Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 111 Liaodong, the hometown I have never seen

"Of course I didn't say that!"

Li Ming pouted in grievance:
"Grandpa, you just said that everything you say and do is recorded.

“The harvests from previous autumn hunts are naturally well documented and can be checked and compared.

"Brother Li Tai, don't you think so?"

Li Tai opened his mouth, not knowing how to respond.

How could this little guy be here to help?

It's obvious that he is here to cause trouble!

Li Chengqian was quite calm, and even had the energy to glance at his old rival with a gloating look.

Let Li Tai also have a taste of the power of this reckless man.

"Oh? Oh? You still have this in mind?"

Li Shimin said it sarcastically, but his trembling voice betrayed him deeply.

He was very excited.

What could make a father feel more gratified than his naughty son remembering his every word and action?

This flattery really touched his heart.

"Eh? Familiar with Grandpa's achievements, isn't that the basic requirement for being a son?"

Li Ming said it as a matter of course, as if it was as natural as eating and drinking.

Of course not.

He just looks small, but he is not really a naughty boy.

When it comes to the ways of the world, of course he is very smooth and tactful.

Before the autumn hunting, he did special homework and memorized all of Li Shimin's hunting gains by heart.

He learned this experience from watching a certain TV series called "Yongzheng Dynasty" which he does not want to reveal its name.

Just like who goes fishing without wearing a helmet, and who doesn’t read about His Majesty’s great achievements before accompanying the emperor hunting?
Everyone likes to hear good words, and wise rulers are no exception.

It’s just that wise rulers are more picky.

So you have to put in some effort to make the flattery come naturally.

"Hehehe... Well, I don't care about such trivial matters at all. It doesn't matter if you don't remember it!"

Li Shimin kept shaking his head and waving his hands, just like a child refusing a red envelope during the Chinese New Year.

Are you kidding? How could he not care?

Li Ming could even tell the trivial things like how many chickens, ducks and fish he had killed.

Then doesn't this child know by heart my achievements in civil and military affairs, my great accomplishments?
It turns out that although this brat says "your father and my father" rudely, he actually has me in his heart!

Li Shimin felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.

"Mingdi really has a good memory." Li Tai could hardly keep his smile:

"If you study hard, you will definitely know more about literature and history than the scholars in my Academy of Literature."

Li Tai enjoyed a privilege and, with the permission of his father, the emperor, he opened a literary institute to recruit scholars.

He specifically brought out the Literature Museum to show off, which was a bit like him trying to find fault.

Li Ming blinked his big innocent eyes:

"Ah? Those grand scholars in the Academy of Literature, can't they even remember what the emperor did?"

Li Tai was so embarrassed by the retort that he rationally decided not to argue with him.

Seeing his miserable appearance, Li Chengqian even felt happier.

The other rubbish... no, the royal family, have no say at all.

We can only watch the gods fight.

"Okay, okay, I know you have a good memory."

Li Shimin fondly tapped Li Ming's forehead:

"Then you judge, which of your two brothers is right?"

Unconsciously, Li Shimin's target of testing shifted from his two legitimate sons to his youngest son.

Should you support Li Chengqian or stand on the side of Li Tai?
Between the two, Li Ming chose "or".

He scratched his head innocently:

"I don't know! I don't understand the great principles of Buddhism and Taoism that they talk about!
"but……"

He drawled out his words:

“I know the original question.”

Li Shimin raised his eyebrows:
"what is the problem?"

Li Ming pointed at Li Shimin:
"My brothers can't hunt much, and it's all because of you, Grandpa!"

"Because of me?"

Li Shimin was suddenly caught in the crossfire, but he was not upset:

"What can you say?"

Li Ming glanced at the dusty princes and stood straight:

“Before the autumn hunt, Grandpa announced publicly his decision to adopt out the two brothers.

"Brothers can't be brothers anymore, and everyone feels heavy-hearted. How can we feel like riding horses?"

After hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but frown and think, then nodded slightly.

This reason is very simple and hard to find fault with.

Unlike Li Chengqian and Li Tai, who were involved in mysterious things like Buddhism and Taoism.

Moreover, this answer also implies the brotherhood among the princes.

