Chapter 92: Disposition (Part 1) (8k words to make up for the word count of the previous two days)

Time arrived at noon the next day. Before the Chuoqiu River, at the Xianbei royal court... let us still call it that for now. In any case, this place at this moment was utterly and extraordinarily bustling!

First, the open flames and smoldering fires on the mountain had still not stopped, looking very much like they intended to bake the entire Danhan Mountain until it was crisp.

Second, a great number of Xianbei nobles who had just returned with their troops were gathered on the north bank of the river at the place where the fire had first swept through. Some pointed at the sky, jumping and cursing wildly; some wailed endlessly toward the royal court, weeping aloud; there were even a few witches and priests gathered at the site of the original court palisade, dancing there with delight.

Finally, as a matter of course, a huge crowd of numb herdsmen had also come here to watch the excitement.

And among them, Mo Huzhen, who had not managed to escape the previous night, wrapped in a tattered leather robe covered in blood and filth, his face smeared with soot, was cowering by the riverbank with some other Xianbei people, watching these scenes!

In the future, his own tribe absolutely must live in those houses like the Han people have. Although those also contain wood, they surely would not burn as fast as what he saw before him, so fast that many people could not escape in time and became roast meat! So thought Mo Huzhen, yet he could not help turning his head away from the great fire before him and looking toward the pontoon bridge.

The pontoon bridge area, as the main battlefield of the previous day, had already been cleared. The Xianbei Great Khan, Tanshihuai, was halting his horse at the bridgehead, inspecting the fire at the royal court while speaking with a group of Xianbei nobles... come to think of it, our Headman Mo was seeing this Xianbei Great Khan in person for the very first time!

"So you're saying they had only one or two thousand men, and in one bold rush they swiftly routed your four or five thousand?" Tanshihuai was somewhat exasperated, and somewhat amused.

"Please punish me, Great Khan!" The Xianbei noble responsible for reporting knelt before the horse's hooves, his face covered in dust, nearly on the verge of tears.

"'One Han equals five Hu,' I have heard that saying too." Tanshihuai chuckled lightly. "If those Han soldiers numbered one thousand five hundred, that would count as seven thousand five hundred Xianbei warriors. And then it was a night raid, and they set fires... it is not entirely incomprehensible."

The Xianbei noble kneeling below was trembling so much he could barely speak.

"Where are the others?" Tanshihuai continued to ask in an amiable tone. "I recall that before I departed, I entrusted the royal court to five headmen, yourself included. Where are the other four?"

"I do not know either." The man answered shakily, then hurriedly prostrated himself and knocked his head on the ground. "I fear they either died in battle or were burned to death... otherwise they would not fail to come see the Great Khan!"

"So that is how it is." As he spoke, Tanshihuai could not help but raise his head again to gaze at his Danhan Mountain, which was still ablaze.

"Great Khan." A noble warrior at his side could not resist offering advice. "Since the enemy only has a thousand or so men, they must have suffered considerable losses last night. Why not let me pursue them? Perhaps we could catch some wounded soldiers before the Han border wall?"

"Pursue what?" Tanshihuai dismissed the idea. "A mere thousand Han troops. If we truly wanted to inflict casualties, we would have been better off putting in more effort against their main force last night... Besides, with the royal court in this state, and everyone so exhausted, which headman would be willing to go with you in pursuit?"

The noble warrior promptly shut his mouth.

After admonishing this warrior, Tanshihuai suddenly turned his head toward another person beside him: "Bubenlu, you are the wisest man in my royal court, and my right arm in handling administrative affairs. Tell me, can this fire truly not be extinguished?"

"Great Khan." The man addressed could not help but smile bitterly. "First, there were too many things stored inside the royal court. Second, we no longer even have vessels to fetch water. We can only have people use waterskins to draw water from the river, barely managing to dampen the places where the fire has already passed..."

"I understand." Tanshihuai sighed. "In other words, we can only wait for it to burn itself out?"

"Yes... well, we could also wait for rain. At this time of year, waiting for rain might actually be faster."

