Yang Guang raised his head and said to Wang Shichong: "Big pair Lu, Mattressa? What does that mean? And the guards of the city in front, all of them are also big brothers, little brothers, clumsy or something, what is this? ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, these are the official positions of Goguryeo, when Goguryeo was founded before, the tribes to which it belonged were divided into five parts according to the east, west, south, north and middle, each with a mattress and a hereditary leader, this mattress is equivalent to the southern and northern adults of the former Northern Wei Dynasty, and it is not a tribe, but a bunch of tribes. ”

"Later, as Goguryeo's territory continued to expand, the five mattresses also turned to all parties, and the successive kings of Goguryeo gave these mattresses great authority, allowing them to rule the places they fought for generations, as long as a certain tax was levied on the national treasury, and they could be passed on to their descendants."

"That's why Goguryeo's expansion momentum is so fierce, because each mattress knows that the place where it is defeated is actually its own, not the state, and it is natural to do its best."

Yang Guang laughed: "This is the same as the Six Emperors system of the Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period, let the courtiers go to war on their own, and the monarch does not have much power to restrain these courtiers, and over time, the authority of these courtiers will override the sovereign, which may not be a good thing." Qin Shi Huang destroyed the Six Kingdoms and changed to the county system after unifying the world, rather than this feudal system, which was based on this consideration. ”

Wang Shichong said humbly: "What Your Majesty said is that for a small country like Goguryeo, during the period of expansion, it was necessary to use such means to stimulate these mattresses to expand their territory, but now, this system has gradually begun to restrain the royal power of Goguryeo. Especially the eastern mattress here in Liaodong. Super strong. has served as the prime minister of Goguryeo, that is, the prime minister of Goguryeo, and now basically the entire Liaodong is his power, and the army of Goguryeo's own country is not allowed to enter Liaodong on weekdays. ”

Yang Guang's eyes lit up: "In this way, Goguryeo in Liaodong and their headquarters are basically separated. In a semi-independent state? ”

Wang Shichong nodded: "That's right, don't hide it from Your Majesty, this time Wechen took advantage of the contradiction between the Goguryeo monarchs and ministers, and sent people to follow the caravan from the Goguryeo headquarters to enter Liaodong, but they didn't allow us to enter the Goguryeo headquarters south of the Yalu River, so Wechen could only inquire about the situation here in Liaodong." ”

Yang Guang's brows furrowed slightly: "What, there are people in Goguryeo who want our Great Sui to capture Liaodong?" ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "It's not like this, the Goguryeo people are very confident, and there has been no army from the Goguryeo headquarters here in Liaodong for many years." And the combat effectiveness of the troops in the eastern Fusa has always been the highest in the country, so they are not afraid of the attack of our Great Sui army. I just want to take the opportunity to let the eastern Fusa, that is, the lord of Liaodong City, Yuan Taizuo, surrender to the King of Goguryeo and ask for help, so that in the future, the army directly under the King of Goguryeo can be stationed in Liaodong for a long time in the name of defense, slowly encroaching, and winning over the city lords of each city and taking them under the direct jurisdiction. ”

Yang Guang nodded: "I see, no wonder the whole country of Goguryeo has not been mobilized yet, it turns out that there is such a thing." In this way, we have a good chance to quickly break through Liaodong, but in this case, we should speed up the attack, the one you said is gathering by the Liaoshui and waiting for reinforcements behind, is this strategy really good? ”

Wang Shichong said with a straight face: "Weichen thinks that this is the safest way, Goguryeo's Yuan Taizuo in Liaodong is now bargaining with Goguryeo's king Gao Yuan repeatedly, unless it is a last resort, he will not take the initiative to ask for help, because once Goguryeo's royal army enters Liaodong, then his independent status will not be guaranteed, which is not much different from being wiped out by our Great Sui, and now he doesn't know how many our army is, if he thinks that there are only two or three hundred thousand people, then he may feel that he can rely on the advantage of the home field, The strong wall clears the wilderness, grinding until our army retreats. ”

Yang Guangchai asked: "How likely is this?" Wang Aiqing, are you sure that he will not have foreign aid? ”

Wang Shichong shook his head and said: "Yuan Taizuo's grandfather has mastered the position of Goguryeo's great counterpart Lu, that is, the prime minister, but this prime minister rarely leaves Liaodong City, and the actual government of Goguryeo is often controlled by the eldest brother who is the western Fusa, that is, the deputy prime minister, which is equivalent to the right servant of our Great Sui's Shangshu, this big brother, that is, the Eulzhi Wende who went to our country last time, the eldest brother, the younger brother, and the clumsy ones you just saw are lower official positions, which are generally granted to the city lords of each city. ”

"Although the relationship between Yuan Taizuo and Gao Yuan is average, but the relationship with the northern lord Gao Taichu is very good, the northern lord of Goguryeo is in the former capital of Goguryeo in the north, the area of the mountain city of Marudu, enslaving and ruling hundreds of Khitan, Xi tribes, and the Beji tribe further north, are also their allies, if Yuan Taizuo is really in a hurry, maybe he will ask Gao Tai for help first, I heard that the last time the emperor sent Yang Liang and Gao Ying to conquer Goguryeo, Yuan Taizuo at that time also asked Gao Tai for help first, and did not ask Gao Yuan for support."

Yang Guang let out a sigh: "In this way, the Goguryeo army in the eastern Liaodong area, the two mattresses in the east and the north, add up to more than 200,000 people, right?" ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "Exactly, Goguryeo's Wubu Mattress and Western Mattress are in the Wofu region (now the Primorsky District of Russia, that is, the area around Vladivostok), the land is vast and sparsely populated, the population is not large, and the environment is harsh, and the strength is the weakest among the Goguryeo tribes, so that Eulji Wende left his tribe and specialized in Pyongyang City as a big brother to deal with government affairs. ”

"On the other hand, the southern Fusa, on the other hand, had to guard against Baekje and Silla in the south, and it was unlikely that they would be able to draw troops. Therefore, the only troops that can support Liaodong are the direct troops of the Goguryeo royal family, that is, the strength of the central Fusa, the king of Goguryeo is the central Fusa, and he still has more than 200,000 troops in his hands, but that can only be mobilized throughout the country, if the conditions given by Yuan Taizuo cannot satisfy him, he will not support it wholeheartedly, besides, our army is advancing by land and water this time, if there is no wind and waves, the 100,000 water divisions of General Lai and General Zhou can also land near Pyongyang and approach the enemy capital to contain Goguryeo's reinforcements to assemble in Liaodong. ”

Yang Guang nodded: "So what you mean is, don't be too anxious, fight steadily, all the armies march together, cross the Liao River, and then let the Mai Tie Staff not fight too fast and too quickly, keep in touch with the friendly army, and finally rely on all the soldiers and horses to meet under the city of Liaodong together, right?" ”

Wang Shichong nodded seriously: "That's right." (To be continued......)