King of Song

Chapter 527 Chapter [-]
On the tenth day of April in the fifth year of Xining, Tongtian Festival.

Early in the morning, Emperor Zhao Xu received congratulations from officials and envoys from various countries in the Daqing Hall. This is an annual big festival.In the afternoon, a banquet was held to entertain the officials and envoys, and there were also related celebrations.

Although there was a drought, the Ministry of Rituals still organized it grandly, and the whole celebration ceremony was still so grand and grand, even a bit extravagant.

In the morning, the morning congratulations proceeded step by step, there were rules of etiquette to be found, and everything was as usual.Afterwards, a banquet was set up, with Zhao Xu at the main seat, and the seats were arranged in sequence on both sides of the hall.On the right is the meritorious minister of Zaifu, and on the left are envoys from Liao, Xixia, Tubo, Koryo and Jiaozhi.

Because of Lin Zhao's dual identities as Marquis of Weiyuan and Minister of the Ministry of Industry, as well as his great favor, he was seated at the front.Before the banquet started, everyone began to take their seats one by one. When the envoy of the Liao Kingdom arrived, he stopped in front of Lin Zhao.

Since the "Chanyuan Alliance", Song and Liao have become a country of brothers, so it is natural that reciprocity is rare.Every year Zhengdan and the other emperor's birthday will send envoys to congratulate, even the empress dowager's birthday, and the condolences after the emperor's death, have formed a fixed pattern, every year.

The envoy to the Song Dynasty this time was called Xiao Xi, and he was from the descendant family just by his surname, but the degree of intimacy with Xiao Guanyin was not known.

Xiao Xi walked up to Lin Zhao, and said with a low laugh, "But Weiyuan Marquis Lin Shilang face to face?"

"Exactly!"

"Sure enough, he is a young talent with extraordinary bearing!"

Lin Zhao said with a smile, "Where, envoy Xiao praised you absurdly."

"How can you be an ordinary person who can make the crown prince of our country miss you so much?" Xiao Xi laughed and said, "When we went south, His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to ask the Marquis of Weiyuan to say hello, and His Highness said that he always remembers Lin Shilang's kindness! "

"Really? Then I will trouble Envoy Xiao to convey my greetings to the prince of your country!" Lin Zhao responded politely, only listening to Xiao Xi's tone, and looking at his expression that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, he knew it already. up.It seems that Yelujun held some grudges about the Daming Mansion incident!

This boy really bit Lu Dongbin like a dog, he doesn't know good people.

"His Royal Highness said that he has prepared a gift for Marquis Weiyuan!"

"Oh? The prince of your country is so polite!"

Xiao Xi looked at Lin Zhao who was calm and relaxed, and asked with a smile, "Won't Minister Lin ask what the gift is?"

"The handwriting of the prince of your country is naturally extraordinary!" Lin Zhao was also quite surprised by this.

"To be honest, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has not made a clear statement, and I'm just taking the liberty to speculate..." Xiao Xi smiled: "Shilang Lin will know later, haha!"

"That's good, I will wait and see!" Lin Zhao muttered in his heart, what the hell is Yelujun going to do?

Because Lin Zhao was sent to the Liao Kingdom in his early years and rescued the queen and princess of the Liao Kingdom, it was not surprising that the Liao envoy had a few words with him, and everyone paid no attention to it.

As the music played, the emperor Zhao Xu arrived surrounded by his servants and maids. Xiao Xi and Lin Zhao looked at each other, left a smug smile, and turned to sit down.

Zhao Xu is here, with a smug look on his face!

Today is his birthday, and it is a good day, so he is naturally in a good mood.I sat down amidst the sound of worship, and then gave a speech. The content was about the victories and achievements of the Song Dynasty in the past year. Some of the small disasters were ignored or weakened. I intentionally or unintentionally emphasized my own role. role.

Show off your power in front of hundreds of officials and envoys from various countries, satisfy your "vanity", reflect the style of the Tian family, and the supreme majesty of the emperor.In short, it was all about the scene, and then the banquet began.

First of all, all officials and envoys from all over the world toasted the emperor, congratulating the emperor on his long life and boundless happiness!This is the official start of the banquet. Most of these occasions are ceremonial, and the food is basically a decoration.The officials at the front can take the opportunity to toast the emperor, while the officials at the back can only toast with the courtiers on the left and right to persuade them to drink, which looks very festive.

But when it was the turn of the envoys from various countries to celebrate their birthdays, discordant voices appeared.

Because Xixia lost the battle of Wudinghe last year, they were relatively low-key. For example, Tubo and Jiaozhi were all vassals of the Song Dynasty in name, so they were naturally very respectful.Only this country of brothers - Liao Kingdom, is not so peaceful.

Xiao Xi, as the envoy to celebrate the birthday, got up to toast the emperor of Song Dynasty to celebrate his birthday, conveyed the greetings of the Lord of Liao, and at the same time offered congratulatory gifts.Others are not uncommon, but among them, the ten East Pearls and two thousand-year-olds are the most precious.

Lin Zhao glanced at it from a distance, and smiled coldly in his heart.It's a good thing, but it must have been exploited from the Jurchens.According to this rhythm, even if there is no Wanyan Aguda, it will be a matter of time before the oppressed Jurchens rise up to resist.

Zhao Xu naturally accepted this with a smile, thinking in his heart that he had spread too much rain and dew in the harem recently, and his body was a little deficient, and those two lives were naturally excellent supplements.Immediately he smiled happily and said: "The envoy has something to do, please convey my gratitude to the Liao Lord, and I will also prepare a small gift as a reward!"

