I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 133 Personally Delivering the Final Blow

In all honesty, when Zhao Zicheng heard that the King of Goryeo had died and that an internal power struggle had broken out in Goryeo at this critical juncture, he was absolutely delighted.

Although he was a history teacher in his previous life, his familiarity with history and comfort zone were limited to the domestic history section.

As for the trivial matters concerning Korea during the transition between the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, he indeed didn't know much about them. Naturally, he couldn't possibly know the birth and death dates of the so-called King Yejong and King Injong of Goryeo.

The fact that King Yejong of Goryeo died at this critical juncture allowed Zhao Zicheng to complete his opportunistic scheme more quickly, which can be considered a blessing from heaven for the Song Dynasty.

However, although Zhao Zicheng was not familiar with the history of Goryeo, he was quite knowledgeable about the history of the Jin Dynasty. After all, the territory and people of the Jin Dynasty were later unified by the Han Chinese, which is also a part of Chinese history that needs to be studied.

Therefore, on the ship that came to Goryeo, Zhao Zicheng had already planned how to use the life and death trajectory of another important figure in Northeast Asia to consolidate the results of this conquest of the country.

"Although I didn't expect Wang Yu to die at this time, if nothing unexpected happens, Wanyan Aguda will really die next year. No wonder the Goryeo people had internal strife at this critical juncture in history, but were not taken advantage of by the Jin Dynasty."

Perhaps it was because the Goryeo people had just finished their internal strife and Aguda died the following year, that the Jin people couldn't even immediately turn against the Song Dynasty. They had to wait for Wanyan Wugumai, who succeeded to the throne, to consolidate his power before they could wage war against the Song Dynasty. Naturally, they had even less time to deal with Goryeo.

By the time the Jin dynasty could spare the resources to focus on Goryeo, the situation there had already stabilized, leaving no opportunity for further action. At that time, the Jin dynasty's strategic focus had shifted to the Song dynasty, and the matter was permanently shelved. Therefore, what I seized this time was truly a rare and opportune moment.

Thinking about all this, Zhao Zicheng became even more confident that he could completely destroy Goryeo in one fell swoop this time.

On a side note, although he wasn't very knowledgeable about Goryeo history, as a history teacher, he had read quite a few interesting stories about the ancient Koreans.

The current regent, Yi Ja-gyeom, is so perverted that even Zhao Zicheng, a foreigner in his previous life, knew about some of his eccentricities.

This Lee Ja-gyeom had already married his eldest daughter to the recently deceased King Yejong of Goryeo, and the current King Injong of Goryeo, Wang Gae, is the biological son of Wang Gae and Lee Ja-gyeom's eldest daughter.

In other words, Li Ziqian should be Wang Yu's father-in-law and Wang Kai's maternal grandfather.

However, historically, after Li Ziqian seized power, in order to further consolidate his position, he married his youngest daughter to the young King Kai as queen—that is to say, for the sake of a political alliance, he married his youngest daughter to his grandson. King Kai married his aunt, who was his own mother's younger sister.

Of course, in this life, Li Ziqian probably wouldn't have the chance to carry out this series of perverse and inhumane acts, because he doesn't have the time. Wang Yu had only been dead for less than two months, and Wang Kai couldn't possibly discuss marriage so soon after his father's death; he was only fourteen years old.

None of this has been officially put on the agenda yet; at most, it's just been discussed privately and some preliminary work is being done. But Li Ziqian's lust for power and his perversion have already been revealed in his previous actions.

In particular, he killed several of the late king's younger brothers while the king was still alive and his body was not yet cold, all to ensure that the late king's son, his own grandson, would ascend to the throne so that he could seize power.

In short, the enemy has already reached the capital, yet the Koreans are still engaging in such brutal infighting. They've accumulated all the debuffs they could possibly expect. If they don't fall this time, even the heavens won't allow it.

……

Zhao Zicheng arrived in the Goryeo capital on September 20th of the fourth year of the Xuanhe era.

The Song army had surrounded the capital from three directions, leaving only the Goryeo army stationed inside the city to hold out.

The border troops north of the capital and the garrison in Goryeo's Seogyeong (later Pyeongseong) did not come to the rescue. Instead, they chose to remain stationed on the border between Goryeo and Jin, observing from the sidelines. This was clearly because Yi Ja-gyeom had killed several of the former king's younger brothers, causing the border troops to become disloyal and unwilling to go south to defend the king and risk their lives.

