I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 362 Crown Prince: If I can't be Liu Bei, can't I be Liu Shan?
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During the Goryeo Dynasty, Yeseong Port, located in Gyeonggi Bay near the capital Gaegyeong, disappeared in later generations, but it was an irreplaceable water and land transportation hub and an international trading port at that time. Most of the Goryeo Dynasty's foreign maritime trade started from here, and merchants came and went in an endless stream.

The core position of Yeseong Port stems from three key advantages: First, as a natural deep-water port, it can accommodate various large ships and has excellent navigation conditions; second, its geographical location adjacent to the capital Kaesong makes it a key node connecting the political center of the Goryeo Dynasty with overseas markets; third, it is the "birthplace" of King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo, carrying the origin memory of the Goryeo Dynasty.

The rise of the Wang Jian family was deeply intertwined with the port of Licheng. During the later Three Kingdoms period, Wang Jian's grandparents accumulated wealth through maritime trade in Licheng Port, becoming wealthy merchants. After several generations of management, his father, Wang Long, completely controlled Licheng Port and the surrounding area of ​​Kaijing, joining the ranks of local powerful families.

At the end of the Silla Dynasty, Gung Ye, the illegitimate son of King Heonan of Silla, joined the peasant uprising led by Yang Gil, and Wang Long subsequently brought the young Wang Geon to join him. With his outstanding abilities, Wang Geon quickly rose to become a key general under Gung Ye. After Gung Ye established Goguryeo, his tyrannical rule and manipulation of the people alienated the populace.

Ultimately, Wang Geon's trusted cavalry generals Hong Ru, Bae Hyun-kyung, Shin Chong-gyeom, and Park Ji-gyeom launched a coup, expelled Gung Ye, and supported Wang Geon as king.

In 918 AD, Wang Geon ascended the throne in Gaegyeong and established the country as "Goryeo".

For more than a decade thereafter, Wang Geon led his army in campaigns in the south and north, conquering Later Baekje and Silla, unifying the Korean Peninsula, and establishing the Goryeo Dynasty, which lasted for more than two hundred years. The name "Dragon Rising" of Yeseong Port was also remembered along with the history of the Goryeo Dynasty.

……

At dawn that day, the dark blue sky was torn open by the morning light on the eastern horizon, leaving a pale golden gap. A thin layer of morning mist still covered the surface of Gyeonggi Bay, and the waves lapped against the shore of Yeseong Port, making a rhythmic low sound.

This should have been an ordinary dawn when port merchants prepared to unload their goods and fishermen set sail, until a massive fleet that blotted out the sky slowly sailed in through the morning mist on the distant horizon.

The fleet was astonishing in size, with thousands of warships stretching out like moving mountains, forming a long line on the sea, their sails forming a continuous stretch that almost covered half of the sea.

Leading the way were over a hundred particularly massive iron-clad wooden warships. Their hulls were constructed of hard oak, with thick iron plates covering the vital parts of the hulls, gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen in the morning light. On the deck, dozens of "Li Lin cannons" were arranged in neat rows, their barrels as black as ink, long and straight, with thick, solid walls that tapered from the muzzle to the breech in a spindle shape. When the muzzles were pointed forward, they resembled lurking beasts baring their fangs.

Behind each Li Lin cannon stood a squad of ten artillerymen in uniform armor. They carried powder pouches on their shoulders and held the breechblocks with their hands, standing upright like pine trees. Their armor plates gleamed faintly in the morning light. No one whispered to each other; only the soft rustling of the sea breeze through their armor could be heard. Clearly, they were elite soldiers who had undergone countless drills, waiting only for the order to load ammunition, light the fuses, and make these giant cannons spew out deadly fireballs.

The lookout at Licheng Port could only make out the dark silhouette of the fleet from the morning mist when it was several miles away, startling the lookout so much that he almost dropped his telescope.

Before the sentries could ring the warning bell, the fleet had already taken advantage of the rising tide and steadily sailed into the near-harbour waters of Licheng Port.

