Li Ming sprayed out the tea he had drunk in one sip, and while coughing, he looked at the old chef strangely and said, "Why do you think so? Am I the kind of person who uses any means?"

"How do I know?" the old chef said expressionlessly: "I just listened to your tone that there was such an idea, but I don't agree with it, but if you have to do this, I can't refuse."

Li Ming rubbed the tea on his chin with a smile and cried, and said, "Listen, I'm not at the level of being useless now. Compared to power, I value family affection more, so the kind you said may never appear."

The old chef showed a rare smile on his face and said, "I feel relieved that I say this. I really thought you were going to kill him. You were very different when you were in Linjiazhuang now. I don't know what's going on, but it feels like you are getting colder and colder."

Li Ming shook his head helplessly, lay down on the recliner and sighed: "Maybe you are right, a person's personality is too affected by the environment. The emperor's position needs a cold person to do it." Speaking of this, he closed his eyes and quietly said nothing. In his heart, he didn't know what it felt like. In his nature, he didn't want himself to become like this. His nature is kind and yearns for freedom. The emperor's life is really not suitable for him.

In a blink of an eye, the sky outside was getting darker and the winter days were getting shorter and shorter. With Xiao Fugui's reminder, Li Ming then remembered that he wanted to have dinner with Li Song.

Since returning to the imperial city, Li Ming has never had time to meet Li Song. The two of them have made a good relationship after resolving their past grudges. They haven't seen each other for nearly a month, and Li Ming really misses him a little.

Li Song had prepared the meal in his bedroom. Seeing that Li Ming had recently stood up enthusiastically and pulled him in. The medicines provided by Li Ming to him kept his body pretty good. In a month, his face became much fatter and began to become shiny.

After sitting down, Li Ming first picked up Li Song's wrist and took his pulse. This action moved Li Song and said repeatedly: "My body has been very good for a while. I am not worried at all with you by my side."

Li Ming put down his hand, nodded and said, "Keep well. If you continue like this, your brother will still enjoy the blessings of 10 or 20 years. Don't worry, I'm here to ensure you are fine." Speaking of this, he picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank it all, and then smiled and said, "In addition to not drinking too much, you can live as you wish."

Li Song sighed with emotion and said, "A month ago, I was still struggling with the nightmare. Who could have thought that I could sit here and drink with you again today? Alas, life is better than anything else. I now understand everything. What rights and the world are all passing clouds. How to enjoy it well in your lifetime is the right thing. So, now there is no regret for what is passed on to you. But brothers, today I have to worry about your private affairs. The concubines and palace maids in the harem are indispensable in a palace and a privilege to be an emperor. No one else can have it. You can't just let it go. In this way, will the royal family's ancestral system change? Listen to me, give up your overly ideal ideas. I know that you think differently from ordinary people, but you can't be too far apart."

Li Song came up and mentioned this matter, but he also saved Li Ming's explanation. Looking at Li Song, Li Ming smiled and said, "Since brother said that, I want to tell you my own thoughts. You are right. My thoughts are different from most people. It all depends on my heart being all on the people. For me, being an emperor is not a kind of enjoyment, but a responsibility. If I make a choice, I will be my island owner on Biquan Island, rather than being an emperor of the Nine Five in the palace. This is determined by my personality. For me, being an emperor is not for enjoyment. Since I have achieved this position, I must do my best to do it well. Changing the ancestral system of the harem is one of the first things I have to do."

"In my plan, I want to spend more than twenty years to gradually let this society enter a relatively open and democratic era, that is, let the people of the world obtain more rights. This right is not just the right to survive, but more. Only in this way can this society produce earth-shaking progress. Brother, what I want to do is not only maintain the stability of the Tang Dynasty, but also the progress of the entire social civilization."

Speaking of this, Li Ming smiled bitterly and looked at Li Song, who was treacherously and very confused, shook his head and said, "I have tried my best to explain my goals and ideals in popular language, but looking at this, my brother still didn't understand it. I'd better summarize it in one sentence. In general, I did this to make the people of the Tang Dynasty live a better life. Do you understand now?"

Li Song shook his head mutely and said, "I still don't understand what is the inevitable connection between you disbanding the harem and the people of the world. The harem concubines, palace maids and others spent only one million taels of silver a year, and as a Tang Dynasty, it can still be supported."

Li Ming smiled bitterly and explained: "Do you know how effective a million taels of silver can be? Alas, forget it, brother, it's a bit too difficult to explain these things to you. You have contacted too little about the people's affairs and don't understand the suffering of ordinary people at all. I save this million taels of silver enough to solve the food and clothing problems of all the people in the two states. Brother, in the territory of the Tang Dynasty, there are still more than 70% of the people who are not full of food, so I must continue to do this in the harem. Brother, since you have handed over the Tang Dynasty to me, please feel free to let me do it."