"Oh, true, the sky is quite oppressive! And how many things did the headmen who rushed back manage to salvage?"

"..."

"I understand... how great are the losses?"

"The cattle, sheep, and warhorses are fortunately not too bad. They are clever after all; once the fire started, most of them fled. We have already sent men to round them up in the surrounding area." Bubenlu quickly began with the best news first.

"Well done! And then?"

"And then, what is harder to say is the gold and copper..."

"What is so hard to say about that?" Tanshihuai was quite puzzled. "I have seen captive Han craftsmen use copper ingots to forge arrowheads. This gold and copper will at most melt and deform; could it possibly burn away into nothing?"

Bubenlu's smile grew even more bitter: "Great Khan, it is not spoken of that way. Gold and copper used for making objects and used for spending are two different matters... Actually, gold is easier to speak of; it has only been mixed with impurities. If we take our time, as you say, it can eventually be recast properly. But copper coins are very troublesome, because mere copper ingots are simply not as valuable as Wuzhu coins. If one hundred strings of Wuzhu coins are melted into copper ingots, and we send men to Han territory to buy goods like salted fish, I fear we could only exchange them for goods worth less than forty strings. If we bring out too much at once, I fear it would be worth even less!"

"How can it be so worthless?" Tanshihuai was dumbfounded. "Can we not mint them ourselves? Isn't a Wuzhu coin just a round disc with a square hole?"

Bubenlu lowered his head and remained silent.

"I understand." Tanshihuai sighed dejectedly. "Then the leather goods, fodder, grain, and cloth stored in the royal court—you need not speak of them..."

"Yes!"

"That one." Tanshihuai suddenly turned back and saw the garrison commander still kneeling before his horse's head, and promptly called to his personal guards behind him. "Escort this man to the fire pit on the mountain for me. Have him be sure to deliver a message on my behalf to the sun, moon, stars, and the fire spirits or whatever, and say that these burned items shall be considered my, Tanshihuai's, offerings to the various deities... Ask the deities if they are satisfied?"

"Great Khan! Great Khan! Great Khan..." The man below was dragged for several dozen paces before he suddenly realized what was happening, so terrified that he wet himself on the spot. Yet no matter how this wretch struggled and screamed, he could not stop those warriors from carrying out the command of the sole ruler of the steppe.

And when he was dragged to a place on the mountain nearby that was still burning... it seemed to be where the original lumber yard or something had been... several personal guards wearing cowhide boots lifted him with force and hurled him, truly without any discount, inviting this sole surviving royal court garrison commander into the fire pit.

The latter instantly became a human torch.

Even so, this human torch still tried to crawl out, his whole body ablaze, only to be stabbed back in by those personal guards using their long spears. In the end, he flailed his arms and legs, shouting and screaming, thrashing about at the edge of the fire pit for a long while before finally going still.

Such a splendid spectacle, from the mountain to the riverbank, from the highest Xianbei grand nobles to the lowliest herding slaves, even Mo Huzhen who had not managed to flee—all watched without blinking, watched with exceptional seriousness! And after watching, for a moment, from top to bottom, nearly everyone was invigorated a hundredfold. Those pointing at the sky and cursing stopped cursing; those wailing endlessly toward the royal court stopped weeping; even the few witches and priests dancing before the former wooden palisade of the royal court danced with increasingly soul-stirring vigor!

As if that messenger could truly help them communicate with the spirits of all things!

And you might not believe it, but whether the spirits of the sun, moon, stars, water, fire, thunder, and lightning were truly quite satisfied with this wave of abundant offerings, or whether they felt exceptional appreciation for the dances of those witches, in any case, by the afternoon, the sky gradually darkened, and it truly seemed that rain was about to come!

Summer, after all—a sudden downpour was naturally also the merit of Great Khan Tanshihuai. Did they not see that just as men were sent to deliver the message, the rain came right after? Therefore, the great fire at the royal court would soon be extinguished! The sun, moon, and stars still gave the Great Khan considerable face!

Everyone was deeply convinced of this point... it was just that they still had to take shelter from the rain.