Although that part of the army was not large in total, including the conscripted able-bodied men and local militia, it numbered at most ten or twenty thousand, and the quality was extremely poor.

That afternoon, Zhao Zicheng's ship docked at the pier in the east of the city. Huyan Zhuo, Yue Fei, and Song Jiang had already received the news in advance and came to wait for him after lunch.

As soon as Zhao Zicheng landed, he praised everyone with a beaming smile, especially Yue Fei, who now held the lowest official rank.

"All of you are meritorious officials of the country, and Brother Yue is especially rare. I heard that in the battle of Renzhou, you were the first to charge and captured the city, and then won one victory after another. Such bravery is rare since the founding of our dynasty."

As Zhao Zicheng spoke, he took off a bright red Suzhou-embroidered battle robe that he usually wore himself and draped it over Yue Fei's shoulders as a reward and encouragement.

“My wife is from Suzhou, and this robe was embroidered by her. I wore this battle robe last year when I defeated Fang La at Qingheyan. Now I give it to you, my dear brother, as encouragement.”

Upon hearing this, Yue Fei's shoulders trembled involuntarily, and he quickly clasped his hands in a gesture of apology, saying, "Such a generous gift is too much for this humble general to accept! Please, Your Excellency, rescind your order!"

Zhao Zicheng patted his shoulder through the brocade robe: "I also have my difficulties. This campaign against Goryeo was such a rare opportunity, and it was originally a great achievement in expanding our territory. However, we acted somewhat preemptively and overstepped our authority in using troops. If we weren't so far away overseas, those rigid and inflexible officials in the court probably wouldn't have been able to reward us fairly."

Furthermore, you may not know how devastating Grand Commandant Tong's defeat in Hebei was. If we were to publicly boast of our achievements at this time, we would likely incur even more resentment. Therefore, I can only, within my authority, try my best to increase your military power and grant you real land, allowing the capable to exert their full strength, lead more troops, and govern more regions.

I will take care of the necessary rewards and salary increases, but the rank and title are not up to me. I will have to ask everyone to wait.

When Zhao Zicheng arrived, the first thing he had to do was to explain clearly the rewards, promotions, and benefits for this great achievement, so as to avoid any resentment from everyone in the future.

Money is plentiful; you've made such a great contribution. As long as it's a deserved reward, I'll give it to you without hesitation.

Military power and administrative authority can be granted according to merit, and even more can be given as compensation for insufficient benefits in other aspects.

However, official ranks and titles are up to the emperor and prime ministers. It's not advisable to publicize the gains made on the Goryeo side for the time being.

Zhao Zicheng had to consider not only whether his personal achievements would overshadow the emperor and arouse suspicion, but also how to minimize the hatred from the Jin Kingdom.

However, there's no need to discuss the specifics of these issues with the generals below; Zhao Zicheng can devise his own plan when the time comes.

First, let's calm everyone down, and then complete the final siege mission.

……

Zhao Zicheng only rested for one night and held a grand banquet for his generals. The next day, he personally inspected the siege plans for Gaeseong, the capital of Goryeo.

Before his arrival, Huyan Zhuo and Yue Fei had already made considerable preparations. Zhao Zicheng could see that several gaps had been filled in the moats on both the north and south sides of Kaesong, allowing heavy siege equipment to pass directly through.

As for the east and west sides of the city, since they both have relatively wide natural rivers, they are naturally not suitable for attacking.

As the capital, Kaesong's defenses were quite robust, with its walls being the tallest and thickest on the entire Korean Peninsula. Therefore, there was no room for shortcuts; only a direct, forceful assault would suffice.

The Song army not only prepared large siege ladders, but also catapults—the traditional kind that relied on manpower to pull the cannon rope, rather than the counterweight catapults of later "Huihui cannons".

Based on Zhao Zicheng's knowledge, building a counterweight catapult would certainly not be difficult, but he felt there was no need to pursue this technology at the moment.

With this energy and manpower, we should think about how to develop gunpowder, fire lances, and high-powered hand grenades.

Zhao Zicheng believed that the main enemy in the future was the Jin Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty's strength lay in open field battles. Historically, in battles between the Song and Jin armies, siege warfare was never the primary focus; open field battles were. What Zhao Zicheng needed were field weapons that the Jin people, once they saw them, could not easily imitate or copy in a short period of time.

Inventing the counterweight catapult too early would not only render it useless, but also risk leaking information and strengthening the Jin Dynasty. The best time to utilize these weapons would be when the Song Dynasty and the Jin army were locked in a stalemate, or even when a counter-offensive was imminent.

