Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

"I never thought that in my lifetime, I would be able to see the Han army enter Fushe. The emperor has not forgotten us... has not forgotten us..."

In Fushi County, a white-bearded old man knelt beside the street, looking at the flags fluttering in the west wind. It was not known whether he could understand the words on them, but he was so moved that he burst into tears.

"Please, Emperor, save us and rescue us from this sea of ​​suffering..."

A disheveled, half-naked man kowtowed hard to Zhang Liao's troops. Under his tattered clothes were scars from being whipped. Some of them had already healed, and some were still oozing blood.

On both sides of the street, countless Han people were crying, laughing, and kowtowing. They were crying for the humiliation they had suffered over the years, and laughing for finally welcoming the Han army.

They were all Han people who were captured and enslaved by the Xiongnu nobles.

Zhang Liao dismounted, helped the white-bearded old man to his feet, and said to the crowd, "Everyone, please stand up! Always remember that the man you are waiting for is the King of Tang. He sent me to drive out the Hu people and rescue my Han compatriots."

He pointed to the black banner with bright red Tang characters embroidered on it and explained, "Last year, the Han emperor passed away, and the imperial court no longer exists. The Tang King established the Tang Kingdom in Bingzhou and redivided the prefectures and counties. Shangjun has been incorporated into Shanzhou. Once we have completely eliminated the Xiongnu rebels, we will establish government offices in Shanzhou and restore normal order here."

When the people heard the news of the fall of the Han Dynasty, they were all stunned for a moment, and then when they heard about the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, they realized that it was a change of dynasty. They began to whisper and discuss among themselves, wondering what kind of monarch the King of Tang was, whether he could let them live a good life, etc. They didn't care who was in charge of the court. In the hearts of the common people, whoever feeds them is their mother!

On the street, behind the Han people, there were some Xiongnu people gathered there, looking at the Han army in front of them in fear. Some Han people nearby shouted to kill them all, some said that they should be slaves of the Han people, and some even relied on the support of the Han army to beat the Xiongnu people in the street.

Before King Xuetu rebelled, the Southern Xiongnu were vassals of the Han Dynasty, and the Hu and Han peoples could basically coexist peacefully. Lü Bu's hometown, Jiuyuan, was a mixed population of Xiongnu and Han people. Although there were cases of nobles absorbing common people as servants, under the management of the government, most of the absorbed people voluntarily or semi-voluntarily became dependent on the nobles because they could not survive, just like the aristocratic families annexed land and population.

However, since the rebellion of King Xuetu and others, all the governments established by the Han Dynasty in the territory of the Xiongnu were abolished. In addition, the emperor died, the Han Dynasty was destroyed, and Lu Bu was busy with his own affairs. No one cared about them, so these rebels became more and more unscrupulous, directly capturing innocent people as slaves and enslaving Han people, which intensified the conflict between the Hu and Han people.

Zhang Liao ordered his soldiers to stop the brawl in the street. A moment later, Yan Xing approached from the west gate and reported, "General, we've captured several officials and their families from the Jibulu tribe outside the west gate, along with several hundred Xiongnu warriors. What should we do with them?"

Zhang Liao looked at the street ahead. Opposite the city gate was a high stone platform, which was where the Huns used to worship the gods.

"Take them all there!"

"Yes!"

Yan Xing took the order and left. After a while, the group of people were brought onto the platform. The officials and their families knelt in front of the platform, and all the Xiongnu warriors were tied up in strings and lined up at the back.

Zhang Liao, clad in silver-white iron armor, stood at the highest point, his hand on his sword at his waist. He surveyed the entire audience and spoke in a loud voice, "Ever since Huhanye Chanyu submitted to the Han, the Southern Xiongnu have been vassal states of our great Han for over two hundred years. A few years ago, the Xiutugu Hu and his followers took advantage of Yufuluo's assistance in suppressing bandits to launch a rebellion, attempting to disrupt the long-standing friendly relations between the Han and the Hu people. They even colluded with the Xianbei to abduct and enslave the Han people. Even when our Tang army arrived, these people stubbornly resisted. Their actions constitute conspiracy and rebellion, and they should be executed!"

"Yu Fuluo!" Zhang Liao shouted. Yu Fuluo was startled and quickly responded, "Here!"

Zhang Liao pointed at the people on the stage and said, "Kill all the captives to serve as a warning to others!"