Mo Huzhen also had no tent to crawl into. He could only follow a few local herdsmen in a frantic run, and soon found a relatively spacious cave on the side of Danhan Mountain, where he relied on his youth to secure a spot inside. But before long, he obediently ran to the cave entrance and squeezed together with the others, because Great Khan Tanshihuai had also come in to shelter from the rain.

But to be honest, this instead made Mo Huzhen respect this theoretical Khan of all Xianbei even more, because at the beginning, like many herdsmen sheltering from the rain, he had instinctively tried to run outside. However, the Great Khan had taken the initiative to let them stay at the cave entrance to keep out of the rain.

It must be said, this breadth of spirit inevitably reminded Mo Huzhen, amidst his nervousness, of that Kezuique who had been so lax in controlling his subordinates... no wonder one was the Great Khan, while the other had his head easily chopped off.

"Let us continue." Tanshihuai sat down on the ground inside the cave, which still retained some warmth, looking slightly weary, and resumed his council. "Bubenlu, with this rain, will it be possible to reduce the losses somewhat?"

"I fear it is not so." Bubenlu answered somewhat awkwardly. "Great Khan, this rain has come too fiercely, and the mountain has been swept by fire. I fear it will wash whatever few things remain into the river."

Tanshihuai pursed his lips: "Let us set this aside for now. This time, the rewards for the royal court proper will be replaced with the armor, bows, and arrows seized from the battlefield... do you all think this will do?"

"The headmen will likely be somewhat dissatisfied." A middle-aged noble beside him spoke bluntly. "Having fought such a great battle, although it was a swift victory, it was not without losses. More importantly, most of the wealth they accumulated over many years is gone. I fear they harbor resentment!"

"So what if they harbor resentment?" A young warrior said indignantly. "Would they dare to rebel? Are they not the Great Khan's direct subordinates? At a time like this, should they not show understanding for the royal court's difficulties?"

"That is not the point. The key is the western region; we do not know how the battle situation is there... Everything requires comparison."

"The central region has gone to pursue the Xiongnu. They will also need rewards when they return. After all, the various settlements of the central region have always been obedient to the royal court, and they suffered such heavy losses previously in Liaoxi. Being forced to campaign this time, we cannot chill their hearts."

"If we speak thus, then the eastern region must also receive rewards and compensation. Although their blocking efforts were ineffective, they came from afar after all, and their loyalty is commendable. Moreover, their losses this time were exceptionally severe. If we cannot support them somewhat, I fear the Fuyu people and Goguryeo will take advantage of their weakness..."

"It was said before about the eastern region, it is too cold there, and they toil in battle all year round, so they have always lacked grain. Originally, the Great Khan planned to give them some grain, cattle, and sheep as rewards after the war, but we never expected to encounter such a situation."

"Even if the royal court here has suffered some damage, no matter how you calculate it, we still won a great victory, did we not? So why is it that after winning a victory, troubles keep mounting instead?"

"The key is that this fire burned too fiercely!"

Mo Huzhen listened intently. These nobles whom he did not know provided him with a great deal of information:

First, those central-region Xianbei headmen whom he was familiar with had not yet returned. This was undoubtedly good news; he could take his time figuring out how to escape!

Second, although this side had won a great victory, because the royal court was burned and the stockpiled supplies were destroyed, there were vaguely some economic troubles... "economic"... this was undoubtedly a term learned from the Anli Trading Company. Even if spoken to these royal court nobles, they might not understand it, right?

Finally, the relationship between the royal court and the three divisions seemed rather delicate — though that seemed only natural.

"In all matters, one must distinguish between close and distant!" Tan Shihuai suddenly spoke up. "Only when you yourself possess formidable strength do you have the standing to display fairness... First, the people of the royal court proper must be pacified!"

"But where are we to get the rewards from?" After a pause, Bubenlu, Tan Shihuai's right arm who could even be called the royal court's executive officer, asked with genuine difficulty.

"Have the western Xianbei hand over some livestock, furs, and grain!" Tan Shihuai answered with an indifferent expression.

"On what grounds?"

