Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

As the seasons changed, three full months passed slowly amidst the flashes of swords and the smoke of war, from the bitter cold of winter to the beginning of summer's warmth.

The Tang army crossed the Yalu River in a mighty force and entered the homeland of Goguryeo. They thought they could quickly pacify the rebellion with their powerful military might, but they did not expect to encounter unprecedented severe resistance.

Looking around, there is hardly a city that surrendered voluntarily in the vast land of Goguryeo.

In every city, the soldiers and civilians shared the same hatred for the enemy and were determined to defend to the end even at the cost of their lives.

On the towering city walls, every brick and stone bears witness to their perseverance in defending their homeland.

Behind every city gate, there are countless pairs of determined eyes hidden.

Yeon Gaesomun, the military commander of Goguryeo, was busy deploying troops in the rear, continuously sending troops and supplies to the front line, and launched a protracted offensive and defensive battle with the Tang army.

Just when the war was at a stalemate, the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce in the rear played a key role. They transported two thousand brand new Qianwu cannons from afar.

These cannons blasted open one city gate after another. With a deafening roar, shells fell like raindrops, instantly eliminating the terrain advantage that had hindered the Tang army's advance.

The morale of the Tang army soldiers was greatly boosted, and they were like a tiger with wings. Relying on the powerful firepower of the artillery, they steadily pushed forward towards Pyongyang City like a tidal wave.

Even with this powerful artillery support, the cruelty of the war is still beyond imagination.

The tenacious resistance of the Goguryeo army and people made the Tang army pay the price of blood and lives for every step forward. Countless young faces fell forever on this foreign land. The wails of the wounded and the cries of the dead were intertwined, echoing over the battlefield for a long time.

It was precisely because of Goguryeo's fierce and almost crazy resistance that Li Chengqian issued a chilling order in anger.

Whenever the Tang Dynasty attacked a city and encountered extremely fierce resistance, after the Tang soldiers entered the city, they could use the property in the city for themselves without having to hand it over to the public.

Once the city is breached, massacre everyone! Men, women, young and old, no matter what!

This bloody order instantly caused a huge uproar.

When the people of Goguryeo heard this order, the fear and anger in their hearts intertwined and transformed into a more tenacious will to resist.

After the city was broken, they would face a catastrophe, so they took up arms one after another. Even the unarmed old people, women and children used up their last bit of strength to fight a desperate battle with the Tang army.

For many Tang Dynasty soldiers, the cruelty of this war far exceeded their imagination.

The killing day after day took a huge toll on their hearts. Many people gradually became numb on the bloody battlefield, and their eyes lost their former luster.

On the battlefield, the towering Jingguans made of piles of skulls, like city walls, exuded a disgusting bloody smell.

Anyone who sees such a tragic scene will feel deep fear from the bottom of their heart.

Even the veterans who were used to seeing life and death couldn't help but break out in cold sweat and look shocked when they saw this scene.

They had fought on the battlefield for many years and experienced countless battles, big and small, but had never witnessed such a large-scale and tragic scene of death.

Since the army crossed the Yalu River and marched forward with unstoppable force, a rough estimate shows that at least one million people were slaughtered.

The historians who accompanied the army witnessed these horrific scenes along the way and were so frightened that they vomited countless times.

The pens in their hands were trembling, and their hearts were lamenting the cruelty of war.

Everyone knew that this was undoubtedly an inhumane massacre!

Seeing that the situation was getting increasingly out of control, many officials came forward to persuade Li Chengqian and pleaded with him to stop the killing.

They said earnestly that such actions would go against the will of Heaven and would bring immeasurable negative impacts to the Tang Dynasty. Not only would the Tang Dynasty's image in the hearts of neighboring countries and the people be greatly damaged, it would also likely trigger punishment from Heaven.

Li Chengqian was stubborn and turned a deaf ear to these advices.

In desperation, everyone had to turn to persuade Li Shimin, hoping that the Tang Dynasty's retired emperor could come forward to stop this atrocity.

Li Shimin always cared about the people of the world, and he also felt that such wanton massacre was really unacceptable.

The way to govern a country should be based on benevolence and righteousness. We should promote benevolence and use tolerance to influence the people of Goguryeo, rather than suppress them with violence.

Because such excessive massacres will only make the people of Goguryeo more rebellious. Once the seeds of hatred are planted, they will take root and sprout in the future. If this continues for a long time, it may cause unpredictable changes and may even endanger the long-term stability of Goguryeo.

When Li Shimin personally came to persuade Li Chengqian, Li Chengqian's face was as gloomy as water, and he said coldly: "Are the lives of my Tang soldiers not lives?"

"For the Tang Dynasty, they left their homes and loved ones, fighting bravely on this battlefield, sacrificing their lives and shedding their blood. Now, they have died one by one on the battlefield. If we cannot avenge their deaths, how can we be worthy of these loyal and brave men?"

“How can we explain this to their families?”

This sentence abruptly blocked Li Shimin's persuasion.

Initially, Li Chengqian had his own plans. The Tang Dynasty had suffered a severe population loss and was in dire need of a large labor force to restore production.

He originally thought of capturing these Goguryeo people and bringing them back to the Tang Dynasty to use as labor and contribute to the development of the Tang Dynasty.

After all, Goguryeo's population was an important resource for the Tang Dynasty.

But as the war continued to advance, when he watched the Tang army soldiers who were charging into battle fall before his eyes, and their lives disappeared in an instant, his previous plans were gradually swallowed up by the flames of revenge.

Li Chengqian's heart was gradually filled with anger, to the point that he felt that all his previous considerations were no longer important.

In his eyes, if these Goguryeo people were stubborn and refused to surrender, he would crush their bones ruthlessly.

If they refuse to surrender, that's fine. The Tang Dynasty will mercilessly cut off their heads and bodies and let their heads roll on the ground.

Although the Tang Dynasty has never been merciful in wars since its founding, such large-scale killings are truly shocking.

During this campaign, the Tang army destroyed 23 cities in a row and beheaded more than one million people.

Those who followed the army secretly speculated in their hearts that once this bloody battle report was sent back to Chang'an, it would surely shock the world, the people would be terrified, and public opinion would be in an uproar.

When future generations open this heavy history book and see these horrific scenes, Your Majesty will probably be labeled as "violent". This will become an indelible scar in the history of the Tang Dynasty, and will be repeatedly criticized by future generations. Its negative impact may last for hundreds of years.