marquis of jingan

Chapter 1445 Liaodong Strategy
This was the plan Shen Yi had decided early in the morning.

Originally, this was just a simple military plan, but because of the conversation between him and the emperor some time ago, this military action took on some political implications.

But no matter what, Shen Yi has to do this.

What we have to mention is the current situation in Goryeo.

If we follow the historical process of another world, Goryeo at this time would have been renamed Joseon, but this era is still Goryeo, the Lee Dynasty Goryeo.

Goryeo was originally a vassal state of Dachen. Eighty years ago, after Zhuli Zhenren occupied half of the northern territory, because they were from Liaodong and the Korean Peninsula was also in the northeast, Goryeo changed its allegiance and became a vassal state of Northern Qi.

This is also the reason why Shen Yi has attacked Goryeo in recent years.

Because from a legal point of view, Dachen had a reason to attack Goryeo, which was to punish traitors.

Although after Shen Yi recovered the north ten years ago, Goryeo sent envoys to Jiankang and handed in a letter of credence, becoming a vassal state of Dachen again, but because of Goryeo's past of double-dealing, Shen Yi would not encounter much resistance from the court when he took action against them.

And now is a good opportunity.

The heavenly soldiers of Dachen asked Goryeo for permission to pass through their territory, but Goryeo was probably not willing to do so.

It’s not that they have any ulterior motives, but because the area outside Liaodong Pass is still occupied by Master Zhuli.

Although Zhuli Zhenren has fallen on hard times and been driven outside the Great Wall to suffer, and his strength is now greatly reduced, it is not a big problem for him to turn around and deal with Goryeo.

Therefore, the Goryeo Kingdom did not dare to offend either side. They would not be willing to let Shen Yi pass through Goryeo and completely offend Zhu Lizhen's neighbors.

However, this is also the reason that Shen Yi is looking for.

If these Koreans were really so ignorant, Master Shen might have started his plan in advance.

After hearing what Shen Yi said, Ling Su lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "Mr. Shen, if everything goes well, how long will it take for General Su's troops to reach the vicinity of Shengjing?"

Shen Yi thought for a moment and said, "It will take at least two or three months. I need to write to Su Ding again to confirm the exact time."

Ling Su lowered his head and drank a sip of hot water, then smiled bitterly and said, "Originally, I could have contacted General Su, but he has had many misunderstandings about me over the years, so I'm afraid he won't treat me well."

Shen Yi shook his head and said, "General Ling is wrong about this. Su Ding is a man who always puts the war first. This war is intended to destroy Zhu Li Zhenren's recovery momentum and make them unable to catch their breath for at least a few years."

"This matter is not a big one, but it is definitely not a small one either. The two armies of you must be as close and depend on each other as you were during the Northern Expedition ten years ago."

At this point, Mr. Shen thought for a moment and said, "I guess Su Ding should take the initiative to write a letter to General Ling."

Ling Su was stunned for a moment, then he said, "Yes, his character is likely to send a letter to the future."

Ling Su wanted to say something else, but Master Shen coughed and waved his hand, saying, "This matter will take two or three months, so there is no rush. Let's eat first."

"After Senior Brother Zhang left, I haven't had anyone to sing and drink with for a long time. Now it just so happens that General Ling is here. We old brothers, let's have a good drink today."

Ling Su first smiled and said, "Okay, I will accompany you, Lord Shen."

Mr. Shen stood up and said with a smile: "Come on, let's go to the back and talk while we eat."

…………

Two days later, in the study of Marquis Shen's mansion.

For two whole days, the two of them didn't talk about business. It was only at this time that they began to seriously discuss the plan for the war.

Master Shen pointed to the map on his desk and said, "After they returned to their hometown ten years ago, Zhao Kai's son Zhao Xuan did quite well."

"According to intelligence, the number of Zhuli Zhenren is no longer decreasing, but has increased. Now there are about 600,000 to 700,000 Zhuli Zhenren outside the Great Wall."

"There are about 200,000 people in their Shengjing city."

A dozen or twenty years ago, when Zhuli Zhenren had the most people, there were almost two million people in Northern Qi. At its peak, the population was close to three million.

Even when they withdrew from Yanjing and fled north, Master Zhuli still had about two million people.

