It is the end of September in the twenty-seventh year of Qin Shi Huang, the ninth month of the golden autumn. The sky is clear and the air is crisp. In a few days, the Qin New Year will begin.
Qin general Zhao Tuo led his army across the river, attacked the right general of the Xiongnu at night, and defeated the Xiongnu cavalry with Queyue Formation on the bank of the Beihe River. The illustrious army advanced directly towards Touman City at the foot of Yinshan Mountain. Its attack was so menacing that it covered the entire Yinshan grassland. A heavy shadow.
Under such circumstances, Gutu Shanyu, the supporter of the Xiongnu, sent an envoy to the Qin army camp.
"Touman wants to beg for surrender and peace from our army?"
When he heard the news, Zhao Tuo was slightly surprised and full of doubts.
Several young generals in the Qin army are optimistic about this.
"The barbarians on the border have always bullied the weak and feared the strong. Since our conquest of the world, we, the Qin Dynasty, have always won every battle and conquered every attack. We destroyed the six countries in the east and attacked the Yiyue in the south. Our military power shocked the world. There is also a world-famous general like the general, who leads The army fought consecutively and successfully, and reached the enemy's hinterland. Under such circumstances, it is not impossible for the Huns to surrender in fear!"
Wang Li, Guo Qing, Yang Xiong and others all believed that there was no logical problem with the Xiongnu's begging for surrender. The Qin army fought too fiercely and advanced all the way. It even reached the enemy's hometown. It was reasonable for the Huns to be afraid and surrender.
Taking the example of King Jian of Qi who surrendered the whole country, isn't it normal for the Xiongnu Chanyu to surrender in fear of the power of the Qin army?
Compared with the confidence of young people, veteran generals such as Zhao Guang and Sima Liang are cautious and believe that this matter should not be credulous.
Zhao Tuo agreed with this.
As far as he knew, the Huns were a very tenacious race. They were still standing tall after being defeated by Zhao and Qin in history. Instead, it took advantage of the wars at the end of the Qin Dynasty and when the Central Plains had no time to visit the north, it continued to develop and grow, and eventually became a behemoth. It started a Han-Hungarian war with the Han Dynasty that lasted for hundreds of years, and then gradually declined.
Historically, Meng Tian attacked the Xiongnu from the north, beat Touman until his ass was wet, and fled north to the desert, but Touman did not surrender. Although the Qin army had won two games in a row, it could not kill more than 10,000 Xiongnu people, and could not even seriously injure them. How could Touman surrender under such circumstances?
Touman, you are not that kind of person!
"Whether the Huns are really surrendering or pretending to surrender, we can make a fuss about this matter and make his lies become true!"
Li Shiqi and Chen Ping had the idea of this matter.
Zhao Tuo glanced at his two counselors. They were not upright. With these two scheming men on the side, he was not afraid of whatever the Huns had in mind.
"In that case, let the Huns envoy enter the camp."
…
Outside the Qin Army's camp, the Xiongnu envoys had dismounted and were under the surveillance of the Qin Army guards, waiting to be summoned or driven away by Qin General Zhao Tuo.
"My lady, we must be careful about Li Shiqi when we are on this mission to the Qin camp. He is not a good guy. He is capable of deception and abduction! I feel that Li Shiqi was behind the Qin army's several sneak attacks. . What Zhao Tuo did might have been his idea, so we must be on guard against him! When he talks, let’s pay less attention to him, so that we won’t be easily deceived by Li Shiqi.”
As the envoy, Huyanzhu gave instructions to Sugasha next to him with a look of hatred on his face, and his words were full of fear and hatred for Li Sheqi.
Sujiasha nodded with "empathy": "What Zuogu Duhou said is that Li Shiqi deceived my father with his words before he sent an envoy to our Yuezhi, and finally attacked us sneakily. It was very abominable. What he said, I didn’t believe a word of it. If possible, I would have cut out his tongue.”
"I'm going to cut out his tongue and feed it to the dogs!"
Hu Yanzi cursed and felt relieved.
He looked at Sugatha who looked "angry" next to him and became more and more pleased with him.
