In the city of Changsha, the lights are brilliant and joyful. Ma Xifan, the king of Chu, was unusually happy in the past two days.

Before his death, Ma Yin, the king of Wumu, removed the system of the vassal state and changed it to the system of the feudal town at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and at the same time left a last word, asking his descendants to make themselves vassal to the Central Plains Dynasty with moderation. Later, the brothers Ma Xisheng and Ma Xifan, who ascended the throne one after another, although they were unwilling to do so, still claimed to be the king of Chu behind closed doors, but every time they paid tribute to the Central Plains, they still listened to their father's words and practiced the etiquette of a feudal town. The Central Plains Dynasty was constantly renewed, but it was as if they had forgotten, and they no longer refused to canonize Hunan as a vassal state.

This time, the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty actually sent officials to canonize Ma Xifan as the king of Chu again, which was tantamount to officially recognizing the status of Hunan again. The title of King of Chu and the establishment of Tiance Mansion are finally justified. Therefore, Ma Xifan was not in a hurry to let the mission come to Changsha, but passed through Langzhou, made a big circle, and showed off. When he heard that the mission had arrived in Changsha, Ma Xifan not only sent his eldest son Ma Guangliang 100 miles out of the city to greet him, but he also held a banquet to entertain the envoys of the Central Plains at Bibo Pavilion outside Changsha.

It's a pity that Ma Yun is not here, otherwise he would have been surprised, because the envoy of the Central Plains was famous at the turn of Zhou and Song, and his name was Fan Qian, a character and a native of the famous mansion. Now this Master Fan is sitting in the eight-lift sedan chair sent by Ma Guangliang, opening the sedan curtain from time to time, looking at the scene in the south, and his mood is quite complicated.

Nowadays, the feudal towns are everywhere, and the heroes are strong, even in the north, in the areas under the personal jurisdiction of the emperor, those Jiedu envoys who support the army and respect themselves are still domineering, and the envoys sent by Bianjing have never been very popular. Fan Zhen has never suffered less from such a wretched spirit. I didn't expect that in this remote southern subject country with a royal road, he would be so respectful to him, an envoy, and for a moment, Fan Zhen felt like a world away, and thought that he had returned to the Tang Dynasty.

Fan Zhen was thinking about his thoughts, and the sedan chair suddenly stopped, and then suddenly drums and firecrackers rang out next to him, which startled Fan Zhen. In a moment of surprise, I heard a Tuoba Heng whisper outside the sedan chair: "My lord, I, the king of Chu, Chitose, have come to the outside of the city to greet him personally. ”

Fan Zhen didn't expect Chu Guo to greet him with such a high standard, so he hurriedly pulled the curtain and got out of the sedan chair, and said to Tuoba Heng: "Xia Guan really didn't know that the King of Chu actually came in person, and Lord Lao led the way, so let Xia Guan Hao meet the prince." ”

Tuoba Heng didn't say much, and was ready to move forward with Fan Qian. Unexpectedly, the guards in front suddenly withdrew to both sides, and a group of people slowly walked towards this side, led by a middle-aged man with a white face and a short beard and a purple round-necked narrow-sleeved shirt. ”

The king of Chu helped Fan Zhen up and said with a smile: "My lord has come from afar, and he has worked hard. Xiao Wang prepared a little thin wine in the Bibo Pavilion to wash the dust for the adults. ”

Fan Zhen didn't even dare to say it, but the king of Chu didn't let him go, pulled him to the upper Bibo Pavilion, and sat down on the second floor, and the king of Chu said slowly: "Your Majesty has been good recently." ”

Fan was solemn, and said to the quilt: "Your Majesty is all right, but I am just worried about the prince." ”

The King of Chu laughed, and Li Gao next to him asked with a sincere face: "I heard that the imperial court is out of peace with the Khitan, and the Central Plains is in danger, but is it true?" ”

