My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 587 Perhaps it really is like that.
Back then, when Wei Man, a general under King Zang Tu of Yan, crossed the Yangtze River to the east, he eventually usurped the throne of Mustard Seed Joseon and established Wiman Joseon. In fact, the Han dynasty was somewhat unkind in this regard.

—Because in the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, after Emperor Gaozu ascended the throne on the banks of the Si River, the Korean Peninsula regimes such as Mustard Joseon, Mahan, and Jinbeon successively sent letters of submission to the Han Dynasty, requesting to become vassals.

Emperor Taizu Gao did not refuse, allowing the various Korean states to pay symbolic tribute to the Han Dynasty, and acknowledging that the Han Dynasty would henceforth become the suzerain state of the various Korean states, promising to protect the Korean states that had become vassals of the Han Dynasty.

The result was actually quite good;

When trouble really comes, the Han people will not only fail to lend a hand, but will also become a little brother protecting the Korean Peninsula.

Even Wei Man, who caused the trouble, was a rebel general who fled from the Han Dynasty to the Korean Peninsula because of his failure in political struggle!
To say that the Han dynasty was more likely to cause trouble than to achieve anything is perhaps an exaggeration.

However, it is entirely accurate to say that the Han dynasty "not only failed to protect its younger brother, but also caused trouble for him and made him forget the country."

However, back then, the Han people were too poor and too 'busy'.

Emperor Gaozu's remaining energy and lifespan, along with the Han dynasty's remaining war potential and resources, were all devoted to quelling the rebellions of the non-royal princes, or rather, eliminating the separatist forces of the non-royal princes.

When the Prince of Yan, Zang Tu, rebelled, Emperor Taizu Gao was able to personally lead the expedition, defeating Zang Tu and causing his death. It was already a very time-consuming and laborious task to quell the rebellion in Yan.

As for who Zang Tu's men were and where they had gone, Emperor Taizu Gaozu was somewhat unable to care.

Furthermore, Emperor Taizu Gao had something to say about Wiman's escape to the east and his being taken in by Mustard See Joseon.

—How can you act like a lackey like this!

—When I quelled the rebellion, the rebel's henchmen fled to you. Instead of killing or capturing them and sending them to me, you actually took them in.

--Should!

—You deserve to have your country destroyed!

Thus, the Han dynasty was powerless to help and displeased with Mustard See Joseon's acceptance of Wiman. Ultimately, they watched helplessly as Mustard See Joseon perished and Wiman Joseon rose to prominence.

As for Wiman Joseon, the Han Chinese attitude has always been rather ambiguous.

Strictly speaking, Wiman Joseon was a remnant of traitors, founded by Wiman, a former subordinate of King Zang Tu of Yan. From the perspective of the Han people, it was an absolute traitor and rebellious force.

However, from the perspective of national interests and the progress of civilization, Wiman Joseon's usurpation of Korea and its usurpation of the country could be considered a benefit to Chinese civilization and the Han people in a certain sense.

—Apart from the grasslands, for Chinese civilization, the most difficult thing about any new territory, in any other direction or place, has never been conquering it, but rather assimilating and integrating it.

For example, the Baiyue people in Lingnan were seemingly conquered by the First Emperor with a great deal of effort, who dispatched 500,000 troops to conquer the south.

In reality, the First Emperor's conquest of Lingnan was merely a relatively easy step in the process of bringing the Lingnan region into the embrace of Chinese civilization.

The real difficulty lies in the fact that, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the Baiyue people of Lingnan were gradually influenced by Chinese civilization due to the existence of the Wu and Yue kingdoms.

In short, it was a newly established land with uncivilized people, requiring decades, centuries, or even hundreds of years of cultural enrichment and nurturing by the Chinese civilization.

Once the nurturing is complete, and this land and its people truly accept and integrate into the embrace of Chinese civilization, then comes the final, natural step: military conquest.

The Baiyue people of Lingnan were like this, and the Korean Peninsula today, as well as the southwestern barbarians in the future, will be no exception.

The Lingnan Baiyue region, which had been nurtured and nourished for hundreds of years, finally borne mature fruit a few decades ago, which Qin Shi Huang (Ying Zheng) then plucked.

The southwestern barbarians also need Liu Rong to begin nurturing and cultivating them so that their descendants hundreds of years later—or even the emperors of the next and the next dynasties—can reap the fruits of their labor.

The reason why Wiman Joseon's usurpation and subversion of Mustard See Joseon was beneficial to the Han people was precisely for this reason.

There are many ways in which culture can nourish and enrich.

But regardless of the method, there is one prerequisite: openness.

Clearly, for nearly a thousand years, the Korean Peninsula remained isolated. Even the Mustard Seed Joseon regime, established by the Shang Dynasty royal family, remained like a duck floating in a river—completely untouched by the influence of Chinese civilization.

