Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 239: Yes! Love!
"No, no, no, sister, I'm not hungry..."

"No, I think you're hungry."

At the gate of Lulong County.

As Su Dingfang opened his mouth to refuse, he was pulled off the horse by a burly and enthusiastic old lady and a steamed bun was stuffed into his mouth.

"Woo woo woo?" Su Dingfang expressed his doubts to Changsun Yan about the enthusiasm of the people of Liaodong.

"Woo." Chang Sun Yan squirmed his big mouth which was stuffed full of food and nodded in affirmation.

"Hmm?" Su Dingfang pointed to the front, where Li Ming should be standing.

Little brother Li Ming could no longer be seen because he was surrounded by circles of big sisters, and all that could be seen were the butts of his Liaodong friends.

"Ohhh! He's so cute!"

"He lets people touch him, he lets people touch him!"

"Come on, baby, smile~"

"Hmm?" Su Dingfang expressed his concern for the personal safety of Young Prince Li Ming.

Not to mention whether there might be some assassins here or not, just the three layers of people here seem to be able to suck away the air around him and suffocate him.

"Yeah." The calm Chang Sun Yan said that he was not surprised. Our friend of women, His Highness Li Ming, is so popular.

Li Ming and his party’s itinerary cannot be kept secret.

As soon as they crossed the You-Ping dividing line and set foot on the land of Liaodong, this huge ragtag army immediately attracted the attention of secret scouts.

Of course, Li Ming had no intention of giving Wei Daijia and the others who were guarding the house a surprise, so he reported the matter truthfully.

Then, just outside the city of Lulong County, the seat of Pingzhou, a scene occurred where the road was blocked by fanatical female fans.

"You have prepared food and drink to welcome the king's army. Your Highness is deeply loved by the people."

The little old lady Zhang Chuchen sat quietly in the car, happily watching the lively scene in front of her.

Judging from the journey into Liaodong, it is not surprising that Li Ming is so sincerely supported by the people.

Pingzhou has a large population, prosperous commerce, and affluent life. Even outside the city, it is densely populated and has good public security. Needless to say, there is no need to say more.

What impressed her most was the mental outlook of the people here.

People in Pingzhou are extremely confident. They look everyone in the eye without feeling inferior or proud because of the other person's identity.

It seems as if they are the masters of this world.

This can be seen from their attitude towards His Highness Li Ming.

The people of Pingzhou naturally respect this leader who leads everyone towards prosperity.

But the way they express respect is very different from people in other places.

They neither knelt down along the way nor shouted "Long live the emperor".

Instead, they spontaneously rallied around him and did not treat him as an outsider at all.

Everyone has a glorious moment, and it is hard to say that Liaodong’s current prosperity is unprecedented.

However, the sense of ownership of the Liaodong people was something Zhang Chuchen had never seen or heard of before.

In her rich life experience, she had never seen ordinary people in other regions generally maintain such an - inappropriately - "insolent" mental state.

This can be said to be the most obvious characteristic of the Liaodong people.

Although it is unique, it fits in very well with His Highness Li Ming's character of "fighting against heaven and earth".

It can be said that it was a two-way journey.

"With such a monarch in the future, the Tang Dynasty will have a bright future."

Zhang Chuchen said with a smile.

"With so many brothers competing with him, it's hard to say who will be the emperor in the future." Li Jing shook his head and said.

He stayed beside his wife, his body relaxed, but his eyes were staring in the direction of Li Ming with sparkling eyes.

This precious baby was surrounded by so many strangers, and he dared not let his guard down for a moment.

"Your Highness will definitely win." Zhang Chuchen's tone was very calm, as if he was saying that sunset was a natural law.

Li Jing's attitude was much more cautious:
“A civil war has begun, the outcome of which is still unknown.

“Your Highness the Regent’s governing ability is naturally first-rate, but Liaodong’s territory is too small, the population and resources are too few, and the climate is not good.

"With limited resources, competing with the kings who own the fertile land of the Central Plains... it's still uncertain."

He shook his head slightly.

War is the most materialistic behavior in the world.

There is only one objective standard for judging right and wrong: winning.

No matter how you play with the political system, without the material conditions, you will still lose.

As for the piece of land in Liaodong that His Highness Li Ming had chosen, how could I describe it...

From a geographical point of view, the golden-horned, silver-edged and grass-belly are indeed the best choice for self-protection.

