King Man, later King of Korea, was originally from the Yan Kingdom. During the heyday of the Yan Kingdom, it had a tenuous hold on the Zhenfan and Joseon tribes, sent officials to manage them, and built border fortresses. After the Qin wiped out Yan, the area became a backwater in Liaodong. After the Han Dynasty was established, due to its remote location making it hard to defend, the old border fortresses in Liaodong were repaired, and the area was assigned to the Yan Kingdom with the Pèi River as the boundary. King Lu Wan of Yan rebelled and fled to the Xiongnu, while Man escaped, gathered over a thousand people, adopted barbarian attire and hairstyles, fled east out of the border, crossed the Pèi River, and occupied the vacant Upper and Lower Zhang regions from the Qin Dynasty period. He gradually controlled the barbarians of Zhenfan and Joseon, as well as the refugees from the former Yan and Qi kingdoms, and established a kingdom, with Wangxian as the capital.
At that time, during the reign of Emperor Xiaohui of the Han Dynasty and Empress Dowager Lu, when the world was just stabilizing, the governor of Liaodong made an agreement with Man to make him a tributary king under the Han, responsible for guarding the barbarians on the outskirts of the border and preventing them from disturbing it; if those barbarian leaders wanted to go to the capital to meet the emperor, they were not to be stopped. After this matter was reported to the court, the emperor approved it. Therefore, with the troops and resources provided by the court, Man gradually conquered the surrounding small towns, and both Zhenfan and Lintun submitted to him, expanding his influence over a vast territory.
Later, his descendants inherited the throne. By the time of his grandson You Qu, more and more Han defectors were attracted, but he never paid his respects to the Emperor. He also blocked neighboring states from sending envoys to the Emperor. In the second year of the Yuanfeng era, the Han Dynasty sent an envoy to persuade You Qu, but he flatly refused to comply with the Emperor's orders. When the envoy reached the border and stood by the river, a Korean prince killed the envoy's escort, then crossed the river and rushed into the border fortress, reporting to the Emperor that he had killed a Korean general. The Emperor, pleased with this news, let it slide and promoted the envoy to Commander of Liaodong's Eastern Command. Angered, Korea retaliated by killing the envoy.
So the Emperor rounded up some convicts and sent them after Korea. In the autumn of that year, Han General Yang Pu led a 50,000-strong Qi army across the Bohai Sea; General Xun Yi's forces marched from Liaodong to join the attack on You Qu. You Qu defended his position with his troops. General Xun Yi's men went rogue, causing his army to crumble and leading to his execution. General Yang Pu, with 7,000 Qi soldiers, was the first to reach Wangxian. Seeing the smaller Qi force, You Qu counterattacked, routing them. Yang Pu lost most of his men and spent over ten days hiding in the mountains before finally getting his troops back together. Xun Yi attacked the Korean forces west of the river, but made no headway.
The emperor felt that the two generals he had sent weren't making headway, so he sent Wei Shan with an army to get the Right Qu to surrender. When the Right Qu saw the envoy, he quickly kowtowed and begged forgiveness, saying, "I'll surrender, but I was scared those two generals would trick me and kill me. Seeing how sincere you are, though, I'll do it." Then he sent the prince to apologize and also sent five thousand horses and supplies. But when ten thousand armed people started crossing the Pei River, the envoy and Left General suspected a trick, figuring the prince's surrender meant they should disarm the crowd. The prince also suspected that the envoy and the Left General wanted to kill him, so he turned back. Wei Shan told the emperor, who had him executed.
