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

Pyongyang.

One hundred thousand Tang soldiers lined up in battle formation.

At the very front, fifty giant catapults were lined up in a row.

Changsun Chong and his artillery battalion soldiers were sweating profusely as they adjusted the counterweights and loaded extra-large palm-sized grenades into the launch bags.

Li Chengqian stopped in front of the battle formation, calmly looking at the city in the distance.

The calmness, however, was somewhat frightening.

"Your Highness, the catapults are ready and can cover the city walls at any time."

Changsun Chong then ran over to report.

Li Chengqian did not rush to issue the order.

Because something seemed off about the commotion on the city wall.

The battlements, which should have been filled with garrison soldiers, were now densely packed with people in tattered clothes.

Outside the city, countless ordinary people were driven to the city gate, holding wooden sticks and hoes, trembling as they looked in their direction.

Li Jing pulled out the monocular telescope that Li Chengqian had given him from the saddle. After just one glance, Li Jing was so angry that he almost threw the telescope away.

"brute."

"What's wrong?"

Cheng Yaojin asked curiously.

Li Jing handed over the binoculars: "See for yourself."

Cheng Yaojin, imitating Li Jing, looked up at the city wall and immediately started cursing:

"Damn it! Yeon Gaesomun, that son of a bitch, tied us Han slaves and Sui prisoners of war to the battlements."

Outside the city gate were only the elderly, weak, women, and children of Goguryeo.

These words caused an uproar among the surrounding generals.

Cheng Chumo said, his eyes red:

"These bastards are using civilians and prisoners of war as shields."

Just then, on the city wall of Pyongyang, Yeon Gaesomun walked to the edge of the parapet.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince of the Great Tang Dynasty! Are you satisfied with the grand gift I have prepared for you?"

Yeon Gaesomun pointed to the 100,000 Goguryeo people outside the city gate, and then to the Han prisoners of war tied to the battlements.

"Doesn't your Great Tang Dynasty pride itself on being a land of propriety? Aren't you always spouting benevolence and morality?"

Yeon Gaesomun laughed wildly.

"Today, there are Han Chinese prisoners of war on the walls of Pyongyang, 100,000 unarmed civilians outside the city, and over a million civilians inside the city."

"Don't you have that explosive weapon? Come on."

"With just one order from you, these millions of people will be buried with Pyongyang."

"I'd like to see if you, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, dare to defy the world and bear the eternal infamy of massacring millions of civilians."

Yeon Gaesomun became increasingly agitated as he shouted, even spreading his arms as if to offer his neck for execution.

"If you dare to make a move today, the reputation of benevolence and righteousness of the Tang Dynasty will become a complete joke."

"You'd be drowned in the spittle of every scholar in the land; your reign as crown prince is over."

The sound of weeping echoed from both above and below the city walls.

A commotion broke out within the Tang Dynasty's camp.

The soldiers were not afraid to fight to the death, but they also felt a little reluctant to see their compatriots tied to the city walls and the elderly, women and children being used as human shields.

"Your Highness, this..."

Li Jing looked at Li Chengqian.

"Yeon Gaesomun's plan is to undermine our morale. If we launch a full-scale attack, not only will our casualties be too great, but the crime of massacring millions of civilians will be too much for the Tang Dynasty to bear, and even less for you to bear."

Cheng Chumo also said anxiously:

"Your Highness, the city walls are full of our men. If we break through, they won't even have a proper corpse left."

Changsun Chong stood to the side, sweating profusely.

Who would dare to light a fire?

That's millions of lives at stake.

If they were wiped out in one fell swoop, how would history record it?

What will future generations say about it?

All eyes turned to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian suddenly laughed as he listened to the crowd's words.

"Benevolence and morality?"

Li Chengqian turned his head to look at the spot where the person had been silent all along.

Wei Zheng rode an old horse, right behind Li Chengqian.

At this moment, he stared at Pyongyang, his cheeks twitching with anger.

"Master Wei."

Li Chengqian pointed at the city wall with his riding whip.

"Do Yeon Gaesomun's words sound familiar? Isn't this exactly the Confucian and Mencian doctrines that you used to love to preach in court?"

They're talking to you about benevolence, righteousness, and the principles of heaven now.

"Lord Wei, you are a remonstrating official of the Tang Dynasty. Why don't you go up now and explain to Yeon Gaesomun the profound meaning of the sage's words? Persuade him to lay down his butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot?"

All eyes turned to Wei Zheng.

Cheng Yaojin even sneaked up behind Wei Zheng, ready to give the stubborn old mule a good whack at any moment.

