Chapter 829: Annihilation

On the eleventh day of the sixth month of the sixth year of Shaoming, Murong Xinzhang crossed Haizhou and personally hurried to the small town where Wang Zhao, the Great King of Wang-clan Goryeo, was surrounded.

Before this, the Wang-clan Goryeo army of seventy thousand, along with tens of thousands of laborers, had already utterly collapsed. Along the two hundred-plus li of road from Pyongyang to Haizhou, fallen soldiers and laborers lay dead on both sides everywhere.

Of Goryeo's seventy thousand troops, apart from Jiang Gongzhen's three thousand-plus men besieged at Haizhou and the thousand-odd cavalry around Wang Zhao, nearly the entire army had been annihilated.

And before they were finished off, the six thousand-plus defenders of Pyongyang had also been completely wiped out.

In this single battle, Wang-clan Goryeo's losses were devastatingly severe: at least nearly one-tenth of the nation's total population, and one-fifth of its able-bodied men, even if not dead, would find it very hard ever to return to their homeland.

Because these captured soldiers and laborers would become the finest cannon fodder for the attack on the Wa country, and their wives and daughters would become the finest spoils of war.

As for the civil and military officials lost: Xin Kang, the defender of Pyongyang, was killed; Hong Shun, Troop Commander of the Left Army of the field headquarters, was seized by laborers and handed over to the Zhou army; Park Yinggyu, Troop Commander of the Right Army, knelt at Cibei Ridge and begged to surrender; Yu Gyeong, Troop Commander of the vanguard army, was cut down in battle.

The remaining officers great and small who fell numbered in the hundreds, and over a thousand of the military class were killed or wounded almost to a man — basically wiping out Wang-clan Goryeo's armed strength in one sweep.

Before Murong Xinzhang arrived, apart from Chen Sirang and Gao Song, who had led three thousand elite cavalry by night to seize Gaegyeong, nearly twenty thousand troops had surrounded this small town so tightly that not a drop of water could pass.

It was not that they could not take the town; they were deliberately waiting for Murong Xinzhang's arrival, wanting to present this most glorious moment to their Great King.

The moment Murong Xinzhang appeared in white robe on a white horse, the twenty thousand warriors around the town burst into heaven-shaking cheers. Officers and men struck the armor on their chests with their hands or short blades, and every eye was filled with hope.

And the source of that hope was the plains great and small stretching all the way down from Pyongyang — a region dense with waterways, with irrigation works already completed, worthy of being called several hundred li of fertile fields, and even fairly densely populated compared to the Liao lands.

These soldiers and their families, nearly four hundred thousand people in all, were to follow Murong Xinzhang. If half stayed in Goryeo, that would be two hundred thousand people, roughly thirty thousand-plus households.

Of these, thirty thousand households would become wealthy farmers and landlords akin to the fubing system, while the remaining several thousand households could become feudal lords great and small.

Although Goryeo's terrain is narrow compared to the Central Plains and its good land limited, settling these two hundred thousand people would still pose no great problem — enough for a small portion to become masters, and the majority to possess a considerable amount of farmland.

Murong Xinzhang knew what these people were waiting for, watching him for, and what was in their hearts. So he did not hesitate, and riding before the ranks he shouted: "Take Gaegyeong, divide the fields and the land, and meritorious servants shall be granted estates and slaves!"

"Long live! Long live! Long live!" In an instant the mountains echoed with cries of "Long live," and everyone cheered.

Then Murong Xinzhang swept his hand, and the twenty thousand troops attacked from all four sides. Countless bear-like warriors in heavy armor charged eagerly into the town, which had only a palisade. The Goryeo men could not stop them, and no longer dared to try.

Before long, cheers rang out again. A dozen or so warriors dragged over a man in a white robe, his face utterly bloodless, and brought him before Murong Xinzhang. Then with a single shout they forced him to his knees on the ground.

"Park Yinggyu, come over and identify him!" Murong Xinzhang's cousin Murong Xinzhen shouted.

A middle-aged man with a wounded face and a terrified expression came over to look, and with a wail burst into tears. "Great King, your servant has failed you!"

"Go to hell!" Murong Xinzhen kicked Park Yinggyu sprawling to the ground. "You Baekje turncoat, trying to play the loyal minister? Answer now — is it him or not?"

Park Yinggyu lay prostrate, weeping loudly. "Yes! He is Wang Zhao — Wang Zhao, the Great King of Goryeo!"

Not long after, Hong Shun, who had been handed over by Liu Yibao and his cousin, was also dragged over.