From this perspective, the Mustard See Joseon regime, as the vanguard force nurtured and nourished the Korean Peninsula by Chinese civilization, was clearly unqualified and failed to complete its mission.

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, when Wei Man usurped the throne of Mustard Seed Joseon, the court in Chang'an at the time saw it as replacing Mustard Seed Joseon with a new pioneer of civilization who was very likely to complete the task well, to take over the task of nourishing and sustaining the Korean Peninsula.

To put it bluntly, it's a form of cultural invasion. Leveraging the unique advantages of Chinese civilization, it aims to exert a "lower dimension" effect on the indigenous people of the Korean Peninsula, thereby accelerating cultural integration.

Furthermore, since the Zhou Dynasty, Chinese rulers have developed a concept that may not be correct, but is certainly not wrong.

—It's always better to keep the meat in the pot than to give it to someone else.

For example, the Zhou dynasty enfeoffed hundreds of vassal states, most of which became independent independent regimes, but they were still regimes controlled by the people of the Xia.

Ultimately, the First Emperor unified the country, and the vast lands that the Zhou dynasty expanded through the enfeoffment of its people truly became fertile ground for Chinese civilization.

After the fall of Qin and the rise of Han, similar views also existed in the minds of Han emperors—especially Liu Rong, the time traveler.

Liu Rong even had a rough plan!

In the future, after conquering the grasslands of Munan, Hexi, and even the more distant Mubei, as well as Lingnan and the Korean Peninsula, Liu Rong plans to maximize his control over these areas by granting fiefdoms.

This logic is easy to understand.

Take Hexi as an example—if you conquer it and establish prefectures and counties, then the people in charge of the local area will be bureaucrats who receive a fixed salary.

Although they are also burdened by the pressure of 'political achievements,' their enthusiasm for development is ultimately limited.

Of course, there will be those obsessed with official positions who put all their effort into development and rack their brains to gain political achievements.

But there will inevitably be Buddhist-like officials who just go through the motions, receiving their salary and showing up every day.

However, this problem did not exist with the enfeoffment system.

—By granting this land away, the enfeoffed vassal kings would see it as their own territory and property, the foundation to be passed down to their descendants. Their passion for development and enthusiasm for growth were virtually limitless, bordering on frenzied.

After all, the motivation to farm for someone else is different from the motivation to farm your own land.

To put it more simply, piece-rate wages and hourly wages represent two completely different levels of worker motivation.

This idea—the concept of 'promoting development and construction through enfeoffment, and then increasing the central government's control over the local areas through prefectures and counties'—was interpreted by Liu Rong as: "It's better to let the meat rot in the pot."

Like the King of Nanyue in Lingnan, or Zhao Tuo who declared himself the Emperor of Nanyue.

When Qin Shi Huang was still alive and the Qin Dynasty was still in power, Lingnan, under the control of Zhao Tuo, was undoubtedly one of the four commanderies of Lingnan under the Qin Dynasty.

After the fall of Qin and the rise of Han, Zhao Tuo established his own independent regime, effectively ruling as a king in the mountains of Lingnan.

From the perspectives of both the Qin and Han dynasties, Zhao Tuo of Lingnan was undoubtedly no good.

—From Qin's perspective, Zhao Tuo was a traitor who watched Qin Er Shi perish, defied his edicts, and refused to support the Central Plains.
For the Han dynasty, Zhao Tuo was a combination of many hostile factors, including remnants of the previous dynasty and separatist forces.

However, there is no doubt that if we set aside the concept of "dynastic rule" of the Qin and Han dynasties and look at it from the perspective of Chinese civilization, Zhao Tuo's control over Lingnan was undoubtedly a major advantage.

Whether Zhao Tuo established a separatist regime or declared himself emperor, he ultimately allowed Lingnan to rot in the pot called "Zhu Xia," rather than being controlled by the savages in the mountains and forests.

After the "Wu-Yue assimilation and Xia assimilation" of Lingnan that began in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the decades-long rule of Zhao Tuo, the land of Lingnan had essentially acquired the practical conditions to become a prefecture-level city of the Han Dynasty and the Chinese civilization—or at least a vassal state.

Sooner or later, the Lingnan region will truly be integrated into the embrace of Chinese civilization, becoming what future generations will recognize as the two lakes and two Guangs.

Liu Rong also firmly believed that even without his existence—even without him, the transmigrated emperor, to eliminate wrong options and point out the right path for Chinese civilization—Chinese civilization would eventually absorb the present-day Hexi into a future corridor.
Sooner or later, the present-day southern and northern parts of Mongolia will be absorbed into the future Inner and Outer Mongolia.