"General, please spare my life! Please spare my life..."

The officials were so frightened that their faces turned pale. They kowtowed to Zhang Liao and begged for mercy. Seeing that he remained unmoved, they turned to Yu Fuluo and said, "Chanyu, Chanyu, please spare us. We are only following your orders. You are the Chanyu of the Xiongnu. You cannot kill your own people..."

"Please, Chanyu, spare my wife and children. They are innocent..."

"fart!"

Yu Fuluo spat fiercely, "When you stormed into the royal court and blocked me outside, did you ever consider that I was your Chanyu? When you killed my wife and children, did you ever consider that they were also innocent? It's too late to beg for mercy now!"

After he finished speaking, he drew the scimitar from his waist and cut off the head of a man kneeling in the front. The soldiers also swung their blades. With the sound of rustling, blood splattered and heads rolled all over the ground. The red plasma gathered into a stream and flowed down from the stage, forming a pool of blood in the low-lying area. The thick and disgusting smell of blood filled everyone's nostrils. No matter whether they were Huns or Han people, they were so scared that they dared not breathe.

"String these heads together and hang them under Tang Guojing's banner on the city wall to deter the rebels."

As the people were terrified, Zhang Liao spoke again, "These people serve as a warning. If anyone rebels against the Tang in the future, their entire clan will be exterminated. Today, I, the general, will let you go. Go and spread my words to all the Xiongnu tribes."

The Xiongnu people knelt down tremblingly and kowtowed to express their gratitude as if they had been pardoned.

Zhang Liao continued, "The King of Tang will soon appoint a new official as the magistrate of Fushi County and station troops there permanently. The land outside Fushi City will be redistributed according to population. Xiongnu herders who wish to return to the Tang Kingdom will also be entitled to land distribution."

This was the plan Zhang Mo made before sending out the troops.

To ease ethnic conflicts, military deterrence and harsh criminal laws are by no means a long-term solution.

According to historical records, every time there was unrest at the end of a dynasty in Chinese history, in addition to problems with the rulers themselves, a major reason was abnormal climate, which led to frequent disasters, poor harvests, and the people had no food or clothing, which in turn caused social unrest.

For example, the four dynasties changed due to the four little ice ages in history, from the end of the Shang Dynasty to the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms and Jin Dynasty, the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty.

We are now in the second Little Ice Age. The constant droughts and floods in recent years, last year's drought and locust plague, and the continuous heavy snow in the northern grasslands all confirm this statement.

As long as we improve social productivity and enhance our ability to resist natural disasters, many contradictions can be resolved.

The common people were simple-minded. As long as they could have enough to eat, who would risk their lives to rebel? This was true for the Han people, and it was the same for the Xiongnu.

Fushi County has two rivers converging here, and the water resources are abundant. As long as they are used properly, there will be no problem in supporting the population of the city with this land and water.

After taking Fushi County, Zhang Liao's army rested there for a few days. Jinyang soon sent the county magistrate, other officials, and 500 county soldiers to manage and reorganize Fushi County.

Before the Southern Xiongnu were completely pacified, the county city could not be defended with this number of county soldiers. The military officer who led the troops to take over the military defense would continue to recruit soldiers in Fushi, mainly Han people, and also recruit some Xiongnu people. They would train the troops and establish farmlands at the same time, and at the same time recruit herders who were grazing outside to return, divide and reclaim the land, and resume farming. Of course, these were slow tasks and could not be completed in one or two years.

After the new county magistrate took over Fushi County, Zhang Liao continued to lead his troops north, out of the Great Wall and arrived in Qiuci County.

The tribal leaders occupying Kucha had received a letter several days ago: Lu Bu sent troops to suppress them. Jijier of Fushi County was caught off guard, and almost all the warriors of the tribe were killed. Jijier's body was also separated from his head, and his head was pickled with lime by Yu Furuo and carried all the way to Kucha.

The leader of Kucha was frightened and dared not stay to resist. He packed up some valuables and fled with his troops a few days ago. As for the people of the tribe, they could not move away in a short time.

Zhang Liao did not go to fight with the ordinary herdsmen. He left Zhang Yang to lead a thousand soldiers to guard Qiuci first to wait for officials and garrisons. The others continued to head north to the Xiongnu royal court - Meizhi County.