Chapter 69 : Father and Son (2)
Chapter 69: Father and Son (2)
Not long ago, Yuwen Yong crushed the Northern Qi Restoration Army that had risen in Jungdan Fortress and captured its lord, Fu Bok. The moment Yuwen Yong saw Fu Bok, he exclaimed with joy,
“Fu Bok, why have you only come now?”
In response to Yuwen Yong’s question, Fu Bok answered,
“I have eaten the grain of Qi for three generations. That I have failed to die by my own hand brings me shame before heaven and earth.”
Yuwen Yong helped Fu Bok to his feet.
“A vassal ought to be just like this!”
He praised Fu Bok, who had fought against him, and asked,
“I heard it was you, Fu Bok, who drove me into a corner back at Ha’eum. What office did you receive after that?”
“I was given the title of Baekwi.”
“Then from this moment on, you are the Duke of Yeongchang.”
It was a rank higher than before.
The emperor of the enemy nation who had captured him was treating him better than the emperor he had served for three generations.
“I would grant you an even higher position, but that would draw too much resentment. If you follow me, the titles will naturally follow.”
Similarly, he treated loyal officials like Gao Yanzong, who had fought to defend Northern Qi to the end, with great favor.
His magnanimity was worthy of an emperor, and thus, one by one, the remnants of Northern Qi were absorbed into Northern Zhou. Afterward, Yuwen Yong brought Gao Wei before Fu Bok.
“Look, this is the emperor you once served.”
“Ah… ah…!”
The man before him did not look like an emperor at all. His eyes were dull, and his shoulders narrow. Fu Bok bowed his head.
“Your Majesty. This lowly Fu Bok greets Your Majesty.”
“Fu Bok? Who is that?”
“For Northern Qi… I fought…”
“You wretch! How dare you let your mouth run wild! Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I never ordered such a thing!”
Rather than comforting the loyal subject, Gao Wei slapped Fu Bok’s shoulder as if to say, It’s all this guy’s fault that I’m screwed! Fu Bok lay face down and wept.
It wasn’t because his shoulder hurt. What hurt was not his body, but his life.
‘It seems even Gao Wei is no longer needed.’
After that, Yuwen Yong summoned Gao Wei of Northern Qi.
“Gao Wei, you rejected loyal subjects, toyed with flatterers, granted noble titles to palace slaves and disrupted the hierarchy, executed your loyal retainers, and murdered your people for amusement. Even at the end, rather than fulfilling your duty as emperor, you passed the throne to your young son and became retired emperor to indulge in luxury. So now, I shall give you what you love most.”
That did not mean he would spare his life.
Yuwen Yong gathered the rarest spices from India and Sichuan—pepper, cloves, Sichuan pepper, nutmeg, and more. So expensive that they cost more than gold by weight.
He suffocated Gao Wei with these spices by stuffing them into his mouth and nose until he died—making Gao Wei the third most expensively-killed person in world history. (The first was from Russia, the second from the Mongol Empire.)
“Next… are Gao Wei’s mother Empress Dowager Hu, his wife Empress Mu, and his concubine Feng Xiaolian.”
Gao Wei’s mother, Empress Dowager Hu, had an affair with the traitor Hwa Sagae and continued to consort with monks, plunging the court into chaos. Empress Mu was no different, so Yuwen Yong declared,
“I granted luxury to Gao Wei, who loved indulgence. These women delight in lewdness, so make them courtesans in Chang’an.”
For members of the imperial family, this was a disgrace worse than death. Next in line was the beauty, Feng Xiaolian.
“What shall we do with Feng Xiaolian, the beauty Gao Wei used to dote on?”
“Hmm…”
Feng Xiaolian was hard to dispose of. At best, she was a concubine, making her unworthy of execution. Yet she was a peerless beauty, and many generals desired her.
‘She’s just a woman, and yet these officials…’
After a moment of thought, Yuwen Yong devised a clever plan.
“I shall bestow Feng Xiaolian upon my cousin, the Prince of Dai, Yuwen Dal.”
Yuwen Dal was known for his frugality among the imperial kin, so he surely wouldn’t grow attached to her. This would serve as a model for the nobility.
But what happened next completely defied Yuwen Yong’s expectations. Starting with the newly made courtesans, Empress Dowager Hu and Empress Mu.
“Being an empress is far more boring than being a courtesan!”
Yuwen Yong had intended to humiliate them, but the two found life as courtesans to their liking.
They worked enthusiastically in Chang’an, and the brothel they worked at was packed every night with people wanting to lay with a former empress and empress dowager.
Even Yuwen Yong found himself wondering, Was this really a punishment?
And that wasn’t the end of it.
“The Prince of Dai, Yuwen Dal, instead of avoiding Feng Xiaolian, has completely fallen for her and begun living in luxury?”
Feng Xiaolian swiftly corrupted the “frugal” Yuwen Dal. Her methods were refined.
She played the pipa, then snapped a string and composed a poem on the spot.
