Chapter 120: Erecting a Stele in Lingnan, Relocating the People and Changing the Era (Begging for Monthly Votes)

This proclamation could be considered the final declaration on behalf of Great Han.

In this battle, there was no room whatsoever for retreat.

Great Han would not retreat;

nor did they have any retreat to speak of!

As this proclamation gradually spread, the legends of the Gu clan were repeatedly invoked among the various tribes.

Faced with such a situation, more and more tribes chose to come and surrender.

They simply had no choice.

The lands the Han army had conquered along this advance—who knew how many tribes' strongholds they had been.

And once the internal divisions burst forth—

living under someone else's roof among other tribes was likewise an extremely dangerous choice.

Gu Yi did not rely solely on intimidation!

—His past conduct in the Northern Frontier had already given him experience.

The Shanyue, with their even more dispersed tribal system, would only scatter more easily than the barbarians of the Northern Frontier back then.

Beneath such enormous pressure—

Gu Yi needed to do nothing at all; he only had to show a measure of goodwill, and that was enough to drive these tribes, already inclined to surrender, into a frenzy!

The twenty-first year of Qianji, the fourth month;

the three great armies of Han converged upon Panyu.

Gu Yi did not hesitate in the slightest, and immediately led his troops to launch the final assault.

The present situation—

the Han army had long since lost all pressure upon them.

Everything truly was just like the Northern Frontier of years past: the tribes that had already surrendered to Great Han scrambled to demonstrate their loyalty.

Indeed, there were those who wished to resist.

Among the Hundred Yue of Lingnan, the strongest of those tribes all wanted to keep dragging things out.

Even though things had already reached this point today.

They still clung to their illusions.

Thinking that after winning this battle, the Han army would withdraw directly as it always had.

In this battle, the Han army truly did not expend much effort.

The Shanyue tribes put up hardly any resistance at all, still hiding away in the deep mountains of all directions as they had in days past.

They were making concessions.

Hoping the Han army would quickly achieve its objective and withdraw as it always had.

But this time, they were destined for disappointment.

Gu Yi had long since made his own arrangements for the Shanyue.

Panyu.

In truth, by rights, Panyu ultimately remained Great Han's seat of administration—at least nominally it still belonged to Great Han.

But the problem lay in the fact that Lingnan had completely lost touch with Great Han.

Especially after the great upheaval of the realm in earlier years, Panyu had long since thoroughly broken free of Great Han's rule.

Stepping into this city.

After a separation of several years, Gu Ye finally saw Gu Han again.

Gu Han had truly changed enormously.

Now there was not the slightest trace of a noble Young Master about him, though the etiquette of Great Han could still be glimpsed in his words and bearing.

But whether it was his swarthy skin, or his resolute gaze, both spoke to the changes he had undergone.

"Elder brother."

Gu Han was truly a little emotional; the moment he saw Gu Ye he immediately stepped forward and bowed deeply to him: "Your younger brother pays his respects to Elder brother."

He was Gu Ye's own blood brother.

Though they had not seen each other for many years, the bond of kinship between them remained.

"Moqing." Gu Ye too was deeply moved; he immediately stepped forward and raised Gu Han up, studying his changes closely, his eyes full of heartache.

Gu Yi did not interfere in the slightest.

After so many years apart, the two brothers surely had a thousand things they wished to say.

Why should he interfere?

Besides, he too wished to hear of Gu Han's experiences over these years.

Gu Ye had always been a man of strict self-discipline, yet on this night he was, for once, thoroughly drunk.

The two brothers thus spoke to each other of their experiences over these years.

Gu Han had indeed changed.

During these years among the Liren tribe, he had carried out reforms based on the Gu family's hereditary records, thereby raising the Liren's productivity.

Including suggestions on agriculture;

as well as an overall development strategy, and through this continually raising the Gu clan's influence.

What rather surprised Gu Yi was—he actually already had offspring.

And they were born to him by the daughter of the Liren tribe's dulao.

According to Gu Han, this child would be the future chief of the Liren tribe.

Even Gu Yi himself had not noticed this point.

Upon hearing of this matter, he immediately opened the "Family Information" interface, and sure enough saw the newly born Gu Shizi among them.

Named Gu Sui.

His aptitude was not outstanding either, only middling at best.

Gu Han wanted Gu Yi to bring this child back to the Gu clan for education.

Regarding this, Gu Yi naturally would not refuse.

As time passed, the Gu clan's influence was destined to grow ever greater, and the entire family would no longer be confined within the Nine Provinces.

