Chapter 182 The truth behind the error
Near the curtain, on the earthen platform.

Black Bear sat upright on the throne, watching the various Hun tribes leave the camp one after another and gather here.

There were two rows of high tables below the stage, like exhibition stands, filled with gold, jade, and brocade.

The first few Hun tribes that arrived immediately became anxious. Who would care about the leaders and chiefs who died in the curtain now?
The Huns' clothes were generally made of leather and felt, which were difficult to clean due to the grease and dirt. So when the people and horses gathered together, they looked gray and black, with no brightly colored clothes.

Only the flags of each tribe are brightly colored; everything else, such as people and clothes, are gray and black.

After Huchuquan sent an envoy to summon the various tribes, he also stepped onto the earthen platform and said: "General, my tribe has two elite troops, one is the cavalry, and the other is the ranger cavalry."

"I don't care about the Tuqi or the Youqi. You know that I am not stable in Guanzhong."

The black bear looked at Huochuquan and said, "I want someone who is obedient and can understand my words. As long as he can understand my words and can ride a horse and fight, I will choose him."

Huo Chuquan understood it immediately, and even suddenly realized it.

He immediately understood Black Bear's predicament. The expedition to Guanzhong was pacified too quickly and not many hostile soldiers were killed.

Based on the experience of fighting among various tribes, Huochuquan knew that the other side needed to raise a group of Xiongnu volunteers to intimidate the interior of Guanzhong.

He felt even more regretful and blamed Yuan Tan. If he had made everything clear earlier, why would he have started a conflict?
Now when I think about it, I can understand why black bears are bloodthirsty.

It is clear that the Black Bear cannot give in now. If it does, the roughly stable Guanzhong will undergo changes.

Huochuquan, who thought he knew the truth, nodded, but then he became concerned and said, "The people you are short of are mostly descendants of Han people from border counties, or descendants of my Xiongnu sons-in-law. If we only recruit them, it will cause dissatisfaction among the brave and strong people in our tribe."

He raised his hand to gesture, and then said with a bit of embarrassment: "If the son-in-law's son earns gold from the general, then the son's son will be unhappy, and the son will also be unhappy. They have always been strong, and I am afraid they will do something to make the general unhappy."

Huochequan's words were already very tactful. The son-in-law's son was actually the Xiongnu's servant cavalry, or even slave infantry.

"So, you can't explain to them?"

"No, I am worried that they will cause trouble and delay the general's important work."

Huochuquan smiled apologetically: "In my opinion, the general wants to spend 3,000 gold to recruit 3,000 knights. Then the 3,000 gold can be divided into three parts. One part is for the knights who apply for the recruitment, one part is for their heads and leaders, and the other part is for their masters."

Adults refer to parents, and here they refer to the masters on whom one is personally dependent.

"Can we still lose 30%?"

Black Bear nodded slowly. "Then it's up to you. I want 3,000 cavalrymen to serve until the middle of January next year. If the cooperation this time is good, I will come directly to you next time."

"Yes, my lord, I will inform all the nobles right away, and the general's affairs will not be delayed."

"Well, there are also armor, weapons and horses. Since these leaders and adults want to share the gold, they should lend horses, armor, swords, and bows and arrows to the recruits. The money cannot be taken for nothing. In the future, when this army performs meritorious service and I give rewards, these leaders and adults will also have a share."

Black Bear said with a smile: "Since the Chanyu is so busy, the Chanyu's share is indispensable."

"The general is generous and kind, and I will do my best to serve him."

Huochuquan saluted, and Black Bear also bowed in return, and then watched Lu Bu follow Huochuquan down the earthen platform.

There were 12,000 Xiongnu infantry and cavalry, more than half of whom were servants and slaves. It was not difficult to select 3,000 of them who understood Chinese. It would even be no problem to find 3,000 Han border residents among them.

Huochuquan joined another group of nobles, stated Black Bear's demands, and then said to the agitated group: "I also expressed my dissatisfaction to him. After discussion, he agreed to divide the three thousand gold into four parts, 30% for the applicants, 30% for their masters, 30% for the leaders of each tribe, and 10% for the royal court."

"Not right, not right. The royal court and the famous kings of each tribe should share half, and the remaining half should be divided between them and their masters."

