Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 504 Hospitality (please subscribe!)
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Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi soon took a small boat across the sea to Dengzhou.

Wang Shizhong, the prefect of Dengzhou, rushed to report the matter to Zhao Ji.

In fact, these few days, Zhao Ji is also discussing with Wang Fu whether to send an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin to inform that the Song Dynasty has sent troops to the north.

Song Guo is prepared with both hands.

On the one hand, Song Guo was going to recover Yanjing with its own strength.

On the other hand, Song Guo also thought about it, if he could not regain Yanjing with his own strength, then he would ask the Jurchens for help.

Wang Fu analyzed: "The Kingdom of Jin can take the initiative to send envoys here, which first of all shows that they still attach great importance to the maritime alliance." Then he suggested: "We should treat the envoys of Jin with hospitality and let them see the sincerity of our Song Dynasty."

Zhao Ji listened to Wang Fu's suggestion, and rewarded Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi and other gold envoys with a lot of gold and silk. Zhao Ji even rewarded them a lot of the tea he drank and the ointment for maintaining the jade body.

Afterwards, Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi euphemistically stated the purpose of their trip - Sui Coin.

Zhao Ji said to Zhao Liangsi, who he specially called back to receive the Jin envoy: "Jurchen wants to seek the interests of Jurchen, and of course the Great Song Dynasty also seeks the interests of the Great Song Dynasty. At present, Khitan has been fragmented, and its demise is the general trend. If we can take the opportunity to Recovering all the lands of the Han and Tang Dynasties that were taken away by Khitan since the Five Dynasties is an unrivaled achievement. You must clearly tell the Jin envoy that I will pay you the yearly coins promised by the court, and that what I want to recover His homeland should also be included in the territory of the Great Song Dynasty."

When Zhao Liangsi heard that Zhao Ji still wanted to Pingluanying the three states, he felt tremendous pressure.

You must know that because Zhao Ji's imperial pen letter was self-binding and limited the scope of land recovery to "Yanjing and the prefecture city under its jurisdiction", the Jin people have always insisted on exchanging old coins according to the scope delineated by this imperial pen handbook, and if they want to break the In this area, it would be very difficult to recover the Ping, Ying, and Luan areas without military intervention and relying solely on verbal negotiations.

fine--

Now, the Northern Expedition has set off to the north.

Zhao Liangsi hoped that the Song army could quickly win a few big victories and show off the military power of the Great Song Dynasty, so that he would be confident when negotiating with the Jin people.

Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi carried the gold and silver, tea leaves and paste and other royal items rewarded by Zhao Ji, and returned to the Banjing Pavilion where they stayed. They were very excited and couldn't calm down for a long time, especially Wu Xie. Zhao Liangsi and Tan Zhao said: "The emperor of the Gui Dynasty is really a sage, and he is generous in his actions. He is really admirable."

Gao Qingyi, on the other hand, was keenly aware of the weakness of the Song State, and then went ahead and said, "We are the official envoys sent by the Emperor of the Great Jin Kingdom. We can't always live in this posthouse in the suburbs, right? In the past, every time the Khitan envoys came to visit, you Arranged at the Duting Station, why is it so contemptuous of us Dajin?"

As soon as Zhao Liangsi heard that Gao Qingyi was concerned about the posthouse, he quickly explained: "Vice Envoy Gao, please don't misunderstand, we have no intention of belittling. It is only because the ceremony between our two countries has not been formally determined, so this arrangement is made. In the future, once Make sure, and immediately handle it according to the etiquette agreement. Actually, the conditions of the two post houses are similar. Back then, when we first repaired with Khitan, we did the same."

During the Xuanhe period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty had very active exchanges with foreign countries, and there were many envoys from various countries who came to the Song Dynasty very frequently.

In terms of reception, the Song Dynasty generally implemented the system of one country, one hotel.

for example:

The envoys of the Liao Kingdom were all arranged to receive them at the Duting post.

Xixia envoys are usually in Duting West Station or Laiyuan Station.

The Goryeo envoy is in the Tongwen Hall in the outer city.

