Since ancient times, it has been said that when the ruler is humiliated, his subjects should die. The Emperor had been insulted by the enemy, and everyone was helpless against Yang Wanchun—this was Li Er’s humiliation. After besieging it for over sixty days, although Anshi City was in dire straits, the Tang army simply had no way to deal with it. When everyone thought Anshi City could hold out for at most three more days, four months had passed, and the Great Tang’s forces were still firmly stuck at Anshi City. For the nearly invincible Great Tang, this was a tremendous humiliation.
Li Er was not like the vainglorious Emperor Yang of Sui, who would persist in doing what he knew was impossible—the wise would not do such things. Retreat had long become the consensus in the great camp. Originally, they had planned to retreat before the ground thawed, but the Mohe people suddenly split into two factions. One faction, led by Wuyan Hu, betrayed their alliance with the Great Tang and constantly harassed the supply routes. If they retreated at this time, Goguryeo would punish Queen Seondeok, and Buyeo Uija of Baekje, that fence-sitter, would also follow suit in rebellion. Only by taking Anshi City and dealing with that Wuyan Hu could they return home with dignity. Otherwise, the brilliant victories at Baiyan City and Zhubi Mountain would lose their luster.
It was precisely because of these concerns that Li Er could not make up his mind to retreat. Now that Yun Ye had come on his own, he wanted to see if Yun Ye’s wisdom was a bit higher than others. As for Anshi City, he already had his calculations.
These past days, Yang Wanchun had felt like he was living in hell. One winter had made him feel as if he had lived an entire lifetime.
Anshi City was nearly drained dry. Many of the clothes on the soldiers’ bodies had been stripped from corpses. There was still grain left, but there was no more firewood to cook it. After the dismantled beams and door panels had all been burned up, during the remaining period of siege, they would have to start eating raw grain.
Yang Wanchun spoke loudly with a smiling, bold demeanor, occasionally pointing at the Great Tang encampment outside and cracking a few jokes. He had removed his iron armor and changed into leather armor—in this kind of weather, wearing iron armor was just asking for trouble.
He carried a grain sack on his back, and when he saw soldiers chewing on raw sorghum bit by bit, he would grab a large handful of roasted wheat from the sack and stuff it into the soldiers’ hands, swearing and vowing that after the Tang army retreated, he would slaughter all the cattle and sheep within a hundred li for everyone to eat and drink, and they wouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet anymore. This drew roars of laughter from the soldiers.
The morale was still usable—resisting for at least another month would not be a problem. Now it was just a matter of who had stronger willpower. Yang Wanchun’s smile disappeared when he reached the only remaining city tower. Here he was alone; he had refused his personal guards entry. Only here would Yang Wanchun show negative emotions like dejection, exhaustion, and grief. He had personally deafened his two sons’ ears with his own hands—such a tragic event still cut at his heart like a knife. Both sons were dead, and his old wife had hanged herself. His wife’s body still lay in the back residence of the commander’s mansion, but his sons’ bodies could not be recovered. Other soldiers said they had been torn to shreds by gunpowder.
The Great Tang Emperor was concerned about casualties and had never launched a full-scale assault. Yang Wanchun understood that as long as the Great Tang Emperor was willing to sacrifice his subordinates, taking Anshi City would not be a problem. Those fierce Tang soldiers had combat power more formidable than any he had seen in his life.
Thinking of this, Yang Wanchun couldn’t help but laugh silently and bitterly. The lives of Tang people were extremely valuable. They would rather use the most powerful weapons to ravage Anshi City over and over again than fill it with human lives.
In his own country, what was least valuable was human life. When he had implemented the scorched earth policy, he had plundered all the grain from the surrounding countryside. Outside Anshi City, it must already be a living hell. Where would the cattle and sheep come from for him to slaughter after the war? Now, no matter what method he used, as long as he could boost morale, it was a good method. Deception was one of them. Didn’t the Tang have the story of quenching thirst by thinking of plums? It was acceptable for him to deceive his subordinates with good intentions.
Today, the Great Tang encampment seemed to have some changes. A new command flag seemed to have appeared at the main camp. When the cold wind unfurled the flag, Yang Wanchun’s chest was immediately filled with rage, because it was a flag with the character “Yun.” That shameless butcher had also arrived in Goguryeo. He leaned against the city wall, confirming he had not seen wrong.
He was the chief culprit of Goguryeo’s civil war. When Yeon Gaesomun had tried to persuade him, he had laid out everything Yun Ye had done, revealing all the past events of how Yun Ye had step by step forced him to turn against Go Geonmu.
Jeon Yeongi had died at Yun Ye’s hands, and Go Hyejin had been shamefully assassinated by assassins he sent. Two famous Goguryeo generals had already fallen to him, and now he had set his sights on himself.
“Don’t believe a single word of what Yun Ye says. Don’t believe a single word of Yun Ye’s guarantees. Even if the strangest things appear before you, don’t be curious. What your eyes see are illusions, and what you think in your heart are also illusions. Only after you personally cut off his head with a blade and chop it into mincemeat can you say you’ve killed this person. Only when this person is dead will what you see not be phantoms.”