"That the royal court caught fire," Tan Shihuai answered with an indifferent expression. "But we can first send a special messenger to rebuke them for their ineffective campaign... Ask them, why is it that I was able to deal with both main Han army columns in two days, while they, with such abundant strength, have yet to devour even one? Could it be they have some tacit understanding with the Han?"

"Great Khan, the western side is probably preparing to lure the enemy deep before..." There was actually a fool who took this interrogation seriously.

"You go!" Tan Shihuai glanced at this man. "Go now, remember what I just said, and on my behalf question those western chieftains as to why their war effort is so feeble!"

The man rose with a stammer, ultimately not daring to show the slightest defiance, and so he simply set out at once into the pouring rain outside.

After driving away a fool, Tan Shihuai continued laying out his plan of action: "When the men from the central division return, reward them with some armor, iron tools, and the like. Their losses are mainly military, so such rewards should be acceptable to them."

"Yes."

"That is feasible."

"But Great Khan," someone was still uneasy, "what if the western division truly harbors rebellious thoughts because of your rebuke and demands?"

"Wouldn't that be perfect?" Tan Shihuai glanced at the speaker dismissively. "Fight one battle, and we'll have livestock, furs, grain, and even people!"

At this, everyone lowered their heads, stammering and not daring to speak.

"I was only jesting," Tan Shihuai suddenly laughed again. "We are all Xianbei, and I, as the Great Khan of all Xianbei, how could I ever do such a thing? It is just that since each division has encountered some difficulties, the western division, being the strongest, must understand how to help the other tribes through hardship... Otherwise, why acknowledge me as Khan? And if they defy my orders and are unwilling to help the other tribes, then I, as Khan, must punish them. That is the true principle. Wouldn't you say so?"

The crowd bowed their heads one after another.

"Then the matter is settled." His gaze swept over the assembled royal court nobles before him, and Tan Shihuai reached back to press down on the ground beneath him, which had suddenly grown damp, before continuing. "Besides, those western chieftains should still know what's good for them, because those who dared play tricks with me are long dead... What other matters are there?"

"There is still the eastern division's grain," Bubenlu hastily reminded him. "This time the eastern division endured the greatest hardship, and their casualties were the heaviest. Moreover, their grain problem is not a matter of a day or two, nor a temporary affair... It is too cold over there, and it seems to be getting colder, so they have always lacked grain!"

Tan Shihuai let out a long sigh: "Now this is a matter of real importance. We must find them a lasting solution!"

"Should we take advantage of the warm weather and lead troops to help the eastern division raid the Fuyu people or the Goguryeo once?" someone could not help but suggest.

"Raiding the Fuyu once is certainly possible," Tan Shihuai said with a slight frown. "In my younger days, it was by helping them fight the Fuyu that I won their complete allegiance. But that only solves the immediate trouble... In truth, all these years I have been thinking, I raid year after year, but can raiding truly make the tribe prosper? Take this grain issue in the east — they lack grain every year. Must we help them raid the Fuyu for grain every year? What if the Fuyu also lack grain one year? And in any war, no matter how fierce the warriors or how ample the troops, out of ten battles, one is bound to be lost. Just like that fool Ke Zuitan in Liaoxi last time — what would we do then?"

"Is this why the Great Khan has been so reluctant to personally go raiding Han territory again in recent years?" Bubenlu asked earnestly.

"Exactly," Tan Shihuai nodded. "When I was young, in just a few years I brandished my horsewhip and conquered the entire steppe. But after gaining dominion over a realm of ten thousand li, I discovered that to be a good Great Khan, the horsewhip alone is useless... The Great Han to the south is all walls — you simply cannot fight your way in. The tribes to the west are too many and too far — one expedition against the Wusun took me over a year. The Goguryeo and Fuyu to the east hide in the forests, as annoying as rats... Most crucially, war cannot bring the Xianbei the kind of prosperity the Han people enjoy. We are exactly the same now as we were ten years ago... I am the Khan of all Xianbei. I must consider the entire Xianbei people. If war can make the Xianbei prosper, then we should go to war. But if something else can make the Xianbei prosper, then we should consider something else!"