The water here is deep and spacious, just right for the giant ships to deploy in formation.

Meanwhile, the Goryeo soldiers guarding the port were still rubbing their sleepy eyes, some just picking up their breakfast porridge, others untying the ship's moorings, completely unaware of the impending calamity.

"They've entered firing range."

On the flagship of the fleet's central command, a vice admiral knelt on one knee, his voice filled with suppressed excitement.

On the deck, the commanders who were directing the battle, especially Crown Prince Zhao Shou, held onto the gunwale and scanned the undefended Licheng Port ahead with their binoculars before returning to the fleet's orderly formation and cannons. Their jawlines, which had been tense for days and nights, finally relaxed a little.

—From formulating the raid plan and assembling the fleet to sailing covertly under the cover of dawn fog, every step was fraught with danger. Now that the fleet has successfully reached its designated position, this meticulously planned raid has finally taken its most crucial step.

Zhao Yuren was already planning this war to destroy Goryeo even before he returned to Bianliang, the capital of Tokyo.

At that time, Liu Fa, Zhong Shidao, Chen Gou and others pointed out that the Jin state now mainly relied on Goryeo and the various tribes of the grasslands, especially the former, to negotiate with the Song Dynasty. They suggested that it would be better to send troops from the sea to destroy Goryeo and cut off the Jin state's blood supply.

However, Goryeo knew that it had offended the Song Dynasty and was worried about retaliation. Therefore, it deployed its most powerful Western Army in the north, stationed in separate cities, and also set up a capital region guard at Yeseong Port, and set up many defensive measures.

On the other hand, the Song Dynasty had no experience in completely destroying a country by sea. Furthermore, Yecheng Port was too close to Gaegyeong, the capital of Goryeo. Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers worried that they would not be able to destroy Goryeo in one fell swoop by sea alone. Instead, they would alert Goryeo and allow them to deploy a large number of troops in Yecheng Port, making it impossible for the Song Dynasty to destroy Goryeo by this method.

Therefore, Zhao Yu temporarily shelved the plan, returned to Bianliang (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty, and began to increase the intensity of maritime trade and fully launch the Age of Exploration, which led to the mass production of large ships in the Song Dynasty.

Meanwhile, over the past two years, the Song army has been using a strategy of shallow attacks to gradually erode the Jin dynasty's territory in Liaodong and deplete the Jin army's strength.

On the other hand, the Jin state mostly used Goryeo soldiers and troops from various steppe tribes as cannon fodder to preserve the Jin people as much as possible. At the same time, they developed tactics and weapons to fight against the Song army.

As a result, Goryeo's elite troops and able-bodied men were consumed rapidly and in large numbers, forcing the country to draw on its best soldiers and able-bodied men to go north and fight.

According to the investigation by the Song Dynasty's intelligence department, Goryeo's military strength in the Gyeonggi region is almost depleted, and the defense line at Yeseong Port is practically non-existent.

Today, the Song Dynasty has thousands of large ships.

Zhao Yu issued an edict to suspend expansion into Huazhu and Huangzi Continent, and even to halt maritime trade on the western front. He ordered all ships to be concentrated to attack Goryeo, determined to destroy Goryeo in one fell swoop and cripple the Jin Dynasty.

It is worth mentioning that Zhao Yu intended to give Zhao Shou military merits, establish his authority, and train his abilities, so he issued an edict ordering Zhao Shou to lead the vanguard to be the first to land in Goryeo.

It should be noted that Zhao Yu was also afraid that Zhao Shou was too young and unable to shoulder great responsibilities, so he not only had his subordinates Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong protect him, but also sent reliable generals such as Yue Fei and Li Bao to serve as vanguards with him.

Even so, Zhao Yu was not completely at ease. He appointed the veteran general Zhong Shizhong as Grand Marshal and Chen Gou as Supervisor, to oversee the overall situation.

Thanks to the efforts of these people, the Song Dynasty's navy, no, its navy, carrying 150,000 troops and ample supplies, arrived at Licheng Port.

