Pyongyang City, the first city in the glorious and prosperous Haedong Peninsula, has now turned into a huge pond with sewage flowing across it. The feces of hundreds of thousands of people and countless livestock are discharged into the stagnant water, causing the city to be littered everywhere. The inner city, including the palace, is on a higher ground than the Wengcheng, and the situation is slightly better, but the sky above is also full of stench.
In a meeting hall near the inner palace, there is a bronze beast stove with sandalwood and birds. Rain is gurgling outside the window. From the open window, you can see that the viewing pool outside has been flooded by rain.
Tan Yun looked at the more than ten civil and military ministers in the palace, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, Brother Silk Yitou and others are confident that they want to fight because of the Navy and the Seoul garrison. They think that as long as they only give two, then we will You can retreat to the south. However, the navy could not hold out for a day and was completely wiped out by the Sui Dynasty. The defenders of Seoul were tightly restrained by King Buyeo Jang of Baekje. The two sides fought many times and each injured more than 20,000 soldiers. "
"Although Buyeo Zhang did not take advantage, please don't forget the Sui army and the Silla army that fought for the Sui army."
As the biggest internal supporter of the Sui Dynasty, Tan Yun received huge political rewards. After this war, he will become the great opponent of the Goryeo Kingdom. However, he also knows that he can become a pro-Sui faction, but he cannot bear the burden of "high treachery". "; otherwise, no matter how high his status is, he will be ostracized and squeezed out by others, and will eventually be unable to gain a foothold in the court.
He once mentioned this in front of Yang Ji: after he expressed his attitude of continuing to be loyal to the Sui Dynasty, he very anxiously asked Yang Ji to save him some face so that he could better work for the Sui Dynasty.
Yang Ji also understood the benefits of internal response, so he agreed to his request and left him enough face. Now even Gao Jianwu doesn't know that Tan Yun is the top craftsman of the Sui Dynasty.
After making his opening remarks, Tan Yun said to everyone: "But I think the most deadly thing is the situation inside the city: Pyongyang City has become a cesspool full of sewage and smelly. The soldiers and civilians in Wengcheng cannot make fire to cook, and only eat a few They were given dry food and sewage to drink.”
"If things continue like this, even if the city of Pyongyang is not conquered by the Sui army and the city wall does not collapse, the soldiers and civilians in the city will be poisoned and suffer from diarrhea due to drinking sewage. Soon, the disease will run rampant throughout the city, and no one will survive by then. .”
After hearing this, everyone felt awe-inspiring. As Tan Yun said, the epidemic is the most fatal thing. Once the plague is rampant, no matter how much food and grass they have and how many weapons they have to defend the city, it will have no effect.
A middle-aged general with gray hair sighed and said to Tan Yun: "Brother Tan, just say what you have to say!"
This person is Gao Yue, the envoy of the Zuo Dynasty and the commander of the South who stayed in Pyongyang City, and Gao Jingzong, the commander of Han City, is his son. The army of the father and son is similar to that of Yuan Zicheng. Although he is a son of the Gao family, the main war faction, When the capitulationists debated, he remained noncommittal. Now that it was a matter of life and death, he didn't dare to just sit back and watch.
Tan Yun was secretly happy when he heard this, but his face was calm. He said in a deep voice: "Commander Nanfang, our army will be defeated in a matter of seconds. The only way to survive is to surrender to the Sui Dynasty and the King of Korea. As long as we surrender the city in time, , you can avoid wars and possible epidemics. Besides, the King of Goryeo is also a descendant of the Gao family, so if he surrenders, what is the difference from now?"
"That's fine!" Gao Yue nodded silently: "It's just Brother Silk Clothes, what should I do?"
"The navy has been destroyed, and the situation is no longer up to him!" Tan Yun said solemnly: "Judging from the fact that Yang Ji killed Yuan Taizuo and other northern core forces, we can know that the Sui Dynasty hated the ambitious Yuan family. At the same time, Yuan Zicheng is still the leader of the Northern Faction, so the existence of Yuan Zicheng and the Yuan family is a huge variable."
"Only when Yuan Zicheng and the Yuan family are dead, can we surrender to the Sui Dynasty safely and serve the King of Korea; only when Yuan Zicheng and the Yuan family are dead, can the northern faction become a piece of loose sand and can no longer become Enemy of us Southerners.”
After listening to this, Gao Yue understood in his heart that Tan Yun was fully prepared, but as Tan Yun said, the existence of the Yuan family would definitely affect their future power, and he had no objection. After thinking for a while, he asked Tan Yun Said: "Brother Tan is the one who makes the decision. If you need to cooperate, you only need to give an order."
"Okay!" Tan Yun was overjoyed and told her arrangement in detail.