Li Song poured a glass of wine into his mouth in a depressed mood and sighed: "I can't tell you, but the matter in the harem involves the ancestral system."

Before he could finish his words, Li Ming interrupted him and said, "Brother, the ancestral system can be changed. It has been more than a thousand years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. How much has the ancestral system changed during this period? Brother, I want to open up a brand new event in the Tang Dynasty, an event that was no less than that in the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong, so there are some things that must be changed."

"O?" Li Song's interest was suddenly raised. He looked at Li Ming with interest and asked, "From what you mean, it seems that you have a lot of ideas? But as far as I know, during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, the territory I occupied was much larger than that now. It may not be that easy for you to restore the original territory. Could it be that you are going to launch troops to the Great Zhou and the Great Su?" When he said this, Li Song was so surprised that he was about to jump up.

Li Ming smiled slightly, picked up the wine glass and greeted Li Songyao, and said, "For the time being, we should focus on restoring the economy of the Tang Dynasty. Only when the people have solved the basic problem of food and clothing, will I consider conquering the Great Zhou and Da Su. My personality is that I either do not do it. If I want to do it, I must do the best. Da Zhou and Da Su were originally the territory of the Tang Dynasty. I took them back and just revitalized the power of my Tang Dynasty. Wouldn't that be better?"

Li Ming said here, Li Song jumped up excitedly and looked at Li Ming. He shouted: "Li Ming! If you really have this determination and really have this ambition, no matter what you do, I will support you unconditionally! Not to mention removing the harem, I am willing to do it even if I don't let me be the Supreme Emperor!"

Li Ming smiled and said, "Brother, don't worry, now the Great Su Kingdom is taking advantage of the chaos in our internal situation to invade our Southern Dian Prefecture. This has made me a good excuse. As long as the Tang Dynasty is a little more stable, I will personally lead the troops to drive the troops south. How about it? Now you won't stop me from carrying out the reform of the ancestral system."

Li Song sat down, shook his head heavily and said, "As long as you promise to do this, I will never stop you. OK, I won't care about your affairs in the future, and I hope you won't let me down."

Li Ming showed a relieved smile on his face and said, "Don't worry, brother, I will never let you down."

On the way back to the bedroom, the old chef finally couldn't help but feel curious and asked Li Ming: "I heard what you and the Supreme Emperor said just now. Don't you hate war the most? Why do you think of conquering other countries? In that case, will it cause more people to be displaced?"

Li Ming smiled slightly, took a few steps to pull Xiao Fugui and the others down, and then laughed in a low voice: "I made up my mind to unify the world a year or two ago in the desert. The world is still very backward and people are still very ignorant. Since I have decided to do something for the people of the world, I will just do it thoroughly so that my thoughts and ideas will cover the whole world. Although this will cause a large number of people to be displaced and their families will be destroyed in a short period of time, it is necessary to compare with the development and progress of society. Where can there be new life without pain? In order to allow more descendants to live a better life, appropriate sacrifice is necessary."

The old chef shook his head blankly and said softly: "I don't understand. You are too profound. There are many things I don't understand. Forget it, I'm not curious anymore. Just follow you honestly. Really, have I had many questions these two days? If you are impatient, just say it, I'm just curious, and there's nothing else."

Li Mingshu laughed and said, "How could that be? I know your personality, so I will never blame you. In the future, if you have anything to say in front of me, you have never treated me as an emperor, and I hope there will be no change in the future. In two days, after my subordinates get used to working independently, I will practice the tenth level of Taiqing Gong with you."

The two of them talked and laughed along the way, slowly disappearing into the night.

Two days later, Li Ming handed over all his work to Gao Wei, and then decided to practice his martial arts well under the guidance of the old chef.

Although the protection of the old chef, the master, made Li Ming a little careless about martial arts practice, he also knew that he could not stay in the palace for the rest of his life, nor could he let the old chef protect him for the rest of his life. According to his personality, after the Tang Dynasty and the world were stable, he would definitely leave the palace to travel around the world. Emperor Qianlong's style had always impressed him. Now that he has become an emperor, he must be an emperor in the future. Therefore, it is very beneficial to restore his martial arts early.

Before entering the formal practice, he asked the old chef to restore Yang Ping's martial arts skills and then met him in his study.

After not seeing him for two days, Yang Ping has grown a lot. When he saw Li Ming, his eyes were filled with tears. He asked him to sit down in front of him. Li Ming asked with a smile: "You have been resting these two days? You are over 60 years old this year, right? How about it, can you still bear it? If you feel that you are in a bad state, you can just mention it to me, and I will arrange a suitable place for you."

