Chapter 169: The Army Arrives

Minglin Physician lay prostrate on the ground as if kowtowing with all five limbs to beg for punishment, while Gongsun Xun simply held a bronze wine cup and looked coldly at the man beneath his feet.

It must be said, after this battle, the latter’s authority within the army naturally needed no further elaboration, so from Xu Rong and Gongsun Yue on down, no one around dared to utter a single word, and inside that laughable provisional palace of Goguryeo, silence reigned for a time.

But to tell the truth, Gongsun Xun at this moment was not actually weighing pros and cons as the surrounding officers imagined; he was merely observing the little old man at his feet with great care... because at this very moment, he felt some doubt and puzzlement — was this man loyal or treacherous?

The chief minister of a whole kingdom, with the capital still standing, had actually come running over specifically to surrender?

And he still pleaded to remain in power after the war?

And he would hand over his own king?

And he would exhaust the resources of an entire kingdom to curry favor with himself?

Judging by these points, this man was utterly devoid of virtue to the extreme, with absolutely no loyalty to speak of!

And yet, Gongsun Xun had also discerned where the other party truly held firm — he wanted the Han army, no matter what, not to attack the Goguryeo capital, but instead to allow Goguryeo to carry out a full surrender in a form that, though humiliating, still preserved the entity of a state!

From this angle, Minglin Physician was undoubtedly doing everything in his power to preserve the continued existence of his own country... after all, with Goguryeo’s main army now completely lost, relying solely on the fifteen hundred palace guards in the capital and the private troops of some nobles, even if they were "united as one," it would merely be "not certain to fall," and once it did fall, the Goguryeo that had endured for nearly two hundred years would likely face true national annihilation and the extinction of its people!

Speaking of loyalty at a time like this, could there be any act more loyal than preserving the nation’s existence at any cost? And as for the slight personal and familial self-interest hidden behind such loyalty, was that necessarily unacceptable?

Self-interest and great righteousness, loyalty and cunning, the individual and the state — are they truly irreconcilable, forcing one to choose only one?

Besides, in a few hundred years, if Goguryeo still existed, Minglin Physician might well be regarded as a paragon of enduring humiliation for a greater cause!

"I have two more matters to ask the Mangniji." Gongsun Xun paced behind the other man and finally spoke again. "I hope you will answer frankly."

"I shall certainly speak all that I know." Minglin Physician hastily replied.

"Why did you agree to Karyu's absurd scheme that day?" Gongsun Xun asked seriously, toying with the bronze wine cup in his hand. "Karyu was blinded by prospects, but as the chief minister of the state, did you never consider the risks of this war? Staking the entire kingdom on one battle and ending up in such a state — did you not foresee even a fraction of this?"

"It is truly because the General is divinely martial, brilliant, and wise..."

"Spare me such words." Gongsun Xun could not help but sneer.

"This is not flattery, but honest truth." Minglin Physician, prostrate on the ground, answered earnestly. "That day, it was only after learning the General's true situation from Karyu and hesitating repeatedly that I finally agreed... The General is just over twenty this year, of noble lineage, commanding a great city like Xiangping at such a young age — youthful vigor and eagerness for merit would be the natural course. Then, of your ten-thousand-strong army, half were mixed barbarians who fought independently and only knew horse archery, three or four thousand were Liaodong militia formed barely months ago, and only the fifteen hundred local troops from Xuantu could be considered elite. Once such an army left Zuoyuan even half a step, who could dare say it was not in danger of annihilation?"

This time, Gongsun Xun did not interrupt him.

"And you, General, not only swallowed the bait and left the hook, but also led a mob of mixed barbarians and militia with such sound defense that our forty- to fifty-thousand-strong army was nearly driven to despair before the Zuoyuan camp. Forgive my bluntness, but the key to this battle lay precisely in the General's ability to unify your entire army, high and low as one, defending when defense was called for and fighting when battle was called for; it also lay in us Goguryeo people being half-hearted and unable to persevere..."

"Right there." Gongsun Xun suddenly interrupted him again. "From what I heard from Eoryu, the situation in your kingdom is unstable, so much so that he could immediately contact the nobles in the army to seize your authority once the battle turned unfavorable... Since the kingdom is already in such chaos, why insist on having your own way and willfully provoke this war?"

"Is Eoryu still alive?" Minglin Physician could not help but raise his head and ask.

Gongsun Xun ignored him.

Minglin Physician immediately nodded: "Yes, I overstepped... In reply to the General, it was precisely because the situation in the kingdom was untenable that we had to risk this war!"

Gongsun Xun remained silent, merely waiting for the other to explain.