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On the city wall of Pyongyang, the Goguryeo soldiers guarding the city looked far away and saw dense battles on the Haishui River. The fleets formed like a long city wall, and the masts formed a dense forest. The ships The sails even covered the sky and the sun.
Yuan Zicheng looked at the pale faces of the generals around him and sighed secretly. In fact, he had long known that with the fall of Liaodong City, Goguryeo's defeat was certain; the reason why he continued to insist on the war was mainly because Yang Ji had won After capturing Liaodong City and capturing Gao Yuan alive, they carried out a bloody purge of the core northern forces such as Yuan Taizuo. Yuan Zicheng and other northern factions were worried about a recurrence of the past, and were worried about Gao Jianwu's ascension to the throne to liquidate the northern factions. At the same time, they wanted the northern forces to dominate the new Korea. The country continues to occupy an important position.
They believe that the only way for the northern faction to survive and continue to compete with the southern faction is to let the Sui army see the strength and capabilities of the northern faction. As long as Yang Ji, on behalf of the Sui Dynasty, promises not to liquidate after the war, then they can survive Gao Jianwu did not dare to do anything if he went down. But now, they have no negotiating capital at all.
The navy is the only support outside Pyongyang and the last source of confidence for Goguryeo and the northern faction. As long as the navy is there, they can advance and attack, and retreat and defend. Yuan Zicheng knew that the warships of the Goguryeo navy were not as tall and sturdy as the Sui army, so he made targeted deployments before the war: they had the advantage upstream, so they tied many ships together in an attempt to use the impact of the flood to push the Sui army away. The warships suppressed them back, and then used the stable chain ships to fire stone cannons to sink the densely packed Sui army warships.
Although this method caused huge losses and casualties to our own navy, it could still cause certain losses to the Sui Navy and delay it for a period of time. But the reality was so cruel. They never dreamed that the navy, which had many troops, many ships, and was well prepared, could be defeated so quickly, and could not even hold on for a day.
The war has reached this point, and it's time to compromise with Gao Tiancheng and other southern factions. If they continue to insist on their own opinions, the northern factions, including the Yuan family, will surely perish.
At this moment, the atmosphere was extremely depressing. The ambassador around him, Pu Yuan, could not stand this extremely depressing atmosphere. He glanced at Yuan Zicheng, who had a pale face, and was about to step forward to speak. A group of forbidden people in the distance The guard came galloping on horseback, and the leading general saluted from a distance: "Brother Silk Yitou, Gao Yuzhe, Nanfang Shuai and others are now in the palace. Please come to discuss military and state affairs."
"I understand. I'll come back later." Yuan Zicheng ordered him to step back and turned to Pu Yuan and asked, "General Pu, what do you want to say?"
Pu Zheng saluted and asked in a trembling voice: "Brother Silk Yitou, will the Sui army attack from the direction of Zhushui?"
"It's not a question of whether it will happen or not, but the Sui army will definitely launch an attack from Xushui, but I don't know exactly when they will launch the attack." Yuan Zicheng said bitterly: "The area between Pyongyang City and Xushui is abnormal. It is flat, and the sediment above has been washed away, making the ground very solid. As long as the water is drained, the Sui army can land and attack the city."
Another ambassador said: "Brother Silk Yitou, since we decided on the strategy of holding on, those people from the Southern Faction have been passive and sabotaging their work. Now that the Navy has been defeated again, there must be more soldiers and civilians supporting their theory of surrender. Next, we What should we do now?"
After hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Yuan Zicheng. Goguryeo has been a country for nearly a thousand years, and the ruling class has formed five very strong alliances in the process of internal fighting and civil war. Under this general premise, it is divided into two major groups, North and South. However, during the long period of coexistence of the five major power alliances, they have various intricate kinship relationships with each other.
The northern faction can still unite under Yuan Zicheng. On the one hand, it is because they are afraid that the Sui army will liquidate and kill everyone in their family; on the other hand, they still have expectations for future power. However, with the defeat of the navy, their ambition for power has been completely lost; all that is left is to survive.
At this moment, they have lost all fighting spirit, and they don't want to end up with their family and family destroyed. If Yuan Zicheng refuses to repent and decides to live and die with Goguryeo, they can only rely on the wings of Tan Yun, Gao Tiancheng and others.
Yuan Zicheng is a smart man and naturally knows this truth. The Yuan family has always shown itself as a staunch main war faction, but the result was such a tragic defeat. There are also deep complaints within the northern faction. If other families from the northern faction are defeated again, If it is abandoned, the Yuan family will be isolated and helpless, becoming a special existence, without any hope of survival in the future.
