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In the spring of the twelfth year of its prosperous reign, Suning turned its attention to the East.

On the map, that long, narrow peninsula looks like a hand reaching out to the sea.

The Korean Peninsula, a place that the Great Zhou Dynasty had never truly set foot in before.

Although the King of Goryeo paid tribute and submitted to the Goryeo dynasty, it was only a nominal submission.

Every year, an envoy would be sent, bringing some local specialties, kowtowing a few times, and returning home in exchange for an imperial edict stamped with the imperial seal.

The Ministry of Rites also had to bestow a large number of gifts, making it a losing proposition no matter how you looked at it.

In reality, they live their own lives behind closed doors, and the Great Zhou has no say in it.

It's time to really do something about it.

How can we allow others to snore under our own beds? Some strategic locations must be firmly in our own hands.

Su Ning stood in front of the map, his finger pointing from Liaodong, across the Yalu River, and down to the land of Goryeo.

Then, starting from Dengzhou in Shandong, they sailed across the sea and landed on the west coast of the peninsula.

At a grand court assembly, Su Ning looked at the assembled officials and issued an edict: "The National Defense Army shall advance by land and sea to take the Korean Peninsula."

The courtiers were taken aback for a moment, then quickly echoed, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"The small country of Goryeo should have been dealt with long ago!"

Cao Bin stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the army into battle."

Pan Mei and Shi Shouxin also stepped forward: "Your Majesty, we are willing to serve as your deputies."

Su Ning nodded. "Alright. Cao Bin will be the commander-in-chief, with Pan Mei and Shi Shouxin as his deputies. Fifty thousand troops will be deployed by land and fifty thousand by water, to launch a coordinated attack."

"Remember, it's easy to conquer, but difficult to hold onto. What I want is not a piece of land that has been destroyed, but a peninsula that can peacefully submit to the Great Zhou."

Cao Bin cupped his hands in greeting, "Your subject understands."

On the day of the expedition, banners covered the sun outside the north gate of the capital, and war drums shook the heavens.

One hundred thousand soldiers stood in formation, their armor gleaming, their morale high.

The sunlight shone on the armor, reflecting a blinding light.

The warhorse snorted and pawed at the ground with its hooves.

The flag fluttered in the wind, and the large "Zhou" character on it looked like a burning fire.

Suning personally saw them off.

He stood on the reviewing stand, looking at the 100,000 soldiers.

There were veterans who had been with him since the reading camp, their faces etched with the marks of time; and there were new recruits from recent years, their faces still bearing the naivety of youth.

Regardless of whether they were veterans or new recruits, they all stood there, waiting for him to speak.

"My soldiers, Goryeo is a tiny place, not worth conquering with a large army. But I want you to remember—not an inch of the Great Zhou's territory can be lost. Not a single inch of the Great Zhou's dignity can be lost."

"If you take it, it's your achievement. If you hold it, it's your glory. Remember! Wherever the sun and moon shine, it's your land."

"Yes, Your Majesty! Wherever the sun and moon shine, that is our land."

"set off!"

The war drums sounded, and the bugles blared.

A massive army of 100,000 marched north.

The sound of horses' hooves shook the heavens and the earth, and flags blotted out the sky.

Looking down from the city tower, the winding procession resembled a giant dragon, slowly swimming northward.

Suning aims to instill a wolf-like spirit in the entire Zhou dynasty, preventing them from becoming complacent and content with the status quo under the influence of Confucianism.

To navigate this vast world, one must possess a pioneering spirit.

……

On the Korean side, things were already in complete chaos.

When King Zhao heard that the Zhou army was coming to attack, he was so frightened that his face turned pale.

He paced back and forth in the palace like an ant on a hot plate.

"Zhou Jun? Why did they suddenly arrive? We Goryeo and Great Zhou have no enmity, why are they attacking us?"

The ministers looked at each other, none of them able to answer.

Someone mustered up their courage and said, "Your Majesty, could it be a misunderstanding? Should we send an envoy to explain?"

Wang Zhao glared at him. "Explain? Zhou Jun has already reached our doorstep, what's there to explain?"

"Then send an envoy to contact and negotiate with Zhou Jun. As long as they withdraw their troops, we Goryeo will agree to anything."

