The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

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After several suggestions from Prime Minister Lu Yijian and Privy Envoy Du Yan, Zhao Zhen summoned Fu Bi and Su Jin and ordered them to reach a compromise with the Liao envoy as soon as possible.

Su Jin also felt that the time was almost ready. On the [-]th day of February in the second year of Qingli, the day before the Liao envoy returned to the country, the two sides reached an agreement on the four requirements put forward by the Liao Lord and the contents of the Chanzhou Agreement.

In order to get out in a hurry, Xiao Temo and others gave way again and again, and finally approved the Song Dynasty's interpretation of the four requirements of the Liao Kingdom.

Su Jin and Fu Bi’s answer to the Liao side’s first point, “Zhou Shizong should not have seized the ten counties south of Waqiaoguan” was: the terms of the Chanzhou alliance signed by the two parties in the first year of Jingde had already been clearly stated. : "All the above things are not to be taken seriously." At this moment, the Liao side once again raised the matter before the establishment of the Song Dynasty, which is groundless.

Regarding the second point of the accusation of "Taizong's three-way northward expedition to Liao, attacking Yanji, and the division came out of no name", Su Jin and others responded: Taizong's attack on Yanji was caused by Liao's aid to the Northern Han Dynasty and obstructing the unification of our Great Song Dynasty. Song.

The third and fourth accusations, the response is as follows: The ten counties in the south of Waqiaoguan are a matter of a different generation, so they should not be mentioned again. The reason is the same as the first one.Regarding the matter of the western thief Yuan Hao, the Song Dynasty believed that Yuan Hao had been "given a surname as a vassal and given a salary to Shuo" since his ancestors.

Regarding the Liao Dynasty's accusation of Song for "preparing narrow roads and gathering soldiers", it is believed that this is "the usual practice of frontier officials".It means that building fortifications on the border and setting up fortifications are the responsibility of the border guards, as well as internal affairs, and the Liao side must not interfere.

In the end, Su Jin proposed that the two sides should order "everyone on the edge of the border should keep their borders, and seek nothing but folding books", which completely blocked the Liao envoy Xiao Temo and Liu Fu's desire to retreat and seek other benefits.

Xiao Temo had no intention of fighting, he had already smelled the tough attitude of Su Jin and Fu Bi in negotiating, and Su Jin's inadvertent words made him feel that it would be useless to continue entanglement.

At the end of the negotiation that day, when the deputy envoy Liu Fu wanted to ask for some extra benefits, Su Jin actually said half-jokingly: "I am going to go to the court recently and want to re-examine the rationality of the Chanzhou alliance. According to our From the point of view, the Chanzhou alliance does not benefit the Song Dynasty at all. We give 20 coins and [-] silk every year, but what we get is an empty name; Liao is a younger brother, what is the result? The younger brother still doesn't care about his seniority, he comes to trouble his elder brother, what is the use of such a younger brother? He must be punished."

Xiao Temo was covered in cold sweat. His words seemed to imply that the Chanzhou Treaty was to be abolished; The Liao Kingdom lived in peace; given Song's current strength, how could they have the confidence to do so?There is only one answer, and that is that the new firearms of Song State gave them great confidence.

Xiao Temo made a decisive decision and decisively brought the negotiation to an end. He had come here empty-handed, so it was no big deal to return empty-handed; if it was not possible to cheat, if he lost all the benefits, he would have to be cut off by the emperor when he went back; What's more, the blueprints for the manufacture of firearms in his pocket must be sent back to the country to manufacture equipment; once the state of Song really tears its face, this thing can also be countered by the state of Song.

In this atmosphere, the two sides reached a memorandum of understanding.

That night, Su Jin wrote down the content of the negotiation as Chen Jingong, and Zhao Zhen couldn't believe his eyes; at the beginning of the negotiation between Su Jin, Fu Bi and the Liao envoy, although Su Jin patted his chest and said that the negotiation would never happen, Zhao Zhen couldn't believe it. If you don't make half an inch, money, land, and management will all be occupied.

The bottom line in Zhao Zhen's heart is that, except for the inalienable land, everything else is negotiable; Lu Yijian, Du Yan, and Yan Shu also expressed the same meaning, that is, it is a big deal to give the Liao Kingdom some benefits , Sui coins were originally given 20, but at a big deal, now 20.Let them make a big deal, and Da Song traded his time to deal with the thief with all his strength, and this deal was worth it.

