About Chapter 68 Story Introduction: Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing learned that several countries in the Liangzhou region were standing side by side and the situation was chaotic, so he wanted to pacify the northwest region in one fell swoop, but Western Qin blocked the main road for Later Qin to send troops to Liangzhou, so Yao Xing took Western Qin as his first goal to march into the northwest region, and personally led a large army to conquer Western Qin. Begging and returning to flee to Nanliang, but he tried to restore the country, but was expelled by Nanliang, and had no choice but to lead the remnants to surrender to Hou Qin, and Western Qin perished. Yao Xing took advantage of the victory to march into Guzang, forcing the four Liang countries in the Liangzhou region to bow down, but because of the fear of the Northern Wei sneak attack, the Later Qin army besieged Guzang Buke, and had to retreat to Guanzhong.

In this story, the Western Qin regime perished under the blow of the Later Qin Empire, and the lord of the Western Qin State was forced to serve as a general under the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing. In fact, this was extremely detrimental to the rule of the Later Qin Empire.

The four Liang states that appeared in the Liangzhou area were only a change in the name and title of the Later Qin Empire, not the meaning of surrendering to the land, but because they saw the strength of the Later Qin Empire and the expedient measures they adopted, so their subservience was only superficial, and in fact they still controlled their own territory and subjects. It can be seen that the strength of the Later Qin Empire at this time was only superficial, and its internal crises would inevitably erupt collectively after the strength was over.

Because it is impossible for these four regimes in the northwest region to be willing to bow down, they must try their best to develop and strengthen themselves, and then completely break away from the mercy of the Later Qin Empire, and even say that they want to compete with the Later Qin Empire. At the same time, the nobles of the Western Qin regime who have died need to fight for the opportunity to rebel again and rebuild the country belonging to their own tribe, and at this time, with the strength of the Later Qin Empire, the Qiang people, the main tribe, have basically completed the sinicization, so they have gradually lost their ability to confront other nomads militarily, and the cohesion of the nation will also be lost. The collapse of the Later Qin Empire was bound to come quietly behind its strength.

In fact, we can see that during the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the regimes established by the nomads who entered the Central Plains were rapidly declining after their heyday, which has become a law, how could the Later Qin Empire be alone, not to mention the conquest of the Northwest Regions, the Later Qin Empire was only achieved in name, in essence, the Later Qin Empire could not grasp and control a city, a person and a soldier in the Liangzhou region. Even the nobles of the Western Qin regime, who had already been destroyed by it, were the same as the nobles of the Xianbei Murong tribe who surrendered to the former Qin Empire, and they would inevitably disobey the Later Qin Empire, which had the hatred of destroying the country, and once the time was ripe, they would inevitably raise the banner of resistance.

Could it be that Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing didn't know this?

In fact, I think that the mentality of the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing is the same as that of the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian, who unified the north at the beginning, and after their country reached strength, they often ignored the internal crisis of their rule, and it was difficult for them to continue to keep a clear head to look at the problem. What I want to say is that as a regime established by nomads, whether it is the former Qin Empire or the Later Qin Empire, its main tribes will inevitably perish after basically completing the sinicization, which is also the law of history, so neither Yao Xing nor Fu Jian can move against the trend of history, and their sorrow mainly comes from the shortcomings of their own national attributes.

We can see through the preferential treatment of the surrendered Western Qin lord and his subordinates by the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing that during the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the powerful regime did not dare to kill the nomadic nobles who had been annexed, mainly because these attached tribes often had a certain ability to resist, and even said that the tribes had a large population and must rely on these surrendered nobles to manage, and it was precisely because the rulers of the powerful regime realized this, so, The nomadic nobles who had surrendered were usually reused, as was the case with the nobles of the Xianbei Murong tribe by the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian, and the same was true for the nobles of the Xianbei beggars by the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing.

From this, we can also know that although the Western Qin regime was destroyed by the Later Qin Empire. However, the strength of its main tribe, the Xianbei Begging Department, should not be underestimated, which is also the reason why the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing treated the beggars and returned with kindness. And from this, we can also know that the degree of sinicization of the Xianbei beggar department at this time is not deep, at least it has not reached the stage of basically completing the sinicization. Therefore, if the Xianbei beggar tribe wants to basically complete the sinicization, it must further struggle and conquest, and once again complete the historical mission of sinicization in the form of feudal statehood.

