Chapter 509 Never Bow Down

Yuan Xi took the sheepskin document sent by the Southern Xiongnu, read it word by word, pointed to a certain part of the text from time to time, and carefully asked Tian Yu about the details.

It took him nearly half an hour to finish reading the long letter. The reason for this was that the document was written in two languages, the main part was Xianbei language, and the secondary supplementary part was Chinese characters.

However, the Chinese character part is extremely brief and contains many omissions. Not only do the words fail to express the meaning, but many strokes are written incorrectly. Therefore, one can only refer to the Xianbei characters to understand the meaning.

There are several extremely ironic facts here. The first one is that the main writing system used by the Huns at that time was Xianbei.

The Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of the Xiongnu states that the Xiongnu "did not have written documents, but relied on words to govern themselves."

This means that the Huns did not have their own writing system, but according to later archaeological findings, this is obviously not true.

For a tribe to develop, it is impossible for it to not even have the simplest written communication. Sima Qian said this because in his time, due to the strength of the Han Dynasty, most of the Xiongnu nobles used Chinese characters for communication.

But this does not mean that there was no written language before. The Huns had a set of symbolic writing that was independent of the Chinese character language system, which was similar to the stone inscriptions of the Turks. It was just that with more exchanges with the Han Dynasty, the scope of use gradually became smaller.

Moreover, the Xiongnu's bloodline itself is very complex, and there is no clear conclusion until now. It is like a large alliance of multiple tribes. If one of the tribes becomes strong, the culture of the main ethnic group behind it will occupy a strong dominant position.

The Western Han Dynasty was the period with the strongest exchanges with foreign ethnic groups. Therefore, in order to communicate more smoothly, tribes outside the borders of the Han Dynasty began to learn Chinese characters spontaneously to express their respect for the Han court.

By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the principle adopted towards foreign ethnic groups changed to a contractionary policy of control, that is, using the Hu to control the Hu. Under such circumstances, the Han court gave up on educating the Hu people in the border areas.

Under such circumstances, fewer and fewer people were proficient in using Chinese characters, and the rise of the Xianbei outside the Great Wall caused the writing used by the Xiongnu to shift from Chinese characters to Xianbei characters on a large scale.

This is the symbiotic relationship between culture and strength. The powerful will occupy the dominant position in cultural exchanges, while the weaker party will spontaneously accept the infiltration and influence of the powerful party's culture.

Therefore, there is a saying that cultural expansion does not need to be carried out deliberately. As long as the country is strong, the surrounding tribes will naturally take the initiative to accept the culture of the powerful party. This is called the psychology of cultural admiration for the strong.

The letter in front of Yuan Xi now illustrates this truth.

Originally, in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, Chinese characters had become the main writing system of the Xiongnu. However, as Emperors Huan and Ling lost their way, the world was in chaos and the prestige of the Han court was greatly damaged. The Southern Xiongnu even had the courage to take advantage of the chaos to plunder the Han court. How could they be willing to learn Chinese characters?

So in just a few decades, the official language used by the Huns changed from Chinese characters to Xianbei characters, which is really sad.

Yuan Xi knew that this was a very bad sign. You have to know that writing is the most basic carrier of culture. Changing the writing means that there is no cultural identity, and the sense of belonging will be greatly reduced. Sooner or later, the Huns will completely break away from the Chinese cultural circle.

If we want them to return later, it will take several times or even dozens of times the effort. Even during the Five Barbarians Invasion of China, the Xianbei almost assimilated and destroyed the Chinese culture.

Yuan Xi thought of this and picked up the document and shook it. "Have you read it, Mr. Feng Xiao?"

"What does he think?"

Tian Yu replied: "Sir, although the Huns appear to be humble on the surface, they still have a lot of selfish intentions in their letters."

"They hope to trade with each other and exchange horses for goods from Youzhou at favorable terms, but what they want to exchange are tools and other objects, and even manufacturing technology."

"It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. However, if this is applied to a party that may become an enemy, it seems a little inappropriate."

Yuan Xi said: "Indeed, sir, you are right."

"If we were all Chinese people, these things would be fine, but they didn't show enough sincerity."

"If they want this kind of thing, they must pay a corresponding price. Now they want to get something for nothing. It's a beautiful thought."

"But if they want the technology, I can make an exception and let them come and get it themselves."

"Brother Tian, ​​go back and tell them to ask the Xiongnu tribe to send the sons of the Chanyu as hostages to Youzhou for charity school. They can leave only after studying for five years."

"But I don't plan to teach them everything. They can learn characters and herbs, and farming tools are no problem."

"But smelting, weapon forging, and the preparation of gunpowder raw materials must be kept absolutely confidential."

"When they are willing to abandon the name of Xiongnu and integrate into the Central Plains culture, I will consider relenting."

Tian Yu praised: "Seeing that you have such clear thoughts, I feel relieved."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I feel more at ease when Guo Rang does the work."

"When you return, Yan Rou will be your deputy and Mr. Feng Xiao will be your strategist to lead the negotiations with the Xiongnu."

"You can decide the details yourself. Once you've finalized the discussion, just let me know."

"Brother, just remember one thing: the survival of the Chinese people is the most important premise for everything."

Tian Yu quickly agreed.

The two discussed some things and found that making friends with the Southern Xiongnu was a relatively reliable idea, and they were both very happy.

