Youzhou, the homeland of the old Tang Dynasty and one of the sixteen states of Yanyun, has always been an inalienable territory of the Central Plains since the Zhou Dynasty.

This place can pass through the desert grassland in the north, reach the Central Plains in the south, the homeland of the Bohai Kingdom and Goguryeo in the east, and cross the Taihang Mountain in the west to Jinju, which is an out-and-out throat and the core area of the northeast territory.

Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the emerging Liao State took the opportunity to capture Youzhou, and since then, this old land has been lost under the iron horses of foreign races.

Twenty years ago, Qi Taizong worked hard, heroic, and led 200,000 tigers and wolves to conquer Yanyun's homeland in the north, but he was defeated in the battle of Lianghe.

After the battle of Lianghe, the Liao State also paid more and more attention to the sixteen states of Yanyun, regarded it as the frontier position of seizing the Han people's rivers and mountains, and Liao Taizong met in the first year, divided the north and south courts, and promoted the original Youzhou to the Youdu Mansion, built Nanjing, also known as Yanjing, as the capital of Liao.

Yanjing City is not big, but it has a long history, the years are ancient, the city is built by the Yan Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period, and it has a history of thousands of years.

When the twilight of spring, the majestic Yan Mountain lies between the blue sky, under the foothills, the continuous bluestone city wall encloses a square city ten miles long and wide, like a giant beast entrenched on the earth, and the dragon rises Yan Mountain reflects each other.

The remnant sun is like blood, shining on the mottled city gate of Yanjing City, the black "Liao" character banner of the city tower is not only moving in the evening breeze hunting and hunting, with the last horn of the closed door sounding, a fast horse rushed into the city like a whirlwind.

Entering the city, the horseman galloped along the wide avenue, and his skillful riding skills were wonderful, and he did not stop in the vast night market, and flew in front of the twinkling lights of the palace in a blink of an eye.

Seeing this, the general who guarded the palace tower raised one hand and waved it vigorously, and a strong bow and crossbow poked out his head with the general's sharp reprimand: "Who is coming?!" Don't stop the horse yet! ”

"Appeal ——!"

The knight suddenly tightened the reins of the horse, and the majestic and extraordinary horse stood up with the long neighing man, and when the horse paused, he heard the knight's voice say: "General, the last general is the messenger of the Xizuo battalion in Yuzhou, and there is an urgent military report to be submitted to the envoy of Xiao. ”

When the school heard this, the originally frowning brows suddenly relaxed, and he nodded and said, "Your Excellency, wait for a while, Rong Ben will go in and report." ”

The messenger knight bowed slightly, but was not in a hurry, and took out a wheat cake from his pocket under the coat and munched it, and the cheeks filled with food bulged even tighter, and he stuffed the wheat cake into his stomach in three or two strokes.

After that, he picked up the water bladder and poured half a full half of the water bladder with cold water, and a simple war meal was completed.

After all, after five days and five nights of sleepless galloping back from Suizhou, he was really hungry and tired.

After waiting for a moment, the heavy palace gate finally rumbled open, as if a huge monster suddenly opened its hideous mouth.

A group of soldiers armed with torches rushed out, illuminating the way to the imperial city for the messenger, and said in unison: "Spread the message of the Privy Envoy Xiao, welcome the messenger back to Beijing, and have a good journey all the way!" Privy Envoy Xiao is waiting for the messenger in the Privy Council, please! ”

Seeing this scene, the messenger couldn't help but burst into tears, and was deeply moved by the deep affection and compassion of the corporal of Xiao's secret envoy.

It is admirable that he has treated such an ordinary messenger with such kindness as a privy envoy.

Suddenly, a feeling of the death of a confidant rose from the messenger's heart, and he let out a deep breath, suppressed the tears that were about to well-up from the corners of his eyes, and flew into the palace with a whip.

The Privy Council of the Southern Court of Liao is located at the northern end of the imperial city and is the highest military government of the sixteen states of Yanyun of Liao.