As for the significance of Liu Rong's existence, it is to speed up this process and avoid some detours as much as possible.

Of course, these are all things in the distant future.

Right now, Liu Rong needs to consider how to enfeoff several relatives and even kings of different surnames after conquering Hexi, Munan, and the Korean Peninsula.

As for what will happen in the future—whether these people launch a rebellion against the central government of the Han dynasty from the outside in, expand outwards, or emulate Zhao Tuo by establishing their own independent regimes and becoming mountain kings—Liu Rong doesn't care.

Liu Rong's primary goal was to shovel the meat into the pot.

As for whether the meat would ultimately rot in the pot, be divided up and eaten, or even poison the Han people, Liu Rong didn't care.

—In fact, compared to ordinary native emperors, the biggest difference of Liu Rong, this time traveler, is that he does not value the concepts of "the world as a family" and "my Han family" as much.

When faced with matters of national importance, indigenous emperors such as Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, Emperor Taizong Liu Heng, and Emperor Xiaojing Liu Qi would first think of "how great is the world of my Liu family" and "how great is the state of my Liu family".

As for the concepts of Zhuxia and Huaxia—it's not that they didn't have them, but rather that in this era, almost no civilization on the entire planet Earth truly developed a national consciousness.

In other words, the Chinese civilization vaguely put forward the primitive version of the awakening of national consciousness of "defense between Chinese and barbarians", or even just a sign or omen.

But Liu Rong was different.

Although this body belongs to a member of the Liu clan, and he is indeed the emperor of the Liu family, in Liu Rong's perception of importance, the Liu family will always be second.

The first priority is the various Xia peoples, the Huaxia people.

In short: if there is a measure that can greatly benefit Chinese civilization, but would cause heavy losses to the Liu family's "family-run empire," or even lead to the collapse of their ancestral temples, then Liu Rong would definitely consider it seriously.

Moreover, the reason for 'considering' rather than taking this measure directly is not because this move would harm the Liu family or the Han family, but because the necessity and risks of this measure are being considered.

If there is no risk, it is necessary, and it is entirely beneficial to Chinese civilization, then Liu Rong would not mind becoming the last emperor of the Han dynasty.

Of course, this is only an extreme case and an extreme way of expressing it.

In fact, there is no such measure that would be worth Liu Rong sacrificing the Han Dynasty for the long-term interests of Chinese civilization.

Closer to home.

In the first year of the late emperor's reign, the late emperor summoned all the princes and vassal kings from both inside and outside the capital to come to court for an audience, with the focus on the princes and vassal kings from the Guandong region.

Liu Rong, however, noticed the delegations from various Korean countries that had been summoned to Korea for an audience, and even the National Revolutionary Army itself.

For example, among the many scattered regimes on the Korean Peninsula, the most respectful and friendly to the Han people was the Jinbeon Kingdom, whose king personally came to Chang'an.

In addition, the kings of several other countries, such as Mahan and Goguryeo, originally intended to come in person, but were hindered by the fact that the area where the peninsula connects with the continental plate was almost entirely occupied by Wiman Joseon.

Upon learning that the rulers of these countries intended to go to Chang'an to pay homage to the Han emperor, Wiman Joseon naturally tried every means to obstruct their journey.

The reason why King Jinbeon was able to reach Chang'an smoothly was because Jinbeon was too small and too poor, and King Jinbeon was no different from ordinary Korean natives.
They were all dressed in tattered clothes and were so thin they were practically skin and bones, making it impossible for Wiman Joseon to distinguish this genuine Han Chinese king, or rather, the 'Han Chinese King', even if they tried to stop him.

The reason why Wiman Joseon would screen rather than indiscriminately detain and obstruct foreign missions was because the entire Korean Peninsula, including Wiman Joseon, did not resist trade with the Central Plains of China.

no way;
Like the barren grasslands, resources are extremely scarce on the Korean Peninsula.

Although there is black soil connected to the Yandong region, it is permafrost all year round. Even if it were given to the current Han Dynasty, they would not be able to grow it, let alone the 'prehistoric humans' in the area who still wear animal skins and use stone and bone tools.

That experience left a deep impression on Liu Rong.

Liu Rong discovered that everyone who came from the Korean Peninsula, whether king or envoy, official or noble, or servant or slave, exuded poverty from top to bottom and from the inside out.

The only difference between nobles and slaves is that slaves wear cloths whose original color, material, and style are indistinguishable.
When he went to the Xuan Shi Hall, he was dressed like a genuine beggar!

The nobles, on the other hand, wore strange clothes that were barely recognizable in their original color and shape, and their faces were covered with various white paints.

The paintings depict people who are neither human nor ghosts, and they claim this is their highest form of etiquette, only using these 'precious' paints on their faces when meeting their most distinguished guests...

(End of this chapter)