Tang Dynasty: The Holy Prince, the Dragon that Reigns Over the World

At the end of November in the ninth year of Zhenguan, after Yeon Gaesomun learned that the ministers of Goguryeo were discussing with Go Geonmu to get rid of him, he ordered all the troops loyal to him to gather in Pyongyang, the royal capital of Goguryeo.

On this day, in the palace of Goguryeo's capital Pyongyang, the Grand Commander Yeon Gaesomun was entertaining his trusted subordinates and a merchant in his palace. After five rounds of wine, Yeon Gaesomun suddenly sighed. Everyone looked at Yeon Gaesomun in confusion, and Kim Sun-jae, the commander of Goguryeo's elite cavalry Wang Chuangbing, asked.

"Big Dui Lu, why are you sighing?"

"Alas, my Yuan family has been loyal to the Gao royal family for generations. My father risked his life and led the troops to repel the invasion of the Sui Dynasty for Goguryeo. My brother Jingtu has been stationed at the southern border all year round, confronting Silla and protecting the southern border of Goguryeo. Since I inherited the throne of my father, Da Dulu, I have worked diligently and forgot to eat and sleep. My Yuan family has devoted themselves to the Gao royal family with all their heart and soul.

But the court officials regard our Yuan family as a scourge and want to get rid of them as soon as possible. The king even believed the slander and conspired with the flattering officials to kill my entire family. After today's banquet, everyone will go their separate ways. Don't be burdened by our Yuan family. If you want fame and fortune, you can tie me up and bring me to the palace immediately. I don't blame you. "

"Father, when my grandfather was alive, he wanted to pass the throne of Daedeulu to you. The king and many ministers tried to stop him, so my grandfather left with regrets and died without seeing your father succeed to the throne. After your father succeeded to the throne of Daedeulu, he worked day and night to make our country of Goguryeo rich and strong.

However, the king and his ministers still could not tolerate my father's existence. The king even ordered people to assassinate my father twice. If it were not for my uncle Gaochang who risked his life to save him, my father would have been in danger of death.

Now the king is incompetent and has conspired with his ministers to murder my father. How can my family sit and wait for death and see the people of Goguryeo being ruled by villains? I ask my father to take thunderbolt measures, warn the king, and clear the court to prevent the people from falling into water and fire. "Yeon Gaesomun's eldest son, Yeon Nansang, stood up and said.

"Please ask the King to advise Lu Bing to clear the court and save the people from the dire straits." Everyone under Yeon Gaesomun stood up and clasped their fists.

"However, for a minister to use weapons against his king is disloyalty. My family has been loyal and brave for generations. How could we do such a disloyal thing?" Yeon Gaesomun said with difficulty.

"Why should you hesitate? It is a difficult decision. Have you not heard of the stories of Duke Zhou and Huo Guang in the Central Plains? The sage Meng said: The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important.

The monarch is foolish, causing the people to suffer and the country to be in danger. The ministers do not know how to advise the monarch, but obey the orders of chaos and wait for death. This is foolish loyalty. But for the sake of the people and the country, even if there are some mistakes, it is also great loyalty. How to choose between foolish loyalty and great loyalty, I hope you will think carefully. "The merchant stroked his beard and smiled. Yeon Gaesomun thought for a while, stood up and said.

"What my dear brother Gao Chang said is very true. I have made up my mind to follow the example of Duke Zhou and Huo Guang in the Central Plains. I will hold a banquet in the south of the city on the pretext of a grand military review the day after tomorrow and invite the ministers to come for the review. After the ministers arrive, I will kill them to clear the king's side. After that, I will lead the troops into the palace to persuade the king. Everyone, I will leave the matter to you the day after tomorrow."

"We are willing to die for the great Lord Lu." Everyone under Yeon Gaesomun stood up and clasped their fists.

"My dear brother, you have helped me with money many times. You even saved my life twice and were seriously injured for it. This time, you urged me to use force to advise the king, clear the court, and preserve my loyalty. My dear brother, you have done me a great favor." Yeon Gaesomun said with emotion.

