Chapter 58: A Surprise Move

In the morning, fifty li west of Yang Le City, on the western side of the Xianbei main camp, where the Mohu tribe was stationed, the tribal chieftain Mohu Kou, his hair disheveled, was staring at his slashed tent as if his own father had died.

"Do you know how many times this has happened before?" Beside Mohu Kou, a tall Xianbei warrior with braided hair demanded angrily.

"Four times," the Xianbei soldier being interrogated replied, his face equally full of dejection.

"Since you know it's been four times, why didn't you take precautions?"

"This isn't his fault, don't take your anger out on our own people." Mohu Kou came back to his senses and hurriedly suppressed his emotions to soothe them.

"Yes."

"Understood."

"What was lost this time?" Mohu Kou asked, feigning nonchalance.

"Chieftain," the previously questioned Xianbei soldier's face immediately filled with rage upon hearing this. "Two long spears are gone, a tanned leather robe is gone too, and a bag of millet..."

"Son of a bitch," Mohu Kou couldn't keep up the act even halfway through. "Do they take this place for their own tribe's dung pit? Coming and going as they please?!"

The moment the chieftain started cursing, the Mohu tribe camp, which had been as bustling as a market, fell silent instead. Almost everyone gripped their weapons and quietly watched their chieftain, who had won deep support, waiting only for his order to go and seize their things back.

Mohu Kou gripped his horsewhip, his expression shifting uncertainly, but after a long while, he finally put on a smiling face again: "I will speak to Lord Ke Zuotan about this matter. Don't let it spoil your mood... Light the cauldrons and cook! We're having meat porridge today!"

The camp erupted in cheers, while Mohu Kou sighed and turned back into his own tent.

An interesting thing was that this entire conversation among the Mohu tribe people was conducted in the Yan region's Han language.

There was no helping it; the Xianbei had no written script, and their language system wasn't very scientific. Originally a fishing and hunting tribe, once they mounted horses they forgot the techniques of fishing and net-weaving. Following the Xiongnu into Mobei, they learned certain metallurgical skills, but after over a hundred years, Mobei was using bone arrows again... So the question is, where does the cultural future of the Xianbei lie?

Is there even a need to ask?

There is nothing new under the sun. The only path for these northern nomadic peoples is Sinicization; there is no second way! The only difference is whether they are active or passive in this process.

Returning to the matter at hand, the problem Mohu Kou now faced was actually caused by the Mohu tribe's overly rapid Sinicization.

Their compatriots in Mobei were still using bone arrows and practicing human sacrifice; the Central Royal Court in Monan was pondering how to popularize iron arrowheads, how to seize iron armor from the Han people in war, and how to draw nourishment from Han border culture to establish a Khanate system. But look at the Mohu tribe, located right beside Liucheng in Liaoxi—they had not only thoroughly learned the Han language but had even become middlemen traders, dealing in strong liquor, step-shake crowns, medicinal herbs, bolts of cloth... Having seen so many things, how could you possibly expect them to turn back history and pursue some kind of Xianbei-ification?!

To take an extreme example, Mohu Kou himself now even wore his hair in a topknot when going to Liucheng for business! In fact, a key way the surrounding tribes now distinguished the Mohu tribe was by their hairstyle... The Mohu tribe all grew out their hair and beards now!

Bald heads are outdated, don't you know?!

But then again, if that's the case, you've seen much and they've seen little; you have so many good things, and they are so poor... They're all compatriots, right? So what's wrong with stealing a few items? When Xianbei people lack things, don't they always just take them? Stealing from you is already giving face to Lord Ke Zui.

Moreover, are you going to start an internal feud and fight over this, or withdraw your troops in a fit of anger? Do you really think the newly appointed Central Tribe Chief is a vegetarian?

And so, outside the tent it was bustling with noise, but inside the tent, Mohu Kou was truly feeling somewhat lost... Of course, he had no idea what civilizational evolution was, nor did he understand what Sinicization meant, but the incompatibility between himself and the other Xianbei tribes was a very obvious fact.

