A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 952: Korean General Jin, Tang People, Pinglu King Commander Hezhong Change

Since the Lulong Army blocked the tribute route from Korea, Korea actually fell into autonomy.

With the support of the prominent Korean family, the Baek clan, local Han gentry, and the internalized Korean aristocracy.

A general named Kim Chang-guk was elected as the governor of the Joseon army.

The Korean army controlled seven provinces, namely Pyeong, Han, Chungcheong, Cheon, Luo and Sang, with its capital in Pyeongju and Kaesong, and controlled all the land south of the Yalu River.

Logically speaking, although Korea had long been under the control of the Tang Dynasty and became its territory, it had only been less than a hundred years, and had not been influenced by the central government for decades, so it should have become independent long ago.

Today, they still call themselves subjects of the Tang Dynasty, and have not even violated etiquette by ascending the throne and becoming kings.

Just like the current Korean military governor Jin Zhongguo, he still calls himself the Jiedushi internally, but is only conferred the title of Prince of Korea by the imperial court. He continues to pay tribute every year, from the Bohai Sea to the Yellow River, to the capital.

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty praised Korea more than once, saying that Korea was a land of loyal subjects and bestowed many royal gifts in an attempt to win it over.

All this was inseparable from the suppression and education of the Han clans such as the Bai family within the Korean states.

Currently in the various states of Korea, except for the lower-class people who still mainly speak the local language, the upper-class nobles and officials all admire Sinology, know Chinese characters, and speak Chinese.

For all Korean people, whether they could speak Chinese became the criterion for whether they could become officials.

The schools and private schools in various states also mainly taught Chinese classics, and the teachers were all Han students.

Students from Korea could also go to Chang'an to take the imperial examinations, and their treatment was the same as that in other states.

Therefore, names such as Korea and Goryeo have changed from country names to place names, just like Qi.

It was still the banquet hall in Yidu, Qingzhou, where Teacher Wang held his banquet.

Teacher Wang continuously introduced to everyone present the rare treasures he had obtained from Korea, Liaodong, and Japan, as well as some famous paintings and calligraphy.

In this luxurious banquet venue, an official pushed open the door and walked in front of Teacher Wang without looking around.

When Teacher Wang saw the person coming, he nodded, and then apologized to an old senior official in front of him:

"Please take a seat first. I still have some military matters to attend to. I will introduce you to them after I have finished them."

The old man smiled and said, "Official business is more important, you don't need to worry about me."

Teacher Wang bowed, handed the famous product in his hand to the servant behind him, and then walked into the back hall of the banquet.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

Teacher Wang sat at the table and picked up the tea on the tea table beside him to moisten his throat.

"Sir, the news came from the west that Zhu Xuan defeated Xuanwu Guo Huilong and beheaded thousands of people. The Xuanwu army withdrew to Bianzhou. Zhu Xuan sent people to ask for an alliance, saying that the three families of Tianping, Yanhai, Pinglu and others should jointly resist Xuanwu to save themselves."

Teacher Wang paused, then chuckled and said, "I didn't expect that Zhu Tianping was quite capable. The Xuanwu Army is the strongest army in the world, and this time I was able to get some advantage from them."

"But that's it, otherwise they wouldn't have sent anyone to form an alliance with me."

"What about us?"

Wang Shifan thought about it and shook his head: "Forget it, the Xuanwu Army is not easy to mess with, don't let them hold a grudge against you."

"Xuanwu is controlled by the Bai family. The Bai family in the world is one family. Pinglu still needs to rely on them to stabilize the local area." "Besides, a small Zhu Xuan has no natural advantages. The Xuanwu army has not been able to capture it for two or three years, let alone the Pinglu army. Qi is mountainous. Even if Zhu Xuan is gone, I am not afraid of anyone."

"Not to mention Zhu Quanzhong is involved behind the scenes."

Wang Shifan put down his empty teacup, stopped the maid behind him from adding more tea, stood up, and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped and instructed the official:
"Even so, we can't let the Xuanwu Army destroy Brother Zhu Xuan so easily."

"Well, you can have the caravans under the Wang family go to Yunzhou and Yanzhou more often to deliver some food, weapons and the like. As for the price, just charge them the cost."

"As for the alliance, don't mention it again. Tell the person who came that I, Master Wang, don't like fighting in my life. It's best to stop fighting."

"If the two families ever want to stop fighting and make peace, just come to me. I will never refuse you."

After saying this, Teacher Wang walked back into the banquet hall with a hearty laugh, “having fun with the people.”

The first month of the second year of Qianning
After the death of Wang Chongying, the governor of Hezhong (the governor of Huguo), the generals of the Hezhong Army appointed Wang Ke, the son of his brother Wang Chongjian, who was then the military commander, to succeed Wang Chongrong and be the successor of the Hezhong Army.

Wang Ke was originally the son of Wang Chongrong's brother Wang Chongjian, and was adopted by Wang Chongrong.

Wang Chongying had two sons, one was Wang Gong, who served as the governor of Hezhong Shanzhou; the other was Wang Yao, who served as the governor of Jiangzhou.

When the two heard that Wang Ke was appointed as the regent, they were very angry. After contacting each other, they believed that no matter how the order was, he should not inherit the position of regent according to his rank.

So he prepared to argue with the court.

According to Wang Yao, Hezhong has always been the gateway to the imperial court, and their Wang family is a loyal minister. As long as the letter reaches Chang'an, the matter will be settled.

But Wang Gong disagreed. He said: "The country is in chaos today, and the imperial court is weak. If we can achieve our goals by relying solely on the imperial court's prestige, then Bai Jian of Wei Bo and Wang Shifan of Pinglu should not be promoted to the position of Jiedushi."

"Therefore, in addition to writing to the court to argue for justice, I should also contact the powerful vassal states for external aid to prevent Wang Ke from being desperate and sending troops to attack me."

Wang Yao asked who to contact.

Wang Gong analyzed, "Our neighbor, Hedong Li Keyong, has a long-standing grudge against my Wang family. When the six towns attacked Taiyuan, my father contributed a lot. This is a tiger and wolf, and we cannot help him."

"Wei Bo Baijian is just a puppet of Hedong and Xuanwu. We can't help you."

"In the end, we can only ask for help from Zhu Quanzhong in Henan. He has the land of Henei and Luoyang, as well as Jiangzhou and Shanzhou, which are close to you and me. We don't need to ask for help from him."

"Secondly, Zhu Quanzhong was a loyal minister of the court. The emperor called him his right arm and regarded him as his courage. He issued many edicts to praise his loyalty, bestowed great rewards on him, and treated him with great honor and favor."

"Our Wang family and he are both vassal states of the imperial court. He should not refuse."

Wang Yao thought it was okay, so they signed their names together and sent someone to deliver a letter to Zhu Quanzhong of Liang County saying:
"Wang Ke is not our blood brother, and he has no status in our family. How can a little idiot like you inherit the family lineage?"

After Wang Ke learned that Wang Gong and his brothers had written to the court, he also quickly sent people to Chang'an to argue: "My late father made great contributions to the court in suppressing the rebellion."

Justify your identity and status.

At the same time, he sent envoys to ask for help from Li Keyong, the governor of Taiyuan. Li Keyong had long wanted to take Hezhong, the gateway to Guanzhong, into his possession, so he recommended Wang Ke to the court.

Messengers from both sides kept coming and going, and they formed alliances around the position of Hezhong Jiedushi. Even Wang Xingyu, Li Maozhen, Han Jian and others from Guanzhong were involved.

The three towns submitted memorials to the court, recommending Wang Gong as regent.

(End of this chapter)