Chapter 401: The Xiongnu

On the grasslands below the Helan Mountains, a Xiongnu woman pinned down a goat while a man holding a knife cleanly raised his blade and slit its windpipe and artery. The goat struggled ceaselessly, its blood spurting onto the ground and turning deep red in the brown earth. After convulsing for a long while, it finally lay still — dead through and through.

A group of people busied themselves dressing the dead goat. With deft movements, they cut a small hole in the hide and blew air into it until the goat was puffed up as round as a pufferfish. Chen Ping watched, utterly astonished.

In all his life, this was the first time he had ever seen such a method of dressing a goat. By this point, the skin and flesh had largely separated, making flaying much easier. The man who had killed the goat stripped off the entire hide in a few swift strokes, then turned it inside out before he began gutting the entrails and chopping the meat into chunks…

When the Xiongnu slaughtered cattle and goats, Chen Ping stood off to the side, his hands tucked inside his sleeves, watching. At first, the Xiongnu were not welcoming toward this pale-faced young man whose face bore a strange smile and who looked around curiously at everything.

But when Chen Ping produced a lump of salt, or an even rarer small grain of brown sugar, as a gift, every Xiongnu — men and women, old and young alike — put on warm, smiling faces. They let Chen Ping look wherever he pleased and even eagerly invited him into their domed huts to sit for a while.

Chen Ping did not refuse their kindness. He remembered his mission: know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles! He was the eyes and ears of Commandant Heifu of the commandery, so he had to observe every detail of the Xiongnu and, if possible, try to learn their language.

This was the pasture of the local "Lesser Juqu." The interpreter Wu Shiyan had arranged for Chen Ping could not clearly explain the original meaning of "Juqu." By Chen Ping's understanding, it was roughly equivalent to a "chieftain" among the Qiang and Rong peoples.

Chen Ping had been at the Helan Mountains for several days. Although this was only one of the Xiongnu's many encampments, the marriage of the Xiongnu prince Modu had brought quite a few Xiongnu nobles gathering here. Thus, Chen Ping had finally managed to sort out the various titles within the Xiongnu hierarchy.

The Chanyu was the supreme leader of the Xiongnu tribes, holding all military and political power in one person. The position was hereditary within the Luandi clan. Who exactly the first Chanyu was, the Xiongnu themselves could not say clearly. In any case, the Xiongnu had been a state for several decades, rising from the Yin Mountains and the Ordos Loop region and gradually growing in strength. Now, Touman Chanyu ruled the Xiongnu.

Below the Chanyu, the Xiongnu also had the Left and Right Grand Danghu, the Left and Right Gudu Marquises, and others — all great nobles of high status who could command a "myriad cavalry." Smaller tribes with a few thousand members had chieftains called Danghu. Even smaller tribes were called Juqu, Thousand-Leader, Hundred-Leader, and Ten-Leader.

Calculated this way, the Xiongnu practiced a fiefdom system. From the Chanyu down to the Myriad Cavalry, Danghu, and Juqu, each had their own fief and subject people. In times of war, they had to lead their troops and follow the Chanyu on campaign…

As a minor noble, the Xiongnu Lesser Juqu was quite well-off, as could be seen just from the large quantity of creamy-yellow dried cheese airing on the grass outside his domed hut.

The method for making this dairy product was: simmer goat's milk or cow's milk over a low fire for several double-hours until it turned into a paste, then pack it into containers or shape it into lumps by hand, and afterward lay it out in the sun to dry. After a few days, it would become as hard as stone and could be stored for half a year or a year without any problem.

From what Chen Ping observed, nearly every Xiongnu carried a few pieces of dried cheese in their pouch as a provision against hunger and thirst. It could be heated and melted for eating, or simply put directly into the mouth and sucked on for an hour or so. When they spoke, almost everyone had a sour-milk smell on their breath.

Seeing this, Chen Ping suddenly understood. "No wonder Wu Shiluo once said, 'In wind and rain, in fatigue, in hunger and thirst, the men of the Central States cannot match the Xiongnu.' It is not that the Xiongnu are truly able to endure hunger and thirst; perhaps it is because they eat dried cheese and dried meat, which are easy to carry and can be put into the mouth at any time. Truly excellent marching rations…"

In long-distance marches and thousand-li raids, the Xiongnu held an enormous advantage.

