Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 374: One-day trip to Pingzhou
This bright voice...

Li Chengqian put on a helpless smile and lifted the car curtain.

As expected, what greeted him outside the window was the smiling face of Princess Jinyang.

Li Mingda and his ninth brother Li Zhi were riding on the same horse, smiling as beautifully in the spring sunshine, which made Li Chengqian dazed for a moment.

Originally, he and Li Zhi had already separated from Li Mingda and other palace ladies.

The other royal family members set off to return to Pingzhou, while the two VIP members stayed with Li Ming to prevent them from being suddenly "raised to death".

but……

"Ninth brother, how is your shoulder injury?" Li Chengqian asked with concern.

A bitter smile appeared on Li Zhi's face:
"Thanks to your majesty, I only suffered some flesh wounds and was a little frightened, but no bone damage..."

Li Chengqian comforted him, "The Tang army soldiers performed their duties conscientiously, but who knew that the royal family of the Tang Dynasty was aboard the Ming army ships..."

Swords and knives have no eyes.

Li Ming's plan to march north to Jinyang did not seem to be going very smoothly, and Li Chengqian and Li Zhi also suffered a lot.

During a maneuver to avoid the incendiary ship, the sailboat they were on made a sharp turn and knocked the two men down.

Li Zhi's shoulder hit the coffee table and a large swelling appeared on it.

Although the incident was not serious, it sounded a wake-up call for Li Ming.

It doesn't seem to be a wise choice to keep these two hot potatoes by my side.

Fortunately, it was Li Zhi who was injured this time.

If Li Chengqian were to suffer this, it would be a real possibility.

So Li Ming was a little careful and arranged substitutes for the two brothers.

The substitute continued to stay in the Ming army in public.

The two real bodies were secretly sent back to the royal team and went to Pingzhou together with Li Mingda and other female relatives.

"Look, brother, what is that!"

Li Chengqian subconsciously looked in the direction his sister pointed.

In front of the convoy stood several rows of huge and oddly shaped...houses.

Those rows of houses all looked exactly the same, without the traditional flying eaves or wings. Instead, they were square, like pieces of fermented Hu pancakes, with only a chimney protruding from the top, emitting black smoke.

Each house covers a very large area and is arranged neatly, like a row of sentinels. The scale of the houses is staggering, and they spew black smoke into the sky.

"What is that? It's so big, is it the palace where Li Ming lives? Why does he live in such a plain place? There's so much smoke, is he cooking?"

Li Mingda was like a curious baby, blinking his big watery eyes and talking all the time.

For some unknown reason, since entering the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the originally depressed Princess Jinyang has become more cheerful day by day and has turned into the lively and optimistic A Sizi of the past.

After entering Pingzhou, the smile on her face never disappeared.

Seeing his heartless sister so happy, Li Chengqian became unhappy and could not help but frowned:
"Li Mingda, you must remember your identity. You are the Princess Jinyang of the Tang Dynasty, not the Princess Lulong of the Ming Dynasty."

The country is about to be destroyed, and you have been reduced from a princess to a prisoner, but you are still so cheerful. Is this appropriate?

The light in Li Mingda's eyes dimmed, his pink cheeks turned red, and his little mouth pouted, like a kitten whose tail was stepped on, ready to fight back at any time.

Li Zhi, who had been acting as a horseman, stepped in to smooth things over:

"The weather is nice today. It makes everyone feel happy. Hahaha~"

As he spoke, he secretly pulled the reins of his horse, deliberately letting the horse lag behind His Majesty's golden carriage, thus separating the two sides who were on the verge of a showdown.

Alas... Li Chengqian secretly let out a sigh and said to his sister who was left behind:

"That's not a palace, that's a blacksmith shop."

After a while, Li Mingda exclaimed loudly from afar:

"Wow! How much iron can be forged in such a big blacksmith shop?"

Wow, it turns out that every piece of iron refined here will become an arrow shot at the Tang Dynasty’s heavenly soldiers!
Li Chengqian's mouth twitched and he closed the curtain tightly.

Everything returned to silence. In the huge carriage, only the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty sat alone.

Li Chengqian buried his face in his hands tiredly, feeling very complicated.

His younger sister has become more and more energetic since becoming a prisoner of the Ming Dynasty, which actually does not surprise Li Chengqian.

Because Li Chengqian himself had similar feelings, but he was never willing to admit it to others.

This sounds very funny.

As an emperor, his country was about to be destroyed and he himself was imprisoned, but he felt much more relaxed than when he was in power in Chang'an.