Since the capture of the sixteen states of Yanyun, the ambition of the Liao State, which was originally attached to the subject state of the Tang Dynasty, gradually rose, coveted the great rivers and mountains of the Central Plains, and set up the North and South Courts to take charge of the sixteen states of Yanyun and the national and military affairs of the Liao State itself.

Among them, the North Courtyard is located in Shangjing, and all the officials of the palace account, tribes, and vassal countries must be Khitan to serve.

The southern courtyard is located in Yanjing, and the affairs of governing the Han people's prefectures and counties, rents, and military horses are mainly to manage the affairs of the Han people and Bohai people in the sixteen states of Yanyun.

Moreover, the official system in the south is all imitation of the Tang system, and officials must wear Han clothes, speak Han language, and perform Han etiquette, which is the same as that of the Central Plains.

It can be said that the official system of the Liao State has obvious characteristics of one country, two systems.

As far as the Southern Court is concerned, the highest institution is not the Prime Minister's Office, but the Privy Council, and the current privy envoy of the Southern Court, Xiao Mo, is the son of Xiao Hui, the king of the Southern Court.

Speaking of Xiao Mo, the twenty-year-old privy envoy of the Southern Yuan, he was the leader of the younger generation of the Liao State, and he was also one of the most important courtiers of the Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji.

In the history of the Khitan, the Xiao family was originally a family that shared weal and woe with the royal Yelu family, and since the founding of the Liao Dynasty, the imperial court has an unwritten rule, that is, the queen must come from the Xiao family.

Now Yelu Hongji's queen is Xiao Guanyin, the daughter of Xiao Hui, the king of the Southern Courtyard, and Xiao Mo's own sister.

With this level of relationship, Xiao Mo can be said to be an extremely prominent figure in the Liao Dynasty.

However, if there are only these, but it can't be awe-inspiring, the most critical point is that Xiao Mo is the personal disciple of Yelu Xiuge, the military god of Liao, and the art of war Tao is the crown of heroes, and is faintly regarded as the next generation of military gods of Liao, and he serves as the privy envoy of the Southern Yuan, which is really expected.

When the messenger entered the main hall of the Privy Council with great excitement, he immediately saw a young man sitting behind a desk and writing a pen.

It can be seen that he is wearing a purple official uniform of a third-grade official with the characteristics of the Li Tang Dynasty, wearing a hanging head made of black leno on his head, his figure is moderate, not tall or short, and his figure is slightly slender.

The white face has long eyebrows and sideburns, the eyes are slender and gentle without any impurities, clear but bottomless, the straight nose bridge is quite strong, the lips are slightly pursed to outline a trace of upturned arc, the only thing that does not match is the two beards, but they are handsome!

Judging from his appearance and temperament, this Xiao Mo is really a son, Yan Ruyu, and his demeanor is unparalleled.

Suddenly, the messenger's admiration rose, and he bowed his head and said respectfully: "Privy Envoy Xiao, Li Dayi, the commander of the Xizuo Battalion in Suizhou, came to report the military situation on the order of the captain. ”

The rustling sound of the pen stopped abruptly, Xiao Mo raised his head from the official document, looked at the messenger with a dusty face and sweating like rain, and then opened his mouth after smiling faintly: "Don't be in a hurry to make a statement, eat first." After speaking, he commanded, "Come, prepare a meal quickly, and feed the messenger." ”

Seeing that Xiao Mo was not a Shangguan at all, and the first thing he cared about was his insignificant messenger, not the spy in Xuzhou, the messenger was even more moved, and hurriedly shook his hand and said: "The last general has already eaten wheat cakes just now, thank you for the kindness of Xiao Shu's envoy." ”

Hearing this, Xiao Mo said with a straight face: "Your Excellency will not hesitate to gallop thousands of miles for my Daliao and return without sleep, he is really a countryman, Xiao Mo should treat him as a countryman, needless to say, eat your stomach first." ”

There was no room for disobedience, and the messenger could not help but shed tears of emotion.

Although he is a Han Chinese, in the face of a Liao official like Xiao Mo, he can't help but feel loyal to the Liao Dynasty for the rest of his life, and he deserves a voice and turns away.

(End of chapter)