On the 10th day of the first month of April in the first year of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army, under the command of Li Xian and Li Ji, broke through the city of Pyongyang, killed Yuan Nanjian, the supreme ruler of Goguryeo, and thousands of soldiers who were unwilling to surrender, accepted more than 20,000 soldiers, received tens of thousands of grains, jewelry, and equipment, and the Goguryeo regime was declared extinct.

A few days later, all the counties in southern Pyongyang gave up their resistance and accepted the edict issued jointly in the name of the treasure king and Izumi boys, and sent the soldiers, supplies, and household registration to Pyongyang.

At the same time, the Goguryeo general, who was in charge of guarding the southern front, the younger brother of Wongae Suwen, and the son-in-law of the Treasure King, surrendered to the army of Silla Kim In-gwan.

Thus, the two-year war against Goguryeo ended.

After pacifying Goguryeo, Li Ji did not immediately return to the court, but reported the details to Gaozong, who was in Luoyang, and waited for Gaozong's holy judgment.

Naturally, the personnel who delivered the news did not dare to delay, and used 800 miles to expedite the transmission, and it only took five days to transmit the battle report to Luoyang.

"Haha, yes, yes. Mei Niang, you see, Li Ji led a large army to conquer Pyongyang City half a month ago, Goguryeo has been pacified, and Xian'er is also unexpected, he actually killed the thief chief Quan Nanjian in battle, and he really deserves to be the prince of me. Hehe, I think that Emperor Yang of Sui sent a million troops, three expeditions to Goryeo, but even made a defeat, Emperor Taizong also levy more than 100,000 people, the royal drive to conquer Goryeo, but still not completely pacified, and finally hated Xin'an City, and now I ordered Li Ji to lead the army, in one fell swoop to complete Taizong's last wish, and finally can explain to the emperor. ”

Gaozong, who was on the sickbed, heard the good news, and immediately raised his eyebrows, and felt that most of his illness was better, and he took the good news and said with a smile to the Empress Wu.

"That is, Your Majesty is wise and martial, who can compare?" With a faint smile on her face, Empress Wu casually answered, and then asked, "But has Your Majesty considered how to deal with the Goguryeo that has been pacified?" ”

"Hehe, do you need to say this? Naturally, it will be incorporated into the territory of our Tang Dynasty, establish a state capital, and carry out direct jurisdiction. ”

Although Gaozong has a cowardly personality, sometimes his thinking is quite clear, and he decided on the disposal plan of Goguryeo without thinking, as for the scene when the spring boy asked for help to restore him, he has long been thrown out of the clouds.

As for this, Empress Wu actually had the same opinion, so after listening to what Gaozong said, he immediately nodded in agreement.

However, Empress Wu was concerned about another issue, so she asked, "How should it be governed?" ”

"Eh, I am going to establish the Andong Metropolitan Protectorate in the hometown of Goguryeo, with a number of prefectures and prefectures under it, juxtaposing prefectures and counties, establishing household registration, collecting taxes, and forcing the Goguryeo people to move to the interior so that they can be monitored, I don't know what Mei Niang wants?"

In fact, Gaozong had already discussed these things with the prime ministers in the political affairs hall, and it was naturally not bothering to say it now, and Gaozong had always been cowardly, so he naturally said all this honestly.

In fact, Empress Wu knew better than him what Gaozong said, because the prime ministers in the political affairs hall, Li Jingzong and Li Anqi were her people, and when Gaozong and the prime ministers discussed this matter, Li Anqi had already informed her of the details.

However, Empress Wu's main concern was not these, but the appointment of personnel in the newly pacified Goguryeo land.

In fact, over the years, the martial arts queen has not been so happy.

First of all, I have to say that in the pacification of the Tiele Rebellion and the abolition of the Empress Incident, Empress Wu won two victories in succession, arranged her people into the court, and at the same time tried her best to squeeze out Gaozong's cronies, but Gaozong was not as weak as he showed, and there was a long battle between Empress Wu.

Not long after Shangguan Yi's death, Gaozong launched his first counterattack, ordering the prince's right middle guard to inspect the Xitai Shilang Le Yanwei and the Xitai Shilang Sun to make an appointment with the East and West Taiwan Sanpin.

And the Empress Wu was naturally not willing to be left in power, combined with the strength of Xu Jingzong and others, first supported Jiang Ke, who had made meritorious contributions, to the phase, and later dismissed Le Yanwei and Sun Chuyue for some reason, and reappointed his cronies Lu Dunxin to inspect the right phase, at the same time, Empress Wu ordered Xu Jingzong and others to write to Gaozong, asking for Zen, and with the help of events such as Yaxian and asking for knighthood to expand the influence of Empress Wu among the ministers, at this time Empress Wu's prestige can be said to be unprecedentedly improved.

However, Gaozong did not completely retreat, when he was amnesty because of the Zen ceremony, Gaozong specially issued an edict that all people who were in the long stream could not be pardoned, which caused Li Yifu to die of grief in the long stream and could not return to the court, so that the Empress Wu completely lost this arm.

Later, Lu Dunxin also resigned under the strong pressure of Gaozong, and Gaozong took the opportunity to worship Liu Renliang as the right minister, so as to start to control the court again.

Not only that, Gaozong also struck while the iron was hot and appointed five prime ministers in one fell swoop, this is Yang Wu, the Xitai squire, the Daoguo Gong, and the prince of the inspection school, Zuo Zhong, who is protecting Dai Zhide, and is advising the doctor, the Dongtai squire, the Anping County Gong Li Anqi, and the Dongtai squire Zhang Wenjun.

