Chapter 81 Zhang Zhao's Favor "Goguryeo is located in the north of Liaodong, bordering the three prefectures of Liaodong, Xuantu, and Lelang. Its territory is vast, no less than that of Liaodong. It governs about 200,000 people and no more than 10,000 soldiers." "Its territory is basically all rolling mountainous areas with steep terrain, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and difficult to travel. The mountain range it is located in is connected to the Liaodong Mountain Range and the Lelang Mountain Range, collectively known as the Changbai Mountain Range." "The current king is called Bogu, who is old, cowardly and cunning. The army is weak in combat, and the inner city of the capital is quite strong." "They had been defeated by the Han army many times before, but each time they were defeated they fled, and if they couldn't flee they surrendered, and they never stopped wreaking havoc." "The most recent battle was more than ten years ago, when Xuantu Governor Geng Lin led 5,000 elite troops to break through Neiguo City..." Listening to Jia Xu's detailed report of the information he had collected, everyone had a general impression of Goguryeo. Weak, but disgusting! "My lord, with my three thousand elite troops, we can definitely capture the inner city and kill all the elite troops of Goguryeo." Guan Yu strode out of the line, held his head high and said with confidence in his eyes. He didn't take this kind of opponent seriously at all. Tian Ze smiled slightly when he heard this. Fortunately, they didn't say that only 500 swordsmen were needed. Although they were still arrogant, they were at least more stable. It seemed that they were well educated by Cheng Yu and Xu Rong and were not too arrogant.
Upon hearing this, the other generals also became restless and could not wait to step forward and compete for the credit of destroying the country. Tian Ze said: "Don't worry, Yunchang. The key to this battle is not to win, but to capture all the people of Goguryeo and bring the entire territory of Goguryeo under our firm control." "If it is just to send troops to destroy countries, with our current strength, it is not difficult to go to war with multiple countries at the same time, but that is meaningless." "The Han Dynasty conquered and defeated these countries many times, but it did not really bring them under effective governance, which wasted money and food, and wasted people's money. Therefore, we cannot be impatient and reckless in this matter, but must proceed step by step and take a long-term view." After listening to Tian Ze's explanation, Guan Yu and the other generals retreated with a bit of embarrassment. It's not that they didn't understand what Chen Gong and others said before, it's just that they were too eager to fight and wanted to establish merit on the battlefield. Tian Ze brought everyone to a huge sand table, which carefully displayed the entire terrain around Liaodong, including Goguryeo, mountains, rivers, passes and obstacles, all clearly visible. "Zhongde, how many troops are needed to garrison Goguryeo?" Tian Ze asked. "My lord, Goguryeo has a rugged terrain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Buyeo and Sushen troops to the north have only 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is relatively weak and their equipment is simple. The Xianbei in the west are not good at fighting in the mountains." "Therefore, we only need to station 10,000 elite troops to ensure that nothing goes wrong." Cheng Yu said solemnly after a brief calculation. "Gongtai, how many civilians are needed to completely occupy and rule the Goguryeo region while ensuring sufficient supplies for 10,000 elite troops?" "At least 100,000 people are needed. To be on the safe side, it is better to place more than 200,000 people." Chen Gong frowned and said after thinking for a moment. The area of Goguryeo was quite large. Even if 100,000 people were spread out, they would not be able to see any people. It was not a problem to defend key locations and supply food and grass, but it was difficult to completely occupy and develop Goguryeo. Tian Ze frowned when he heard this: "How many refugees can we expect to recruit this year? Is 200,000 okay?" Chen Gong pursed his lips slightly, revealing a trace of embarrassment on his face, but he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Sure! As long as we move all these Goguryeo people inland to supplement the infrastructure team, it shouldn't be a big problem." Tian Ze nodded slightly, patted Chen Gong on the shoulder to show his understanding, and said comfortingly: "I know very well how hard Gongtai has worked." Today, there is a huge shortage of infrastructure personnel in Liaodong, which has seriously affected normal operations, and many important projects have been forced to stagnate or slow down. Because of last year's "swallowing an elephant with a snake" move, the granaries were almost empty. In order to ensure food security, Chen Gong did not dare to expand infrastructure projects on a large scale. In order to ensure this year's grain production and stabilize people's hearts, almost all the refugees who were absorbed were directly sent to various villages to farm.