"Send an envoy! Immediately send an envoy to the capital."

But Goryeo simply didn't have time to send envoys.

Because Zhou Jun has already attacked.

On the land route, Pan Mei led an army of 50,000 men from Liaodong and crossed the Yalu River in three days.

On the banks of the Yalu River, the Goryeo garrison numbered only a few thousand.

They stood on the riverbank, gazing at the dark mass of Zhou Jun on the opposite bank, their legs trembling.

"What...what should we do?"

"Fight? You can't win, can you?"

"run?"

Before they could even make a decision, Zhou Jun had already begun crossing the river.

Rafts, small boats, and pontoon bridges were everywhere.

Archers provided cover on the shore, raining down arrows that kept the Goryeo defenders pinned down.

The first wave of Zhou troops rushed to the opposite bank, immediately formed a battle formation, and pressed towards the Goryeo defenders.

The Goryeo defenders collapsed at the first contact.

Some threw down their weapons and ran, some knelt on the ground to surrender, and some simply jumped into the river to try to swim away.

Pan Mei, riding his horse, stood on high ground and looked down, shaking his head. "This can be called an army?"

He waved his hand. "Keep moving forward."

On the other side of the waterway, Shi Shouxin led a navy of 50,000 men, setting sail from Dengzhou and heading east.

At the port of Dengzhou, hundreds of warships were lined up in a row.

There were modern steamships with black smoke billowing from their chimneys; and old-fashioned sailboats with their sails billowing high.

The ship was fully loaded with soldiers, warhorses, provisions, and equipment.

Shi Shouxin stood on the flagship, gazing at the eastern sea.

"Set off."

The fleet weighed anchor and hoisted its sails.

The paddle wheels of the steamship began to turn, making a "whoosh whoosh" sound.

The sails of the sailboat were billowing in the wind, like giant wings.

Two weeks later, the fleet landed on the west coast of the peninsula.

The Goryeo navy? They've long since vanished.

Their boat was small and dilapidated, and when they saw Zhou Jun's steamship, they were so frightened that they turned around and ran away.

Several slower ships were overtaken by Zhou's army ships, bombarded, and sank to the bottom of the sea.

After landing, Shi Shouxin led his troops inland.

The Goryeo troops stationed along the way were unable to stop them at all.

The Koreans, who had never seen a steamship before, thought those iron contraptions belching black smoke were monsters and were so frightened that their legs went weak.

……

A month later, the two armies joined forces at the gates of Kaesong.

Kaesong was the capital of Goryeo.

The city walls were not high, the moat was not deep, and the garrison was small.

Wang Zhao stood on the city wall, looking at the dark mass of Zhou troops outside the city, his legs trembling.

Outside the city, Zhou's army camps stretched for dozens of miles.

Banners blotted out the sun, and swords and spears formed a forest.

The catapults are already set up, and the ballistae are in place.

Cao Bin stood on his horse at the front of the battle line, gazing at the city.

"Attack the city."

The catapult launched huge stones that crashed against the city wall with a dull thud.

The city wall trembled, and rammed earth fell in a rustling sound.

The ballista fired a giant arrow, which embedded itself in the battlement, its fletching still trembling.

Some arrows pierced the bodies of the defenders, leaving a cloud of blood as they embedded themselves in the wall behind them.

Arrows rained down, pinning the defenders down so they couldn't lift their heads.

The defenders held out for three days.

On the fourth day, the city gates were breached.

Zhou Jun swarmed in.

Wang Zhao was being carried by his personal guards, hiding and maneuvering within the palace.

But there were too many Zhou soldiers; they were everywhere. In the end, he was cornered in a side hall.

Cao Bin parted the soldiers and walked up to him. "Will you surrender or not?"

Wang Zhao knelt on the ground, trembling all over, "I...I surrender..."

Cao Bin looked at him and shook his head. "Hmph! Why didn't you think of that earlier?"

Subsequently, the Goryeo royal family and all the Goryeo nobles were captured and escorted to the capital along with Wang So.

Goryeo, a nation that had existed for over four hundred years, thus came to an end.

We must never allow a unified regime to exist in the surrounding areas. Why did Japan cause so much harm to China in history?

Why did four emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties launch successive attacks on Goguryeo? It should be noted that the war with Goguryeo had already begun as early as the Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty.

