The early development of the Goguryeo regime was not all smooth sailing, and due to repeated violations of Liaodong, it attracted three military strikes from the Central Plains Dynasty and almost destroyed the country. Later, the Goguryeo king changed his strategy, and after conquering the Buyeo, Donghao, and Wofu forces, he began to develop to the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, and after several generations of accumulation, he finally dominated the Korean Peninsula in the 5th century AD, becoming the only overlord on the peninsula at that time.
The early Eastern Han Dynasty conquered Goguryeo
Since the records of the kings of Goguryeo in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" and the "Book of the Later Han" all start from the palace of King Taejo, the deeds of the kings before the palace can only be based on the records in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms";
According to the records of the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms: Goguryeo Benji", in the ninth year of the Great Warrior God King, in the winter and October, Wuxian (the third monarch of the Goguryeo regime) personally conquered the Gaima Kingdom, beheaded the king of the Gaima Kingdom, comforted the local people, and included the land of the Gaima Kingdom into the rule of Goguryeo. In December, when the king of Jucha heard that the kingdom of Gaima had been destroyed, he was afraid that it would be his turn next, so the whole country surrendered, and Goguryeo's sphere of influence was further expanded;
"Records of the Three Kingdoms: Goguryeo Benji Volume 14" records about the Great Martial God King
In the eleventh year of the Great Martial God King, the Eastern Han Dynasty Liaodong County Taishou sent troops to attack Goguryeo, and Wuxian led the troops to retreat into the city of Marudu to defend it, and the Han army besieged the city for three months.
In the fifteenth year, Wuxian sent an envoy to the court to pay tribute, which is also recorded in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty and the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, but it is not stated who the Goguryeo monarch was at that time. The record in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty is that "in the eighth year of Jianwu (32 AD), Goguryeo sent tribute, and Guangwu restored its king", while the record in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" is "In the eighth year of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, the king of Goguryeo sent tribute, and he was called the king". The former believes that the monarch of Goguryeo was the first to claim the title of king, and that Wang Mang was demoted to a marquis after usurping the Han Dynasty, and that Emperor Gwangmu later restored his title of king, while the latter believed that Goguryeo had always been a marquis until the time of this tribute. However, whether it was "recovering the king" or "first seeing the king", eight years after the establishment of the military, Goguryeo began to make friends with the Eastern Han Dynasty and became its vassal state;
Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty Liu Xiu
Biqiu thrifty expedition to Goguryeo
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the heroes rose together, the Central Plains continued to fight, and Goguryeo was also ready to move, sending troops to invade the border many times, first rebelling and then surrendering, and then rebelling, according to the "Three Kingdoms: Karasuma Xianbei Dongyi Biography" records:
Between the martyrs and An, the palace of the Guryeo palace is several Kou Liaodong, and it belongs to Xuansu...... The palace died, Zibo Guli, between Shun and Huan, re-attacked Liaodong, Kou Xin'an, Juxiang, and attacked Xi'an Ping, killed Fang Ling on the road, and slightly Lelang guarded his wife. In the second year of Emperor Ling's Jianning (179 A.D.), Xuanwu was too guarded by Geng Lin, beheaded hundreds of captives, and Bogu surrendered, which belonged to Liaodong...... In Jian'an, Gongsun Kang sent an army to attack it, broke its country, and burned the city.
In the third year of Zhengshi (242 AD), Goguryeo invaded again, and in the fifth year of Zhengshi, Qiu Jian commanded 10,000 troops to conquer Goguryeo. According to the records of the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", the Goguryeo monarch at that time was the king of the mountain, Yan Chou, because Yan Chou was the same as his great-grandfather Gong, he was able to open his eyes and look around at birth, so he was also called "Wei Gong" (similar to the throne in Goguryeo). In the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", the Goguryeo monarch at that time was the king of Dongchuan (nicknamed "Jiaoyi"), and the sorrow was the son of the palace, according to the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms":
In the sixteenth year of the reign of King Dongchuan, the king sent generals to attack Liaodong (county) and Xi'an Ping (county...... In the twentieth year, in autumn and August, (Cao) Wei sent (Youzhou) to assassinate Shi Biqiu Jian, and 10,000 people were invaded out of Xuansu County.