Envoys from Nanfan, Jiaozhou, Xifan, Dashi, and Qiuci all received them at Huaiyuan Post.

The Tubo, Dangxiang and other envoys were received in the Courtyard of Protocol.

The last time Jin envoys visited, they were arranged in Tongwenguan, and they declared to the outside world that they were envoys from Goryeo—up to now, the contacts between the Song Dynasty and the Jurchens have been kept secret.

Gao Qingyi took out a roll of documents and said: "This is the Khitan case file. Look, were the Khitan envoys arranged in the Banjing Pavilion? They were all arranged in the Duting Station. It was arranged like this from the beginning. You Why bother lying?"

Zhao Liangsi flipped through it roughly, and said: "The records in these case files are not very complete. There may be negligence in the middle, and I am not lying. Otherwise, I will ask Wang Xianggong for instructions now to see if I can let you move it. Enter the capital pavilion?"

When Gao Qingyi heard this, his face immediately became more pleasant.

Zhao Liangsi immediately reported the matter to Wang Fu, and Wang Fu pondered for a while, not daring to make decisions without authorization, so he took Zhao Liangsi to Chongzheng Hall to report to Zhao Ji, asking Zhao Ji to make a decision.

Zhao Ji thought for a while and said: "The Liao envoys have been cut off long ago, and the Duting Station has been idle for a long time. The Liao Kingdom is about to perish, and it is impossible for Liao envoys to visit in the future. It is inevitable that Jin will replace Liao. From now on, The envoys of the Kingdom of Jin will all be arranged at the Duting Station. We must try our best to satisfy their requests and receive them warmly. In addition, have you re-demarcated the scope of Yandi with the envoys of Jin?"

Zhao Liangsi replied: "The minister has asked them many times, but they said that they have not obtained the emperor's authorization for the land plan, and they dare not speak too much. They need the Song Dynasty to send an envoy to Jin to discuss with the Jin emperor. .”

Zhao Ji said: "The other day they told me that they were sent by the Emperor of the Great Jin Kingdom to discuss the affairs of the old Han land. Why did they suddenly change their words? It seems that the Jurchens are indeed very cunning. You must be careful."

Zhao Liangsi had contacts with Jurchen generals such as Zong Han, Zong Wang, and Xi Yin, and he had a deep understanding of this. He said with great emotion: "The officials are right. The Jurchens grew up in a remote and poor place. It's cunning, and it really needs to be handled with care."

Afterwards, Zhao Liangsi came to Banjing Hall and informed Gao Qingyi: "With special approval from the government, you can move into Dutingyi now."

Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi were very excited after hearing this, especially Gao Qingyi, who regarded this as a victory in a diplomatic war, and he felt that he had won the status of a great power for Dajin.

Dutingyi is located in the downtown area in front of Yujie Street, facing a large jewelry and jade shop. There are many small shops on both sides of the street, selling paper, paintings, seasonal fruits and so on.

The imperial street is about two hundred steps wide, and the center of the street is the imperial road. Ordinary people and horses are not allowed to walk on the imperial road, but can walk on both sides of the street.

There are two royal ditches in the middle of the imperial road. The flowing water is clear, and lotuses are planted. On the bank, there are peach, plum, pear, apricot and other fruit trees. embroidered.

Zhao Liangsi led Wuxie, Gao Qingyi and other gold envoys to visit and browse around the capital every day.

Zhao Liangsi also took them up to the Ming Hall to look at the street scene of Yujie.

The square in front of Mingtang is the center of Tokyo, the most prosperous place in Tokyo.

I saw that the palace hall is majestic and towering; brothels and painting pavilions, bead curtains and beautiful households; car carving competitions, BMWs competing for speed;

Wu Xie, Gao Qingyi and other Jin envoys stood in the bright hall dazzled and stunned.

They also visited the royal buildings and gardens such as Longde Palace, Fanyan House and Ligong Genyue.

Longde Palace is a palace expanded on the basis of Duanwang Mansion. The pavilions and pavilions are built along the river, and the scenery is very beautiful.

