Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 261 Winter in Pyongyang
The capital of Goguryeo, Pyongyang.

The royal palace is Anhe Palace.

"vomit!"

Goguryeo Regent Yeon Gaesomun was so hungover that he couldn't help retching in bed early in the morning.

This was theoretically the residence of the King of Goguryeo.

However, after Yeon Gaesomun assassinated the unpopular King Yeongryu Go Geonmu and established himself as regent, he simply drove the puppet king he supported out of the palace and firmly established his position.

He had been reveling in this palace every day, and last night he had been drinking heavily as usual, but this time he was particularly drunk and vomited all over the place.

Fortunately, he vomited out the alcohol in his stomach, and his mind finally became clearer than it had been a long time, except that he still felt a little dizzy.

"Damn it, is this the kind of wine I'm supposed to drink? For the ruler of the great Goguryeo Kingdom to drink the peasants' inferior wine?!"

Yeon Gaesomun muttered incoherently and yelled angrily:

"Someone! Behead all the cooks!"

The sound echoed among the empty palace rooms, like shouting into an empty conch shell.

Apart from hearing his own echo, Yeon Gaesomun received no response.

"Damn it! All the palace maids should be beheaded..."

Yeon Gaesomun grumbled unhappily, and after finally standing up with the help of the wall, he staggered to the side hall.

There, the cook and the palace maid who were almost beheaded had prepared a sumptuous breakfast for him.

"No one is reliable..."

Considering that someone still needed to prepare three meals a day, Yeon Gaesomun temporarily pardoned the cook's palace maid's death sentence in his heart and had a glass of sorghum wine to sober up from his hangover.

The strong spicy smell made him suddenly perk up.

"Your Excellency the Regent."

As usual, the kingdom's new prime minister appeared at Yeon Gaesomun's dining table, holding a stack of documents.

"Please take a look!"

His Excellency the Regent is very busy indulging in wine and pleasure, so he can only find time to "handle state affairs" during breakfast time every day.

The new prime minister was a very sensible young bureaucrat who would report to him on the previous day's "governance situation" on time every day and ask for instructions on the next "work arrangements."

As for where the old prime minister who was originally promoted by him had gone, it seemed that one day when he was on his way to court, he "accidentally" fell into a manure pit on the way and died.

As for why the old prime minister, who usually liked to take a car, suddenly chose to walk to the court that day, and why he turned into an alley and walked into a cesspool while walking, Yeon Gaesomun's alcohol-soaked brain could no longer remember the details clearly.

The new prime minister was recommended by a Liaodong merchant who often came to Anhak Palace to "exchange feelings" with Yeon Gaesomun.

Considering that he had difficulty winning the support of the people in Pyongyang and that conflicts outweighed cooperation with local tribes, the drunk Yeon Gaesomun agreed in a daze.

When he came to his senses and wanted to take back his decision, the young man sensibly prepared him a set of "Morning News", which made him feel very comfortable and gave him an unprecedented sense of "control".

Thus, this "prime minister" nominated by foreign businessmen firmly established his foothold in Anhe Palace and reported on time every morning.

"Under your benevolent rule, the kingdom is peaceful and prosperous, and the people are prosperous. The chiefs of all ethnic groups have bowed their heads and are waiting to be crowned by you."

The prime minister told the joke in all seriousness.

If someone dares to say it, Yeon Gaesomun really dares to believe it.

Because the reports and documents submitted by this young man are consistent with the cross-checking relationship and can stand up to scrutiny.

More importantly, what the new prime minister said was very nice and just what Yeon Gaesomun liked.

In his description, Goguryeo was a country full of vitality and everything was flourishing. The situation was not just good, but very good (this is not false, it just has nothing to do with Yeon Gaesomun)!
Not only the prime minister, but also his newly appointed ministers, assistant ministers and other senior officials of the royal court often came to Anhe Palace to report their work in person.

It couldn't be that these people were part of the same gang and had been lying for several months just to deceive him, right?

"That's right." Yeon Gaesomun nodded pretentiously, trying to make his drunken face look more dignified, and said a cheap humble word:
"With you here, I can govern the whole country with just the drop of my hands."

After Liaodong merchants entered Goguryeo on a large scale, he thought he was beginning to lose control of the country.