Jin Fushi (the author of the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms") believes that the record in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" that the Goguryeo monarch at the time of Biqiujian's army was the throne palace on the mountain is wrong. As we said in the previous article, Jin Fushi probably advanced the time of Jumeng's establishment of the Goguryeo regime by Jumeng when compiling the "History of the Three Kingdoms", so that the reign time of the Taejo palace became an exaggerated 94 years, so it is also possible to transfer what happened during the reign of the palace to his son Weizhi.
Stills from the film and television drama "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Wei Jun
After Biqiu Jian led the troops to the battle, Weigong also personally led 20,000 infantry cavalry to fight. The two armies started a big battle in Liangshui, the Goguryeo army was defeated and retreated one after another, the palace fled with his wife and more than 1,000 horsemen, Biqiu Jian did not choose to pursue, but directly waved his army to the city of Marudu, and broke through the city of Marudu, "Three Kingdoms: The Biography of Biqiu Jian" recorded that "Tu Juli was the capital, and the number of captives was thousands";
In the sixth year of Zhengshi (245 A.D.), Weigong returned to the domestic city (also known as "Unbearable City"), intending to make a comeback, so Biqiu Jian led the army to conquer Goguryeo again, and Weigong led his troops to flee to Maigou. In order to completely solve the border troubles in eastern Liaodong, Biqiu Jian on the one hand sent Xuansu County Taishou Wang Ji (qí) to lead troops to the north to pursue, and on the other hand, sent Lelang County Taishou Liu Mao and Daifang County Taishou Gong Zun to lead troops south to the Korean Peninsula to eliminate the forces of Haoqian and Ma Han;
Biqiujian's march to Goguryeo
Wang Qi led the Wei army to pursue all the way for thousands of miles, crossed the northern wofu, and pursued as far as the southern boundary of Sushen. This expedition to the Wei army killed more than 8,000 people, destroyed the capital of pills and the domestic city, the Goguryeo regime existed in name only, and the territory was all incorporated into Xuansu County.
Murong Hao's expedition to Goguryeo
Although the Goguryeo regime suffered a military blow from Cao Wei, it did not lose its country, and after several generations of monarchs and nearly 70 years of recuperation, its strength gradually recovered, and when the Central Plains Dynasty was once again in chaos, it began to invade the border counties;
In September of the first year of Tai'an in the Western Jin Dynasty (302 AD), the fifteenth monarch of Goguryeo, King Efufu of Michuan, led 30,000 troops to invade Xuansu County and captured more than 8,000 people. In August of the fifth year of Yongjia (311 AD), the general attacked Xi'anping County, Liaodong County, and in October of the seventh year of Yongjia (313 AD), he invaded Lelang County again, capturing more than 2,000 people, and in September of the second year of Jianxing (314 AD), he invaded Daifang County in the south. At this point, Goguryeo basically gained the right to rule the northern part of the Korean Peninsula;
At the beginning of the 4th century AD, Murong Xianbei began to rise in the Liaodong region, and in the third year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (320 AD), Goguryeo invaded Liaodong again, but was repelled by Murong Ren's army, and Goguryeo did not dare to invade the border of Murong again in the following years;
In the seventh year of Xiankang (341 AD), the king of Yan, Murong Hao (Huàng), moved the capital to Longcheng, in order to solve his worries, he personally led an army of 40,000, with his brother Murong Han and his fifth son Murong Chui as the vanguard, and conquered Goguryeo from the south of the province. At the same time, another 15,000 troops including Changshi Wang Yu were sent to attack from the northern province;
Later Yan became Emperor Wu Murong Chui
At that time, the monarch of Goguryeo was the former king of the old country, Gao Zhao (son of King Yifu of Mikawa), after learning the news of the Yan army's attack, he judged that the main force of the Yan army must come from the north road, because the north road is flat and wide, and the south road is dangerous and narrow, so he ordered his younger brother Gao Wu to lead 50,000 elite soldiers to garrison the north road, and he himself led a weak brigade to defend the south road, and the two armies fought at Mudi, according to the "Wei Shu Goguryeo Biography" record:
（燕军）大破钊军，乘胜长驱，遂入丸都，钊单马奔窜。 Yuan Zhen (Murong Hao, the character Yuanzhen) dug up the tomb of Zhao's father, carried his corpse, plundered his mother's wife, treasures, more than 50,000 men and women, burned his palace, destroyed the capital and returned.
