As the capital of Goguryeo, Pyongyang is the most prosperous in the entire Goguryeo. However, Goguryeo today is far less powerful than it was more than a hundred years ago. Goguryeo more than a hundred years ago conquered Silla and Baekje in the south, and its power was unprecedented
Strong. But now, Silla and Baekje have separated and become independent, which has weakened Goguryeo's power.
Imperial City, in the main hall.
A middle-aged man who was short, not tall, and even quite ugly, sat in the main seat.
This person is clearly Gao Yuan.
He is the king of Goguryeo.
Gao Yuan had great expectations for the war with the Sui Dynasty. Once, when the morale of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was low, Gao Yuan went to war with the Sui Dynasty. At that time, the Sui Dynasty was defeated and retreated. As a result, Gao Yuan established an unparalleled reputation in the country.
Prestige and control over the DPRK are unprecedented.
Gao Yuan finally understood a truth.
To establish prestige in the country, on the one hand, we must work hard to govern; on the other hand, we must step on the body of the Great Sui Dynasty, the overlord of the Central Plains, and move up in order to establish supreme prestige.
Whoever can defeat the Sui Dynasty can convince all officials.
Therefore, Gao Yuan now insists on fighting even in the face of the Sui Dynasty's attack and does not ask for surrender. In fact, for Gao Yuan, he has arranged a retreat in his mind.
Even if it really couldn't be defended, Gao Yuan didn't think it was a big deal. The worst he could do was to ask for surrender in the end. Anyway, in a country like the Sui Dynasty, as long as he asked for surrender, the Sui Dynasty would definitely accept it.
So he wasn't worried at all.
If it really doesn't work, then take the initiative to give in. There is no harm in it anyway.
"Report!"
At this moment, a chamberlain hurriedly entered.
There was an eager look on the waiter's face, and even more panic and fear in his eyes.
Gao Yuan's eyes fell on the chamberlain, and he said solemnly: "But what happened on the front line?"
"yes!"
The chamberlain replied: "Reporting to your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Pingyuan led his army to fight the Sui army on the front line, and the entire army was wiped out and captured."
The king of Pingyuan is Gaoping.
brush!
Gao Yuan's expression suddenly changed.
The army led by Gao Ping was the main force under his command. Now, the army led by Gao Ping was completely defeated. Such a situation gave Gao Yuan a bad feeling in his heart.
The situation is not good!
Gao Yuan waved his hand and asked the chamberlain to step back.
Immediately, Gao Yuan arranged for someone to call his counselor Guan Qing.
It is said that Guan Qing's ancestor was Guan Ning, and he was a descendant of Guan Ning, a great scholar in the morale of the Three Kingdoms. By Guan Qing's generation, his family had already fallen into decline. He lived in Liaodong, entered Goguryeo, and became Gao Yuan's military advisor.
As soon as Gao Yuan saw Guan Qing, he quickly said: "Military advisor, something serious has happened. The army led by Gao Ping was defeated when they fought on the front line. Everyone including Gao Ping was defeated."
brush!
Guan Qing's complexion also changed slightly.
He frowned, stroking the beard under his chin, trying to calm down. After his emotions stabilized, Guan Qing said slowly: "Your Majesty, this matter has already happened, so we can only look back."
Gao Yuandao: "What should we do?"
Guan Qing said: "At the beginning of the war, we have already made a plan. Once we are defeated and outmatched, we will ask His Highness King Pingyuan to surrender, and then write a letter to the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, saying that we are willing to respect the Sui Dynasty.
According to the nature of His Majesty the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty will definitely not deal with us at this stage."
Gao Yuandao: "I hope so!"
He was still uneasy in his heart, especially if this battle failed, it would also have a great impact on Gao Yuan.
If he wins this victory, his prestige will be as strong as ever.
Now, it has failed.
This made his reign as the King of Goguryeo full of stains.
"Report!"
At this moment, another sentry entered.
This time, the sentry returned from the front, and the sentry's clothes were shabby, his whole body was dusty, even his lips were chapped, and he looked extremely miserable.
The reason why he was like this was because he was driving at full speed and never stopped to rest day and night. Therefore, he was able to rush back in a short period of time, and when the previous intelligence was transmitted back, he could rush back immediately.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something bad has happened."
The sentry continued to run forward, reached the center of the hall, and fell to the ground with a thump.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
The sentry was breathing heavily.
The whole person was extremely tired.
Gao Yuan frowned, and his heart suddenly trembled. He quickly stood up and asked, "What's going on? What happened?"
The sentry then stood up. He took a short rest and said after a while: "Your Majesty, His Highness King Pingyuan was defeated in the frontline battle and was captured by the Sui generals. Now, His Highness King Pingyuan and all of us who were captured
All the soldiers have been escorted to Liucheng in Sui Dynasty. It is said that they are to be dealt with."
After a pause, the sentinel continued: "The second news is that the Sui army has marched again from Wugu City and is heading towards us. This time, the Sui army was extremely sharp. All the way down,
They ignored our surrender at all and have been advancing continuously. Your Majesty, the army of the Sui Dynasty is really about to attack the city."
boom!!
