Chapter 12 2. The founding of Goguryeo

After talking about Jizi Joseon, Weishi Joseon, and the four prefectures of Han, let's look at Goguryeo. Goguryeo is different. In 37 BC, Zhu Meng, a native of Fuyu, established Koguryo and set his capital at Heshenggucheng (now Wunvshan City, Huanren Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning).After that, the Boilingu Kingdom (located in the present-day Fuer River Basin) surrendered.Goguryeo has been continuously merging neighboring small countries and tribes since its establishment. In 32 BC, Goguryeo sent troops to conquer the southeast of Changbai Mountain, and then conquered Beiwoju (now the Tumen River Basin) by force.When King Liuli, the son of Zhu Meng, was in power, Goguryeo was successively attacked by Fuyu and Xianbei, so the royal city was moved from Heshenggu City to Domestic City (now Ji'an, Jilin Province), and then sent troops to invade Liangjiao (the upper reaches of Taizi River today).

In 22 A.D., King Liuli personally led an army to attack Fuyu and killed its ruler, Daisu. Four years later, he annexed Gaima Kingdom (now in the Langlin Mountains area of ​​North Korea), killed its king, and forced the Jucha Kingdom to surrender. In 53 A.D., Gao Gong, the great ancestor of Goguryeo, ascended the throne. Two years later, he conquered Dongwoju (in the south and north provinces of Hamgyong in present-day Korea), and then captured parts of Dongshe (in Gangwon-do in present-day Korea), dividing the territory It expanded to the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan and forced Fuyu to pay tribute, and then began to expand to the densely populated and fertile Liaodong region, and began its history as a powerful tribal alliance.

At that time, Goguryeo respectfully professed its vassals to the Central Plains like most small border countries, and did not dare to neglect at all. The Western Han government also established Xuantu County to manage Goguryeo affairs.So, why did this small border country that was originally subject to the Central Plains break away from the rule of the Han regime in the Central Plains, repeatedly invaded the border of Liaodong, and finally embarked on the road of confrontation with the Central Plains dynasty? This is also thanks to the notorious and creative reformer Wang Mang in Chinese history.

Wang Mang is a man who loves to be unconventional. After becoming emperor, he felt that a small country like Goguryeo was not qualified to be a king, so he changed the name of "Xiongnu Shanyu" to "Subdue Yu", which severely humiliated the Huns. .The Huns are not easy to mess with. At the beginning, the Western Han government took great efforts to make them calm down a little bit, but now Wang Mang actually took the initiative to find trouble.The Xiongnu rebelled in a fit of rage. Wang Mang felt very good about himself, thinking that this was an opportunity to establish invincible military exploits, so he assembled an army of 300,000 to prepare for the crusade against the Huns, and recruited Goguryeo people to go out together.The Goguryeo people went and went, but before they saw the Huns, they fled one after another, and killed Da Yin Tiantan in Liaoxi by the way (it is estimated that this adult used his power to be not very friendly to the Goguryeo people on weekdays).Wang Mang was furious and sent General Yan You to conquer Goguryeo.After Yan You came to Liaodong, he lured and beheaded Yanpi, a Goguryeo general, and won the battle.Wang Mang was overjoyed and felt that Goguryeo was vulnerable, so he decreed to change Goguryeo's name to "Xiagouli", and also downgraded it to a rank of Marquis, called "Xiagoulihou".

Goguryeo was born in mountain people, the country is small, but very bloody, could not stand such insulting behavior, immediately announced that it would break away from the control of the Han Dynasty, and then captured Goguryeo County in Xuantu County.Since Goguryeo people mainly lived in Xuantu County, after independence, Goguryeo mainly relied on encroaching on the territory of Xuantu County to expand its territory. In 28 AD, a large-scale war broke out between the Eastern Han Dynasty and Goguryeo.Gao Wuxie, the Great Martial God of Goguryeo, fortified the wall and cleared the fields, and stood guard at Wandu Mountain City (now the western mountain city of Ji'an County) near the inner city of the capital.In March when the Han army besieged the city, the Goguryeo people ran out of food, and sent wine and freshly caught carp to the Han army under the guise of rewarding the army.The general of the Han army mistakenly believed that there was enough food and grass in the city, so he stopped the army, and Goguryeo also escaped the danger of subjugation.

Three years later, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty restored the title of Goguryeo, but the ties that had been forged were not so easy to resolve. Goguryeo never stopped invading the Eastern Han Dynasty, and once occupied Lelang County on the south bank of the Yalu River.Afterwards, Emperor Guangwu sent a large army to recover Lelang County by sea, and agreed with Koguryo that the area south of Sashui (now Qingchuan River) was under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the north was Koguryo territory. In exchange for more than 60 years of peace between the two countries. During the reign of King Taizu of Goguryeo (King Taizu reigned for 93 years and lived to be 118 years old), the relationship between the two countries took a turn for the worse, and several large-scale conflicts broke out: In the spring of 105 AD, Goguryeo invaded Liaodong and was detained by the prefect Geng Kui. defeat.In 107 A.D. (the first year of Emperor Yongchu of the Han Dynasty), the Eastern Han government was unable to maintain control over the four counties of North Korea, so the three counties of Liaoyang, Houcheng, and Gaoxian within the Great Wall were placed under the jurisdiction of Xuantu County and moved to Xuantu County. In the area of ​​Shenyang and Fushun in the present Liaohe River Basin, Goguryeo's occupation of the old place of Xuantu County was indirectly recognized.

