Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 411: Wolf of the North
In a dome tent in the northern border, Gao Guiyi, the envoy sent to the grassland by Su Ze, was talking with the leader of the tribe.

"Ashina Tuwu wants to be called Khan?"

The tribal leader nodded repeatedly.

Gao Guiyi had traveled to the grassland with his father many times and had a relatively deep understanding of the rules of the grassland.

Khan, this word actually originated from Xianbei language, which means tribal leader.

In the past, on the grasslands, only those who had enough power and were recognized by other tribes could call themselves Khan.

The earliest Khan of the grassland was actually the leader of the Xianbei. The "Khan Recruiting Soldiers" in the Ballad of Mulan describes the scene when the ruler of the Northern Wei Dynasty, who still called himself Khan, was recruiting soldiers.

As the Northern Wei Dynasty moved south to the Central Plains, it gradually looked down on the grasslands. The power vacuum was filled by new nomadic tribes, and the Rouran leader began to call himself Khan.

These nomadic tribes in the history books, once established, quickly became huge maps. If we look at the map territory alone, the speed of expansion is incredible. They can often quickly "control millions of soldiers."

This is because what expands in the grasslands is never land, but population.

For people living on the grassland, they do not have a sense of belonging such as family, country and bloodline like the people in the Central Plains.

The living environment on the grassland is very fragile. A natural disaster may wipe out a small tribe. If a weak tribe wants to survive, it must rely on a strong tribe.

It is in this environment of extreme uncertainty that the grassland people have formed the character of worshipping the strong. The strong can lead everyone to rob the weak, and only the strong can lead the tribal members to survive.

Therefore, whenever a strong tribe rose up, it did not need to fight too many battles to gain the submission of other tribes. Sometimes, the territory would go wherever the horses went.

When the Rouran was prosperous, all the tribes on the grassland became vassals of the Rouran. At that time, all the tribes that recognized the Rouran Khan were Rouran people.

The customs of the Gaoche people were somewhat different from those of the Rouran people. With the rise of the Gaoche king, those grassland people who obeyed the leadership of the Gaoche Khan and identified with the Gaoche culture also called themselves Gaoche people. Gaoche became the vice king of the grassland and divided the grassland with the Rouran.

The Turks were originally forged slaves of the Rouran people and actually had no national consciousness. They only gradually gathered together under the constant oppression of the Rouran people. In addition, as the Rouran people's control over the grasslands declined, some tribes called themselves Turks were formed and national consciousness gradually emerged.

Gao Guiyi recalled what Su Ze had said to him personally before he left on his mission:
“The history of the grassland is a cycle of new overlords replacing old overlords and then being replaced again.”

Ashina Tuwu was the leader of the largest Turkic tribe.

As the Turks' self-awareness awakened, Ashina Tuwu began to challenge the position of Khan.

Gao Guiyi could only sigh that Duke Su was indeed wise as he had realized the ambitions of the Turks in advance.

However, it doesn't mean that others will recognize you just because you call yourself Khan, especially after Su Ze's reform, there is still the system of grassland assembly.

"Don't the Rouran and Gaoche care about the ambitions of the Turks?"

The tribal leader sighed and said:

"Manage? If they want to manage, they have to be able to do so."

The tribal leader's tone was full of disdain, and he said indignantly:

"Last year, due to the locust plague, the Rouran Gaoche were only concerned with allocating the best pastures to themselves. This year, I heard that many tribes are not planning to attend the grassland conference."

Gao Guiyi also heard a lot of discussions along the way. In fact, this is a normal phenomenon. When resources are sufficient, the Rouran Gaoche will still have some shame and pretend to be fair and just. Last year, there were frequent grassland disasters, and this year they have torn their faces and started to oppress other tribes by relying on their own power.

"I am not going to go this year. Since the Grassland Congress will not make the decision for us, let the Turks make the decision for us."

Gao Guiyi had heard that many tribes along the way had this idea. It seemed that the reincarnation predicted by Su Jungong had quietly begun. He secretly recorded all of this.

The tribal leader looked at Gao Guiyi and suddenly said:

"It would be great if Da Wei could make the decision for us."

Gao Guiyi was a little surprised. When he followed his father on a diplomatic mission to the grasslands, although these grassland tribes seemed respectful, their attitude towards the Northern Wei was very hostile. It could be said that fear of them was greater than respect.

Although there were disputes within the grassland at that time, few people would make them known to "outsiders" like Gao Guiyi, and no one would say that they wanted the Wei Dynasty to make the decision.

The tribal leader looked at Gao Guiyi and said:
"Duke Su is different from those khans. He defeated the Rouran and Gaoche people and was able to bring peace to the grassland. It would be great if he was in charge. It's a pity that Duke Su is not the emperor of Wei."

Gao Guiyi was startled and said:
"The Duke is a loyal minister, and he has no intention of treason."

The leader said doubtfully:
"The strong are respected. If Duke Su was on the grassland, I would be the first to join him with my tribe and support him as Khan!"

Gao Guiyi was somewhat amused and finally said:
"The Duke of the County has built a city in Wuyuan. If you are willing to submit, then take your tribe south."

