"If this is the case, then there will be only an empty city left in Pyongyang!" Qibi Heli said: "Then I'm afraid the future headquarters of the Andong Protectorate cannot be located here?"
“That’s true!” Can’t you stay long?”
Although history books usually refer to the three kingdoms of Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo together, it seems that they are three equal countries. But in fact, the area under Goguryeo's jurisdiction at that time bordered the Sea of Japan in the east; reached the Han River Basin in the south; crossed the Liao River in the northwest; and reached the Huifa River and the Second Songhua River Basin in the north; in fact, it included most of today's Liaoning Province and part of Jilin Province. and the vast landmass of North Korea, which far exceeds Baekje and Silla combined.
More importantly, compared to Silla and Baekje, Goguryeo is a country with greater "development possibilities". If Silla and Baekje wanted to expand, they could only choose between devouring each other or attacking north. However, Goguryeo was different. Its special geographical location allowed it to choose to expand in three directions: west, south, and east. When a certain direction encounters a strong enemy and is frustrated, they can change direction and take compensation in another direction. Eight hundred years of expansion formed a large Haidong country with the five tribes of Goguryeo as its core and composed of Mohe, Han and many other ethnic groups. So how does the Tang Dynasty govern this country now?
Although the imperial court has not yet issued an edict, senior Tang army officials such as Li Ji and Qibi Heli already have a rough idea of the future political structure—namely, the establishment of the Andong Protectorate, and the division of the old land of Goguryeo into a number of governorates, prefectures, and counties. , using local powerful leaders who were close to the Tang Dynasty as local officials, and then using capable and capable military generals to lead heavy troops to guard it. The geographical conditions of Goguryeo's hometown are complicated, the people's support is not attached, the climate is cold, the winter is long, the land is muddy in spring, and it is not suitable for large-scale military movements. Therefore, in addition to economic and political considerations, the establishment of the Anton Protectorate's government office should also consider military needs.
Seeing that neither Qibi Heli nor Xue Rengui agreed with his proposition, Li Ji turned his attention to Gao Kan. Gao Kan did not express his position immediately. His eyes stayed on the map. After a while, he said: "If you are not in Pyongyang, Then there are only Xincheng (Fushun) or Xiangping (today's Liaoyang, Liaoning Province). The new city has iron and the city walls are ready-made. Xiangping is the seat of the old Liaodong County. Although the city walls are dilapidated, it is close to the Liao River and the land nearby is fertile and easy to use. Reclamation, as long as a little improvement is done, it will be a good situation, and Xiangping is closer to Yingzhou, so the sudden cavalry can arrive overnight, which is also a benefit!"
"What about Wenzuo?"
When Li Ji finally asked, Wang Wenzuo already had a clue. He didn't care about the consequences of his answer. If he didn't say something when he should say it, he would be in trouble.
"The general believes that if we leave Pyongyang and do not defend it, in less than twenty years, we will hear beeps on the banks of the Yishui River day and night, and all our hard work will be in vain!"
Gao Kan's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly yelled: "King Governor, be careful what you say!" Although Qibi Heli and Xue Rengui did not speak, their expressions became solemn.
"What do Wen Zuo think?" Li Ji asked.
"First recall Jin Inwen, and then accuse his king Jin Famin on the grounds that the two sides of Silla are secretly colluding with the Goguryeo people. Please replace him with Jin Inwen. If he does not follow, then the troops of Goguryeo will be the vanguard. , our army will serve as our successors, and we will give China a helping hand to save our descendants from trouble!"
Wang Wenzuo's words were so straightforward that most people in the room took a breath. Dozens of torches illuminated the copper pedestals on the wall, shining like daylight. Wang Wenzuo glanced around. If he followed Li Ji's approach, he was afraid that these exquisite copper pedestals would be taken away as trophies and would only be left behind. The next piece of ruins.
Li Ji looked at Wang Wenzuo, and it was hard to tell anything from his face that looked like a dead tree. He stood up, walked to the map, looked at it for a while, and finally walked to Wang Wenzuo and spoke in a voice that only two people could hear. The clear voice said: "Maybe you are right, give up here, and you will be able to hear Hujia by the Yishui River day and night in twenty years; but if you do what you say, there may be greater dangers. Choose the better of two evils. Qing, I can only choose the latter one!"
