Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 506: Incheon Landing
"My Lord, a loyal minister does not serve two masters. When your King of Goguryeo ascended the throne, it was your Majesty who conferred the title upon him. How could you not be trustworthy?"

Su He looked at the Goguryeo king's younger brother Bao Yanjun in front of him and shouted angrily.

Baoyan Jun was probably in his twenties, with a slender figure. After his elder brother had no heir, the ambition of this crown prince grew, and he always held himself to the standards of the King of Goguryeo.

Now that the king of Goguryeo was seriously ill, he took immediate action and almost took control of the entire Goguryeo court.

It is obvious that Baoyan Jun's ambition has expanded. He not only wants the Wei court in Guanzhong to agree to his succession to the throne of Goguryeo, but also wants the emperor to enthrone him as the King of Joseon and confirm that their Goguryeo is the orthodox Joseon.

So after hearing that another faction in the court had welcomed Erzhu Rong's envoy Huke Chun, Baoyan's attitude became even tougher.

Su He simply responded to Baoyan's rude request with righteous words, which made Baoyan feel that the Wei court was just a weak entity.

Baoyan was well-versed in Chinese classics and could speak fluent Chinese. He said:

"My Goguryeo is the orthodox Joseon. If you, the Central Plains, had not supported Silla and Baekje and instigated internal strife among us, we would not have failed to unify for so long."

"Besides, Goguryeo originated in Liaodong. If your country wants us to send troops, you need to recognize our homeland!"

There are several theories about the origin of Goguryeo. The country recognized in their own official national history was located in Goguryeo County, Xuantu Commandery, Western Han Dynasty, and its early capital was in Heshenggu City (now Huanren, Liaoning Province).

Later, during the Han Dynasty, Goguryeo was defeated many times and retreated to the Korean Peninsula. It began to develop in the Han River Basin and then moved its capital to Pingcheng.

When Baoyan raised the issue of the old capital, he was actually asking for the right to claim the Liaodong region and demanding that the Wei regime in Guanzhong cede Liaodong.

Su He was naturally furious, but Bao Yan still looked at him smugly.

These days, Baoyan gained the support of court officials and greatly increased his reputation thanks to his tough attitude towards the envoys from Wei.

Now there are two emperors coexisting in the world. The Great Wei in Guanzhong is called the Western Wei, and the Yuan Ziyou regime controlled by Erzhu Rong is called the Eastern Wei.

In fact, the attitude of most Goguryeo ministers was to form an alliance with the Western Wei regime in Guanzhong.

Making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones is a correct diplomatic strategy in itself. Moreover, in the minds of people all over the world, the legitimacy of the Western Wei Dynasty is much greater than that of the Eastern Wei Dynasty.

It’s just that the more others need you, the more they will wait for a good price. Baoyan continued:
"If your Excellency does not wish to talk, I will talk to the envoy from the east once he arrives in Pingcheng."

After saying this, Baoyan turned away.

After Baoyan left, an ordinary-looking servant came to Suhe.

Su He also regained his composure, put on a calm expression, and said to the servant:

"Have you found out the defense situation of Pingcheng?"

The ordinary-looking servant lowered his head and said:
"I have already found out that the defense of Pingcheng is very lax. The general guarding the city is the uncle of the King of Goguryeo. He likes to talk about scriptures in his mansion and rarely goes to the government office."

Su He nodded. For Goguryeo, the main threats came from two ends.

On one side is the Yajiang area bordering Liaodong. After the rise of the Khitans, they often invaded Goguryeo from here and plundered their population and food.

On the other side was Silla and Baekje in the south. These two small countries often joined forces to attack Goguryeo's southern border. In recent years, Goguryeo's national strength has been declining, and it has lost a lot of land in the war with Silla and Baekje.

In comparison, Pyongyang is relatively safe.

Pyongyang is blocked by mountains to the north and south, so Goguryeo was able to defend the capital by setting up checkpoints.

As for the sea, there had been no large-scale sea crossing battles in those days, and no one had ever thought that the enemy would come from the sea.

Su He felt more relieved. The carelessness and laxity of the people in Goguryeo created the conditions for the implementation of the plan, and what he had been doing these days was to make the people in Goguryeo even more lax.

To this end, Su He kept going back and forth between the residences of the major ministers, and even took out gold, silver and jewelry to bribe them, making the Goguryeo monarchs and ministers believe that the Western Wei would not survive without Goguryeo.
This is why the conversation just now took place.

However, days like this won’t last long. Counting the days, General Yuwen should be crossing the sea soon.
-
In a small town outside Pingcheng, the Eastern Wei envoy Hu Sichun was worried.

The attitude of his subordinates was very strange. It was obvious that the Goguryeo envoy Jin Bi was humble and the conditions he proposed were not harsh, and it seemed that he could complete the task.

Hu Sichun said to his attendants:
"If Goguryeo really wants to unite with us, they should go to Pingcheng as soon as possible and submit the letter to the king to sign an alliance, instead of dragging their feet like this. There must be some trickery involved."

Hu Sichun was good at flattery, so he was very much loved by Erzhu Rong and often participated in Erzhu Rong's conspiracies.

Because he was involved in many conspiracies, Hu Sichun was very good at reading people's minds, and he always felt that there was something wrong with the envoys from Goguryeo.

He said to those around him:

"Go and invite the Golden Messenger over. After we start talking, you will sharpen your knives in the back. Remember?"