Yang Ping endured the tears for a long time and finally couldn't help but shed a rush. He left the seat and knelt in front of Li Ming and whimpered: "Thank you for your long life's concern. I can still serve the emperor. Please don't consider the old slave's body. If you have any questions, please give me the old slave to do it with strength."

Li Ming nodded and smiled and said, "That's good. I'm really worried about your physical condition. Since nothing is going on, I'll give you an important task."

Speaking of this, his face became serious, and he looked at Yang Ping who was kneeling in front of him and said, "Because of your credibility, Princess Changle's escape has caused great hidden dangers to the future safety of the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, an undercurrent lurking in my Tang Dynasty, threatening us at any time. I must clean up all these potential threats in order to welcome the upcoming comprehensive development. Therefore, I order you to rush to Linzhou from now on to secretly investigate the whereabouts of Phantom and Princess Changle and others, and be sure to find

Go to their lair so that I can catch them all in one place. In this mission, I will send five team members to follow you as your assistants and liaison officers. They have the latest communication tools in their hands to ensure that you can contact me at any time. In addition, after you set off, I will also order Linjiazhuang to send personnel to Linzhou to cooperate with your investigation. I hope that with your ability, you can find their hidden place smoothly. Remember that your mission is related to the safety of the entire Tang Dynasty, so you don’t need to complete it as soon as possible.”

Yang Ping raised his head, and a fanatical light appeared in his old eyes. He stared at Li Ming, then kowtowed three heads on the blue brick floor, and said, "I thank Long Live for Long Live's tolerance and generosity. I can give the old slave a chance to make meritorious deeds. Please rest assured. Although Linzhou is great, I will definitely make it clear. After fighting for this life, I must complete the task assigned by Long Live. Otherwise, the old slave will let the accompanying personnel come to see you with the old slave's head. Long Live, the old slave is no longer by your side. Please take care of yourself." After saying that, he kowtowed three more to Li Ming, slowly stood up and retreated to the door, and said to B Yi who was standing aside: "Please equip me with the entourage, I will set off now."

With Li Ming's consent, B and Yang Ping went down to make preparations. Looking at Yang Ping's disappearing back, Li Ming asked thoughtfully: "In your opinion, is Yang Ping reliable now?"

The old chef's voice came from somewhere: "According to my opinion, he should have no reason to resist you. As you said, he has lived in the palace all his life, and he should have no doubts about his loyalty to the royal family."

Li Ming smiled and nodded, sat there without saying a word for a long time. He was waiting for B to come back. Although he handed over the government to Gao Wei, there were still many things surrounding him. If he didn't explain clearly, he would not settle down and practice martial arts.

An hour later, B came back in a hurry, holding a telegram in his hand.

Walking to Li Ming, he whispered to report: "Malin's telegram is about the whereabouts of the swallow."

Li Ming's interest was immediately ticked up. He hurriedly took the telegram and started to look carefully.

According to Li Ming's instructions, Ma Lin let her go without restoring her martial arts skills, and then sent stalkers behind her.

Swallow, who had lost his martial arts skills, could not escape the surveillance of the stalkers, so her every move was sent back to Malin by telegram.

After leaving Biquan Island, Yanzi took a boat toward Nanguo City. On the way, she got off the boat in Huzhou, then hired a carriage, circled around Huzhou, and finally turned to Linzhou. She stationed in Linzhou's Shelter City and stayed for five or six days. She didn't see her doing anything else. Malin felt that things were a little strange, so he sent Li Ming this telegram.

After reading the telegram, Li Ming couldn't help but feel very strange. When he first met Swallow, he was in Yunsha City. He thought Swallow grew up there, and after she was released, she would return to the desert. However, he didn't expect that she would actually live in Swallow City. This place of Swallow City is a very deep memory for Li Ming. After escaping from the imperial city, he entered the strange formation in the dense forest on the way to Swallow City. Therefore, Li Ming had an inexplicable fear of that place, especially the experience of falling into the sky in the forest, which made him unforgettable for his life.

After lowering her head and thinking for a while, Li Ming did not think of what Yan Zi's real intention was. Fortunately, there were surveillance personnel behind her, and she was not afraid that she would be unfavorable to her. Therefore, Li Ming quickly put her aside.

"After I was in seclusion, all this place was blocked. Except for a few people including Gao Wei, others were not allowed to enter. All the guards set up a three-teacher formation to defend day and night until I came out of seclusion. In addition, B-Yi notified Lin Shuang and asked him to convey a message to Linjiazhuang, asking them to send one or two hundred disciples with higher martial arts to Linzhou to assist Yang Ping in searching the whereabouts of the Phantom and Princess Changle."

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, with a puzzled look on his face, and he said to himself: "Swallow has also arrived in Linzhou, and Princess Changle and the others are also in Linzhou. Is there any relationship between them?"
Chapter completed!