Although Li Ji's voice was small, it was like thunder in Wang Wenzuo's ears. He raised his head instinctively, and the old man's cloudy eyes stared at him, like a lion in his twilight years, whose power still made people dare not look at him.
"Everything must be obeyed by the general manager!" Wang Wenzuo lowered his head.
"It would be great if I were twenty years younger, no, even ten years younger!" Li Ji sighed in a low voice: "Then I can adopt your strategy, but it's a pity that I am too old and you are too young. ! But you don’t have to be too disappointed, I should no longer be able to see the city wall of Chang’an, and you still have at least thirty years of good life. After I pass away, you can be as happy as you want!”
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Wang Wenzuo's residence.
"Bring me a dry towel!" Wang Wenzuo said loudly as soon as he walked into the yard: "Also, heat up the hot water quickly, I want to take a bath!"
Like a top twitched by a child, the servants moved quickly. Cui Hongdu, Shen Faseng and others who had been waiting for a long time looked at Wang Wenzuo in confusion. What happened at the military meeting? Why are you in such a hurry to take a shower?
"I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat!" Wang Wenzuo wiped his back and sighed: "The tiger is not defeated even after death. After all, he is a minister of the Zhuguo Kingdom who has experienced the founding war. It is really different!"
"What's going on?" Cui Hongdu asked, "Is it the British Duke?"
"That's right!" Wang Wenzuo said with a bitter smile: "The plan to destroy Silla was ruined. Not only that, the Goguryeo soldiers and civilians here will also be moved back to the country!"
"What about Pyongyang City?" Shen Faseng became anxious upon hearing this: "How many soldiers will be left to garrison it?"
"It's not determined yet!" Wang Wenzuo shook his head: "But after discussion, everyone feels that the future seat of the Anton Protectorate should be located in Xiangping!"
"Xiangping? Is it only a few days away from Yingzhou?" Cui Hongdu asked: "Why is it placed there? Doesn't that mean that the homeland of Goguryeo is given to the Mohe and Silla people?"
"It should be that the local land is flat, easy to irrigate, and easy to cultivate!" Wang Wenzuo sighed.
"Then what should we do?" Shen Fenseng asked anxiously: "I thought that after destroying Goguryeo, we would be connected to the land of the Tang Dynasty. Now it's better. We conquered Pyongyang but moved all the people away. What's the difference between that and before Goguryeo was destroyed?"
Since he was in the mansion and surrounded by his own people, Master Shen lost a lot of scruples in his words. When Wang Wenzuo went to the Japanese country, he first handed over the affairs of the Xiongjin Dudufu to Cui Hongdu. After Cui Hongdu led the troops to aid the Japanese country, he was the one who took charge of the affairs. Whether it was personal interests or the efforts he put into it, the Xiongjin Dudufu and Shen Faseng Already closely related. He even plans to spread his business here and become a prominent local family. What Li Ji did was tantamount to disappointing his expectations. How could he not be angry?
"Actually, this may not be a bad thing!" Ijilianbode suddenly said.
"Isn't it a bad thing?" Shen Faseng said angrily: "What do you know? This will turn the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion into an enclave. If there is another war in the future, Datang's reinforcements will have to go by sea!"
"Brother Shen is still too worried!" Yiji Lianbod smiled and said: "Have you forgotten? The King is still the Minister of Taizheng of our country, the king's biological father, and there are countless members of the Lang party who have received his favor. At that time, His Highness said With this order, it’s not just the Tang Dynasty’s army that is coming across the sea.”
"That's true!" Shen Faseng's eyes lit up: "I was anxious just now, but I didn't expect it!"
"Your Highness Taizheng!" Yiji Lianbod said: "Now that Goguryeo is newly destroyed, the imperial court wants to relocate the heroes and common people. I am afraid that people's hearts will be turbulent, and many people will flee into the mountains, forests and swamps and become a future trouble. Why not recruit heroes from them? For my use?"
"This is a good idea!" Wang Wenzuo nodded. He glanced at Ijilianbod with satisfaction: "Then I'll leave this matter to you. You can tell them that as long as they are willing to use me, the disciples will It’s still the same as before, we should use our people to grant land and land, and set up overseas counties so that they don’t have to worry!”
