Once that sliver of shame in their hearts faded, everyone was instead delighted that Wang Xuan had not taken them seriously.
"All right, let's discuss something serious." Seeing that everyone had more or less recovered their spirits, Wang Ren continued, "Personally, I don't think establishing a vassal state will be a problem. The only real trouble lies with the barbarians beyond the frontier. But do any of you truly take those barbarians seriously?!"
"Hahahaha." Hearing Wang Ren ask this, everyone burst into laughter. "They're merely a bunch of uncivilized barbarians. The only reason we've allowed them to run rampant is that we couldn't be bothered to deal with them. If we really focused our efforts on them, we could wipe them out with the turn of a hand!"
To the Great Han, the steppe barbarians did indeed bring many troubles, but they were only troubles. Ultimately, throughout the dynasties, the problem of the barbarians had always been described as a mere skin disease. Even at the end of the Ming, people had continued to look down on the Jurchen people. Truthfully, they had not been taken that seriously. When Wu Sangui invited them through the passes, they had merely intended to grab whatever they could and leave. Throughout the dynasties, the true focus of conflict had always been internal.
Looking across the entire Three Kingdoms period, regardless of who dominated the north, all they had to do was spare a little attention for the north, and they could beat the barbarians until they dared not even look south.
For the nation as a whole, the reason the threat posed by the barbarians could not be eradicated was that the steppe had no value worth occupying. Every time it was conquered, it was abandoned again because the cost of managing it