In 118 A.D., Goguryeo and Liao jointly invaded Xuantu County and captured Hualicheng.Three years later, Feng Huan, governor of Youzhou in the Eastern Han Dynasty, led an expedition to Goguryeo, but fell into Goguryeo's plan to surrender, causing thousands of deaths and injuries; Died; in the winter of the same year, Goguryeo joined forces with Mahan, Feiyu and more than 10,000 troops to invade Xuantu County, and Fuyu sent 20,000 reinforcements to support the Han army and repel the coalition forces. In 146 AD, Goguryeo invaded Lelang County again, killed the magistrate of Daifang County, and plundered his wife.In the same year, the 100-year-old Taizu Wang Chuan was located in the sub-king Gao Suicheng, and the relationship between the Eastern Han Dynasty and Goguryeo tended to ease. When the sub-king, the new king, and the old Chuan Wang were in power, the two countries maintained peace for more than half a century.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xuantu prefect Gongsunyu (the one who introduced Gongsundu's wife) defeated Goguryeo and beheaded more than a thousand people.This shows that the Goguryeo people were already eyeing Liaodong at that time, but their own strength was not strong enough, so they could only gradually nibble away.Since then, whenever the strength of the Central Plains Dynasty weakened, Goguryeo would aggressively encroach on Xuantu County's jurisdiction within the Great Wall, and invaded the hinterland of Liaodong many times, and began the process of striving for hegemony as an independent regime in Liaodong.

In the early years when the Gongsun family ruled Liaodong, they could still maintain a good relationship with Goguryeo.Since the economy and civilization of the Liaodong region are far more developed than Goguryeo, Goguryeo is basically on the defensive in the face of the expansion of the Gongsun family.After Gongsun Kang came to power, the battle for the position between Baqi and Yanyou broke out between the two sides, announcing a formal reversal.Even if there was no such incident, the Gongsun clan and Goguryeo would not be able to live in peace for a long time - if the Gongsun clan wants to dominate Northeast Asia, it must attack the power of Goguryeo. The existence of the Gongsun clan objectively curbs the expansion of Goguryeo in the Liaodong region; If Goguryeo wants to encroach on Liaodong, it must face the biggest obstacle, the Gongsun family.

In order to completely solve the flank threat, Gongsun Kang mobilized tens of thousands of horses to attack Goguryeo, burned the inner city of its capital, and forced Goguryeo to move its capital to Marudu Mountain City.Goguryeo, which had suffered a heavy blow, did not dare to make any more troubles, but kept secretly looking for opportunities to restrict the Gongsun family. After the event of Gongsun Yuan's rebellion and integration of the Wu fleet, several members of the Soochow mission fled from the sea to Goguryeo, and claimed that they were ordered by Sun Quan to make friends.The people of Goguryeo were overjoyed, and immediately made a confession to Soochow.Soon, Sun Quan named King Dongchuan of Goguryeo as "Shanyu".From a strategic point of view, Sun Quan's attitude towards the Gongsun family is that he wants to use and replace the Gongsun family - use Liaodong to contain Wei, replace Liaodong as the maritime hegemony, and become the suzerain of the Haidong countries.Goguryeo had a feud with the Gongsun family, so of course it became Soochow's first choice to make friends.