Zhao Zicheng inspected the area and, confirming that his own troops were well-disciplined and imposing, decided to give the Goryeo people one last chance before launching a full-scale attack.

So he gathered dozens of loud-voiced taunters to form a shield formation, and they followed him to within a hundred paces of the city wall to deliver a message urging him to surrender.

Whether they can be persuaded is another matter, but at least a verbal battle to demoralize the enemy is worthwhile. After all, the Koreans are in internal strife, and it would be a waste not to take advantage of this opportunity to weaken them.

Zhao Zicheng was wearing the finest set of cold-forged Qing Tang wart armor he had ever worn, and underneath he was also wearing the family heirloom goose feather band armor that Xu Ning had temporarily lent him, in order to prevent the Koreans from launching a sneak attack.

(Note: The novel *Water Margin* describes it as "goose feather gold ring armor," but research suggests this was a typo by Shi Nai'an due to a lack of technical knowledge. In terms of craftsmanship and materials science, it should actually be "goose feather sinew ring armor." This refers to lightweight armor woven primarily from goose feathers, with high-quality ox sinew (used for crossbow strings) used for edging to prevent the woven feathers from unraveling. It's similar to the structure of a fishing net, where the sinew rings act as the "outline," and the interwoven goose feathers form the mesh of the net.)
He addressed the Goryeo commander atop the city wall with a strong yet steady voice: "Listen up, Goryeo commander on the city wall! Our Great Song Dynasty has always been a land of propriety and courtesy. For over a hundred years, we have maintained peaceful relations with Goryeo! Although you have been independent since the end of the Tang Dynasty, if you had not been harmed by bandits and invaded by the Jin Dynasty, our Great Song Dynasty would not have come to this point in order to save the people!"
Your former king repeatedly obstructed the joint Song-Jin campaign against Liao, yet he himself wavered and secretly plotted against them. Now, he has only himself to blame! Our Great Song could not allow the Jin to annex Goryeo and grow stronger, which is why we were forced to this point! Our Great Song does not seek to overthrow the Goryeo dynasty! Your continued use of the Goryeo banner is also beneficial to our Great Song!
Otherwise, the Jurchens, seeing our Great Song suddenly gain a thousand miles of land, will surely harbor resentment, which would be a path to chaos! Therefore, as long as any of the garrison commanders or civil and military officials surrender, our Great Song can retain them in their original positions, and even promote them! But if anyone remains obstinate and continues to delay surrendering, those promises will expire!

Zhao Zicheng's words were rather blunt, and included a lot of analysis of advantages and disadvantages, which ordinary soldiers certainly wouldn't understand. However, he shouted this because he already knew the Goryeo soldiers wouldn't understand Chinese—the spoken language of ordinary people in Goryeo differed even more from Chinese than the Liao and Jin languages. But Goryeo had one advantage over the Liao and Jin: Goryeo didn't have its own written language.

Therefore, the high-ranking officials of Goryeo could only use Chinese characters directly. It wasn't until the Goryeo Dynasty collapsed and the Joseon Dynasty was established that the residents of the peninsula began to develop their own written script.

Zhao Zicheng's use of Mandarin meant that only civil and military officials could understand him; ordinary soldiers would be completely oblivious. Therefore, he should have explained the situation more clearly, hoping to sow discord among those he could.

Although the soldiers couldn't understand, it didn't stop them from being filled with anxiety. They might mistakenly believe that Song Dynasty officials had reached an agreement with their own civil and military leaders. In that case, why should the soldiers fight to the death? Even if they did, no one would appreciate their efforts.

After Zhao Zicheng had his men shout and curse, he didn't notice any obvious commotion on the city wall. Too lazy to waste any more words, he personally ordered a general attack by the entire army.

Thousands of crossbowmen came to the front lines and took turns firing arrows at the city walls.

At the same time, a small incident caused panic among the Goryeo soldiers—several powerful arrows spraying gunpowder gas were launched from in front of the Song army's formation, propelled by several modified ballistae that were almost firing upwards. They shot into the sky in an instant, leaving thick trails of black smoke.

Without a doubt, these rockets were the latest signal arrows developed by the gunpowder workshop in Laizhou at Zhao Zicheng's behest. Their purpose was to notify the Song army at the north gate of Kaicheng to launch their attack at the same time. In this era, there were no wristwatches, and precise timekeeping was impossible. Unless the attack time was pre-arranged, issuing a last-minute notification was virtually impossible; the only hope lay in the newly invented gunpowder arrows.