Sugatha's mission was her self-recommendation to Touman Chanyu.
The reason is that she said that the people of Qin knew very well about the 20,000 Yuezhi people who had taken refuge with the Xiongnu.
The Xiongnu begging for surrender from the Qin army would seem a bit fake if the Yueshi people did not come forward. If she followed him to beg for surrender, and then negotiated terms with Zhao Tuo face to face, asking for surrender treatment for the Yuezhi cavalry, it would greatly increase the authenticity of the begging for surrender and make it easier for the Qin people to be fooled.
Touman Shanyu thought for a moment and felt that what Sujiasha said was so right. Having her as an envoy would make his plan more complete and real, and the probability of Zhao Tuo jumping into the trap would also be greatly increased.
Moreover, Touman Shanyu trusted Sujiasha very much. In his opinion, the Marquis of Guishan Xi was killed by the Qin people, and Sujiasha had a mortal enemy with the Qin army. With this prerequisite, even if his subordinates Wu Luxu, Xubutang and others surrendered to the Qin army, Sujiasha would never surrender to the Qin people and would always stand with him on the front line against Qin.
"After the Qin army is defeated, I will cut off the Qin general's head and sacrifice it to the Marquis of Guishuang. Then I will hold a grand wedding for you on the grassland, making you the most beautiful bride in the entire grassland and the most beautiful bride among all the Huns." The Dalan clan!"
The promise Touman Shanyu made to her before leaving came to Sujatha's mind, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
After a while, the door of the Qin army camp opened, and a broad-robed scribe came to greet him with a group of attendants.
"Hou Zuogudu, long time no see, I miss you so much!"
Hearing the familiar voice and disgusting lines, Hu Yanzi's face turned green.
Li Shiqi!
He winked at Sugatha next to him, signaling not to waste words with this person.
Sugatha nodded knowingly.
Next, while entering the camp, the two of them were perfunctory with Li Shiqi's "cordial" conversation while quietly looking around with the corner of their eyes to observe the layout of the Qin army's camp.
This is one of the purposes of their mission, to explore the intelligence of the Qin army's camp and prepare for the implementation of the "Chan Yu's strange plan".
After a while, they were led by Li Shiqi into the Qin army commander's tent.
Both sides of the tent were filled with Qin army generals wearing armor, all of them mighty and majestic, staring at them. In front of the tent sat two scribes in broad robes, presumably Zhao Tuo's staff.
As for the general of the Qin State, he was sitting in the main seat, wearing exquisite armor, looking at the two Huns envoys with piercing eyes.
"Heaven appointed the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu, and sent an envoy named Hu Yanzi to see the general of Qin."
Hu Yanzi performed a grassland etiquette and spoke Qin language.
Sugatha also bowed.
Zhao Tuo glanced at Sujiasha calmly, with a slight arc at the corner of his mouth, and said calmly: "The Great Chanyu wants to surrender to my Great Qin?"
Hu Yanzi asked respectfully: "That's why the Great Chanyu is willing to surrender to the superior general. From now on, we, the Xiongnu, will be a vassal state of the Great Qin, and we will submit to you from generation to generation and pay tribute every year."
Zhao Tuo smiled and said: "The Great Chanyu still has an army of 100,000, which is capable of fighting against our Great Qin. Why did he suddenly surrender?"
Hu Yanzi twitched the corner of his mouth and said: "Of course, the general led the army to approach the depths of our grassland. Everyone in the Xiongnu tribes was panicked. In addition, in the battle of Beihe, our troops suffered heavy casualties. Everyone was frightened by the power of the general. Therefore, I am willing to surrender to the general, just to eliminate the war with Da Qin and to be able to graze on this grassland in the future. I also ask the general for permission."
With that said, Hu Yanzi and Sugasha bowed to Zhao Tuo with very sincere attitudes.
Zhao Tuo nodded, and then discussed the specific surrender matters. Touman Shanyu still had nearly 100,000 troops in his hands. Naturally, he had to put forward conditions for his surrender.
The Huns' conditions were simple.
