Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 415: Meeting on the Grassland

Chapter 415: Meeting on the Grassland
When Su Ze's five thousand troops arrived at Wuyuan City, various forces on the grassland immediately took action.

In recent years, the Turks have gradually grown in power, which has caused dissatisfaction among the old overlords, the Rouran and Gaoche.

The Gaoche people were the most uneasy about the growing power of the Turks. The Gaoche people, who were the deputy kings of the grassland, were the most uneasy about it.

The Turks do not have the ability to challenge the Rouran people's position as the overlord of the grasslands, but the friction with the Gaoche people has been increasing, and the Gaoche people really seem to be unable to defeat the Turks!
After Su Ze arrived at Wuyuan City, Gaoche King Mi'etu immediately sent an envoy to complain to Su Ze about the Turks' violating the grassland assembly system and constantly encroaching on other tribes' pastures over the years, and requested Su Ze to send troops to severely punish the Turks.

The Gaoche people have flexible bodies, and the Turkic people also have flexible bodies.

After hearing that Su Ze had raised an army in anger because of his request to marry the princess of the Great Wei, the Turkic leader Ashina Tuwu was also aware of the current situation and immediately sent his eldest son Ashina Tumen to Wuyuan City to apologize.

Gao Guiyi, who returned to Wuyuan City from the grassland, presented Su Ze with a map of the grassland and said:
"My Lord, I think we should not suppress the Turks."

"Give your opinion?"

Gao Guiyi took a breath. He had followed his father on diplomatic missions to various countries since he was a child, and he had his own understanding of the situation in the grasslands and the Western Regions.

Gao Guiyi admired his father Gao Hui since he was a child. He also took Zhang Qian and Su Wu as his role models and aspired to become an outstanding diplomat.

Gao Guiyi said:
"Although the Turks are rising, they are not yet at the point where they can challenge the Gaoche people. If we destroy the Turks now, the Gaoche people will be the ones who benefit."

"It is indeed disrespectful for a Turk to ask to marry a Wei princess, but it also shows that the Turks are submissive. At least they have no intention of rebelling directly at the moment."

"So I think we should try to win over the Turks instead of suppressing them and letting the Gaoche people reap the benefits."

After hearing this, Su Ze was overjoyed. He personally helped Gao Guiyi up and said:
"Gui Yi has the style of his father! No, he will definitely surpass him in the future!"

Gao Guiyi originally thought that Su Ze would not accept his idea, but he did not expect that Su Ze's evaluation was so high. He was so moved that his whole body trembled.

His ideas have never been recognized by his colleagues. Even his father criticized his methods as being too expedient, losing sight of the greater good, and being the tactics of a strategist.

However, Gao Guiyi felt that it was not enough to just use the kingly way to treat the people on the grassland.

The people of the grassland are wolves. If you want them to be obedient, you need both rewards and sticks. You should use a mixture of the ways of the king and the hegemon, or even the tactics of the diplomat.

The people of the grassland have always only valued the benefits that can be obtained, and using short-term interests to win over and divide people and provoke internal strife in the grassland is the best way to maintain peace in the northern territory.

On the contrary, if you just try to be aggressive and win, and kill all the enemies on the grassland, the number of enemies will only increase.

Again, with the current ruling skills of the Central Plains Empire and the actual situation on the grassland, it is impossible to completely rule the grassland.

If you fail to occupy the territory you have conquered, it will be filled by other forces.

Just like the Six Towns today, after the remnants of the Six Towns left the Six Towns one after another, the land of the Six Towns was divided and occupied by various tribes on the grassland.

Defeating one grassland overlord will only pave the way for the next grassland overlord. The hatred accumulated through war will become the centripetal force for the unification of the grassland. In the end, the enemies will only become more and more numerous and stronger.

Su Ze asked kindly:
"Guiyi, how do you think we should deal with the Turks?"

Gao Guiyi already had a plan. He gritted his teeth and said:

"My Lord, I think we should agree to the Turks, but not with a daughter of the Wei royal family, but with a marriage between the Lord's Mansion and the Turks."

I thought Su Ze would be angry, and Su Ze said:

"continue."

"Please ask the county lord to choose a girl from the clan to marry Ashina Tuwu's son Ashina Shidianmi."

Su Ze smiled and asked:

“Why not Ashina Tumen, the eldest son of the Turkic leader?”

"The two sons of the Turkic leader Ashina Tuwu are both outstanding. Ashina Tuwu was able to hold back his love for his younger son and entrust the future of the tribe to his eldest son Ashina Tumen. This shows that Ashina Tumen is indeed a talent. I can confirm this."

"On the grasslands, it is common for fathers and sons to be both heroes, but it is very rare for a father to be willing to pave the way for his son."

“If Ashina Tuwu really allows him to hand over his well-managed tribe to Ashina Tumen, who is outstanding in both civil and military affairs, then the Turks will really rise.”

Su Ze thought of Erzhu Rong's house.

It was the accumulation of generations of Erzhu Rong that led to his rise. Erzhu Rong's father had early on determined Erzhu Rong's position as the only heir, and even voluntarily resigned from his official position while he was still alive in order to consolidate Erzhu Rong's position.

It turns out that the Turks were like this too. Ashina Tuwu strongly supported his eldest son Ashina Tumen and wanted to ask for him to marry a princess of the Great Wei, also for the sake of the rise of the next generation of the Turks.