"If this matter is accomplished, it will all be thanks to your contribution, Li Fujie. If you, Li Fujie (Li Fujie's courtesy name is Gaochang), are willing to serve as an official in Goguryeo, I will definitely treat you with a high position and noble title. What do you think, my dear brother?" Yeon Gaesomun said seriously.

"Haha, Da Duilu is too polite. I, Li Fujie, and Da Duilu have a close relationship, not for the sake of gaining an official position, but because I respect Da Duilu as a hero of the time. Besides, I am just a businessman, used to being idle, and cannot be an official." Li Fujie said with a smile.

Seeing that Li Fujie was determined, Yeon Gaesomun stopped trying to persuade him. They drank for a while and then dispersed.

Li Fujie left Yeon Gaesomun's mansion, staggered into the carriage, lay drunk in the carriage, and ordered the coachman to drive to Baihualou, the best brothel in Pyongyang.

The carriage came to the gate of Baihua Tower. When the madam of Baihua Tower saw Li Fujie coming, she hurriedly ordered people to help Li Fujie to a quiet courtyard in the backyard. This quiet courtyard was the residence of Yunhua, the courtesan of Baihua Tower, who was supported by Li Fujie with a large sum of money.

After the servant of Baihua Tower put Li Fujie on the bed, he closed the door and left. After the servant left the house, he scattered around to search. Seeing that there was no one around, he imitated the meow of a cat, hid in the dark, and observed the surroundings faintly.

Li Fujie was lying drunk in bed. When he heard a cat cry, he stood up quickly, without any sign of drunkenness. He clasped his fists and bowed to Miss Yunhua in the room.

"Wu Qianyuan, I meet the Sixth Lady, the Lord."

It turns out that Li Fujie is Wu Qianyuan who carried out the "secret assassination" operation. Wu Qianyuan was ordered by Li Chengqian to carry out the "destroy the stick" plan and hide in Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo. In order to get close to Yeon Gaesomun, Wu Qianyuan disguised himself as a wealthy businessman and came to Pyongyang to do business. He used money to make friends with the dignitaries in the city and got to know Yeon Gaesomun through someone's introduction. Later, he used money to help Yeon Gaesomun win over the generals in the army, and became closer to Yeon Gaesomun.

In order to gain Yeon Gaesomun's trust, Wu Qianyuan planned two assassinations against Yeon Gaesomun and framed King Yeongryu. The two assassination plans were carried out by the Jinyiwei. Wu Qianyuan risked his life to save Yeon Gaesomun twice. The last time, he almost lost his life. After the two assassinations, Yeon Gaesomun trusted Wu Qianyuan more.

Wu Qianyuan later actively provided advice and suggestions for Yeon Gaesomun, contributed money and effort, and constantly provoked the relationship between Yeon Gaesomun and King Yeongryu. Gradually, he was valued by Yeon Gaesomun and became his confidant.

"Commander Wu, don't be polite. I am a criminal and I am not worthy of being called your lord's Sixth Lady." Miss Yunhua sighed.

If there were someone who had been to Zuixiang Tower in Chang'an here at this time, he would be surprised to find that Miss Yunhua was actually Miss Yun whose head had been hanged on the city wall a long time ago.

At the beginning of the seventh year of Zhenguan, Liang Moyun wanted to see Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian was busy with state affairs and preparations for the visit of all nations, so he did not go to see Liang Moyun until the end of the court.

When Li Chengqian left, he also brought a letter that Li Jing had found in Liang Shidu's account at the Eastern Turkic court. The letter was written by Liang Moyun's biological mother to Liang Moyun before her death and was hidden in a secret compartment of a box. The letter said that Liang Moyun was not Liang Shidu's biological son, and his father was originally a lieutenant named Yu under Liang Shidu's command when he was a general in the Yingyang Palace of the former Sui Dynasty.

Liang Shidu saw the beauty of Liang Moyun's mother, so he killed the lieutenant and took possession of her. Liang Moyun's mother wanted to commit suicide, but she was pregnant with Liang Moyun. After Liang Moyun was born, Liang Shidu threatened Liang Moyun's life and forced her mother not to tell the secret. Liang Moyun's mother died of depression and wrote this letter in the hope that one day the truth would be revealed.

