匈奴列傳（下）

When Emperor Wen first took the throne, he renewed the heqin agreement. In the fifth month of his third year, the Xiongnu’s Wise King of the Right crossed into the territory south of the Yellow River, raiding and plundering among the border garrison peoples of Shang Commandery and killing or capturing many. Emperor Wen ordered the Chancellor Guan Ying to deploy eighty-five thousand cavalry to Gaonu to attack the Wise King of the Right. The Wise King of the Right fled beyond the frontier.

After a time, Modu died and his son Jiyu succeeded, taking the title Old Supreme Chanyu.

When the Old Supreme Chanyu first came to power, Emperor Wen again sent a princess of the imperial clan to be the Chanyu’s consort and dispatched the eunuch Zhonghang Yue, a man of Yan, to escort her. Zhonghang Yue did not wish to go, but the Han court forced him. Yue said: “If you insist on sending me, I will become a source of trouble for Han.” Once Zhonghang Yue arrived among the Xiongnu, he defected to the Chanyu, who treated him with great favor.

At first, the Xiongnu had developed a liking for Chinese silk, textiles, and foodstuffs. Zhonghang Yue said: “The entire Xiongnu population does not equal one Chinese commandery, yet the reason they are strong is that their clothing and food are different from China’s — they depend on nothing from Han. If the Chanyu now changes his customs and develops a taste for Chinese goods, and Chinese goods amount to no more than a fifth of your resources, then the Xiongnu will end up entirely subject to Han. When you get Chinese silk and brocade, ride through thorns and briars in it so your robes and trousers are torn to shreds — to demonstrate that it is inferior to felt and fur. When you get Chinese food, throw it away — to demonstrate that it is inferior to your kumiss and cheese.”

In the fourteenth year of Emperor Wen, the Xiongnu Chanyu invaded with one hundred forty thousand cavalry through the Chao and Xiao passes. He killed the Commandant of Beidi, Ang, and captured an immense number of people and livestock, then advanced to Pengyang. He sent raiding forces to burn the Huizhong Palace, and Xiongnu scouts reached the Yong and Ganquan areas. Emperor Wen appointed Zhou She, the Commandant of the Capital, and Zhang Wu, the Superintendent of the Imperial Household, as generals, deploying a thousand chariots and a hundred thousand cavalry to defend the area around Chang’an against the barbarian raiders.

Four years later, the Old Supreme Chanyu died and his son Junchen succeeded as Chanyu. After his succession, Emperor Wen again concluded a heqin with the Xiongnu. Zhonghang Yue continued to serve the new Chanyu.

In the fourth year of the Junchen Chanyu, the Xiongnu broke the heqin agreement and launched a major invasion, sending thirty thousand cavalry each into Shang Commandery and Yunzhong, killing and capturing many people before withdrawing. Han deployed three armies to garrison Beidi, Juzhu at Dai, and Feihu Pass, with border defenses strengthened everywhere against Xiongnu raids. Three more armies were stationed at Xiliu west of Chang’an, Jimen north of the Wei, and Bashang to defend against the Hu.

When the present Emperor came to the throne, he honored the heqin agreement, treated the Xiongnu generously, opened the frontier markets, and provided them with ample gifts. The Xiongnu, from the Chanyu down, all maintained friendly relations with Han and came and went along the Great Wall.

Han used a man of Mayi named Nie Wengyi to trade secretly with the Xiongnu, pretending to offer the sale of Mayi’s city to lure the Chanyu. The Chanyu believed him and, greedy for Mayi’s wealth, entered through Wuzhou Pass with a hundred thousand cavalry. Han had concealed more than three hundred thousand troops around Mayi. The Grand Secretary Han Anguo served as protector of the army, commanding four generals lying in wait for the Chanyu. The Chanyu entered the Han frontier, but before reaching Mayi, about a hundred li out, he noticed livestock scattered across the fields with no one herding them. Finding this suspicious, he attacked a watchtower. At that moment, a captain of Yanmen was patrolling the border. When he saw the enemy, he took shelter at the watchtower. The Chanyu captured him and was about to kill him, but the captain revealed the disposition of the Han ambush. The Chanyu was greatly alarmed: “I knew something was wrong.” He withdrew his army.