For the third time, the Goguryeo regime was facing the state of almost extinction, and the city of Marudu was razed to the ground again. In the eighth year of Xiankang (342 AD), Gao Zhao sent tribute and declared himself a vassal to Murong Hao, who returned the body of his father, King Michuan, but still held his biological mother Zhou as a hostage;
After that, the Xianbei Murong tribe formed an overwhelming advantage over Goguryeo, and in the first year of Yonghe (345 AD), Murong Hao sent Murong Ke to lead his troops to attack Goguryeo again and capture the city of Nansu. In the eleventh year of Yonghe (355 AD), Qianyan and Goguryeo reached a reconciliation after going south to the Central Plains, and Murong Jun returned Gao Zhao's biological mother and named him "General of Zhengdong, Yingzhou Assassin Shi, Duke of Lelang, and King of Goguryeo".
称霸朝鲜半岛
After being attacked by the Murong tribe many times, the Goguryeo regime had to change its strategy, abandon its westward development, and begin to shift the focus of its strategy to the Korean Peninsula. From the former king of the homeland, Gao Zhao, to the king of the small beast forest, to the king of the old country, Gao Yilian, in nearly half a century, the three kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla continued to conquer each other, each with its own victories and defeats;
The Three Kingdoms period of the Korean Peninsula
In the sixteenth year of Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (391 AD), Gao Yilian, the king of the country, died of illness, and his son Gao Tande succeeded to the throne, that is, "the king of Guangkai soil", also known as "the good king". Ko Tan Deok was one of the most accomplished monarchs in the history of the Goguryeo regime, known for his martial arts, and soon after he succeeded to the throne, he sent troops to the south to conquer Baekje and captured ten castles. In September of the same year, he conquered the Khitan in the north, captured 500 people, and in October, captured the city of Guanmi in Baekje;
In the eighteenth year of Taewon (393 AD), Prince Ashin of Baekje led a large army to attack Goguryeo, and Gao Tandeok led 5,000 elite cavalry to defeat it. In the nineteenth year, Gao Tande once again defeated the Baekje army in Hunshui, killing more than 8,000 people. In the twentieth year, he personally conquered Baekje, captured 58 castles, and came to the capital of Baekje to pay tribute to the city (now Seoul), King Ashin asked for surrender, and sent his brother to Goguryeo as a hostage;
With the re-emergence of Goguryeo and the decline of Later Yan's power, the contradictions between the two sides also broke out again. In the third year of Long'an (399 AD), Murong Sheng, Emperor Zhaowu of Later Yan, commanded 30,000 troops to conquer Goguryeo on the grounds of Gao Tande's "arrogance and rudeness", conquered Xincheng and Nansu, and moved more than 5,000 households back to Liaoxi;
Distribution of political power at the end of the 4th century AD
In the 4th year of Long An (400 AD), Silla was invaded by Baekje, Wa and Gaya at the same time, so he asked Goguryeo for assistance, and Gotandeok sent 50,000 troops to defeat the U and Gayage, which not only completely crushed the Japanese attempt to infiltrate the Korean Peninsula, but also forced Silla and Gaya to become its vassals.