After reading the letter, Liang Moyun burst into tears, she never thought that she had recognized the thief as her father and became a traitor. Li Chengqian comforted Liang Moyun, Liang Moyun wanted to drink with Li Chengqian to relieve her sorrow, and the two drank in the Jinyiwei prison cell.

Liang Moyun had always loved Li Chengqian, but she couldn't express it because of the revenge for her father's murder. Now that the truth was revealed, Liang Moyun couldn't control her love, and confessed to Li Chengqian while drunk. Li Chengqian didn't dislike Liang Moyun, and Liang Moyun was extremely beautiful. The two had sex after drinking.

The next day, Li Chengqian wanted to take Liang Moyun into his residence, but Liang Moyun insisted on doing meritorious service to cleanse her sins before she could enter the residence and change her surname back to Yu. Li Chengqian had no choice but to let her follow Wu Qianyuan into Goguryeo to carry out the mission. Everyone in the Jinyiwei knew the relationship between Yu Moyun and Li Chengqian, and privately called her the Sixth Lady.

After Wu Qianyuan gained Yeon Gaesomun's trust, Yu Moyun entered the Baihualou opened by Jinyiwei as an otaku, and Wu Qianyuan immediately announced that she would be his mistress. Yu Moyun usually stayed at home, and coupled with Wu Qianyuan's relationship with Yeon Gaesomun, no one in Pyongyang dared to disturb her.

"I learned today at Yeon Gaesomun's residence that Yeon Gaesomun plans to hold a banquet in the south of the city the day after tomorrow under the pretext of a grand military review, inviting Goguryeo ministers to review the event, and then kill them after they arrive. After that, Yeon Gaesomun will lead his troops into the palace to force King Yeongryu to abdicate," said Wu Qianyuan.

"Humph, just as Dalang expected, Yeon Gaesomun has evil ambitions and wants to stage a coup to kill the king. After Yeon Gaesomun kills the king, I will send a carrier pigeon to send the information to Dalang." Yu Moyun sneered.

"By the way, Dalang has ordered the Jinyiwei to secretly protect Gao Ao, the fourth son of Prince Rongliu, and send him to Chang'an safely. Dalang has a great use for this child." Yu Moyun said seriously.

"I will obey the Lord's orders." Wu Qianyuan leaned forward and clasped his fists. Then Wu Qianyuan secretly walked out of Yu Moyun's room and came to a secret room to give the Jinyiwei a task.

On the day of Yeon Gaesomun's military review, the Goguryeo ministers arrived at the south of Pyongyang as agreed. When they entered the military review ground, they saw no banquet, but many soldiers standing in line. While the ministers were wondering, Yeon Gaesomun, wearing iron armor and holding a sword, walked onto the reviewing platform. He said loudly.

"Now that the king has been deceived by a villain, I, Da Duilu, would like to lead troops into the palace to purge him. Who among you will go with me?"

All the officials were so shocked that their mouths opened wide when they heard this. After a moment of stunned silence, a Goguryeo official started cursing.

"Yeon Gaesomun, the king has treated you well, yet you want to gather troops and rebel. Traitor, don't even think that we, the upright ministers, will join you in corruption. Traitor, you are a traitor and cruel by nature. Even if you succeed in usurping the throne, who can obey you?" The other ministers all cursed Yeon Gaesomun as a "traitor."

Yeon Gaesomun was furious when he saw this and ordered his soldiers to surround and kill the ministers. The soldiers followed his order and killed the ministers. Soon, the parade ground was filled with screams and blood flowed like a river. All the more than 100 Goguryeo ministers present were killed.

After killing the ministers, Yeon Gaesomun was still not satisfied and ordered his soldiers to kill the families of more than 100 Goguryeo ministers. The massacre lasted for half a month, and nearly 10,000 people were killed. For a time, Pyongyang was filled with gloom and wailing.

After Yeon Gaesomun gave the order, he led his men and horses into the palace, killed King Yeongryu Go Geonmu, cut his body into pieces and threw it into a ditch. He also ordered people to go to the harem and outside the palace to kill all of King Yeongryu's children.

Under the protection of the Jinyiwei, the fourth prince Gaoao escaped from Pyongyang in advance and fled all the way to Chang'an. When Yeon Gaesomun saw that the fourth prince had escaped, he hurriedly ordered a nationwide manhunt for the fourth prince.

