Xianbei Chanyu?
Tian Yu was slightly stunned, swallowed unconsciously, looked at the emperor, and blurted out: "Your Majesty, Ke Bineng has ulterior motives and is sometimes rebellious and sometimes loyal to the Wei Dynasty. How can he be appointed as Chanyu!"
"The Xianbei have never had a Chanyu before!"
Guanqiu Jian stood solemnly aside, looking at the soil and rocks on the ground, nodding while listening to Tian Yu's words.
Cao Rui chuckled: "Why, General Tian, are you afraid that I will give Kebi Neng the title of Chanyu and create trouble on the border?"
Tian Yu shook his head and explained, "I, I dare not speculate like this. It's just that Ke Bineng is really wavering on Wei. Conferring this person may cause trouble in the future."
Cao Rui said: "General Tian, I want to ask you, is the title of Chanyu valuable? When I was in Yecheng, I met Huochuquan. He sat there for more than ten years and was almost as fat as a pig!"
Tian Yu was stunned again.
He wanted to ask back, but he started thinking as if possessed by a ghost.
At present, in the north of the Wei Dynasty, only the Xianbei, Wuhuan and Xiongnu are relatively powerful, and the rest of the miscellaneous Hu people are not even worth mentioning.
Of the once glorious Xiongnu, only the Southern Xiongnu remain in Taiyuan County of Bingzhou and Pingyang County of Sili. Their population is no more than 100,000, and their number of soldiers is no more than 20,000.
Huochuxuan, the last Khan of the Southern Xiongnu, was detained in Yecheng by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, in the 21st year of Jian'an. At the same time, the Southern Xiongnu was divided into five parts: South, North, Left, Center, and Right, artificially ending the Southern Xiongnu regime.
The Xiongnu Chanyu was just a fat old man living in Yecheng. Each of the five Xiongnu tribes was actually governed by Wei officials.
The leaders of Wuhuan and Xianbei were both called "Sir". Wuhuan once had a Chanyu, but Xianbei did not.
Moreover, the Chanyu of Wuhuan was also a "fake".
When Gongsun Zan occupied Youzhou in the late Han Dynasty, he had maintained a long-term military suppression on the surrounding Wuhuan tribes. When Yuan Shao conquered Gongsun Zan, the Wuhuan tribes made great contributions, so Yuan Shao also forged an imperial edict to appoint Tadun, Su Puyan and Wuyan as Chanyu.
But these three people are not lucky.
Tadun was killed by Zhang Liao at Bailang Mountain, and Su Puyan and Wuyan fled to Liaodong and were killed by Gongsun Kang.
If Kebi could become the Chanyu, he would be the only Chanyu in the north of the Wei Dynasty.
Tian Yu paused for a moment and responded: "Your Majesty, the only Chanyu at the moment is Huchuquan of the Xiongnu, who currently lives in Yecheng."
Cao Rui nodded: "I think Yecheng is a good place, with beautiful scenery, suitable for retirement."
"He is just a Chanyu, so what if he is given to Kebi Neng? I think he should go to Yecheng to accompany Huochuquan. If he doesn't want to come, I don't mind going to fight Gongsun Yuan later. It would be nice to sacrifice Kebi Neng."
Tian Yu finally felt relieved.
It turned out that His Majesty had no intention of indulging Kebineng at all, but instead blatantly set up a Hongmen Banquet.
Guanqiu Jian smiled and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise!"
"Before, Your Majesty was far from Yanmen, so Ke Bineng could still refuse to come. Now that Your Majesty is about to arrive at Yanmen, you must confer the title of Xianbei Chanyu on him."
"If Ke Bineng doesn't come again, the Wei Dynasty will definitely do its best to destroy him. It's okay to postpone the Liaodong matter for a year. If he comes, then don't even think about leaving."
Cao Rui nodded and said: "Kebineng has a long history of bad deeds. Giving him the title of Chanyu to support him in his old age is an act of kindness on my part. It can also be regarded as his good fortune."
Tian Yu sighed, "The Xianbei people live on the grasslands. It's hard to meet someone as capable as Tan Shihuai in your lifetime. If we lose another Kebi Neng, I'm afraid the Xianbei people will never rise again."
Cao Rui nodded: "Come here, call Secretary Liu."
The tiger guards following behind him immediately sent orders to find Liu Fang.
Tian Yu had been stationed in the border county for more than ten years. The Xianbei people were powerful and often harassed him. They were like Tian Yu's mortal enemy. But now, the fate of Kebineng, and even the fate of the Xianbei people, was decided by His Majesty in a few words.
If Kebi can come here as ordered, he will wear the Chanyu crown and fight for the emperor, and then return to Yecheng to retire.
If Kebi Neng had not come, it would have been easy for Your Majesty to defeat Kebi Neng with 20,000 elite cavalrymen from the Central Army and the Xiongnu and Wuhuan tribes. Now was not the time for Tan Shihuai, and the Xianbei tribes were not closely united, so it was still easy to defeat Kebi Neng.
Things in the world really need to be done by the strong. And the emperor who rules the world of Wei is undoubtedly the strongest person on this land.
How could Tian Yu not feel emotional about this?
Liu Fang hurried over: "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Cao Rui said: "The Secretary of State drafted the edict for me."
"Tell Kebineng that I personally patrolled the borders of You and Bing. The emperor of the Central Plains has not done this for hundreds of years. Let him lead ten thousand elite cavalry to Daijun to see His Majesty and join the expedition. I will personally appoint him as the Chanyu of Xianbei."
"Oh, right, send someone to quickly carve a golden seal for the Xianbei Chanyu, find a blank edict and stamp it on it, so that he can see what it looks like to be granted the seal."
