Since ancient times, Yingzhou has been an important place for the Central Plains Dynasty to enter the northeast, with a dense population and diverse ethnic origins, among which the Khitan people occupy the mainstream. After the destruction of Goguryeo in the early Tang Dynasty, in order to strengthen the rule of the Northeast, the Governor's Office was set up in Yingzhou during the Zhenguan period, and assumed the responsibility of managing the two vassal states Xi and Khitan.

As the administrative center of Northeast China, the Governor's Mansion of Songmo and Raole is directly under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Yingzhou and the Governor of Dongyi. Due to the importance of geographical location, Yingzhou is more prosperous and lively than the general border towns.

Between the city gate and the surging White Wolf River is a vast river beach, on the river beach, felt tents are stacked with colors, paving and hanging red, cattle and sheep neigh, and horses roar. People wearing the costumes of Khitan, Kumoxi, Turkic, Donghu, Mobei, Xianbei, Goryeo, Tang and other ethnic groups are like waves, and the border trade is very popular.

Yingzhou is the focus of the imperial court, Honglu Temple is in charge of the affairs of the Yi clan of the vassal state, and it is also a practice to inspect the subordinate Yi county and state tribes. This time, the imperial court sent Du Yu, the young secretary of Honglu Temple, to inspect Yingzhou, and Zhao Wenhui, the governor of Yingzhou, attached great importance to this.

Last night, Zhao Wenhui only slept for half an hour before he got up early with two dark circles under his eyes, urging his subordinates to prepare for it, and the entire Yingzhou City was busy, and the streets were sprinkled with water. With everything ready, all that remains is to wait.

At three o'clock, Zhao Wenhui took the officials of the Yingzhou Governor's Mansion to wait for Du Yu and his party outside the gate of Yingzhou.

If it was just a Shaoqing of Honglu Temple who came to Yingzhou, Zhao Wenhui would not need to make such a big formation, after all, he was the governor of the third grade, and Du Yu's official rank was only the fourth grade, and the faction driver or Changshi came to welcome the past. But the problem came with Du Yu, as well as Xie Yunxuan, the guest secretary of the Liang Palace.

A few days ago, Liang Wangwu Sansi sent someone to send a letter to Zhao Wenhui, asking him to receive Xie Yunxuan and discuss with Xie Yunxuan more about anything.

The governor of Yingzhou is a feudal official, Zhao Wenhui can do this position, Wu Sansi has made a lot of effort, of course, Zhao Wenhui has not spent less money.

The people sent by Wu Sansi, Zhao Wenhui couldn't ignore it. has been in officialdom for many years, and he knows very well in his heart which people can be offended and which people cannot be offended. This Xie Yunxuan is the person who can't be offended.

Although Zhao Wenhui is in Yingzhou, he is also very concerned about the affairs of Luoyang City. This Xie Yunxuan is a celebrity in front of Wu Sansi, as for the purpose of his coming to Yingzhou, Wu Sansi did not mention it in his letter, which made Zhao Wenhui feel a little uneasy.

Standing in the front row were all important officials of Yingzhou, and officials of low rank stood in a line behind them. Of course, there are still many officials who are not even qualified to greet them.

Zhao Wenhui is in the center, on the left hand side is Feng Qingshan, on the right hand side is Changshi Yanke and Sima Liubin, and on both sides are the Khitan leaders Li Qianzhong and Sun Wanrong, the Xi chieftain Li Dayu, and the leader of the Yan Dynasty beggar Zhongxiang.

The Khitan and Xi people lived in Yingzhou for a longer time, while the Yan people lived for a relatively short time.

After the Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo, in order to prevent the restoration of the Goguryeo regime and effectively control the remnants of Goguryeo and the neighboring ethnic groups, a large number of Goguryeo remnants and some of the Goguryeo people were forcibly relocated to Yingzhou.

As the leader of the Sumo Miscellaneous, the beggar Zhongxiang moved to Yingzhou with the tribe for more than 20 years, and got along with other ethnic groups relatively well.

Whether the court is coming or not, and who is coming, these tribal leaders don't care at all. But Zhao Wenhui sent a messenger to invite them, and they had to come, after all, they all belonged to the governor of Yingzhou.

Li Qianzhong whispered to Sun Wanrong beside him: "We begged Zhao Dudu several times to let him open a warehouse and release grain to help us, but he always shirked the edict of the imperial court. This time, the imperial court sent Lord Du, the young secretary of Honglu Temple, to come, and we asked Lord Du for a favor, maybe this matter can be done! ”

In the past two years, there has been a severe drought in the Yingzhou area, and not only the crops have failed, but even the pastures have not been able to support the livestock. The Khitans mainly lived by herding, and their lives became more and more difficult.

These days, Li Qianzhong has been heartbroken about this.

Li Quanzhong was appointed by the imperial court as the governor of Songmo, and he and his brother-in-law Sun Wanrong, the assassin of Chengzhou, jointly reported to his immediate boss Zhao Wenhui many times, hoping to give relief and help with grain and grass materials.

It stands to reason that Zhao Wenhui should represent the Tang Dynasty and give some comfort and support, but this Zhao Wenhui doesn't take the Khitans seriously at all, not only

didn't give money and food, and the words were very ugly, which made Li Quanzhong and Sun Wanrong angry.

"Brother, I advise you to save it!" Sun Wanrong snorted coldly and said, "They are all all good all the way, who cares if we live or die." ”

Sun Wanrong was angry in his heart, and his voice was much louder, which attracted Zhao Wenhui's eyes.

Seeing Zhao Wenhui looking at him, Sun Wanrong also glared at him without showing weakness.

Zhao Wenhui felt a burst of anger in his heart, how could these uncivilized barbarian tribes have any courtesy, he was about to attack, but he heard someone in the crowd whispering: "It's coming!" ”

Zhao Wenhui couldn't care about Sun Wanrong anymore, and looked forward.

Sure enough, a team came from afar, and it didn't seem like a lot of people.

When the team approached, Du Yu and Xie Yunxuan, who were dressed in official uniforms, dismounted and handed over the documents issued by the officials to Zhao Wenhui. After Zhao Wenhui and the officials of Yingzhou were polite for a while, they welcomed Du Yu and his party into the Yingzhou Governor's Mansion.

……

Just two hours after Zhao Wenhui and Du Yu and his entourage entered the Governor's Mansion, Lu Xiaoxian and his entourage also quietly entered Yingzhou City.

Originally, Xie Yunxuan invited Lu Xiaoxian to enter Yingzhou with Du Yu, but Lu Xiaoxian didn't want to join in the excitement so he refused.

After entering the city, following the secret notes left by the previous agreement with Xingfeng, they soon came to a foothold.

Red bricks, green window lattices, white railings, pale yellow tiles, this is a standard three-entry courtyard, independent three courtyards are connected together, according to the Tang Dynasty etiquette system, this is already the highest standard of the people's house.

Lu Xiaoxian walked into the first courtyard of the Sanjin Courtyard and looked at everything in front of him curiously. This is the closest to the gate, belongs to the front yard, and is supposed to be the place where the slaves and maidservants of the former master's house and the subordinates lived.

In the middle of the four gray brick bungalows facing each other is a rectangular courtyard paved with gray bricks. There is a flower bed in the courtyard, on which are displayed more than a dozen pots of blooming chrysanthemums. The branches of the one-foot-tall red begonia tree next to the flower bed are pruned sparsely and moderately, and the whole courtyard looks more simple and quiet.

Lu Xiaoxian was very satisfied with this, this mansion was spacious and magnificent, much stronger than his own mansion in Luoyang.