The Song Dynasty already had gunpowder, so it wasn't difficult to slightly modify the formula.

Furthermore, Zhao Zicheng meticulously categorized the design specifications of gunpowder signal arrows. Signal arrows used at night relied primarily on whistling sounds and flame color reactions, while those used during the day relied mainly on trailing black smoke.

Just like beacon towers, which were set on fire at night and smoked during the day, this was to ensure visibility.

Upon seeing the signal, the Song army in the north of the city also launched a simultaneous attack very quickly. The simultaneous attack from the north and south caught the Goryeo defenders of Kaesong off guard.

The surging Song army's armored soldiers pushed ladders toward the city wall, while catapults rained down stones in advance, breaking up the Goryeo archers' formation on the city wall.

One by one, the Goryeo archers were smashed, some with broken heads and bleeding profusely, others with their brains splattered out, falling to the ground with pitiful howls.

Because it was a simultaneous and comprehensive attack, the Song army deployed a very large number of troops, including the direct troops of the government forces led by Huyan Zhuo and Yue Fei, as well as the surrendered Liangshan troops led by Song Jiang and Wu Jialiang.

In order to make more contributions and stand out in the final battle against Goryeo, the two sides naturally became competitive. Song Jiang urged his brothers to attack with all their might and not hold back, just to show off in front of Duke Xiu.

Li Kui, wielding two broadswords, bravely scaled the city wall. Because he was impatient with wearing armor, his movements were extremely swift, greatly catching the Goryeo people off guard. He seized an opportunity and bravely leaped onto the city wall. The Goryeo people came to meet him one after another, but he swung his sword like a wheel, hacking and slashing down more than a dozen of them in succession.

The Goryeo people were horrified and could only haphazardly hurl arrows to block the attack. At this moment, the disadvantage of fighting bare-chested was immediately exposed. As Li Kui wielded his axe, he was hit by several arrows. One of them, like Xu Chu fighting Ma Chao naked, pierced straight through his thigh muscle, and he fell to the ground, unable to move.

However, thanks to Li Kui's killing of more than ten people, his ability to draw fire, and his continued resistance and delay after falling to the ground, the Liangshan soldiers surged forward in greater numbers. Wu Song and Hua Rong went up to the city one after another, and the Goryeo soldiers on the city wall were finally cut open with a huge gap.

Moreover, a chain reaction quickly unfolded on the battlefield. On other sections of the city walls, Goryeo generals, realizing the tide had turned, proactively shouted for surrender and ordered their soldiers to retreat and lay down their weapons. The Song army finally swarmed onto the walls.

Zhao Zicheng, observing the situation clearly from below the city, ordered the drums to be beaten louder and committed all reserves. The surging Song soldiers finally broke through the Goguryeo defenses completely, and the defending general on the city wall hurriedly shouted for surrender, knelt down and begged for mercy, and broke through the gates.

As the drawbridge collapsed and the city gates swung open, Huyan Zhuo and Yue Fei led their cavalry into the city, ending in a final, fierce street battle.

Seeing that the situation was settled and the city gates were completely under control, making it impossible for an ambush to take place in the barbican, Zhao Zicheng personally rode his horse into the city.

Even a son of a wealthy family wouldn't sit under a dangerous roof, but in a war that threatens the very survival of a nation, one still has to participate personally until the very last moment. Since I'm already here, I might as well consider it a check-in; there's no real danger anyway.

Knowing he couldn't escape, Goryeo's prime minister, Yi Ja-gyeom, led his guards in an attempt to defend the palace.

The Song army didn't tolerate them and didn't bother to waste lives on a direct assault. After personally inspecting the front lines and assessing the situation, Zhao Zicheng ordered a large fire to be set outside the south gate of the palace, which burned and destroyed most of the south wall and gate tower.

Only Zhao Zicheng himself could issue such an order to set fire, because the generals below might worry that "whether the lord wants to capture the Goryeo palace intact."

Only Zhao Zicheng felt that this dilapidated place had no cultural value. Kaesong, being a front line in the conflict between North and South Korea, was thoroughly destroyed in later generations, leaving almost no historical sites. The site of the Goryeo royal palace was also bombed flat by American bombers in the 1950s.