These words were from a letter Yeon Gaesomun had sent him, specially marked in red ink. Although he himself was loyal to Go Geonmu, Yang Wanchun believed these words from Yeon Gaesomun must have come from sincere truth. Regardless of which camp he and Yeon Gaesomun belonged to, when facing the Tang invasion, their stance was unified.
Yang Wanchun’s nerves immediately tensed up. A sinister, hungry wolf had already appeared before him.
Actually, being a cook was Yun Ye’s greatest passion. Egg noodle soup was definitely better than fancy meat dishes, especially when the noodle soup also had bright green spinach in it—that made one happy indeed.
Cheng Yaojin criticized Yun Ye while preparing to fill his fourth bowl. Old Niu was more easygoing. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and said to Cheng Yaojin, “Just settle down for a bit. Food can’t even shut your mouth. This boy is someone who values loyalty and friendship. Hearing that His Majesty and all of us were in Liaodong, he would naturally rush over. We like this boy precisely because of this character. If he were someone devoid of loyalty and righteousness, you probably wouldn’t even look at him. This was expected—what’s there to complain about? His Majesty didn’t say anything, so why are you running your mouth?”
Old Cheng also put down his bowl and said worriedly, “I’m not worried about fighting. Little Ye is now a fierce general. He won’t lack means to preserve his life on the battlefield. For a general, going to battle is like going home—I’m not worried about that. What I’m worried about is him getting caught up again in the dispute between His Majesty and the Crown Prince. Staying far away at this time is a good thing. Wait until the dust settles in Chang’an, then come back. No matter who wins, feelings won’t be hurt.”
Xu Jingzong, who had come to mooch a meal, snorted mockingly at Cheng Yaojin while holding his rice bowl. This fellow somehow managed to become a Vice Director of the Central Secretariat in just one short year, leaping to become a big shot in the court.
Cheng Yaojin looked at him sideways and said, “You sycophant, a guy who climbed up by writing ‘Ode to the Great Victory at Zhubi Mountain’—what right do you have to mock me?”
Xu Jingzong was not angry. He put down his half-eaten bowl and said, “Lord Cheng, that’s unreasonable of you to say. Everyone is scrambling for official positions. I gained imperial favor through a sycophantic essay—this is a glorious event worthy of commemoration, nothing shameful. As the ancients said well, ‘Learn literary and martial arts, and sell them to the imperial household’—this is the proper path. You spend all day commanding musical troupes now—is that so dignified? I flatter through essays, you flatter through music troupes, Lord Niu flatters through military achievements, and Marquis Yun flatters through emotional bonds—they’re all the same, really. You can’t distinguish which is superior.”
“You just said that staying neutral would allow him to remain uninvolved? I don’t think so. You can still get the job of commanding musical troupes on the battlefield, but just look at Li Jing—he must be living miserably in Chang’an, probably not even daring to leave his main gate. As long as he shows even the slightest desire to touch military power, someone in Chang’an will surely appear with His Majesty’s gold medallion to execute him, and probably more than one or two. This is the fate of sitting on the fence, wanting to remain completely uninvolved.”
“Marquis Yun has deep emotional bonds with His Majesty, the Crown Prince, and the Empress. Retreating a bit to show he’s avoiding suspicion is acceptable, but he absolutely cannot remain completely uninvolved—that would have the appearance of opportunism. Marquis Yun’s approach is very clever. Though he clearly hid himself, seeing His Majesty go on campaign, he still couldn’t help but jump out to help, even if it might bring him trouble.”
“In His Majesty’s eyes, Marquis Yun places his feelings for the Emperor above calculations of profit and harm. Such emotion is more precious than loyalty itself. What does the imperial family lack? They lack precisely this kind of emotion. As long as the emotional bond is maintained unbroken, there will be no taboos. Lord Cheng, how is this insight from someone who specializes in writing sycophantic essays?”
Niu Jinda nodded and gave Xu Jingzong a thumbs up to express his admiration. Cheng Yaojin pondered for a while and also expressed agreement. Only then did Xu Jingzong pick up his rice bowl again with satisfaction to continue eating.
“Old Xu just explained a great principle, but I really didn’t think that far ahead. At the time, Prince Wei fell ill before boarding the ship, and I drove him off and volunteered to take on this task. I was only thinking of fulfilling filial duty on Qing Que’s behalf, all for the sake of our friendship. I never thought there would be such benefits—truly unexpected.”
“Hehe, as long as things proceed according to human sentiment and principle, they will always end up on the correct path. If you think too much, it becomes impossible to do things perfectly. His Majesty and all the gentlemen in the court—which one isn’t a person refined through a thousand temperings? If it doesn’t come from the heart with genuine sincerity, trying to gain their approval would be very difficult indeed. This is good—whatever you do, don’t do it deliberately. Once ulterior motives get mixed in, hehe, it will only backfire.”
“I’ve said so much today, Marquis Yun. You went to the distant seas to make your fortune and must have gained abundantly. Remember to send a generous gift home when you return. I don’t know how it happened, but after getting promoted, the household expenses have actually become insufficient. My old wife has complained several times and always wants to go back to live at Yushan. Without the academy’s stipend, rice is expensive in Chang’an—it’s not easy to live there!”