This is so filial and brotherly, and completely fits Li Shimin's idea of ​​"brotherly love and respect".

He looked at his other sons:

"Come and judge for yourself, is it because of the reason Li Ming gave?"

The princes who had been dejected just now were now in high spirits, nodding their heads one after another:
"Yes, yes, that's what I thought at the time!"

It was obvious that his poor performance was caused by jealousy of Li Ming, but Li Ming interpreted it as him being reluctant to give up the brotherhood between Li Fu and Li You.

How could they not be happy after being rescued by Li Ming, who even gave him a hand in front of the emperor?
"Brother Ming..." Even Li Fu, who had lost all hope in life, felt a lump in his throat after hearing this.

The envy, jealousy and hatred of the concubine princes towards Li Ming disappeared immediately.

Instead, there was a strong sense of guilt.

Although Li Ming is a naughty child and his words are not pleasant to the ears.

But the essence is still very kind and straightforward.

How could I be jealous of such an innocent child?
"Brothers are talking, why are you butting in?"

After her son had finished showing off, Yang finally came and took him down with a doting look on her face.

Put an end to this verbal dispute at the right time.

Li Ming buried his face in his mother's arms.

To cover up the corners of his smirk.

Sure, sure. Before leaving my father and heading to Liaodong, I gained some more favor.

He also said some nice words to the concubine princes, thus eliminating a wave of hatred without any cost.

His target of struggle has always been the faction of legitimate princes headed by the Crown Prince. He must not create unnecessary trouble or make random accusations.

Kill two birds with one stone, this operation is good.

The only side effect was that it aroused the hatred between Li Chengqian and Li Tai, making them look very stupid...

Li Ming's eyes rolled around cunningly.

Li Chengqian was obviously accustomed to the continuous blows. His eyes were shining as he stared into nothingness, as if he was thinking about other important things.

And Li Tai...seemed to be accustomed to being attacked by Li Ming, and looked calm.

The sinister Li Zhi remained the same as before, with an unchanged expression and no word, and no one knew what he was thinking about.

"Huh...it doesn't matter."

Li Ming is not itchy even if he has too many lice, and he is not worried about his debts. If the prince wants to hate him, let him hate him.

Now he has passed the stage of "hiding his capabilities and biding his time" and must do something.

To this end, he always followed the strategy formulated by Fang Xuanling for him -

Only by rapidly strengthening oneself and showing one's soft and hard power at the right time can one deter opponents and keep oneself safe for the time being.

"Yes, this terrifying balance can only keep me safe for a while.

“To achieve long-term stability, I must consolidate my base.

"My Liaodong..."

The Royal Autumn Hunting Conference came to an end amid their own calculations.

The crowd dispersed, but a strong figure still stood in the corner.

King of Qi, Li You.

Ever since he came back from hunting, he had a gloomy face the whole time and ignored everyone.

He even failed to apologize to the prince whom he almost injured by mistake.

He just stood in the corner with his head down, as if immersed in his own world.

He kept muttering silently:

Uncle is right, uncle is right! I should go back to Qi, back to Qi! Then, then...!
…………

On the second day after the Autumn Hunting Conference, the princes bid farewell to their father and went to their respective fiefdoms.

The water in Chang'an is too deep, and everyone is a master of palace fighting.

If they stayed any longer here, they felt they wouldn't survive more than three chapters.

Among the princes who left Beijing, a strange guy sneaked in.

Li You, King of Qi.

After being rebuked during the Autumn Hunt, this prince who had been staying in the capital on various pretexts finally listened to the advice of his uncle Yin Hongzhi - and many other people - and went to Qi to establish his fiefdom.

Although he and Li Fu were adopted out.

But there has been no change in titles, treatment, etc.

He continued to be a vassal king, and could return to the palace during the holidays to perform the duties of a son to his father.

As long as it does not involve the fight for the throne, for ordinary illegitimate princes who do not like to compete with the world, it actually does not make any difference whether they are adopted or not.

Li Fu even felt that he had made a fortune by becoming the crown prince's prince.

The layout of Chang'an seemed to have returned to its previous state.

