Tuoba Beijin picked up the golden bowl on the low table, took a sip of buttermilk, and glanced at Sun Mian with his eyes.

Sun Mian opened his mouth and said with a beard: "Tie Fu led Zhao Yanli's youngest son Gu Yan, and now he is in my Daibei. He misses his hometown, and begs my king to send him back to Shuofang, this time while your envoy comes, when your envoy returns, please bring the lonely coat with him, right? ”

The bald Boye twisted his face and looked at Yang Hezhi.

A suspicion appeared in both of their hearts at the same time: "At this time, Sun Mian suddenly mentioned Zhao Guyan, what does it mean?" ”

Because he couldn't figure out the intention of Sun Mian's words, Bo Ye did not answer his request directly, but only replied vaguely, saying: "My country's Xihai Marquis, Zhao Guyan's brother is also." The Marquis of Xihai is now in Shuofang, and he also misses the lonely coating. ”

Sun Mian continued: "When Zhao Yanli was alive, he begged my king to choose a good match for Gu Yan. Now that Zhao Yanli has passed away, and Gu Yan is getting older, nearly 18 years old, and he has reached the age of marriage, so my king chose a daughter in the clan a month ago, and has married Gu Yan. ”

The bald Boye came to Daibei this time, and when he arrived at Shengle, he was imprisoned in Shengle's embassy, and he had never seen anyone, Zhao Guyan He had never seen him until now, so he didn't know what Sun Mian said, it was a lie, Zhao Guyan was almost eighteen years old, Tuoba Beijin chose a daughter from the clan and married him, but this is "out of nothing".

Bo Ye said, "Really? The one who was chosen by the big person for the orphan must be a good match, and then congratulations to the orphan. ”

"My king pities the lonely and his parents are dead, and he thinks about the Zhao Yan Li in the past, my king is very respectful, so he gave the lonely herdsman 500 drops? Right as a match? These 500 herdsmen, after they arrived in Shuofang with the orphans? Need pasture farming? I would like to ask you to arrange it. ”

"Five hundred herdsmen?"

Sun Mian nodded, touching his beard? With a smile on his face, he said, "As your envoy said? The Marquis of the West Sea of your country? There is also the Marquis of Linrong, the brother of Ju Guyan, the two marquis of Xihai and Linrong are all important ministers of your country, and there was a war in Shuofang before? And not long ago, your country fought with Qinzhou of Great Qin? The two marquis have also made great contributions to your country, and the five hundred herdsmen, my king has generously given away a little pasture, and I think you will not be stingy when you come to your country. "Look at Yang Hezhi? smiled and said, "Jun is Shuofang Juncheng? How do you say? ”

When Bo Ye and Yang Hezhi heard this, they understood Sun Mian's intention to mention Zhao Guyan.

Yang Hezhi thought: "Where is this the marriage of five hundred households?" It's clearly to set up a stake in my Shuo Fang! Zhao Guyan has been from his youth to Daibei for many years? Necessarily close to Tuoba? Is this trying to provoke the infighting between Zhao Rangan and Zhao Guyan's brothers? So as to create an opportunity for him to regain the grassland of Hebei, and even invade the whole county of Shuofang! ”

Now that he has guessed Sun Mian's intentions, of course Yang Hezhi will not agree in person, and shirks and says, "Although the servant Shuofang County Cheng, there is a Taishou Zhang Gong, and the shore of the land is not the king's land, and the servant and Zhang Gong do not have the right to divide the land and people without permission, and the matter of dividing the grassland to settle the herdsmen must be invited to the widow." After I get the order of the widow's reply, can I give Mr. a reply? ”

Sun Mian smiled and said meaningfully: "The king of your country is a benevolent king, and the ruling prince of your country has always spread the name of benevolence and righteousness, so he must not bear to see Zhao Rangan, Zhao Xing, and Zhao Guyan isolated from the two domains, and cannot reunite with brothers." ”

Yang Hezhi was silent, and said in his heart: "It is reasonable to be reasonable, it is indeed difficult to refuse Sun Mian's request." ”

