"My brother is enlightened!" Li Zhang looked at the four words on the envelope, and couldn't help but show a contemplative look, this is the letter that Yan Niang handed to him when he left home just now, but it was not for her parents, but a letter to her younger brother Yelu Zhirang.

Yan Niang also didn't sleep all night last night, and she didn't change her mind in the end, and she didn't plan to let her parents know that she was still alive, but she gave Li Zhang this letter, because according to her, her younger brother Yelu Zhirang has been friends with Yelu Zongzhen, the prince of Liao, since he was a child, and he also studied with Yelu Zongzhen, which is equivalent to the relationship between Li Zhang and Zhao Zhen.

Yan Niang and Yelu Zhirang are the same mother, the two are two years apart, they have had a very good relationship since childhood, Yelu Zhirang is also very sticky to Yan Niang's sister, when Yan Niang was married as a princess, Yelu Zhirang was also desperately opposed, but was locked up by their parents, it can be said that in Yan Niang's family, only this younger brother made her the most concerned.

Calculating the age, Yelu Zhirang is already an adult this year, and the prince of Liao is two years younger than Yelu Zhirang, the relationship between the two of them has always been good, and Li Zhang's envoy to Liao this time, if you encounter any difficulties, you can take this letter to see Yelu Zhirang, and then the other party will see the face of Yan Niang's sister, and maybe give Li Zhang some help.

"Big brother, Yan Niang really likes you, don't you think about it?" At this moment, I suddenly heard the wild dog next to me speak. Li Zhang was startled when he heard the wild dog's words, and he also looked at him with a strange gaze at the moment, because the wild dog in his memory should not say such a thing.

"Big brother, don't look at me like that, people will change, of course Xiuxiu asked me to say this for her." Facing Li Zhang's strange gaze, the wild dog was helpless at this time, he has changed a lot in the past six months, in general, he is becoming more and more human, it is estimated that after he took revenge, the whole person began to slowly become normal.

"I knew that you couldn't come up with this, but I'm curious, where have you and Xiuxiu come to go, and have you ever thought about when you will get married?" Li Zhang smiled at first, and then changed the topic and said that he didn't want to answer about Yan Niang.

"It's early, Xiuxiu wants to settle the beans and then think about her own affairs, and I'm not ready, so I'm not in a hurry to get married." The wild dog replied immediately, and at the end of the day, his face was a little gloomy.

Li Zhang also immediately understood when he heard this, Xiuxiu didn't say anything about it, and the wild dog probably didn't have confidence in himself, after all, he also knew that he was not a normal person, so he was also skeptical about whether he could give Xiuxiu happiness, and it was normal not to dare to marry for the time being.

"You and Xiuxiu have also reached the age of getting married, it's time to think about it, Xiuxiu will say it, after all, Douzi still has me, even if she gets married, don't worry about Douzi, as for you, you don't have to doubt yourself too much, getting married is not as complicated as you think, I'll tell you about marriage when I'm free on the road." Li Zhang smiled at this time and patted the wild dog's shoulder and said.

Just as he was speaking, the carriage finally came to Honglu Temple, Honglu Temple was in charge of foreign guests, which was equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in later generations, and the missions of various countries that came to the Great Song Dynasty also had to be received by Honglu Temple, and the foreign missions would generally gather in Honglu Temple, and this time the mission to Liao had already arrived, but the candidates for the previous envoy had not been decided, until Liu E thought of Li Zhang.

Today is the day of the departure of the mission, and Li Zhang is also the first time to meet the members of the mission, but it doesn't matter, anyway, the time on the road is still long, enough for them to get acquainted with each other, and when Li Zhang came here, he immediately saw a young official in his twenties stepping forward and saluting: "Xiaguan Fubi has seen Li Duwei!" ”

"Fubi?" Li Zhang couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this name, and then looked at the young man in front of him in surprise, he didn't expect to see Fu Bi who was as famous as Han Qi here, both of them were famous ministers of the Great Song Dynasty in history, known as "Fu Han".

"Rich brother doesn't have to be polite, you are also one of the people who sent an envoy to Liao?" Li Zhang asked curiously.

"Xiaguan is the deputy envoy of the mission this time, and he is Li Duwei's deputy, and this is also the first time to envoy to Liao, and I hope that Li Duwei will give me more guidance at that time!" Fu Bi said very modestly at this time, he had just been admitted to the Jinshi for a few years, and he had held positions in both the general prison and Kaifeng Mansion, and this time he was arranged as Li Zhang's deputy.

It is worth mentioning that Fu Bi was very loved by Fan Zhongyan, and recommended him to Yan Shu, as a result, Yan Shu married his daughter to him, before Fan Zhongyan wrote to Liu E, asking Liu E to return to Zhao Zhen, but in the end he was demoted, and Fu Bi also spoke up for Fan Zhongyan, but he was humble in a small position, not only failed to help Fan Zhongyan, but also involved himself, so the drudgery of going to Liao fell on his head this time, from this point of view, he and Li Zhang still have some sympathy.