Then came the three campaigns against Goguryeo by Emperor Yang of Sui, followed by the successive campaigns by Emperor Taizong of Tang and his son Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi. Finally, the Goguryeo issue was resolved under Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

Meanwhile, Goryeo has been taking advantage of the internal chaos of the Central Plains dynasty to develop stealthily, and the Central Plains court has been too lazy to pay them any attention.

As for the historically weak Song Dynasty, it was further weakened by Zhao Kuangyin, and it did nothing in the face of the increasingly powerful separatist regime on the Korean Peninsula.

However, Su Ning, being a time traveler, naturally could not allow such a thing to happen and was determined to resolve all the problems when the Central Plains was at its strongest.

……

However, taking it is easy, but holding it is difficult.

However, Suning was prepared.

When the first imperial edict reached Gaeseong, the former nobles of Goryeo were kneeling on the ground, awaiting their fate.

"The name of the Goryeo Kingdom was abolished, and prefectures and counties were established in its territory. The entire former Goryeo territory was divided into three provinces—Xihae Province, Jiaozhou Province, and Gangwon Province. Each province was headed by an observer who was responsible for civil administration. Each province was under the jurisdiction of a prefecture, and each prefecture was under the jurisdiction of a county, just like the interior of the Great Zhou."

The official who read the imperial edict closed it and looked at the kneeling nobles. "Did you hear that clearly?"

The nobles nodded repeatedly, "Understood, understood."

The second imperial edict arrived shortly afterward.

"From this day forward, all writing in Goryeo shall be in Chinese characters. Official documents, school textbooks, and daily life of the common people shall all be in the script of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The 'Prosperous Era Rhyme' shall be the standard pronunciation and shall be taught in government offices and schools. Those who cannot speak the official language shall not be allowed to become officials or take the imperial examinations. Any lowly person who dares to speak the Goryeo dialect shall have their entire family executed."

The nobles looked at each other in bewilderment.

Does the text need to be revised? Does the language need to be relearned?
But they dared not utter a word.

Because Zhou Jun's knife was held to their necks.

By the time the third imperial edict arrived, people who had migrated from Shandong and Liaodong had already crossed the sea in batches.

“People from Shandong and Liaodong were recruited to settle in Goryeo. Each household was given fifty mu of land and tax-free for three years. Those who were willing to move were provided with travel expenses, oxen, and seeds by the government. The local people of Goryeo who were willing to submit were treated equally. Those who were unwilling were executed along with their entire families for treason.”

The ship has docked.

The immigrants stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at the unfamiliar land, their hearts filled with unease. "Can we survive in this place?"

"They can survive. His Majesty said he'll provide land, tax exemption, and seeds, also tax exemption."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

They disembarked, received their land deeds, were allocated houses, and began a new life.

The local Koreans were initially somewhat resistant.

They felt unhappy seeing those outsiders taking over their land.

But as time went on, they discovered...

After the Great Zhou Dynasty came, taxes decreased, officials stopped bullying people, and life actually became easier.

Moreover, the land tax was converted into a poll tax, and there were absolutely no exorbitant taxes or levies.

"It doesn't seem... so bad?"

"Yes! Those nobles in the past were much more ruthless than Zhou Jun."

Gradually, resistance turned into acceptance, and acceptance turned into agreement.

By the time the fourth imperial edict arrived, the garrison had already begun to deploy its defenses.

"Three thousand troops will be stationed at the mouth of the Yalu River. Two thousand troops will be stationed at the mouth of the Taedong River. Five thousand troops will be stationed at Kaesong. A number of troops will be stationed at various coastal ports. The troops will be dispatched by the National Defense Force and will be rotated every three years. Local conscription and military support are prohibited."

Those Zhou soldiers began to build camps, fortresses, and beacon towers in various places.

They do business with the locals, buy things, and sometimes even help the people with their work.

Gradually, the locals became less afraid of them.

……

In the thirteenth year of the prosperous reign, the first group of Goryeo students participated in the imperial examination of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

There was a young man named Kim Jeong-hee who came from the West Coast and traveled all the way to the capital.

He was dressed in coarse cloth, carrying a book box, standing outside the examination hall, his palms sweating with nervousness.

