The Tuyuhun tribes had been a scourge deep in the northwestern frontier's heart since the former Great Liang dynasty. Made up of an alliance of several large tribes, they could muster tens of thousands of fierce, battle-hardened cavalry when necessary. They followed water and pasture, with no fixed abode, and whenever blizzards struck or food ran short, they turned into mounted bandits, plundering Great Liang's frontier towns without restraint.
After Great Chen was founded, it had mobilized large armies several times to wipe them out. But these wolf cubs were exceedingly cunning. At the first sign of danger, they fled deep into the boundless desert, leaving no trace to follow. Even the occasional destruction of one tribe could not wound them at the root. Within a few years, their dead ashes would flare back to life.
Raised on horseback from childhood, they wielded longbows and rode swift horses, coming and going like the wind. They excelled at guerrilla raids and harassment, and their tactics were flexible: if they could win, they plundered mercilessly; if they could not, they turned and fled. If surrounded by a great army, they feigned surrender, only to rebel again the moment the court's troops withdrew.
Now two troublesome enemies-Han Zhan's newly founded Han Kingdom and the Tuyuhun tribes-had actually joined forces. It seemed Great Chen's frontier would know no peace from this day onward.
"I had been wondering..." Emperor Chen's gaze sharpened as he said thoughtfully, "Why did Han Zongwang, a Great Grandmaster, refrain from intervening this time? Now I understand... If every Great Grandmaster under heaven could act as he pleased, overthrowing a kingdom and founding a new dynasty with a mere gesture, then we might as well let those few Great Grandmasters take turns being emperor!
"Heaven's Way, unseen and inscrutable, has its