Chapter 3414 The violent king
The goose-feather-like heavy snow fell, but the palace was filled with steam and white mist.
The soldiers brought boiling hot water and poured it bucket by bucket on the bluestone paved in the palace, and then used brushes to scrub away the dirty blood stains bit by bit. In the cold weather, hot water splashed on the ground turned into mist, which quickly cooled and turned into ice. The soldiers quickly brushed it aside with brushes to prevent it from freezing.
The white snow covered up the sin, and the entire palace was filled with a strong smell of blood. The corpses of countless royal family members, chamberlains, and guards were randomly discarded and stacked in the corners. Soldiers took them away one by one on carts and transported them to the outside of the city for burial.
The clan that had subjugated their country no longer had the awe and aloofness they had when they were still alive. The royal children who usually had fine clothes and fine food were abused like livestock after their death, and their dignity was completely lost.
In the main hall, a minister was kneeling on the ground, trying his best to persuade Yeon Gaesumun to treat the royal family well, and at least give them respect after death...
"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, 'the dead are the most important,' burying the corpses of the royal family so casually will definitely chill the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the world, and will hinder the King from establishing his prestige and winning over people's hearts."
"Haha," Yeon Gaesumun, who was standing in front of the throne and letting the maid rearrange his crown, sneered and said disapprovingly: "The throne of the lone king relies on the prestige of the hearts of all, and this prestige comes from the lone hand. Military power also comes from defeating the powerful Tang Dynasty, causing hundreds of thousands of troops to come back defeated, and even shooting the emperor in the eye with thousands of troops! What if he didn't treat the corpse of the royal family well? How could the ignorant and rebellious clan of the clan have attracted the Han people to attack several times, causing countless damage to the city of Goguryeo and killing hundreds of thousands of sons and daughters on the battlefield? Not only did I want to kill the royal family of Gao! Kill them all, leave the body in the wilderness to be eaten by wild beasts, and display the treasure king's head to the public, hanging his head on the Seven Star Gate, so that the whole country's soldiers and civilians can watch. This is the end of the faint king!"
The minister was sweating profusely and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, you must not do it! Even though the King ascended the throne in compliance with the people's will and the will of God, it is a rule to treat the former king who lost his country well, so as to show the magnanimity of the new king. If If the king insists on doing this, won’t the world ridicule the king for his narrow-mindedness and violent methods?”
He thought that in every dynasty when kingship changed, the new king should leave some leeway for the previous dynasty. After all, there has never been an unbroken dynasty in the world. If the day comes when his own family falls, the successor can follow the example and follow the example. Give yourself preferential treatment.
Now that you are so harshly criticizing and mistreating the Gao family, are you not afraid that others will follow your example and take revenge on you in the future?
All the knowledgeable people in Goguryeo were familiar with Confucianism and advocated the "golden mean". They believed that it is best to leave a fine line in everything and not to do anything wrong...
At this time, the crown was already neatly put on. Yeon Gaesumun flicked the sleeves of his robe that were studded with gold threads. He sat on the throne with a golden sword, his palms whirling on the armrests, and laughed: "This is ridiculous! Man! A lifetime lasts only a few tens of winters and summers. If you are born in this world and can enjoy yourself in time and express your ambitions, it is enough. Is it possible that like the First Emperor, even if the dragon controls the funeral sky, he will be extravagant and wait for death? Like a waiter, who dreams of being powerful and leading the world after death? Sitting on this throne means that he is expected to work hard and work hard for the benefit of the people of the world. How about being cruel and cruel? How about it? If you live alone for one day, you will be the king of Goguryeo. If you die alone the next day, it doesn’t matter where you are buried or what your descendants will be!”
He acted arbitrarily throughout his life, without any control, and regarded morality and etiquette as nothing. When it was impossible for anyone to stop him from ascending to the throne of Goguryeo, he still raised a butcher's knife against the Gao royal family to avoid future troubles. How could he care about what others said?
Things like reputation and prestige are like an old woman's foot-binding cloth. Although it is of some use, that's all. In fact, from the day he proclaimed himself Da Mo Li Zhi and commanded the military and political power of Goguryeo, no one had ever said anything good about him.
But so what?
He is not living well and has finally ascended the supreme throne as he wished. On the contrary, those who scolded him, hated him, and opposed him were all cut off by his cruel hands, and the grass on their graves was already three feet high...
His prestige relies on the power in his hands and violent methods accumulated bit by bit. He doesn't care who speaks ill of him, as long as those people understand the price they will bear if they anger him.
