Beixin City, located in Zhuo Commandery, bordered Yanmen Commandery of Bing Province to the west. Due to years of war, the governors of both provinces were unable to attend to the area between the two commanderies.
Therefore, this narrow strip of land in between became a passage for the Southern and Northern Xiongnu to invade and plunder.
As long as the Northern Xiongnu passed through Yanmen, they could pass through Changshan Commandery and Shangdang Commandery, directly entering Sili, threatening the area of Hedong, Henei, and Hongnong, and even approaching Luoyang, the former capital of the Han Dynasty.
As for the Southern Xiongnu in Bing Province, it was even more convenient. They could easily bypass Henei in any direction and go to Luoyang to plunder.
Since the third year of the Gengshi era of the Han Dynasty, when Liu Xiu established his capital in Luoyang and renamed it Luoyang, nearly two hundred years had passed.
Luoyang was once the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Over the long years, it had accumulated a profound and splendid culture and customs. It was also the starting point of the Han Dynasty's Silk Road and was once a famous city known throughout the world.
However, in the first year of the Han Dynasty's Chu Ping era (190 AD), Dong Zhuo forced Emperor Xian of Han to move the capital to Chang'an, burning Luoyang's palaces, temples, and homes. The prosperous city of Luoyang was completely destroyed and fell into great chaos.
Later, after Dong Zhuo's death, Li Jue and Guo Si occupied Chang'an, fighting endlessly. The area around Chang'an also fell into chaos. Bing Province was poor, and northern foreign tribes often invaded southward through Bing Province, plundering the relatively wealthy areas.
Afterward, they would escort the population and wealth northward, and the Southern Xiongnu were the most conveniently located force among them.
In recent years, the people of many provinces have suffered greatly. Preventing foreign tribes from causing chaos has become the ambition of those who care about the world.
Yuan Xi's bet with Zhao Zilong reached an agreement under this background.
Yuan Xi received intelligence from Ji Province that a band of Southern Xiongnu bandits, after plundering a large number of people and wealth near Luoyang and Chang'an, was heading north along the passage between You and Bing provinces, returning to Bing Province via the vicinity of Beixin City.
At that time, various warlords were engaged in endless infighting, and they were unable to attend to this group of foreign tribes, watching them pass through Sili and Ji Province, and soon arrive at Beixin City in You Province.
Therefore, Yuan Xi and Zhao Yun agreed to intercept this group of Southern Xiongnu bandits, calculating victory or defeat based on the number of heads.
Yuan Xi was more than 70% certain that Zhao Yun would agree to this bet.
Not only because if he lost the bet, he would hand over Beixin City, which was a very tempting condition for Zhao Yun, who could seize the city without bloodshed or harming civilians.
Another important reason was that Yuan Xi knew from historical books that Zhao Yun admired Huo Qubing the most, so he also felt pity for the Xiongnu's harm to the Han people. Now, hearing that he could intercept and kill the plundering Xiongnu, he would naturally go happily.
Moreover, the Xiongnu went south through You and Bing provinces, harming the people along the way. On their route was also Zhao Yun's hometown, Changshan Commandery. For the sake of his elders and folks in his hometown, Zhao Yun would also be inclined when making a decision.
Therefore, in the end, as expected, Zhao Yun accepted the bet.
Then came the most crucial and most difficult step.
How to defeat Zhao Yun.
Yuan Xi saw that Qu Yi looked eager to try and wanted to challenge Zhao Yun, and his head throbbed faintly.
Dong Zhao was good at planning, and Qu Yi still had his remaining prestige, but both of them lacked sufficient understanding of Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun was definitely not so easy to deal with!
As dusk approached, in a valley dozens of miles south of Beixin City, the vanguard of a Southern Xiongnu bandit force appeared.
They were about a dozen riders, all with disheveled hair, exposing their left shoulders. Their upper garments were short, right-lapel shirts, and their lower bodies were clad in crotch pants. They wore leather boots and carried longbows in their hands, with two quivers of arrows on their backs, their eyes alert.
This was obviously a group of Xiongnu vanguard scouts, all skilled horse archers.
They looked at the forests on both sides, feeling vigilant, and kept looking around. Their Xiongnu tribe, although called bandits, was actually the elite of the Southern Xiongnu, with as many as several hundred strong young men.
Taking advantage of Li Jue and Guo Si's infighting in Chang'an, they plundered hundreds of women and a large amount of wealth, preparing to take them to present to the Xiongnu Chanyu.
For various reasons, they did not return to Bing Province from Zuo Fengyi, but took a detour between You and Bing provinces, making a big circle.
