The Tang army invaded the royal city of Goguryeo and gained everything from the Goguryeo people.
The kings and ministers of Goguryeo had no intention of dying with the city. When the city was destroyed, everyone became prisoners, but they still had a chance to survive.
If the city of Pyongyang is burned down, then everything will be over.
At the time of the country's collapse, Goguryeo's monarchs and ministers obviously chose the former, and thus left many treasures worth seeing to the Tang army.
In fact, the Goguryeo people did not have much in their treasury. This was a peninsula regime that was so weak that even if the Tang army did not come, they themselves would not be able to hold on for many years.
Goguryeo, whose national strength was exhausted, powerful ministers were in power, officials were corrupt and bribery was common, and each large tribe formed a self-contained body, had become weak to a certain extent.
The arrival of foreign enemies completely killed this East Asian power that once controlled most of Liaodong and the mixed city-states and tribes in the northern part of the peninsula.
Taking advantage of the situation, everything about it became a record in history.
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The wealth of Goguryeo is not in the treasury. Who would put good things there? The treasury of Goguryeo is more symbolic. In fact, most of the Goguryeo people's wars were financed by the nobles themselves.
Needless to say, the officials born in the tribes have their roots in each tribe and will not take the national treasury seriously. As long as they pay a certain amount of offerings to the tribal leader, several adults who manage the tribe, and the King of Goguryeo every year,
Then it was done.
It's very much like a spoils-sharing model. Everyone will share what they harvest every year, and the remaining bit will be put into the national treasury for emergency use.
In fact, in the final analysis, Goguryeo's administrative system was still very incomplete, and there was no centralization of power. It was still the feudal system or the tribal alliance system that played a role.
In this way, it is almost the same as the Turks. The common people and tribesmen at the bottom are very poor, but the officials are surprisingly rich.
And this is similar to the war-torn Central Plains in the late Sui Dynasty. The families of the wealthy families had piles of food and grass, but the warehouses in various places, and even the national treasury, were empty.
It can be said that there is nothing new in the world, human nature determines everything.
Therefore, the seizure of Goguryeo's treasury was only an appetizer for the Tang army.
The focus is on the wealth confiscated from the private treasury of the Goguryeo palace and the homes of various officials.
All kinds of gold and silver, food, weapons and armor, and even more, a large amount of furs, medicinal herbs, pearls and agate produced on the sea, etc. collected from Liaodong.
These things have not yet been transported back to Datang, but they still alleviate the needs of the army to spend the winter on the peninsula, and the previous shortfall does not need to be raised again.
It's just that although this battle is over, how to clean up the mess is still a challenging task.
Goguryeo has always been known as armed with millions of soldiers, and from time to time it can dispatch an army of more than ten or two hundred thousand. In such a period, it is indeed a powerful force that cannot be ignored in East Asia.
When Yang Guang conquered Liaodong, Goguryeo sent 500,000 to 600,000 troops. Although Yang Guang spared no effort to help them, judging from the scale of the troops sent, Goguryeo did have the ability to confront the expeditionary Sui army to a certain extent.
But having said that, Goguryeo's national power was already at its limit. It was by exhausting the country's power to fight the enemy that failure would lead to failure. Even the city of Pyongyang was captured by the Sui army. Fortunately, the country was not destroyed.
The Sui army lost terribly in that battle, and Goguryeo's victory was heartbreaking.
The former Sui Dynasty had the foundation laid by Yang Jian, and after a delay, they still had enough energy to carry out the second and third expeditions. In fact, Goguryeo was in ruins and could no longer organize such a large-scale battle.
There were widespread complaints in the country, and many tribes disappeared amid the mess of casualties. As a result of all the people being in arms, almost every household suffered casualties.
If it weren't for the Sui army's weak follow-up, low morale, and peasant uprisings in the rear that held back the army, Goguryeo would not have been able to defend Liaodong City anyway, let alone Pyongyang City.
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It can be said that Goguryeo's so-called million armored men are definitely an exaggeration. Using all the national resources to raise six to seven hundred thousand men should be their limit.
No one has counted the population of Goguryeo. Even the Goguryeo people themselves have no idea how many people there are in the country. The most detailed record is that more than 30 years ago, the Goguryeo people themselves made a rough calculation. It is said that there are
The population is more than 600,000 households.
That is almost more than three million people.
Under the current circumstances, this is already a very large population. If placed in other places, with this population base, it will almost certainly dominate the country and no one can match it.
It's a pity that against the backdrop of the other two giants in East Asia, Goguryeo can't escape the category of a small country. Is it more than three million people? The Central Plains Dynasty must shake its head. It's not much. The sum of our big cities is about the same.
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And look at how many people died in the wars at the end of the Sui Dynasty. In one place, Goguryeo was destroyed many times, right?
In addition, the Goguryeo people have always been exaggerated. They only listened to the population statistics. If the Goguryeo officials did not make false reports, they would be damned.
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No matter how many people there were in Goguryeo, they all belonged to the Tang Dynasty now.
No one in the court thought of any other options. Everything was in accordance with the old practices of the Japanese country. The Tang Dynasty needed more people, and the Goguryeo people came to the Central Plains and had no worries about lack of work.
