I studied in modern times

Chapter 955: Xinglong Festival (1)

On the eighth day of the twelfth month of the second year of Yuanyou, it was the Xinglong Festival.

When Zhao Xu opened his eyes, Empress Dowager Xiang, the Grand Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine Zhu were already sitting in front of the couch, smiling at Zhao Xu who had just woken up.

"Today is the emperor's birthday. The whole world is celebrating and all the people are rejoicing..." The Empress Dowager said first.

Empress Dowager Xiang, who was sitting on his right, followed up and said, "Sixth brother, from now on you can be like Yao and Shun!"

Like a young wife, Zhu sat awkwardly beside Empress Dowager Xiang. She hesitated for a moment before she weakly congratulated him: "I am very happy for your birthday, Your Majesty. I specially made you a bowl of honey-floating pastry..."

As she spoke, the grandmother who was serving beside him stepped forward and placed a dessert served in a Ding kiln cup in front of Zhao Xu.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu took the dessert, opened the lid, sniffed it, and said with a smile: "Thank you, sister, mother, and great mother!"

At this time, Wen Xunniang, Meng Qingqing, and Di Qiang, who had been waiting outside the palace, led more than a dozen female officials and palace maids who served Zhao Xu, and Tong Guan led more than a dozen eunuchs who served in Funing Palace. They all bowed down outside the palace and wished him a happy birthday: "It is the Xinglong Festival. We are so happy. May you live a thousand years!"

Zhao Xu sat up and said, "Celebrate with you all!"

In this way, Zhao Xu began his life at the age of thirteen in theory.

……

When Emperor Zhao woke up in the imperial city.

In Duting Posthouse, Yelu Gongchen, the Liao Dynasty Crown Prince's grandson who arrived in Beijing two days ago to congratulate his brother, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, on the celebration of the Xinglong Festival, was in the courtyard of the official residence assigned to him, holding a purchased Bianjing newspaper and reading it carefully.

As the assistant general chosen by Liao ruler Yelu Hongji for his grandson Yelu Yanxi, he would be the future commander of Yelu Yanxi's personal army.

Yelu Gongchen is thirty-four years old this year. He is handsome and elegant. He looks kind and has no aggressive nature.

Only a few people who knew him well knew.

This Liao-era Xi King and the military governor of Ningchang was actually a man who was good at forbearance and meticulous.

He is like a leopard lurking in the pine forest.

It's like a big snake lurking in the grass.

As long as it gets the chance, it will leap out immediately, bite its prey fiercely and won't let go.

It was because of this that the Liao ruler Yelu Hongji decided to place him next to Yelu Yanxi and train him as the future commander of Yelu Yanxi's personal army.

"The Jiedu is still reading the Southern Dynasty tabloids?" Yelu Gongchen was fascinated by the tabloid in his hand when he heard the voice of his deputy Zhao Xiaoyan.

Yelu Gongchen didn't look up, but just hummed.

Zhao Xiaoyan and Yelu Gongchen were very familiar with each other, so he knew his temper. Without saying much, he walked straight to Yelu Gongchen and sat down casually, saying, "Just now, the Southern Dynasty's envoy Xing Shu came..."

Yelu Gongchen then put down the tabloid in his hand and looked at Zhao Xiaoyan. The image of the Southern Dynasty envoy flashed through his mind, and he asked, "Are you here to inform me of the birthday ceremony today?"

"That's right!" Zhao Xiaoyan nodded. "That criminal scholar said that the Southern Dynasty's capital hall has arranged the shifts. We will follow the officials of the Southern Dynasty's Ministry of Rites to the Purple Palace to celebrate the birthday of the Southern Dynasty Emperor this afternoon!"

Yelu Gongchen nodded: "Got it!"

As he said this, he stood up and prepared to prepare for the audience with the emperor this afternoon.

There is no trivial matter in diplomacy!
In particular, he represented the Liao emperor's grandson, the Prince of Liang, and the King of Korea, Yelu Yanxi, who congratulated and presented gifts to his brother, the emperor of the Song Dynasty.

