    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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