My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 739 Must We Rectify Our Names

Some people may think that it was a bit too easy for Zhao Yun to completely defeat, annihilate and force the main force of the Goguryeo army that was lured out in just two days.

But in fact, at this historical point in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the fighting effectiveness of the Goguryeo people was so weak.

This is not at the same level of strength as Goguryeo during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

The Goguryeo at the end of the Han Dynasty was a group of mountain people who lived in the Changbai Mountain area. Except for their excellent archery skills and their livelihoods, their combat capabilities in other aspects were much weaker than the Goguryeo that reached its peak during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

The country's technical and tactical levels, weapons and equipment, degree of civilization and enlightenment, population and national strength are all much weaker. It can be said that it is relying on one trick to dominate the world.

For such a weak country, the annihilation of 10,000 or 20,000 young and strong troops would be a serious blow to the country. Even if Zhao Yun did not completely wipe out the enemy in one go, it would take at least a generation for them to recover.

During this era, a large regional country in the Northeast like Buyeo had a registered population of only a few hundred thousand to less than two hundred thousand households. Buyeo was also a country located on the Songnen Plain, and its productivity was much stronger than that of mountainous countries like Goguryeo.

The total registered population of Goguryeo never exceeded 100,000 households, and even hovered around 60,000 to 70,000 households for many years.

Compared with the Han Dynasty, Buyeo was only the size of a medium-sized county, while Goguryeo was only a small county.

With the annihilation of the main force of Goguryeo, Zhao Yun's strategic decisive battle against various forces in the northeast has basically come to an end.

However, it will take a lot of time and energy to pacify the countries, occupy the land, and restore order.

It is even possible that when Liu Bei's camp once again goes into full-scale war with Cao Cao, the work here may not be completely completed.

Zhao Yun's military operations began with early planning in March, mobilizing troops in April, marching north in May, arriving at the preset positions in June, and then luring the enemy into a stalemate. The final decisive battle was already halfway through July.

After the decisive battle, Zhao Yun first spent about half a month to circle the land and intercept the enemy. He first surrounded the remaining territory of Fuyu, especially the counties on the Songnen Plain that were not easy to defend.

Some county towns still had hundreds of soldiers stationed there. Even if there were no solid city walls and only earthen walls more than ten feet high, Zhao Yun was not in a hurry to break through. He just surrounded them to prevent the enemy from breaking through and escaping.

Then they quickly divided their troops and conquered the surrounding areas, publicized the rule of the Han Dynasty, and harvested food on the spot to supply military supplies, thus obtaining food from the enemy as a long-term strategy.

After the encirclement is established, we can slowly nibble away at the enemy and actually occupy the territory.

After all, the Fuyu Kingdom was vast in area. The fertile land in the Songnen Plain alone was equivalent to half of Jilin Province in later generations, plus one or two prefecture-level cities in Liaobei.

Zhao Yun completed the encirclement in early August, and by late August, he had completely surrounded Yintai County, the capital of Buyeo State guarded by Wei Choutai, using a combination of large and small encirclements. He then sent an envoy to the frightened Wei Choutai with a letter of persuasion to surrender.

The place name Yintai County was determined in the early and middle Eastern Han Dynasty, which is roughly equivalent to Jilin City in later generations - note that it is Jilin "City", not Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin in later generations.

Changchun actually developed very late because it was not along a large river, and it did not rise until the railway era. Jilin City, on the other hand, is along the Songhua River, and the earliest development of the Jilin region in ancient times was along the Songhua River.

In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, Yintai County was established in the area and was under the jurisdiction of Xuantu County.

But later in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court declined and its control over the northeast region was greatly weakened.
The territory that Xuantu County could actually control was basically collapsed, so the Buyeo people took control of Yintai County established by the Han people and made it their capital.

Even the city walls here were built by the rulers of the Han Dynasty when the county was established, and have been preserved ever since.

All other counties within the territory of Buyeo, which were built by the Buyeo people themselves, did not have such formal city walls.

But at this point, it doesn’t matter whether there are city walls or not.

Tens of thousands of Wei Choutai's troops were defeated in the Battle of Weiling. Even if a small half of them escaped, they would not necessarily return to fight for the king. It was impossible to expect to defend Yintai County by force.

Zhao Yun only gave Wei Choutai five days to reply. After five days, Zhao Yun would use the light ladder he had hastily built to attack the city.

Anyway, the height of the city wall here is less than 16 feet, so a light ladder is enough. There is no need to build a Ge Gongche, as its attributes are overflowing.

When Zhao Yun was making engineering equipment, he did not hide it at all. He directly placed the craftsmen camp accompanying the army at the front line and built it in front of the defenders of Yintai County.

Everything was within their sight, but out of reach of their bows and crossbows.

