Chapter 30: Touman of the Xiongnu, Bestowing Marquisate and Offering the North

Chapter 30: Touman of the Xiongnu, Bestowed the Title "Marquis of Northern Offering"

The Xiongnu Royal Court, Touman City.

Soldiers who had finished the battle were busy clearing the field and rounding up stray horses. Military clerks were equally occupied, tallying the spoils of war and recording the meritorious deeds of the troops.

Yang Zimo, accompanied by his guards from the Elite Battalion, strolled slowly toward the area where prisoners were held. The scene on the battlefield was truly harrowing; even from a distance, the pungent stench of blood was so overwhelming that he nearly retched again. When the heavy-blade cavalry had unleashed their fury, many soldiers had vomited uncontrollably. Even Meng Tian had retched once, and had he not been concerned about his reputation as a commander, he likely would have spent as much time vomiting as Yang Zimo.

Once he finally regained his composure, Yang Zimo couldn't wait to leave the battlefield. Escorted by his elite guards, he hurried into Touman City toward the prisoner camp.

Ordinary captives were held in a large camp outside the city, guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers from Sima Xin’s Left Army. However, key figures were detained within Touman City itself. Having heard that members of various other tribes were also imprisoned there, Yang Zimo, driven by pure curiosity, decided to pay them a visit.

Inside the city, at the prisoner camp.

Yang Zimo walked up to the makeshift cell where Touman was held and sat down right on the ground. The Great Qin elite guards behind him were speechless; the dignified "Immortal Master" of Great Qin had no regard for his image, which was truly a disgrace to the Empire.

Unbothered, Yang Zimo sat down, pulled out a waterskin, and handed it to Touman. "Drink up! Let's talk; perhaps you'll feel better."

"Hmph!" Touman snatched the waterskin and turned his head away.

Yang Zimo didn't mind and continued speaking to himself: "The Xiongnu no longer exist. Don't pin your hopes on your eldest son, Modu, leading a Xiongnu resurgence. Even though we didn't capture him, Great Qin will eventually unify the entire world. Where could he possibly run to?"

"The great Heavenly Wolf God will protect his descendants!" Touman couldn't help but retort.

"Perhaps. What I am here to tell you is that Great Qin’s imperial officials will soon arrive. They will build cities, establish commanderies and counties on the grasslands, and Touman City will be renamed Dragon City. The Xiongnu herdsmen will be scattered and made to live alongside the people of Great Qin. They will teach our people the skills of horse breeding and sheep herding, grazing for our Great Qin and providing us with fine warhorses.

"Not only that, but Great Qin will also send Xiongnu children to our schools to learn the culture of the Central Plains, wear our attire, and serve our Empire. In ten, twenty, or a hundred years, there will be no such thing as the Xiongnu ethnicity.

"Oh, and one more thing: Great Qin will select the finest Xiongnu warriors to join our army and campaign across the four corners of the world, including hunting down your own tribesmen who managed to escape. Just think—what a sight that will be!"

"Shameless! I will kill you!" Touman stood up, roaring in fury at Yang Zimo. Unfortunately, he was blocked by the sturdy prison bars, and could only grip them tightly and howl.

"Touman, I am here to inform you, not to persuade you. If you are obedient, Great Qin may allow you to live out your remaining years in peace and grant your people equal status to our own in the future. Otherwise, I will ensure that your people are reduced to raising cattle, sheep, and horses for Great Qin for generations to come, never learning to read or write, and never escaping the status of mere herdsmen. By the way, I hear you have a beautiful wife, the Chanyu, and a young, adorable son." Yang Zimo said softly.

"Despicable! If you dare touch them, I will kill you!"

"Another word out of you, and I will have them killed immediately," Yang Zimo replied coldly.

"Speak! What do you want me to do?" As if he had aged a decade in an instant, Touman slumped to the ground and replied powerlessly.

"First, tell me where Modu might have gone.

"Second, Great Qin requires maps of the northern grasslands, including lakes, mineral deposits, terrain, and the final gathering places of the Xiongnu.

"Third, you must personally step forward to urge the Xiongnu people to surrender and willingly submit to Great Qin.

"Finally, provide a list of the nobles, tribal leaders, and military commanders who are friendly or hostile to Great Qin."

"I can agree to the others, but the last one is impossible." Touman knew that if he agreed to the final condition, the Xiongnu would never again have leaders to spearhead a resurgence or vengeance, and those who submitted to Great Qin would eventually be assimilated.

"Guards, execute all of Touman’s kin!" Yang Zimo suddenly called out.

"Stop! I will write it!" Touman cried out, immediately intercepting the order.

"A smart man. Congratulations, Marquis of Northern Offering of Great Qin!" Yang Zimo said with a chuckle.

Outside Touman City, at the merchant encampment.

No sooner had Yang Zimo left the prison camp than he was invited to the encampment outside the city by officials from the Ministry of Commerce and the accompanying merchant guilds. More than a hundred merchant caravans had followed this northern expedition, and there were at least ten powerful merchant lords among them, not counting the private caravans of the civil and military officials. They had all come with their eyes fixed on the immense profits of the northern campaign; even just drinking the dregs would be worth years of their usual income.

In the assembly hall of the encampment, Yang Zimo sat in the seat of honor, with the imperial officials responsible for the trade behind him. Seated below according to their strength were the heads of the various caravans. To his surprise, Lady Qing of the Ba clan and Wu Zhi of the Wu clan were also present.

"We pay our respects to the Immortal Master!" Everyone stood to salute.

"Be seated," Zimo waved his hand.

"Thank you, Immortal Master!" Everyone sat down, eyes filled with anticipation and confidence, waiting to hear what would come next.

"Someone! Report the spoils of this battle." Regardless of what the others were thinking, Yang Zimo needed the specific figures to make decisions. Although this was technically the business of the Ministry of Commerce, the First Emperor had instructed him to act as he saw fit before departing. Ying Zheng placed great trust in Yang Zimo.

The accompanying official from the Ministry of Commerce did not waste words. He took out a ledger and began to report the gains of Great Qin in this great battle: "In this campaign, Great Qin has killed over 155,000 grassland warriors. We have seized 250,000 Xiongnu warhorses, 92,000 warhorses from the Donghu and Yuezhi, and 17,000 from other minor tribes, totaling 359,000 warhorses captured.

"We have taken 620,000 Xiongnu warriors, herdsmen, men, women, and children prisoner, along with over 80,000 warriors from the Donghu, Yuezhi, and other tribes.

"Excluding the warhorses, we have obtained 610,000 fine horses, pack horses, and meat horses raised by the Xiongnu clans, 280,000 head of cattle, and 6.42 million sheep (calculated based on 150,000 Xiongnu households, with five people per household). There are 5 million taels of gold, silver, jewelry, and jade, along with 1,000 fine horses from the Dayuan Kingdom and five 'blood-sweating' stallions!"

Having finished the report, the official handed the ledger to Yang Zimo and stood silently to the side.

The exact population of the Xiongnu was difficult to estimate. Based on the 400,000 cavalry Modu brought to surround Liu Bang at Baideng Mountain, and the 18 million head of cattle and horses captured by Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty during his northern campaigns, the number of livestock the Xiongnu consumed was many times, if not dozens of times, the number of their warhorses.

Since Modu could lead 400,000 cavalry, the Xiongnu tribe must have numbered at least over a million. As Modu’s father, Touman was the first to establish the Xiongnu kingdom, and he had at least 600,000 to 700,000 people under his rule. By this calculation, this battle had essentially captured the entire Xiongnu population, exceeding the initial goals!