Now I realize that it was all an illusion. His ability to govern the country and use people is still very strong.

You see, just by boldly promoting a young man, the control of the country was immediately taken back into their hands.

"Those chiefs have been against me all day, and now they want to be knighted? How about giving them a cup of poisoned wine?"

Yeon Gaesomun gave new instructions to the new prime minister and ended his day's work on governing the country, which took about half a pot of sorghum wine.

"Received. Please enjoy your meal."

No matter how outrageous the instructions were, the prime minister accepted them all and never talked back, which made Yeon Gaesomun very happy.

It was no big deal, just adding a few items to the morning paper submitted the next day.

The prime minister left Anhe Palace and did not return to his government office, but turned into a small alley near the palace.

Deep in the alley lies a Buddhist temple with a towering pagoda.

The prime minister went straight into the temple, saluted the monk he was familiar with, then entered the pagoda and climbed the stairs alone.

The top of the tower offers a great view, and you can see the south entrance and the main hall of Anhe Palace, and every move is visible at a glance.

As for other locations and side halls of the palace, they are monitored by the other "pagodas".

There is a miniature Buddhist temple on the top of the tower, which is populated by senior bureaucrats newly appointed by Yeon Gaesomun in recent months who often appear at the "morning meeting" in Anhak Palace.

Behind the familiar faces is another familiar face - a Buddha statue of a fat child, who looks very festive, just like a youthful version of Maitreya.

It is the same statue of Li Ming as the one in Chengyanli Temple (Fang Xuanling’s temporary office) in China.

The familiar faces gathered here were, on the surface, high-ranking officials of Goguryeo, but in fact, they were all spies of the Liaodong Red Turban Army.

Their task was to compile a "headquarters battle report" for Yeon Gaesomun every day, using false information to deceive the regent and make him think that everything was under control.

The real "prime minister" of this country is actually Fang Xuanling.

No one except Li Ming could come up with such a bizarre idea.

Li Ming's idea did not come out of thin air.

Instead, it refers to a story in modern history about a certain Yuan Shikai who was fooled by a fake newspaper published by his own son and rashly reversed history to proclaim himself emperor.

It turns out that building an information cocoon is really effective.

In the Truman world carefully created by the Red Turban Army, Yeon Gaesomun was completely lost. Since Fang Xuanling and other old Tang officials secretly entered Goguryeo and began to take over the state affairs, he was unaware of the whole process, let alone did anything to stop it.

"What instructions did our Regent give today?"

Goguryeo's "Shangshu" joked.

"Let's poison several landlord chiefs in Beisha City and Anshi City."

The Prime Minister replied in a relaxed tone: "I don't know if he is serious."

The "minister" interrupted with a smile:

"No matter whether that tyrant is serious or not, those local tyrants have already been hanged by the peasants led by the Red Scarf Army."

"Yeah, hahaha~"

Several people burst into laughter, and a happy atmosphere filled the temple.

The most difficult period of their mission - when Fang Xuanling had just entered Goguryeo and was in a period of transition - had been safely passed.

And now, even if Yeon Gaesomun realized it belatedly, it was already too late.

From the royal court to the local levels, all existing ruling institutions were disbanded and reorganized, and the ruling class either surrendered or committed suicide.

The prime minister, generals, clerks, and common people were all Li Ming's men, and Yeon Gaesomun was ready to fight him.

"When does His Highness Li Ming plan to break through the last layer of window paper and take that drunkard down?"

"Prime Minister" asked casually.

There was an awkward silence.

They thought of a possibility at the same time.

Could it be that... because Yeon Gaesomun had such a low sense of presence, Li Ming and Fang Xuanling forgot about him and the brothers who were responsible for the deception?
"It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

Several people were not very confident.

People’s livelihood, infrastructure, food, commerce… Which one is not more important than a mere Goguryeo regent? Which one is not more worthy of the top leaders’ concern than that drunkard?

The "Prime Minister" leaned against the railing depressedly, and inadvertently saw a carriage driving towards the main gate of Anhe Palace.

"Treasure King? What is he doing here?" he asked puzzledly.

Treasure King Go Zang is the younger brother of the previous king Go Geonmu, and the puppet supported by Yeon Gaesomun.