The entire cave fell silent, until a stream of water suddenly seeped from the rock wall and extinguished a torch, jolting everyone back to their senses.

"But where would we get anything else?" Bubenlu asked with a face full of worry. "We simply do not know the Han people's methods. And even if we did, it would be useless — crops simply cannot be grown over there in the east!"

"They could fish!" From the cave entrance, a somewhat timid voice suddenly rang out, with an accent that seemed from the border region between the eastern and central divisions, but in standard Xianbei speech.

"Who is speaking?" A noble warrior turned back impatiently and barked. "The Great Khan allowed you to shelter from the rain here, not to interrupt when the nobles are discussing important matters!"

"Shut up," Tan Shihuai said quietly.

"Yes!" That warrior immediately stood up. "I will make him shut up at once."

"I told you to shut up!" Tan Shihuai rebuked with a trace of sarcasm.

That noble warrior was instantly at a loss.

"Who was speaking just now?" Bubenlu called out loudly on Tan Shihuai's behalf.

"Great Khan!" Wrapped in his robe and bent at the waist, Mohubu walked over cautiously, and upon reaching the firelight, immediately prostrated himself to kiss the damp ground before the other man.

"Rise," Tan Shihuai said, and after the man had finished kissing the ground, personally helped the fellow to his feet. "Which tribe are you from?"

"Great Khan, I am Duan Pizan of the Liaoxi Duan tribe." After rising, Mohubu tactfully retreated, backing all the way behind the assembled royal court nobles before kneeling again, and only then spoke the identity he had prepared. It is worth adding here that the Duan tribe was currently the Mohubu's main rival in Liaoxi. "By rights, we should be under the jurisdiction of the Central Division Chief, but after the great battle at Liucheng last time, the Central Division Chief's messengers stopped coming for a long while. Instead, the Eastern Division Chief sent a messenger earlier, so our chieftain had me bring a few warriors here to assist in the campaign. I never imagined that last night's battle..."

"Enough, no need to say more," Tan Shihuai said, looking at the man's robe with its obvious brownish holes, too lazy to hear more of this half-true, half-false explanation. "I know of the Duan tribe, and the accent matches... What did you mean just now by fishing?"

"Great Khan, fish can be eaten!"

"Nonsense!" Bubenlu beside him was utterly speechless.

"I mean, in the great Liao River over in the east, the schools of fish are especially abundant, and the Han people downstream catch a great many fish every year," Mohubu continued to explain carefully.

Bubenlu could not help exchanging a glance with Tan Shihuai before asking, "Are the fish in the great Liao River truly that plentiful?"

"Yes," Mohubu hastily lowered his head.

"If the fish are so plentiful, did the eastern division not know how to weave nets and catch fish before?" Tan Shihuai could not help but ask personally. "I have seen the royal court's people fishing in the Chuochou River."

"They do not know how!" Mohubu continued with his head lowered. "The central and western divisions are close to the Han, so they all know how, but the eastern division does not. There are many things they do not know how to do over there..."

"Only today do I learn that those savages of the eastern division cannot even fish!"

"But teaching them to fish... would that not take far too much time?"

"And the eastern people are all stupid — they might not even be able to learn," the assembled royal court nobles remarked, partly in sudden realization and partly in chatter.

"And for something like fishing, merely weaving nets is probably not enough," Mohubu finally said, raising his head slightly. "To catch fish in large quantities, you need boats, and specially made large nets, and experienced old fishermen to direct the work..."

"I understand your meaning," Tan Shihuai nodded slightly. "You are saying that the fish in the great Liao River are so plentiful that they cannot be compared to the small rivers here, and that we need specialists to teach them. It is just like, just like teaching children to hunt — you cannot simply give them bows and arrows; you must also have truly skilled hunters to teach them all the techniques... Since you say this, you naturally know how this should be handled?"

