Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 503 Goguryeo

In Houcheng, Gao Huan was wearing Khitan clothes and drinking with several Khitan chiefs.

In fact, in terms of bloodline, Gao Huan was a Han Chinese, but he grew up in the Six Garrisons in his childhood and was heavily influenced by the Xianbei people.

After he got married, he got a job in Luoyang and began to become more and more Sinicized.

According to the normal trajectory, Gao Huan would probably be assimilated into a Han Chinese general, which is what he has always done.

By making friends with Gao Aocao and gaining the support of local gentry in Hebei, Gao Huan also learned the etiquette of the Han people and even "returned to his ancestral home" and became a descendant of the Gao family of Bohai.

However, in Gao Huan's view, blood and nationality are not issues for him.

After he entered Liaodong, in order to get closer to the Khitans, he quickly learned their customs and even dressed like the Khitans.

Sima Ziru was quite critical of this, but Dou Tai and Wei Jing didn't care.

Gao Huan was such a pragmatist. He accepted Sinicization in order to be able to get promoted more easily within the Northern Wei system, and he gave up Sinicization in order to gain more capital in troubled times.

After getting drunk with his guests, Gao Huan arranged for them to stay. Then Sima Ziru brought a spittoon, and Gao Huan held his throat and vomited out the wine in his stomach. Only then did he sober up a little.

Dou Tai was already drunk.

In the last battle, Dou Tai was captured, but Yuwen Tai quickly exchanged him for hundreds of elite soldiers.

But after being exchanged back, Dou Tai developed a problem with alcoholism.

It wouldn't be a big problem for a military general to love drinking, but Dou Tai's temper became more and more violent, and even Gao Huan couldn't stand it anymore.

It’s just that there are not many talented people under my command now, so I can only use him as he is needed.

In comparison, family members are more reliable.

Wei Jing was Gao Huan's brother-in-law. He arranged for these Khitan nobles to stay and then returned to Gao Huan's mansion.

After Wei Jing came back, the three of them started discussing business.

Sima Ziru said:

"It's a pity that Yuwen Tai escaped last time. I didn't expect this guy to be so difficult to deal with."

Gao Huan sighed and said:

"The Yuwen family is full of outstanding people, especially Yuwen Tai, who is the most powerful. It's a pity that the general doesn't use him."

The great general that Gao Huan was referring to was naturally the Tianzhu General Erzhu Rong.

Although Gao Huan secretly used a shady trick to kill Yuwen Luosheng, he still respected the Yuwen brothers very much.

Such a talent was forced into Su Ze's hands and has now become a big trouble for Gao Huan.

"If we had known this would happen, we should have killed Yuwen Tai back then," said Wei Jing.

Sima Ziru shook his head and said:

"The Yuwen family has a long-standing reputation in the Six Garrisons. If we kill him, it will damage the reputation of the lord."

To put it bluntly, Gao Huan's foundation was too shallow.

His main team were the survivors of the Six Garrisons, but Gao Huan's reputation among the Six Garrisons was not high, far less than that of the Heba brothers.

Not only are they inferior to the Heba brothers, they are even inferior to the younger generation such as Yuwen Tai.

After Erzhu Rong defeated Ge Rong, most of the former soldiers of the Six Garrisons were handed over to the Heba brothers for command. Gao Huan's team was all put together by his own hard work over the years.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Gao Huan defeated those "Erzhus" through a series of operations after Erzhu Rong's sudden death, and then defeated the Heba brothers. Only then did he gain the loyalty of the soldiers of the Six Garrisons and finally obtained the capital to establish a country.

In order to fight against Yuwen Tai, Gao Huan had to become a Khitan.

Although Gao Huan felt that Khitanization was not as good as Hanization, the situation was stronger than the people.

Rubbing his brows, Gao Huan asked again: "How is Goguryeo doing?"

Like Yuwen Tai, when Yanmen Pass fell into a stalemate, Gao Huan also began to set his sights on the surrounding forces.

The largest power in Liaodong was Goguryeo.

Goguryeo was actually a regime active in Liaodong and the Korean region, and was not closely related to later Korea.

It's just that when the Koreans were compiling history books, in order to attach themselves to their ancestors, they found the more powerful Goguryeo in history and insisted on recognizing it as their ancestor. Goguryeo had experienced a period of prosperity, which was after King Jangsu ascended the throne a hundred years ago. Goguryeo gained an advantage in the wars against Silla and Baekje. At the end of King Jangsu's reign, it also accepted the canonization of the Northern Wei Dynasty and suppressed the development of the Khitan.

However, every dynasty has its ups and downs, and Goguryeo is now in a period of decline.

The current ruler of Goguryeo is called King Anzang.

When King An Zang first ascended the throne, the Northern Wei Dynasty conferred on him the title of "General of Andong, Commander in Chief of the Protectorate of the Eastern Yi, Founding Duke of Liaodong County, and King of Goguryeo".

However, after the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons, King An Zang sent envoys to Southern Liang and was conferred the title of General Ningdong and King of Goryeo by Emperor Wu of Liang.

It was normal for a small country to jump back and forth, but at this time, the attitude of Goguryeo towards the Central Plains was divided into two factions.

One group believed that they should get close to the Northern Wei and unite with it to suppress the rising Khitans. They believed that Southern Liang was too far away from Goguryeo and could not be relied upon if something happened.