After one person proposed, an old nobleman immediately came forward and said, "In the past, the royal court took half, and the remaining half was divided among the famous kings and the adults. Now it is not good to let the royal court suffer a loss. The royal court takes 30%, and the famous kings of each tribe take 40%, leaving 30% for them to share with their adults."

Someone immediately proposed: "The royal court has few people, and the tribes have many people. Each tribe should take half, and the royal court and them will share the remaining half."

Huochuquan turned his head to look at the distant cousin who was talking, and felt a little regretful that he had forgotten about him when he attended the banquet.

Huochuquan immediately waved his hand to suppress the others' thoughts of speaking, and said, "There is no point in arguing like this. Applicants now need war horses, armor and weapons. Most of those who meet the requirements of this black general are servants and slaves. They have nothing. How about this, whoever provides them with weapons will take 70%! Let them share the remaining 30% with their masters."

How can a son-in-law, a servant, or a slave have the right to bargain with his master?
Seeing that no one objected, Huochuquan continued, "If there is no objection, you can bring the applicants here and get this done before dark today. Tomorrow, we will divide the gold!"

No one objected, so Huochuquan went up to the platform again to find Black Bear: "General, everything has been discussed."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Chanyu. Give me three thousand cavalry before nightfall. I promised Commander Qu that I would not be short of a single horse."

Black Bear looked sideways at the increasing number of Xiongnu knights and foot servants and slaves, and wanted to encourage the Xiongnu elite to have a horse race with Lu Bu, so he said, "Today the sun is shining brightly, and it's a rare occasion for us to get together. I want to hold a sheep-catching competition. My men will catch a lamb, and you can send as many people as you want to chase it. Whoever catches the lamb will be given 500 gold."

"Five hundred gold pieces are heavier than a warrior in armor. So if someone gets hurt or dies while catching sheep, don't blame me. But I also have to make it clear that sheep can only be caught lightly, and no swords or daggers can be carried."

"General, what you said is true. We are men who live on horseback. Even if we fall to our death, we will not blame others."

Huochequan immediately became excited. Based on his knowledge and experience, he could judge that this sheep catching competition would definitely be a river of blood!
Wang Ting could just send fewer people, there was really no need for him to stop it.

What's more, as a Chanyu, only such bloody and exciting things can trigger his emotional fluctuations.

As for those Xiongnu nobles who were killed an hour ago, they are dead. Do they still want compensation and pensions?
What's more, it was just a misunderstanding. He, the Chanyu, didn't even issue the order to fight, but these people acted on their own.

It should be exciting to watch a sheep-catching competition with five hundred gold coins. Seeing that the nomadic garrisons of the Xiongnu in the distance were also beginning to gather here, Black Bear immediately controlled Yuan Shu's six-man team to cross the river, and the two thousand cavalrymen who stayed on the south bank of the Sushui River also crossed the river in formation.

Dismount and rest two or three miles apart. The cavalry needs time to react, so it is better to stay away.

Huochuquan was very busy. He called together the nobles and announced the sheep-catching competition. He pointed at Lu Bu beside him and said, "This General Taishi Wengong is very brave. When Ami and the others spoke rudely and drew their swords against General Hei, they were all killed by General Taishi Wengong."

According to Xiongnu tradition, if a sword was drawn against a venerable person, he would either be executed or his tibia would be crushed by a cartwheel.

This is a tribal tradition. Upon careful examination, the execution of those nobles was justified.

It’s just that the Chanyu had no prestige and no strength to maintain the glorious traditions.

In front of Lu Bu, a noble proposed: "A reward of 500 gold coins will result in many casualties. It is better for each unit to send a few people, with a limit of 100 people, to chase the sheep. If General Taishi can give us a favor, we will return the 100 gold coins afterwards."

Through the mask, they couldn't see the changes in Lu Bu's expression, and it was even more impossible for Lu Bu to respond to their bribery.

Seeing that Lu Bu did not respond, Huochuquan immediately said, "General Hei has no limit on the number of people. You can send as many people as you want, or you can send none. Anyway, it's only 500 gold, no more and no less. Whoever catches it will get it."