But Yeon Gaesomun himself is now no different from a puppet.

"The Treasure King sent someone to greet Anhe Palace yesterday and agreed to visit today." The assistant minister said nonchalantly:

"It's probably two stray dogs licking each other's wounds."

Several people burst into laughter again, and the Buddhist hall was once again filled with a happy atmosphere.

Li Ming firmly controlled every inch of Goguryeo's land.

Including Anhe Palace.

It's no harm to let the two poor puppets butt heads.

…………

"Gao Zang, what are you talking about? Goguryeo is not in my hands, but in the hands of the Liaodong people?!"

Yeon Gaesomun was so surprised that he stood up shakily, and even his drunken eyes became clearer.

Gao Zang looked at the usurper who had killed his brother with pity, his tone full of helplessness:

"Since the failure of the expedition to Pingzhou and the Liaodong people began to enter Goguryeo in large numbers, haven't you noticed that the country is gradually getting out of control?"

"No. You're not in my position, so what basis do you have for coming to this conclusion?"

Yeon Gaesomun rudely retorted to his nominal monarch.

Looking at these two ignorant drunkards who turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside the palace, Gao Zang didn't even have the energy to get angry.

"It seems that you are not aware of the major events that have been happening in Goguryeo recently, right?"

"What could there be that I don't know?" Yeon Gaesomun asked back disdainfully.

Gao Zang replied calmly:
"The Goguryeo people enthusiastically joined the Red Turban Army to defend the Tang Kingdom against the Xueyantuo invasion."

"What what what?"

Yeon Gaesomun's eyes widened as if they were huge bells, and he felt as if he had opened them incorrectly so early in the morning and had mistakenly entered a parallel universe.

I recognized every word Gao Zang said, but when they were put together, I couldn't understand anything.

Wasn't the Red Turban Army an illegal armed force in Pingzhou with the blood of the Goguryeo people on its hands? Why did the Goguryeo people join it?
Moreover, the Xueyantuo and Tiele tribes were slaves of the Turks, and the Turks were slaves of the Tang Dynasty.

How come Tiangang turned against the Tang Dynasty and rode on its neck?
How could the Tang Dynasty, which was full of martial virtues, suddenly fall into such a state that it had to beg for help from the Goguryeo Red Turban Army?

Yeon Gaesomun was speechless for a moment, thinking that the puppet king in front of him had been under house arrest for so long that he was starting to have hallucinations.

"To be honest with you, although I have always been at odds with you, I don't want to see the sons of Buyeo being bewitched by the Han people and rushing to the front lines to fight the Tiele, Turkic, and Shiwei people to death, shedding blood and sacrificing their lives in vain.

“That’s why I took the liberty of visiting you, hoping to discuss countermeasures with you.

"I can only discuss this with you, Your Excellency, because the other dignitaries of my clan either died inexplicably or were inexplicably sidelined."

Perhaps it was because there was no greater sorrow than a dead heart, the puppet king spoke very bluntly to the usurper.

Yeon Gaesomun was so angry that his mouth twitched and he slammed the table with a loud bang:

"Someone, come! Drag this lunatic who is spreading lies to confuse the people and chop him up!"

His roar echoed in the huge palace, but just like before, it did not cause any ripples.

The Treasure King looked at him with amusement and sadness. He was not afraid at all. Instead, he was filled with sympathy for his fellow man.

They are all powerless puppets, so he dares to speak out without fear of making the other party angry.

"Damn it, those guards haven't listened to me since early morning. They'll be chopped off sooner or later..." Yeon Gaesomun muttered angrily and sat back in his seat.

"Your Excellency the Regent." Gao Zang lowered his voice and looked directly at the other person:

"How long has it been since you left Anhe Palace and walked around and looked around your own country?"

…………

The Goguryeo regent and the king rode in the same carriage, leaving Anhak Palace and driving through the streets of Pyongyang.

It was the dead of winter and the city of Pyongyang was covered in snow, but people's lives were still bustling.

Yeon Gaesomun squinted his drunken eyes, trying hard to focus, and looked at the street scene through the car window with difficulty.

After looking at him for a while, he couldn't help but get furious at the Treasure King:
"How dare you lie to me, you bastard?