Their plundering of women was naturally for the purpose of procreation. As for the Han men, the Xiongnu never left them alive.
Han and Xiongnu customs were different. Women were weak and unable to resist, but men had many variables.
Moreover, since the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han and Xiongnu had fought for hundreds of years. The Xiongnu were used to the sharp swords and arrows of the Han men. Now that the situation of offense and defense was reversed, they would naturally not leave the Han men alive.
Several of the leaders saw several men dressed as hunters on the distant hillside, wearing Han buns, squatting on the ground with their backs to them, seemingly relieving themselves.
A Xiongnu scout showed a ferocious look, rode forward, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot at the hunters.
The hunters heard the sound of the bow and arrow and hurriedly scattered to hide behind large trees, causing the Xiongnu scouts below to laugh loudly and shout: "Han dogs! So timid!"
Normally, when they encountered such civilians, a few arrows would be enough to make them flee in panic.
However, what they did not expect was that the hunters, after hiding behind the trees, actually picked up the wooden bows in their hands and shot wooden arrows at them!
Some Xiongnu scouts saw that the wooden arrows were quite crude and dodged them sideways without paying attention, but when the arrows flew past, they smelled a foul odor.
He suddenly woke up and shouted: "The Han dogs are cunning, they smeared golden juice (feces) on them!"
However, in the next moment, with a puff, the horse under his crotch was hit by a wooden arrow, and it suddenly stood upright, almost throwing him down.
The Xiongnu scout desperately pulled the reins, feeling heartbroken. This warhorse was also extremely rare for their tribe. Now that it was hit by an arrow smeared with golden juice, it was likely to get sick and be unable to go into battle.
He was furious and called on everyone to draw their bows and fight back. As a result, the hunters shot surprisingly accurately. In a burst of mutual shooting, several horses on the Xiongnu side were injured by arrows smeared with golden juice.
However, the hunters, taking advantage of the cover of the trees, escaped unscathed.
Looking at a companion who was extremely unlucky and had his eyes pierced by a wooden arrow, dying on the spot, the remaining Xiongnu scouts looked extremely ugly.
After discussing for a while, they split into two teams, one team continuing to move forward to scout the way, and the other team returning to report the news.
In the high forest, Yuan Xi did not go far. He led a group of his men dressed as hunters, watching from a distance.
The hunters who fought back just now were the scouts under his command, personally trained by Qu Yi, who were good at killing bandits.
Sun Li behind him muttered: "Brother, those barbarian dogs dare to stare at us, why don't we chase after them and kill them all?"
An old soldier heard this and snorted, "Sun Li, how can you talk like that? How many times have I told you, you have to call him Gongzi!"
"Gongzi is the second son of Yuan Zhou Mu, his status is noble, it is not appropriate for you to call him brother, let alone this inexplicable big brother!"
Sun Li listened and mumbled: "Big brother doesn't care..."
Yuan Xi touched his nose and smiled: "It doesn't matter, these Xiongnu people will pay sooner or later, but a good man doesn't suffer immediate losses. There are many people behind them, it would be troublesome if we were intercepted."
"Stay away, let's see what happens first."
This scout team only had seven or eight people, which was enough to deal with sporadic horse thieves, but they were powerless against hundreds of people.
Yuan Xi led the crowd to climb up the mountain, until the last few Xiongnu scouts left dejectedly, then he climbed up a big tree and took out a cylinder from his arms.
He put the cylinder in front of his eyes, and the scene below the mountain was magnified several times, becoming much clearer.
This was a telescope made of crystal that he found craftsmen to polish after he traveled through time. It took a lot of time and effort, and now only two pairs have been made. Although it can only magnify a few times and is still a bit blurry, it can see much farther than the naked eye.
In the mountain road a dozen miles away, dust filled the sky, the main force of the Xiongnu was coming.
Yuan Xi heard that this Xiongnu bandit force was numerous. He didn't know if it was good luck or if he had opened up some joints along the way. They went north from Sili, passed through Henei and Ji Province, and traveled hundreds of miles, and it was unimpeded all the way.
As long as they reached Beixin City, they could bypass the territory of the Black Mountain bandits to the west, and then enter Bing Province to the northwest and return to the Southern Xiongnu royal court.
But no matter which force this Xiongnu bandit force got the tacit approval of, even if Yuan Shao himself agreed, Yuan Xi did not intend to let them go.
Even if there were only a few hundred soldiers available in the city, even if Gongsun Zan's army outside Beixin City was watching covetously, even if he was punished by the Yuan family afterward, he would kill this group of scourges who poisoned the people.
Those who offend the strong Han, though far away, must be punished.
Those who offend the Han children, are right in front of us, how can we not punish them?