He was even more direct than Park Yinggyu. The moment he saw Wang Zhao pressed into the muddy ground, he immediately began wailing at the top of his lungs.

Yet amid this loud weeping, the surrounding officers and men all began to laugh in unison.

The dozen or so warriors who had captured Wang Zhao loudly recounted their exploits to Murong Xinzhang amid the laughter.

This scene made Murong Xinzhang involuntarily recall fourteen years earlier, when he had followed his adoptive father Zhang Zhao into Guanzhong to suppress the rebellion, and had vied with Li Cunhui over the capture and killing of the rebel general Sun Xiaoguo.

"Asige, first to ascend and seize the man, is awarded the highest merit, granted a surname and enfeoffed. The other brave warriors are awarded the first class of merit, granted fields, houses, and titles — all shall be rewarded!"

"We kowtow in thanks to the Great King!" The cheers grew even louder, but amid them an incongruous voice rang out.

"Sworn to death, never surrender! The Huangfu clan of Hwangju has no general who bends the knee!" It turned out Huangfu Zhao had also been brought over in bonds.

Earlier, Murong Xinzhang, valuing talent, had already sent men ahead to urge surrender. It seemed it had not gone well — this man, his arms twisted by four armored soldiers, was still shouting and struggling without cease.

In truth, it was not entirely about valuing talent. The Huangfu clan held a rather special place among the Goryeo people.

They were somewhat different from other Goryeo people who had adopted surnames, because generally when people adopted surnames, they mostly impersonated great surnames like Wang, Li, Liu, or Zhao, or used transliterations like Kim or Park.

Very few people would bother to impersonate a surname like Huangfu. Such compound surnames are rare in China and easy to trace genealogically, so a Goryeo person adopting such a surname would very likely be exposed.

How could that be as safe as surnames like Wang, Liu, or Li, which had been granted or adopted so widely across the realm?

Therefore the Huangfu clan of the peninsula were indeed Han Chinese of the Huangfu surname who had gone to Liaodong during the two Han dynasties, intermarried with the local natives, and finally migrated south to the Korean peninsula. They had a relatively clear lineage, and belonged to a group that was comparatively convenient to draw back into the fold.

At the same time, Hwangju, where the Huangfu family had made its home, was not far from Pyongyang and had already been basically brought under control. Yet the family's outstanding members mostly held power around Gaegyeong.

This family was the sort that was a great clan but not very strong in actual power, sustained instead by a few dragons and phoenixes among men — naturally an excellent partner for cooperation.

Moreover, historically, most of this Huangfu clan of the peninsula returned north of the Yalu River in the late Qing, and their descendants mostly live in Yanbian and Changchun, with very few remaining on the peninsula. In a sense, that was a kind of return — they were our own people.

Meanwhile, Huangfu Zhao was still shouting and making a scene. Murong Xinzhen could not bear to listen any longer and immediately strode over, bellowing:

"You slave of a rebel, you still dare to roar? Do you know your parents, wife, children, and entire clan are all in my hands? Say half a word more of refusing to surrender, and I will slaughter your whole family."

Huangfu Zhao had his sore spot seized, and his momentum collapsed at once.

In history, men like Fang Xiaoru, who would go to death with his brothers for the justice in his heart, having his wife and two sons hang themselves in advance and his two daughters throw themselves into the Qinhuai River beforehand — such men are exceedingly, exceedingly rare.

So although Huangfu Zhao wished to die as a loyal minister, he could not harden his heart to let his parents, wife, and children die with him. He could only desperately raise his head and look at Murong Xinzhang.

"I have heard that the King of Liao is also a loyal minister and filial son of the Shaoming Sage. I beg you to grant my wish!"

Murong Xinzhang gave a long sigh and personally walked forward. "Your Goryeo Huangfu clan are also descendants of the Han. Now that I have brought a great army here, it is to restore the old Han realm and punish the Wang clan, who falsely call themselves kings of Goryeo. Why not submit now and serve the land of your ancestors?"

Huangfu Zhao slowly shook his head. "The Huangfu clan may return to the land of its ancestors, but Zhao was raised up by the former king and has eaten the Wang clan's salary. How could I become a twice-serving minister? I beg the Great King to grant my wish!"

Murong Xinzhang pondered for a long while. This Huangfu Zhao was absolutely not feigning — he truly sought death. He ought to grant this reputation for loyalty and righteousness. So he waved his hand. "Huangfu Jiming, this is a loyal and righteous man of your family. You do it."