He met Sun Mian's gaze, with a smile on his face, also with a playful color, his mouth did not make a sound, and he thought in his heart, "It's not easy for Gong Xin to refuse, and if you agree to your request, can a Zhao Guyan turn my Shuo Fang upside down?" With me in Shuofang for a day, don't talk about loneliness, even if you are Sun Mian, don't want to mess with me Shuofang! ”

Qiu Dunjian's voice sounded, he no longer mentioned the matter of "marriage", but borrowed Sun Mian's words, and said: "Some grasslands are also swallowed, and they refuse to promise directly!" You Dingxi is too unpleasant! He said that he would like to make a new covenant with my king, but he refused to give anything out of it, which is simply insincere! I still say the same thing, how can I believe that the king will believe you again? ”

Yang Hezhi said: "My lord has something to say, but please speak up." ”

Qiu Dunjian said: "This winter is cold, my sheep and horses in Daibei have frozen to death, the herdsmen are having a hard time, since you Dingxi asked to make another covenant with my king, then the allies are trapped, should you Dingxi help you?" Don't talk about anything else, it's not good, do you want to send some sheep and horses to me on behalf of the north? This can be regarded as your Dingxi showing some sincerity. ”

"Dare to ask your lord, how many sheep and horses do you want?"

"What? You should ask how much. ”

“…… How much? ”

"Not much, a million sheep and 10,000 horses."

"Huh."

Qiu Dunjian asked, "What are you hehe?" ”

Yang Hezhi ignored him anymore, and said to Tuoba Beijin on the main throne: "There is one thing, I don't know if you have heard of it?" ”

Tuoba Beijin asked: "What's the matter?" ”

"On the way to your land, the Rouran Khan sent an envoy to Guyin, the capital of my king, and asked for an alliance with me Dingxi."

"Pitan?"

Yang Hezhi didn't answer, but just smiled peacefully under Tuoba's powerful gaze.

Tuoba Beijin stared at Yang Hezhi for a long time, raised his sleeves to cover his mouth, yawned, and said, "Oops, I'm sleepy!" This king is old and lacks energy, and he is not as good as you young people! …… Mr. Sun, let's talk to them next. And he stood up, but he left behind the whole hall, and went straight to the back of the hall, and walked away.

There was a brief moment of silence in the hall.

Sun Mian broke the silence and said, "Honorable envoy, please go back to the embassy first, and I will visit tomorrow." ”

sent Boye and others out of the palace, Qiu Dunjian, Liu Qian, Tuoba Kangni, Zhao Puba, Helan Wenyue and others also left, although the relationship between them was different, they were divided into two or three groups, but on the way out of the palace, they exchanged heads and ears, and they were all talking non-stop.

But the content of the discussion is the same, it is Yang Hezhi's last sentence: "Rouran asks for an alliance with Dingxi".

Sun Mian didn't leave, and as soon as Bo Ye and the others went out, he was summoned to the back of the palace by the close attendants of the double catty.

Tuoba paced back and forth, and when he saw Sun Mian coming in, he asked impatiently: "Sir, Yang Hezhi said that Pi Tan asked for an alliance with Dingxi, do you think this matter is true, or is Yang Hezhi's kid scaring Lao Tzu?" ”

"This matter ......"

"How?"

"Maybe it's true, maybe it's false."

"Sir, you didn't say that!"

"Even if it's fake, but with the crown as expected, since Yang Hezhi dares to say this in front of the king, then eight or nine times out of ten ......"

"How?"

"Even if Pi Tan didn't send an envoy to Dingxi to seek an alliance, Dingxi may have already sent an envoy to Rouran."

Tuoba Beijin stopped, looked up and thought for a moment, and said, "That's what you mean......"

"Yes, my lord, this means that Dingxi and Rouran may be able to form an alliance."

"Once Dingxi and Rouran form an alliance...... Tuoba rubbed the hilt of his sword, and the expression on his face became grim.