"The streets are clearly thriving, just as my prime minister told me! Much better than under your stupid brother's rule!"

Gao Zang sighed:

"It is true that Goguryeo is now much richer than in the past, but this is the prosperity under the rule of Liaodong Jiedushi Li Ming. What does it have to do with you and me?
“What’s the point of a beautiful garden if it doesn’t belong to us?”

Yeon Gaesomun found it difficult to understand the Treasure King's metaphor and frowned, not quite understanding it.

Gao Zang pointed to the street corner:
"Look, what does it say?"

Yeon Gaesomun looked in the direction his finger was pointing.

There was a stall on the corner of the street, and many young men gathered around it.

"Those idle rogues are lazying here instead of working the fields!"

Yeon Gaesomun muttered to himself angrily. He looked again and saw a few Chinese characters written on the sign of the stall:

The Red Turban Army recruitment point.

Red Turban Army, Red Turban Army...

This was a topic that the Goguryeo people were not allowed to touch in the past, but now it appears so openly on the streets of Pyongyang.

"You bastard! The beggars from Liaodong are coming to Pyongyang to beg for food!"

Yeon Gaesomun was still drunk and cursed angrily.

"Stop! I want to get off!"

He ignored Gao Zang's dissuasion, got out of the car rudely and rushed to the recruitment point.

"Hey, Your Excellency..."

Gao Zang was caught off guard. He did not expect the situation to develop to this point and that Yeon Gaesomun would be so reckless.

Seeing that the guy was about to cause a huge trouble, the crisis instinct he had developed after being a puppet for more than a year made him decisively order the driver:
"Go! Remember, keep today's events secret. You must not tell anyone else about my visit to the palace to see Yeon Gaesomun!"

Jumping ship, cutting ties, drawing a line, all in one go.

Even if I hadn't said anything, your every move has long been under the surveillance of the Red Scarf Army... The driver complained in his heart and replied casually:
"Yes."

He drove away from the scene with the Treasure King.

On the other side, Yeon Gaesomun broke into the crowded conscription site and pushed the young people who were eager to sign up.

"You traitors, why are you risking your lives to serve the Liaodong people instead of farming and paying taxes?"

The lively scene suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at the drunkard in confusion.

As they watched, several people seemed to recognize the drunkard's identity and began to whisper.

Yeon Gaesomun was completely unaware of the other party's gaze, and he shouted with a very good feeling about himself:

"You rebels are rebelling! You are colluding with foreign countries and betraying Goguryeo!

"You stay here quietly, or I'll send chariots to take you all up to the sky!"

Someone in the crowd shouted:

"He is Yeon Gaesomun!"

"Who? Who dares to speak my name?"

Yeon Gaesomun was furious.

No one answered, everyone looked at him in silence, as if they were looking at a dead dog on the side of the road.

This situation finally made him realize that something was wrong:
"What... do you want to do?
"I am the regent, the first person in this kingdom, and I will be the emperor of Goguryeo in the future!

"Stop! You lowlifes, don't come near me! Don't touch me! Don't..."

A fist hit him hard in the face, interrupting his words.

"You...how did you hit me?"

Yeon Gaesomun covered his swollen cheek, not daring to be arrogant anymore, and felt aggrieved like a little girl.

The attacker said in a muffled voice:

"You've starved my family!"

"Me? I... I don't even know you, how could I starve your family to death..."

He argued feebly.

But no one listened to him. The angry crowd beat the tyrant, and their fists rained down all over his body.

Yeon Gaesomun let out a howl that soon disappeared in the roar of the crowd.

The dark red blood slowly soaked the white snow.

…………

Domestic City, Amri Temple.

Fang Xuanling sat in front of the statue of the great god Li Ming as usual, reviewing the state affairs of Goguryeo.

"Your Highness plans to formally annex Goguryeo, and there is a lot of preliminary work to be done.

"First, the bureaucratic systems of the two places sent officials to each other and held cross-appointments, gradually running in and fully connecting, and finally achieving integration...

"In addition to the integration of Liao and Gao, the war against Xueyantuo is the top priority. The logistics are assisted by fellow Hebei people, so the pressure is not great, but the problem is that there are too many Goguryeo people who sign up to join the army, and we have to set up clear screening criteria..."

