Diqin Designer

Chapter 52: Methods of Controlling Hu
"If, as winter approaches, an epidemic suddenly breaks out on the grassland, causing the death of a large number of livestock, the herding Hu people will not have enough food to survive the winter and wait until the next spring. What do you think they will do?"

What else can I do?
If you don't want to starve to death, you must "borrow" food from other people's homes. As for whether others will starve to death after "borrowing" their food, you don't care so much.

The wealthy Central Plains dynasty was obviously this "other" at times. The Hu people led their troops south, broke through the city gates, and plundered food and population.

Moreover, by attacking the Central Plains dynasty from the south, they could not only plunder food and slaves, but also consume the population through war. Once the population decreased, the amount of food needed would also be less.

"In order to avoid starvation, they would naturally start a war to seize other people's food, and the Central Plains dynasties were often the targets, because our Chinese people are hardworking, simple, and good at farming."

"This is one of the reasons why the Hu people have always been the enemy of China. Sometimes they lack survival supplies and want to get supplies from the Central Plains Dynasty."

"But sometimes, the Hu people are not short of food and will invade China."

"The Hu people grew up in the grasslands, they have no knowledge of etiquette and morality, they only fear the powerful and do not pity the weak. Because of the environment in which they grew up and received education, the Hu people strongly believe that whoever has the most power can own everything."

"So when they feel that they are strong, they will think: Since we are so strong, we should have better things, more fertile land, more beautiful women, and more gorgeous clothes. When the Hu people look around and see the beauty of our Chinese clothes, they naturally want to grab them and occupy them."

"Especially when the Central Plains dynasty was weak, they would think that such a good thing should not be enjoyed by a group of weak southern barbarians, so they would lead their troops southward."

Listening to Li Nian talking about the Hu people, Ying Zheng's first thought was that China must have suffered greatly from the Hu people in future generations, otherwise Li Nian would not have talked so much in front of him.

Yes, the shame of Jingkang has not yet been avenged, the Five Barbarians are invading China, the sons and daughters of the Han family are used as firewood and food, in the ten days of Yangzhou, people shaved their heads and changed their clothes, and would rather be friends with foreign countries than with domestic slaves...

Now that there is an opportunity to change history, Li Nian certainly wants to make some changes so that the Han compatriots in the future in this world will suffer less disasters. Besides, he doesn't need to implement a specific plan, he just needs to inform the emperor in front of him.

Li Nian continued, "Because of these two reasons, the Hu people will always be enemies of the Chinese. No matter which Hu people group is the strongest on the grassland, some people in history have dreamed of living in harmony with the Hu people."

"If we want to solve the problem of the Hu people, we must destroy the basis of their survival. Most of the Hu people are nomadic, and the grassland is the basis of their survival. The Hu people can graze on the grassland, so why can't my Chinese brothers and sisters?"

"The way I have come up with to deal with the Hu people is to take away the foundation of their survival and squeeze out their living space. If my Chinese brothers and sisters also go to the grasslands to graze, then the grass for the Hu people's livestock will be less, and the number of livestock they can raise will also decrease. Without enough livestock as food, the population of the Hu people will also decrease. How can they become strong again?"

Many dynasties moved the Hu people into the interior and then assimilated them, but the method proposed by Li Nian was to do the opposite. It moved the Chinese people to the grasslands and squeezed out the living space of the Hu people.

Ying Zheng thought about it and felt that this method was feasible to a certain extent, but there were also many problems. For example, how to prevent the Chinese people who migrated to the grassland from becoming the new Hu people?
The Chinese people of this era are not the common people of the Qing Dynasty, who were timid, submissive, and without blood. Instead, they are full of blood and courage. If they really migrate to the grassland, they will definitely dare to fight the Hu people head-on. Ying Zheng asked: "Has the later dynasties never thought of this method?"

What I mean is that your method is feasible. Haven’t later dynasties tried it?

Li Nian said: "There are many wise rulers and ministers in later dynasties. With their wisdom, they would not fail to think of this. I think they just don't want to use them. After all, our Chinese Dynasty has always had the concept of 'the Celestial Empire', believing that under the heavens, only our Chinese Divine Land is the best, and the rest are barbaric and desolate places that are not worth governing. This kind of thinking is especially prevalent among rulers and ministers who are influenced by Confucianism!"

"Moreover, if they migrate the Chinese people to the land of the Hu people, they are also worried that if they are no longer under control, the Chinese people will become a bigger problem than the Hu people and threaten themselves. Moreover, even if they occupy the land of the Hu people and set up a protectorate, if they do not govern it with all their heart, they will still lose it in the end."

Ying Zheng nodded slightly. He could understand this approach. Occupying the land of the Hu people was taking advantage. If he could govern it well, he would govern it. If he couldn't govern it well, it didn't matter. After all, it was the territory of the Hu people before.

Returning to the topic, Li Nian continued: "I have another suggestion for resisting the Hu people. While trying to seize the places where the Hu people live, we must also educate and divide the Hu people so that they can change from Hu to Xia."

"In Chinese history, many dynasties have adopted the method of respecting the customs of the Hu people and winning over their leaders to govern them. This can quickly subdue the Hu people for their own use in the short term, but in the long run, there are great hidden dangers."

"Because the Hu people still use their customs, they don't think of themselves as part of the Chinese nation. When the Central Plains dynasty is strong, they will not have any disloyalty and will be as obedient as dogs. But when the Central Plains dynasty weakens, they will turn from dogs to wolves and bite their masters. For example, during the Northern Song Dynasty, some Hu people established dynasties to coexist with the Song Dynasty, such as the Khitan and Dangxiang who established the Liao and Western Xia dynasties."

"Both tribes were once governed by the Tang Dynasty, but their disloyalty remained unchanged for hundreds of years from the Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty. It is not advisable to respect the customs of the Hu people and govern them by winning over their leaders."

"I believe that after defeating the Hu people and making them submit, their language must be destroyed, their writing system destroyed, and their customs eradicated. The excellent Hu culture should be in a museum!"

Although he didn't know what a museum was, Ying Zheng knew that Li Nian wanted to destroy the Hu people's beliefs and culture, make them speak Qin opera, write Qin characters, and get used to the customs of the Qin Dynasty, so that they would forget that they were once Hu people and become one of the people of the Qin Dynasty.

If the Hu people were allowed to continue speaking their language and using their customs, they would not be constantly demonstrating that they were different from the Qin people and that they were another ethnic group.

"To achieve this, we still need to 'enlighten the people and educate them', so as to prevent the Chinese people who migrated out from China from becoming the new Hu people. We should remember that they are descendants of Yan and Huang, and the Chinese people, so as to erase the Hu people's former identity and identify with the Qin Dynasty."

"The above is what I think is the way to deal with the foreign Hu people. Building the Great Wall and stationing a large army can resist the Hu people for a while, but it is difficult to resist them forever. It is better to incorporate the land of the Hu people into the territory of our Great Qin, and make the people of the Hu people become the people of our Great Qin."

The last sentence touched Ying Zheng's heart. What's the point of building the Great Wall to resist the Hu people? A real man should occupy the Hu people's land and make them his own people. If they can't become his own people, then they will be dead!
(End of this chapter)