In this way, except for the elderly Xu Jingzong and Li Anqi, who can be regarded as the confidant of the Empress Wu, there is no party in the political hall.

It was precisely because of this that Empress Wu decided to take advantage of the opportunity to pacify Goguryeo and install people as soon as possible to rebuild her own power.

"Your Majesty is wise, and the concubines think the same, but I don't know who Your Majesty wants to use to guard the Andong Metropolitan Protectorate?" Empress Wu finally tried to see the dagger and revealed her true purpose.

"Hehe, I originally belonged to Li Sikong, but after all, this duke is too old, at the age of eighty, he has fought more than two years of war, so it is time to take a break. Li Ji is the most popular in the list of military exploits given to me, Xue Rengui, the general of Zuo Wuwei, so I want to use it as the protector of the capital of Andong, I don't know what Mei Niang wants? Gaozong didn't hide it, he directly said his intentions, and looked at Empress Wu with a smile on his face.

"Why Xue Rengui? Your Majesty, although Xue Rengui has the highest military achievements and is brave in battle, but for the pacification of the frontier, the concubines think that Qi Bi He Li is better at it, such as the last time he pacified Tiele, Xue Rengui countered violence with violence, but the result was not won, and Qi Bi He Li only used dozens of horses, and a shout was decided, which can be seen that Qi Bi He Li is stronger than Xue Rengui in appeasing people's hearts, not to mention that He Li's contribution in this battle is not small, second only to Rengui, and it is reasonable to order him to control the Andong Metropolitan Protectorate. If Your Majesty is still hesitating, it is better to wait for the court meeting to decide this matter by the courtiers. Naturally, Empress Wu would not let go of such an opportunity to promote her cronies, and hurriedly took the opportunity to recommend this fierce general to Gaozong.

Gaozong naturally knew that the power of the Empress Wu above the court was still very strong, and if it was resolved through the court, the matter would probably go against his will, but Gaozong was not stupid, how could he just give up the power of personnel like this? So just a little hesitation, then said with a faint smile: "The court meeting needs to be held in three days, and it will be a little late to discuss it at that time, more than 100,000 troops of Goguryeo are stationed, and every additional day will consume one more day of grain and grass. ”

Empress Wu saw that Gaozong actually rejected herself, and she was naturally very dissatisfied in her heart, but she also knew that today's Gaozong was no longer the Gaozong of the past, and now he was in power, and he had the comfort of his tender sister Wu Shun, which could be said to be complacent.

"Hmph, Wu Shun, the vixen, always pesters him all day long, so that he is not as good as before, if you don't get rid of this person as soon as possible, it will always be a trouble."

Empress Wu didn't care about Wu Shun being her sister at this time, and directly compared it to a fox spirit, and at the same time the murderous heart suddenly rose, and decided to kill Wu Shun, believing that as long as Wu Shun died, Gaozong was affected by grief, and the old disease would definitely recur, and at this time she would take the opportunity to meddle in the court and regain power, and she would definitely be invincible again.

Of course, the Empress Wu could not get any benefits, so on the grounds that Guo Beifeng had also made great contributions, he asked Gaozong to reward him, Gaozong had a cowardly personality after all, and in order to make up for the guilt in his heart, he promised to seal Guo Beifeng as General Zuo Weiwei, and when the Empress Wu saw this, he could only do so.

Not to mention how Empress Wu arranged to kill Wushun after returning to the palace, but said that after some discussion with the political affairs hall, Gaozong finally issued an edict to the army class, and at the same time awarded Xue Rengui as the general of the right Weiwei, and was named the prince of Pingyang County, inspected the school of Andong Metropolitan Protector, commanded 20,000 troops to defend Pyongyang, and divided Goguryeo's hometown into nine prefectures, 42 prefectures, and 100 counties.

In addition, Gojong also issued an edict to Kim Famin, the king of Munmu in Silla, to set up the Gilin Prefecture Governor's Office in Silla to implement the rule of bondage, and set up five governors in the hometown of Baekje, such as Xiongjin, Mahan, Dongmyeong, Jinlian, and Dean, under the jurisdiction of 250 counties in 37 prefectures.

At this point, the entire hometown of Sanhan has been completely under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and the prestige of the Tang Dynasty is far greater than before.

Of course, Guo Zhifeng, Hao Chujun, Qi Bi He Li and others were also rewarded for their merits, and the two hundred prince's palace guards under Li Xian were also rewarded, ranging from the record of joining the army on the sixth grade to the Zhonglang general under the fourth grade, Xue Ne was also awarded the right Weiwei Zhonglang general because of his outstanding merits, and Li Duozuo was awarded the Sima of the Yingzhou Governor's Mansion because of the attachment of the family, and was awarded the title of General (Wusan Official) from the third grade.

And the two most important figures next to Li Xian, Zhang Wuchen and Dou Xiantong, were only promoted to the first level of lord because they gave up their merits in a low-key manner, but for these two, as long as they follow Li Xian's side, it doesn't matter the size of their official position.

Li Xian originally obtained great merit, broke the city of Pyongyang, said that the treasure king was surrendered, and killed Yuan Nanjian and Yuan Nan Property, but because he deliberately distributed the credit to his subordinates, he did not have a special reward except for adding another 200 feudal towns and giving ten imperial horses.

Li Xian didn't care about this, anyway, he gained a lot from this expedition, not only gained prestige but also subdued several generals, which can be regarded as a hard profit.

Seeing that he was about to leave here, there was one thing that Li Xian had to explain before leaving, so Li Xian came to Xue Rengui's camp and solemnly explained one thing to him. (To be continued.) )