As Huochuquan spoke, he turned his head to look at the high tables on both sides of the earthen platform. Looking at the gold and silk displayed there, he naturally believed that Black Bear could afford five hundred gold.

As for turning against each other to rob, the deployment of troops and defense behind the scenes is not a fake move.

So the various Xiongnu tribes that arrived one after another began to change their clothes and lend armor, horses and combat weapons to the sons-in-law, servants and slaves who understood Chinese.

After some Hun warriors took off their armor, they prepared for the sheep catching competition.

War horses are the second life of the Huns, so the horses they lend are just horses and cannot be called war horses.

Even the armor is mainly stitched leather armor, which can barely be considered armor.

The weapons were even cruder. The bows and arrows were for shooting rabbits. There were no swords, only wooden spears.

Some of the conscripted knights still used the wooden spears they carried with them, which had no metal blades but were made of burnt and polished wood.

War horses, armor and equipment were very valuable to the Huns. Although they could buy the equipment from the powerful people in Taiyuan with gold, they always felt that it was a loss to lend them to slaves and sons-in-law.

Black Bear didn't expect to recruit any decent cavalry, as the Huns would not do business at a loss.

Even the Xiongnu nobles united to put pressure on him, and as a result, they actually gathered a hundred people to race horses and catch sheep with Lu Bu.

When the sheep catching started, it was around four or five in the afternoon.

But these one hundred lightly armed Hun cavalry were divided into several teams and blocked Lu Bu from the front and back, but they could not catch up with him.

They won't be fooled, and Black Bear won't let Lu Bu go.

As it was getting dark, the Huns could only retreat back to their camps with regret.

When Huochuquan returned to the camp, he came to say goodbye to Black Bear, holding a wooden box in his hand: "General, this is the fox fur coat that my nephew, Zuoxian Wang Liu Bao, gave me for the winter. It is made of the fur of Mobei's winter snow fox, and it is a rare treasure in the world."

"Then I will accept it. When I return to Guanzhong, I will also prepare gifts for the Chanyu and Zuo Xian Wang."

Black Bear took it and passed it to his personal guard to take away. He walked a few steps with Huochuquan and said, "Everything is good today, except that there shouldn't be any conflict during the banquet. Also, I am very disappointed with the sheep catching incident."

Seeing Huo Qunquan was about to explain something, Black Bear raised his hand and patted his shoulder: "The conflict during the banquet shows that you are a Chanyu in name only. But don't think too much. There was a similar misunderstanding between me and Yuan Sili. His wife died because of it, but we are still good friends."

"As for the matter of catching sheep, you are like a puppet. If you were the real Chanyu, I would still have to be cautious. Now, regardless of the endless internal disputes between Han and Hu, you and I might as well join hands to seek better development."

“Ah~!”

Huochuquan was also in awe when he heard this. He sighed and bowed to Black Bear solemnly: "General, you treat me with sincerity, so I should do the same. But the country is in chaos, and there are many things that I am powerless to do. As for the alliance with the general, I am happy to do so."

"It's just that the various tribes in the country are now strong, and the royal court has been weak for a long time. We have to wait for the right opportunity."

Then, the guy changed his tone and said, "If the general can recruit 3,000 volunteers through the royal court every year in the future, the position of the royal court will be more stable, and the alliance will be a natural outcome."

"Three thousand gold per year..."

Black Bear listened and nodded slowly: "It's not difficult. After I defeated the ten tribes in Guanzhong, I seized more than 100,000 gold. I can still afford the three thousand gold. But I want to see if the three thousand gold is worth it. We will discuss this matter again in January next year."

"General, most of these 3,000 cavalry are sons-in-law, slaves, etc. They are definitely not elite troops."

Huochuquan didn't want to miss this big deal: "General, if you can pay 5,000 gold, I will send a letter to the royal court tomorrow and order the royal court to recruit 3,000 elite cavalry from various tribes. These 3,000 cavalry are no weaker than the 5,000 Wuhuan under the command of Envoy Qian."

"No hurry, I will review the army tomorrow, let me take a look at these three thousand weak soldiers first."

As he spoke, Huochuquan came to the side of the horse and the two said goodbye.

As for Yuan Tan, he said goodbye when it was getting dark and returned to Wenxi County, where the city gates were closed.

(End of this chapter)