The Fanyan Mansion is the mansion where the princes lived. It is located outside the Jinglong Gate, very close to the Longde Palace. It was built by Tong Guan during the Zhenghe period.

At that time, Zhao Ji's sons gradually grew up, "it is appropriate to live outside", so "choose a place outside Longmen, and build various mansions."

At that time, because Zhao Kai, king of Yun, was the most favored, his mansion was built the most magnificent.

Based on this, some people speculated that Zhao Kai, the king of Yun, would probably replace Prince Zhao Heng in the future.

Gen Yue was just completed half a year ago, and it took five years.The specific distribution range is in the east of Jinglongmen, west of Fengqiumen, north of Donghuamen, and south of Jinglongjiang, with a circumference of about six miles and an area of ​​about 750 mu.

The garden is very artistic, breaking through the construction norms of "one pool and three mountains" of palace gardens since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and moving poetry and painting into the garden, with the theme of landscape creation.

The main body of the garden is two mountains in the north and south. The north mountain is the main peak, named Longevity Mountain, with a circumference of about ten miles and a height of ninety steps, which is the highest point in the garden.The second peak is called Wansong Ridge, which is densely covered with green pines and verdant.The two peaks stand side by side, and the peaks are like a screen.There are Lingbi stones of Taihu Lake everywhere on the mountain.

There are more than [-] buildings in the garden, ranging from royal-style pavilions to cottages and village houses with a rustic feel. Among the mountains and rivers, exotic flowers and beautiful trees are dotted everywhere, which is too beautiful to behold.

All of this shocked Wu Xie, Gao Qingyi and other Jin envoys, and gave birth to greed—they felt that the Great Song Dynasty was really a blessed land, and the people of the Great Song Dynasty lived in heaven every day.

One day, Wu Xie pointed to a brightly lit tall building and asked Gao Qingyi, "Where is that place? It's so luxurious, it's like a fairyland."

Gao Qingyi said, "That should be Fan Lou, the most luxurious restaurant in Tokyo."

Wu Xie was stunned by the splendid scenery of Fanlou, he really wanted to go in and take a look to broaden his horizons, so he expressed this wish to Zhao Liangsi.

Zhao Liangsi felt very embarrassed, and said: "Fanlou is the number one restaurant in Tokyo, there are thousands of people having banquets there every day, if you want to go, you have to make an appointment in advance."

Gao Qingyi further tested Zhao Ji's attitude towards their Dajin Kingdom and said: "Fan Tower is famous, but we have not had the chance to visit it so far. I hope that Zhao Guan's partner can fulfill the dreams of us humble people."

Zhao Liangsi thought for a while and said, "Okay then, I'll treat you."

In fact, all post houses in Tokyo have good accommodation and food conditions, equipped with full-time translators, chefs and medical staff. Generally, foreign envoys are not arranged to have banquets in restaurants outside the post houses, because this involves safety issues and is also related to Confidentiality issues.

Therefore, when Wang Fu heard Zhao Liangsi's report, he immediately denied it: "It's not appropriate to go to Fan Tower. There is no precedent for this. You can't be too accommodating to the request of the envoy of the Kingdom of Jin."

Zhao Liangsi said: "What should I do? I have already promised them, so I can't break the promise, right?"

Wang Fu said: "How can you agree casually? From now on, you have to remember that you can't make promises lightly, especially when it comes to foreign affairs, you have to be more careful."

Zhao Liangsi knew he was wrong, so he remained silent.

Wang Fu felt that he didn't dare to make a decision on this matter, so he went with Zhao Liangsi to ask Zhao Ji for instructions.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Ji didn't blame Zhao Liangsi, but said bluntly: "Since we have promised, we should fulfill it, and we can't count our words. As for the minister of the banquet, I think the standard can be higher, let Liang Shaofu come forward to host the banquet." .”

Accompanied by Zhao Liangsi, Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi came to Fan Lou.

I saw colorful lights hanging high in front of the gate, the Emperor Ming was dazzling, traffic was busy, and canopies gathered.Walking into the hall, the first thing that catches the eye is hundreds of singing and dancing beauties with heavy makeup. They are like fairies descending to the earth, gathering under the eaves to wait for the guests to call.

