Not to mention that Liu Fan and Li Min accompanied the county lord of Jingning to the camp outside the city early the next morning to meet the parade team of the northwest camp, but said that on this day, there was also a foreign mission team that arrived outside Chang'an with the parade team, and the team was not greeted by Hou Yaowen of the Ministry of Rites, Wu Youde of Honglu Temple and others, but by Honglu Temple Zhengqing Wenmin personally led the team, which is the highest courtesy for Daqi to welcome foreign missions!

This small team is indeed relatively rare for Daqi, they are the current most powerful country around Daqi - the negotiation mission of the Khitan Kingdom, the Khitan people have not come to the court for many years.

I saw that this team of 500 people was not the leather armor commonly used by the Khitan army at all, all of them were black lacquered iron armor of the big tent soldiers, and the top of their hats was not the most common pheasant feathers of the Khitan army, but the tail feathers of a very rare eagle falcon on the grassland, which was a bit unusual.

Since the founding of the Khitan people, they have set up the Khitan big horde directly under the royal family, from the initial 10,000 people to the current 40,000 people, has always been the most elite part of the Khitan army, carefully selected from the million Khitan cavalry, since childhood, brave and outstanding, but also after several years of rigorous training, to be eligible to be selected as the Khitan big horde.

It is said that the total number of this pro-soldier team is only 2,000 people, which is the elite of the elite, each of whom is one in a million warriors, and this time the escort negotiation mission sent a quarter of them at once, it can be seen that the Khitan envoy who sent the envoy to the Great Qi must also be a heavyweight of the royal family, if there are people who are familiar with the Khitan royal family, you will be able to recognize that the Khitan envoy who came to China this time is the Khitan prince Yeluzhe, He is the most favored son of the current Khitan Emperor Yelu Deguang, not only is he mighty and majestic, he has the courage to be unstoppable, and he is the most powerful contender for the next Khitan king, but those who are familiar with the Khitan royal family know that although Yelu Zhe seems to be calm and moderate on the surface, such an identity and status also make this person unconsciously have an arrogant and arrogant temperament in his bones.

Followed by Yeluzhe is an elderly Han man who looks like a literati, all the communication with Daqi is through the mouth of this person, after introduction, Wen Min knew that he was the deputy envoy of the Khitan mission to Daqi, the famous deputy minister of the Khitan State Han Deqing, legend has it that this person can not only speak the Tao, but also be resourceful and decisive, known as the most wise person in the Khitan country.

After the third round of drinking, Han Deqing and Ye Luzhe chatted casually, then turned back to Wen Min and said, "Lord Wen, I heard that your country is going to hold a grand military parade in the near future, can you also allow us to take a closer look?" ”

"Please also ask for Han Xiang's forgiveness, this matter must be agreed by the Holy Lord and the Prime Minister's office, and the lowly post does not dare to make his own decision, and when he returns to the city, he will go to the Prime Minister's Office to report to the ......"

Before Wen Min finished speaking, Yeluzhe couldn't wait to talk to Han Deqing for a while.

"Oh, Lord Wen, when your parade is over, the prince's guard still wants to compete with the bravest soldiers of your country, and I ask Lord Wen to report it as well."

"This ...... This, this time is too tight, if you agree to your prince's request for a contest, then there is only one day left for all arrangements and deployments, and it is too late at all, I estimate that the Prime Minister's office will not agree. ”

Wen Min knew that these guards of the Khitan prince were all warriors who were one in a million, and they obviously wanted to give Daqi a dismount and make the grand military parade of Daqi a joke, and he didn't want to take on such a thankless mess at this critical time.

Seeing Wen Min's hesitation, Yeluzhe said a few more words to Han Deqing with a sneer.

Han Deqing said with a smile, "Our prince wants to ask Master Wen, even if you can't fight on the battlefield, don't you even dare to compete?" ”

"Han Xiang, where does this start, isn't it enough that the Marshal Mansion of your country has lost nearly 100,000 troops this year?"

