Way of Overlord

However, in that article, Jia Yi went on, describing exactly how his application of "virtue" would defeat the people of the Great Steppe. "If the people of the Great Steppe see through the plan . . . there are several solutions. With regards to frontier markets, their cunning won’t help them, and they will yearn for the markets. Your Majesty . . . can promise the Great Steppe people large markets . . . There will be so many Steppe visitors flocking through the narrow passes that we will have to chisel them open .

Give generously to them . . . and the many bribes will make them reliant. They will admire and be grateful to Yan. Showing our splendour is a means of beckoning their people. In a matter of three to five years the people of the Great Steppe can be obliterated. This is called "the triumph of virtue."

Aeryon remembered all of this and then said to everyone in the tent

"Yan is our enemy. Zhou is the same. Trusting them is like trusting a starving man to guard a meat"

There is a common misconception that the Yan Dynasty established border markets because of people of the Steppe demands for Yan goods, which has grown into the "trade or raid hypothesis."

Basically, this idea states that the people of the Great Steppe needed Yan goods, and if they could not get them by trading, they would get them by raiding.

The assumption is that the people of the Great Steppe invasions of Chinese occurred because they could not survive without their agricultural products.

In fact, the Great Steppe people usually took livestock and prisoners, and almost never took grain, etc.

They relied heavily on nomadic pastoralism, which centred on herding livestock like horses, cattle, sheep, and camels.

These animals provided essential resources such as meat, milk, and hides, which were crucial for their way of life.