Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

"Your Highness! This old man...this old man was right here back then."

Several elderly soldiers with graying hair stumbled out from the rear ranks.

They were the army's menial servants responsible for feeding the horses. They didn't even have proper names, and nobody would give them a second glance.

At that moment, several veterans collapsed in front of the massive mound of corpses.

"Brother Wang... Fatty Zhao... Your younger brother has come to see you."

The leading old soldier kowtowed and cried out.

Trembling, he pulled a skull with half a jaw missing from the pile of bones at the edge and held it tightly in his arms.

"This gap was left by Brother Wang Er when he took a knife for me back then. Brother Er, you died such a tragic death."

Li Chengqian stepped forward and helped the swaying old soldier to his feet.

"Old man, did you participate in the campaign against Liaodong back then?"

The old soldier pointed to the mountain of bones and said:

"In the eighth year of the Daye era, I was only sixteen years old when I went on an expedition with the General of the Left Guard."

We've been defeated... Hundreds of thousands of our brothers are besieged on the banks of the Liao River, their supplies have run out, and we can't fight at all."

The old soldier was breathing heavily, as if he had been pulled back into that hellish battlefield.

"The general then ordered the surrender, saying that the Goguryeo people promised to treat the prisoners well."

But what did they do after we laid down our weapons?

The old soldier suddenly pulled open his tattered clothes, revealing the crisscrossing scars on his chest.

"They drove us into a deep pit, cut off our ears, and chopped off our noses."

Those treacherous Goguryeo dogs stood at the edge of the pit, shooting arrows and pouring boiling oil down into it.

Hundreds of thousands of brothers! They were all brutally murdered by them. I only escaped by playing dead, buried under the dead.

These bones covering the mountain are all my old fellow villagers, my brothers!

The soldiers around felt a chill run down their spines.

Just hearing about it makes you feel the horror of that time.

With bloodshot eyes, Cheng Yaojin slammed his fist into the withered tree beside him.

Fang Yi'ai gritted his teeth, the horizontal sword in his hand creaking under his grip.

Changsun Chong stopped vomiting and stared intently ahead, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Li Jing closed his eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down his cheeks.

"Two-legged sheep... pigs and dogs..."

Wei Zheng slumped to the ground, muttering to himself.

That night, outside the White Bone Plain.

The 100,000-strong army set up camp on the spot.

There was no bonfire lit, and no one made a loud noise.

It's unclear who started it, but the soldiers tore off their white undergarments, tied them to their foreheads, and fastened them to their arms.

The entire army was dressed in white mourning clothes.

Ten thousand men of the Tang Dynasty used this most silent way to pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of wronged souls of their ancestors who are buried here.

Inside the central command tent.

Li Chengqian sat alone behind the desk, without lighting a lamp.

He sat quietly in the darkness, his mind filled with countless voices roaring wildly.

He has memories of the future.

He remembered how shameless that peninsula nation was in later generations.

They steal Chinese clothing, rob Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, and claim traditional Chinese medicine as their invention by changing its name.

They even shamelessly claimed that Confucius and Li Bai were their ancestors.

They distort history, boasting that their ancestors were cosmic overlords who ruled Asia, and are filled with greed and covetousness towards the land of China.

Originally, Li Chengqian only regarded these as farces by clowns, as jokes to be told over tea.

But now, when he saw the endless Jingguan (a mound of corpses) with his own eyes, and the stone tablet carved with a two-legged sheep, he was deeply moved.

Anger ignited the violence in his blood.

How could someone of Li Shimin's bloodline not be warlike?

"To fear power without appreciating virtue is to be a beast."

Li Chengqian suddenly understood.

Dealing with such a base-natured people, any mercy or education is superfluous.

If you treat him well, he will think you are weak and easy to bully.

Only when you hit him hard will he grovel at your feet like a dog, begging for mercy.

But if you let your guard down, it will pounce on you and bite you without hesitation.

Keeping them around will only leave endless hidden dangers for future generations.

The only solution is to completely eliminate them.

Uproot them completely, leaving not a single blade of grass.

In the darkness, Li Chengqian slowly stood up.

He walked to the tent entrance and yanked open the heavy tent flap.

A gust of cold wind, mixed with snowflakes, swept over my face.

The darkness before dawn is the deepest, but the east is already faintly showing a hint of light.

Li Chengqian's eyes were colder than the ice and snow of Liaodong.

"Xiao Shunzi".

Xiao Shunzi, who had been waiting outside the tent, quickly came forward: "This servant is here."

"Give the order: Beat the drums and assemble the generals!"

Xiao Shunzi paused for a moment, looked at the sky, and said:

"Your Highness, it's not even dawn yet..."