He took a deep look at everyone and said slowly: "I will go to the palace to discuss with Gao Tiancheng, Tan Yun and others about surrendering to the Sui Dynasty and the follow-up matters. You should keep an eye on the Sui army here, as long as they have any movements , report it as soon as possible.”
"General, I obey!" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Yuan Zicheng nodded and told General Pu Yuan: "With the vast ocean in front of us, it is unlikely that the Sui army will attack from the Zhu River. However, the generals of the Sui army are full of tricks and must not be taken lightly."
Pu Yuan clasped his fists and responded: "I will understand!"
After Yuan Zicheng finished explaining, he led two hundred personal guards down the city wall and rode towards the inner city and the palace.
The palace also has two inner and outer walls, but there is no moat or suspension bridge. The integrated iron palace gate is lowered from the top of the city, and its closing and opening are controlled by the winch above. When Yuan Zicheng and his party rode into the palace, At the main south gate, when walking towards the front gate, I only heard two loud "rumbling" sounds.
The front door and the back door crashed down from the city gate opening regardless of front or rear.
Yuan Zicheng turned pale with shock. He quickly reined in his horse and looked up at the gatehouse directly in front. He saw Tan Yun and Gao Tiancheng walking from behind to the battlements. Groups of bows and arrows suddenly stood up from behind the battlements, one after another. The arrow missed and pointed at myself,
The sound of horse hooves also came from the left and right sides. After a while, two heavy cavalry with full armor and stomach slowly stopped not far away.
How could Yuan Zicheng not know that the other party intended to kill him? However, he thought that the other party was just going to kill him and surrender the city, so he tried to calm himself down, clasped his fists on his horse and saluted, and said loudly: "General Tan and Gao Yuzhe, I'm here to discuss surrender to the Sui Dynasty." Please don’t misunderstand this matter!”
Tan Yun was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Brother Silk Yitou, before, we could sit down and talk about everything, but now, it's too late."
Brother Silk Yitou, it is indeed too late now!
Gao Tiancheng next to him sighed. In fact, his relationship with Yuan Zicheng was pretty good. However, although he couldn't bear it, he also knew that it was not only a matter of surrendering to the Sui Dynasty, but also related to everyone's future power distribution and authority. , if the once aggressive Yuan family does not die, everyone will be uneasy!
Tan Yun and Gao Yue asked them to come here more to express their attitudes and positions. If they dare to object or plead for Yuan Zicheng at this time, their whole family will surely become the dead souls of Tan Yun and Gao Yue.
At the moment Gao Tiancheng sighed, Tan Yun waved his hand heavily and ordered loudly: "Fire the arrow!"
While Yuan Zicheng was talking, he was also paying attention to the left and right sides to see where he could break through. As soon as he heard Tan Yun order the arrows to be fired without saying a word, his heart felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured down, and then endless fear enveloped his mind. , loudly ordered: "Kill to the left."
But it was too late. The moment the soldiers turned their horses' heads, there was a muffled "buzzing" sound in the air, and arrows like a heavy rain rushed towards them from front to back and from left to right.
The arrows, which were like a heavy rain, were fired three times in a row, and then they stopped. The bodies of men and horses were spread all over the ground, and blood was flowing in the water.
Yuan Zicheng pushed away the body of the soldier who protected him with flesh and blood at the critical moment, and climbed up from the dead body with difficulty. His shoulders and legs were shot through by arrows, and an arrow also missed his cheek. Bloodstains.
Looking at the corpses everywhere, he laughed miserably, pulled out his sword, and killed himself with the sword.
Tan Yun asked people to open the door and ordered to several well-equipped generals around him: "Immediately act according to the plan, surround all the Yuan family's mansions, and everyone who stays in the mansion, regardless of gender, young or old, will be executed; We must not leave a single person alive, otherwise, the consequences will be endless.”
"General, I obey!" the generals responded, saluted and left.
Tan Yun turned his eyes to Yuan Zicheng, who was lying in a pool of blood, and said calmly to his own soldiers: "Go and take Yuan Zicheng's head back to the palace."
"Here!" The commander of the soldiers responded and went down to the city.
"Yu Zhe, go back!" Tan Yun glanced at Gao Tiancheng, stepped off the palace wall, and walked towards the inner palace.
When the two entered the inner palace gate, they were greeted by a strong smell of blood. They saw that the inner main hall was covered with corpses of men, women, old and young. The situation was even more tragic than outside.
One of the children wearing royal robes was Gao Zang, who had recently become king, and the others were all relatives of Gao Yuan and Gao Dayang.
The ones who took action were none other than Southern Commander Gao Yue and his men. Seeing Tan Yun and Gao Tiancheng return, Gao Yue sighed: "Everyone, surrender as planned!"