But the problem is that Liaodong is too remote and its material foundation is too poor.

Taking today's example, Li Ming mobilized huge manpower and material resources to cultivate rice seeds suitable for planting in Liaodong, which is certainly remarkable.

But in the warm inland areas, rice has been grown for thousands of years.

Natural conditions can completely make up for the gap in governance level of local officials.

No matter how hard Li Ming tried, he could not make the sun and rain tilt a little more towards the northeast and build the two lower-level states of Ping and Ying into a city with spring all year round.

Therefore, the total population and wealth here can never compare to that of the prosperous areas in the Central Plains.

Converted into war potential, it is naturally not as good as the states and counties controlled by other vassal kings.

"In war, it's hard to say who will win or lose..."

Li Jing repeated it in his mouth.

Zhang Chuchen turned his head gently and looked at his beloved, with a smile on his face:

"Is there a battle that my beloved cannot win?"

Li Jing straightened his back subconsciously, still mumbling modestly:

"That's not necessarily the case. For example, I'm not sure of winning against Your Majesty..."

Although he said this, Li Jing was the same as his partner.

From the moment I took the initiative to board Li Ming's pirate ship, I had already placed my bet on him.

Bet on Li Ming to win.

Otherwise, on the night when he was released from the prison car by Li Ming, he could have fled far away and used the 500 heavy cavalry to carve out an independent kingdom for himself in South Buyeo.

Why would he join Li Ming's fleeing team with all the money he had saved up throughout his life, and even engage in a head-on fight with Li Tai's troops?

"Sooner or later, a son will inherit his father's character." Zhang Chuchen comforted his wife.

"Well, yes." Li Jing nodded slightly, his eyes suddenly becoming deep.

"I hope we can live long enough to witness that day."

…………

"Are you OK?"

Li Ling and Cui Yi, a married couple, each took one side and wiped Li Ming's face.

With the help of the local police, Li Ming and his team finally escaped the fans' pursuit and entered Lulong County.

After being fed crazily by enthusiastic female fans, Li Ming's face was covered with cake and cheese crumbs, and he looked like a little cat.

"It's okay, Amu Amu."

Li Ming was still chewing, letting his sister and brother-in-law rub his chubby face into a round shape.

The naive image is...hard to associate with the half-step emperor.

"It's a great thing to be loved by the people."

Yang smiled.

In the entire convoy, she and Li Ming are the only two rough-hewn ones who are least worried about "safety issues".

To some extent, it can be said that Li Ming's thick nerves were inherited from his mother.

How could there be any danger when one is among one's own people?

"I don't think they love me, they just want my body."

Li Ming wiped his soft cheek, which seemed to have a lip print of suspicious origin.

When he was surrounded by the middle-aged women fans, he heard a "pop" sound and immediately realized that he was being molested.

Unfortunately, there were too many people at the scene and they were unable to catch the woman.

Alas, boys must protect themselves when traveling outside...

"Brother Ming!"

From a distance, he heard a powerful roar, and his body suddenly shook.

Following the voice, he saw Wei Daijia, Fang Yize and Yuchi Xunyu, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, I am a rational brother...

But the next second, his feet were off the ground.

Immediately afterwards, her pink and tender cheek, which had just been kissed by an unknown aunt, was scratched hard by the rough beard.

"Your Highness! I haven't seen you for half a year. I miss you so much!"

Wei Daijia simply hugged his leader and rubbed his bearded face against him desperately.

"Hey, hey, hey! Awei, calm down! Calm down!"

Li Ming's little feet flapped desperately.

"He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world, and the ruler and his subjects are of one mind, which is really enviable~" Yang was still laughing and making sarcastic remarks. Is this really good... Li Ling looked at his brother's feet floundering like a drowning man, and he didn't know whether to envy or sympathize.

…………

After many twists and turns, the group finally returned to the provincial capital safely.

The soldiers were stationed in the Pingzhou Military Governor's Office, which was newly built last year, and exchanged business with the Red Turban Army (crossed out) which was flying the flag of the official army.

The prefecture was the political center of the entire Liaodong region. It was rebuilt on the site of the Pingzhou prefecture which was burned down by Murong Yan.

Of course, locals generally call this place "the committee".

Like the bureaucratic system in Pingzhou, there is one team with two names here, to show that they are still loyal subjects of the Tang Dynasty.