General Zuo broke through the army upstream of the Piao River, then continued to advance, encircling the city from the northwest. General Lou Chuan's army also rushed to support and stationed in the south of the city. General You Qu defended the city stubbornly and could not be captured for several months. General Zuo usually worked in the palace and was a royal favorite. He led soldiers from the Yan and Dai states, fought bravely, and their troops were arrogant from their string of victories. General Lou Chuan led soldiers from the Qi state, who had suffered heavy losses at sea and in earlier fights with You Qu. Their losses had left the soldiers demoralized and their commanders humiliated, making them hesitant to attack. General Zuo was eager to attack and the Korean ministers secretly contacted General Lou Chuan to discuss surrender. Negotiations continued, but no agreement was reached. Zuo repeatedly urged Lou Chuan to join the attack, but Lou Chuan, eager to fulfill his surrender agreement, refused. General Zuo also tried to persuade Korea to surrender privately, but Korea remained loyal to General Lou Chuan. Thus, a deep mistrust festered between the two generals. Zuo considered Lou Chuan's earlier defeat a disgrace. His continued contact with the Koreans, without surrendering, fueled Zuo's suspicions of treachery. He hesitated to act.
The emperor said, "My generals are a bunch of bunglers. Previously, I sent Wei Shan to persuade General You Qu to surrender, but You Qu sent his crown prince instead. However, Wei Shan failed to get the job done and undermined General Zuo's strategy, resulting in the failure of the agreement. Now, the two generals are surrounding the city but not cooperating with each other, so they have been unable to capture it. Send the Governor of Jinan, Gongsun Sui, to straighten things out. Do whatever it takes to resolve the situation." After Gongsun Sui arrived, General Zuo said, "Xian should have surrendered long ago. They haven't surrendered yet – something's not right." He then told Gongsun Sui about several failed attempts to engage in battle with General Lou Chuan and his own thoughts, saying, "If we don't defeat him now, it could be a disaster. Failing to defeat him will lead to the destruction of our army by both Lou Chuan and Xian." Gongsun Sui agreed and used the emperor's token to summon Lou Chuan to General Zuo's tent. He then immediately ordered General Zuo's subordinates to arrest Lou Chuan, confiscate his military power, and report to the emperor. The emperor then had Gongsun Sui executed. General Zuo merged the two armies and immediately attacked Xian. Xian's Prime Minister Lu Ren, Han Yin and Ni Xi, both ministers, and General Wang Hao discussed, "Initially, we wanted to surrender to General Lou Chuan, but now that he has been captured, only General Zuo is leading the troops. The fighting's getting too hot, and we can't hold on much longer. Our king's dug in his heels." Han Yin, Wang Hao, and Lu Ren all fled and surrendered to the Han Dynasty. Lu Ren later died in battle.
In the third year of Yuanfeng, during the summer, Xiang Can of Nixi sent someone to kill the King of Korea, Yuqu, and then surrendered, bringing Yuqu's body with him. Because Wang Xiancheng, a key fortress, had not yet been captured, Yuqu's minister Chengmi rebelled again and attacked the government. The Left General sent Yuqu's son Changjiang and Xianglu's son, Zui, to persuade the people and kill Chengmi, thus pacifying Korea. The Han Dynasty established four counties there. The Han Dynasty appointed Can as the Marquis of Huaqing, Yin as the Marquis of Diju, Ha as the Marquis of Pingzhou, and Changjiang as the Marquis of Ji. Changjiang, whose father died in battle, was also ennobled as the Marquis of Wenyang for his distinguished service.
After the Left General returned from the expedition, due to jealousy and poor planning, he was executed. The Naval Commander should have waited for the Left General to act together after the army arrived at Lekou, but he launched an attack on his own, resulting in many soldiers being killed. He should have been executed, but was eventually pardoned and demoted to a commoner.
Sima Qian said: Yuqu's stubbornness led to the destruction of the country and the end of his line. She He lied about his accomplishments and became the main culprit in starting the war. The Naval Commander was a coward who dodged responsibility when faced with difficulties. He regretted not taking Fan Yu at the beginning, which instead brought suspicion. Xun Zhi and She He were competing for credit, and both were executed. Both armies were shamed, and no general dared to boast about their achievements anymore.