Fan Zhen had expected that this envoy would definitely be troubled, and when he saw Li Gao say this, he smiled and said: "Dachu is located in a remote area, what this lord said, I am afraid it is a false rumor, in fact, the emperor has already defeated the Khitan and recovered the lost territory. The Great Jin Dynasty is now as safe as a rock. ”

The King of Chu said in horror: "The emperor actually recruited himself? ”

Fan Zhen nodded, arched his hands to the north again, and said: "The emperor is a saint, heroic and decisive, saw through Yelu Deguang's tricks, went to the army in person, strategized, and finally broke the Khitan in one month. The community is very fortunate, and the people of the world are very fortunate. ”

Li Gao said again: "I heard that the Central Plains is harsh in governance, and there are many taxes. I don't know, but it's true? ”

Fan Zhen laughed and said to the King of Chu: "The minister is in Bianjing, and I often hear people say that the king, the door sill is decorated with gold and jade, and even the dansha that paints the wall is also used hundreds of thousands of catties, I don't know if it's true?" ”

Li Gao originally wanted to humiliate Fan Zhen and show that the state of Chu was stable and the world was peaceful. Unexpectedly, this Fan quality was actually articulate and beaten upside down. Silence at the moment. In fact, Fan Zhen's words about the Central Plains are half-true and half-false, the King of Chu, Li Gao and others have always kept their doors behind closed doors, and the news was blocked, so they were actually concealed by him.

Xu Zhongya on the side smiled slightly and said, "My lord, the true debater." Adults have come to my Dachu for a few days, how do you feel compared with the Central Plains? ”

Fan is not good at arguing with his tongue, at this moment to catch the duck on the shelf, not arguing and unwilling, arguing, this Tiance Mansion eighteen bachelors are afraid that each of them will have to say two sentences, if this can not be answered, it will fall into the prestige of the court. His mind turned darkly, and he suddenly smiled: "Lord Tuoba has also been to the Central Plains, why don't you ask him to talk about it?" ”

The monarchs and ministers of the State of Chu never expected that Fan Zhen actually played this trick and asked Tuoba Heng to say, then he didn't want to make the State of Chu a mess. At that moment, Liao Kuangtu said tremblingly: "King, today's angels are coming from Bianjing, and the ministers are accumulating, which can be described as a momentary momentum, why don't we each drink a poem to celebrate?" ”

When Li Gao saw Liao Kuangtu talking, he knew that he was going to suggest writing poetry again. However, just now, Fan Zhen was shrewd, and he secretly thought that he couldn't take any advantage, so he reluctantly agreed: "Yes, how can a good banquet be without poetry." ”

The king of Chu liked to compose poems, and he was overjoyed at the moment, and immediately ordered people to serve with pen and ink, and prepared to compose poems. During the period of composing poems, all the scholars of Tiance Mansion wanted to overpower Fan Quality in poetry, and they thought that Fan Quality was very knowledgeable and not in vain, not only did they not take advantage, but let Fan Quality take the lead. In the end, even the King of Chu admired Fan Qian's literary brilliance.

The next day, Fan Zhen took the canonized bamboo book and officially canonized Ma Xifan as the king of Chu in Tiance Mansion. After the canonization ceremony was completed, Liao Kuangtu, Li Gao and others sang praises to Ma Xifan for a while, and Ma Xifan was complacent and proud.

Xu Zhongya, who was standing on the side, said: "The king is reused by the imperial court and admired by the people of the world, and now that the imperial court has broken with the Khitan, it must be tight on money and food, so it is better for us to contribute more, so it can be regarded as living up to the high expectations of the imperial court." ”

The king of Chu and all the ministers, including Fan Zhen, were a little surprised, is there something wrong with this Xu Zhongya, why do you have to send more things for no reason?

There is more than one smart person, especially the smart person in Tiance Mansion. Li Gao seemed to immediately understand what Xu Zhongya meant, and hurriedly said, "Yes, king, why don't we contribute some money and food." ”

Now even Fan Zhen understands that this group of people wants to take advantage of the fire to rob, and they want to rely on a little money and food to continue to ask for rewards. But the king of Chu has become a prince, where is there anything to reward?