Such a frank attitude, on the contrary, brought about an unimaginable sense of oppression.

In the end, Wei Choutai hesitated for only three days, during which he sent an envoy to discuss the conditions with Zhao Yun. The main purpose was to confirm the treatment after surrender and hope that Zhao Yun would guarantee that there would be no liquidation.

Zhao Yun was also very generous and made a promise within the scope of his authority. Wei Choutai believed in Zhao Yun's reputation and did not want to see tens of thousands of people die in vain, so he finally opened the city and surrendered.

It was already August 27th, and Wei Choutai had people carry the coffin. He pretended to tie his hands behind his back, did not wear an outer coat, and inserted a thorn stick into the knot of the hemp rope that tied his hands behind his back. Then he opened the city gate and walked out slowly.

Zhao Yun was on horseback. He waited until Wei Choutai came close before he dismounted, untied him himself, pulled out the whipped branches and threw them into the coffin, and then had the empty coffin burned in public to show that he had forgiven the past.

These rituals have been established since ancient times and there is nothing to elaborate on.

Then Zhao Yun sent soldiers to control the gates and towers of Yintai County. He then led hundreds of cavalrymen directly into the center, controlled the treasury, and set up a banquet in the original palace of Buyeo to reward the soldiers and comfort Wei Choutai.

When Zhao Yun entered the city, he looked around curiously and found that the so-called Buyeo Kingdom Palace was actually not much larger in size and shape than the prefectural mansion of a large county in the Central Plains.

There was no further talk for several days. With Wei Choutai's personal surrender, the work of taking over the rest of the territory of Buyeo became much faster and the whole process went more smoothly. The Han army encountered no more resistance.

Within one or two months, all the counties were occupied by the Han army.

Zhao Yun himself did not have time to stay here to deal with these finishing tasks personally. He only stayed in Yintai County until early September and then hurried back.

When he left, he did not forget to take Wei Choutai and his eldest son as hostages, and brought them back to Xiangping County, the capital of Liaodong Prefecture, and guarded them as a rich man.

This series of treatments was also what Zhao Yun had promised to Wei Choutai. He would not send Wei Choutai directly to Liu Bei, but would keep him in Xiangping first, and then submit a letter to Liu Bei, asking him for instructions on how to deal with him.

However, in the memorial, Zhao Yun would try his best to advise Liu Bei to be lenient, and also make clear some of the promises he made during the war - of course, Liu Bei could also not agree or approve Zhao Yun's wartime measures, which was Liu Bei's authority. It's just that Liu Bei would not make things difficult for his trusted brothers.

After taking Wei Choutai away, Zhao Yun only left Wei Choutai's second son in the local area and temporarily gave him a mission to help pacify the local area.

He also asked the military strategist Xin Pi to stay and temporarily serve as the county magistrate of Buyeo to assist Wei Qiutai's second son in handling local government affairs. He also secretly promised Xin Pi:

As long as we do a good job during this year's transition period, when the local situation stabilizes next year or the year after and Han immigrants begin to gain a foothold in the local area, we will let Sin Pi serve as the governor of Buyeo County.

In this way, Xin Pi finally went from being a ragtag adviser who had defected from Yuan Tan to an official position at the level of a local county governor. He had the qualifications to govern a region independently, and naturally he would have better development in the future.

Xin Pi was naturally grateful for the important position that the Left General placed in his position. At first, he even pretended to be humble, saying that Tian Chou and Tian Zitai's experience in following the lord far exceeded his own, and that Tian Zitai's planning and achievements this time were not small.

However, this courtesy was immediately rejected by Zhao Yun, who indicated that he didn't need to think too much about it.

Tian Chou was young and inexperienced, so when he first arrived at Yuyang County, he did not get the position of prefect. He was only in charge of the border market of Yuyang as the county magistrate.

But after these years, the border trade in Yuyang has developed very well, which has also brought a steady stream of income to Youzhou, as well as countless grassland cattle and sheep pickled meat supplies. When Tian Chou returns this time, he will be promoted to the governor of Yuyang County and continue to be in charge of the border market. Isn't that a better future than coming to Buyeo County to cultivate wasteland and naturalize the Dongyi people?
Therefore, no one wanted to fight for the newly conquered Fuyu County. This place was remote, and only those civil servants who surrendered to Yuan Tan would value it.

Giving Xin Pi a channel for advancement can also serve as a certain demonstration effect, so that other civil servants under Yuan Tan's rule will have a goal to strive for and work hard in the future.

After all, Guo Tu and Wang Xiu were already in high positions when they were under Yuan Tan, and some even held high positions when they were under Yuan Shao. These people looked down on the position of a powerful county governor in the local area, so they could only be given more titles and noble honors, and kept there. Only people at the level of the Xin Pi and Xin Ping brothers, or Cui Yan, who had been unsuccessful under Yuan Shao, could be willing to be the governor of a small county, at least a slight promotion of half a level.