In case he suddenly becomes stubborn again and insists on talking about winning people over with virtue.

Under everyone's gaze, Wei Zheng dismounted and walked to the front of the formation in a few steps.

He then drew the horizontal sword from Cheng Yaojin's waist, who was following behind him.

The blade was aimed directly at Pyongyang.

"Your Highness, I am blind. I have not seen any civilians, nor any elderly, weak, women and children, here in Pyongyang."

All I see is a band of bandits who owe my Central Plains a million lives. All I know is…

"A blood debt must be repaid in blood!!!"

His words stunned all the military officers around him.

Cheng Yaojin picked at his ears in disbelief, thinking he had misheard.

Li Chengqian looked at Wei Zheng, his mocking expression vanished, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Good! Lord Wei has finally seen the light."

Li Chengqian turned his horse around and shouted to the 100,000-strong army:

"Listen up, all of you."

Yeon Gaesomun is trying to morally blackmail me? Who does he think he is?

The benevolence and righteousness of my Great Tang Dynasty are reserved only for its own people. As for these wolves who devour people without spitting out the bones, I have only swords and spears.

Did they speak of benevolence and righteousness when they killed our ancestors?

Did they speak of heaven when they built our soldiers into a mound of corpses?

Now that you can't win, you're using ordinary people as shields? Talking to me about morality? To hell with morality!

"When an avalanche occurs, no snowflake is innocent."

On the city wall, Yeon Gaesomun could not hear what Li Chengqian was saying, but seeing that the Tang army not only did not retreat but their morale was greatly boosted, he had an ominous premonition.

He clung to the parapet and shouted:

"Li Chengqian! Are you insane? There are still Han prisoners of war on this city wall. Are you even going to kill your own people?"

Li Chengqian glanced at him.

"They will be proud of their sacrifice."

Li Chengqian raised his right hand.

"Artillery battalion."

Changsun Chong hurriedly shouted:

"exist."

"Ready..."

Li Chengqian's hand was about to fall.

Yeon Gaesomun was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.

He never imagined that this Tang Dynasty crown prince would dare to slaughter a city despite the infamy that would last for ages.

"Wait a minute."

Li Chengqian's hand suddenly stopped.

He turned to look at Changsun Chong and said:

"Remove all the palm-sized grenades from the catapult for me."

Changsun Chong was stunned for a moment, thinking that the Crown Prince had softened his heart at the last moment.

Get the soldiers to unload it immediately.

Yeon Gaesomun, seeing this scene from the city wall, burst into laughter again.

"Hahaha! I knew you wouldn't dare. Li Chengqian, you're still a coward after all."

Li Chengqian ignored the barking dogs on the city wall.

He beckoned the commander of the Imperial Guard to his side.

"Go and bring out all the good things we brought from Chang'an."

The commander of the personal guards' eyes lit up:

"Here you go!"

Before long, the Imperial Guard's formation dispersed.

Dozens of horse-drawn carriages were pushed to the front of the battle.

Each vehicle carried a huge iron barrel, more than half a person's height, which was completely covered with a thick black cloth.

Each vehicle is also accompanied by two Shadow Guards.

Li Jing asked curiously:

"Your Highness, what is this?"

Li Chengqian dismounted and walked to the carriage, tearing off the black cloth.

"Ordinary explosives are too cheap for them. They'll die instantly from an explosion; there's no pain involved."

Li Chengqian patted the lid of the iron bucket.

"Doesn't Yeon Gaesomun like to use people as shields? Today I'll show him what real divine fire is all about."

He looked at Changsun Chong and instructed him:

"Put these metal barrels in."

Changsun Chong looked at the iron bucket and asked in confusion:

"Your Highness, how do you use this thing?"

Li Chengqian beckoned him closer and whispered a few words to him.

Changsun Chong's expression grew increasingly horrified as he listened.

"Your Highness... if this thing is thrown down, what will happen to the Han prisoners of war on the city walls..."

"Do as I say."

Changsun Chong dared not say anything more and quickly ordered the soldiers to begin loading.

On the city wall, Yeon Gaesomun watched as the Tang army unearthed dozens of large iron barrels, inwardly grumbling but still smirking and shouting:

"Li Chengqian! Who are you trying to scare with these broken iron buckets? Go ahead and smash them at me if you dare!"

Li Chengqian remounted his horse.

He looked at Yeon Gaesomun, who was shouting on the city wall, and raised his right hand.

"put!"

Dozens of large iron barrels headed straight for Pyongyang.