It turns out that the "hero" in Yijilianbod's mouth does not mean someone with outstanding talents, but refers to those powerful people who have enough appeal in the countryside and have a considerable number of followers. In normal times, these people will be loyal to the government and assume corresponding official positions; but when the situation is chaotic, such people will either gather their tribes to build forts in dangerous places to defend themselves, or they will lead their tribes to flee to a safe place. Anyway, both Baekje and Wa are vast and sparsely populated, with large tracts of land to be developed. Instead of just sitting back and watching these heroes be lured away by Silla or fleeing into dangerous places in the valleys to become bandits, it is better to lure them over and increase their own strength. .
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"General, just climb over the mountain in front and you'll be home!" the boy said excitedly.
"Don't call me general, I'm no longer a general!" Gao Jishe's voice sounded a little lonely.
"You are a general!" the boy insisted: "You have commanded tens of thousands of people, riding a tall horse, wearing iron armor, with a big flag flying behind you. Are you not a general?"
"That's all in the past!" Gao Jishe laughed, and the boy's persistence made his heart feel a little warm: "Now that the soldiers have been dismissed, only you and this horse are left with me. Old horse!"
"One day, one day everything will come back!" The boy insisted with a child's unique stubbornness: "You will be a general again then, right?"
"It's impossible!" Gao Jishe couldn't help but sigh: "Won't that day come back?"
"Why?" the boy asked puzzledly.
"The king is gone, the Kingdom of Goguryeo is gone, who can make me a general again?" Gao Jishe said with a smile: "I am just an ordinary person who wants to go home now. Everything is over!"
The boy frowned. It seemed that he still didn't understand the true meaning of what he just said. But this was also a good thing. He didn't need to be sad about the country's subjugation. By the time he understood it, the sadness had been diluted by time. . Thinking of this, Gao Jishe couldn't help but feel sad. He didn't have such luck.
"General! There's a car ahead!" the boy shouted.
The tall chicken coop saw it: it was a two-wheeled wooden ox cart with high sides, but it was not the ox that was pulling the rope hard, but a man and a woman, heading north along the ruts. He looks like a farmer. "Slow down," he told the boy, "don't let them think we have malicious intentions!"
The two men approached, and the farmer eyed them warily, but after the tall chicken coop showed that he meant no harm, they allowed the two to walk by. "We originally had a cow," the old man confided as they walked through the weed-covered fields, filled with soft mud puddles and charred trees, "but it was snatched away by the Silla people." His face He flushed because he was pulling the cart so hard, "My woman was also snatched away. Alas, many bad things happened along the way. Fortunately, the war was finally over. She escaped and the cow was probably eaten. I can only pull the car with her."
The woman looked at Gao Jishe with shy and curious eyes. Gao Jishe knew that he did not look like a farmer. Although his clothes were simple, the bow bag and quiver next to the saddle, as well as the horizontal knife on his waist, showed that he was at least Is a samurai. He nodded and said, "Yes, the battle is finally over, and I can go home intact. It is really blessed by the gods and Buddhas!"
"You're right!" The farmer agreed: "People will always encounter all kinds of bad things in this life. If you can get through it, you must be grateful. Look at us, although we don't have the cow, there are at least two people. They're all still alive, and there are so many radishes!" He pointed to the bullock cart behind him.
Infected by the farmer's optimistic mood, Gao Jishe couldn't help but laugh. He jumped off the horse, tied the reins to the shaft, and slapped the horse's butt twice hard. His old horse neighed twice in dissatisfaction, but still lowered its head. Pull the car up.
"Thank you so much!" The farmer laughed. He turned to the woman and said, "Just stop pulling. It's enough for me and the horse. Take a breather!" The woman laughed, but opened her mouth and said no. Speak up.
"She has no tongue!" said the boy.
"Shut up, don't talk nonsense!" Gao Chicken Coop gave the boy a chestnut that was neither light nor heavy. He could guess what happened to that woman. The war was really cruel, but the tenacity of the farmer couple made him It's so moving.
"There is a market town ahead!" The farmer laughed: "There are many things to buy and sell in it, and it is very safe. The leader there is a stern man. He asked the bandits he caught to chop off their thumbs the first time, and then chop them off the second time. head!"
"Yeah!" Gao Jishe nodded nonchalantly. He knew in his heart that many of the "bandits" the farmers called were demobilized soldiers. Although the war that just ended didn't last long, it still destroyed a lot of things. In the villages, many of the demobilized soldiers had no home at all. Many of them took up arms and fled into the mountains and forests. The leader's methods may be crude, but they are necessary.