Gao Yuan's mind was like thunder exploding
At this moment, he even lost his mind. He was even confused and didn't know what to do anymore.
Why did Sui Dynasty take away all the prisoners?
Why did the Sui Dynasty continue to advance its troops?
You must know that Gao Ping has already asked to surrender, expressing that Goguryeo is willing to respect the Sui Dynasty as its suzerain state. But now, the Sui Dynasty has taken away all the captives of Goguryeo and even continued to kill them, leaving Gao Yuan with no way out.
Already.
After a while, Gao Yuan came to his senses and waved his hand for the sentinels to retreat. Then, Gao Yuan looked at Guan Qing and said in a deep voice: "Sir, the situation now is extremely critical. The Sui army is in danger.
They are already coming towards us, how can we resist them?"
You know your own strength.
Gao Yuan knew the power of Goguryeo and it was almost difficult to fight against the Sui Dynasty head-on.
The reason why Goguryeo was able to withstand the Sui Dynasty's attack was, on the one hand, due to geographical advantages and favorable weather conditions. Because Goguryeo's climate was very different from that of the Sui Dynasty, and because of its geographical advantage, it was able to win.
Especially in the Sui Dynasty, a truce could be achieved if Goguryeo surrendered. This was the key to Gao Yuan's courage to fight.
Now, it is different.
This resulted in Gao Yuan's confidence in the battle with Sui Dynasty completely disappearing.
Guan Qing took a deep breath and sighed: "Under the current situation, it is definitely impossible to resist the Sui's offensive. Therefore, my suggestion is that the king immediately submits a state document to the Sui Emperor in the name of the King of Goguryeo.
Book. We, Goguryeo, are willing to respect the Sui Dynasty as our master, and sincerely ask the Sui Emperor for a truce. As long as the Sui Emperor accepts the surrender, we, Goguryeo, will be safe."
"well……"
Gao Yuan couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.
Nowadays, it seems that there is only one way, and there is no other way at all.
In his heart, Gao Yuan was unwilling to give in and asked: "Military advisor, is there no other way?"
Guan Qing said: "Reporting to your Majesty, when it comes to strength, we are far behind the Sui Dynasty. In a head-to-head confrontation, we are not the opponent of the Sui Dynasty at all; when it comes to weather, the current climate, even if it enters summer, will have an impact on the Sui Dynasty due to the heat of summer.
It's not that big. If it were winter, we could take advantage of the cold winter, but now, we don't have the time advantage. Even if it was, we still have people and people. But we, Goguryeo, with only a few people, it would be impossible to fight against the Sui Dynasty.
Can’t hold on.”
"well……"
Gao Yuan sighed again.
At this point, he was really at the end of his rope.
Even though Gao Yuan was unwilling, he finally picked up the pen, ink, paper and inkstone and began to write the letter of credence. After the letter of credence for surrender was completed, Gao Yuanjia stamped the seal and put the letter of credence away.
Gao Yuandao: "Military advisor, how do you submit this letter of credence to the Sui Dynasty? Should you send an important minister or an insignificant person?"
Guan Qing said: "Your Majesty, when it comes to the submission of credentials, you cannot be careless. Of course, if you send important ministers there, if they are detained or even killed by the Sui Dynasty, it will be an unbearable loss for your Majesty.
"
"If an insignificant person is sent there, I am afraid that the Sui Dynasty may think that our Goguryeo are humiliating them and will be angry because of it."
"So it has to be both."
Guan Qing said seriously: "Therefore, my suggestion must have status but be insignificant. To meet this requirement, my suggestion is to arrange for people from the clan to go there. There are many insignificant people in the clan, but as Goguryeo's leaders, they
The status of the clan is naturally different from that of ordinary people. Therefore, it can meet the requirements."
"Wonderful!"
After hearing this, Gao Yuan showed a look of approval on his face.
Guan Qing’s suggestion is very good.
As soon as Gao Yuan thought about it, he had a candidate. He immediately made arrangements, called the Goguryeo clan, and immediately gave orders. After the Goguryeo clan left, Gao Yuan looked at Guan Qing again and said in a deep voice:
"Military advisor, what we are considering now is to ask for surrender from the Sui Dynasty. But what if the Sui Dynasty is not willing to accept our surrender? Since we are considering things, we must consider the worst case scenario. Otherwise, our situation will be
Very bad.”
Guan Qing replied: "What the king said is true. We should indeed make some arrangements for the escape route now."
Gao Yuan asked: "Sir, what's the plan?"
Guan Qing said: "Your Majesty, in this situation, how can there be any clever plan? In the current situation, we can only arrange an escape route in advance. Please pack up your gold and silver, and evacuate immediately if the situation goes bad. In short,
, when it got to the worst point, he chose to leave."
Hearing this, Gao Yuan sighed again.
As Guan Qing said, under the current situation, what they can do is to arrange their escape route in advance.
That's all.
Gao Yuan and Guan Qing discussed other matters together, and now that Goguryeo was in danger, Gao Yuan also had many things to arrange in advance, and he needed to discuss them with Guan Qing.
After everything was settled, it was already evening, so Gao Yuan left Guan Qing to have a meal in the palace. After dinner, he personally arranged for someone to send Guan Qing away.
