Chapter 194: The ironclad evidence is like a mountain, Wang Ji is panicked!

Inside the Jinyang County Office.

Duan Yu dismissed everyone around the room.

Only Jia Xu was left behind.

Duan Yu sat upright behind the desk in the main seat, while Jia Xu sat in the position to the lower left.

Huchuquan had just confessed.

Ever since Wang Rou took office as the Yanmen Commandery Administrator, he had been heavily involved with the Xiongnu and the Xianbei.

Every once in a while, Wang Rou would privately transport salt and iron to the Xianbei and Xiongnu.

In addition to exchanging them for large amounts of wealth, there were also many secret collusions.

Yanmen Commandery was one of the necessary passages for the Xiongnu and Xianbei to move south from Bingzhou.

Almost every year, the Xiongnu and Xianbei would plunder in Yanmen Commandery.

Because of this, Yanmen Commandery was a vital border town.

Besides serving as the Yanmen Commandery Administrator, Wang Rou held another official title: Colonel Protecting the Xiongnu.

The confession given by Huchuquan stated that when Wang Rou first took office, he often fought against the Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes that came south to 'harvest grass and grain'.

At that time, the Xianbei Chanyu Tanshihuai was still alive.

Under the leadership of Tanshihuai, the Xianbei were exceptionally powerful.

Starting from the first year of Jianning, when Liu Hong ascended the throne, Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Liangzhou were plundered multiple times by the Xianbei every year; the number of Han people killed, displaced, or abducted was countless, and the losses were extremely heavy.

In the sixth year of Xiping, Liu Hong dispatched the Wuhuan Colonel Xia Yu to set out from Gao Liu.

The Colonel Breaking the Xianbei, Tian Yan, set out from Yunzhong.

The Xiongnu Colonel Zang Min led the Southern Xiongnu's Tutuoshizhujiu Chanyu to set out from Yanmen, each leading over ten thousand cavalrymen, dividing into three routes to go beyond the border, intending to advance over two thousand li to attack the Xianbei.

Tanshihuai ordered the leaders of the east, middle, and west sections to each lead their tribes to meet the battle.

Xia Yu and the others suffered a crushing defeat, losing even their tallies and supplies; each led only a few dozen cavalrymen to flee back, and seven or eight out of ten Han soldiers died in battle, with only one-tenth of the Han army returning to the Han Dynasty.

This battle completely shattered the myth of the Han army.

At the same time, it made Tanshihuai's reputation on the grasslands incomparable for a time.

The surrounding grassland tribes, the Dingling, Fuyu, Wusun, and Xiongnu, all submitted to the Xianbei.

Since then, the Xianbei gradually became stronger and began to plunder the borders of Bingzhou, Liangzhou, and Youzhou even more unscrupulously.

However, Liu Hong had no way to deal with it.

The annihilation of thirty thousand elite cavalry, coupled with the fall of the Hetao horse pastures, meant the Great Han had lost its horse pastures and no longer had the confidence to fight the Xianbei on the grasslands.

Fortunately, the special environment and lifestyle of the grasslands meant the nomadic people did not have long lifespans.

In the fourth year of Guanghe, Tanshihuai passed away due to illness.

The Xianbei tribes began to split again.

But even without Tanshihuai's leadership, after several years of recuperation, the Xianbei were far stronger than before in terms of both population and military power.

Each tribe was also much more formidable than before Tanshihuai took power.

Plundering of the borders still continued.

After Wang Rou took office as Yanmen Commandery Administrator, he was constantly attacked and plundered by the Xianbei and Xiongnu.

After being defeated and plundered several times, Wang Rou began to use the 'Rou' (gentleness) in his name to start a policy of appeasement.

The Xiongnu and Xianbei lacked salt, iron, and daily necessities, and they also lacked craftsmen.

Wang Rou took advantage of this to start transporting salt, iron, and daily necessities to the Xiongnu and Xianbei.

This was equivalent to a disguised form of tribute.

It was through this method that Wang Rou stabilized the situation in his first year.

Perhaps Wang Rou only intended to stabilize the current situation at the beginning.

But as the saying goes.

Once there is a first time, there will definitely be a second.

Through Huchuquan's confession, just in these few years, Wang Rou sold salt and iron to the Xiongnu and Xianbei every year, and later included other grassland tribes as well.

Besides exchanging for huge benefits.

It also solidified his official position in Yanmen Commandery. ===== CHAPTER 196 =====