After settling their families and their new recruits Li Jing and Su Dingfang, Li Ming and Chang Sun Yan sat in the office, quietly listening to the reports from Wei Daijia and Fang Yize.

The two brothers haven’t appeared in almost a hundred chapters, and I can’t wait to pour out all the achievements they have made during this period.

Although Li Ming received tons of intelligence from Liaodong on a regular basis every day.

But what you learn from books is always superficial, especially when there is a time difference of about half a month in communication between the two places.

To fully understand the situation, we still need to have a face-to-face interview.

"So, all the old and capable officials who came here from Chang'an to seek refuge were sent to Goguryeo by you?"

Li Ming's eyes became sharp and swept over Wei Daijia.

Awei showed no fear and nodded confidently:

"Yes."

Li Ming's tense expression relaxed and he patted his shoulder:

"Well done."

It was Li Ming's established policy to pack up the "Chang'an Gang" and send them to Goguryeo.

There was no other way. Pingzhou and Yingzhou were really small, and with the solid foundation laid by Li Ming, Wei Daijia and Fang Yize could easily handle the situation.

There is no room for these great gods invited from Chang'an (in a positive sense)——

Starting from the powerful minister Fang Xuanling, Li Ming moved in the top leader of the Secretariat, the Palace Attendant Liang Shidao, the Assistant Minister Cui Renshi, as well as the second-in-command of the Secretariat, the representative of the old bureaucracy Xiao Yu, and so on.

As well as senior affairs officers such as Liu Dequan and Sun Fujia.

Almost half of the imperial court's elite were transported to the remote area of ​​Liaodong.

If this half of the Tang Dynasty's heavenly group is left to stay in the two states of Liaodong with nothing to do, something big will happen.

Just like fighting cocks cannot be raised together, this group of restless old foxes will definitely waste their time among themselves, play up political struggles, and perform hundreds of chapters of palace fighting dramas.

In order to vent the ministers' abundant energy and political ambitions, he did not want to find that several of them had been killed in the struggle when he returned to Liaodong.

Li Ming made a decisive decision to send them to Goguryeo to govern the local area and make use of their remaining energy.

There is a lot of potential in the vast land of Northeast China.

What? Would it be too much of a disservice to Goguryeo to send Tang officials to directly govern them?

Hurt his sister's head!
The so-called "sovereignty integrity" of Goguryeo as a country was no longer within Li Ming's consideration.

The Buyeo people have in fact become his economic vassals. What qualifications do they have to talk about independent sovereignty?

In fact, we are all one family, why are we talking about different things?
The regent of Goguryeo, Yeon Gaesomun, the Great Molizhi, had basically lost control over the entire country. His decrees did not leave Anhak Palace, and his power was reduced to almost the same level as that of the puppet King Baozang, whom he supported.

As for the local chiefs, both big and small, they were sidelined by the organizations at all levels extending from Liaodong, and they themselves were trained by trading companies to become tax thieves who only knew how to extort money.

The entire superstructure of Goguryeo can be described in one word - the New Year pig waiting to be slaughtered.

Another word to describe the whole country of Goguryeo is - possession of one's body.

Liaodong under Li Mingzhi was like a tentacle monster, extending tentacles named "trading company", "farm", "mine", "charity organization", "newspaper", "environmental protection organization" and so on, penetrating into every aspect of this northeastern neighbor and completely eroding the grassroots.

In this broken country, it was no big deal to cram in a few dozen promising middle-aged and elderly people, bypass the Goguryeo royal court and local tyrants, and actually rule the local people.

"No, no, it's the seniors who volunteered to go to the Northeast. It's not just my credit." Wei Daijia said modestly.

It makes sense. For the fourteen traitors who were eager to prove themselves, it was obviously easier to achieve political achievements in the vast Goguryeo than in the peaceful Pingzhou and Yingzhou.

"Awei, the Tang Dynasty has started a civil war, you know that, right?"

Li Ming had a concerned expression on his face, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"Your family..."

Because A Wei's father, Wei Ting, was not a member of the Fourteenth Party, he ignored Li Ming's invitation to come to Liaodong to eat chicken stewed with mushrooms, and the Wei family continued to stay in Chang'an.

The area around Chang'an may soon become a war zone...

"It's okay. The old man has his own way to deal with it." Wei Daijia was quite open-minded about the possibility that his father might be trapped in the battlefield.