This was the first time that the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty allowed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to congratulate the officials of the Song Dynasty in his own name.

It was the first official public appearance of his lord in the court exchanges between the two countries.

Not to mention any flaws in etiquette, even the slightest mistake during the audience with the emperor would damage the dignity and reputation of his master.

The Lord humiliates his ministers to death.

At that time, he would probably have no other way to apologize to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince except committing suicide.

But, halfway through his walk, Yelu Gongchen came back and picked up the tabloid on the table.

Seeing this, Zhao Xiaoyan was very curious and asked, "Does the governor care about these tabloids?"

Since entering the territory of the Southern Dynasty, Yelu Gongchen has been trying every possible way to obtain a tabloid called "Bianjing Xinbao" published in the capital of the Southern Dynasty through various channels.

Whether it is recent or from previous years.

Yelu Gongchen would read carefully any new news from Bian Jing that he could find.

Since entering Bian Jing, I have become even more obsessed.

I spend almost all my time reading tabloids.

It was as if the tabloids contained the military and national secrets of the Southern Dynasty.

Zhao Xiaoyan had also read this tabloid called "Bianjing Xinbao".

But he only read it once before he was discouraged by the tabloid's overly vulgar and superficial language.

So, he was very curious about why Yelu Gongchen liked and was obsessed with this kind of thing that only idle people in the city would like to watch?
Yelu Gongchen smiled and replied: "Scholar, Emperor Zhenzong of the Southern Dynasty once said..."

"The book has its own golden house, and the book has its own beauty like jade!"

"In my opinion, this tabloid has both a golden house and a beautiful woman!"

Zhao Xiaoyan blinked, not quite believing it.

Upon seeing this, Yelu Gongchen said no more. He just bowed to Zhao Xiaoyan, then walked towards the official residence with the tabloid in his hand.

He was going to prepare for the bath and fasting incense.

Even though the person he was going to meet in the afternoon was the monarch of the Southern Dynasty.

But he still made careful preparations as if he was paying homage to the Emperor of Liao.

This is the gift!
……

Zhao Xiaoyan looked at Yelu Gongchen's back, shrugged and shook his head, and said softly: "This kid from the Brune family... is always mysterious..."

The Liao system was divided into the South Court and the North Court.

The North Court was controlled by the Khitan and Xi nobles for a long time, while the South Court was controlled by the Han literati and officials of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyan and the sinicized Khitan nobles.

Among them, the political power of the Xi people was called the Five Tents of the Xi King.

That is, the five families that have the claim of Xi king - Shise, Tules, Xialao, Brune and Laoguning.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Liao Dynasty, these Xi kings still had independent military, judicial, and administrative powers within the Xi tribe.

However, in the 16th year of Emperor Shengzong's unification, the then Xi king leader He Shuonu was defeated in his expedition against Goryeo and Emperor Shengzong stripped him of his military power.

Then, Shengzong took advantage of this opportunity to take back the military power of the Xi kings of various tribes, and ordered them to select their sons and nephews to serve in the palace.

The election of the Xi king leader was no longer carried out by the various Xi tribes.

Instead, the emperor would choose from among the five young men from the families claimed by the King of Xi.

This is the Xi King chosen by the world.

Yelu Gongchen was born in the Buluen tribe, one of the five tents of the Xi king.

During the time of Emperor Taizu of Liao, this tribe had already become a tool for the Liao ruler to control the Xi tribe.

Its status is roughly similar to that of the Han family in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyan.

His family had intermarried with the Yelu family for generations, and had inherited the title of Jiedushi of Ningchang Army - the previous Jiedushi of Ningchang Army, Xiao Han Jianu, was Yelu Gongchen's uncle.

The reason why his surname was Yelu was because Xiao Han Jianu's brother-in-law, Yelu Wanxin, had no children.

Yelu Wanxin liked Yelu Gongchen very much, so he went to find the emperor and asked him to adopt the child.

The current emperor naturally agreed readily.

In this way, Yelu Gongchen became a member of the royal family.

But he was born in the Bruun tribe and was still qualified to be elected King of Xi.