“Though favored today, memories of the past still stir. Wishing to sever the feeling, I look only at my pipa string upon your knee.”
“No, Xiaolian! What do you mean by that?”
“It is nothing. Though I now gratefully live under Your Highness’s grace, I cannot forget my former master and so unwittingly composed a poem out of emotion. Please kill this ungrateful wretch.”
“No! Xiaolian! I have failed to show you enough love! Nay, you are a virtuous woman indeed—I shall someday win your heart for sure!”
…And thus, Yuwen Dal fell entirely under Feng Xiaolian’s sway.
His wife, Lady Yi, was so mad with jealousy she had to call physicians.
“I sent an empress to the brothel, and she liked it. I gave a frugal man a beauty, and he lost his frugality…?”
At that moment, Yuwen Yong began to understand, at least halfway, why Gao Wei had gone insane. If one had such women as a mother, wife, and concubine, how could anyone not go mad?
His head throbbing at the absurdity of it all, Yuwen Yong took out a red alchemical pill and swallowed it.
It was a medicine prescribed by court physicians for the overworked Yuwen Yong, made of cinnabar (mercury sulfide) and arsenic.
If the modern-day Ondal had seen it, he would have shouted, Do you have a death wish? But it was meaningless. Even in the 20th century, Westerners treated opium addiction with cocaine.
So what could be expected of the 6th century? There was even a drug called Wushisan at the time, which added three more heavy metals to the mix.
At the very least, Northern Zhou banned Wushisan and only used cinnabar and arsenic, so one might say it was better than other regions.
Gulp.
Once he swallowed the pill, vigor seemed to return to Yuwen Yong’s body. In reality, his body was screaming, Argh! I don’t want to die! and emitting heat, but outwardly he appeared revitalized.
Fueled by the effects of the drug, Yuwen Yong managed to forget the recent nonsense and returned to his thoughts.
‘Now, the only remaining Northern Qi Restoration Army is the Liaoxi Army of Gao Soyi and Gao Bonyeong, supported by the T’u-chüeh under Yang Jian.’
But then came the second shock.
“They were defeated in the war against Goguryeo, and now the T’u-chüeh have decided to support Northern Qi after witnessing it?”
Yuwen Yong clutched his head and popped another pill. Truly, the mysterious alchemy of Taoism did clear his head.
“Prepare the army to strike the T’u-chüeh immediately!”
He decided to lead the army north himself to destroy the T’u-chüeh supporting Gao Soyi.
But he never accomplished that.
“Your Majesty, your eyelids…”
“What’s with my ewlids?”
“Your tongue—Your tongue! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
His eyelids drooped, and his speech slurred.
His steps faltered, then he collapsed with a thud.
From his youth, he had overworked himself, surviving countless brushes with death. On top of that, he had ingested heavy metals like mercury and arsenic, which led directly to a stroke.
He could no longer walk. Realizing death was near, he summoned his ministers from his sickbed and gave his final orders.
“Yuwen Xiaobaek, thanks to you, I became emperor.”
“…Please do not say such things.”
“I entrust this to you—support Crown Prince Yun (Yuwen Yun) just as you have supported me.”
At that moment, a maidservant entered.
“The Duke of Sui has arrived.”
“Let him in. And have the rest leave.”
“Even the maidservants?”
“Leave no one behind.”
That meant nothing said in this room would be recorded.
Officially, Yuwen Yong’s last will would be the words he had just spoken to Yuwen Xiaobaek.
Soon the door opened, everyone left, and Duke of Sui, Yang Jian, stepped in.
“You’ve come, my in-law. I hear you could not contain Gao Soyi’s momentum after being defeated by Goguryeo.”
“…I am sorry.”
“I did not call you to blame you. You’ve accomplished much already—why hold a grudge against a friend before death?”
“You will recover soon. I have heard there is a famed physician named Sun Samak in the state of Jin, a man hailed as the reincarnation of Bian Que. If we summon him…”
“No. I know what face one wears at death. Even if the real Bian Que or Hua Tuo came, they would not cure my illness.”
Yuwen Yong spoke.
“My body feels oddly light right now, which means not much time remains. Therefore, I wish to speak… about the future of the Xianbei and the Crown Prince.”
Yuwen Yong rose from his sickbed and locked eyes with Yang Jian. Color had returned to his face, and his eyes gleamed sharply.
This was not recovery, but Huiguang Fanzhao—a final surge of vitality as death approaches.
“I’m listening.”
Both Yang Jian and Yuwen Yong knew what this meant.
For they had each sent many men to their deaths.
The emperor spoke to his most trusted vassal.
“Yuwen Yun—he may be Crown Prince, but he is no fit emperor. The way he drinks and throws tantrums makes me want to lock him in a grain chest. Yet, do you know why I didn’t depose him?”
“Your Majesty, please refrain from such harsh words.”
“Come now, I’m dying. Don’t start this now. The reason I let him be was because his wife, Yang Yuhua, is your daughter. If I removed him as Crown Prince, wouldn’t I be rendering my in-law useless as well?”