Another faction believed that the Northern Wei Dynasty had run out of luck and that the world was about to fall into chaos. Now was the time to jump ship. Xiao Yan had always had a reputation for kindness, so joining him was the best choice.

The debate over the diplomatic route, fueled by internal conflicts within Goguryeo, gradually became a force that split Goguryeo.

What's even worse is that the King of Goguryeo has not given birth to any children yet.

The two factions, which had been fighting each other to the death, have now started an even more intense fight over the issue of the successor to the throne.

Among them, the faction close to the Northern Wei supported King Anzang's younger brother Baoyan as the next king, while the other faction believed that the heir should be found from the young and distant royal bloodline. The struggle between the two sides became more intense, and Goguryeo's national power declined.

Gao Huan also saw the Goguryeo people. Although he looked down on them, if they were won over by Yuwen Tai, he would be attacked from both sides.

Therefore, Gao Huan also sent envoys to the Khitan in the name of Erzhu Rong, asking them to submit to the Luoyang court and send troops to help Gao Huan.

At the same time, Gao Huan was able to think of Goguryeo, and it was obvious that Yuwen Tai could also think of it. Gao Huan sent scouts to patrol and capture and kill Yuwen Tai's envoys to prevent him from sending envoys to Goguryeo.

The envoy sent by Gao Huan was Hukeshun, who was sent to Liaodong by Erzhu Rong together with him.

Huke Sichun was a close minister of Erzhu Rong. Erzhu Rong asked him to go to Liaodong with Gao Huan, and also wanted him to monitor Gao Huan.

Gao Huan just found a job and asked Hu Sichun to go to the capital of Goguryeo. It would be best if Hu Sichun could persuade Goguryeo to surrender. But if the Goguryeo people killed Hu Sichun, it would give Gao Huan a reason to attack Goguryeo and eliminate this threat.

Gao Huan had made all kinds of calculations, but he did not expect that Yuwen Tai's envoy did not go to Goguryeo by land.
-
Su He stood at the bow, looking at the surging waves, and directed the sailors to fold the sails.

Su He was arranged by Su Ze to be with Yuwen Tai. As a craftsman, he had no interest in building cities. When he arrived in Liaodong, he had only one request, which was to ask Murong Shaozong to build a dock for him.

Next, Su He began to tinker with shipbuilding. It was not until several envoys sent by Yuwen Tai were intercepted and killed by Gao Huan that Su He found Yuwen Tai and proposed a crazy plan to him.

"From the sea?"

Although sea vessels are not rare things, they are still very rare for Yuwen Tai, who grew up in the northern border.

He had only heard that there were ships from overseas in the southern ports. For example, the great monk Bodhidharma from Liangzhou came to Southern Liang by ship and then entered Guanzhong.

Is it possible to sail only in the northern sea?
Su He explained to Yuwen Tai:
"When Goguryeo submitted to the Southern Liang, it sent ships to Jiankang. The northern sea is actually safer than the southern sea."

What Su He said was true. The southern seas were often hit by storms and there was a risk of capsizing at any time. So when Bodhidharma came here by boat, he thought it was a life-threatening situation.

When it came to the Tang Dynasty, when Japan sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, they also took the northern route and rarely took the southern route.

Later, something happened on the northern route, and when Jianzhen was about to cross the sea to the east, he could no longer take the northern route, so he risked entering Japan from the southern route.

Seeing Su He's solemn promise, he also said that he could go to Baekje and Silla along the way. These two countries were also on the Korean Peninsula, as bargaining chips in negotiations with Goguryeo. Yuwen Tai agreed to let him take a ship to Goguryeo.

However, Su He thought that the journey was safe, but he encountered a storm after setting sail. After fighting the storm for several days, he didn't know where he was taken.

Fortunately, the northern route basically sails along the continental shelf. Su He used his telescope to discover the land, and he immediately ordered the sailors to sail towards the land.

When Su He's ship docked, they found that this was actually a small fishing village. The people in the village had never seen such a big ship before, and they fled in fear.

Su He could only order his soldiers to disembark and finally found the chief of the fishing village. However, the chief knew nothing about anything he asked. He only knew that this was Goguryeo, but he didn't even know what year it was or which Goryeo king was in power.

When I asked about the location of the fishing village, I only knew that it was not far from Pyeongseong, the capital of Goguryeo. However, because the village was too far away from the city, the lords did not even send tax collectors to collect taxes, and the village did not have a name.

Su He took out the sea chart sent by Duke Su, and after repeated confirmation, he determined that this should be the "Pingchuan" area mentioned by the Duke.

Pingchuan was indeed not far from Pingcheng, the capital of Goguryeo. Su He left sailors and some soldiers to guard the ship, then took out the envoy's ceremonial weapons and began to move towards Pingcheng.

Sure enough, after walking for dozens of miles, Su He saw a simple rammed earth city wall. If it weren't for the map of Su Jungong, he would have thought it was an ordinary county town in the Central Plains.

Is this Pyeongseong, the capital of Goguryeo?
Su He secretly calculated that the defense of Pingcheng could be conquered with just a few thousand elite soldiers, right?

He immediately called a smart messenger and asked him to return to Pingchuan and sail back to report to Yuwen Tai!
(End of this chapter)