The leader was overjoyed and said:
"Thank you, Your Excellency! We will head south immediately after we pick up the lamb!"

The chief ordered his people to slaughter livestock, entertained the envoy with a sumptuous banquet, and sent his son as a guide to lead Gao Guiyi to the Turkic tribe. A few days later, Gao Guiyi saw a valley with thick smoke.

"Your Excellency, the Golden Mountain is ahead."

Before the mission, Su Ze discussed the origin of the Turkic tribe with Gao Hui, who was familiar with the grassland.

The Turks lived in the south of Jinshan Mountain for generations and were iron workers of the Rouran people. Jinshan Mountain is shaped like a helmet, and the common name for a helmet in the steppe language is Turks, so they took it as their name.

Today, I saw that the mountain really looks like Dou Mao.

Jinshan is not the name of a specific mountain, but refers to a mine that can produce minerals.

"Did you write it down?"

Su Dingyu [the hard-working geomancer] nodded. He was originally Wang Sizheng's deputy, responsible for proofreading and correcting the "County Map" edited by Wang Sizheng. This time when Gao Guiyi was on the diplomatic mission, Su Ze also arranged him to be in his team, responsible for drawing the grassland map.

Gao Guiyi soon discovered Su Dingyu's talents. Relying on his guidance along the way, he did not take any detours in the vast grassland.

The location of the Turkic king's tent was naturally important information, and Gao Guiyi reminded Su Dingyu to record it.

Su Dingyu nodded, and Gao Guiyi then displayed his flag and revealed his identity to the Turkic herdsmen grazing nearby.

After a while, a strong middle-aged man was seen rushing out with a group of nomadic cavalry.

Gao Guiyi looked carefully at this group of Turkic cavalry. Because the Turkic tribe was responsible for blacksmithing, this cavalry was much more elite than the tribal cavalry he met along the way. The middle-aged man in the lead was even wearing half-body armor, and the horse under his crotch was also very strong.

The guide beside him immediately said:
"Your Excellency, this is the Turkic leader Ashina Tuwu!"

The guards around Gao Guiyi became nervous, but Gao Guiyi had been accompanying his father on diplomatic missions since he was a child, and had seen many Hephthalite kings, Western Region kings, and the Khan of the grassland. A mere Turkic leader was not enough to make him nervous.

As the cavalry approached, the ground began to shake. Gao Guiyi personally took the flag handed to him by his father and held it high above his head.

The Turkic leader Ashina Tuwu originally wanted to give the Northern Wei envoys a little "grassland shock", but he did not expect that the weak Wei envoy was not afraid at all, which made him admire him.

He waved his hand, and the riders behind him began to slow down. Ashina Tuwu flexibly controlled his horse and rushed in front of Gao Guiyi.

"Turkic Ashina Tuwu greets the distinguished envoy of the Great Wei!"

Ashina Tuwu had the loud voice unique to the people of the grassland. What surprised Gao Guiyi was that this big and strong-looking Turkic leader could speak fluent Chinese.

With Emperor Xiaowen's sinicization reforms, the grassland also began to undergo a sinicization trend. Most of the high-ranking nobles in the Rouran and Gaoche regions could speak Chinese.

But the same could not be said for the small tribes on the grassland. Along the way, Gao Guiyi relied on his outstanding language talent to communicate with these tribal leaders in the Hu language.

This is not the northern Chinese mixed with foreign language, but the elegant Luoyang dialect with correct pronunciation!
As expected, what the county lord said was right, the Turks had great ambitions.

Ashina Tuwu personally escorted Gao Guiyi and his party into the camp at the foot of Jinshan Mountain. Gao Guiyi even saw a group of girls standing on the roadside holding flowers to welcome the delegation.

It seems that before I came to Jinshan, Ashina Tuwu had already received the news and was ready to welcome me.

The expansion of the Turks on the grassland was faster than Su Jungong had expected before he set out.

If we stay on the historical timeline before Su Ze travels through time, the real rise of the Turks would not occur until thirty years later, during the era of the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi dynasties.

However, Su Ze first destroyed the Rouran Khan Anagui, and then inflicted heavy damage on the Gaoche Khan, which gave the Turks an opportunity to rise ahead of time.

Gao Guiyi did not relax because of the warm hospitality of the Turks. Instead, he became even more wary of the Turks.

The Turkic leader even held a welcome dinner for the delegation with a strong grassland style.

Under the wizard's weird dance, the blood from the ram's chest spurted into the iron wine cup, mixed with the mare's milk which had a fishy smell. This was the highest welcome ceremony on the grassland.

Gao Guiyi drank it calmly. Ashina Tuwu asked the girl to offer roasted meat. When the banquet reached its climax, Ashina Tuwu called a young grassland man and pointed at the young man and said:
"Your Excellency, this is my son, Ashina Tumen. I would like to ask for a princess from the Great Wei for him to marry. From now on, we Turks will forever submit to the Great Wei for generations to come!"

Hearing this, the wine cup in Gao Guiyi's hand almost fell to the ground.

Ashina Tuwu's next words made Gao Guiyi even more alert.

I only heard him say:

"If Duke Su disagrees, I will send an envoy to Luoyang to ask for the princess' hand in marriage."

(End of this chapter)