"I see, then there will be Brother Lao Fu along the way!" Li Zhang was overjoyed when he heard that Fu Bi was actually his deputy, he also had no experience in the affairs of the envoy, and with Fu Bi, a shrewd and capable person, at least he could have someone to discuss when he encountered things.

The time is not early, the imperial court stipulates that the mission must leave today, so Li Zhang and they will no longer delay time, at the moment Li Zhang ordered to set off, and then asked Fu Bi to sit in his own carriage, so that Li Zhang can also look at Fu Bi about the mission while walking.

Fu Bi is not Li Zhang, the airborne envoy, in fact, he is one of the first people who decided to send an envoy to Liao, and even the personnel transfer of the entire mission was planned by him, so he is also extremely familiar with the mission, and immediately introduced the situation in the mission to Li Zhang.

There are not many main personnel in the entire mission, in addition to Li Zhang and Fu Bi, the two main and deputy envoys, there are more than a dozen followers, and the rest are some small officials, mainly responsible for taking care of some gifts given to the emperor of Liao, after all, now Yelu Longxu is seriously ill, as a nephew, Zhao Zhen sent someone to visit, and it is really not good to bring some gifts.

Of course, in addition to these accompanying officials, there is also a battalion of forbidden troops, that is, five hundred people, acting as the escort of the mission, after all, with so many gifts, naturally need to be protected, the era of the Great Song Dynasty is not the next generation, you can often encounter thieves on the road, especially the border of the Liao and Song Dynasty where it is more chaotic, from time to time you can see fierce horse bandits, if there is no army to escort, maybe they have not arrived in Liao, their group of envoys will be killed by horse bandits.

After introducing the mission, Fu Bi handed over some things to Li Zhang, these were the mission's seals, discs, etc., which originally required Li Zhang to do it himself, but because he took office too suddenly, Fu Bi accepted it on his behalf before.

When the mission left the capital, many people came to see them off, but Li Zhang did not let Qingzhi and them come, so as not to increase the sadness, and what she had to say before was finished, and she was pregnant, so there was really no need to go so far to see her off.

After bidding farewell to the people who saw them off, the mission finally left the capital, and marched along the official road to Hebei, when the Chinese New Year was about to come, and the road was full of ice and snow, but the imperial court had an order, and they could only speed up to the Liao State, and on the third day, the mission also arrived at the Yellow River, at this time the Yellow River had already frozen, the pontoon bridge was also removed, and people and horses could pass through the ice.

However, the ice surface is not smooth, although the big crack has been filled with water, but it is still not easy for the carriage to pass, Li Zhang also deliberately got out of the carriage, and then squatted down to knock off a piece of ice, this piece of ice is not as crystal clear as people remember, but with a little turbidity, which makes Li Zhang frown.

"What is Captain Li looking at?" At this moment, Fu Bi, who was directing the convoy next to him, also noticed Li Zhang's strange appearance, and couldn't help but ask at the moment.

"I'm looking at the water of the Yellow River, I've been through the Yellow River before, the river didn't freeze at that time, although the river water was muddy, but it was still much stronger than now, but when I came back this time, I found that the ice formed by the river was much more turbid than it was at the beginning." Li Zhang sighed helplessly at this time.

Because of the construction of palaces in the Tang Dynasty, coupled with the population growth of the Yellow River, the trees on both sides of the Yellow River were cut down on a large scale, and many forests and grasslands became farmland, which also aggravated soil erosion, resulting in the Yellow River becoming more and more yellow, and the soil in the upper reaches was alluvial down, and the Kaifeng section of the river was relatively gentle, so the muddy water fell, resulting in the riverbed getting higher and higher, and the world-famous above-ground river was formed, which is also the main reason why Kaifeng is so susceptible to flooding.

"This is also normal, there is less muddy water in the river water in spring and summer, but in winter the river water is muddy water, as long as everyone on both sides of the Yellow River knows." Fu Bi said at the moment, he is from Luoyang, and his hometown is very close to the Yellow River, so he is very familiar with the situation of the Yellow River.

Li Zhang nodded thoughtfully when he heard this, the grass and trees are vigorous in spring and summer, and the soil is not easy to be washed down by the river, but in autumn and winter, the grass and trees wither, and the soil erosion is naturally more serious, which also leads to a large increase in the soil in the river, although the ancients observed this phenomenon, but they did not understand the truth.

"The yellow sand is flooded every year, and the imperial court must also pay attention to it!" Li Zhang said to himself at the moment, although the muddy water content of the Yellow River is high, it is much less than that of later generations, as long as the imperial court is willing to govern, there is still hope to make the Yellow River clear, and the sooner this matter is, the better, but now there are strong enemies outside the Great Song Dynasty, and there are also many hidden dangers inside, I am afraid that there is no time to take care of the Yellow River for the time being.

Thinking of the above, Li Zhang couldn't help but sigh secretly, his influence is still too small, and there are too many things he wants to do, I don't know if he will be able to do everything he wants to do one day?