And in the hearts of Du Yan and Lu Yijian, this move was just an excuse to ask Su Jin. No matter what kind of concessions they made, they would be instructed by Lu Yijian and Du Yan to the court officials to participate in the performance. When all the people came to criticize, without Lu Yijian and Du Yan personally coming forward, the emperor had to punish them appropriately to appease the public anger.

But the current result makes people dare not even think about it. I really don't know why the Liao envoy initiated the provocation, but then quickly compromised.

Zhao Zhen quickly wrote a letter in his own name, listing these replies.

Of course, with Zhao Zhen's personality, he still wants to say something good, count the history of friendship between the two countries, talk about the benefits of good relations between the two countries, and finally have a fight with Liao Xingzong Yeluzong, who is really called brother and brother, haha, that's all. The big seal was signed and handed over to Fu Bi for safekeeping.

Early the next morning, Zhao Zhen received the Liao envoy above the main hall, and ordered Fubi to hand over the autographed letter to Xiao Temo and hand it over to Yelu Zongzhen; With generous gifts, Xiao Temo was transferred to the Liao Lord, and he earnestly persuaded the Liao envoy to stay in Bianliang for a few more days to see the scenery.

At the end of Xiao Te's heart, he had no time to wander around Bianliang City, so he offered to leave and return home; Zhao Zhen ordered Fu Bi and Su Jin to hold a banquet to bid farewell to Liao envoy Yun Yun.

In the afternoon of the [-]th, when the Liao mission returned home, Su Jin and Fu Bi held a farewell banquet at the fifteen-mile long pavilion outside the north gate. Xiao Temo was sent to the Liao envoy, and Xiao Temo also beat fou at the banquet and sang a desolate ditty on the grasslands of the Liao Kingdom to express his farewell.

Those who know the inside story understand that these few people have been intriguing with each other for more than ten days, and even abused and insulted each other. But there is a true relationship between them, and the brotherhood between each other is beyond words, enough to make people cry.

After the banquet, when Xiao Temo and others got on their horses and wanted to go for a walk, a dramatic scene appeared. Su Jin ordered seven or eight bald prisoners to come out, saying that they would send them to Xiao Temo to bring them back to Liao Kingdom.

Xiao Temo was very surprised, Fu Bi handed over a large stack of confessions to Xiao Temo from the hands of a young official, and then the Liao envoy realized that since the last assassination incident, the reason why he was quiet and at ease in the post was that Yuan Another group of assassins sent by Hao have been rounded up and captured by Su Jin and others, and their statements have been recorded.

Xiao Temo was really touched, Su Jin is not too bad a kid, at least his own safety has always been under his protection, from the tangled muscles of those party members and the haze and unruly eyes, he can see These people are not mediocre; if it weren't for the blessing of the Song people, it is not sure whether I can return safely.

In the end, Su Jin ordered a big box on the stage, which contained 1 taels of silver, plus his own IOU for 1 taels of silver; at this moment, Xiao Temo's nose soured and he almost shed tears.

The same goes for Liu Fu, when he saw that the jade pendant left to him by his deceased father was also there, he almost wanted to cry with Su Jin in his arms.

"Your envoy came from a long way, and I didn't take good care of the reception. Please forgive me! If it weren't for your envoy's busy schedule, the rich envoy and I would really like to make friends with the two of you in private and have a good relationship." Su Jin felt very painful. Well, if Zhao Zhen hadn't strictly ordered him to return the money, he wouldn't have paid back a penny. This was all won by himself.

"Envoy Rich, Deputy Envoy Su, how can I wait for this? Xiao feels ashamed of himself. I didn't say anything. We have made friends like you two. If there is a destiny in the future, you can come to my country in Daliao. The two I, Xiao Temo, have decided to serve properly."

Su Jin laughed loudly and cupped his hands: "There must be a chance, the road is long and the road is long, and there will be a period later."

All the people bid farewell one after another, at the end of Xiao Temo's pocket, the treasure map was lost, the money was lost and recovered, and the debts were cleared up, and naturally his ambitions were fulfilled; From Xiao Temo's point of view, this trip made a lot of money.