148 SIKLO. rid his countiy of the root of those miseries ; or he might see in the then condition of his countiy an easy way for changing the reigning house. At any rate, he urged his father to rebel, and the father would not rebel ; nor was he bold enough for such a step. But the son, who appears to have been master, got his father drunk at a feast he provided, and by night had two concubines of the Swi Emperor, left in the city, brought to his father's bed-room, where they remained till next day. The father on ascertaining next morning the character of the ladies who had been in his room all night, was in great terror, for he must perisL His son urged him to rebel as his only chance of life. And he did rebel His son was the soldier ; but the work of conquest was very slow. He, however, engaged the Turks as his allies, by whose aid he laid the foundation of the Tang dynasty, — one of the greatest China has produced. The Turks were there- fore masters of the father — ^the first Tang Emperor — all his life ; and it cost many a tough battle after the accession of the soldier- son to the throne, ere they could be made to acknowledge the supremacy of the Chinese emperor. As soon as order was restored within the Chinese border the Tang emperor sent a Grand Secretary to Gaoli, Baiji and Sinlo, who acted so judiciously, that the three kingdoms acknowledged the Tang dynasty and sent in tribute. This is doubtless the
- ' Messenger whom another history states was sent in 622 by
Tang to Qaoli, to bury the bleaching bones of the slain soldiers, left by the Svri Emperor on the plains of Liaotung, and to perform the customary funeral rites and sacrifices to set to rest and appease the spirits of the departed. By this act the emperor gained great repute for good-heartedness. Living Chinese were perhaps less numerous in Corea than the dead; and China contained Corean prisoners not a few, whom the emperor sent to their homes in 624, under charge of an ambassador who was com- missioned to confer the title of Liaotung Wang on Jien Woo, king of Corea. This Emperor fostered learning, and welcomed students from all quarters ; and among the 3260 youths collected in the capital to acquire the best learning of China in the Owodau jien.