The current emperor also intends for him to inherit Xiao Han's position as a slave and become the leader of the five tents of the Xi King in the future.

Zhao Xiaoyan was secretly criticizing Yelu Gongchen when a figure quietly appeared behind him.

"What is Master Zhao talking about?"

Zhao Xiaoyan was startled. He turned around and found that it was Yelu Ju. He bowed and asked, "Why is the governor here?"

"I just heard that Xing Heshu, the envoy of the Southern Dynasty, informed me about the schedule of people entering the palace to pay congratulations today, so I came to discuss it with Wei Jun (Yelü Gongchen's courtesy name)..." Yelu Ju said with a smile.

"Yelü Jiedu is in the official residence..." Zhao Xiaoyan replied, "You can go find the Jiedu yourself!" Yelü Ju smiled and said to Zhao Xiaoyan, "I heard that the scholar has always loved the poetry of the Southern Dynasties? Do you like the poetry of Dongpo of the Southern Dynasties?"

Zhao Xiaoyan nodded.

The poems of Su Shi of the Southern Dynasty had long been known throughout the northern country.

Not only Han scholars like him liked it very much.

Even many Khitan nobles in the North Courtyard liked her very much.

Every time Su Dongpo's new poems were introduced to Liao, people would rush to comment on them.

Yelu Ju said: "To be honest, I recently got a manuscript of Mr. Dongpo's new lyrics..."

"But I am a coarse person and cannot appreciate it..."

"If I have such an exquisite item in my hands, it would be a waste of precious gems!"

"Then I remembered that the scholar was a poet and a famous figure in my dynasty. I would like to give this manuscript to the scholar!"

"This treasure is for a beautiful woman, and a BMW is for a hero!"

Zhao Xiaoyan swallowed his saliva and said, "How can I be so embarrassed?"

Yelu Ju smiled and said, "It's settled!"

"After paying respect to the Southern Dynasty Emperor and paying his respects to him today, I will send someone to bring Mr. Dongpo's original manuscript to you for your appreciation!"

Zhao Xiaoyan bowed his head and said, "You are so kind, I will repay you one day!"

In his opinion, if Yelu Ju encountered any difficulties in the future and he happened to know about it, if he could help, he would help him to repay the kindness of giving him the book today.

However, he didn't know that the look in Yelu Ju's eyes at this moment was the same as when he looked at Yelu Yongchang.

When it comes to getting people involved, Yelu Ju is now very enthusiastic and proactive.

Persuade a prostitute to become a good woman and drag a good woman into trouble.

It is a bad habit that has been ingrained in men for thousands of years.

What's more, Yelu Ju is very lonely and lacks a sense of security now.

He was afraid that one day his crime would be exposed and his entire family would be taken to the execution ground in the capital, beheaded, thrown into the streets, or even tortured to death.

Therefore, whenever possible, he would try his best to drag others into the water.

It would be best if we could do what King Wei, Yelu Yixin, did and drag most of the South Courtyard and the North Courtyard into the water.

In this way, even if something happens in the future, the emperor will probably have to handle it in a low-key manner like the King of Wei.

Zhang Xiaojie, Xiao Moxia and others who had joined the King of Wei in causing trouble were eventually demoted.

People like him who followed the crowd and cheered were not even dealt with.

Even the King of Wei was only executed in secret.

This is called not holding everyone responsible!
So, after bowing and saying goodbye to Zhao Xiaoyan, Yelu Ju quickly walked towards Yelu Gongchen's residence.

He was now looking forward to seeing Yelu Gongchen's expression after he became like him.

That will surely be exciting!

However, when Yelu Ju arrived in front of Yelu Gongchen's bedroom, he was stopped by two of Yelu Gongchen's retainers.

"Jiedu!"

"My master is fasting and burning incense sincerely, waiting for the Emperor of Song to summon him!"

Yelu Ju looked at the two retainers wearing Xi warrior uniforms, and then looked at the incense rising from the room through the curtain. In the end, he said nothing, but just bowed to the room from afar: "My dear brother, I will come to visit you again tomorrow!"

Yelu Gongchen's adoptive father, Yelu Wanxin, was from the second father branch of the royal family's third father branch.