"General." Minglin Physician explained candidly. "Our Goguryeo has stood for nearly two hundred years. On one hand, like Fuyu and the Xianbei, we operate primarily through clans and tribes; on the other hand, we have continuously studied the Han classics, built cities, freed slaves, and elevated the status of our countrymen. By now, any sensible person knows that establishing codified laws and institutions, becoming a system like the Great Han, is the proper path. Yet the power of the tribal clans is too great — even we sensible people who manage state affairs all come from great clans ourselves, so how could we possibly cut our own flesh to perfect the state?"

At this point, Minglin Physician could not help but look despondent: "Thus, the kingdom fell into a dilemma, unable to advance and unable to retreat... and as the general trend pressed on, the conflict between the countrymen and the nobles grew ever more intense, while I, the chief minister who could barely hold the situation together, grew ever older! Under such circumstances, aside from fighting and winning a great battle, what other method was there to temporarily ease the boiling turmoil in the kingdom? And if we wanted to fight a great war, if we did not provoke the Great Han, were we to go plunder the Samhan instead? As for wanting to win a great battle, if we did not lure the enemy deep, were we to dash ourselves against the Great Han's strong cities and fortresses?"

Gongsun Xun could not help but sigh inwardly at these words!

It must be said, Minglin Physician's speech gave Gongsun Xun considerably more understanding of some of the abstruse and mysterious things his mother often spoke of... Knowledge from books ultimately feels shallow; one must personally practice to truly know a matter. Without seeing with his own eyes how these clever, sensible people ruined their own country to such a state, he might truly have mistaken them for some kind of tragic heroes!

After all that talk, wasn't it simply because of their own private interests that they clearly knew which path was right yet were unwilling to follow it? Instead, they would rather gamble with the future of the entire nation! After all, the country belonged to all of them, not to any one family alone.

But conversely, if his own handling of this war was not clean enough, would that instead allow this country to thoroughly cast off its historical burdens and then achieve a rebirth through destruction?

"I understand this matter now." With this thought, Gongsun Xun finally returned to the seat at the head of the room. "I have one more question that I must consult the Mangniji on!"

"Please speak directly, General." Minglin Physician hastily bowed his head once more.

"Does the Mangniji believe that the survival of a state can truly be entrusted to the magnanimity of an enemy?" Gongsun Xun asked earnestly.

At this moment, the Han army officers around them were all extremely tense... they too could see that, without a doubt, whether their general would accept the Goguryeo surrender would be decided in this very exchange.

"Then what else can I do?" Minglin Physician raised his head, trembling, his face as white as his own beard. "General Gongsun, though you are young, you are a man who understands gain and loss. Please see clearly — if you accept my surrender, what you gain will far exceed breaking the city and destroying the kingdom!"

"To deceive a dead man to his face — that is something I, Gongsun Xun, still cannot bring myself to do." Gongsun Xun flung the cup of wine he had never drunk, cup and all, before the other man. "Let me speak plainly. If Goguryeo is not eliminated, it may indeed yield more for me personally, but for the Han commoners of the several Liaodong commanderies a hundred years hence, it will surely become a great calamity! Leaving disaster to future generations — that is something I will not do."

Minglin Physician, splashed across the forehead with wine, lay prostrate on the ground, his whole body limp, clearly having understood the other's meaning.

"Drag him out and behead him!" Gongsun Xun ordered calmly. "Send his head to Grand Administrator Ju at Zuoyuan — that can be considered giving him an explanation. Also, have Wendian and Zibo, who remain guarding Zuoyuan, dispatch troops here immediately to prepare for besieging the Goguryeo capital... Bring a new cup. Let us proceed with the feast and wine, to reward everyone for their days of bitter fighting."

Minglin Physician was dragged out on the spot, and just as someone beside him presented a new wine cup, Xu Rong suddenly stepped forward.

"General!" Xu Bojin knelt on one knee, with an air of begging forgiveness. "Since you have resolved to capture the Goguryeo capital, I wish to lead three thousand cavalry ahead, advancing swiftly to the foot of Mount Jian. At that time, if the Goguryeo people are unprepared, we can take it directly, just as we did here at Heulseunggol Fortress; if they are prepared, we can still intimidate them somewhat..."

"That will not be necessary." Gongsun Xun raised his hand with a smile. "A vanguard must be sent, but I have already chosen someone for it. Adjutant Xu has fought for days on end — you may as well rest and recover. When the time comes to assault the city, I will still need your great efforts."

Xu Rong immediately dared not speak further.

