Pyongyang City had completely beco a purgatory.
The cries of agony echoed throughout heaven and earth, and the Tang Army didn’t even bother entering the city, leaving only a field of corpses behind.
And the won and children who held onto the bodies, weeping in sorrow.
Hatred?
Perhaps there was so, but the prevailing emotion towards the Tang Army was only fear.
The ones they hated most were Yeon Gaesomun.
Yeon Gaesomun had always been brutal by nature, and treated the people of Goguryeo harshly. Now, having brought such a catastrophic disaster upon them, how could these people not hate him?
Of course, the most crucial thing is—
The Yeon Gaesomun family was slaughtered to the last.
Li Shimin personally appointed a completely cowardly Goguryeo noble as king, leaving all follow-up matters for him to handle.
The Tang Army also took away tens of thousands of dan of grain from Pyongyang City, along with many weapons.
Though those weapons were considered outdated compared to those in Kyushu.
But lting them down was still useful.
This action was also a real blow to Goguryeo.
With Goguryeo’s productivity, they wouldn’t recover for a hundred years after this.
And then—
The Tang Army went to Baekje again.
This massacre wasn’t too severe, as Baekje’s strength wasn’t particularly strong. However, the Tang Army still took the grain from within their country.
There wasn’t even a need for a reason, and subsequently, they supported a relatively weak noble.
This was Gu Jing’s idea.
A weak noble suddenly rising to power would provoke discontent among other nobles.
But due to the Great Tang’s support, they dared not go to extres, and internal conflicts would not cease anyti soon.
It’s worth ntioning that the King of Silla was evidently a smart person.
He saw through Li Shimin’s intentions.
He even voluntarily offered tribute, giving up the majority of the grain and military supplies from his country.
The reason was simple.
This military action was to help Silla, so Silla couldn’t let the Great Tang Empire bear the expenses alone; he even sent several of his sons as hostages.
However, Li Shimin still ddled with Silla’s power structure, appointing a pri minister with significant power in the country.
Internal strife was inevitable.
Human nature dictates, even within Kyushu it is the sa.
Let alone these Barbarians?
In fact, this wasn’t a particularly clever tactic, even among the Barbarians there were those who could see it.
But what does it matter?
Now, in Liaodong, no one dared to oppose the Great Tang!
Tens of thousands of dan of grain and countless military supplies were taken, necessitating transport by sea.
Gu Jing originally intended to return by sea, but Li Shimin forcibly made him stay by his side.
Anyone could see what Li Shimin was thinking.
His health was worsening, the ailnts from his years of warfare completely flaring up as he aged.
Coupled with this expedition.
Even Li Shimin himself felt he could pass away at any mont.
This was also why he brought along a group of ministers.
Now having Gu Jing accompany him, who couldn’t understand his intentions?
The twentieth year of Zhenguan, October.
Outside Beisha City, the sea winds howled.
Troop-laden ships full of grain and weaponry moored on the shore, ready to set sail. Before them, a solemn sacrifice was underway amidst the sea breeze.
Li Shimin, once the majestic Celestial Khan, was now full of graying hair.
He refused assistance, stepping up the makeshift altar alone, slowly and steadily.
The fierce wind swept across the desolate coast, stirring up sand and tearing at the rising curls of blue smoke from the altar.
Li Shimin stood on the high platform, his gaze sweeping past the drifting smoke tendrils, looking out to the vast sea and sky.
In a trance, he seed to see his younger self, galloping with vigor and imposing manner.
He subconsciously wanted to straighten his back.
However, ti is ultimately rciless.
No matter how much he resisted in his heart, the once straight spine now bore an unavoidable stoop.
"Ti,"
Li Shimin smiled faintly and shook his head slightly.
Then he gave up trying to straighten his back, reciting the sacrificial text in the gusty sea wind, comforting the heroic spirits of the soldiers who perished in this campaign.
At the end of October.
The expeditionary army, with fluttering flags, began the journey ho.
Unlike the tense anticipation of battle when they set out, Li Shimin could finally calm down now, taking a careful look at this newly pacified foreign land.
The carriage moved slowly, and he gazed out the window at the vast land outside the carriage—it was the Pyongyang Plain, cleansed by the fires of war, now seeming desolate and empty.
Miles of fertile land quietly stretched under the autumn sky.
A thought suddenly arose in his mind.
"Such fertile land, why not migrate the people of Kyushu to cultivate and settle?"
"Or... educate the locals completely, turning their hearts towards Huaxia, ultimately making them our Great Tang’s loyal subjects?"
Just as grand plans began to take shape in his heart, a familiar, tearing cough suddenly struck, interrupting his racing thoughts!
"Cough cough... cough..." he bent over violently, enduring the tumultuous pain and suffocating feeling in his lungs, his broad hand pressed firmly against his chest, knuckles whitening from the force.
After a long mont, the unsettling cough gradually subsided, leaving only a thick taste of blood in his throat and a burning pain in his chest.
Li Shimin leaned wearily against the wall of the carriage, not calling anyone.
It was an old problem.
The hidden injuries from his younger years were far too many to ever completely heal.
Taking a few deep breaths of the cool air, waiting for the churning blood to calm.
Li Shimin’s gaze once again fell upon the vast and unfamiliar land outside the window, a nearly inaudible sigh of desolation escaping his lips:
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