Chen Ping, however, was not worried, because before he came, Heifu, the Commandant of Beidi Commandery, had already purchased a great deal of wheat flour from the Guanzhong region and planned to tinker with a new type of dried ration called "guokui"…

Chen Ping's first reaction was to ask Heifu, "What is a 'guo'?"

In the end, it was Chen Ping's wife who took him into the kitchen and pointed at the new cooking implement in Heifu's house before Chen Ping finally understood.

While he was lost in thought, Chen Ping was invited into the domed hut by the Xiongnu Lesser Juqu.

The so-called "domed hut" was a felt tent. Its walls were woven from willow branches, with sheepskin felt cloth sewn to fill the gaps. The top swelled in the middle and sloped down on all sides, its shape resembling the heavens, hence the name "domed hut."

This kind of dwelling was not large. An entire family crammed inside could hardly be comfortable; it merely provided shelter from wind and rain. Its advantages were that it was easy to dismantle and convenient to move.

Chen Ping began pondering again. "So that is why the Xiongnu have no walled cities, no constant dwelling, and no plowing of fields. They follow the water and grass and migrate. They dismantle their domed huts, load them onto oxcarts, the whole family mounts horses, drives the cattle and sheep, eats dried cheese, and can travel a hundred li or a thousand li away. Because they repeat this every year, when they march to war and strike camp to set out, their speed is also extremely fast…"

Compared to an army of the Central Plains, which could only march thirty li a day and then spend another two double-hours setting up camp, digging stoves, and cooking rice, the customs of the Xiongnu were truly innately suited for warfare.

The Xiongnu Lesser Juqu, unaware of what schemes Chen Ping was turning over in his mind, warmly had his wives and daughters bring up fresh hot milk. The Xiongnu usually added some salt brought from the Huama Salt Lake to their hot milk. This time, however, Chen Ping had gifted them a jin of brown sugar. The Lesser Juqu's wife and daughter cut off half a liang and put it into the hot milk. After trying a sip, the Lesser Juqu's eyes lit up, and he raised his thumb in loud praise!

A change of flavor was a pleasant experience for Xiongnu nobles as well. Brown sugar could also fetch a good price on the grasslands.

While the Lesser Juqu and Chen Ping conversed in languages neither understood, the freshly chopped mutton had already begun cooking inside the tent. Chen Ping noticed that they were not using an iron cauldron from the Central Plains, but an ordinary four-legged pottery li tripod. This was actually considered good; ordinary herder families could not even afford pottery and instead stored water in thick oxhide to boil their food.

Apart from salt, no other seasoning was added to the mutton — the land of the Xiongnu grew no grain, and spices were only available to the great nobles. The boiled mutton chunks would be evenly divided and then distributed to family members and guests.

As the guest, Chen Ping was given the finest morsel: the goat's eye. Though somewhat reluctant, he put it into his mouth with a beaming smile. It was a bit chewy, like cartilage.

The Lesser Juqu's several wives and children all gathered in the tent. At this point, Chen Ping noticed that the Lesser Juqu sat in the host's seat, while he himself, as the guest, was seated at the lower head. Opposite him was the Lesser Juqu's son, nearly of age, followed by the other wives and children.

Only at the very last seat, farthest from the food and nearest to the doorway, sat an old woman with graying hair. Throughout the entire meal, she cautiously nibbled at a bit of leftover scraps and cold dregs that were passed to her.

"Who is that?" Chen Ping tilted his head and asked the interpreter in the Xia tongue.

The interpreter said, "She is the Lesser Juqu's mother."

"Stepmother?"

"No, his birth mother."

Chen Ping was somewhat shocked. In the Central Plains, parents were seated in the place of honor. A son was expected to select the best food, pick out the bones, and personally present it to them!

"Xiongnu customs differ greatly from those of the Central Plains."