Chang Sunyan added:

"If even the Jingzhao Wei family can't escape the war, then the sky will fall down if the war is so fierce."

His family was still in Chang'an, and he was not worried at all.

After all, this is just a civil war between princes, a sequel to the fight for the throne.

It was not a war from bottom to top, a war to change dynasties.

If they are afraid of even such a small scene, the Wei and Changsun families should not have the nerve to call themselves "aristocratic families".

"As long as the family is safe, that's good."

Without any worries, Li Ming was completely relieved and began to discuss the main topic with his confidants:
"The world is in chaos now, what can we do in this corner of the Northeast?"

…………

Meanwhile, Goguryeo.

Domestic City.

Before the capital was moved to Pyongyang, Guenguense was the ancient capital of Goguryeo. Together with Pyongyang and Sonbon, it was one of the three capitals of Goguryeo and was an important political, cultural and economic center.

At the same time, it was also an important hub for Li Ming to infiltrate Goguryeo.

Due to its geographical location adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, Guonei City was a key node for spreading Li Ming's "Okyin" to Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo.

Qingyanli Temple in the city is where the Liaodong Mine Farm recruitment point and the "Shanxinpu" porridge stall are located, and they provide free heating in the severe winter.

Therefore, most of the people in the city gathered here and obeyed the orders of the Tang people. It has in fact replaced the provincial capital and become the local political center.

In the main hall of the temple, an old man with a goatee sat cross-legged in front of the statue, warming a charcoal basin. His old eyes flashed with intelligence and cunning as he read letters sent from home.

"Hebei is in turmoil... This is not unexpected. Your Highness has set out to leave Youzhou... According to the distance traveled, you should have arrived in Pingzhou today, right?"

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard, put down the letter that Li Ming had written on the saddle, and sipped the tea.

The tea here is mixed with cloves and has a light and elegant fragrance, which is quite unique to the local area.

Because Guonei City was located in the geographical center of the Goguryeo Kingdom and was the center of Li Ming's rule over the country, it was personally presided over by the chief prime minister Fang Xuanling.

Other old ministers from Chang'an were scattered in various important mountain cities of Goguryeo, each leading local Tang organizations, Red Turban Army branches and local natives.

At this time, a Goguryeo man in coarse linen clothes also entered the main hall. He lowered his head, walked up to Fang Xuanling, knelt down, and said respectfully in Chinese with a heavy accent:

"Prime Minister, we are all at your service at any time."

Fang Xuanling did not answer him immediately, but subconsciously turned his head and looked back.

The deities enshrined in the statues are not the ferocious or majestic gods found in ordinary temples.

Instead, it is a statue of a chubby, cute little baby, who looks adorable and festive.

Needless to say, this statue was carved of a certain Regent who did not want to reveal his name.

The people of Goguryeo, who had been exploited by Yeon Gaesomun and the chieftains, learned of the existence of this young prince from the Tang people who came there to do good deeds.

Therefore, they also regarded this prince whom they had never met as a spiritual support and worshiped him.

Chairman Li’s kindness is not over yet.

When Fang Xuanling just took over the government affairs of Neigucheng and saw his old acquaintance being made into a statue, he was shocked.

Even now, he couldn't get himself used to it.

Sitting in front of the statue, he always felt weird and uncomfortable.

It seemed as if the statue had a mischievous look in its eyes, and was always holding back a smirk.

He could even hear Li Ming's mean voice in his ears:

You continue, I'm listening.

Fang Xuanling shook his head and smiled helplessly.

After a year and a half, the grandfather and grandson had to start again from the soup kitchen...

He was in a trance for a while, then he pulled himself together and told the Goguryeo man who had delivered the message:

"Invite them in."

After a while, several Goguryeo people entered the temple together.

These people were dressed simply, but each of them had a dignified demeanor and sparkling eyes.

They performed the cross-arm salute popular in the Tang Dynasty to Fang Xuanling and sat down respectfully.

Although these people were of ordinary origin, they were all talented and were selected by the Red Scarf Army and finally personally assessed by Fang Xuanling.

Truly one in a million.

These people will become the backbone of Lee's Goguryeo in the future.

"The time has come, and we must seize it."

Fang Xuanling went straight to the point and spoke briefly.

The people present were not stupid, they immediately perked up and bowed respectfully to the ground:
"I will do as you command!"

The Tang Dynasty was in chaos.

Goguryeo needs to make preparations as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)