Moreover, when the Zhuge brothers employed people, they did not want to give people like Guo Tu a high position, even if he had already defected to their camp.

Zhuge Jin, in particular, knew history and he always had a stereotype of people like Guo Tu. When he thought of Yuan Shao's end and the corrupt officials under Yuan Shao's factions, he didn't want to try to reuse them and would rather select talents from the middle and lower levels.

Zhuge Jin's employment preferences, which were difficult to talk about publicly, were naturally kept secret. Once some things were said, they would easily affect unity. He didn't even tell his lord Liu Bei.

However, Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu were both Zhuge Jin's brothers-in-law, and they were considered family members. In addition, when Zhuge Jin personally took charge of the northern border, subdued the Wuhuan in the three counties, and annexed Liaodong, Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu also worked under him. After spending several years together, they vaguely knew the criteria that Si Tu had for employing Yuan Qingzhou's old subordinates.

Although Zhao Yun could not fully understand why his elder brother-in-law, Situ, thought this way, he firmly believed that his elder brother-in-law's opinion must be reasonable and meaningful. Even if he did not understand it, he had to resolutely implement it. Anyway, it would definitely be beneficial to the great cause of restoring the Han Dynasty.

In the end, Xin Pi was overjoyed after listening to Zhao Yun's sincere encouragement in private. He repeatedly expressed that he would work hard to handle the naturalization work in the northeastern border for the Han Dynasty.

In the future, perhaps it can also set an example for other civil servants who are also former subordinates of Mr. Yuan, allowing other old colleagues to see the opportunity to shine.

Finally, Zhao Yun left a garrison of 5,000 cavalry to Xin Pi to help him maintain local order.

Five thousand infantrymen and ten thousand Han military settlements were transferred from the hinterland of Liaodong County as the first batch of immigrants, and they were all handed over to Xin Pi for management. Zhang Zhuo, a military general, was left behind to be responsible for the specific work of leading the troops and military command.

After doing all this, Zhao Yun screened the captured and surrendered veterans of the Buyeo Army, picked out the strong men who had just been temporarily recruited into the army before the war, and sent them directly back to farm - of course, these soldiers had their weapons confiscated before they were released, so they were unarmed when they were released.

As for the full-time veterans in the Buyeo army and some of the Goguryeo prisoners captured later, Zhao Yun brought them all back to Xiangping County, Liaodong County, and then dealt with them slowly.

Zhao Yun also conducted a preliminary screening of the Goguryeo prisoners of war, keeping those sharpshooters with superb archery skills, to continue serving in the army and slowly reforming them.

Those who were temporarily recruited, had relatively poor archery skills, or were over 40 years old were left in Buyeo County to do hard labor for the Han military settlements that immigrated to Buyeo and were responsible for reclaiming wasteland.

Of course, if Goguryeo is willing to completely submit to the Han Dynasty and accept its rule and dispatch in the future, then these Goguryeo captives can be released and their status as free citizens can be restored.

If Goguryeo continues to be stubborn, they will lose any of these 20,000 young and strong men.

……

After settling Wei Choutai and appointing officials in Buyeo County, Zhao Yun returned to Xiangping and stayed there for a while.
Then she sent envoys to negotiate with the Kingdom of Goguryeo, demanding that the ruler of the other country formally submit to the Han Dynasty, give up the title of king, and accept the official position of the Han Dynasty. Otherwise, she would not be able to get back her legitimate son and the captives.

As a bottom line, Zhao Yun authorized the envoy to promise the King of Goguryeo that the King's family would be allowed to continue to hold hereditary official positions in the land of Goguryeo in the future.

This strategy was not something Zhao Yun came up with on the spur of the moment after he led his troops to the battlefield. Instead, it was something he had consulted Zhuge Jin about a few years earlier when he was dealing with the issue of the northeastern barbarians, and Zhuge Jin had given him the advice.

However, due to the lack of suitable conditions, this tactic has never been put into practice until now.

The method envisioned by Zhuge Jin is somewhat similar to the later Tang and Song dynasties' control over the Southwestern Yi, that is, setting up "Jiemi Prefectures", which the Han Dynasty today should call "Jiemi Counties".

This is an intermediate state of transition from the state of foreign vassalage to the state of formal transformation into a Han Chinese.

The rulers of foreign vassal states could still retain their titles, and were considered barbarian monarchs who obeyed the Han emperor. However, after the Ming and Qing dynasties, the local rulers were turned into officials, who were not hereditary and could not rule from generation to generation.