The Western Qin regime established by the Xianbei Beggars was relatively weak and ruled in a relatively remote area. The history books do not record it in particular detail. From the begging Guoren to raise troops and stand on their own, to the Qin Empire after the surrender of the begging and Qiangui, the capital of the Western Qin regime was first the city of Jianyongchuan, which is in today's Yuzhong area of Gansu, and after the begging Qiangui succeeded to the throne, he moved the capital to Jincheng and Yuanchuan one after another, which is in the Xigu area of Lanzhou, Gansu today, and even said that during the period ruled by the Later Qin Empire, the main body of the Xianbei beggar tribe moved to Caohan, which is today's Linxia area of Gansu, from which we can also see that during this period, the Xianbei beggar tribe was still in a nomadic lifestyle, At best, it is a semi-nomadic and semi-settled way of life, and the degree of sinicization is obviously not deep, and the continuous migration of its capital can only show that the nomadic life of the Xianbei beggar tribe is more obvious. Therefore, during this period, the Western Qin regime was probably closer to a tribal alliance state, and there was still a big difference from the ruling model of the feudal state.

From this, we can also judge that the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing must regard himself as a Chinese orthodox, and in his eyes, the Western Qin regime may just be a small tribal alliance established by the nomads in the Longxi region. Then, the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian, who unified the northern region, naturally also regarded himself as a Chinese orthodox, and it was the same reason to comfort and give preferential treatment to the nobles of the Xianbei Murong Department who had surrendered.

In fact, from the state of the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing and the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian, we can see that in the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the social background of the great integration of nomads. The mentality of these nomadic nobles who have made great achievements should be extremely contradictory, and they are not the Chinese people in the Central Plains, but in order to demonstrate their orthodox status in the Central Plains, these nomadic emperors who founded the country and became emperors in the Central Plains without exception will carry out their every move in accordance with the highest etiquette of the Chinese national culture, but because they themselves are not the Chinese nation, and they are in the process of learning. As a result, the emperors of these nomadic peoples had certain contradictions and problems in governing the country to varying degrees, and then laid the groundwork for the collapse of their own country.

The former Qin Emperor Fu Jian is like this, and the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing is also like this, and the Later Qin Empire is not as strong as the former Qin Empire, and the influence is far-reaching, so the collapse of the Later Qin Empire is much faster than the former Qin Empire, and at the same time, the main tribe of these two empires, the Qiang Di ethnic group, has basically completed the sinicization during the reign of the Later Qin Empire, and this ethnic group is about to disappear in the long river of history, so the Later Qin Empire naturally has no need to exist in history.

We can imagine how deep the crisis is within the seemingly powerful Later Qin Empire, only a war or a coup d'état is needed to collapse the Later Qin Empire, for the Later Qin Empire, this disaster should soon appear after its shock to the northwest, because when the Later Qin Empire is strong, it will inevitably include many nomadic tribes, and its own main tribe will disappear, and at the same time, the strength of the Later Qin Empire will inevitably cause the fear of neighboring regimes, so, In fact, this state of the country is very similar to the former Qin Empire, but the external threat of the Former Qin Empire is not obvious, and the external threat of the Later Qin Empire is too clear, so the complete collapse of the Later Qin Empire is just around the corner.

However, at this stage, after the Later Qin Empire defeated the Western Qin regime, it opened up the channel to attack the Liangzhou region, although the four countries in the Liangzhou region stood side by side, but none of the regimes could compete with the Later Qin Empire, so the Later Qin Empire was able to get a piece of the hegemony of the four countries in the Liangzhou region after the earthquake in the northwest, and at the same time, the struggle between the families and the imperial power within the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the southern part of the Yangtze River also entered the white-hot stage, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty also quickly entered the historical stage of the late autumn after the battle of Weishui, Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing naturally saw all this, in order to make his empire grow stronger, Yao Xing's next target must also be the Liangzhou region and the Eastern Jin Dynasty.