mtl008 Chapter 697 Gongsun Yuan's Confidence
Chapter 697 Gongsun Yuan's Confidence
Sima Yi's conquest of Liaodong, destruction of Goguryeo, and slaughter of the Xianbei in this battle made him famous overnight, and his return to the capital would surely shock the world.
Although Sima Yi's actions were swift and decisive, he failed to resolve the matter completely, leaving Gongsun Yuan to escape unscathed.
To avoid Sima Yi's advance, Gongsun Yuan infiltrated Lelang County, the capital of Korea. He originally planned to replenish his supplies there and then enter the Gaima Plateau to wage guerrilla warfare against Sima Yi. However, shortly after hiding in the Gaima Plateau, he received news that Sima Yi had left Liaodong and launched a surprise attack on the Xianbei leader Kebineng.
He was not surprised to receive this news. Although he was the second son of the Gongsun family, he had been operating in Xiangping for decades and was a local strongman. His elder brother, Gongsun Huang, although the eldest son, had been away from home as a hostage in Cao Wei for many years, and it was impossible for him to control the situation in a short period of time.
Therefore, Gongsun Yuan easily obtained the information he wanted from Xiangping. After learning that Sima Yi had left, he immediately changed his mind and returned to Joseon City, preparing to use the peninsula as a base to confront Gongsun Huang head-on.
However, Gongsun Yuan did not rush to deal with Gongsun Huang, but instead turned his attention to the two commanderies of Lintun and Zhenfan in the south, as well as the three Han states.
It is worth mentioning that although the Korean Peninsula belongs to the Han Dynasty, it is not entirely part of it. There are three independent tribes at the southern tip of the peninsula: Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan, collectively known as the Three Hans.
The Three Hans were located at the southernmost tip of the peninsula. The combined territory of the Three Hans was probably less than two-thirds the size of the later Korean peninsula, making them extremely small.
Previously, the Gongsun clan was busy dealing with Goguryeo and had no time to spare for these three small tribes. Gongsun Yuan was living a good life in Xiangping and was too lazy to bother with them. But now that Gongsun Yuan had been beaten into a stray dog by Sima Yi and was so poor that he was almost begging for food, he naturally couldn't be picky anymore. After pacifying the two commanderies of Lintun and Zhenfan, he immediately led his army south and easily destroyed the three Han tribes, bringing the Korean Peninsula completely into the territory of the Han Dynasty.
Even a defeated and homeless dog could easily destroy the Three Han states. This truly proves the saying: when the Central Plains dynasty is strong, it can crush the surrounding small countries; when the Central Plains dynasty collapses, it can crush the surrounding small countries.
Sure enough, a mere speck of dust from the Central Plains dynasty, named Gongsun Yuan, crushed the Three Han tribes.
The Sanhan tribes felt wronged, extremely wronged.
As for why Gongsun Huang didn't launch a surprise attack when Gongsun Yuan attacked the Three Han states, it wasn't that he didn't want to, but rather that he couldn't afford to.
Gongsun Huang had just taken office as governor and had a lot of government affairs to deal with, as well as the recently conquered Goguryeo. How could he have time to deal with this treacherous younger brother?
This gave Gongsun Yuan time to run rampant on the peninsula. Gongsun Yuan had no intention of presenting prisoners to the court, nor did he have the patience to educate the Three Hans. Therefore, he beheaded all the princes and nobles of the Three Hans, established counties in the Three Hans, and incorporated them into the Lintun and Zhenfan counties. Afterward, he began to accumulate strength to prepare for a counterattack on Liaodong.
Less than a month after the Three Hans were destroyed, Ji Jie's fleet arrived.
Upon receiving the news, Gongsun Yuan immediately went to meet him and successfully reunited with Ji Jie at sea.
The peninsula has no port, so the treasure ships of the Han Dynasty could not dock and could only meet at sea.
Gongsun Yuan took a small boat to the sea, climbed onto the treasure ship with the help of a rope ladder, and came to Ji Jie, crying and wailing, "General Ji, Commander Ji, you must do justice for me! I have suffered so much these past few days."