It is said that people on the grassland have wolf nature, but wolves can still plan for their offspring. Thinking of the short-sighted actions of Empress Dowager Hu, Su Ze couldn't help but sigh.

After stopping his sigh, Su Ze asked again: "So your plan is to divide Ashina and his sons and brothers through the marriage?"

In fact, this statement was clearly presumptuous. Only the daughters of the emperor's clan could be considered as a marriage of peace. Su Ze was just a county lord, and his clan daughter marrying a Turk could not be considered a marriage of peace. But no one present thought there was anything wrong with it.

It is normal not to marry a girl from the royal family. Su Ze does not want to create a Northern Wei version of Princess Yicheng to disgust himself.

Moreover, the Turks also knew that they might not necessarily be seeking to marry the Northern Wei princess, and they would only be happier if they could form a marriage alliance with Su Ze.

All I can say is that Gao Guiyi’s plan was indeed vicious.

Marrying the second son does not give the eldest son a clear heir.

The second son, Ashina Shidianmi, had great righteousness and the prestige of being Su Ze's relative by marriage.

At this time, even if Ashina Tuwu was determined to hand over the tribe to his eldest son Ashina Tumen, others would have different ideas.

In the face of power, the affection between father and son and brother is completely vulnerable, and Gao Guiyi has also confirmed that Ashina Shidianmi is not a person without ambition, but he can only live a stable life under the suppression of his father and brother.

Su Ze was overjoyed, and he said:
"What about the Gaoche people? If the Rouran people send an envoy to ask, how should we respond?"

Gao Guiyi said:
"This is easy. The Duke of the County set a rule in his early years that grassland issues must be resolved through consultation at a grassland conference. So, we will hold a temporary grassland conference in Wuyuan City and ask the Duke of the County to arbitrate the dispute between the Gaoche people and the Turks and divide up this year's grassland."

"The pasture has been demarcated. If anyone dares to start a war again this year, please send troops to suppress them."

"Good good!"

Su Ze was overjoyed. In fact, he established the grassland assembly system with this intention in mind.

There is no system that can resolve all disputes through internal consultation alone.

Especially in a place like grassland, it is a place where survival is a life-and-death struggle.

When the Rouran and Gaoche understood the rules of the grassland conference, the conference turned into a stage for them to divide up the benefits.

What Su Ze was waiting for was the second chance to intervene, the chance to intervene as an arbitrator and judge.

In this way, he could use the grassland conference as a tool to legally suppress the rising tribes and balance the forces among the various parties on the grassland.

Among Su Ze's subordinates, only Gao Guiyi realizes this, and even Gao Hui cannot fully understand Su Ze's intention.

Have you picked up another talent?
In history, Gao Hui died in battle when Tuyuhun attacked Hezhou, and his descendants were not recorded in history books.

I didn't expect that his son would be such an outstanding diplomat.

Su Ze suddenly said:

"I plan to set up a Si Cao in Wuyuan County, directly under the Government Affairs Hall, to be responsible for grassland affairs. Is Guiyi interested in taking on this position?"

After Su Ze finished saying this, everyone present showed envy.

The chief official of the Si Cao directly under the Zhengwu Hall is theoretically at the same level as the county magistrate.

You must know that Gao Guiyi is not a military general. During wartime, the status of civil officials is lower than that of military generals. After all, only military generals have the opportunity to achieve great things.

This position is actually a grassroots position located in Wuyuan City. When it comes to future promotion, it will also be in line with Su Ze's policy that "prime ministers must start from prefectures and counties." As long as Gao Guiyi does a good job in the position, he will be immediately transferred to the position of governor of a large county, and it is possible that he will follow his father into the government hall in the future.

However, Su Ze did not choose to wait for these grassland people in Wuyuan City. He sent out many envoys to ask the various grassland tribes to meet at the old site of Wuchuan Town and hold this grassland conference in advance.

After the notification was completed, Su Ze immediately led his troops towards Wuchuan City.
-
"Chief Xianyu, my Duke has already given you a chance. If you don't surrender, you won't have the chance to regret it when the Duke arrives with his troops!"

Su Jie (the messenger seeking death), covered in blood, stared at Xianyu Ahu opposite him. Of course, these wounds were not fatal.

Su Jie was sure that Xianyu Ahu would not dare to kill him, so he became even more unscrupulous. As soon as he had the strength, he shouted that Xianyu Ahu was going to die, and forced Xianyu Ahu to come and see him every now and then.

Su Jie was originally ordered to secretly persuade Xianyu Ahu to surrender, but after arriving in Hengzhou, he soon discovered that Xianyu Ahu had made huge demands and had no intention of negotiating at all.

Simply put, Xianyu Ahu did not have any big ambitions. He did not even dare to say a word when Xianyu Xiuli was killed by Ge Rong. He just led his people to Hengzhou because he wanted to live in peace in a corner.

He also thought that Hengzhou was strategically located and there was no way Su Ze could lead a large army to attack it. He only needed to protect his wealth and there was no need to rely on anyone.

So Su Jie quickly changed his strategy, constantly provoking and angering Xianyu Ahu, and threatening that Su Ze would lead his troops to flatten Hengzhou.

This made Xianyu Ahu very angry and he ordered him to be imprisoned in prison.

Xianyu Ahu held the whip in his hand and said, "Even if your duke really comes to Hengzhou, he can't bring too many soldiers and horses. I have 100,000 followers. Am I still afraid that he will come alone?"

(End of this chapter)

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