The words had barely fallen when a seventeen-year-old brave general stepped out from the crowd. The man was tall and slender, skilled in riding and archery, possessed of courage and strength, and historically counted as a valiant general of the early Northern Song.

"A common blade is unworthy to bear a loyal minister's blood. I beg the Great King to grant me a blade!" Huangfu Jiming shed his cloth-faced iron armor, bared his right arm, and half-knelt before Murong Xinzhang to request a blade.

Murong Xinzhang, hearing this, untied the long dagger he carried at his side. "This blade is named Light-Chaser. It was bestowed by the Son of Heaven, and it has the Buddha-nature to ferry a man into the Pure Land!"

At this, the armored soldiers holding Huangfu Zhao released their grip. Huangfu Zhao straightened his mud-soiled clothes and armor, bowed once toward Wang Zhao, and said, "My king, your servant has served to the death!"

Wang Zhao's pale face twitched several times, but in his extreme terror he could not utter a single word.

Then Huangfu Zhao bowed once toward Murong Xinzhang. "Many thanks to the Great King for granting my wish!"

Murong Xinzhang nodded. Huangfu Jiming then took Light-Chaser and stepped forward, saying loudly to Huangfu Zhao: "I will send word to the Huangfu ancestral shrine in Jingzhou, so they will know that the Huangfu family has loyal and righteous men even in the lands east of the sea."

Having spoken, Huangfu Jiming walked up, felt Huangfu Zhao's chest, confirmed the position, and with a gentle thrust, struck straight through the heart!

Blood immediately gushed forth, and Huangfu Zhao convulsed a few times like lightning, losing all consciousness in an extremely short time — throughout the entire process he could hardly be said to have suffered.

Murong Xinzhang looked at Huangfu Zhao, supported by Huangfu Jiming, and a ruthless expression flashed across his face.

"Order men to carve a stele and build a temple here in his memory. But all the Huangfu family's estates and property in Hwangju are to be confiscated; the men are to be conscripted for service at the front, and all widowed and unmarried women are to be allotted to men of merit."

It was fine to want to be a loyal minister, and Murong Xinzhang could even grant a man the name of a loyal minister — but to want the name of a loyal minister while still expecting his clan to go on living comfortably, that would not do.

Otherwise, on this whole march south, if everyone put on such a show, where would the land come from to settle the trusted men of my Great King Murong?

And if loyal ministers became too many, would that not make my Great King Murong's southern expedition look less righteous?

"The Great King is wise!" The surrounding officers all cheered in satisfaction.

Handling it this way both granted the name of loyal minister — for they still held great respect for Huangfu Zhao, who had sought death solely to fulfill his loyalty — and at the same time prevented certain cunning sorts from following his example.

At Haizhou, Murong Xinzhang did not turn back, but led the main army straight toward Gaegyeong, sending only Murong Xinzhen and Xiang Xun with Wang Zhao's armor and seals to display them beneath the walls of Haizhou for the garrison to see.

Jiang Gongzhen saw it all clearly from the top of the wall, grief-stricken to the core, and at the same time lost all hope for the future of the Goryeo kingdom.

The Great Dynasty's heavenly troops were so ferocious and left nothing to chance — what was the point of struggling on?

Jiang Gongzhen pulled his son over and said with a sigh, "I was base-born. It was Great King Gojo who raised me up despite my lowly station. I truly cannot betray him — otherwise how could I face Great King Gojo in the underworld?"

Jiang Gongzhen had originally borne the surname Gong, and this Gong was not a true surname that could be passed down, but rather one borrowed by low-status natives of the peninsula who had no surnames from the Silla era into the Goryeo era.

For example, the Great King of Taebong, Gung Ye, who was overthrown by Wang Geon, was surnamed Gung only because his mother was of extremely low birth and the Silla royal house would not permit him the surname Kim, so he had to take the surname Gung himself. That was why Jiang Gongzhen called himself base-born.

Of course, historically, Jiang Gongzhen's youngest son, Jiang Gamchan, defeated the Liao army at the Battle of Gwiju and preserved the Goryeo state, and was later regarded by the people of the peninsula as a national hero. In the history books of Joseon, a very clear genealogy was fabricated for the Jiang family — much like how a wealthy family compiles a clan genealogy, and not to be trusted.

However, though Jiang Gongzhen spoke such words, he was not as unyielding as Huangfu Zhao, and he understood things more clearly than Huangfu Zhao did.

It was easy for one man to be a loyal minister, but it required the whole family to bear the cost together — and so his words were not spoken with such finality.