"Ugh……"

Li Ming sat in the newspaper office's study and sighed.

The emperor still held on to the power of personnel and only reluctantly agreed to Li Ming's request to pick a few people from the list of candidate officials as "references".

Just as Fang Xuanling had expected.

That old fox had become half a worm in Li Shimin's stomach, and nothing could be hidden from him.

No wonder this guy remained calm and played a bystander role throughout this adoption controversy.

"Should we hurry to Liaodong, or continue to grind Li Er..."

Li Ming was in a dilemma when Lou Shide, the "field captain" of the Liaodong Intelligence Bureau, ran in with his arm around Di Renjie, the "office director".

"Mr. Ming, Mr. Ming! We found the person you're looking for! A genius doctor who knows the properties of realgar wine!"

Li Ming learned his lesson this time. He did not respond immediately but turned his gaze to Di Renjie.

Di Renjie nodded calmly:

"He is a doctor who provides free medical treatment at the soup kitchen. His medical skills are very good. Many of the imperial doctors in the Shang Pharmacy are his students."

"Shang Pharmacy?"

Li Ming hissed and drew a straight line in his mind:

Imperial Physician - Palace Guard.

The logical link is very short, and it can indeed connect the relationship to the level of Ashina Society Rate.

"What's that man's name?"

"Sun Simiao!"

"Oh, Sun...Sun what?!"

Li Ming almost fell off his chair.

Isn’t that the legendary miracle doctor who lived for over a hundred years and has a great name in history books?

How come it's so far away and yet so close right in front of me, just wandering around the soup stall?
On second thought, Sun Simiao was originally from Jingzhao, so it was not surprising to meet him in Chang'an.

In the past few years, Li Ming has been fighting wits and courage with the characters in history books every day.

So he calmed down again.

"Okay, I'll go talk to him then."

"Well, I'm afraid it won't work these days." Lou Shide spread his hands:
"Dr. Sun has gone back to Mount Zhongnan to collect herbs these days. He won't be back for a while."

Li Ming said "oh".

Anyway, I have been stranded in Chang'an for many days, so it doesn't matter if I wait a few more days.

Just as he was thinking about it, Chang Sunyan rushed in and shouted at the top of his voice:

"It's not good, it's not good!"

"what happened?"

Seeing the usually elegant young man so impatient, Li Ming had a bad feeling.

"It's Pingzhou, something happened in Pingzhou!"

…………

Li Ming was tapping the table in deep thought.

Although he had never set foot on the land of Liaodong in either his past life or this life.

But that doesn't stop him from treating it as his second home.

If there is trouble in Pingzhou, it means he has trouble!

"Tell me slowly, what happened?" he asked calmly.

As if infected by Li Ming's calmness, Chang Sun took a deep breath and poured out all the information he had heard at home like pouring beans:

"Pingzhou will be invaded by Goguryeo! Pingzhou is plagued by bandits! Pingzhou is suffering from a food shortage! Pingzhou..."

"Etc., etc!"

Li Ming stopped him:

"Are you talking about Pingzhou?"

Pingzhou is such a small place, but it has all the five poisons, right?

Chang Sunyan didn't know how to answer.

At this moment, Wei Daijia also rushed in anxiously:

"Your Highness, something bad has happened! Something bad has happened in Pingzhou!

"Goguryeo invades! Bandits are rampant! ..."

“There’s still a food shortage, right?”

Wei Daijia was startled: "You...know everything?"

Alas... Li Ming rubbed his eyes exhaustedly.

It appears to be true.

"Your Highness."

Another steady, rough voice.

It was his palace Sima, Hou Junji, who also made a special trip to visit him.

"Pingzhou..."

"Pingzhou has become a mess?" Li Ming asked gloomily.

Hou Junji nodded:
"The situation in Pingzhou has taken a turn for the worse, and His Majesty has called an urgent imperial meeting. Before entering the palace, I came to inform Your Highness."

Having said that, he walked out vigorously.

"Hold on."

Li Ming called Hou Junji, flicked his fingers on the table, thought for a while, and said slowly:
“Tell your majesty that I will leave tomorrow.

"Go check out the situation yourself."

(End of this chapter)