And he, Yelu Ju, was a member of the royal family from Ji Fu's family.

They are considered distant relatives.

……

Yelu Gongchen, who was in the house, naturally heard the voice of his relative Yelu Ju.

"This villain..." Yelu Gongchen shook his head.

How could he not know that this bastard Yelu Ju had already been doing very well in the Southern Dynasty?
In fact, he was not the only one who knew.

Almost everyone in Shangjing City who was powerful and influential in the Liao Kingdom didn't know about him.

Because there are too many loopholes!
As early as last year, someone in the delegation had already complained to the higher authorities - Yelu Ju was afraid that he had secretly communicated with the Southern Dynasty.

Although this matter was suppressed by the son-in-law of the emperor and Prince of Lanling, Xiao Chouwo.

But it is an ironclad fact that the prince consort, the two concubines in the palace, and Yelu Ju's family and relatives are spending money more and more lavishly and their expenses are becoming more and more extravagant.

So, everyone will ask a question - where does your money come from?

The answer, of course, is self-evident - it was embezzled!
And what kind of thing could be so profitable?

It can only be the Jiaozi trade between Song and Liao!
In Shangjing City, even a fool knew that Yelu Ju, Xiao Chouwo and others must have embezzled the money.

This led to Yelu Yan's subsequent move south.

Originally, Yelu Yan went south with the mission of replacing Yelu Ju, enforcing the discipline of the Song-Liao Jiaozi trade, and eradicating corruption.

Unfortunately, Yelu Yan offended the Southern Dynasty.

The Southern Dynasty emperor was furious, and in order to hand over the money, the Liao emperor had no choice but to execute Ma Su with tears.

Thinking of this, Yelu Gongchen looked at the tabloid in his hand.

Before going south, he made a detour to meet Yelu Yan and learned about the process of last year's diplomatic dispute and the Southern Dynasty tabloid.

As the emperor's personal guard in the palace, Yelu Gongchen has been living in the palace since he was fifteen years old, serving in the tent.

Yelu Gongchen knows better the mentality of the current emperor.

For His Majesty, everything at present must give way to the prosperity of Da'an.

The prosperity of Da'an was inseparable from the Jiaozi of the Southern Dynasty and the cheap goods purchased with Jiaozi.

So, whoever could get Jiaozi for him could buy the goods from the Southern Dynasty.

Who is the hero!
As for how much did the heroes embezzle and take during this process?
Is it important?
unimportant!
So, although many people said that Yelu Ju was corrupt and indulged in debauchery every night in the Southern Dynasty.

But Your Majesty turned a deaf ear.

Therefore, even the upright officials in the court and even the prime ministers had been advising the emperor to replace the envoys who would stay in the Southern Dynasty for a long time.

However, the emperor had no interest at all.

He still had great trust in Yelu Ju and praised him a lot.

Because, in the eyes of the emperor, Yelu Ju could obtain Jiaozi and buy the massive wealth he needed.

If it were someone else, he might not be able to get more and more Jiaozi like Yelu Ju and buy more Southern Dynasty goods.

Wouldn't the prosperous era that he pursued, the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty that he wanted, and his dream of returning to the old capital, all be doomed to fail?

This is absolutely impossible!
Therefore, Yelu Gongchen knew that the only way to overthrow Yelu Ju was to prove to the emperor that he could obtain more Jiaozi and buy more wealth than Yelu Ju.

Thinking of this, Yelu Gongchen's eyes swept across the lines of text on the tabloid in front of him.

He knew that he could only rely on asking the Southern Dynasty for money to buy goods.

It’s destined not to last long!

In particular, the first issue of Song-Liao Jiaozi will soon expire.

At that time, the Liao Dynasty would need to pay the agreed gold and silver so that the Southern Dynasty could redeem the Jiaozi it issued.

Therefore, Yelu Gongchen knew that the Liao Dynasty had to find a kind of wealth that the Southern Dynasty urgently needed.

Only in this way can the Southern Dynasty truly issue Jiaozi continuously and willingly send its cheap goods to the Liao Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)