In the second year of Yuanxing (402 AD), Gao Tande sent his army to attack Houyan, which lasted more than a year, and finally captured the entire Liaodong Peninsula. In the sixth year of Yixi (410 AD), Gao Tande sent troops to the north to conquer Eastern Buyeo, captured 64 castles, and the king of Eastern Buyeo surrendered, and since then he has submitted to Goguryeo;
After 20 years of crusade in the east and west, the "good king" completely laid the foundation for the Goguryeo regime to dominate the Northeast Asian region, and in the eighth year of Yixi (412 AD), Gao Tande died of illness, and his son Gao Lian inherited the throne, that is, the "King of Longevity". In the tenth year of Yixi (414 AD), Gao Lian issued an edict to engrave a stele for his father, that is, the famous "Guangkai Tuwang Realm Ping An Hao Taiwang Stele", the stele has a total of 1775 words, which describes the origin of Goguryeo and the founding legend and the war exploits of the good king's life, and is the longest physical text material preserved in the Goguryeo period;
Partial rubbings of "The Tablet of the Good King".
In the fourth year of Shiguang of the Northern Wei Dynasty (427 AD), in order to strengthen his control over the Korean Peninsula, Gao Lian, the king of longevity, moved the capital to Pyongyang. At this time, Goguryeo's control area was bounded by the Sea of Japan in the east, Asan Bay in the south, the Liao River in the west, and the land of Lulou in the northeast, and its power reached its peak, becoming the unique overlord of the Korean Peninsula. According to the "Book of Wei: The Biography of Goguryeo":
世祖（太武帝拓跋焘）时，钊曾孙琏始遣使者安东奉表贡方物，并请国讳。 Sezu Jiaqi Cheng ...... Li Ao Bailian, the commander of the cavalry, was the governor of Liaohai Zhujun, the general of Zhengdong, the general of Dongyi Zhonglang, the founding prince of Liaodong County, and the king of Goguryeo. Ao to the city of Pyongyang, where he lived, visited his affairs, cloud: more than 1,000 miles southeast of Liao, east to Zhacheng, south to Xiaohai, north to Jiufuyu, three times the number of households in the former Wei Dynasty. It is 2,000 miles from east to west and more than 1,000 miles from north to south.
Friendship with the Northern Wei regime
After Goguryeo dominated the Korean Peninsula, on the one hand, it continued to exert military pressure on Baekje and Silla, and on the other hand, it sent envoys to make long-term friendship with the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the tributes continued year after year;
In the record of the Book of Wei, in the second year of Taiyan of the Northern Wei Dynasty (436 AD), the Northern Yan Kingdom was destroyed, and the last monarch Feng Hong fled to Goguryeo. Tuoba Tao was furious and wanted to send troops to attack Goguryeo, but after listening to the advice of the ministers, he gave up the idea of sending troops, and two years later, Gao Lian killed Feng Hong;
Northern Wei Taiwu Emperor 拓跋焘
During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen Tuoba Hong (471-499 AD), the treasures of the Goguryeo tribute multiplied, and the rewards given by the Northern Wei Dynasty also increased. In the fifteenth year of Taihe (491 AD), Gao Lian died, Tuoba Hong held a mourning ceremony for him in the eastern suburbs, and posthumously presented Gao Lian as the general of the chariot and cavalry, the Taifu, the founding prince of Liaodong County, and the king of Goguryeo, nicknamed "Kang". He also sent envoys to worship Gao Lian's grandson Gao Luoyun (the twenty-first monarch of Goguryeo, "King Wen Zhiming") to envoy the festival, the governor of Liaohai Zhujun, the general of Zhengdong, the general of Dongyi Zhonglang, the founding prince of Liaodong County, and the king of Goguryeo, and rewarded them with clothes, clothing, and car flags;
After that, the king of Anzang, Gao Baoyan, the king of Anyuan, the king of Yangyuan, Gao Pingcheng, the king of the plains, and other kings of Goguryeo in later generations, were canonized by the Central Plains Dynasty, after the division of the Northern Wei Dynasty, tribute to the Eastern Wei, after the destruction of the Eastern Wei, tribute to the Northern Qi, after the unification of the north by the Northern Zhou, tribute to the Northern Zhou, the history books say: "Its tribute envoy is not old", even for the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties in the south of the Yangtze River.
Tomb of the Goguryeo kings
PS: Thank you for your likes and attention!