Yeon Gaesomun put the blame for killing King Yeongryu on the deceased ministers. He replaced him with Go Sang, the son of Go Daeyang, the younger brother of Go Geonmu, and called him King Bojang. Yeon Gaesomun appointed himself as the leader of the Makriji clan he created, and took charge of all military and national affairs of Goguryeo, preparing to usurp the throne in the future.

However, Gao Ao, the fourth prince of Goguryeo, fled Pyongyang in fear and traveled day and night under the protection of the Jinyiwei, and arrived in Chang'an in March of the tenth year of Zhenguan. Li Chengqian had long known that Yeon Gaesomun had staged a coup and killed the king, and Gao Ao had fled Goguryeo. He had been waiting for Gao Ao's arrival.

When Li Chengqian heard that Gao Ao had entered Chang'an City, he immediately held a banquet at the Prince's Mansion to welcome him. Li Chengqian couldn't help but laugh at Gao Ao, who was originally arrogant, but now looked like a lost dog, but he had to pretend to be concerned and said.

"Brother, you have had a hard journey. I already know about the Goguryeo royal city. It is a blessing for you to escape from the clutches of Yeon Gaesomun. I have prepared a banquet to welcome you and calm your nerves." Gao Ao bowed in gratitude and followed Li Chengqian into the banquet.

"Brother Wang, how did you escape from Goguryeo?" Li Chengqian asked knowingly.

"Thanks to several righteous men, who saw that the traitor Yeon Gaesomun was deceiving the emperor, murdering the king and usurping the throne, and out of righteous indignation, they protected me and helped me escape from Goguryeo." Gao Ao said.

"He is a true hero. I will reward him handsomely. What are your plans for the future, my brother?" Li Chengqian asked again.

"Alas, now Yeon Gaesomun is extremely powerful, and I am the only one left in King Yeongryu's lineage. My cousin Gao Zang is just a puppet. I fled to Chang'an alone just to save my life. What else can I plan?" Gao Ao said dejectedly.

"Brother, don't you want to return to the country and ascend the throne?" Li Chengqian tempted.

"I have no funds, no soldiers, and I'm all alone. How can it be easy?" Gao Ao sighed.

"What if my Tang Dynasty is willing to send troops to help you return to your country and ascend the throne?" Li Chengqian said with a smile.

"The Tang Dynasty is willing to send troops to help me return to my country and ascend the throne?" Gao Ao said in surprise.

"Of course, Goguryeo has already submitted a petition to become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, and King Yeongryu is a vassal king of the Tang Dynasty. How can our great country sit idly by and watch Yeon Gaesomun's coup and regicide? But what can our Tang Dynasty get?" Li Chengqian tempted.

"As long as the Tang Dynasty can help this prince ascend the throne, my Goguryeo will serve the Tang Dynasty as its master for generations. As long as this prince has something, the Tang Dynasty can ask for it, and this prince will never refuse." Gao Ao said hurriedly.

"Oh? Are you serious?" Li Chengqian asked with a smile.

"I am willing to swear. If I tell a falsehood, I will be punished by heaven and earth." Gao Ao swore hurriedly.

"Well, in that case, my brother, please follow me to the court tomorrow to ask for permission from the saint. I will certainly help you." Li Chengqian nodded and smiled.

When Gao Ao heard that the Tang army would send troops to help him return to the country and ascend the throne, he swept away his worries and drank happily. Until he was drunk and carried out, he was still dreaming of restoring the country with a smile on his face. Li Chengqian sneered at this.

On the second day, Gao Ao followed Li Chengqian into the palace to attend court. As soon as he entered Xuanzheng Hall, Gao Ao knelt down and cried. With tears in his eyes, he bitterly complained that Yeon Gaesomun was cruel and inhumane, treasonous, and had killed the king and usurped power, killing loyal officials.

Everyone in the hall felt the same way and showed sympathy. Gao Ao knelt down and asked Li Shimin to send troops to eliminate the traitor for Goguryeo and help him ascend the throne.

Li Shimin did not reply when hearing this, but just smiled and comforted Gao Ao, asking him to wait in the side hall.