Rouran is the fierce rival of Daibei, compared to Dingxi and Daibei almost no offence between each other, Daibei and Rouran are fighting every year, and now the new land in the north of Daibei and the new Hubu in the north are all grabbed from Rouran. Once Rouran and Dingxi make an alliance, then at that time, it will be the enemy on both sides, not only Dingxi, but also on behalf of the north, and even, not on both sides, if you add Murong Yan, who has repeatedly urged Beijin to send troops to help in recent months, it will be an enemy on three sides.

Sun Mian said: "Once Dingxi and Rouran form an alliance, the king, the situation will be quite unfavorable to our Daibei, and the king's strategy of merging and secluding can only be temporarily shelved and cannot be implemented." ”

"Sir, then in your opinion, do you think this covenant between Dingxi and Rouran can be reached?"

"In the humble opinion of the crown, there is a good chance that this covenant can be fulfilled."

"Oh?"

"One, Rouran is not the enemy of Dingxi, and the enemy of Dingxi is now Pu Qin; Dingxi is not the great enemy of Rouran, the great enemy of Rouran is now my Daibei and the Murong clan, which means that there is no irreconcilable contradiction between Rouran and Dingxi.

"Second, Pi Tan's current position in Rouran's sweat position is very unstable, it can be described as internal and external troubles, he urgently needs the help of powerful forces, if Dingxi shows favor to him at this time, he is likely to let go of the small profit of invading the border of Dingxi, and is willing to form an alliance with Dingxi.

"Therefore, the two are the crown, and the possibility of the two sides forming an alliance is not small."

"......, no wonder Bo Ye and Yang Hezhi's heads are so hard, and they won't let go of me at all! Hehe, it turns out that there is still this hand waiting for Lao Tzu! ”

"King, the current situation is like this, the covenant with Dingxi?"

Tuoba Beijin pondered for a while, and had already made up his mind, and said: "Sir, just bargain with Bo Ye and Yang Hezhi, and if you can get any benefits, you will have to come with any benefits!" If you really don't have too many benefits, in order not to affect my plan to go south, and not to affect the hundred-year plan I have set for my Tuoba clan, then there is nothing to be done, I can only endure for a while, and this can only be the case. ”

After Sun Mian was forcibly taken to Shengle by Tuoba Beijin with the threat of "slaughtering the whole city of his hometown", he was very angry at first, thinking that Tuoba Beijin was really a barbarian, but with the length of contact with Tuoba Beijin, with Tuoba Beijin's sincere treatment of him, the most important thing is that with the deepening of his understanding of Tuoba Beijin's ability and ambition, his original "non-cooperative" attitude gradually changed, and now, he has long been willing to be a subordinate of Beijin, giving him advice.

Listening to Tuoba's words, Sun Mian thought: "Know the overall situation, be good at good words, dare to make trade-offs, be able to bend and stretch, and the king is honest and heroic!" He bowed down and said, "The king is wise! ”

Tuoba helped him up, and then, picked up Liu Qian left in the palace when he left the hall, and then returned to his map through the slaves and maids in the hall, carefully opened it, stroked the lines on the map, and observed the counties, mountains, roads, and garrisons in various places in the map, as if attracted by a magnet, looked at it again and again, and was reluctant to turn his eyes away.

He leaned over the picture and said to Sun Mian: "Sir, there are Tang texts on it, I don't know a lot of words, you come, teach me." ”

Sun Mian promised and hurried over to his side.

Tuoba Beijin pointed out the words he didn't know, and Sun Mian taught him carefully.

After teaching for a long time, Tuoba Beijin basically recognized the words he didn't know on the picture, and he still re-watched it repeatedly, looked at it again and again, couldn't bear to let go, and held the picture like a baby.

He asked Sun Mian and said, "Sir, can you draw this kind of picture?" ”

"There are two difficulties in drawing this picture."

"Which two are the difficulties?"