The Kaesong palace guard officers he had brought with him to Haizhou were all shrewd men, and hearing Jiang Gongzhen speak thus, they immediately fell to their knees and began pleading bitterly.

What a joke — as the Grand Rectifier of Goryeo, Acting Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Supreme General, Deputy Commander of the Field Army, and concurrent Field Army Troop Commander, Jiang Gongzhen was a man with an enormous head to bear blame!

A head that big could shoulder any sort of black pot!

With Jiang Gongzhen taking the blame, they could say their superior had surrendered and they had only bent the knee because they had no choice.

The guilt would be far lighter and their reputations far better, so they would absolutely never let Jiang Gongzhen take his own life.

Jiang Gongzhen was seized by a crowd of officers who kept urgently pleading with him. His eldest son, not understanding the twists and turns involved — or perhaps fearing that Jiang Gongzhen's loyalty unto death would enrage the Zhou men outside the city — also clung to Jiang Gongzhen's leg and pleaded, "If Father gives his life for the king, what will become of Yinchuan? He is only two years old!"

Yinchuan was Jiang Gamchan's childhood name. This famous Goryeo minister — capable enough, though more inflated by later praise — was only two years old this year, the late-born son Jiang Gongzhen had produced at the vigorous age of fifty-three, and therefore was dearly loved by Jiang Gongzhen.

Now, hearing his eldest son mention Jiang Gamchan, all the strength seemed to drain from Jiang Gongzhen's body. He opened his mouth and tasted only bitterness. Unless he cut his own throat right now, this black pot he would have to carry whether he wanted to or not.

When the officers saw that Jiang Gongzhen had fallen silent, they immediately crowded around him, opened the city gates, bared their upper bodies, and surrendered.

The city of Gaegyeong did not have a long history. Before the Wang dynasty's Goryeo, it had been an ordinary city.

But in the final years of Taebong, the Great King of Taebong, Gung Ye, ordered the local magnate Wang Geon of Gaeseong County to build a fortress there.

Later, Wang Geon replaced Gung Ye and established the Wang dynasty's Goryeo, merging the two cities of Songak and Gaeseong, which lay within sight of each other, into Gaegyeong as the capital — just as Xiangyang and Fancheng in the Central Plains were later combined into Xiangfan.

So the present city of Gaegyeong was not one city, but two.

And these two cities were embraced by Mount Songak and Mount Wugong, with the Imjin River running between them.

Therefore, Gaegyeong was extremely easy to defend and hard to attack. To take the city, one had to first eliminate the garrisons posted on Mount Songak and Mount Wugong.

At the same time, there was a water fortress on the Imjin River, with a river fleet that could very conveniently allow the two cities to support each other, and could also, after either Songak or Gaeseong fell, cut off contact between the two cities so that the unconquered city could continue resisting.

That, however, was the ideal state of affairs. Back when Wang Geon was contending with Later Baekje and Silla for hegemony over the peninsula, Gaegyeong had indeed been the kind of city that could almost be called impregnable.

But by the time it came into Wang Zhao's hands, the peninsula was closed off with no strong external enemies, and Gaegyeong's defensive strength had dropped by more than ten levels.

Moreover, since the Goryeo royal palace, Suchang Palace, and the rest were all in Songak City, and Goryeo's population and economy were insufficient to support such a large city, Gaeseong had rapidly declined and could no longer easily support the two cities as mutual horns in defense.

At the same time, most of the naval forces on the Imjin River had been drawn away by Wang Zhao, and they were basically unable to carry out their original mission.

In Songak City of Gaegyeong, the fifty-seven-year-old founding meritorious official of Goryeo, Huangfu Tigong, was drenched in sweat as he watched the great army appear outside the city. The numbers were not small — a full twenty thousand strong.

With the support of the fishermen of Shaocheng County, also known as Incheon, the Great Zhou fleet had very easily passed through the Ganghwa Strait, whose waters were full of hidden reefs, on the day of the high tide.

Zhe Deyuan's force of more than ten thousand infantry and cavalry, and Zhao Kuangyin personally leading seven thousand marines, first struck Shaocheng County by surprise, then charged straight to the walls of Gaegyeong.

Although they had no siege equipment, Gaegyeong also had few troops for defense, and even the drawbridge over the moat had not been properly maintained.

Zhao Kuangyin personally donned helmet and armor and attacked fiercely for several days, battering the defenses of Songak City until they were on the verge of collapse. Had Huangfu Tigong not mobilized the household guards and even servants of the city's meritorious and great families to defend the walls, it would probably have fallen long ago.