Maintaining the bonds of kinship was an extremely critical point among them.

The road ahead was still very long; at least for now, the Gu clan's descendants could not yet be completely scattered.

The two brothers chatted the entire night through.

Experience is often the best way for a person to advance.

Gu Han was exactly like this; the present him could truly be said to have understood the Gu clan's path that Gu Ye had spoken of.

Looking at the white hair gradually appearing on Gu Ye's head, the two brothers, when their feelings ran deep, both shed tears.

The good thing was — Gu Ye would not leave Lingnan immediately.

What came next was the true key to this southern campaign!

The twenty-first year of Qianji, the seventh month;

Gu Yi, controlling Gu Ye, held a grand Heaven Worship Ceremony at Panyu, and thoroughly began his governance of Lingnan.

As for those tribes that had fled into the deep mountains —

Gu Yi did not rush to attack.

His first order was to formally relocate those tribes that had already come to surrender out of the deep mountains, selecting fixed settlements for them throughout the land of Lingnan, forming a settlement system radiating outward in all directions with Panyu at its center.

Everything followed the Han system's standards —

The only difference was that their architectural style was preserved.

As for cultural integration, just as Gu Yi had done in the Northern Frontier back then, except this time it was to be more direct.

He had people compile the "Thousand-Character Classic of Hua and Yi."

And posted a reward for it.

"Any Yue child who can recite the Classic of Filial Piety shall have his entire family exempted from one year of corvée labor."

Through this measure he stimulated each tribe's passion for learning the Han script, and had people open up the Meiguan Ancient Road, expanding it into a "double-track thoroughfare," planting banyan trees along the road for shade, and establishing "Ten-Li Pavilions" for merchants and travelers to rest.

Lingnan's commercial value would absolutely far exceed that of the Northern Frontier.

This was something Gu Yi could be certain of.

— To get rich, first build roads!

This is one of the unchanging maxims of any era.

As long as there were sufficient profits, merchants and travelers could be attracted.

And as long as the stability of life could be guaranteed, then Gu Yi was not afraid that Lingnan's culture could not be integrated into the Han.

And just as with the Northern Frontier —

When each tribe's culture gradually merged into the Han and they began learning Han culture, this land would gradually be integrated into the Nine Provinces.

Likewise, Gu Yi had not forgotten the soldiers who had come all this way.

As for those fallen soldiers —

Gu Yi had people erect a stele for them at Panyu; one side of the stone monument bore the eulogy personally written by Gu Ye, while the other side bore four great characters: "Han and Yi, One Body!"

This was also Gu Yi's private intention.

Although he did not know how long this stone monument could actually endure.

He still left it within the residence designated for Gu Han.

This was one of the main strongholds he had chosen for the Gu clan.

The present political center of Lingnan, the core location of what would later be the "Pearl River Delta."

If the Gu clan could continue to develop in such a place, the influence on later generations would be immeasurable.

As for those Han soldiers who survived —

Gu Yi also did not forget his promises to them, asking whether they had any wish to relocate; he would distribute land to them and grant tax exemption.

Gu Yi even told them the benefits of this place.

Including that Gu Han would represent the Gu clan in putting down roots here.

But alas, even so, the majority were still unwilling to remain in Lingnan.

This was also the common view of the current Han commoners toward Lingnan — they all considered Lingnan to be merely a land of barbarian tribes.

Yet they did not know —

Once the initial period of great reclamation had passed, Lingnan's geographical and environmental advantages would quickly reveal themselves.

This place had a promising future!

But Gu Yi could not force them either; perhaps every person has their own destiny.

Since they were unwilling to stay in this place —

Gu Yi was helpless.

Time hurried on; Gu Yi drew up detailed reclamation goals for all of Lingnan.

Apart from expanding the Meiguan Ancient Road, Gu Yi also formulated plans for digging canals, including land construction and every other idea.

This was not work that could be completed in a single generation.

Gu Yi was also not so mad as to want to finish so much in a single generation.

Everything could only be pursued gradually.

According to Gu Yi's speculation, it would already be impressive if the Yan Han dynasty could fully implement all of this.

What he needed to do now was to establish the settlement habits of the various Shanyue tribes, including the adoption of Han culture and resolving those tribes still intent on resisting.

Gu Yi did not choose to launch a direct assault on these people.

Instead, he gradually squeezed their living space through various policies.

Including bounties—

Including cutting off all their trade channels for barter.

None of this was difficult for Gu Yi.

Beyond this, Gu Yi imposed another kind of pressure on these barbarians.