The feast continued, but after it ended, for several days running, Gongsun Xun merely soothed the army's morale and reorganized their spirit here at Heulseunggol Fortress. He also dispatched large cavalry detachments to sweep and intimidate along Goguryeo's main routes, preventing anyone from raising a banner and rallying the defeated troops — yet he alone was not seen sending any vanguard toward the Goguryeo capital as he had previously stated.

But oddly enough, no one dared to ask about this matter, because over these few days, the entire army, from top to bottom, felt a sense of trembling trepidation before him.

It must be understood, the seven or eight thousand cavalry of the Han-Barbarian coalition charging headlong into this second-largest city of Goguryeo was certainly a fine strategic move, but a great army entering an enemy city was basically no different from wolves entering a sheepfold... after all, military discipline in this era, especially that of a motley army, needed no imagining to know what it was like.

Thus, Gongsun Xun spent several consecutive days here rectifying military discipline.

It was not that looting was forbidden, much less some kind of reorganization; rather, he needed to curb criminal acts that exceeded permissible bounds and wanton conduct beyond the seizure of spoils of war, because such acts did not enhance the army's combat effectiveness but instead would cause the troops to lose control. At the same time, he also needed to concentrate some goods and set aside certain items to share with the rear army that was about to arrive.

In short, within a few days, Gongsun Xun hardened his expression and ruthlessly executed a batch, punished a batch, and rewarded a batch... while reorganizing the troops, he also made many hearts tremble with fear, so much so that no one dared to act recklessly before him.

But that was all. Three days later, when Lou Gui and Gongsun Fan arrived with the rear army, and word also came that Grand Administrator Ju Teng and Shen Pei were about to arrive with some Xuantu commandery troops, Gongsun Xun straightforwardly mustered the entire army of over ten thousand, raised his White Horse Banner, stretched and spread out his formation, and advanced in a vast, mighty sweep toward Mount Jian between the Hunjiang and Yalu Rivers.

At the foot of Mount Jian lay the capital of the Goguryeo people, which had stood for nearly two hundred years — and this place had not seen the glint of blades for over a century.

However, during the march, a rather interesting incident occurred... It turned out that, perhaps because Xuantu Grand Administrator Ju Teng's desire to claim merit was far too intense, after being left behind at Zuoyuan by Gongsun Xun, when he arrived at Heulseunggol Fortress this time and discovered that he had once again been left behind, he stiffened his neck with fierce determination and actually handed Heulseunggol Fortress over entirely to Shen Pei to garrison. Then this dignified two-thousand-bushel official of the Great Han, leading only a dozen or so attendants, rode light and caught up with the main force through a war-torn region rife with chaos — leaving everyone utterly at a loss!

Truly, there was nothing to be done; the man was a two-thousand-bushel official, so Gongsun Xun naturally had to give him full face and place him in the proper seat... however, as for military authority and command, he need not think of meddling.

Yet, while the first few days were fine, later on, even though he clearly knew he could not truly seize military command, and clearly knew the officers below would not listen to him, this Grand Administrator Ju always felt an itch in his heart and could never resist offering his opinions, which greatly annoyed Gongsun Xun, who often had to accompany the fellow.

Thus, on an evening some days before the new year, after several days of marching, the Han army finally arrived at the foot of Mount Jian and encamped on the spot. All the army's senior officers then gathered together to discuss the final arrangements for the coming day's battle.

"Since this city lies at the foot of Mount Jian, could we occupy Mount Jian and look down from the heights to spy out their true situation?" As soon as the military council began in the central army tent, Ju Teng, seated at the head, could not resist speaking up.

"Perhaps it is possible?" Gongsun Xun, seated together with him, replied helplessly. "Why doesn't Lord Ju go scout their situation tonight? If the city is unprepared, we could trouble Lord Ju to lead men wrapped in leather blankets rolling down from the mountain into the city, and then either open the city gates from within or directly kill the Goguryeo king — then this battle could be won in a single day."

"Wenqi, don't jest," Ju Teng responded awkwardly. "How can one clearly see the mountain's contours at night? If I rolled down, wouldn't my life be forfeit?"

"If even the mountain's contours cannot be seen clearly at night, how then would one spy out their true situation?" Gongsun Xun finally retorted, shutting him up.

"I meant we should send men up the mountain again tomorrow to spy on the city's true situation..." Ju Teng corrected helplessly. "We could also build a small stockade on the mountain to serve as an observation post."

"No need." Gongsun Xun rejected it once more. "My mind is made up. Tomorrow we begin felling timber to make battering rams and cloud ladders. As soon as the equipment is somewhat ready, we will assault the city immediately! No need for any observation!"

