39
massiv
e army, and most of the country's coins had literally been
melted down to make weapons, forcing merchants to abandon money
and rely on primitive barter.  There was so little cash available that
even government bureaucrats had to be paid in grain and silks.
But there was good news on the horizon.  Wu-ti's armies had just
overcome the two great powers that had for years posed the Empire's
major military threat--the muscular kingdoms of Wei and Wu.  Now
the moment had arrived when China could discard her military
burden, lighten the load on her people, and set her economy free.
Reducing the military budget was a good idea.  But the Chinese
took it too far.  Much too far.   In the year 280, Emperor Wu-ti made a
staggering announcement, one that must have gladdened the hearts of
Chinese everywhere.  He decreed a general disarmament.  The anvils
of the sword makers and the armorers grew silent.  Generals were
commanded to decommission their troops.  Soldiers were ordered to
go back to civilian life.   The government hoped that its former
infantrymen would settle down as farmers and become tax-paying
citizens, helping to replenish the drained coffers of the administration.
It sounds like a prescription for utopia, doesn't it?  But the blissful state
of permanent peace never quite materialized.  The Chinese had
disregarded The Lucifer Principle.
Hovering outside the country's borders was a federation of
nomadic tribes that lacked China's civilized refinements and gift for
hi-tech creativity.  But its leaders had studied every nuance of Chinese
art, administration and weaponry.  And they possessed one significant
edge.  They had no compunctions about killing.  In fact, it was their
favorite sport.  This tribal constellation was called the Hsiung-nu.  We
know them better as the Huns.
At first glance, no one could possibly have thought that the Huns
were a serious threat.  Their army consisted of a trivial 50,000 men.
The recently disbanded Chinese legions had been as large as a million.
But in 309 A.D., the microscopic Hun military machine descended on
the Chinese capital, Loyang.  The Chinese defended themselves
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