"Great Khan, we could learn from the Goguryeo people," Mohubu hastily raised his head and recounted something he had heard from the Anli Trading Company. "Although the Goguryeo people can also fish, they are impatient with such work, so they went and raided the Wa country further east. It is said that the Wa people live by rivers and the sea and are extremely skilled at fishing, so they captured many Wa people and settled them along the great Liao River specifically to fish for them!"

"Now I understand your meaning even better!" Tan Shihuai burst into hearty laughter. "You are saying we could also go raid the Wa people and make them our fish slaves, is that right?!"

"The Great Khan is divinely wise!"

"What divine wisdom? Why do you speak like a Han?" Tan Shihuai said dismissively. "Don't waste time. Someone, go now and invite the eastern chieftains here..."

He had barely gotten halfway through his words when suddenly, the assembled Xianbei in the cave sensed something was wrong. First came a rumbling sound from who knows where, nothing at all like thunder, and then the sound of rushing water, nothing at all like rain...

While others were still puzzled, Mohubu wiped his rain-soaked face and suddenly realized what was happening. He was the first to leap up from the ground and bolt straight for the cave entrance behind him. Only after this fellow had run outside into the rain did he finally turn back and shout in spite of himself: "Great Khan, come out quickly! The cave is about to collapse!"

Tan Shihuai rose in a daze, and the others also seemed somewhat dazed, but they ultimately understood the meaning of the words "the cave is about to collapse"... So they hurriedly, half-believing and half-doubting, followed that "Duan Pizan" and ran out of the cave, into the rain outside.

The sky outside was somewhat dark, and the torches were extinguished the moment they emerged, so for a time they could not clearly see what exactly was happening. They could only hear a considerable commotion coming from Mount Tanhan before them... However, as a flash of lightning passed, Tan Shihuai and the others finally saw everything clearly, and then these men were instantly dumbstruck — some even fell directly to their knees!

The fact was, this was not merely a cave about to collapse — it was practically the entire mountain about to collapse!

Mount Tanhan, which had been burned for an entire night and over half the day, had now been drenched by a bout of torrential rain, leaving the stone all brittle! Then the rainwater surged, sweeping ash, soil, and rocks together down the mountainside, rushing straight toward the Chuochou River below. Everything in its path was buried under earth, stone, and ash... Truly, truly it left one at a loss for words!

"Great Khan!" Bubenlu, who probably understood in his heart what was happening, suddenly turned and knelt, clutching Tan Shihuai's leg. "Great Khan, leave now! Let this Duan Pizan lead the way. Take four or five thousand elite riders yourself and go help the eastern tribes seize those Wa fish slaves from the Goguryeo... Here, here I will handle things!"

In the curtain of rain, Tanshihuai could not help but laugh dryly: "You... what can you possibly do to handle it?"

"Great Khan!" Bubenlu was already weeping, though with the rain pouring down like this, no one could tell. "The mountain has collapsed, the royal court is gone, and I reckon the Chuoqiu River below, once blocked, will also flood and burst its banks... This kind of thing, not only can I not handle it, even you could not handle it. And since neither of us can handle it, then you might as well let me handle it! At worst, I'll just endure the curses of those nobles. With you out there leading the troops, would they dare to kill me?"

Tanshihuai could not help but throw his head back and laugh. When he finished laughing, he wiped the rain from his face and then helped his arm to stand: "Bubenlu... when I was fourteen, your father went to raid my maternal grandfather's tribe for sheep. The first time I fought a man in battle, I killed your father, and then took you captive... Let me count the years — it's been almost twenty-five, hasn't it?"

"Twenty-six years!" Bubenlu corrected him forcefully, still weeping as he rose to his feet.

"You have toiled hard! You have toiled hard!" Tanshihuai patted the other man on the shoulder, then turned and strode away, laughing loudly.

Mohukun and the other royal court noble warriors hurried to follow.

Yet, before he had taken three steps, this prairie overlord — who had just dealt a heavy blow to the Han army in a matter of days, and then, amid casual talk and laughter, decided to suppress the powerful Western Xianbei and support the weak Eastern Xianbei — suddenly turned back. Pointing at the pitch-black mountain body before him, his face changed to one of fury as he addressed his retinue:

"This is my Danhan Mountain! This is my royal court! Such a great mountain, such a great royal court, standing here perfectly fine for twenty years — who among you can tell me how it suddenly vanished?!"