"Isn't this too hasty?" Ju Teng immediately objected again. "Have you not heard: know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles? Moreover, during the day today, as we marched, we clearly saw the weather turning overcast. If it snows, I believe we should construct a solid fortified camp as a precaution..."

"If it truly is going to snow, then we should assault the city even more urgently," Gongsun Xun said at once. "To prevent the cold and frozen ground from making the assault disadvantageous."

"That is also true." Ju Teng paused at these words. "I only fear that the city has learned your winter method of pouring water to form ice defenses, Wenqi..."

"Even if they have learned it, it is no matter. This Goguryeo capital has eight city gates, and the walls are broad and wide. If we attack from all four sides simultaneously, the Goguryeo people simply cannot defend it all..." At this point, Gongsun Xun could not help but narrow his eyes. "From what I know, the troops within the city capable of fighting are probably not many now."

"How do you know?" Ju Teng was stunned again. "The situation within the city..."

"I have long since dispatched a vanguard into the city to stir up chaos," Gongsun Xun finally revealed the answer with some impatience. "Though I cannot claim to know everything about the city's true situation now, I do have some expectations."

Inside the central army tent, the status of Gongsun Xun and Ju Teng far exceeded that of everyone else, so while the two men were rambling on in the seats of honor, all the others simply kept their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, sitting upright on their camp stools, not daring to move... Yet once these words were spoken, no one could resist whispering among themselves.

Because, truly, no one knew whom Gongsun Xun had sent to infiltrate the city in advance... No one in the army was missing!

"You sent a vanguard to infiltrate the city?" Ju Teng was also momentarily surprised and bewildered. "How many men did you send?"

"Two!" Gongsun Xun answered proudly.

"Do not jest!" Ju Teng immediately became frantic with anger. "Gongsun County Magistrate, I know full well that you raised this army single-handedly, and I know that the troops revere you because of the earlier Battle of Zuoyuan. But you must also know that I am a dignified imperial official of two thousand shi, and that a full five or six thousand men in this army are soldiers of my Xuantu Commandery... I asked you about battle strategy in good faith. Even if you are impatient, why must you humiliate me?"

"I have not humiliated you, Lord Ju." Gongsun Xun replied calmly. "I truly sent only two men as the vanguard. One is the younger brother of Yaya Keli, the current leader of the Guanna tribe and the former defender of Zuoyuan, Miru. This man set out three days before we broke camp. And just before we broke camp, I also released the surrendered general Yuliuliu — the former Left Chancellor of Goguryeo and leader of the Huanna tribe — and sent him back... I have heard that after the Battle of Zuoyuan, on the journey here, Lord Ju sought out men to study in detail the internal affairs of Goguryeo and this campaign. So, in your estimation, how many soldiers are these two vanguards of mine worth?"

Ju Teng was stunned speechless.

—————I am the dividing line of a sudden inspiration—————

"Xun attacked Goguryeo... (Goguryeo) had always honored the Six Tribes, with the six clans governing together, and even the royal throne could be replaced. When the Chuanna tribe gradually rose, its chieftain (Myeongnim) Dapfu carried out acts of deposition and enthronement, and the royal clan was largely annihilated, surviving in name but perishing in substance — thus one tribe was eliminated. Later, the chieftain of the Guanna tribe, Keli, plotted the Zuoyuan scheme; the affair failed, and he was executed by Dapfu of the Chuanna tribe and Yuliuliu of the Huanna tribe. When the army was defeated, Dapfu was beheaded by the Han army, while Yuliuliu and Keli's younger brother Miru surrendered and were sent back. Miru traveled three days ahead, entered the royal city, gathered followers, and slaughtered all the elderly and young of the Chuanna tribe to avenge his brother's death — thus a second tribe was eliminated. When Yuliuliu returned, Miru sought to kill him as well. Yuliuliu, greatly terrified, then led his own tribe's soldiers to counterattack. The two factions, along with their allied cliques, fought in the royal city with naked blades for days on end, until seven or eight out of ten in every tribe were dead. By the time the Han army reached the royal city, it was as if entering a land devoid of people — thus four tribes were eliminated. Xun heard of this while in the army and lamented with sorrow: 'I had only intended to execute the chief culprits and release the two generals. Yet when a state is on the verge of destruction, brothers fight within the walls — how could it come to this?'" — Records of Heroes at the End of Han, by Wang Can

PS: Seeing Lord Sao Rui's fifty-thousand reward... I am overwhelmed with shame.

One more note: yesterday was only six thousand characters. After thinking it over, that doesn't count as repaying the debt... so there will definitely be a large chapter this week to repay the debt.

Also, the new book group is 684558115, everyone can join.

(End of Chapter)