"The court of the Han court, the ministers of the ministers, it is difficult for us to get a glimpse of one or two. You can only take a walk around the streets and alleys in this market! Han Xizai looked at the deputy envoy with a slanted gaze, as if he was explaining, and the pride was quite uncomfortable.

The deputy envoy's face trembled, he had suffered a lot of Han Xizai's arrogance along the way, if it weren't for the "mission" of monitoring and observing, he would not want to follow this person out, and would rather stay in the guest post.

I drank a glass of wine sullenly, drank too violently, my throat burned so badly that I almost spewed out, and finally recovered, complaining: "The wine in the north is not as sweet and mellow as our south!" ”

responded to Han Xizai with slanted eyes: "What is there to observe in this Kaifeng market?" The population is not as good as the people of Jinling, the merchants are not as prosperous as Jinling, and the people's atmosphere is not as good as the peace of Jinling......

This envoy's mouth was full of pride in Jinling and contempt for Kaifeng, which was a kind of contempt from the heart, as if Kaifeng was really unbearable.

Hearing this, Han Xizai's face was unhappy, and he said in a flat tone: "You must know that the Tang Dynasty has been operating for more than 20 years by the ancestors of Liezu and the previous two generations, ensuring the security of the territory and the people, so that there is the strength of the Tang Dynasty and the wealth of Jinling today." And the war in the north is frequent, after years of endless, fierce fangs wanton, the Liu family has only been established for two years, and it is rare to be able to make Kaifeng Xiaozhi so! ”

"The Han Emperor in the city of Kaifeng, it can be said that when people are in danger, he has only succeeded to the throne for a year, although he is young, he can stabilize the complex situation, stabilize the court and the army, and control the heroes and generals, but Xishu, quell the internal rebellion, resist the Khitan, suppress the bandits and the people, and even rectify the affairs of the dynasty and the army...... Han Xizai was worried and sighed deeply: "Every move is not unstable and progressive." I am not afraid of the viciousness and cruelty of the Lord of the Central Plains, but I am afraid of his calmness and calmness. Northern Han, sooner or later, I will be my great enemy! ”

"Han Gong thinks too highly of the Northern Han Dynasty!" The deputy envoy obviously disagreed: "Just wandering around the Kaifeng market, I touted the Han Emperor so much, asserting that he is a strong enemy of my Tang Dynasty, it's too child's play!" ”

Without waiting for Han Xizai to speak, the deputy envoy said: "It is said that the young son of heaven in the Northern Han Dynasty is a Ming monarch, a martial artist, and it is rumored that he broke the Khitan with thousands of troops two years ago, killed the Khitan lord, and returned to Youzhou, hehe......"

"True or not, regardless of him. Even if this Han emperor is really virtuous, what can he do, the rise and fall of the northern country, the replacement of the emperor's throne, so frequent, now that the Northern Han has its deer, how long can it defend its country, it is a problem. Li Cunqiao, Li Siyuan, and Shi Jingjiao are all ancestors of Chengzong, and they were heroes for a while, but now, they have already turned into a handful of loess! ”

In fact, in the past few decades, from Yang Wu to the Southern Tang Dynasty, and in the later years of Yang Xingmi, Zhu Liang of the Central Plains had a few hard battles, and the rest of the period, more in the southern shoals with other countries. Although he pays attention to the changes in the north, he is more like a bystander, watching a play.

I have watched this drama a lot, and after watching it for decades, I saw the heroes of the Central Plains fighting to the death, and slowly gave birth to a stubborn arrogance. As a scholar from the Central Plains who crossed to the south, Han Xizai was quite touched by this, and he was not surprised by the deputy envoy's opinion. In the Southern Tang Dynasty, many officials were betting on the national fortunes of the Han Dynasty, talking about how long they could hold on to the country.

Generally not optimistic, at the beginning, I thought that there would be five or six years, and when Liu Zhiyuan died, there were those who proposed two or three years, and after Liu Chengyou succeeded to the throne, he looked at it more, and he felt that it was not more than ten years at most......