Without saying a word, he started by playing the victim, leaving Ji Jie completely bewildered. He asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"
Gongsun Yuan recounted in detail how his uncle had betrayed him, and said indignantly, "That damned Sima Yi not only turned my uncle against me, but also sent Gongsun Huang to be the governor, and even lured and killed King Gao Yanyou of Goguryeo, easily destroying Goguryeo. And that's not all, even the weapons that Your Majesty sent to aid me were taken away by Sima Yi."
Ji Jie was speechless, but he could only comfort him helplessly, "It's good that you're still alive. If you had died, we would have been doomed. Now it's all right. I've made it through. The hardest days are over."
"This time I brought you 30,000 shi of grain, thousands of sets of weapons and farm tools, and also brought back the two hundred personal guards you sent to Jiangling for training. With them, you will be more confident in dealing with Gongsun Huang."
Gongsun Yuan was overjoyed, but he did not get carried away. Instead, he knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction of Jiangling, shouting, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Now Liu Bei has become his only support. If he wants to survive Cao Wei's attacks, he must stick close to Liu Bei.
Ji Jie didn't linger; after handing over the personnel and goods, he sailed away.
Gongsun Yuan, along with Yang Zuo and other trusted confidants who had returned from studying abroad, stood on the shore to see Ji Jie off. After Ji Jie's figure had completely disappeared from sight, he patted Yang Zuo on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Brothers, it's great that you're back. With your help, Gongsun Huang is nothing! Come on, let's eat and drink. We won't leave until we're drunk tonight."
After saying that, he led his students to the capital of the Mahan tribe and began to hold a grand banquet. After several rounds of wine and dishes, Gongsun Yuan laughed and said, "Tell me what you have learned in Jiangling."
He now occupies the entire Korean Peninsula, and such a large territory naturally requires a large number of talented people. Therefore, the return of these two hundred people is like sending charcoal in snowy weather for him.
But to know how to use these two hundred people, we must first understand their talents.
Yang Zuo answered first: "Reporting to the general, when we arrived in Jiangling, we were divided into two teams. One team of two hundred men went to the military camp to learn military strategy from Marquis Shence, while the other team of thirty-four men was taken by Prime Minister Zhuge to learn how to handle government affairs. During the training, His Majesty and General Guan also came to give us lessons. The brothers are now incredibly strong. General, please feel free to give any orders. The brothers swear to be loyal to the general to the death."
What nonsense about swearing loyalty to the death! I bet if Liu Bei beckoned, you'd all run to his side.
Gongsun Yuan was aware of this but was too lazy to care. Even he had pledged allegiance to Liu Bei, let alone these Jiangling students.
Moreover, given their experience studying in Jiangling, the possibility of these people being bribed by Gongsun Huang is extremely low. In other words, he can use them with peace of mind and doesn't need to worry about them betraying him.
After all, these people have already pledged allegiance to the Han Dynasty. He is no longer their lord but their superior. As long as he does not rebel against the Han, they will do their best to help him. This is definitely a good thing for him at the moment.
Gongsun Yuan said excitedly, "That's wonderful! We've just destroyed the Three Han states and are in dire need of governance. Your return is perfectly timed. Let's drink!"
That night, everyone got completely drunk. The next morning, Gongsun Yuan went to talk to each of the more than thirty students who had been personally taught by Zhuge Liang. After understanding their talents, he immediately decided to replace all the officials in the three counties of Lelang, Lintun, and Zhenfan who might rebel, and appoint these students who had returned from studying abroad as local officials in the counties of the three counties, so as to quickly restore people's livelihood and provide him with food and supplies.
These students were all locals, and most of them came from Liaodong aristocratic families. They were already familiar with the situation in the three prefectures. After returning from their studies abroad, they were full of enthusiasm. After receiving their appointments, they immediately went to their posts, visited various places to investigate the local conditions, collect household registrations, and publicize national policies. They quickly stabilized the emotions of the local people and then waited for the spring plowing.
At the same time, Gongsun Yuan also withdrew to Joseon City to begin training a new army in preparation for resisting Gongsun Huang's attack.
Although Sima Yi left, most of the 50,000 troops he brought to attack Liaodong remained in Liaodong, meaning he was still at a disadvantage against Gongsun Huang.
But with the support of the Han Dynasty, he was no longer afraid even when he was at a disadvantage.