Five years after the Mayi affair, in autumn, Han sent four generals with ten thousand cavalry each to attack the Xiongnu at the frontier markets. General Wei Qing marched out of Shanggu and reached Longcheng, taking seven hundred Xiongnu heads and prisoners. ... The following autumn, the Xiongnu sent twenty thousand cavalry into Han, killing the Grand Administrator of Liaoxi and capturing more than two thousand people. ... The next year, Wei Qing marched out of Yunzhong westward to Longxi, attacking the Loufan and the King of Muyang south of the Yellow River. He took several thousand Xiongnu heads and captured over a million cattle and sheep. Han then seized all the land south of the Yellow River, constructed the fortress of Shuofang, and restored the old fortifications that Meng Tian had built for Qin, using the Yellow River as a natural barrier.

The following spring, Han strategists reasoned: “The Marquis of Xi, Zhao Xin, has been advising the Chanyu to stay deep in the Gobi, thinking Han forces cannot reach him there.” They therefore fattened up the horses, assembled a hundred thousand cavalry with an additional hundred forty thousand privately owned horses, not counting the supply wagons. The Grand General Wei Qing and the General of Swift Cavalry Huo Qubing divided the army between them. The Grand General marched out from Dingxiang and the General of Swift Cavalry from Dai. Both were under orders to cross the Gobi and strike the Xiongnu. The Chanyu, hearing of this, moved his baggage train far to the rear and waited with his elite troops north of the Gobi. He engaged the Han Grand General in battle for a day. At dusk, a great sandstorm arose. The Han forces extended their left and right wings to encircle the Chanyu. The Chanyu judged that he could not overcome the Han army. He broke through the encirclement to the northwest with several hundred of his strongest riders and fled. The Han forces pursued through the night but could not catch him. They killed and captured nineteen thousand Xiongnu in total, advancing north to Tianyan Mountain and the stronghold of Zhao Xin before turning back.

The General of Swift Cavalry marched more than two thousand li from Dai and engaged the Wise King of the Left. The Han forces killed and captured more than seventy thousand Xiongnu, and the Wise King of the Left and his generals all fled. Huo Qubing conducted a sacrifice at Wolf-Residence Mountain, made offerings at Mount Guyan, and reached the shores of Lake Baikal before returning.

After this, the Xiongnu fled far away, and south of the Gobi there was no Xiongnu royal court. Han extended its reach from Shuofang westward to Lingju, building irrigation channels and establishing agricultural colonies manned by fifty to sixty thousand soldiers and officials, gradually encroaching northward until the territory bordered the Xiongnu.

Originally, when the two Han generals launched their great expedition to encircle the Chanyu, they killed and captured eighty to ninety thousand. But Han’s own casualties were also in the tens of thousands, and more than a hundred thousand Han horses died. Though the Xiongnu were weakened and had retreated far away, Han too had lost so many horses that it could not mount another campaign.

The Grand Historian remarks: When Confucius composed the Spring and Autumn Annals, the events of the Yin and Huan periods are written clearly, but those of the Ding and Ai periods are made obscure — because the text touched too closely on his own times and he feared to praise openly; this was the language of avoidance and reticence. Those who speak of the Xiongnu in our time err in seizing upon momentary advantage to push their arguments, using one-sided evidence without comparing both sides of the situation. Generals and commanders rely on China’s vast size and stir themselves up with bluster, and the sovereign uses these arguments to make policy. This is why achievements have not been deep. Yao himself was a worthy ruler, yet his undertakings could not be completed — only when he had Yu could the Nine Provinces find peace. If one wishes to establish a sage’s legacy, everything depends on choosing the right generals and ministers! Everything depends on choosing the right generals and ministers!