The prince is more stable

Chapter 237 Pingxia New City
I fully understand Xiao Guangjing's desire to drink and chat with his friends in the Song Dynasty.

But, it went wrong.

The banquet was perfect, arranged by Zhao Xiaoqian himself. All the specialties of the Northwest were present, and the wine was also good, including barley wine, rice wine, and even wine from the Western Regions and yellow wine from the south of the Yangtze River.

The atmosphere was also very lively. Everyone ate and drank well and talked happily. The laughter that broke out from time to time during the meal showed that everyone gave the banquet a unanimous five-star rating.

At this moment and in this scene, the West Lake should be compared to Xi Shi. If it is a little thicker, it will be fatter; if it is a little thinner, it will be thinner.

Then, Xiao Guangjing unexpectedly pulled up a few old onions...

I don't know what's going on in this guy's train of thought. Maybe the aesthetics of the Liao Dynasty are different from those of the Song Dynasty, or maybe a playboy like Xiao Guangjing must have singing and dancing when drinking, and even if the Jade Emperor comes, this step cannot be skipped.

So, just force it?

The officials and generals of the Song Dynasty were very well-educated. Of course, it cannot be denied that Xiao Guangjing's identity was a bit special, and no one dared to overturn the table and curse him.

So including Zhang Qie, Zhong Jianzhong, Zhang Xiaoyi and others turned their heads away. The highest self-control they could achieve was silence, and... don't look at what is inappropriate, or you will go blind.

What do the audience feel when they see a group of middle-aged and elderly women in their forties swaying like dancing yangge in the hall?
Zhao Xiaoqian said he had a say.

In my previous life, downstairs from where I rented an apartment, every evening, a group of elderly women dressed in brightly colored clothes would gather. Some of them held colorful fans. A loudspeaker stood in the open space. The elderly women would sway to the rhythm of the music, swaying through the evening and reminiscing about their lost youth...

Perhaps the dusk is too dazzling and youth is too painful. Once the old ladies are immersed in the dance, no one can stop them, and calling the police is useless. When the police come, not only can they not persuade them to stop, but they are also forced to retreat step by step by the old ladies.

When the music is not playing, I am just surviving in this world. Once the music starts, the whole world is mine. Come and fight me if you don’t agree.

The group of women in front of him at this moment were obviously doing this. Zhao Xiaoqian slapped the table several times, but the women just kept on twisting their bucket-like waists seductively.

Finally, Zhao Xiaoqian thought of a clever idea in a hurry. He threw a wine glass at the head of the person who was ringing the bell in the band. The glass hit him right on the head. The music stopped immediately, and the women finally stopped swaying.

When the world returned to silence, the old fairies had to fall back to earth again like Cinderella at midnight.

Everyone present, including Xiao Guangjing, breathed a sigh of relief and their expressions became relaxed.

Zhao Xiaoqian pointed at Xiao Guangjing and said, "You did a great job!"

Xiao Guangjing looked embarrassed. He finally realized that it was inappropriate to invite this group of old women to sing and dance to entertain the guests.

I opened a bottle of 1995 Romanee-Conti at a late-night barbecue stall, but it doesn't go with me, brother.

"Man, you started the fire, you have to put it out yourself... Go and replant these old onions back into the soil and stop committing sins." Zhao Xiaoqian was not polite to him at all.

In the eyes of Zhang Qie and others, Xiao Guangjing was an arrogant Liao envoy with a nose in the air. In the eyes of Zhao Xiaoqian, you were just a fucking idiot who had never seen fine bran and was only fit to eat coarse grains.

Xiao Guangjing stood up and drove away the group of middle-aged and elderly women.

Back at the banquet, facing everyone's complicated gazes, Xiao Guangjing tried hard to remain calm and explain science to everyone calmly.

"Young chrysanthemums clear away heat, while old clams reduce internal heat. They each have their own wonderful uses. Age doesn't have to be so rigid..."

After this explanation, everyone suddenly understood and looked at Xiao Guangjing with more complicated eyes.

Only then did I realize that Xiao Guangjing's face was full of stories.

…………

The Song and Xia dynasties reached a ceasefire, and Xiao Guangjing's task of mediation on behalf of the Liao Kingdom was completed and exceeded expectations.

Not only did he mediate the war, he also killed the people who started it.

After the matter was settled, Xiao Guangjing led the Liao delegation to bid farewell.

He also had to rush back to explain to Yelu Hongji why he killed the Queen Mother of Western Xia for no reason. Although the Liao Dynasty's rulers and ministers did dislike the Queen Mother, they would not kill her.

The explanation had already been prepared, all taught to him by Zhao Xiaoqian.

Before leaving Xiazhou City, Xiao Guangjing looked back at this ordinary city and reflected on what he had done here.