Seeing that the Gongsun clan was in the east of Liaodong, and that Soochow was fighting fiercely with Goguryeo, which was across the sea from the Shandong Peninsula, the monarchs and ministers of Wei State also sent envoys to Goguryeo to force him to join forces with Zhuge Liang through diplomatic means in order to be able to concentrate their forces against Zhuge Liang’s Northern Expedition. Soochow broke off diplomatic relations.Under pressure, Goguryeo had to break off diplomatic relations with Soochow.After Zhuge Liang died of illness, Sima Yi led an army to expedition to Liaodong, and soon recovered the two counties of Lelang and Daifang, and asked Goguryeo and Xianbei to send troops to help.Goguryeo and the Gongsun family had a feud, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, so naturally they would not miss this opportunity, and immediately sent thousands of elite soldiers to assist the Wei army in besieging Xiangping City.Soon, Xiangping City was broken, and Gongsun's power in Liaodong was completely eradicated. The enemy has gone, and the Goguryeo people finally showed a long-lost smile on their faces. In 235 A.D. (the third year of Emperor Qinglong of Wei Ming Dynasty), Guan Qiujian was appointed as the governor of Youzhou, General Jiaduliao and Colonel Hu Karasuma, mainly responsible for the defense of the northeast border. Guanqiu Jian (? ~ 255), courtesy name Zhong Gong, was born in Wenxi, Wenxi (now Wenxi County, Shanxi). "Wu" should be read as "guan" instead of "wu". "Wuqiu" is a compound surname in China.Wenxi County is a place where great people come forth in large numbers. The famous Hedong Pei family in the Sui and Tang Dynasties came from Wenxi County.Guanqiu Jian was capable of writing and martial arts. In his early years, he wrote a letter to persuade Emperor Wei Ming to save people's power and not to rejuvenate the palace, so he was appointed as the governor of Jingzhou.Later, Guanqiu Jian participated in the battle against Gongsun Yuan, and he was one of the few fierce generals in the late Wei State. Wei Guo pacified Liaodong, and the biggest beneficiaries were not the local Han people, but the neighboring Goguryeo.After the defeat of the Gongsun family, the state of Wei had no time to take care of Liaodong because of the pressure from Wu and Shu. King Dongchuan of Goguryeo began to look for opportunities to harass Liaodong. King of Liaodong.Wei Guo was very angry at Goguryeo's capriciousness. After the war in the south stopped, Wei Guo sent Guan Qiujian to Liaodong, intending to teach Goguryeo, a disobedient neighbor, a good lesson. In 246 A.D., Guanqiu Jian set off from Xuantu County with 10,000 paces and marched towards the hinterland of Goguryeo.At this time, Goguryeo already possessed considerable military strength, and the king of Dongchuan was also dazzled by a series of small victories he had achieved before. He personally led an army of 20,000 to meet the Wei army, and the two armies met in the boiling water area.Guanqiu Jian once lost to Gongsun Yuan. If he can't defeat Goguryeo this time, his official career in Wei State will be greatly affected.Therefore, regardless of the small number of Wei's troops, Guan Qiujian set up an array in Liangkou (now Jiangkou Village, Tonghua City), determined to fight Goguryeo. Seeing that the way of retreat was cut off, the generals of the Wei army only killed the Goguryeo people if they wanted to survive.Guanqiu Jian took the lead and led the whole army to kill the enemy bravely, beheading the Goguryeo army thousands of times.The king of Dongchuan led the rest of his troops to flee back to the mountain city of Wandu, and defended against danger.Guanqiu Jian took advantage of the victory to advance and surrounded the city of Wandu. After the siege, Guanqiu Jian saw that the northwest side of the mountain city was steep and there were not many guards, so he adopted the strategy of attacking the west from the east and attacking the west. An elite commando team was formed, and the raid was carried out from the northwest cliff.The Goguryeo people never expected that the Wei army would attack from the northwest, and the defense line of the mountain city was breached in one fell swoop.After occupying Wandu Mountain City, Guan Qiujian hated the Goguryeo people for their stubborn resistance. In order to vent their anger, he issued an order to massacre the city, and only a few people survived. In order to completely remove Goguryeo's harm to the northeast border, Guanqiu Jian sent his troops to the east again.Under the pressure of the Wei army, King Dongchuan fled to Maigou (now Huining, Xianbei, North Korea) in embarrassment.Guanqiu Jian took advantage of the victory to pursue, and sent Xuantu prefect Wang Qi to pursue the king of Dongchuan. He drove straight into Woju for more than a thousand li, and did not stop until the southern border of the Sushen clan.In order to commemorate this expedition, Guanqiu Jian ordered Wang Qi to carve a stone to record his achievements and return it (the stele of Guanqiu Jian's stone inscription was discovered in Ji'an, Jilin in 1904, and it is now in the Liaoning Provincial Museum).Goguryeo King Dongchuan was defeated again and again, and finally died of grief and anger on the way to escape. Guanqiu Jian was a famous general in the late period of the Three Kingdoms period. The campaign he commanded was the longest expedition ever undertaken by the Central Plains Dynasty to Northeast Asia. The power of the Wei State also reached the coastal area of ​​today’s Russia, which originally fell into the hands of Goguryeo. The Yeongdong area of ​​the Korean peninsula is also included in the scope of the two counties of Lelang and Daifang. However, Wei Guo did not convert the results of military strikes into long-term effective control.Three years later (249 AD), Sima Yi launched a coup and usurped the power of Wei.In the first month of 255 A.D., Guan Qiujian and Yangzhou governor and former general Wenqin sent troops to attack Sima Division in Huainan. They were defeated and fled, but were shot to death on the way. The Western Jin Dynasty replaced the State of Wei, and the regime in the Central Plains changed, making Goguryeo survive by luck. Central Plains immigration and economic and cultural development made Liaodong the most prosperous and developed region in Northeast Asia at that time; the unique environment surrounded by multi-ethnic groups and the rise of ethnic minorities such as Goguryeo and Xianbei also made Liaodong's strategic position increasingly important.In terms of time, Sima Yi's pacification of Liaodong and Guanqiu Jian's conquest of Goguryeo were the first large-scale military strikes by the Central Plains dynasty against Northeast Asia, but this was only the beginning. In the following 40 years, Goguryeo took the initiative to pay tribute to the Wei and Jin dynasties, and was no longer able to invade the Liaodong region, and Northeast Asia also entered a short period of peace.With the advent of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings and the Rebellion of the Five Husbands, Liaodong has once again become the focus of struggle among various ethnic groups and factions.