194: Chapter 194 The Limitations of Agricultural Countries!

On the Qin Straight Road, Zhao Fusu shared a carriage with his advisor, Lu Jia.

They sat side by side, with maps of Great Qin and the Xiongnu Kingdom spread out on the table before them.

Zhao Fusu looked over the intelligence gathered by Gongshu Chou and pointed to the Yin Mountains region, saying, "The main force of the Xiongnu people is concentrated around the Yin Mountains."

"Their livestock, women, and children have retreated to Mobei."

"If we defeat the main Xiongnu force, their tribes will only retreat deeper into Mobei."

"Mhm."

Lu Jia said, "My Lord, this is exactly why the Hu people have been able to contend with us for over three thousand years."

"Their path of retreat is far more vast than Ziming imagines."

To bridge the distance between himself and Zhao Fusu and to clarify his role as an advisor, Lu Jia addressed Zhao Fusu as "My Lord."

Since Zhao Fusu intended to take action against the Xiongnu, Lu Jia, as his advisor, had naturally studied the Xiongnu people.

When he saw the immense expanse of land to the north of the Xiongnu Kingdom, he finally understood why the Hu people could never be fully eradicated, only driven away.

The space they had to maneuver was simply too large.

Once they disappeared into the vast far north, it was like a bird flying into the open sky.

In an era of transporting grain with handcarts, if logistics couldn't keep up, one could only watch helplessly.

"Indeed."

Zhao Fusu nodded.

Since ancient times, the north had always been the primary threat to the Huaxia People.

Whether it was the Polar Bear or the Great Beauty, they were all located to the north of the Huaxia People.

In history, the Mongolians were caught in a pincer movement between Tsarist Russia and the Manchu Qing from the north and south, and their territory was partitioned by the two.

Thus, the threat to the north of the Manchu Qing shifted from the Mongolians to Tsarist Russia.

During the Qin Dynasty, the ancestors of the Russians were still just small tribes; Zhao Fusu would have no contact with them.

But without Tsarist Russia as the King of the North, there was no one to block the Xiongnu people's path of retreat.

This meant they could only drive out the Xiongnu people, with no way to truly conquer them.

The grasslands stretched from the Greater Khingan Mountains in the east to Central Asia in the west, spanning over 2,400 kilometers from east to west.

This region lay beyond the 400mm isohyet, destined to be unfit for grain cultivation and outside the sphere of influence of agrarian civilizations.

Because the grasslands couldn't support crops, the population was sparse and far less wealthy than the Central Plains, making them naturally covet the prosperous heartlands.

In this regard, they were much like the Big Circle Gang going to Hong Kong to make a living through high-risk crimes.

Zhao Fusu had seen many transmigrators who either drove out the Xiongnu people by force or massacred them.

But these methods only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

The real danger wasn't the Xiongnu people themselves, but the grasslands that birthed them.

The place was there, and there was no way to move it; it was like a vessel for raising Gu.

Without a power to maintain order on the vast grasslands, as more people poured in, a new "Gu King" would eventually emerge, and they would have to fight it all over again.

Zhao Fusu's plan was to conquer the Xiongnu people and make them his proxies on the grasslands.

He also understood why other transmigrators could only choose to massacre the Xiongnu.

The empires those transmigrators managed were still just agricultural nations, which had their limitations.

Like the Central Plains dynasties of various eras, their power struggled to cross the 400mm isohyet.

To prevent the Xiongnu people from moving south, they had no choice but to resort to slaughter.

After choosing a constitutional monarchy, Zhao Fusu vigorously developed industry, setting the Great Qin Empire on the path of becoming an industrial nation.

He needed to obtain raw materials like wool and milk from the Xiongnu people, transport them to factories, have workers process them into goods, and then sell them.

If this industrial chain were established, it would not only boost the Great Qin Empire's GDP but also create jobs and increase the per capita income of the people of Great Qin.

Therefore, as the greatest entrepreneur of the Great Qin Empire, to seize profits, he didn't want to expel or massacre the Xiongnu; he wanted them to provide raw materials like wool and milk.

Especially after the debut of Wool Sweaters in Xianyang was a massive success, causing a shortage in wool supply, Zhao Fusu urgently needed to obtain a large amount of wool from the Xiongnu.

After ten days, Zhao Fusu finally reached the Yellow River crossing with the main army.

Meanwhile, the supplies transported by the steam tractors had long since been moved to the other side.

Gongshu Chou had operated the Hot Air Balloon multiple times to scout enemy positions and gather more intelligence.

Zhao Fusu stood at the Yellow River crossing, the cold wind blowing against him.

Daytime temperatures had already dropped to ten degrees.

At night, it would be even colder.

The war against the Xiongnu could not be delayed!

Besides needing to avoid getting bogged down in a quagmire, if the conflict dragged into winter, the bitter cold of thirty or forty degrees below zero would be unbearable for him and even more so for the soldiers.

By then, non-combat casualties would surely be immense.

Zhao Fusu did not want to pay such a heavy price.

"His Majesty the Head of State."

Meng Tian found Zhao Fusu and cupped his hands in greeting.

"At ease."

Zhao Fusu said.

"His Majesty the Head of State, how shall we conquer the Xiongnu?"

Meng Tian asked of his own accord.

Driving the Xiongnu people away was simple, but conquering them would not be so easy.

This was a question Zhao Fusu had been pondering throughout the journey.

"Win over some, and drive out others."

Zhao Fusu voiced his thoughts.

"General."

Zhao Fusu asked, "How much do you know about the Xiongnu people?"

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

Only by understanding the internal conflicts of the Xiongnu could he know whom to win over and whom to oppose.

Zhao Fusu intended to use methods of co-optation and division to eliminate the opposition and foster his own influence within the Xiongnu, making them his proxies for managing the grasslands.

Meng Tian, who was very familiar with the Xiongnu, began to explain, "His Majesty the Head of State, the Xiongnu's royal court includes the Chanyu Court and the 'Four Horns' below the Chanyu: the Left Worthy King, the Left Guli King, the Right Worthy King, and the Right Guli King."

Zhao Fusu nodded slightly.

He knew that much already.

"Below the Four Horns, there are the Left and Right Generals, the Left and Right Grand Commandants, the Left and Right Great Danghu, and the Left and Right Gudu Marquises, who serve as military and civil officials."

Meng Tian continued to introduce the Xiongnu situation to Zhao Fusu.

"The central region of the Xiongnu Kingdom is the Chanyu Court, directly under the Chanyu. The areas to the left and right are divided into four, governed by the Left Worthy King, Left Guli King, Right Worthy King, and Right Guli King, effectively serving as four relatively independent fiefdoms."

Zhao Fusu nodded slightly.

The wind was strong at the Yellow River crossing, so the two entered the main tent to talk over tea.

Meng Tian said, "The Xiongnu political system is equivalent to the enfeoffment system."

"First is the Left Worthy King, who is the Crown Prince to the Xiongnu Chanyu and also the ruler of the Left Worthy King's territory."

"This means the Crown Prince has his own staff, his own independent army, and his own territory."

"Modu Chanyu rose to power by killing his father, Touman Chanyu, while serving as the Crown Prince."