"Your Majesty, you are welcome!" Xiao Xi coughed, looked around, glanced at Lin Zhao intentionally or unintentionally, and then said: "Your country pays attention to reciprocity, and the beauty of giving gifts is to make the other party like and happy. Do you think so?"

Zhao Xu had already noticed that Xiao Xi was afraid that there was something in his words, but the truth of this sentence was very simple and could not be refuted, so he just nodded slightly.

"Then... Your Majesty doesn't need to prepare another generous gift, it may not be in line with our Majesty's wishes!" Xiao Xi's words reached this point, and he looked at the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty with a smile, feeling a little bit like a poor man.

Zhao Xu's expression became more and more gloomy, but he still maintained a forced smile and majesty, and asked, "Then what does Lord Liao like?"

"Haha, what about this!" Xiao Xi said, "Actually, Your Majesty doesn't need to spend any more money on gifts, you just need to return the things from Daliao."

"Return?" Zhao Xu asked in a deep voice, "I don't know what Song Dynasty owes you Liao Kingdom?"

"Land!" Xiao Xi's complexion changed, and he took out a volume of letters from his body, and said solemnly: "This is the letter of credence from His Majesty Daliao to the Emperor of Song Dynasty, please redefine the borders of Wei, Ying, and Shuo states, and return them to me. All parts of Daliao!"

This sentence can be said to be earth-shattering, and there was an uproar in the hall.No one would have thought that on such a festive day, the envoy of the Liao Kingdom would come up with such a move.There may be a few unclear places on the border of the Song Dynasty, but they are all extremely subtle. For a long time, the two countries coexisted peacefully, and these disputes were put on hold for a long time.

Unexpectedly, the Liao Kingdom suddenly proposed it at this time, and its intentions were already clearly revealed.Re-divide the national boundaries and return the land of the Liao Kingdom... This means that the Song Dynasty occupied the land of the Liao Kingdom, and the fact has been confirmed.Furthermore, returning the two characters seems simple, but how much should be returned?Will the Liao Congress take the opportunity to erode the territory of the Song Dynasty?
The hearts of all the emperors and ministers of the Song Dynasty present here are tense, this is not the most important thing.The important thing is the attitude of the Liao Kingdom. If they took the initiative to provoke a border dispute, could it be that they wanted to send troops to the south?In the past few years, the Liao Kingdom has gradually recovered from the chaos of Emperor Taishu and Xiao Hujian, its strength has recovered, and it is ready to move again.

Those who are not of our race must have a different heart, I am afraid that the border will be on fire again!The decades of peace since the Chanyuan Alliance may have come to an end. In the face of this ominous signal, the emperors and ministers of the Song Dynasty felt a little turbulent in their hearts!

Zhao Xu smiled coldly and said, "It turns out that Lord Liao still has such a great gift for me!" While speaking, he stared at Xiao Xi fiercely.Re-dividing the country, even if the Liao Kingdom wanted to cannibalize the Song Dynasty, Zhao Xu didn't think so much for the time being.At this moment, what he cares most about is his own face.

The envoy of the Liao Kingdom mentioned this matter at the celebration banquet of the Tongtian Festival. This was to embarrass himself on purpose!
The Khitan people are really deceiving people!
"Where?" Xiao Xi didn't care about Zhao Xu's eyes, and said without fear: "I hope Your Majesty will do it!" While speaking, he glanced at Lin Zhao again.

Lin Zhao could see clearly, hear clearly, and smiled coldly in his heart. Is this the gift Yelu Jun gave him?

Obviously, this is probably Yelu Jun's handwriting.He is very unconvinced about the matter of Daming Mansion, this is another challenge to himself!

Of course, it should just be on the way, and Yelujun shouldn't make such a big fuss just because of his petty temper.Otherwise, Liao would not allow him to mess around like this.

Thinking about it carefully, this should be regarded as a blow to the Liao Kingdom!

In the past few years, the Song Dynasty has carried out reforms with the intention of enriching the country and strengthening the army. Isn't the purpose of strengthening the army to deal with foreign enemies like the Liao State?In particular, both Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi expressed their desire to restore the old environment of the Han and Tang Dynasties.Recovering the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun has also been the unchanging wish of the Song Dynasty for many years. Recently, some people even went to "Pingyan Policy".

For this strong anti-Liao sentiment, the Liao Kingdom can naturally sense it, and it will certainly not be indifferent.To retaliate against the Great Song Dynasty?Right now they may not have the strength and determination.All the methods of re-determining the border, pre-emptive and suppressed, made the Song Dynasty dare not act rashly!
If it was really Yelujun's idea, it really is a good plan!
Xiao Xi didn't care about Lin Zhao's performance, but looked at Zhao Xu, and said with a smile: "The weather in the Song Dynasty is really hot. When we went south, the water in the ponds in Xiongzhou, your country, was much less, and it seemed to be drying up. .”

The pond will definitely not dry up. Xiao Xi is reminding Zhao Xu that there is currently a drought in the Song Dynasty.However, the Liao Kingdom proposed to divide the territory at this time, which meant taking advantage of the fire and looting.Pointing it out deliberately at this moment is also a bit threatening!
The kings and ministers of the Song Dynasty all heard clearly that this matter can be big or small!If it is just to demarcate the border, even if it is to lose face, it is not a big deal to set aside more than ten miles for Liao.But if the purpose of the Liao Kingdom is more than that, then this incident may be a fuse, which may trigger a big battle between Song and Liao!
A naked threat, absolutely taking advantage of the fire!
(End of this chapter)