Once the walls and gates had mostly collapsed and the fire had subsided somewhat, Zhao Zicheng appointed Yue Fei as the vanguard, leading his cavalry to brave the smoke and flames, leaping over the embers to charge in.

The Goryeo royal palace was located in the south of the city and backed by Songak Mountain, making it a high-altitude location that required an uphill attack. Yue Fei fought his way up the mountainside, but the steep sections were impassable on horseback, forcing him to fight on foot.

Zhao Zicheng also dismounted and climbed the mountain, sharing the hardships with his soldiers.

They fought their way to the Mongwoldae high on Songaksan Mountain, which was the highest main hall in the Goryeo royal palace. Lee Ja-gyeom, with several hundred confidants and clansmen, put up a final resistance there.

The young king of Goryeo, Wang Kai, who was fourteen years old, was hidden away by Li Ziqian and did not show his face.

"My lord, do you want him alive?" Yue Fei also noticed Li Ziqian's attire and knew that this man was the real person in charge of Goryeo, so he couldn't help but ask a question carefully.

Zhao Zicheng waved his hand: "Shoot the arrows first! Whether we live or die is up to fate."

Yue Fei then personally stepped onto the eight-stone crossbow and led his soldiers in a pincer attack. Soon, only a few Goryeo people remained standing on the Moon-Viewing Terrace.

Li Ziqian was also hit by several arrows, one of which was shot by Yue Fei himself. The arrow was extremely powerful and sent Li Ziqian flying, pinning him to a pillar behind him.

Zhao Zicheng led Yue Fei in a personal charge, and Zhao Zicheng also killed three or five Goryeo soldiers to warm up before finally arriving in front of the dying Li Ziqian.

"Where is Wang Kai? Tell me, and I'll spare his life." Zhao Zicheng patted Li Ziqian's cheek with the blade of a double-hooked spear made of the same steel as Yue Fei's.

Li Ziqian spat weakly, but unfortunately, he was too weak, and the blood foam was dragged down by gravity and smeared onto his own face.

Zhao Zicheng didn't bother arguing with him. With a flick of his wrist, he slit Li Ziqian's throat and then coldly uttered a single word: "Search!"

Less than half an incense stick's time later, Yue Fei led his men to find King Kai of Goryeo hiding in a large water bucket in a well at Wangyue Terrace.

The well buckets used for drawing water from the mountaintop in the palace were enormous, raised and lowered by a pulley connected to a hemp rope. As the buckets were slowly lowered, as long as no water got in, the excess drainage was enough to support the weight of a young boy.

When Zhao Zicheng saw Wang Kai's short and thin figure trembling, he couldn't help but laugh. How little food must this Goryeo person have? As a member of the royal family, he is so thin and short. If he were a few dozen kilograms heavier, that water bucket wouldn't be able to hold him.

Zhao Zicheng looked coldly at Wang Kai, then comforted him, "Don't worry, our Great Song is a land of propriety and keeps its word. We won't kill you. It's your Goguryeo that can't even handle bandits, how pathetic."

If I don't act, the land of Goryeo will fall into the hands of the Jurchens sooner or later, and they might even use it against my Great Song. My Great Song has no choice but to strike first—quickly write a few letters ordering Xijing and other places to submit and accept my Great Song's garrison, and I will spare your life.”

Zhao Zicheng genuinely intended to honor the agreement; for at least three years, he had no intention of removing Wang Kai. After three years, he could consider stripping Wang Kai of his title, but whether he would be spared would depend on his subsequent actions.

This was not Zhao Zi praising Song Xiang's benevolence, but rather based on very practical considerations.

If the Song and Jin dynasties were to turn against each other in the future, and the Jin people knew that Goryeo was also Song territory, then the Jin's hatred would likely be drawn to them in advance.

Therefore, it's best to perform for a few years first, reap tangible benefits, gradually assimilate and transform the system, and slowly gain real control. Changing the brand when the time is right is the optimal choice for maximizing overall benefits.

Wang Kai dared not resist and obediently issued the king's order. Zhao Zicheng sent messengers to deliver the proclamation, and within a month or two, he had taken control of all parts of Goryeo.

Zhao Zicheng was also very trustworthy, allowing the Goryeo civil officials who voluntarily surrendered to retain their original administrative power, but the garrison and defense were completely taken over by the Song army.

As for the Goryeo civil officials who did not surrender and were killed, the vacant positions were arranged by Zhao Zicheng himself, and a few could even be allocated to Song Jiang's brothers, which can be considered a win-win situation.

(End of this chapter)