The interpreter explained, "The Xiongnu esteem the strong and healthy, and despise the old and weak. The strong eat the rich and fatty foods; the old eat what is left over. This Lesser Juqu actually treats his mother rather well. In many Xiongnu herder families, if the parents do not die by sixty, they are taken to a place of Heaven worship, abandoned, and left to starve to death, then devoured by wild wolves and vultures!"

Chen Ping could not help but be horrified. Although he studied the teachings of Huang-Lao and did not strictly adhere to ritual propriety, filial piety and fraternal duty were ethical morals that all schools of the Central Plains vigorously promoted. The Qin state even had laws punishing unfilial sons. If the Xiongnu's behavior occurred in Qin, every household would be reported to the authorities and sentenced to death…

Yet with Chen Ping's intelligence, a moment's careful thought made it clear: the Xiongnu clearly devoted themselves to warfare. Their old and weak could not fight, so they gave the rich, fatty food and drink to the strong and healthy.

After arriving at the frontier, he had also gradually realized that the herding life was crueler than farming. A single blizzard or a single plague could cause cattle and sheep to die off completely, leaving herders to survive on grass and hunting. In such circumstances, one extra mouth in the household was a burden. They had to choose either to abandon the elders who could no longer work, or to strangle the newborns…

Chen Ping recalled a saying of Commandant Heifu: "The superior win and the inferior are eliminated; the fittest survive!"

This saying was embodied to the fullest on the grasslands: when basic survival conditions could not be met, one had to plunder outward to sustain one's livelihood; to protect one's livestock and wives from being plundered by outsiders, a military system had to be established.

A harsh environment had forged a harsh people. Thus, for the Xiongnu, apart from herding and hunting, banditry and plunder were also a means of making a living.

In earlier times, Yan, Zhao, and Qin had suffered greatly from Xiongnu raids. Later, after Li Mu dealt the Xiongnu a crushing defeat, the Xiongnu no longer dared to enter the borderlands. The Xiongnu then turned their spears toward the Loufan, Baiyang, Linhu, and other tribes in the Henan region, raiding them several times and conquering them to serve as tribal slaves.

The man who had just slaughtered the goat for the Lesser Juqu was a Baiyang man; the salt his household used was carried on the backs of the Xuyan Rong from the Huama Salt Lake; on the Helan Mountains, there were also some Linhu people, seized from hundreds of li away, specifically tasked with felling trees and splitting firewood.

Chen Ping began to understand why Heifu, after proposing the strategy of westward expansion, had also emphatically suggested: first destroy the Xiongnu, then plot against the Yuezhi!

"I have heard that King Wuling of Zhao wished to have his son rule the kingdom as king while he himself donned barbarian attire and led his officers northwest to seize barbarian lands, intending to launch a direct southern raid on Qin from Yunzhong and Jiuyuan. He thus disguised himself as an envoy and entered Qin to observe Qin's governance…"

"Though King Wuling of Zhao's plan did not succeed, and the Zhao state has since perished, the Xiongnu have replaced mighty Zhao and become a great northern threat to Qin."

Decades of cyclical raiding and conquest had made the Xiongnu stronger and stronger. Seizing the opportunity while Qin was unifying the Central Plains and had no time to look north, they crossed the great river and occupied vast tracts of land south of the Ordos Loop, with a hundred thousand men who could draw the bow. Moreover, situated north of the Guanzhong region, if their light cavalry broke through the Long Wall and advanced into Shang Commandery and Beidi, they could reach Mount Ganquan within half a month!

If not dealt with in time, the barbarians might become a mortal affliction at the heart of the Central Plains.

He thought to himself, "The Commandant is truly far-sighted; I, Ping, am not his equal…"

A clever man can always discern the whole from a single clue. Chen Ping had not eaten this meal in vain.

After the meal was finished, Chen Ping left behind a bolt of cloth as a gift and bid farewell to the Lesser Juqu. As he left the domed hut, the Lesser Juqu and his wives and children, their mouths glistening with grease, saw him off warmly.

While Chen Ping responded with polite pleasantries, his eyes could not leave the old mother, who sat on a worn felt mat, holding a stone and striking the leftover mutton bones, laboriously sucking out the marrow inside.

At her feet, the Lesser Juqu's several dogs were snatching food from her, gnawing on bones still bearing meat…

(End of chapter)