He never felt that he was not a Xianbei person, but he truly sensed the backwardness and ignorance of the Xianbei.

"Chieftain." The braided warrior standing guard at the entrance suddenly lifted the tent flap and walked in.

This man had originally been a famous warrior from a nearby tribe. However, last winter when the Xianbei coalition launched a surprise attack on Guanzi City, this tribe failed to retreat in time and was blocked outside the city by the reinforcing Han army. Pinned to the ground and crushed, the tribal chieftain's head was hung on the newly rebuilt walls of Guanzi City... Mohu Kou, who was in the midst of retreating at the time, acted almost immediately upon hearing the news. He went straight to raid this tribe's main camp, then leisurely waited to capture the scattered retreating warriors in one fell swoop. By bringing out grain and cloth, he annexed this tribe almost without bloodshed.

The former number one warrior of the neighboring tribe was now merely his own running dog, and utterly loyal at that.

"What is it?" Mohu Kou, sprawled over a low table lost in wild thoughts, demanded irritably. "Has something else been lost? Or has someone come to steal our food?"

"I saw Chieftain Mohu Lu arriving," the braided warrior answered cautiously. "He also brought several powerfully built warriors..."

"That stupid donkey!" Mohu Kou shot upright upon hearing this, then flew into a rage. "When I left, I repeatedly told him not to always think about fighting and killing, that guarding the tribe is also a critical matter. I left some elite troops for him as seeds, not for him to send them to die on this kind of battlefield! A great battle involving tens of thousands, all cavalry—what use are a few elite warriors?"

The braided warrior dared not utter a single word.

"I won't see him. Go and drive him back for me!" Mohu Kou said through gritted teeth. "If he dares to talk back, use this horsewhip of mine to lash his face!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Mohu Kou hurled the horsewhip fiercely toward the tent entrance. But unexpectedly, it was too late, for at that very moment, the tent flap was suddenly lifted, and the horsewhip was directly caught and held by a pair of large hands.

Upon seeing clearly who had arrived, Mohu Kou's face turned pale, speechless with shock.

"I've long heard that the Mohu tribe has been particularly prosperous lately, but I didn't expect Chieftain Mohu's temper to have grown as well!" The visitor, hair disheveled, face smeared with black oil, and wearing a filthy sheepskin robe, was none other than the young proprietor of the Anli Trading Company, Gongsun Xun. He looked at the horsewhip in his hand with keen interest, maintaining an utterly composed demeanor even within the enemy camp.

The tall, robust braided warrior had initially intended to react, but upon seeing Mohu Lu behind this person, he fell silent with some confusion.

"Que Li." Mohu Kou came back to his senses and gestured with difficulty toward the braided warrior with his lips. "Go outside and guard the entrance with that stupid donkey. I need to speak privately with this noble guest! Also... immediately invite this noble guest's companions into the tent to rest. Don't let others see them... and be courteous!"

"Understood!" The braided warrior named Que Li hurriedly withdrew from the tent.

And so, a moment later, Gongsun Xun sat openly and without ceremony in Mohu Kou's previous seat, while the chieftain of the Mohu tribe stood to the side.

"Chieftain Mohu." Gongsun Xun stared at the other man for a long while before speaking. "Our business dealings have spanned many years, always based on mutual benefit... To be frank, there is now a hugely profitable deal to be made, even more worthwhile than that business with Ke Zui Que. I just wonder if you dare to take it on?"

Hearing the name Ke Zui Que, even in the warmth of the tent, Mohu Kou couldn't help but shiver, and in doing so, he lowered the hand that had unconsciously moved toward his waist saber.

"In the Yongyuan era of Emperor He, Grand General Dou Xian dispatched Right Colonel Geng Kui to defeat the Xiongnu. The Northern Chanyu fled, and the Xianbei consequently migrated and occupied their lands. Over one hundred Battalion Commander of the remaining Xiongnu stayed behind, all calling themselves Xianbei, and from this the Xianbei gradually grew powerful." — Book of the Later Han, Volume 90, Biographies of the Wuhuan and Xianbei, Chapter 80

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(End of Chapter)