Wiman Joseon衛滿朝鮮

Wiman Joseon.

The Account of Joseon in the Book of Former Han says this.

"From the beginning, in the time of Yan, they had always raided and taken Zhenfan and Joseon〔Yan Shigu says that in the Warring States period Yan first gained this land.〕, set officials there, and built fortifications.

When Qin destroyed Yan, the land belonged to the outer border of Liaodong.

When Han arose, it held the land too far to guard. So it repaired the old Liaodong fortifications again and made the boundary reach the Paesu〔Yan Shigu says the Paesu is in Lelang Commandery.〕, placing the land under Yan.

When Lu Wan, the King of Yan, rebelled and went over to the Xiongnu, Wiman, a man of Yan, fled and gathered a band of more than a thousand men. He ran east, went out past the fortifications, and crossed the Paesu.

He lived in the empty land of Qin times, in the upper and lower fortifications. Little by little he brought under him the barbarians of Zhenfan and Joseon and the exiles of old Yan and Qi, became their king, and set his capital at Wanggeom (王儉).〔Li Qi says it is a place name. Chen Zan says Wanggeom Fortress lies east of the Paesu in Lelang Commandery.〕

By the might of his army he attacked the small towns nearby and made them surrender. Zhenfan and Lintun all came and submitted, and his land came to several thousand li on each side."

It passed to his son and reached his grandson Ugeo (右渠).〔Yan Shigu says the grandson's name was Ugeo.〕

Zhenfan and the state of Jin wished to send a letter and have an audience with the Son of Heaven, but he blocked the way and would not let them through.〔Yan Shigu says Jin means Jinhan.〕

In the second year of Yuanfeng the Han envoy She He (涉何) admonished Ugeo, but in the end he would not accept the edict.

She He left, reached the border, and came to the Paesu. There he had his driver stab and kill Jang (長), a lesser king of Joseon who was seeing him off〔Yan Shigu says this is the name of the one who saw She He off.〕. He crossed the river at once, entered the fortifications, and at last went back and reported.

The Son of Heaven made She He Commandant of the Eastern Division of Liaodong.

Joseon resented She He, attacked him, and killed him.

The Son of Heaven sent Yang Pu (楊僕), General of Towered Ships, to cross the Bohai Sea from Qi with fifty thousand soldiers.

Xun Zhi (荀彘), General of the Left, set out from Liaodong and attacked Ugeo, but Ugeo sent out troops and held the steep places.

The General of Towered Ships led seven thousand men of Qi and reached Wanggeom first.

Ugeo was guarding the fortress. When he learned that the towered-ship force was small, he went out at once and struck it, and the towered ships were defeated and fled.

Yang Pu lost his men and hid in the mountains, barely escaping harm.

The General of the Left attacked the Joseon army west of the Paesu, but could not break it.

The Son of Heaven judged that the two generals had gained no advantage. So he sent Wei Shan (衛山) to go and admonish Ugeo, backed by the might of the army.

Ugeo asked to surrender and sent the crown prince to present horses.

There were more than ten thousand men, and they were carrying weapons as they were about to cross the Paesu. The envoy and the General of the Left suspected they might start a revolt and said to the crown prince,

"You have already surrendered. You should not carry weapons."

The crown prince in turn suspected that the envoy was deceiving him. In the end he did not cross the Paesu, but led his men back again.

When this was reported to the Son of Heaven, Wei Shan was executed.

The General of the Left broke the army on the Paesu, then advanced to the foot of the fortress and surrounded its northwest side.

The towered ships also went to join him and took position south of the fortress.

Ugeo held out firmly, and for several months they could not take it.

Because no end came for so long, the Son of Heaven sent Gongsun Sui (公孫遂), the former Governor of Jinan, to set matters right, letting him act as he saw fit.

Gongsun Sui arrived, bound the General of Towered Ships, joined his troops to his own, and together with the General of the Left attacked Joseon hard.

The Joseon minister (相) Noin (路人), the minister Hando (韓陶), the minister of Nigye, Sam (參), and the general Wanggyeop (王唊)〔Yan Shigu says Nigye is a place name and these are four men.〕 plotted together to surrender, but the king would not accept it.

Hando, Wanggyeop, and Noin all fled and surrendered to Han. Noin died on the way.

In the summer of the third year of Yuanfeng, Sam, the minister of Nigye, had a man kill King Ugeo, and came and surrendered.

Since Wanggeom Fortress had not yet fallen, Seonggi (成己), a chief minister of Ugeo, rebelled again.

The General of the Left had Jang (長), the son of Ugeo, and Choe (最), the son of Noin, admonish the people, and plotted to kill Seonggi.

So at last Joseon was pacified and made into the four commanderies of Zhenfan, Lintun, Lelang, and Xuantu."