"Don't be nervous! You're a citizen of the Celestial Empire now." Someone patted him on the shoulder. "Study hard for the exam, and you can become an official if you pass."

Kim Jung-hee nodded, took a deep breath, and walked into the examination room.

On the day the results were announced, he squeezed into the crowd, looking up to find his name.

"Kim Jung-hee... Kim Jung-hee..."

found it!
He passed the exam, although he was only a junior Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), he was still a legitimate Jinshi.

When the news reached the peninsula, those who were still observing were completely convinced.

"The Great Zhou... truly treats us as one of their own."

……

In the fourteenth year of the prosperous reign, the three provinces of Goryeo were completely integrated into the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Chinese characters are widely used, and Mandarin is widely spoken.

Those immigrants who moved from Shandong and Liaodong have already intermarried and had children with the local Koreans.

The new generation can no longer tell where they come from.

All they knew was that they were Zhou people.

Su Ning sat in the imperial study in the capital, looking at the reports sent from Goryeo, and nodded.

"Good! Keep it up! We cannot allow any more separatist regimes to emerge around the Great Zhou Dynasty."

Grand Secretary Zhao Pu stood aside and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, with Goryeo now under control, the east is completely secure."

Su Ning shook his head. "What is little Goryeo? It's just that their regime has affected the security of the Central Plains."

Zhao Pu was taken aback. "What does Your Majesty mean?"

Suning stood up and walked to the map.

His finger moved away from the Korean Peninsula, slowly heading north, across Liaodong, past the newly established prefectures and counties, and finally landing in a more distant place.

Northern desert.

grassland.

Shangjing.

"Goryeo is pacified, Liaodong is secured, and Yanyun is stable. Now we can consider a northern expedition."

Zhao Pu's eyes lit up. "Your Majesty wants to fight the Khitan?"

"No! I want to solve the Khitan problem once and for all."

Suning's finger landed on the location of Shangjing.

That was the capital of the Khitan, and the last stronghold of the new Khitan emperor, Yelü Xian.

Those remnants of the Khitan tribes have been living on the northern grasslands for years, relying on herding and hunting for survival.

They dared not move south, but they also refused to surrender.

Especially after Yelü Jing's sudden death, the new emperor Yelü Xian managed to unify the chaotic Khitan.

The Great Zhou would naturally not give them a chance for stable development, and small-scale harassment was meaningless. The next step was to launch a war of annihilation against the Khitan.

“The Imperial City Guard has been secretly supporting the Jurchens all these years,” Zhao Pu said. “Those Jurchen tribes have been oppressed by the Khitans for hundreds of years and hate the Khitans to the bone. With them keeping the Khitans in check in the north, the Khitans will never be able to turn the tables.”

Su Ning nodded. "I understand."

He paused, then added, "But the Jurchens could very well be the next Khitans."

Zhao Pu was stunned. "Your Majesty means..."

“Raising a tiger will only lead to disaster,” Su Ning said. “The Jurchens are weak now, so they are obedient. But will they still be obedient when they become strong? These Tartars are capable of murdering their lord.”

"Really? The Jurchens are still quite obedient."

"Hmph! Zhao Pu, you've also read history books. There have been many nomadic peoples in the history of the northern grasslands, mainly including the Donghu, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, Tujue, Uyghur, and Khitan. Often, the decline of one nomadic people is the opportunity for the emergence of a new nomadic people."

"This……"

Looking at the vast grassland on the map, Su Ning remained silent for a moment. "This northern expedition must completely eliminate the Khitan. At the same time, we cannot allow the Jurchens to become too powerful."

"Fight the Khitans and subdue the Jurchens. Do both things at the same time."

Zhao Pu took a deep breath. "Your Majesty is wise."

"After the Khitan are completely defeated, I intend to form a Western Expeditionary Army, incorporating the surrendered Khitan troops and Jurchens into the Western Expeditionary Army to conquer the Abbasid Caliphate. Meanwhile, the southern and northern deserts will be developed into national-level pastures, with prefectures and counties established, and will be under the permanent administration of the Great Zhou Dynasty."

"A national-level ranch?"

"That's right! This land will forever be filled with singing and dancing, peace and tranquility."

"..."

Outside the window, the spring breeze is warm.

In the distance, a flock of geese is flying north.

...(End of this chapter)