Wu Xie's face was very excited, his eyes kept looking at the faces of these girls, his soul seemed to be taken away by these beauties, he turned his head and looked around fondly as he walked.

Uxie is a Burkin (that is, the leader of the Jurchen tribe), so it is not that he has never seen beauties, but it is the first time he has seen so many beauties gathered together.

Zhao Liangsi was very clear about Wu Xie's thoughts, and said: "Some of these singers are good at singing and dancing, some are good at playing, and some can only sit and drink with them. They are all popular goods and have no taste. If the ambassador is interested , I can arrange some tasteful ones for you in a while."

As soon as Wu Xie heard it, his eyes immediately radiated with splendor.

Since Liang Shicheng was favored during the Zhenghe period, he has always been a big celebrity around Zhao Ji.

Although he was good at figuring out the emperor's wishes and flattering him, Liang Shicheng was not a person without his own opinions.

Liang Shicheng did not agree with Zhao Ji's strategic plan to unite the Jin Dynasty to destroy Liao and regain Yanyun at first. He believed that this was an unrealistic dream. He had tried to persuade Zhao Ji many times to give up this unrealistic dream.

However, recently, Liang Shicheng's attitude suddenly reversed. He not only actively supported the recovery of Yanyun, but also offered advice and suggestions to fuel the flames.

Zhao Ji was not surprised by Liang Shicheng's change, and thought it was normal, because now the situation has become more and more clear, the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Great Song Dynasty has crossed the Baigou River and marched towards Yanjing, and won the first battle.

Zhao Ji even optimistically believed that the demise of the Liao Kingdom was imminent, the land of Yan had become the possession of the Song Dynasty, and the recovery of Yanjing was just around the corner.

Moreover, Liang Shicheng was not the only minister whose thinking and attitude changed. Except for a few diehards, other ministers who were not optimistic about the Northern Expedition to recover Yanjing all stood in favor of it.

This is also normal, after all, the decline of the Liao Kingdom is becoming more and more obvious, and their Song Dynasty sent another 50 million troops to recover Yanjing.

In order to highlight the characteristics of the imperial banquet, Liang Shicheng ordered to remove the wine utensils and dishes from Fan Lou and replace them with palace utensils.

As soon as Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi entered, they were shocked by the beautiful porcelain on the dining table.

Gao Qingyi stared straight at a set of lotus petal-style porcelain jugs for warming wine, with a strange light in his eyes.

Zhao Liangsi had never seen such exquisite porcelain, and he was also attracted by the warmth, delicacy, elegance and refinement of porcelain.

Although Ucher did not know how to appreciate art, he was also infected by beautiful porcelain with a natural instinct.

Liang Shicheng saw Jin Envoy's surprised expression, he smiled and said: "These porcelains are all from the palace, and it's rare for ordinary people to see them. Open your eyes."

Zhao Liangsi hurriedly introduced Liang Shicheng's identity to the envoy Jin: "This is Liang Xianggong, the chief inspector, Kaifu Yitong and the third division. The imperial edicts of our Song emperor usually have to go through the hands of Liang Xianggong before they can be issued to the world."

When Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi heard that this person was an official at the prime minister's side, they were in awe.

Liang Shicheng smiled modestly, and continued to introduce the porcelain on the table: "These porcelains are all produced by Ru Kiln, and they are excellent products in azure color. Look, this set of lotus petal-shaped wine warming porcelain pots is bright and lustrous, simple and elegant, indifferent, subtle and artistic. Profound, isn’t it beautiful?”

Gao Qingyi praised: "It's beautiful, it's really beautiful. I've heard before that Ru kiln porcelain in the Song Dynasty is the best in the world, but I never had the chance to see it. When I saw it today, it really lives up to its reputation. It's really exquisite."

Liang Shicheng smiled and said, "At the table."

After a while, ten dried fruits came up first: fried chestnuts, jujubes, Hebei goose pears, Heshuo pomegranates, longan, lychees, olives, warm oranges, kumquats, and hazelnuts.