Earlier, Han Xizai did not regard Han as a great enemy, and even encouraged Li Jing to send troops to realize his ambition. But after going north this time, I observed all the way, and my worries rose sharply, if the Tang Dynasty monarchs and ministers still had such a mentality, they would have to suffer a big loss sooner or later.

Although the Han Dynasty also had a nascent country, there were many ugly things, the people were very bitter, the generals were vicious, and the government was poor, but a word called "order" had gradually changed from vague to solid, and the Han court had basically maintained and stabilized its rule over the Central Plains, and the central authority over the local authorities had also been initially established.

These things, with Han Xizai's naked eyes and knowledge, can be observed. Speaking of which, he has been crossing the south for more than 20 years, but he has really seen the dark turmoil in the Central Plains at the beginning. Back then, disguised as running south, taking refuge in the air, that kind of panic, can be said to be vivid, compared with the two, today's Han, although the devastation has not recovered, but compared with 20 years ago, it is much more stable.

was worried, but Han Xizai didn't mean to argue with the deputy envoy at this time, he didn't have the same heart, and he even felt that it was superfluous to talk to him.

Although Han Xizai didn't speak, that kind of contempt from the heart still stimulated the deputy envoy, couldn't stand his arrogance, and retorted with resentment: "What, Han Gong thinks that what he said is unreasonable? ”

"Not so! The analysis is very reasonable, the needle is very serious, and there are not many people in the world who can have this insight! Han Xizai praised, but the tone of pretending to be bland was not praised.

Taking a deep breath, although it was in a single room, the noise in the wine shop kept drilling through the doors and windows, and the deputy envoy suddenly felt that his mood was no longer as irritable as at this moment, and said impatiently: "Han Gong, let's think about it, how to complete the mission from the north, don't do that inexplicable emotion here, alarmist!" ”

Han Xizai smiled and said very calmly: "Emperor Han doesn't want to meet him, can you and I still be able to break in?" ”

is not happy with Han Xizai's calm and self-righteous performance, the deputy envoy hurriedly said: "Could it be that the Han Emperor has not seen us for a year, so we have to wait here for a year?" ”

"If you are impatient, you can return south first!" Han Xizai said.

The deputy envoy was silent.

Seeing this, Han Xizai became a little more serious and said, "You and I want to complete the task this time, but I'm afraid it's not that simple!" ”

"How?" The deputy envoy looked at Han Xizai. Although in the eyes of a southern scholar like him, Han Xizai is arrogant and conceited, but no one has belittled his knowledge and talent.

Han Xizai explained quietly: "As far as Emperor Han ignores our actions, it can be seen that he is probably hostile to our court. During this time, you and I visited the important ministers of the Han Dynasty, but we couldn't see them, and we couldn't even give gifts. This is why, whether it is the permission of the Han Emperor or the will of the Han Dynasty, it is not a good thing! ”

Hearing this, the deputy envoy became nervous: "If that's the case, then what's the matter?" If the mission is not achieved, after returning to the dynasty, how to explain to Your Majesty? ”

Han Xizai smiled and didn't answer, so that the envoy couldn't bite him.

I got up, walked to the window, looked at the city of Tokyo outside, and pondered. Han Xizai frowned lightly in his heart, this time he went north, the task was not as difficult as the Tang lord and the courtiers imagined, he came with goodwill, the Han Emperor was a smart man, and if the two countries were friendly, it would obviously be more beneficial to the Han State.

After thinking about it, Han Xizai thought of the recent interactions with the Tokyo courtiers, all of which were closed. According to what he heard, the courtiers of the Han Dynasty were greedy, but this time, they were able to defend together.

He didn't believe that these people's greed was less, even if it was only for this matter, when a greedy person could endure the greed in his heart and restrain his behavior, this is worth pondering.

More than 20 years ago, Gao Jixing, the king of Nanping, personally went to Luoyang to meet Li Cunxuan, and after watching the chaos of the Tang Dynasty and the absurdity of political affairs, Nangui was at ease and happy, and bluntly said that he had no worries about the Northern Tang Dynasty.

Han Xizai was ordered to go north this time, and he has not seen Liu Chengyou yet, and his mood is already heavy and indescribable.