The vanguard alone consisted of hundreds of large ships that reached Licheng Port.

Before the morning mist had even dissipated, the red flag on the flagship's mast was suddenly waved down.

More than a hundred iron-clad wooden warships moved simultaneously—the gun ports on both sides of the ship opened one after another like the mouths of giant beasts, and the muzzles of dozens of Li Lin cannons gleamed coldly in the morning light, all aimed at the coastal defense fortifications of Licheng Port.

Without any warning, the first wave of cannon fire exploded like thunder rolling across the sea, shaking the waves near the harbor violently.

Black shells, whistling shrilly and trailing faint smoke, hurtled towards the harbor like a meteor shower. The first to suffer were the wooden watchtowers on the shore. Several shells struck the towers simultaneously, instantly shattering the thick timbers into flying wood chips. The towers collapsed with a roar, as if their skeletons had been removed, and the rising dust mixed with the morning mist.

Immediately afterwards, the cannons turned towards the stone defensive wall of the port; the power of the Li Lin cannons far exceeded the Goryeo people's imagination.

The shells struck the stone wall, not denting it but exploding directly. Stones flew everywhere like hailstones, and the once neat wall was quickly blasted into huge gaps. The Goryeo soldiers on night watch behind the wall didn't even have time to cry out before they were overturned by the rubble and shockwaves, and their spears and bows were buried in the ruins along with them.

The Goryeo garrison finally reacted, and the mournful sound of bugles echoed in the port in a panic.

Soldiers, not yet fully armored, clutching spears and bows, surged out of the camps and houses, attempting to rush towards the coastal defenses. But before they could get close, the ballistae on the decks of the Song army's giant ships, already drawn, began firing.

The humming of the bowstrings was as dense as a swarm of bees, and the specially made iron-feathered arrows, carrying a force far exceeding that of ordinary arrows, pierced through the morning mist, like a black rain curtain covering the crowd.

The Goryeo soldiers at the forefront fell to the ground with a thud. The arrows could even penetrate thin leather armor and even iron armor, pinning those behind them to the ground as well. The originally chaotic charge instantly turned into a one-sided shooting massacre.

A few Goryeo soldiers who managed to reach the shore were about to raise their bows and arrows to retaliate when they were shot by Song soldiers on small boats that looked like an army of ants from afar, using Li Lin guns and Shenbi bows.

The Korean soldiers who were hit by bullets and arrows fell instantly, and their blood quickly stained the beach.

On the sea, the Song army's giant ships continued to advance slowly, and the bombardment of Li Lin's cannons never stopped. Small boats on the giant ships continued to be lowered into the sea like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Various fortifications and buildings in the port were hit by shells one after another, flames spread along the dry wood, and thick smoke billowed up, obscuring half the sky.

The wooden fences and makeshift arrow towers that the Koreans relied on for defense, as well as the buildings in the harbor, were as fragile as paper in the face of artillery fire. Every cannon shot was accompanied by collapse and burning.

Occasionally, Korean arrows would be shot at the giant ship, but they could not even penetrate the iron plates on the hull. They would fall helplessly onto the deck or into the sea.

Some of the Song soldiers on the small boats that were landing on the beach were hit by arrows.

However, these Song soldiers were all wearing the best protective cotton armor available at the time. The Goryeo army's arrows could not penetrate the armor at a distance. Even at close range, they could only wound the Song soldiers, not kill them.

The few catapults in the port that could capsize the Song army's small boats had been mostly cleared out by the Song army's Li Lin cannons, and the few remaining ones were no match for the landing of tens of thousands of small boats.

More than half an hour later, the fortifications of Licheng Port had completely collapsed. Almost all of the Song army's small boats had landed, and the Song army's giant ships had also lowered their landing ladders. Song soldiers wearing cotton armor and holding Shenbi crossbows and Li Lin guns boarded Licheng Port in an orderly manner.

By this time, the Goryeo garrison had long lost the will to resist, and either fled to Yeseongseong, scattered and fled, or knelt down and surrendered.