"One is that the painter needs actuarial science, and if he is not precise in arithmetic, he will not be able to measure the size of the county, the distance of the roads, the height of the mountains, the depth of the valleys, and the length of the water, and he will not be able to map the counties, roads, valleys, and rivers. One is that it is necessary to have sufficient sources of manpower and intelligence, otherwise, it will be impossible to find out the geography of the enemy country, the mountains and rivers, and the troops stationed in various places. ”

Tuoba was smart, first heard Sun Mian say that it was "two difficulties", and then heard the first difficulty is "the painter needs actuarial science", and then he knew that arithmetic must be something that Sun Mian did not understand, in order to avoid Sun Mian's embarrassment, he did not ask clearly, but disappointment was inevitable, he sighed several times in a row, and said with a look of disappointment: "In this way, this kind of map cannot be drawn by me on behalf of the north?" ”

"It's not that it can't."

When Tuoba Beijin heard this, his eyes lit up, and he asked eagerly, "How do you say this?" ”

"Although the crown is not good at arithmetic, there is a scholar in the county of Randai, who is good at this skill, and the king can invite him if he wants to make such a map. As for the geography of the mountains and rivers of the enemy country, for the time being, we do not have the ability to explore clearly, but now under the rule of the king, the north and south, east and west are more than 1,000 miles. ”

Tuoba Beijin thought deeply and said, "What the gentleman said is very true! ”

"It's just that the king, the Tang scholar who is good at arithmetic in Daijun, but the king can no longer send troops to the captivity, so it is better to change the method to extend."

Tuoba Bei touched his beard and smiled: "In the past, I loved Mr. too much, and I couldn't invite Mr. several times, so I made that decision and sent troops to invite!" Since my husband came to my Shengle, I have been instructed by him every day, and I know that I am reckless that day, and I am very ashamed! If you don't say it, sir, I won't do it again. I will send an envoy today, and I will be courteous, and I will invite that Tang Shi here! ”

"It's almost dusk, and it's not too late for the king to send another envoy tomorrow."

"I wish he was in front of me now, where can I wait for tomorrow!"

Sure enough, on the same day, Tuoba Beijin sent a messenger, with a letter from Chongli and Sun Mian, and went south to Daijun to invite the Tang scholar to come to Shengle.

Needless to say, there is no need to say more.

Sun Mian went to the embassy the next day, and according to Beijin's instructions, he bargained with the bald Boye and Yang Hezhi, and fought for two days, but he didn't get any benefits from them. At the end, Sun Mian said: "The four words of the mission are worthy of the two of you." On the third day, he made a covenant with Bo Ye and Yang Hezhi. Remind Beijin to see that Dingxi and Daibei can be regarded as the third covenant.

- The matter of Zhao Guyan was not mentioned in the covenant, and the bald Boye promised to wait until he returned to Dingxi, and he would bring the matter to the court, and ask Dingxi to decide on it, and as soon as there was a decision, he would notify the Daibei side.

It was mid-November, and Bo Ye and the others did not stay in Shengle for long, and after Beijin ratified the covenant, they set off to return to Long. In Shuofang, Yang Hezhi stayed, and Bo Ye and the others continued to move forward. Following the original path when he came, he traveled for more than ten days, and returned to Guyin, the royal city of Dingxi, in early December.

It snowed when I went, and it snowed again when I returned.

Entering Guyin was on the morning of this day, and Bo Ye waited for the Xin Mansion to see Xin Er.

At the gate of the house, I met a beggar force.

"You're back?"

Bo Ye said, "Just came back. ”

Qi vigorously glanced at the mansion and said, "I'm afraid that Ming Gong won't be able to meet you at this time." ”

"Duke Ming is busy with important military and political affairs?"

"The servant shot one step ahead of you, and he just came back before he was summoned by Ming Gong."

"Fen servant shooting", Fen Dan is also.

In order to cope with the situation next year, Dingxi has made three major diplomatic envoys, the one who has been sent to the north is bald, the one who is sent to the south is Gao Chong, and the one who is sent to Rouran is the one who is the one who chooses Fandan.

Yan Dan came back last night, and today Xin Er summoned him into the palace to inquire about his envoy.