In February, the imperial edict went to the peninsula.
One was to order Li Jing, Du Fuwei and others to lead the army back to the DPRK, and the other was to order General Li Nian to set up a Protectorate of Korea to govern the new territory.
Also, 50,000 Tang troops were left behind, with Li Nian and others taking charge of post-war affairs.
The main thing is to clean up the Goguryeo tribe in the mountains and forests, and dig their graves to remove their roots. Since the Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo, it will no longer allow any chaotic tribe to rise on the peninsula.
In addition, we must also be on guard against Ashina’s sudden behavior.
The Tang army numbered 50,000, and with the troops from Silla and Baekje, the total was almost 100,000, which should be enough.
The armies on the peninsula rotate every ten years. As a serious occupying force, the Korean Protectorate enjoys many privileges. During the rotation, soldiers are also allowed to transfer to local officials on the spot.
In addition, all the land owned by the Goguryeo people was taken back to the Tang army and could be distributed by the Protectorate at will. The court did not care whether it was given to the Tang army soldiers stationed there or allowed to be cultivated by Silla and Baekje people from the north.
After a few years, when the situation there stabilizes, we will see if we can help the Central Plains before we make some sense.
The conquered territory must be managed, whether it is managed well or not. As long as you want to completely incorporate this land into the Tang Dynasty, you still need to make a lot of efforts.
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In mid-March, Wang Ze, the general manager of Yangzhou, returned to the court.
Almost at the same time, Pei Shiqing, the Minister of Civil Affairs, submitted a letter to resign. A year ago, Pei Shiqing had already asked the emperor to return to his hometown. Li Po asked him to wait. As for what he was waiting for, it is now clear.
Wang Ze, the general manager of Yangzhou, resigned from office and returned to the court to report on his duties, and took over the post of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Unlike Fan Wenjin, Wang Ze was transferred at the same level.
However, Wang Ze had nothing to be dissatisfied with. The Ministry of Personnel was the head of the six ministries and was in charge of the personnel power of the imperial court. It was almost equivalent to the post of Minister of Organization after the later provincial governor returned to Beijing.
It's not that a promotion is better than a promotion.
The official career of a court official is generally like this. He will serve in the court for a period of time, and then he will serve abroad for a few years. After returning to Beijing, he will be promoted step by step.
And there is no comparison between Wang Ze and Fan Wenjin.
Although Wang Ze was also a founding official, his achievements could not be compared with that of Fan Wenjin. Wang Ze was almost the last person in the Lingyan Pavilion, while Fan Wenjin was the most famous because of his ability to defeat Li Gui, the king of Liang.
Being on top, this is the gap.
Wang Ze's health was much stronger than Fan Wenjin's. After returning to Chang'an to see the driver, Pei Shiqing submitted his resignation. After the imperial edict was approved, Pei Shiqing simply resigned.
I didn't stay in Chang'an for long. I left Beijing and returned to my hometown in Hedong at the end of March. I probably won't come to Chang'an again for the rest of my life.
To be honest, Pei Shiqing has not made any outstanding achievements since he surrendered. At the beginning, he only returned to the official position for the sake of his family.
In recent years, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs has played a role in stabilizing people's hearts. The head of the Pei family in Hedong has profound official qualifications, and the Pei family also produced two prime ministers in the previous Sui Dynasty.
Therefore, Pei Shiqing was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, which helped Li Po stabilize the personnel power of the court and played a great role in stabilizing the political structure of the court.
Now he has retired with success, and with his changes over the years, the Pei family's situation is much better than that of the Wang family in Jinyang. There are more than ten children of the Pei family who have entered the court as officials.
Although he is still unable to take over the banner of his father and ancestors, it can be said that there are people who will be the successors of the Pei family in Hedong. Unlike the Wang family in Jinyang, the phenomenon of talents passing through generations is extremely obvious.
Besides, the Pei family now has Pei Xingyan serving in the army, and he is not far away from the position of general.
The most important point is that as a wealthy family with the Han surname, the Pei family's cohesion can be said to be one of the best in the world compared to other famous families. After the death of several major branches of the Pei family, they still have to be buried back to Hedong Wenxi.
The ancestral land of the Pei family.
After Pei Shiqing left, Wang Zeshun took over the staff department smoothly. Before taking office, he recruited Fang Xuanling, Yan Shigu and others to the house and held a banquet in their honor.
It had been several years since he left the capital. In his eyes, the three provinces and six ministries were still firmly in the hands of the emperor. This was no different from when he left.
But the officials below are different, many of them are new faces.
In his opinion, Fang Xuanling and Yan Shigu are both rising stars today. Based on their qualifications and talents, their future official positions may not necessarily be lower than that of Wang Ze.
What they lack is actually the contribution to the founding of the country. They are all talents who came to serve after the emperor entered Chang'an City. Compared with Wang Ze and other heroes from the dragon, they are actually much more talented.
The replacement of talents in the early Tang Dynasty was like this. Although the figures in Lingyan Pavilion had outstanding achievements, when it comes to talking about it, most of them were not as good as those who later joined them.