Li Lin's cannon was still pointed deep into the harbor, but it no longer fired—in the thick smoke inside the harbor, there were only the crackling sounds of burning and sporadic cries, but no further resistance.

The dawn completely dispelled the morning mist, and sunlight shone on the iron plates of the Song army's giant warship, reflecting a dazzling light.

The sea at Licheng Port calmed down, with only floating wood chips and scraps of wood indicating that this one-sided battle had just ended.

The banners of the Great Song Dynasty slowly rose along the collapsed port gate.

The ceremony concluded and the port was breached.

Generals Zhao Shou, Yue Fei, Liu Qi, Yang Yizhong, and Li Bao, along with a group of Song officials led by Li Gang, Zhao Ding, Li Guang, and Hu Quan, disembarked.

They each performed their duties in commanding the Song army, and quickly occupied Licheng Port.

At the same time, Zhao Shou personally gave instructions, with Liu Qi as the vanguard, leading three thousand elite troops to capture Licheng City. Yang Yizhong led three thousand elite troops to follow and support Liu Qi. Yue Fei led the remaining troops to rest and prepare to attack at any time. Li Bao commanded the navy to eliminate any enemy that dared to approach Licheng Port or the Song fleet.

Next, Zhao Shou gave further instructions, ordering Li Gang to lead relevant personnel to receive the Song army that was arriving in succession, Zhao Ding to take over Licheng Port, Li Guang to persuade the Goryeo people to defect, and Hu Quan to take charge of the unfinished matters.

Zhao Shou always kept in mind what his father, Emperor Zhao Yu, had taught him: an emperor doesn't need to know everything, as long as he knows how to use the virtuous.

Zhao Yu's original words were:

Throughout history, countless emperors and generals have either expanded their territories through military force or stabilized the country through civil administration. However, those who truly left their mark on history and were revered by the people did so not only because of their personal talents, but also because of their ability to effectively utilize talented individuals. As the ruler of a nation, the emperor, who governs the entire country and its people, bears a responsibility that cannot be shouldered by one person alone. Therefore, he does not need to personally handle everything or be an expert in everything, but he must have the insight to recognize talent and the wisdom to employ people, so that talented individuals can be placed in their proper positions and give full play to their strengths.

Both Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han possessed great talent and ambition, yet their achievements in establishing hegemony were not solely due to their own efforts. Qin Shi Huang heavily relied on Li Si, implemented Legalist policies, strengthened centralized power, and built upon the accumulated strength of six generations, ultimately unifying the six kingdoms. Emperor Wu of Han, on the other hand, depended on generals such as Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, defeating the Xiongnu in the north, expanding the territory, and making the Han Dynasty renowned throughout the world. Both were adept at employing people and knew how to use them effectively, which enabled them to achieve extraordinary success.

Looking at Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Taizu of Song, the same principle applies. Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, humbly accepted advice and heavily relied on loyal and upright officials such as Wei Zheng, which led to a clean and upright atmosphere in the court and a clear and efficient government, creating the prosperous era of "Reign of Zhenguan". Emperor Taizu, on the other hand, cleverly centralized military power in the central government with the wisdom of "releasing military power over a cup of wine". At the same time, he widely recruited talented people and appointed civil officials to govern the country, which led to the cultural prosperity and economic development of our Song Dynasty, which was passed down to his descendants.

It is evident that the emperor's primary task is not to personally handle every trivial matter, but to be able to discern the current situation, distinguish right from wrong, and select truly talented and virtuous people to assist him.

Only in this way can the nation be prosperous and the people at peace, and the dynasty's foundation last forever.

Of course, selecting talented individuals is not easy; it requires the ability to recognize talent.

Zhao Shou was unsure whether he possessed such talent, but he was certain that his father, Emperor Zhao Yu, certainly did.

Moreover, Zhao Shou was well aware that his father had been paving the way for him and preparing talented individuals for him. As long as he made good use of these talents, he would be secure.

Zhao Shou thought to himself, 'If I can't be Liu Bei, then surely I can be Liu Shan...'

……

(End of this chapter)