Everyone, including Bubenlu who had just risen, knelt before this supreme ruler of the grasslands, and none dared to make a sound.

Tanshihuai suddenly burst into laughter again, and once more wiped his face, full of rain: "Do any of you know the name of that Han general who led troops to burn my royal court, to burn my mountain?"

"Great Khan." Mohukun cautiously raised his head from the mud and water.

"You know?" A flash of lightning drifted past from the side, revealing Tanshihuai's expression, which seemed to hover between a smile and a sneer.

"That man is called Gongsun Xun!" Mohukun hurriedly smashed his head back into the mud pit. "We people of Liaoxi all recognize him. During the last great battle in Liaoxi, it was he who seized the Grand Administrator's mother right before the battle lines, and he also had his subordinates shoot Lord Kezuitan dead!"

Tanshihuai laughed loudly for the third time: "I remember that name. He seems to be only twenty years old. I didn't expect him to be an old acquaintance?!"

The crowd still dared not raise their heads.

"Bubenlu!" Tanshihuai's expression changed again as he bellowed. "Did you hear that? It's not that you can do nothing! When I go to seize fish slaves from the Goguryeo people, you will find shamans to curse this Gongsun Xun! Curse him to die a wretched death! And then hang his name on every archery target, and let the bows of all Xianbei men be aimed at him!"

"Yes, Great Khan!" Bubenlu kowtowed repeatedly.

"Enough," Tanshihuai suddenly gave a cold laugh, having finally vented his emotions completely. "Let us all leave quickly. Bubenlu, you and I must properly clear away this mountain and this river. That Duan Pizan, come with me to fetch the horses. The rest of you, go summon the troops and the chieftains of the east. I do not wish to remain in this wretched place for a single moment longer!"

With these words, the Xianbei Great Khan gripped his horsewhip and strode swiftly away, and Mohukun also hurriedly leapt up and chased after him.

At that very same moment, in a tent seventy or eighty li away, perhaps having heard Tanshihuai's curse in the unseen realm, Gongsun Xun — the very man who had burned the mountain until it collapsed — finally awoke amid pain and the pattering sound of rain.

————————I am a dividing line that always repays debts————————

"(The Xianbei) tribes grew more numerous day by day; farming, animal husbandry, archery, and hunting were insufficient to provide food. Tanshihuai thus went on a personal tour of inspection and saw that in the east, the great Liao River stretched for several hundred li, its waters still and not flowing, and within it there were fish, but they could not obtain them. Hearing that the Wa people were skilled at net fishing, he thereupon attacked the Wa country in the east, captured over a Battalion Commander, and relocated them to settle upon the great Liao River. He ordered them to catch fish to supplement the grain supply." — Book of the Later Han, Volume 90, Biographies of the Wuhuan and Xianbei, Section 80

PS: 8k repayment... and regarding the issue of Tanshihuai raiding the Wa people... I personally think it was very likely that small fishing and hunting country to the east, and because Japan only began to have contact with the Central Plains during the Three Kingdoms period, Fan Ye himself did not understand this very well and thus recorded it incorrectly... However, since I have used so much of Fan Ye's text, I must also respect his copyright... if he said Wa country, then Wa country it is. And if it really was the Wa country, then Tanshihuai was truly fierce enough...

Also, there is a new book group. Interested students can join: 684558115.

A supplementary issue: someone in the book review section mentioned the question of whether Tanshihuai was Great Khan or Chanyu... Actually, it is hard to say whether Tanshihuai himself was Chanyu or Khan, because the Xianbei people were heavily Sinicized, and no one was willing to recognize him as legitimate, so very few records about him have survived. Chanyu was the title widely used by steppe peoples before Tanshihuai, while Khan was invented by the Xianbei and was a title widely used among Xianbei groups... It's hard to say for certain. I can only admit that I was indeed careless; Chanyu would have been more appropriate, but overall it should not affect readability.

(End of Chapter)