What Huangfu Tigong now desired most was for Wang Zhao, who had gone north to relieve the siege of the Western Capital at Pyongyang Prefecture, to send troops back. But in his heart, Huangfu Tigong knew this was a vain hope.

The enemy had come from Shaocheng County on Ganghwa Bay, which meant the northern invaders had come south by both water and land.

From what he, Huangfu Tigong, knew, neither the true northern invaders nor the former Liao state had ever possessed the ability to send such a large-scale naval force into Ganghwa Bay.

As for who the attackers were, Huangfu Tigong no longer dared to think. He could only use the hope of the Great King's returning army to boost morale, and he did not know how many days they could hold out.

After several days of siege, Zhe Deyuan and Zhao Kuangyin had also figured out the defensive characteristics of Gaegyeong.

On the seventh day of the sixth month, Zhao Kuangyin led ten thousand men in a fierce assault on Mount Songak, breaking through the mountain fortress that very day and killing all seven hundred of the Goryeo defenders.

After taking Songak City, Zhao Kuangyin was able to set up large trebuchets on Mount Songak and bombard Songak City.

On the ninth day of the sixth month, Zhe Deyuan deliberately opened the south gate of Songak City to lure the populace of Gaegyeong into fleeing. Huangfu Tigong exhausted every effort to stop the crowds desperate to escape, but the Goryeo defenders were also worn out and did not dare sally forth.

Seeing that Huangfu Tigong would not take the bait, Zhe Deyuan ordered the main army to storm Mount Wugong and Gaeseong. Mount Wugong had few defenders to begin with, and Gaeseong was quite dilapidated, so both were quickly taken.

Afterward, Zhe Deyuan ordered the marines to attack the Goryeo river fleet on the Imjin River in small boats — this was exactly what this "marine landing force" was best at.

The men of Heng hai Garrison fought with all their might. The sailors Hai Dayu, Hai Erxie, and Hai Sanxia — three brothers — risked death to be first aboard, and with seven hundred men and thirty-odd small boats, they routed the Goryeo naval force of more than two thousand, gaining complete control of the Imjin River.

On the thirteenth day of the sixth month, the end finally came for Huangfu Tigong and the others who had been stubbornly resisting. Chen Sirang and Gao Song arrived beneath the walls of Gaegyeong with three thousand elite cavalry.

Gao Song was originally the nephew-in-law of Wang Geon, the founding Great King of the Wang dynasty's Goryeo, and he knew every person and every matter within Gaegyeong like the back of his hand.

After requesting instructions from Chen Sirang, he had the various banners, drums, armor, and clothing of the Goryeo northern expedition army thrown beneath the walls for display, then paraded several dozen Goryeo Red Guard cavalry officers and soldiers in a circle beneath the walls.

Huangfu Tigong recognized Gao Song, and knew at once that the northern expedition army was finished. He fainted dead away on the wall.

That old fox — by fainting, he avoided having to bear the blame. But Songak City was left without its backbone. Great numbers of civil and military officials wept in a chorus on the wall. No one knew who opened the city gate first, and amid the wailing, Gaegyeong was completely taken.

Zhe Deyuan sent Chen Sirang and Gao Song, each leading a thousand infantry and cavalry, into the city to restore order, seal the palace and government storehouses, and strictly forbid the common people from taking to the streets, while at the same time dispatching riders at full speed to invite Murong Xinzhang to come.

On the fifteenth day of the sixth month, news of victory arrived: Chen Hui, who had been detached to attack Suizhou (Suwon), had taken Suizhou and more than ten other counties and districts, beheading several hundred and receiving the surrender of several dozen officials great and small.

On the eighteenth day of the sixth month, another victory report arrived: the great army had captured the Goryeo Great King Wang Zhao alive.

Supreme General and Field Army Troop Commander, the great general Jiang Gongzhen, surrendered. Vanguard Troop Commander and Red Guard Cavalry Commandant Huangfu Zhao died for his country.

On the nineteenth day of the sixth month, at last, amid the cheers of tens of thousands of soldiers, Murong Xinzhang — flanked by the silver-white banner with gold sun and moon that symbolized the imperial house of Zhang Zhou, and the great silver-white banner with a red sun shining everywhere that symbolized his status as the Buddha's son — arrived outside Songak City at the head of twenty thousand troops.

With this, Murong Xinzhang, following Li Ji and Xue Rengui, after more than two hundred and seventy years, once again conquered and destroyed a great kingdom of a million souls on this peninsula.

The ambitious men who vainly sought to summon back the spirit of Goguryeo were utterly crushed and annihilated!

(End of Chapter)

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