Is it because on the way from Puzhou to Pingzhou, the Ming Dynasty did not make things difficult for them and continued to serve them diligently and responsibly with imperial etiquette?
Or was it because after taking off the imperial crown, he also took off the heavy burden on his shoulders, and from then on he no longer had to worry too much about the country and the people, and no longer had to spend all his efforts to defeat an invincible enemy?

No, it's not like that.

"War... I am in Ming Dynasty, but I don't feel the shadow of war at all."

Li Chengqian murmured with a bitter smile on his face.

There is no need to elaborate on what the Tang Dynasty became like under the heavy pressure of war.

Even though they were in the deep palace, the royal family was not isolated from the world.

The people's grievances and sighs will always affect everyone in the palace through various direct or indirect channels.

It was from that time that the Li royal family was tainted with an aura of depression, which became stronger day by day.

After entering the Ming Dynasty, they were gradually infected by the peaceful and positive atmosphere here, which washed away all the resentment they brought from the Tang Dynasty.

Li Mingda is like this, and so is Li Chengqian?

Therefore, no matter how reason reminded him, as a king of a fallen country, he should be solemn and sad, neither humble nor arrogant, and not be like Emperor Liu Houzhu who was "happy in Shu and didn't miss Shu".

But emotionally, the soul of the Tang Emperor still found a moment of peace and comfort on the land of Ming.

"The country is peaceful and the people are prosperous... Oh, what a peaceful and prosperous country--"

Li Chengqian leaned back in the carriage, crossed his legs roughly, and sighed deeply.

He lost, lost completely and wholeheartedly.

The Tang Dynasty was in chaos and riddled with holes due to this war.

As for the Ming Dynasty, it was not affected at all. Instead, it became more vigorous and prosperous.

In terms of natural endowments, the Tang Dynasty could not be worse than the Ming Dynasty.

Whether it is Guanzhong, the land of abundance, or the fertile Central Plains since ancient times, or the booming Jiangnan and Huguang...

Which one is not better than the bitterly cold Northeast?

At the beginning of the war, the Tang Dynasty still had an absolute advantage.

But why did the war develop into what it is now?

The only variable here is people.

The rulers are different.

Li Chengqian was in charge of Chang'an and played a good hand of cards badly.

Li Ming took charge of the Ming Dynasty and revived the entire dead chess game.

Is this Li Ming’s way of governing the country?
Is this Li Ming’s true strength?
The difference between him and Li Chengqian is like heaven and earth.

"No wonder my Heavenly Soldiers could never win on the battlefield, no wonder he could suddenly sweep across the Central Plains...

"This is not sudden, this is inevitable." The national strength of the Ming Dynasty is the basis for all his military actions.

"And this strong national strength was created by him in the land of the barbarians.

"And that 'he', from the day he was born in Lide Palace, has never stopped struggling, seeking survival, and pursuing..."

After putting aside the turmoil of state affairs, for the first time in his life, Li Chengqian stood in the perspective of his fourteenth brother and looked back at the past few years.

While the prince was enjoying the respect of those around him as a matter of course, Li Ming was desecrating himself to protect himself.

While the Crown Prince was listening to the teachings of great scholars with a divided mind, Li Ming was wandering among the streets of Chang'an.

When the Crown Prince was complaining that his father was too strict with him, Li Ming had not even entered the eyes of his father.

The flowers in the greenhouse are dying, while the seeds sown carelessly are growing wildly.

When the two compete on the same battlefield which is absolutely cruel but also absolutely fair.

Is there any suspense as to who will win or lose?

"I... I was too arrogant to even think of challenging him and usurping his throne..."

If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. He was also an emperor and knew that this job was not easy.

Perhaps only a man with a destiny like my father, or a man who goes against the will of heaven like Li Ming, can sit firmly on that seat.

How can a mediocre person like me dare to touch them...

"Mei Niang, I am not a competent emperor. You may be able to do it, but I can't...

"This throne never belonged to me. If he wants to take it, then let him take it."

After letting go of all his burdens, Li Chengqian figured it out.

For the first time in his life, he felt extremely relaxed and refreshed, as if he had just had a long nightmare.

The survival and fall of the Tang Dynasty was too grand a narrative to describe, and it was beyond his capabilities.

No matter what, he may not even love his nearest father that deeply, let alone the ancestors of the Li family whom he has never met?

As long as the people on this land can live well, nothing else matters.

