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

"Your Highness!"

Cheng Yaojin walked over carrying his axe.

"The city has been mostly cleared out. That bastard Yeon Gaesomun has hidden in the royal city and refuses to surrender no matter what."

Li Chengqian nodded:

"Let's go. Let's go see this Daemoliji and the King of Goguryeo."

The group marched in a grand procession toward the palace.

When Li Chengqian arrived at the palace, he found that the gates had already been opened by Cheng Chumo and a group of other second-generation rich kids.

Changsun Chong ran to Li Chengqian's side and boasted:

"Your Highness! It was I who led the brothers of the artillery battalion to blow open the city gate."

Li Chengqian nodded in satisfaction.

After being tempered by this great battle, this group of spoiled brats has slowly begun to resemble human beings again.

After Li Chengqian entered the royal city, he saw Yeon Gaesomun carrying a long sword, leading five hundred defeated soldiers standing on the white jade steps.

"Li Chengqian!"

Upon seeing Lee Seung-gyeon stroll in leisurely, Yeon Gaesomun roared in anger.

"Kill him! Whoever kills the Crown Prince of Tang will be rewarded with ten thousand gold pieces and made a king!"

Yeon Gaesomun led his last few hundred men in a reckless charge toward Lee Seung-gyeon.

Catch the thief first to catch the king.

This is his last chance.

As long as Li Chengqian is captured, he will have a chance to live.

However, Li Chengqian didn't even glance at Yeon Gaesomun, who was rushing towards him, nor did he stop walking.

"You son of a bitch! Do you think I'm just a decoration?"

Cheng Yaojin was so angry that he charged out from the side.

"A coward who only knows how to kidnap the common people dares to lay a hand on His Highness the Crown Prince?"

Yeon Gaesomun had completely lost his mind at this point, and with both hands gripping the knife, he swung it toward Cheng Yaojin's head.

Cheng Yaojin raised his axe with one hand and held it up.

Yeon Gaesomun's long sword was nearly knocked out of his hand by the shock.

Before he could even recover...

Cheng Yaojin's axe came crashing down.

"Die, Grandpa."

Yeon Gaesomun frantically raised his sword to parry.

A snap.

The long sword in his hand was cleaved in two.

Using the momentum, Cheng Yaojin immediately followed up with a third axe strike.

Pfft!

This time, Yeon Gaesomun's luck ran out.

A line of blood stretched from his forehead down to his chest.

"Pah! It's too weak to withstand a beating."

Cheng Yaojin kicked Yeon Gaesomun's corpse aside, his face covered in blood as he looked at the remaining Goguryeo soldiers and smiled.

That terrifying appearance completely extinguished the last bit of courage the remaining soldiers had.

Everyone threw their weapons to the ground.

One by one, they knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Li Chengqian ignored the fighting and went straight into the palace hall.

The main hall was completely empty; there wasn't a soul in sight.

"Your Highness."

The commander of the Shadow Guards then walked over carrying a man.

"We found him in the cellar in the backyard. The old guy was hiding in a kimchi jar; we almost let him escape."

The commander let go, throwing the man directly at Li Chengqian's feet.

This man was none other than Go Geon-mu, the king of Goguryeo.

The once arrogant king of Goguryeo was now so frightened that he lay prostrate on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince of the Great Tang Dynasty, spare my life!"

The young king is willing to surrender. He is willing to offer all the gold and silver treasures in the national treasury to the Tang Dynasty.

The harem! The harem also has thousands of beauties, all of whom are offered to His Highness the Crown Prince.

"I only ask that you spare my life. From now on, I will pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty every day and never have any disloyalty."

Looking at the man crying like a woman in front of him, Li Chengqian felt a wave of nausea.

Is this the king of Goguryeo?

Is this the culprit who built the Jingguan (a mound of corpses) and killed a million Sui soldiers?

"Will I spare your dog's life?"

Li Chengqian sneered.

"You're not even worthy to be a dog of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian looked at the commander of the Shadow Guard and gave the order:

"Find a prison van and put him in there. Give him only a bowl of stale water a day, just enough to keep him alive."

When the army returns to the capital, I will take him to the Imperial Ancestral Temple as a prisoner of war, and use his blood to pay tribute to the ancestors of my Great Tang Dynasty.

"Here you go!"

The leader of the Shadow Guards grabbed Gao Jianwu by the hair and dragged him outside.

Li Chengqian walked to the throne in the center of the hall and sat down.

From this day forward, the name Goguryeo will no longer exist in the world.

night.

The shouts of battle outside have completely subsided.

The fire inside Pyongyang has also been brought under control.

Inside the main hall, Li Chengqian sat on the throne, holding a bowl of hot tea in his hand.

Li Jing and Wei Zheng were standing nearby.

The guards all retreated outside the hall, making the entire hall extremely secure.

"Your Highness."

Li Jing was the first to break the silence.

"With Pyongyang now fallen, it's only a matter of time before the entire territory of Goguryeo is pacified."

The decision on what to do with this land is now left to Your Highness.

Li Jing paused for a moment, then expressed his thoughts.

"This old minister believes that, according to the past practices of our Great Tang, we should plunder the treasury of Goguryeo and replenish the military resources of our Great Tang."

Subsequently, tributary states or protectorates were re-established.

Choose a compliant puppet from among the nobles of Goguryeo who are willing to submit, and let them govern themselves.

This would both demonstrate the magnanimity of our Great Tang Dynasty and save on the cost of supplies for stationed troops, thus alleviating the financial burden on the imperial court.

Li Jing's words represent the safest course of action in this era.

The vassal states surrounding the Tang Dynasty that were defeated and subdued all followed this pattern.

After defeating them, we'll plunder them, set up a puppet regime to collect protection fees, and then everyone can continue living their lives.

Wei Zheng, listening nearby, nodded in agreement:

"What the Duke of Wei said is absolutely right. The Tang Dynasty has been waging war for years and its treasury is empty. If we station troops here for a long time, the transportation of grain and supplies will be a bottomless pit."

Supporting a puppet regime to govern itself is the best policy.

Li Chengqian looked at the two top civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty and suddenly laughed.

"A tributary state? A protectorate? Autonomous?"

Li Chengqian shook his head. If he hadn't seen the consequences of doing this in his later life, he would have actually agreed.

"Uncle Li, Lord Wei, do you both think that winning this battle means we've completely conquered Goguryeo?"

Li Jing and Wei Zheng looked at each other in bewilderment.

Is not it?

They even captured the king of Goguryeo and occupied the capital. Doesn't that count as a conquest?

Li Chengqian stood up and walked to the center of the main hall.

"You are raising a tiger that will eventually harm you."

We won today, and they backed down. If our Great Tang Dynasty encounters any internal or external troubles tomorrow, those Goguryeo people will definitely be the first to jump out and bite us back.

The millions of innocent souls on the Plain of White Bones serve as a stark warning.

Li Chengqian turned to look at the two of them.

"What I want is not their temporary submission. What I want is for this land to belong to the Tang Dynasty forever."