The state of vassalage is somewhere in between the two. At the very least, it requires the local ruler to remove the title of king and not have the name of a country. In name, they are considered states or counties of the central court. The status of the local rulers is also changed to "prefect/county magistrate", which makes them normal Han officials.

However, compared with the Han officials in the interior, the chief officials of the vassal states and counties could be hereditary. Before the death of the old generation of county magistrates, they had to submit a petition to recommend that one of their sons take over the position of prefect.

The emperor would usually approve it, but if he found that his son did have problems and had solid evidence, he would intervene and reject the application, demanding that the local emperor with real power replace him with another son, or even let his younger brother take over.

In short, the imperial court has the right to choose a person who is relatively most friendly to the imperial court from within the local ruling family to take over.

Now that the Fuyu Kingdom was destroyed by Zhao Yun with force, Wei Choutai and his descendants naturally could not obtain the formal promise of hereditary succession. Perhaps after two or three generations, they would become temporary officials.

But the situation in Goguryeo was different. Zhao Yun did not have time to immediately go deep into Changbai Mountain to attack and kill those fishing and hunting tribes. He could not afford the cost and there was not enough benefit.

It was acceptable for the Han Dynasty to fight a decisive battle for the fertile Songnen Plain, but it was a bit of a stretch to fight for the Changbai Mountain area, as it was too disadvantageous to fight for the poor mountains and bad waters.

Zhao Yun only annihilated the main force of the Goguryeo army that had left the mountains, but he did not have the energy to occupy the entire territory of Goguryeo. It was not easy for him to use the conditions he used to deal with Wei Choutai to deal with the leader of Goguryeo. He had to give in a little more than in the case of Buyeo.

But in fact, Zhao Yun knew clearly in his heart that when the world is at peace in the future, these problems will not remain forever. At most after two or three generations, the imperial court will gradually infiltrate and gradually sinicize the local ruling model, completely turning it into a model of rule by itinerant officials.

As the saying goes, the kindness of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations. The first and second generations of those barbarian rulers may be cautious and law-abiding, but after three generations, they will sooner or later be caught with crimes.

When Liu Bang founded the Han Dynasty, weren't those so-called feudal states also theoretically hereditary forever? But after Emperor Hui and Emperor Wen, by the time of Emperor Jing, the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion had already occurred, and by the time of Emperor Wu, the Enfeoffment Order had already been implemented.

By this calculation, basically by the fifth emperor, the remaining hereditary kingdoms with the same surname could have been rejected, let alone these foreign countries? With the arrogance of the barbarians, there was no need to trouble them with charges such as "losing the title due to drinking gold", they would definitely bring the charges themselves.

All in all, the conditions proposed by Zhao Yun are still relatively tolerant at the moment.

After reading the threatening words sent by Zhao Yun's envoy, the King of Goguryeo weighed the pros and cons again and again.

Considering that the country's most elite young and strong men were all captured by Zhao Yun, and some were even punished as hard labor slaves to open up wasteland, his own legitimate son was also captured.

The King of Goguryeo finally chose to surrender completely in name only, and was willing to abandon the country's name and change it to Goguryeo County of the Han Dynasty, but his family had to inherit the position of the prefect of Goguryeo County, and other actual rules remained unchanged.

Of course, Zhao Yun couldn't reply directly, so he sent someone to deliver the Goguryeo king's reply directly to the south, to Xiangyang, to be decided personally by the Grand Marshal Liu Bei.

I believe that after Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin see the memorial submitted by the King of Goguryeo, they will officially appoint him as the governor of Goguryeo County.

Although no actual benefits were obtained, it is good to get absolute status first.

If the other party dares to act again next time, the Han Dynasty will officially declare that it has suppressed the rebellion.

"If I were to take charge of the government, what would you do first?"

Confucius said: It is necessary to correct the names.

-

PS: For Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu, the construction and expansion plots during the past two years of farming have finally been written. As for Zhuge Jin himself, there is actually not much to write about during this period, so it seems a bit rambling, sorry.

However, starting tomorrow, we will finally return to the part of planning the formal Northern Expedition. This is also the last major copy before unification, and there will be some political struggles in the middle.

(You can also express your opinions on how the Cao family intensified their oppression and strict control over Liu Xie in this book, and whether Liu Xie would resist, because Cao Cao was weaker than his historical counterparts, and the possibility of him becoming the King of Wei or even the emperor based on normal achievements was getting smaller and smaller. I will write the main part according to my own design, but I will also absorb the details you suggest)

Finally, some scenes about internal political reform and construction may be saved for after unification and written in the form of a special story.

This way, book lovers who don’t like to read about domestic affairs can stop following the series after reading Unification, which is convenient for everyone.

Thank you all for your support along the way.

(End of this chapter)