The huge population growth has resulted in the need to carry out infrastructure projects that have increased exponentially, but there is not a single additional worker. The pressure on Chen Gong can be imagined. The pains brought by a wave of fat gain are not so easy to solve, and it takes a long time to completely calm down. "Can the officials provide the supply?" "Yes. The Ministry of Personnel now has relatively sufficient reserve village officials, and can fully support it." Zhang Zhao, the new person in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, said in a firm and confident tone. This leader who was good at internal affairs chose to accept Tian Ze's invitation and come to Liaodong to avoid disaster shortly after the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He was soon convinced by Tian Ze and became his subordinate. His internal affairs ability is stronger than Chen Gong's, and is almost maxed out. After all, in history, even in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period when talented people emerged in large numbers, Zhang Zhao was ranked among the top three in terms of internal affairs ability. However, unlike Chen Gong who was good at improving frameworks and making reforms, Zhang Zhao's talent for "steadiness" was to maximize his governing ability within the existing framework system. The two complement each other and are a perfect match. Because Zhang Zhao was outstanding in his abilities, Tian Ze directly gave him the Ministry of Revenue from Xun You and the Ministry of Personnel from Dong Zhao. However, considering Zhang Zhao's own character flaws and the overall balance, Chen Gong is still in charge of domestic affairs. Almost at the same time as Zhang Zhao, Man Chong, who came from a humble family, was recruited. He was a versatile man who was both civil and military, and was particularly good at law. His gift of "fortitude" not only enabled him to distinguish right from wrong, but also made the people under his rule more convinced of him. Tian Ze decisively handed over the Ministry of Justice under Xun You's charge and the Ministry of Security under Cheng Yu's charge to Man Chong. However, the training of local militia still fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Tian Ze realized that he must have a full-time strategist by his side to deal with the war, and he had long thought of removing Xun You from government affairs. After all, he's been traveling with me for a long time, and some affairs cannot be left unattended. Cheng Yu was fully focused on military training and did not have much energy to pay attention to public security management. Dong Zhao was lacking in ability in internal affairs. Although he was also a first-class talent, there was still a gap between him and Chen Gong and Zhang Zhao, and he was also good at strategy. Cheng Yu, Xun You and Dong Zhao had no objection to these adjustments in government affairs and were even happy to see them. Because the government affairs under Tian Ze's rule were too complicated, and many of them were built from scratch, which was extremely difficult, they were unwilling to get involved too much. Only Chen Gong and Zhang Zhao, two big guys whose internal affairs abilities are above 95, and Man Chong, a workaholic with matching talents and extremely serious and responsible, can manage the two departments without pressure. Today, the government affairs of the twelve ministries have been redivided, and the division of labor among civil officials has been further clarified. Chen Gong was in charge of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Finance, Zhang Zhao was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel, Man Chong was in charge of the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Security. Guo Yuan was in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mi Zhu was in charge of the Ministry of Commerce. Tian Chou was in charge of the management of ethnic minorities and was under the Ministry of Rites. These six capable ministers were only responsible for handling internal affairs. Tian Feng was in charge of the Ministry of Discipline, Dong Zhao was in charge of the Ministry of Education, Jia Xu was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and Cheng Yu was in charge of the Ministry of War. These four talented people are responsible for both government affairs and military strategies. As Tian Ze's close adviser, Xun You was freed from government affairs and was only responsible for the careful planning of military strategies and making suggestions for the war. Of the twelve swords that were originally made, it was unexpected that eleven of them now have owners. Tian Ze couldn't help but feel very fortunate.
Fortunately, I traveled through time early! (End of this chapter)