The later they surrendered, the lower their status would become.

Although this series of measures seemed mild, they were far more effective than outright warfare.

Soft knives still draw blood.

Under complete isolation, no matter how powerful these tribes had once been, they could not withstand such pressure indefinitely.

Either they chose to die in the forests, or they had no choice but to surrender.

Gu Yi didn't care how they responded; he left the matter entirely to Wen Yang, while he himself steadily governed the entire Lingnan region.

After a period of observation, Gu Yi established a monopoly on "sugar workshops."

He did not employ modern, overly advanced technologies.

Instead, he promoted sugarcane-based malt sugar production using the sugar-making techniques recorded in the Qimin Yaoshu.

He also sent people to open Hu Jiao plantations on the Leizhou Peninsula.

He intended to use this as a specialized industrial chain to develop Lingnan.

Although Gu Yi had long prepared thoroughly, Lingnan's current conditions could not fully adapt to this series of policies.

Among the Baiyue, there were indeed tribes that cultivated sugarcane and could even produce sugar.

But to form a specialized industrial chain—

It was still the dream of a fool.

"Relocating" populations remained an unavoidable choice for Lingnan.

After careful deliberation, Gu Yi sent letters to Luoyang and Julu.

Yes, he wanted to relocate some of the Julu populace to Lingnan!

As the most loyal followers of the Gu clan.

If the Julu people came here, the Gu clan's roots in Lingnan would surely become much easier to establish.

Moreover, this move was not a bad thing for either Lingnan or the Julu people themselves.

The productivity of the Julu people could rightly be called the best in Han.

Julu had now become a holy land.

Even during the chaos of the empire's collapse, Julu suffered no impact whatsoever.

Relocating these people would greatly accelerate Lingnan's sinicization and land reclamation.

And this move would also benefit the Gu clan's establishment in Lingnan.

Although this might weaken the Gu clan's influence within Han, the Gu clan currently had no shortage of such influence.

Han was currently at its peak.

Even if the so-called "dynastic law" truly existed—

It could not manifest in the short term, and the Gu clan had no fear of annihilation.

From every perspective, this was the best choice.

The news quickly spread to Luoyang and Julu.

Meanwhile, land reclamation in Lingnan continued without pause; the Li people tribe played an excellent leading role at this time.

The prosperity of the Li people tribe greatly strengthened the Baiyue tribes' desire to align with Han.

Wen Yang did not disappoint Gu Yi.

Facing the Baiyue tribes still hiding in Shenshan, he initially upheld Gu Yi's "firm yet flexible" strategy.

But as time passed—

Seeing that some tribes still chose to resist stubbornly—

He finally exhausted all his patience and launched a massive surprise raid with his troops.

And this man had truly changed.

He did not merely mobilize his own elite troops, but also those Han warriors from tribes that had already surrendered to Han.

These tribes wanted to earn merit; some even held grudges against the resisting tribes.

This greatly compensated for the Han army's lack of familiarity with the terrain.

Coupled with Wen Yang's ferocity—

The outcome of this battle was obvious.

And Wen Yang seemed determined to establish his authority through this battle; he dealt brutally with the resisting tribes, nearly wiping one out entirely.

This single battle ended everything.

In the fourth month of the twenty-second year of Ganji.

The last of the Baiyue tribes emerged from the deep forests and surrendered to Han.

Gu Yi showed no mercy.

Just as he had originally promised, whether in terms of settlement locations or treatment, they received the worst conditions among all the Baiyue.

This greatly increased Gu Yi's authority.

Once everything was settled, the Baiyue's resentment toward Han would gradually turn into internal strife.

The messages Gu Yi sent were successively returned to Han.

Upon hearing of Gu Ye's actions in Lingnan, the entire Luoyang court immediately erupted into an unprecedented storm of shock!

——————

In the twenty-first year of Qianji, General Ye arrived at Panyu.

In days past, Emperor Guangwu established the dynasty; Ma Yuan campaigned southward, erecting bronze pillars to mark the border, subduing the Luo Yue.

Yet this wild and remote land saw frequent rebellion and submission, for its rulers either relied on military might and neglected benevolent rule, or drowned in moral transformation and forgot military preparedness.

Ye's pacification of Lingnan inherited the legacy of the Yan Han, upheld the grand ambition of Qianji, intimidated treachery with military and law, secured its foundation with farmland, and guided its people's hearts through schools—truly grasping the essence of "alternating strength and gentleness, uniting Han and barbarian."

——The Yan Han Annals: Biography of Gu Ye

(End of Chapter)