There are several kinds of fruits, let alone Wuxie and Gao Qingyi, they have never heard of the names.

Then, one after another, the wine and dishes began to be served one after another.

Every time a dish is served, the shop waiter has to announce the name of the dish loudly.

Twelve dishes were served successively, namely: double-cooked perilla fish, sautéed shark fish with meat and vinegar, steamed lychee kidneys, lamb gizzard cooked in milk, lotus duck, hand-washed crab, spring onion rabbit, fried lung, empty Juicy sheep's head, crab stuffed with oranges, fresh shrimp hooves, and mandarin duck fried belly.

In addition, there are one soup and one soup: Baiwei soup, goose gizzard soup.

Fan Lou has two kinds of self-brewed good wine, one is "Mei Shou" and the other is "He Zhi".

Liang Shicheng ordered the waiter in the store to bring up a jar for each guest to taste.

Ucher could eat and drink, so he took the initiative to take up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

After drinking three cups in a row, Wu Xie smacked his lips and felt that the taste of the two wines was very bland. He asked Zhao Liangsi, "Is there any better wine?"

Zhao Liangsi was very surprised and said: "The two kinds of wine we drank are the best wines brewed by Fan Lou."

Gao Qingyi smiled and said, "This dish is really good, but the wine tastes too weak."

In the Northern Song Dynasty, most of the wine they drank was glutinous rice wine, which tasted relatively light, but Gao Qingyi didn’t mean that. He obviously had something to say—he thought that since it was an imperial banquet, how could he drink the wine brewed by Fan Lou? ?Royal wine should be drunk on top of the royal banquet.

Liang Shicheng was very shrewd, and immediately understood Gao Qingyi's meaning, so he said to Zhao Liangsi: "The taste of this wine is indeed very weak, go and ask the waiter in the shop to bring up a jar of Guanglu wine, and ask the envoy to taste it."

After a while, the shop waiter brought up a jar of Guanglu wine.

Zhao Liangsi introduced: "This is called Huangfeng Wine, also known as Royal Wine. It is very rare. I haven't drunk it a few times."

Gao Qingyi was very happy. He knew that this was the national wine produced by the Guanglu Temple of the Great Song Dynasty, that is, imperial wine, and being able to drink this kind of wine showed that the banquet standard was indeed very high.

Liang Shicheng said: "Come on, how about we taste this wine?"

After the bottle was opened, the strong aroma of the wine gradually wafted out. As soon as Uxie smelled the smell of the wine, he was full of praise: "Good wine, good wine, it is indeed royal wine."

Uxie was really good at drinking. He drank several cups in a row, with more and more smiles on his face and more and more words, but his legs were a little weak and his eyes were a little blurred.

Gradually, the words in Wuxie's mouth became less and less clear. Suddenly, he tilted his body and slipped out of the seat to the floor.

The next day, the news that the envoy of the Kingdom of Jin got drunk in Fanlou was widely spread in Tokyo.

Cai Jing was shocked when he learned about it. He hurried into the palace to meet Zhao Ji, and said: "When our ancestors treated foreign envoys, they were very particular about etiquette and propriety. They never showed extravagance to prevent their greed from being aroused. Now Liang Shoudao actually led the Jin envoy into the fan tower and got him drunk. If things go on like this, the affairs of the country will be in jeopardy! The old minister risked his life to admonish him, please refrain from using sycophantic ministers to deal with military and state affairs."

Cai Jing burst into tears and couldn't afford to kneel.

Cai Jing's words made Zhao Ji realize that he might have committed a big taboo.

pity!

The job is done, Wu Xie and Gao Qingyi have already recorded the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, the beauty of the Song Dynasty, and the beauty of the women in the Song Dynasty, and they will tell the Jin people one by one when they go back.

……

……

I’m still not well. I still have a low-grade fever, and my head hurts. I also have a stomach ache after taking the drug Nimesul to force the fever down. It may take a week’s drip to fully recover. I really want to rest for a week, but If I really take a week off, I won’t be able to live at home next month, so let’s write.

(End of this chapter)