Whether it is the Tang Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, to ordinary people, it is nothing more than an insignificant name. The change of dynasties does not mean the end of the world.

"Huh... They keep talking about the country and the people, but the country will not really collapse just because the Li Tang ancestral temple is cut off.

"What's more, the Li Tang ancestral temple has not been cut off and is still in good spirits.

"I should have been more relaxed..."

Li Chengqian finally figured it out.

After unloading the burdens other than himself, Li Chengqian began to think seriously about his own situation.

So far, his situation and that of the other captured royals have been ideal.

The reception staff were polite and the expenses for vehicles and ships were all in accordance with the imperial standards, without any simplification.

Of course, Li Chengqian was not so naive as to think that everything was fine and he had escaped danger.

After all, he was a politician who had served as a top leader, and he could look at all political activities from the perspective of cost and benefit.

For a big country like the Ming Dynasty, the cost of providing good support to the royal family left by the Li Tang Dynasty and offering them abundant material conditions would be negligible.

However, the hidden costs of leaving the previous emperor alive are undoubtedly huge.

The biggest risk is whether ambitious people in the society will cause trouble under the banner of "restoring the Tang Dynasty"?
Therefore, after the Two Jin Dynasties, the captured monarchs of the previous dynasty were usually killed with a single sword, and that was the end of it.

What's more, given Li Chengqian's physical condition, he would die of natural causes if he was disturbed at all.

Would Li Ming really kill his elder brother with his own hands?

Oh, what's the big brother?
The emperor had too many children. In the huge palace, the two brothers hardly ever met each other. Their lives had no intersection and they were complete strangers.

Moreover, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were not many examples of fathers killing sons and sons killing fathers.

"Li Ming repeatedly promised not to kill me, but how much of the emperor's words can count..."

Li Chengqian began to have wild thoughts, and suddenly a surge of air rose in his stomach, causing him to cough violently.

The marching team suddenly stopped.

"What happened? Your Majesty, you are not feeling well!"

Without waiting for the accompanying eunuchs to ask about Li Chengqian's health, the imperial doctors of the Ming Dynasty rushed into the carriage first, nervously took Li Chengqian's pulse and diagnosed him. They held an expert consultation on the spot and prescribed a medicine as quickly as possible.

Could this be poison? Li Chengqian's mind was in a mess, and he let the imperial physician pour the bitter medicine into his mouth.

It turned out that he was overthinking.

The medical skills and medical ethics of the Ming Dynasty doctor were both excellent. This medicine was the right remedy for the disease and quickly relieved Li Chengqian's cough.

"Your Majesty's illness is not terminal. Please relax and cooperate with the treatment with a positive attitude."

The doctors gave a few detailed instructions and then left at the appropriate time.

"Brother, how are you?"

Li Zhi and Li Mingda asked anxiously.

Li Chengqian slowly shook his hand:
"Nothing, nothing."

When the carriage team stopped, it blocked the wide main road.

The guys in Pingzhou are really the real guys. No matter how grand the motorcade is, they will still criticize it.

"Why don't you leave? Will you compensate me for the deduction of wages for being late for work?"

"It seems that a woman in the caravan is ill and the doctor is seeing her."

"Where did this noble lady come from? It's quite a grand ceremony."

It was the first time for everyone in the team to be criticized by civilians.

I can only say that the experience was very novel, but I won’t experience it again next time.

"I'm fine now, go away!"

Li Chengqian blushed and told his followers to set off quickly.

As soon as the carriage moved, pedestrians hurriedly squeezed through the gap and hurried forward.

Li Chengqian looked out the car window, admiring the market scene curiously.

The people of the Ming Dynasty are really anxious, as if delaying them for a quarter of an hour would cause them to lose a huge business.

"Full of vitality and prosperity..."

Li Chengqian's lips curled up, this time it was a smile of relief.

The convoy continued to move forward without stopping, and the speed was not slow.

But the capital of the Ming Dynasty is really big, and its scale is not much inferior to Chang'an.

It was not until noon that the team slowly stopped.

It stopped in front of a few ordinary houses.

"Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, we have arrived. Please take a rest in the carriage first."

The leader bowed slightly to the royal family, then opened the gate of the mansion and went in briskly to report.

Why does that guide look so familiar? He looks a bit like Imperial Censor Wei Ting... Li Chengqian was just wondering in his heart when he heard the voice of a middle-aged woman.

"Oh, Liaodong is Liaodong, a land of barbarians."

(End of this chapter)