Goguryeo is a foreign country, and the people in the country are all illiterate Hu people. The Han people have long understood the character of these people who are "fearful of power but not moral" and call them "Yidi", treating them like animals. They Why bother showing your kind and generous side?
Kindness is sometimes not a good thing. People who are kind can be bullied...
When the ministers in the palace saw Yeon Gaesumun's surly expression, they no longer dared to persuade him. If they talked too much and offended this person, they would call the imperial guards and kill them all without blinking an eye.
In the massacre in Pingrang City, it was not just the Gao royal family that suffered. Anyone who had always been close to the royal family would have been killed by this tyrant without any reason or guilt.
The mass graves outside the city are probably filled with corpses now...
Yuan Gaisu Wen was satisfied with his ambition, and Pingrang City was impregnable. The Tang army had already retreated, and he headed straight for the Yalu River. The imminent crisis had been resolved, and he ascended the throne again. His long-cherished wish was fulfilled. I felt very happy in my chest and abdomen. Just when I was about to issue a decree and clean up the mess, I saw General Jian Moucen hurriedly entering the palace.
"Your Majesty, things are going badly. The navy of the Tang Army has already attacked outside the city. The general sent cavalry to intercept and was completely wiped out by them. They are now preparing to attack the city!"
Everyone in the hall was shocked.
Didn’t the entire Tang army retreat? Where did this navy master come from?
Yuan Gaisuwen said calmly: "The navy of the Tang Dynasty is indeed invincible on the sea, but when it comes to land warfare, is it possible that it can be stronger than the hundreds of thousands of troops commanded by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty? No need to make a fuss."
Hundreds of thousands of Tang troops besieged Pingrang City for two months without defeat. How could a mere navy be stronger than an army of hundreds of thousands?
Jian Moucen was stunned for a moment, and then said with a grimace: "Your Majesty, all the troops in the city have left the city to pursue the Tang army. The troops in the city are currently empty, only numbering more than ten thousand... The Tang navy has always been powerful in combat, and it is still Please prepare early.”
Only then did Yuengai Suwen remember that he had abided by his agreement with Changsun Wuji. When Changsun Wuji made the Tang army retreat, he sent troops to pursue the Tang army and slow down the return of hundreds of thousands of Tang soldiers.
He felt a little depressed. All the Tang troops had already evacuated, so he felt that he had no worries and sent out all the troops in the city to participate in the pursuit. But who would have thought that this navy actually disobeyed orders and acted against them?
What a ghost...
However, he was just depressed and did not take the Tang Dynasty Navy to heart, and ordered: "Immediately close the city gates tightly, all troops go to the city to defend, and at the same time gather people in each house, slaves, private soldiers, and even prisoners in the prison , opened the warehouse in 'Little Chang'an', distributed weapons and armor, and then quickly reported to the army outside the city, asking them to return to Pingrang City. "
The navy of the Tang Dynasty only had tens of thousands of people. Pingrang City relied on the strong city to defend even the attack of hundreds of thousands of people. How could it fail in front of the navy? Mobilize all the forces in the city to participate in defending the city, and then the troops chasing the Tang army outside the city will quickly return to support, and the crisis can be resolved.
Jian Moucen hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is wise. The navy of the Tang Army must have been unwilling to give up the merits of destroying the city and destroying the country, so they disobeyed orders and attacked rashly. With your Majesty in charge, he will definitely come and go!"
Yuan Gaisu Wen stroked his beard and laughed, and just as he was about to speak, he heard a muffled sound that shook the beams of the hall, and the dust accumulated on the beams for many years fluttered down. Then, these muffled sounds became deafening, the earth shook, and all the monarchs and ministers in the palace turned pale in shock.
Yeon Gaesumun immediately thought of the Tang army's firearms, whose power could indeed cause mountains to collapse and the earth to break apart. He stood up in shock and shouted: "Go and check quickly to see what happened!"
Before Jian Moucen and others could go out, they saw a imperial guard flying in, prostrating themselves on the ground in front of Yuan Gaisu Wen, and said quickly: "Your Majesty, the Tang army attacked the city with artillery. Countless shells passed over it." The city wall fell into the city, and the cannonballs were filled with flammable materials. Wherever they hit, fires were set off, and the water could not be extinguished. "
Yuan Gaisuwen strode outside the palace gate, looked up at the heavy snow, and then looked at the fire and smoke rising into the sky in the west. His heart suddenly twitched, and he asked in a hissing voice: "Where did the Tang army's artillery shells fall?" Changan'?"
"Exactly! Now the fire in 'Little Chang'an' is raging into the sky, and all the warehouses are on fire!"
"Wow! The Tang thief is cunning and wants to cut off my life!" (End of this chapter)