The reason why the current population size has dropped so much at once is not because more than one million people were killed by Master Shen, but because a large number of Zhuli Zhenren did not follow Zhao Xuan and escape to Shengjing outside the Great Wall.

Because of Shen Yi's policy in the north and the precedent set by King Zhao Xiong of Jin, more than half of the Zhuli Zhenren remained inside the Great Wall. Most of these Zhuli Zhenren were civilians. They did not plunder too much land. At most, they bullied the Han people during the Northern Qi Dynasty.

These people have been "naturalized" by Dachen.

Among these people, some still live near Yanjing, and the rest, planned by Shen Yi, mainly go to two places.

The first is Taiyuan.

Taiyuan was home to Zhao Xiong, the former King of Jin of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and Princess Xianyou of Zhuli Zhenren also lived here. It was considered one of the settlements of Zhuli Zhenren.

The other part was settled in a county with a population vacancy in northern Zhili.

Basically, an independent county was demarcated for these Zhuli Zhenren to live in.

The reason why they were allowed to live in groups was, firstly, to prevent them from integrating into the Han people, and secondly, it would be easier to manage them if they were concentrated together.

In short, the total number of Zhuli Zhenren outside the Great Wall today is less than half of the original Zhuli Zhenren population, which means that only a small half of the Zhuli Zhenren followed their "emperor" and fled outside the Great Wall.

The vast majority of these Zhuli Zhenren were nobles of Zhuli Zhenren. The reason why they fled north was very simple, that is, they had done something wrong.

They were afraid of revenge from the Han people.

By now, under the leadership of the young ruler of Northern Qi, Zhuli Zhenren had basically restored order, and the population also showed signs of recovery.

Shen Yi looked at Ling Su and said in a deep voice: "General Ling, our goal this time is not necessarily to kill all these Zhuli Zhenren, nor is it necessarily to capture Shengjing, but to let them see the power of the Great Chen King's Master."

"They can't recover in peace."

"And the most important thing is."

Master Shen said in a deep voice: "We will go out to meet the enemy. After we win the battle, if we encounter civilians in Zhulizhen, we will try our best to snatch them all back to the inside of the pass."

Ling Su seemed to be thinking about something, then lowered his head and said: "Mr. Shen, this will be more difficult..."

Although Ling Su did not say it explicitly, Shen Yi naturally understood the meaning of his words.

The simplest and most direct way to deplete Zhuli Zhenren's vitality is to wipe out their population. Among the methods of eliminating the population, tying them back is obviously the most difficult one.

Just kill them all at once, it’s simple and saves effort.

“Hatred can’t be killed.”

Shen Yi shook his head silently and said, "If we encounter fierce resistance, we will kill them all, but if they are willing to surrender, we will send them all to the interior."

It is not realistic to kill all the Zhulizhen clan in one go. Instead, the hatred will only grow deeper. When the border army of Dachen is weak one day in the future, these Zhulizhen people from Liaodong will make a comeback.

It will even be more ferocious.

If we want to completely eliminate future troubles, we must divide them and weaken them.

When the time is right, use Zhuli Zhenren to manage Zhuli Zhenren, and the hidden dangers will disappear.

After hearing this, Ling Su thought for a while and asked, "Mr. Shen, is the court going to move to Yanjing?"

Shen Yi glanced at him and suddenly smiled: "General Ling doesn't know?"

Ling Su looked dejected when he heard this, and shook his head, saying, "I don't know."

Mr. Shen shook his head silently: "In fact, I don't know much, but logically speaking, we should move in the next two years."

"Whether the imperial court moves or not, we have to do what we should do, and then..."

Mr. Shen stood up, patted Ling Su on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Even if the court returns to Yanjing, Shanhaiguan will probably still be guarded by you, General Ling. After a few years, let Ling Zhan take over General Ling's job."

"General Ling can also take a good rest for a few years."

Ling Su bowed his head, clasped his fists, and shook his head, saying, "Neither of these two sons is up to the task. I was just about to talk to Lord Shen about this."

"I am getting older and older. In recent years, I have been unable to handle many things in the army. After this battle is over, Lord Shen, please let Zhang Meng..."

"Just replace me."

Mr. Shen was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said,
"Discuss again, discuss again."

(End of this chapter)