The two men nodded immediately.

After a while, the messenger Jin Bi was brought into Hu Sichun's room.

As soon as Jin Bi came in, Hu Sichun immediately glared and said:
"Emissary Jin, I have been sharing my heart with you all along the way, why do you want to harm me?"

After saying this, Hu Sichun glared angrily and put his hand on the hilt of the knife, scaring Jin Bi so much that he took two steps back.

Hearing the sound of knife sharpening in the yard, Jin Bi, who was a civil official, almost peed himself with fright. He said quickly:
"What are you saying? I am also sincerely entertaining you and would not dare to be negligent in the slightest!"

Hu Sichun continued:
"Messenger Jin is still unwilling to tell me the truth!?"

After Hu Sichun's attack, Jin Bi's psychological defense collapsed and he could only tell the story of Pingcheng again.

Jin Bi whispered:

"Originally, the Left Prime Minister wanted to invite your envoy to meet the king and sign an alliance with your country, but now the king's younger brother Bao Yanjun is powerful and has already controlled Pingcheng. The Left Prime Minister sent someone to inform the envoy not to let your envoy enter Pingcheng for the time being. It's not that we don't want to sign a treaty!"

As expected, Hu Sichun revealed the truth.

There were two factions within Goguryeo: the powerful ministers faction, headed by Zuo Xiang, who proposed to support the young royal family, and the king's younger brother faction, headed by Goguryeo's younger brother Bao Yangun, who were competing for power.

Now Baoyan Jun had the upper hand and controlled the seriously ill King of Goguryeo, so the powerful ministers did not dare to let Hu Sichun enter Pingcheng.

Hu Sichun asked:
"May I ask what plans the Left Prime Minister has?"

Jin Bi said like a naive person:
"Lord Zuo Xiang is trying to find a way to meet the king. As long as we can get the king's will, we can expel these treacherous ministers!"

Hu Sichun was already in despair. You Goguryeo are not good at fighting, so how come your political struggle level is also such a joke?

What's the use of getting the will of a puppet ruler who is seriously ill and controlled by his younger brother?

But Hu Sichun thought of the coups d'état by King Qinghe and King Jiangyang. Well, the level of political struggle in our Great Wei was not that high.

There is no way. After experiencing the chaotic times of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it seems that the whole world's standards have regressed.

Hu Sichun had secretly come to the conclusion that Goguryeo could no longer be trusted.

With the current level of the powerful ministers, I'm afraid they can't defeat that prince prince.

Hu Sichun frowned, he discovered a key problem.

It is obvious that Liaodong is closer to Goguryeo, and Gao Huan also sent cavalry to block the road to Goguryeo.

He said quickly:
"How did the false emperor's envoy arrive in Pingcheng?"

Jinbi said:

"It is said that he came across the sea."

Hu Sichun's expression became even uglier. He said:

"Crossing the sea? Where did they land? How big was their ship?"

Jin Bi said, not knowing anything:
"I don't know. I just heard that they landed on a ship. Pingcheng is not near the sea, and no one has seen their ship. However, the delegation was quite large, and they brought a lot of property, so the ship should be quite large."

Huke Sichun's expression changed completely. He was completely speechless about these Goguryeo people!

Such a large delegation crossed the sea and entered a country's capital, but no one bothered to ask how they got here?
From this we can also see how big the defense loopholes of the entire Goguryeo were and how poor the control over the grassroots was!
They are indeed foreign barbarians!

Hu Sichun had already given up hope on Goguryeo. He said to the golden wall:

"Have you ever thought that if they can send envoys to Pingcheng by sea, can they also send troops to Pingcheng by sea?"

"Have you, the Goguryeo people, never thought about this problem?"

Jin Bi shook his head blankly and said, "The sea is vast. Silla and Baekje also have some ships, but they can only sail along the coast and are easily capsized. It is impossible to transport too many troops. Moreover, Pingcheng is the capital of our Goguryeo. How can it be easily captured? Your Excellency is worrying too much."

Worry?

Hu Sichun was about to explode with anger.

Seeing that Jin Bi still didn't take it seriously, Hu Sichun sent him away and called his attendants to say:
"This time, Yuwen Tai got there first. Go investigate the situation near Pingcheng in the next few days. Report to me immediately if there is any movement!"

Hu Sichun fell into deep thought. Should he return to Liaodong immediately and let Gao Huan send troops to attack Goguryeo immediately, or should he stay in Goguryeo and observe the situation?
Hu Sichun was good at planning but not good at making decisions, and he fell into hesitation.

Not long after Hu Sichun sent out his men, several large ships appeared on the coast of Incheon. The fishermen looked at the ships curiously as they approached the shore. Yuwen Tai, who had vomited all over the place, finally stood on land.

This time, Yuwen Tai's voyage was surprisingly smooth, but Yuwen Tai, who was able to perform various actions on horseback, felt dizzy on the boat.

It was not until his feet touched the land that Yuwen Tai felt at ease.

"Control this fishing village and don't let a single dog escape!"

It would take time for the soldiers to disembark and for the weapons and horses to be transported off the boat. Yuwen Tai immediately ordered the fishing village to be blocked and ordered the soldiers to start moving immediately.

Yuwen Tai looked at the sky and ordered the soldiers to rest in the fishing village for one night and head to Pingcheng immediately tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)