This means that in the future, the border of Dai County will not need to stockpile so many Wuhuan cavalry and garrisons, and may even be able to obtain some Xiongnu cavalry. This is good news for Youzhou's subsequent Liaodong strategy.

Among them, Yan Rou, Xianyu Fu and others should be the most motivated, because Yuan Xi promised that if they made great contributions in conquering the tribes on the Korean Peninsula in the future and thus opened up more territories, they would be granted the title of nobility.

The two of them had made up their minds. Yuan Xi smiled and said, "The sun rises in the east and the rain falls in the west. At least it can be considered as God's reward for hard work. Otherwise, Xuzhou would almost make me depressed."

"Yang Feng is still outside? Ask someone to bring her in."

At this time, Madam Du came in to serve tea. Upon hearing this, she said softly, "Madam Lu is talking to him outside."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and asked, "When did Madam become interested in her?"

"Let's go out and take a look together."

After hearing this, Tian Yu led the way. When Yuan Xi passed Mrs. Du who was bending over to tidy up the tea set, he reached out and touched her somewhere. Mrs. Du suddenly trembled and almost cried out.

However, Yuan Xi took the opportunity to slip away, leaving Mrs. Du staring at Yuan Xi's departing back in shame and anger, biting her lip, as if she had thought of something, and her face turned red again.

Inside the yard, Lu Lingqi and Yang Feng were staring at each other.

The two seemed to have been competing secretly for a long time, but both of them held back from speaking. Gradually, Yang Feng's expression began to become strange.

Her expression changed several times, she cursed and spat, "Is it so great that you have good hearing?"

"What are you so proud of!"

Lu Lingqi chuckled, "If you keep going like this, I'll surpass you."

There was a reason why Yang Feng's defense was broken.

The breathing method that Zhang Jue taught her was extremely profound. Even if one knew the method, it would be difficult to learn. Therefore, Yang Feng always regarded it as her own unique secret and trump card, and relied on it to escape death many times.

But now in the Youzhou army, she met two people who mastered this art. Not to mention Zhang Jiao's apprentice Taishi Ci, Zhao Yun was actually able to comprehend it on his own, which made Yang Feng quite disappointed.

And now, the breathing rhythm that Lu Lingqi deliberately revealed in front of him made Yang Feng realize that the daughter of Marquis Wen had actually learned it without a teacher!

Although Yang Feng had been mentally prepared, after all, Lu Lingqi had an amazing talent, which was her keen hearing, so it was only a matter of time before she learned the breathing technique.

But what really surprised Yang Feng was that Lu Lingqi, like Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, did not copy the moves rigidly, but had a slightly different rhythm, obviously improved to suit her own breathing.

This made Yang Feng even more devastated. Those who could achieve this were all martial arts geniuses. Why were there so many masters in the Youzhou army?

Seeing Lu Lingqi's youthful appearance, Yang Feng couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Once upon a time, he was as high-spirited as the girl opposite him.

But that was ten years ago.

Yang Feng felt that his current state of mind was like that of an old man waiting to die. He became more and more disgusted with Lu Lingqi's smug look. He simply closed his eyes and remained silent, allowing Lu Lingqi to make faces in front of him.

Footsteps were heard, and Yuan Xi's hateful voice rang out, "It seems that General Yang is in a good mood."

Damn it, how can you see that I'm in a good mood?

Yang Feng didn't know why, but he felt an inexplicable hatred towards Yuan Xi.

She didn't know where this hatred came from, but even though she realized that she had been deceived by Yang Chou, she still hated Yuan Xi so much!

This was hatred deep in his bones, so much so that Yang Feng wanted to jump up and strangle Yuan Xi to death on the spot with the chain in his hand.

However, this is just something Yang Feng can think about. Now her hands and feet are not very agile, and she has no chance at all when surrounded by several masters.

Seeing that Yang Feng did not answer, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "General Yang has a bad temper, but I am also very angry. You know, the general has the blood of my soldiers in his hands."

Yang Feng said coldly: "You can just kill me."

She said sarcastically, "You kept me alive, isn't it because you want to get something from me?"

"The breathing method is no longer a secret. Is it the Taiping Qingling Book, or the remaining power of the Taiping Dao?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "The general has a clear mind, but it seems that the labor education in Youzhou still does not make the general understand."

Yang Feng suddenly opened his eyes and said sarcastically, "A few days of hard labor can make me change my mind?"

"I think you took the wrong medicine!"

"I will never bow down to you!"

Yuan Xi had a headache. Normally speaking, the effect of labor education was quite good.

The Montenegrin Army's looting of food was an act of helplessness because they could not survive. So when the soldiers recalled the days when they were oppressed by the landlords and powerful people, they felt a lot of empathy and resonance, and many of them gradually changed.

Yuan Xi did not expect them to spontaneously come up with any progressive ideas about universal peace and harmony, but he just wanted them to understand what could be changed, and that was enough.

But Yang Feng is different.

Influenced by Zhang Jue, she has been very determined since childhood and has her own unique goals in life. This kind of person cannot be changed by just working for a few days.

Labor education was no longer effective for Yang Feng. Yuan Xi didn't want to waste time, so he decided to try another method.

He said, "Zhang Ning, I can let you go."

Yang Feng's body trembled. Only her father Zhang Jiao knew her name. How did Xiong Hu know it?

Seeing Yang Feng's doubtful look, Yuan Xi knew that his first step was successful.

Next he will start to fool people.