After surrendering, they will exist as a vassal state of the Qin Dynasty. They will only be vassals and pay tribute. They will contribute horses, cattle and sheep to Senegong every year, but they will not accept the rule of Qin officials and will never invade the border.
Zhao Tuo narrowed his eyes slightly. If this condition were replaced by certain dynasties in history, they would naturally be happy, but for the Qin State who was determined to regain the territory of the old Zhao and occupy the Yinshan Mountains, it was completely insufficient.
In addition to territorial needs, the emperor's desire was to bring all the people in the world under the jurisdiction of Qin's counties.
The people were assigned households to set up counties, and the barbarians set up roads. All ethnic groups were subject to the management of Qin officials. How could the Xiongnu be allowed to pay tribute as a vassal state?
In fact, they couldn't reach an agreement, but Zhao Tuo kept a calm expression on his face, pretending to be discussing seriously, and conducted a test.
"The grasslands south of the Beihe River belong to our Qin State. The Huns under Da Chanyu's tent can only survive on the grasslands under the Yin Mountains and are not allowed to cross the Beihe River."
Hearing Zhao Tuo's words, Hu Yanzi's expression suddenly changed.
We must know that the "Taozhong Plain" formed by the main roads of Beihe and Dahe is the most fertile and vast area on this land. Once this land is lost, how can the Huns thrive on the narrow grassland under the Yinshan Mountains?
If Qin and Xiong really want to negotiate peace, the Xiongnu will definitely surrender to take back the land that fell into the hands of the Qin people.
However, thinking of Shanyu's instructions before coming and the true meaning of begging for surrender this time, Huyanzhu suppressed his dissatisfaction, made a few symbolic protests, and reluctantly agreed.
As for Sugatha, she also opened her mouth at the right time to negotiate for some conditions.
"Don't worry, noble lady, I will return the body of the Marquis of Guishuang to you."
Zhao Tuo chuckled and agreed to these small things.
With both parties interested in "negotiating peace," the negotiation went smoothly.
It was finally decided that two days later, General Touman Chanyu would personally lead the Xiongnu nobles to surrender to the Qin army and offer gifts as ministers.
After the matter was finalized, Zhao Tuo laughed heartily and said to Huyanzi and Sugatha: "Since you know the destiny and the current affairs, you have turned your back and surrendered. I should treat you with courtesy and serve you wine!"
Soon all the drinks and delicacies were served, and Li Shiqi and the Qin generals warmly encouraged them to drink.
Although Hu Yanzi was a noble of the Huns, grassland resources were scarce. He had never seen the delicacies of the Qin people, especially the unique drinks of Qin, which were very tempting.
"The mission is completed. If you drink a few more drinks, it will be fine. If you refuse deliberately, it will be easy for the Qin people to see the clues, and it will also easily cause Zhao Tuo's dissatisfaction. It will be bad if the matter is exposed. If you drink a few more drinks, it will be fine." Show the sincerity of surrender.”
Hu Yanzi couldn't bear the hunger and thirst in his belly, and comforted himself that he was dedicating himself to the mission. He frequently raised his glass and drank with everyone.
When he was drunk, Hu Yanzi heard Sugatha whispering to him about going out for convenience. He nodded and didn't care.
After all, Sugatha drank a lot of alcohol just like him, so it was normal to go to the toilet.
"Brother Huyan, I, Li Shiqi, call myself a high-yang drinker. Since my debut, I have never seen a rival in drinking. You are the first to be so powerful. Come on, let's see who can drink who down first!"
Li Shiqi opened his mouth at the right moment and raised his glass to Hu Yanzi.
"Hahaha, come on, my majestic Zuoguduhou is still afraid of you!"
Hu Yanzi also drank at this moment.
He had been tricked by Li Shiqi several times, and he was already itching with hatred. Now that he saw the other party inviting a fight at the wine bar, he became even more eager to fight. He immediately raised his glass and downed it in one gulp.
He wants to drink him to death and eat him.
As for when Sugatha went out and when she came back, Hu Yanzhu didn't care at all.