Liu Fang had drafted countless imperial edicts for the emperor and was accustomed to the emperor's strange ideas. It was not the first time that he had conferred an title of this level on Ke Bineng.
Without a pen or paper, Liu Fang wrote it down in his mind: "I have written it all down and will write it down later." Tian Yu looked at Liu Fang's promise and his heart moved: "Your Majesty, I will go with Secretary Liu. I will also send a letter to Guangwu City and ask someone to go to Yunzhong with Minister Zhong."
Cao Rui waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. After you two finish writing, the army will set out."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tian Yu and Liu Fang bowed and left.
The imperial edict was hastily drafted, Tian Yu's letter was quickly written, and the golden seal was engraved at the same time.
If making a copper seal requires some effort, making a gold seal is much easier.
The gold seal of the Han Dynasty kings was not very big, only one inch long and wide, and even a child could hold it in his hand. In addition, gold was very soft and easy to carve, so the four characters "Xianbei Chanyu" could be carved in a flash.
An imperial edict, a token, a blank imperial edict with a seal, and a letter sent to Guangwu City, these were all the items that Wei envoy Zhong Yu wanted to take away.
Just as the four cavalrymen returned to the team, Guan Lu, who usually worked with the cavalrymen, came over. He ignored the other three and went straight to Zhong Yu:
"Is Minister Zhong going on a long journey?"
Zhong Yu was startled and dodged backwards. He looked at Guan Lu in horror and asked, "How did Master Guan know about this?"
Guan Lu smiled and said, "I see that the dark bones on Minister Zhong's forehead are shining, and his face is green and white. This is a sign that he will travel far, and the destination is northwest."
"I don't know if that's right?"
The other three imperial attendants came over and looked at Guan Lu as if they were looking at something rare. They had just learned about this, so it must have been Guan Lu's own divination, so how could it be fake?
When Guan Lu was doing divination in Feiguang Hall that day, the four Sanqi only heard about it but were not present. Now they have witnessed it.
Zhong Yu was already worried, and when he saw Guan Lu predicting something that hadn't happened yet, he directly said, "If Master Guan is so good at predicting, can he predict my life or death?"
"Why not?" Guan Lu chuckled a few times, took out a row of yarrow from his sleeve, fiddled with it in front of everyone, and said with a smile: "Minister Zhong was born on the fourth day of the fourth month?"
Zhong Yu’s eyes almost popped out of his head.
He had never told his colleagues about his birthday. Even Du Shu didn't know it, let alone He Chu and Xiahou Hui who had just arrived. It was impossible for Guan Lu to hear it from others.
Zhong Yu hurriedly took a few steps forward, took Guan Lu's hand, and asked more cordially and anxiously: "Master Guan, Brother Gongming! I am going on a long journey and will leave immediately. Can you please tell me whether this journey will be auspicious?"
Guan Lu laughed: "Didn't Minister Zhong ask me to predict the time of my life and death? I only predicted my birthday, but not yet..."
Zhong Yu interrupted and begged for mercy: "Brother Gongming, you can just call me by my courtesy name Zhishu! Brother Gongming's talent frightens me. I can leave my death to God, not to you."
Guan Lu nodded: "Okay, Uncle Zhi, please wait a moment."
In front of the four people, Guan Lu fiddled with the yarrow in his hand again, but after a few moments he exclaimed in surprise.
"Qian on top and Qian on bottom, this is the Qian hexagram. This hexagram is the first of the sixty-four hexagrams in the Book of Changes. I rarely get it right!"
Looking at Zhong Yu's eager eyes, Guan Lu smiled and said, "This hexagram is good for traveling, meeting adults, going to the capital, and traveling to the northwest."
"Uncle Zhi, you can go, you will definitely succeed!"
Zhong Yu was only an eighteen-year-old boy. What he needed most at this moment was a reassurance. He immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Brother Gongming, for your divination. I will definitely reward you handsomely!"
After saying this, Zhong Yu led his military horse and nodded slightly to the three people around him: "I'll take my leave and see you all again in Dai County."
Zhong Yu was leaving for the imperial court, and several people bowed and saw him off. Colleagues were quite polite to each other.
After Zhong Yu had been walking for half a day and was setting up camp to rest that night, the news reached Cao Rui's ears.
Cao Rui smiled and said to Sima Yi, "In my opinion, it is a good thing to have such a charlatan in the army."
Sima Yi cupped his hands and agreed, "May I ask what your Majesty means by this?"
Cao Rui said slowly: "When Guan Lu's reputation spreads, if the army encounters trouble, his words can be used to calm the troops."
Sima Yi also laughed out loud: "Your Majesty is right. He is also an official of the court now. When encountering important matters, he still has to obey orders on what to say and what not to say."
Cao Rui nodded in response.
Zhong Yu rode fast for a whole day and finally arrived at Guangwu City, the capital of Yanmen County, on the afternoon of March 10.
Along the way, Zhong Yu kept encouraging himself. Even Cao Shuang and Cao Zhaobo, who were from the general's family, had walked here, so why couldn't he walk here?
The Xiongnu and Wuhuan tribes followed Tian Yu's call and arrived at Yinguan, which was northwest of Guangwu and separated by a large mountain. The 3,000 Wei border troops in Guangwu city also followed them, and only 1,500 county soldiers remained in the city.
In the first year of Taihe, Tian Yu was promoted from the rank of Protector of Wuhuan Colonel to the rank of Protector of Wuhuan General. The meritorious Commander of Yanmen County, Feng Po, was also promoted to the rank of colonel and transferred under Tian Yu, and was currently commanding troops in Yinguan.
His official rank was raised, although the number of soldiers under his command did not increase, Feng Po was already very satisfied. (End of this chapter)