Two in-laws spoke to each other.
“Northern Zhou has Sichuan, does it not? The land where Liu Bei once lived. It is said Liu Bei told Zhuge Liang, ‘If my son proves worthless, you shall be emperor instead.’ I finally understand those words now.”
“…I will not hear the rest of this.”
“You would reject the last words of a dying man?”
“As a vassal, they are difficult words to accept. They do not align with proper conduct.”
“Then hear them as a friend. And besides… when did proper conduct matter under my rule?”
Yuwen Yong smiled at his friend.
“If we were to speak of proper conduct and righteousness, then a fourth son from a concubine like me becoming emperor is where the problem starts. But what was the result? I destroyed Northern Qi, our mortal enemy. If I had sat idly by, clinging to moral righteousness, would this have happened?”
He spoke of his accomplishments, but his expression looked more bitter than proud.
“But I regret it. I failed to completely eliminate Northern Qi’s remnants, and more than anything, the last Han Chinese dynasty, Southern Chen, still remains.”
“…That is true.”
“To eliminate both and unify the Central Region would be the final ambition of the Xianbei. If achieved, the name of the Central Region would belong not to the Han but to the Xianbei. Even if I go to the burning hells the Chinese speak of, if I can witness that, it would be paradise, not hell.”
Yuwen Yong’s eyes sparkled as he spoke of unifying the Central Region.
“So, if the Crown Prince seems capable of achieving this, then as his father-in-law and a subject of Northern Zhou, support him with all your heart and strength, alongside Xiaobaek.”
“Of course.”
“But if he proves unworthy, do not just watch. If the chaos he brings would be greater than the confusion caused by altering the imperial line, then hesitate not to draw your sword.”
The emperor of the Xianbei gazed at the heavens and said,
“In ancient Xianbei, even if one was the successor of the throne, if he could not ride a horse, he was cast aside without mercy.”
Blood trickled from Yuwen Yong’s lips, but he no longer bothered to wipe it.
“I have entrusted the Crown Prince to Xiaobaek—he is, so to speak, the finest steed one could have.”
Then, pouring all his remaining strength into his final words, he added,
“Even so, if he cannot fly by himself, how can he be called an emperor of the Xianbei? Therefore, as emperor, as a friend, as an in-law—I beg you. Always prioritize the Xianbei above the Yuwen imperial line.”
Yuwen Yong said,
“Yang Jian, I liked you because you were like me.”
And thus, on June 21st, 578, Yuwen Yong closed his eyes at the age of thirty-six. Crown Prince Yuwen Yun ascended the throne at age twenty.
Yuwen Yun’s first words were:
“Why did my father live so long? It would have been better had he died earlier.”
It was the beginning of summer.
While the world was in chaos—
“Papa, Papa…”
“Yes! Onan! It’s Daddy!”
I was playing with my son. This little guy was already calling me ‘Papa’ and toddling around.
I hoped he would grow quickly so I could teach him sword, spear, flail, and bow.
Or maybe not? Maybe I liked him just the way he was—adorable as ever?
When I had such foolish thoughts, Boknyeo would grin beside me and say, “You love him that much? Should we make another one?” And the next day, I couldn’t get out of bed. That was our usual pattern.
‘Ha, this is what makes life worth living.’
But such moments were brief. At most, an hour each morning and evening?
The rest of the time, I was quite busy.
I was now fully part of the royal family—a guaranteed ticket to success.
“Um, perhaps our family could…”
“Have you tried this? It’s a spicy fruit from Sichuan, heh heh…”
“Ice! Do you need ice?”
There was a long line in front of my house. Everyone brought gifts and came to ask for favors.
Of course, I rejected them all. Bribes? I was rich with ginseng. I wouldn’t sell myself for a few coins.
But there were some people I couldn’t ignore.
“Come here, my love! My beloved Ondal!”
And the one shouting that was… none other than Yeon Jayu, top-ranked among Goguryeo nobles and the Supreme Chancellor.
“I heard you reclaimed Sukgun Fortress? I must visit it someday. Where will you go next? Will you retrieve the Goguryeo Stele those Silla bastards took?”
The head of the Gwanggaeto the Great sect rejoiced like a child upon hearing I had recovered Sukgun Fortress.
No, more than that.
He burst into tears before me. Truly.
In fact, two people cried.
“…Senior Yeon Taejo? A man of Goguryeo weeping like this…”
“No! Even Gwanggaeto the Great within me speaks! Yeon Taejo, your friend has reclaimed the fortress you should have found. Be ashamed! Aaaah!”
Good grief… these are the highest powers of Goguryeo?
After the weeping and wailing subsided, Yeon Jayu turned to me and said,
“If there is any equipment you need, speak up.”
“Then… about five hundred sets of Dujeong-gap…”
“That’s nothing—I can easily provide that!”
As expected of the greatest power-holder in Goguryeo, head of Yeon ga Ironworks, and rightful master of the East—he had impressive ambition.