Apart from serving a cup of poisoned wine to Madam Liang, there seemed to be nothing else. His presence was almost invisible. Inexplicably, his mind recalled the bold words he had spoken when he left Shangjing.

This time I will take back everything I lost!

Xiao Guangjing closed his eyes in embarrassment. He couldn't think about it anymore. It was so shameful...

The confrontations, conspiracies, and killings between nations were beyond the ability of a mere playboy like him to handle.

In front of Zhao Xiaoqian, Xiao Guangjing felt like a mentally retarded person.

It would be better to change your life goals in the future. Don’t talk about getting back what you have lost. It would be more reasonable to change it to never losing more in the future.

Outside the city gate, there were many Song Dynasty officials and generals who came to see him off. After all, he was an envoy from Liao, so he had to be polite when leaving.

Xiao Guangjing suddenly came back to his senses and found that Zhao Xiaoqian was looking at him, his eyes were as if he was looking at a mentally retarded person...

"You have only been in this city for a few days, and you have killed people here. What does it mean that you look so sad and depressed as if you are leaving? Have you developed feelings for someone because of the killing?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked.

Xiao Guangjing's face tensed, and he looked around cautiously, whispering, "...We agreed never to mention this matter again. What murder? I didn't kill anyone!"

Zhao Xiaoqian twitched his cheek slightly, pulled Xiao Guangjing aside, away from everyone's eyes, and said, "Brother Xiao, when you return to Liao, remember the words I taught you. I guarantee that the Liao Lord will not blame you. Instead, he will praise you for solving a big problem for the Liao Kingdom..."

"The Emperor of the Great Song will also write to the Liao Lord, praising your mediation skills, noble character, and so on. In short, I will arrange all the nice words for you."

"Brother Xiao, there will be many opportunities in the future. The Song Dynasty will secretly assist you and your father, allowing you to accomplish more feats. Especially your father, he must enter the power center of the Liao Kingdom."

Xiao Guangjing nodded silently, then stared into his eyes and said, "What does the Crown Prince want to do... destroy Liao?"

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled. "Our immediate goal isn't to destroy the Liao, but to strengthen the Song Dynasty as much as possible, at least to be able to protect ourselves. Of course, when we become strong enough in the future, we might have even more ambitious goals. You know, the Song Dynasty has been established for over a hundred years, and we've suffered many defeats in our battles with the Liao..."

Xiao Guangjing breathed a sigh of relief. At least the Song Dynasty's current goal was not to destroy the Liao Dynasty. He felt a little less guilty towards the Liao Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly became spirited and spoke in a generous tone: "...I have no other desires in this life. I must take back everything that the Song Dynasty has lost!"

Xiao Guangjing's entire body trembled violently, and he angrily said, "Alright, alright! Prince, shut up! No need to say any more. I'm already ignited!"

This damn burning middle school second soul...

After seeing Xiao Guangjing off, the next thing to do was to deal with the internal affairs of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Xiaoqian was the deputy envoy of Jinglüe and Anfu, but as everyone knew, he was actually just a passer-by. Now that the war was over, he stayed in Xiazhou City just waiting for the imperial edict from Zhao Xu to recall him to the capital.

The princes come and go, but General Zhang remains forever.

However, Zhang Qie will still stay in the northwest to guard the border, which seems to have become his fate, tragic and bleak.

During his stay in Xiazhou City, Zhao Xiaoqian was not idle. He and Zhang Qie were discussing the future military defense deployment on the Song-Xia border.

The forts built by Zhang Yu on the border in recent years have lost their strategic significance as the new border between Song and Xia was surveyed.

The Song Dynasty's border troops were going to move towards Western Xia, so they needed to build new forts and identify new border towns.

Although the agreement has been signed, the Northwest Army still needs to remain vigilant. After all, they are not of our race and their hearts must be different. Who knows whether Li Qianshun will become more powerful in a few years and make mistakes and invade the Song Dynasty again.

According to the armistice agreement between the two countries, Western Xia had to cede six cities to the Song Dynasty. This was a great advantage, but the workload also increased.

So Zhao Xiaoqian proposed to expand the Zuoxiang Shenyong Army, which had been abolished by the Western Xia, into a city, and build government offices, houses, markets, etc. in the city.

This military headquarters is located on the Silk Road and has an excellent geographical location. If trade routes are opened up, accommodation, entertainment, trading and other venues are provided for merchants from various countries, and taxes are reduced or exempted as appropriate, in time, this expanded city will become a dazzling pearl in the northwest of the Song Dynasty.

Of course, the newly expanded city cannot be called Junsi, it must be given a more majestic name.

Zhao Xiaoqian thought about it for a long time and finally made the decision.

This city is called "Pingxia City".

(End of this chapter)