Comrade Lao Fang worked tirelessly under the gaze of the statue of his younger brother behind him, from early morning to late evening.

When he finally turned his eyes away from the mountains of books, the sun was about to set.

He lit the oil lamp and saw an unopened letter lying quietly in the corner of the desk.

"Hmm? Sent from Pyongyang? What happened there?"

He opened it curiously and read it under the lamp.

"Yeon Gaesomun was beaten to death by angry Pyongyang citizens?

"Yeon Gaesomun, Yeon Gaesomun..."

Fang Xuanling muttered it several times and couldn't help scratching his head:
“Who is Yeon Gaesomun?”

He recalled for a long time and finally remembered some of it.

He was the regent of Goguryeo and a victim of the Red Turban Army.

Only then did Fang Xuanling realize that when he was planning a complete merger with Goguryeo for His Highness, he had forgotten about Goguryeo's original ruling class.

In this regard, Lao Fang said:

"Oh."

A passerby who is not even a rubber stamp, if he dies, he dies.

What does the destruction of Goguryeo have to do with Goguryeo?

"On the contrary, those spies who monitored Yeon Gaesomun throughout the process and undermined him have made great contributions and are very capable. They should be promoted."

Fang Xuanling skillfully wrote down a few names and intended to submit them to his colleague Yang Shidao, who was temporarily holding the position of "Minister of Personnel" in Anshi City.

"Yeon Gaesomun is dead. Do we need to report such a trivial matter to His Highness Li Ming?"

Lao Fang thought about it and felt that it was necessary to report the news of Yeon Gaesomun's death as background information so that several spies could get promotions and salary increases.

He picked up the pen and paper and started writing the briefing.

As soon as he started, he couldn't help muttering:
"Yeon Gaesomun? Oh, a barbarian chieftain, is he worthy of the surname 'Yeon'?"

Doesn't this violate the taboo of Emperor Li Yuan?

So he made a few changes in the briefing and changed the name of the head of state of a country.

"From now on, you will be called 'Quan Gaisu Wen' in history books."

Fang Xuanling quickly finished the briefing, completed the day's work, and arranged everything in an orderly manner.

It wasn't completely dark yet.

In this dark moment, his thoughts couldn't help but wander.

Development remains the top priority in His Highness Li Ming's mind and the main theme of the vast Northeast.

But Fang Xuanling also had things that concerned him most.

"I wonder how the war is going on the front line..."

His thoughts crossed the Liao River, crossed the Yan Mountains, and drifted westward to Yunzhou.

…………

Yunzhou, Hengshan.

The valley of the tributary of Sanggan River.

The Xueyantuo army was slowly gathering in the middle of the valley, and was about to launch the largest-scale attack on the Red Turban Army hiding on the mountain peaks.

The original formation was disrupted and reorganized, and it was in chaos as it struggled to move in the narrow river valley.

At this moment, the scouts discovered that a cavalry force was rushing over from both the upstream and downstream ends of the valley.

They were covered in thick fur over their armor and had strange braids on their heads, and it was impossible to tell which camp or unit they belonged to.

But they are definitely not Han people, let alone the Red Turban Army from Liaodong.

The scout relaxed his vigilance and shouted in Turkish:
"Who are you? Which tribe are you from?"

The visitor did not slow down and replied in a gibberish.

"What is he saying? Do you recognize which tribe's dialect it is?" the scout asked his companions.

The companion shook his head.

The language the other party spoke was very strange, so we ruled out Chinese first.

But it is obviously not Turkic.

The differences were too great. Although the Tiele tribes were scattered, the tribes were not so different that they could not even speak the same language.

The other party spoke a completely different foreign language.

Just when they were puzzled, the other party shouted again.

He shouted so excitedly that even the tone of his voice rose an octave.

Now the scout understood.

That's a Chinese sentence.

Although it was not very standard, the emotional and powerful sound traveled across a distance of more than ten feet, drowned out the sound of horse hooves, and struck the Tiele people's eardrums clearly.

That sentence says:

"His Highness Li Ming's kindness is not over yet!"

What?
The Tiele people were stunned by what they heard.

That strange cavalry had arrived like lightning, and they raised their swords and struck!
(End of this chapter)