuang was even somewhat impatient.

"You've been blabbering for half a shichen, going on and on — just say straight out how much money you want?"

After the Rouran envoy had vented at length and heard this one line, he held up a single finger.

"One thousand gold!"

Li Shuang rolled his eyes.

Seeing the atmosphere in the tent had grown somewhat heavy, the Rouran envoy felt a little guilty and said in a low voice:

"How about eight hundred gold, that works too!"

Li Shuang gave a light snort, stood up, and walked over to stand before that envoy.

"What is your name?"

Intimidated by Li Shuang's presence, the envoy was a little afraid and obediently answered.

"Yujiulufa!"

"Have you ever been to Luoyang?"

Yujiulufa was fat; his whole body quivered as he moved. He gave a small nod, but still braced himself, forcing himself to stay calm.

"I went to Luoyang with the Khagan back in the day. So what?"

It was precisely because he had been to Luoyang that he understood the heaven-and-earth gap between the Rouran and Northern Wei.

The two super-cities of this world, Luoyang and Jiankang, represented the pinnacle of governance of the northern and southern courts.

Though Luoyang was under Northern Wei's control, its degree of Sinicization was so high that it looked even more like a Han polity than the Jiankang court.

The prosperity and grandeur of Luoyang, the gentry of the Central Plains in their caps and belts — these simply could not be compared to anything on the steppe.

In his heart Yujiulufa was humble, yet what he showed was a brash, wild arrogance.

"Right now it's you begging me — throw in some gold, some land, how about it?"

"I'll show you how about it!"

Li Shuang landed a slap right on his face, hitting Yujiulufa until his eyes saw stars.

The Rouran guards by Yujiulufa's side tried to step forward to protect him, but were restrained by Li Shuang's armored soldiers.

Yujiulufa, having been struck, raged:

"On what grounds do you hit me?"

"I'm hitting precisely you!" Li Shuang grabbed this fatty by the collar and delivered two more crisp slaps. "You've damn well been to Luoyang yourself, and you have the nerve to ask for a mere thousand gold?"

Yujiulufa had been ready to fight to the death, but hearing these words, he froze in a daze.

"What do you mean?"

"Could the friendship between the Rouran and the court possibly be worth only a thousand gold?"

Li Shuang shook his head and sighed, saying:

"You have traveled without complaint of hardship, crossing the deserts from Mobei southward, to help the court wipe out the rebels — whatever you ask for, shouldn't it all be granted?"

Yujiulufa probed:

"Then how much would be appropriate for us to ask for?"

"Five thousand gold, plus a hundred thousand shi of grain and fodder, and thirty thousand head of cattle and sheep — take it or leave it!"

Yujiulufa heard these terms and for a moment could hardly believe his ears.

"You want us to give these to you?"

"Of course it's the court giving them to you!"

Hearing these words, Yujiulufa suddenly felt the burning Palm Print on his face no longer hurt, and a warm feeling welled up inside him. His big face broke into a broad grin.

He stood up and angrily berated the Rouran soldiers who had rushed in at the noise.

"What are you all coming in for? Get out of here! You've disturbed the pleasure of my talk with Brother Daye."

"Little Khagan, what's on your face?"

"It's a courtesy that's been fashionable up north lately — what would you lot know?"

Once the soldier had been barked out, Yu Jinlu Fada threw an arm around Li Shuang's shoulder and whispered:

"I know your rules — once the deed is done, I'll give you a twenty percent cut."

"Then many thanks, my lord envoy!"

"No need, no need — we're all family now. Our Wang Ting will be right next to Shuozhou from here on, so we'll have to look out for each other!"

The Rouran envoy departed with a satisfactory result, and Li Shuang stood outside, waving him off.

Watching the Rouran column recede, Yu Jin, who had been at Li Shuang's side all along, finally spoke.

"The alliance with the Rouran is only the private decision of the Grand Commandant's office — the court in the capital doesn't know yet. Even if the court were told, it still might not be approved."

Yu Jin knew the Luoyang court's way of doing things only too well.

The matter of allying with the Rouran — if it didn't get argued over for a few months, how could there ever be a result!

Such a huge sum of money and grain — what year, what month could it possibly be approved?

"It's all for the court, after all — what's a little money and grain? If it really comes to it, I can put it up first!"

Yu Jin rubbed his ear; for one fleeting instant he almost thought he was hearing things.

"Are you saying you'd dip into your own pocket to do the court's work?"

Li Shuang turned, looked at Yu Jin, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Sijing, I know you had some misunderstandings about me in the past, but please believe — at a perilous hour like this, no one is short of the will and courage to step forward. What's a little money and grain? Even if you asked me, Da Ye Shuang, to ruin my family to relieve the crisis, I'd do it without a second thought."

Yu Jin wept!

A sudden dread welled up in his heart!

Of course, it wasn't because he believed Li Shuang's words. In fact, Yu Jin didn't believe a single syllable Li Shuang said.

"General, you aren't planning to collude with the Rouran and march south to sack Luoyang, are you?"

That day, as the autumn wind blew across the green fields, Yu Jin heard the most unforgettable reply of his entire life.

"What are you talking about? If I were going to sack Luoyang, would I only put up five thousand gold?"

……