After Han Deqing translated to Yeluzhe, he said to Wen Min, "Lord Wen, don't think that a small victory can change the cowardly military status quo of your country, in the thirteenth year of your country, the warriors of my Great Khitan Kingdom invaded all parts of your country's Hedong, killed more than 200,000 of your country's forbidden troops and guards, and captured countless prisoners and civilians. What's more, it's been two or four years? ”

Before Wen Min could open his mouth to defend himself, Yelu Zhe next to him said anxiously to Han Deqing and Wen Min, Han Deqing translated, "Our prince said, the key to your country's victory this year is that Nu and Ge Dan's idiot rushed to attack and drilled a gap for the southerners. ”

"Hehe, I don't understand the military, but Liu Fan, the deputy envoy in charge of negotiations with your country, happens to be one of the main generals in charge of the northwest war this year. As for the contest with you, I will report it to the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister when I go back, and leave it to the Holy Lord and the two Prime Ministers to decide. ”

"Okay, if the soldiers of your country really don't dare to compete with the warriors of my Great Khitan Kingdom, then when I wait for the audience, the emperor of your country can admit to my face that the warriors of your country are inferior to the warriors of my Great Khitan Kingdom."

"Prime Minister Han, I am only responsible for receiving the mission, can you watch the military parade and the competition, after I report to the Prime Minister's Office, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer, as for my country's samurai are not as good as your country's warriors, I will not be here to vain the benefits of words, I also hope that the Prime Minister's Office can agree to your requirements for the competition, my China is a great country with thousands of years of heritage, and there are capable people who will not be afraid of the challenge of a foreign country that has been established for less than a century."

"Haha, Lord Wen has such a big breath, but as a literati, I really like this backbone of Lord Wen, so let's wait for good news today."

"I have resigned from such a humble position, I am tired from the journey, please Han Xiang and your prince and his entourage take a bath and rest early."

Sure enough, as Wen Min expected, after hurrying to the Prime Minister's Office, he told the Khitan Mission's request to watch the military parade and compete with Daqi, which immediately aroused the great attention of Yang Yan, the left prime minister, and it was nothing to watch the parade, and it is estimated that the saint would agree, after all, this is also a good opportunity to declare national prestige to the outside world. But the contest is a bit troublesome, if you don't agree to the Khitan mission's request for a contest, you will lose a ride before negotiating with the Khitans, if you agree, what if you lose? This is a loss of face for the court and even the country! What's more, the Khitans have been warriors since they were children, and it is estimated that most of the soldiers of Daqi will lose when competing with these Khitans who are one in a million.

But this matter cannot be ignored yet, and an answer will be given to the Khitan mission before tomorrow. Yang Yan thought for a while, and immediately sent someone to invite Li Zongxiong, the right minister, the various ministers, and several old generals in Beijing.

Since this matter mainly involves the Ministry of War, Gai Yanshou, a veteran who had just taken over the post of secretary of the Ministry of War from Li Zongxiong two days ago, slowly got up and said, "Yang Xiang, since the other party has thrown out the war book, in my opinion, this competition must be accepted, and if it is not accepted, it must be accepted, because once the imperial court refuses the other party's request for a martial arts competition, the Khitan mission will spread everywhere that the imperial court does not dare to compete with it, and this matter will be known all over the city, and in the end, not only the soldiers cannot afford to lose this face, but also the holy monarch, the imperial court, Even the entire Great Qi can't afford to lose this face! ”

"I also thought of this situation, but the key is that this time it is the Khitan royal family's personal guards who escort the Khitan prince to the court, and we have a few percent chance of winning the competition, if we lose, will we be even more embarrassed?"

"Besides, there is only one day tomorrow, if you agree to the other party's request for martial arts, what will you try, horsemanship, archery or fighting? How to determine this competition event, and who we should choose to compete with in a hurry, these are not things that can be determined in a day. ”

When Yang Yan finished speaking, the needle drop could be heard in Nuoda's room, and everyone knew in their hearts that this was a dilemma, not agreeing to the competition would lose face for Daqi, and agreeing that once the competition failed, it would be even more embarrassing.