"Beat the drums."

"Here you go!"

Xiao Shunzi hurriedly ran towards the central drum.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The dull sound of war drums suddenly rang out in the silent dawn, instantly spreading throughout the entire camp.

An army of 100,000 was quickly assembled.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all the generals had gathered in the central command tent.

Li Chengqian walked to the commander's seat but did not sit down. Instead, he looked around at everyone in the tent.

"Your Highness, are you going to order an attack on Pyongyang?"

Cheng Yaojin asked impatiently.

Li Jing also stepped forward, clasped his hands in a salute, and said:

"Your Highness, the soldiers' morale is high. As long as you give the order, I am willing to be the vanguard and flatten the Goguryeo capital."

Li Chengqian looked at the indignant generals and said coldly:

"To flatten Pyongyang? That would be too easy on them."

Li Chengqian walked to the sand table, drew the horizontal sword from his waist, and thrust the tip directly into the center of the Goguryeo map.

"The Crown Prince's Decree of the Great Tang Dynasty!"

From this day forward, wherever the Tang army goes, swords will not be sheathed and surrenders will not be accepted.

Any Goguryeo man taller than a cartwheel shall be killed without mercy!

After the cities of Goguryeo were captured, not a single chicken or dog was spared; they were razed to the ground.

"I will ensure that not a single Goguryeo person can be found breathing on this land of Liaodong."

These words shocked everyone in the tent.

Li Jing raised his head and looked at Li Chengqian.

The Tang Dynasty had always focused on defeating the enemy and winning the hearts of the people during its wars; it had never issued such a ruthless order to exterminate entire families.

Changsun Chong, Cheng Chumo, and the other second-generation members were all extremely excited.

"Your Highness! Have you gone mad?"

Wei Zheng stepped forward and shouted,

"Killing surrendered soldiers is an ominous sign! Massacring entire cities is the act of a tyrant."

Our Great Tang Dynasty is a land of propriety and etiquette. When the royal army goes to war, it should win people over with virtue. How can such a brutal military order be issued?

Cheng Chumo spat behind Wei Zheng's back, wishing he could go up and give the old man a good whack.

Li Chengqian looked at Wei Zheng and sneered:

"Lord Wei, are you trying to be polite to a beast?"

"Your Highness! When two nations clash, each serves its own master. What have the common people done to deserve this?"

If you order a massacre, the Tang Dynasty will bear eternal infamy. How will history record you? How will future generations condemn you?

As the sage said, if distant people do not submit, then cultivate virtue and culture to attract them.

Your Highness should rescind your decree and use a benevolent army to pacify the barbarians, thus demonstrating the might of our Great Tang Dynasty.

"Go to hell with Wende."

Li Chengqian kicked over the desk in front of him.

He walked up to Wei Zheng and dragged him outside.

"Your Highness!"

Li Jing exclaimed in surprise upon seeing this.

"Release me! This is an insult to civility! An insult to civility!"

Wei Zheng struggled desperately, but to no avail.

Li Chengqian dragged him all the way to the edge of the White Bone Plain.

Li Chengqian released his grip and slammed Wei Zheng to the ground.

"Open your eyes and take a good look."

Li Chengqian pointed to the bone mountain in the distance,

"Didn't you want to influence people? Didn't you want to cultivate virtue?"

Go ahead.

Go and recite the classics to them. Go and use your benevolent rule to transform those skeletons. Bring them back to life.

Wei Zheng looked at the skeletons, his lips moved but he couldn't utter a word.

"Ask these brothers if they agree to your benevolence."

Ask the old soldier who cried his eyes out last night if he agrees to your courtesy.

While they were building this mountain of bones, you were drinking tea and listening to music in Chang'an.

While they were slaughtering the people of the Central Plains like pigs and dogs, you were holding high-sounding speeches in the imperial court.

Now you come here to talk to me about harmony and infamy?

If these beasts cannot be made to pay for their blood debts, what use is this benevolence and righteousness to me?

If I cannot bring the heroic souls of my Chinese nation home, what does it matter if I bear this eternal infamy?

Wei Zheng, you'd better give me a shout.

If you can't bring these dead people on this mountain back to life, then shut your mouth.

"Open your eyes wide and watch how I use the blood of the Goguryeo people to commemorate the heroic souls of my Chinese people."

Li Chengqian turned to look at Li Jing and the others who had come after him.

"All troops, listen to my command!"

Target: Anshi City.

"On the day the city falls, I will ensure that not a single Goguryeo man remains standing within Anshi City."

"kill!"

One hundred thousand Tang soldiers simultaneously raised their weapons.

The hatred that had been suppressed all night finally erupted at this moment.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"