Knowing the relationship between Lian Zixuan and Lian Jingshu, Liu Xiu was more at ease with Lian Zheng and Lian Zixuan's brother and sister.

He smiled at Lian Jingshu and said, "Jingshu came just in time, accompany me to play a game." ”

Lian Jingshu blessed her body and stepped forward.

Xin Linglu was also interested, mainly giving up his position to Lian Jingshu and standing aside to watch the battle.

Lian Zixuan is very curious, this is Weiyang Palace, how can Lian Jingshu come in?

How did she know the Son of Heaven?

Seeing the puzzled look on her face, Liu Xiu said with a smile: "Jingshu is now Chang'an's Yuefu Order. ”

When Lian Zixuan heard this, she was even more surprised, and subconsciously asked, "Can a woman also be an official?" ”

Lian Jingshu smiled at Lian Zixuan and said, "It's just a false position, which makes my cousin smile." ”

The conversation between the two sisters was very polite, but it was too polite, and it seemed very rusty.

In fact, this is also very understandable, Lian Zixuan is from the side branch of the Lian family, and although Lian Jingshu is from her own family, she is also a concubine and has no status.

Although they are cousins, the two may not see each other in a year.

When Liu Xiu and Lian Jingshu played against each other, they were much more serious than when they played against Xin Linglu, looking at the chessboard with full attention and carefully analyzing the chess game.

When the two of them were playing, Zhang Kun walked into the main hall with a roll of bamboo slips in his hand.

When he came to Liu Xiu's approach, he first cleared his throat, and then whispered, "Your Majesty! ”

Liu Xiu didn't even raise his head, just waved his hand to him, signaling that he had something to do, and he would talk about it later.

This game of chess was played very quickly, Lian Jingshu played a little chaotic in the middle game, and there were several mistakes, and when it was over, she couldn't stand it, and Liu Xiu took advantage of a few large pieces, and finally conceded defeat.

Liu Xiu was still very happy to defeat Lian Jingshu, a master, happily picked up the teacup and said with a smile: "In the past month, Jingshu's chess skills have regressed a little!" ”

"It's Your Majesty who has improved!"

Lian Jingshu bowed and said.

As she spoke, her eyes also glanced at Zhang Kun.

When playing chess, Liu Xiu didn't notice it, but even Jingshu paid attention, and Zhang Kun was obviously anxious.

In this case, she also played against the Son of Heaven with all her might, and in the next hour or two, she was obviously delaying things, and if she was known by the official, she would definitely criticize His Majesty's playthings for losing her mind.

The dignified son of heaven, how can there be mistakes, then in the end, the fault will only fall on her head.

As a concubine's child, she trembles and is cautious all the time at home, which also makes Lian Jingshu extremely capable of observing words and feelings, and her mind is also extremely sharp.

Liu Xiu was in a good mood, turned his head to look at Zhang Kun, and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Your Majesty, this is a letter from Luoyang, please take a look at it!"

As he spoke, Zhang Kunbi respectfully handed the bamboo slip to Liu Xiu.

Liu Xiu took the bamboo slip and unfolded it to take a closer look.

As soon as he looked at the beginning, he raised his eyebrows.

The bamboo slips were written by Deng Yu, mainly two things, and both belong to foreign affairs.

First, Prince Xia Guli wants to come to Luoyang to worship the Son of Heaven.

Second, it was the Kushan capital that secretly sent envoys to envoy the Han Dynasty.

Haguryeo is also Goguryeo, but during Wang Mang's reign, he changed the name of Goguryeo to Haguryeo.

As for the Guishan Dumi, this has to start with the Guishan.

In the country of the Great Moon Clan, it is divided into five major ethnic groups, each of which is ruled by the Marquis of Xi, and here in the Han Dynasty, the Marquis of Xi is called Dumi.

Kushan is one of the five major ethnic groups.

In the Great Moon Clan, the Kushan Clan was the strongest, and later, it was the Kushan who unified the five major ethnic groups of the Great Moon Clan and established the famous Kushan Empire.

The Han Empire, the Roman Empire, the Kushan Empire, and the Sabbath Empire were the four major empires in Eurasia at that time.

If you score it by strength, the Han Empire is six, the Roman Empire is five, the Kushan Empire is two, and the Sabbatical Empire is one and five.

At the height of the Kushan Empire, its territory included Xinjiang, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and the Indus Valley, which was considered powerful.

Now Guishan has not yet unified the Dayue clan, only one of the five major ethnic groups, but the ambition has been revealed, and the clues can be seen by sending envoys and envoys to the Han Dynasty.

Deng Yu said in his letter that Prince Xiaguli would go directly to Luoyang, and the envoy of Guishan would most likely pass through Chang'an.

Deng Yu asked Liu Xiu whether he would meet the Guishan envoy in Chang'an first, or go back to Luoyang to meet with Prince Xiajuli.

In fact, as far as the original intention is concerned, Liu Xiu neither wants to see the Guishan envoy nor the prince of Xiaguli.

Liu Xiu was not familiar with the Western Regions, and he had never heard of this name before for Guishuang, and he didn't even know who Guishuang was at all.

What is there to see about such a messenger who does not know from which horn he has come from?

As for Prince Xiaguryeo, there is no need to ask, Liu Xiu also knows the other party's purpose, Wang Mang changed the name of Goguryeo to Xiaguryeo, and reduced the kingdom to a princely state, which is undoubtedly a great shame for them, of course they want to change the name of the country back.

They changed their names themselves, that is not counted, here in the Celestial Empire, you are still under the next sentence, only when the Celestial Empire promulgates an official edict, this name change can be regarded as legal.

Now the emperor of the Han Dynasty is no longer Wang Mang, but Liu Xiu, and of course Xia Juli hopes to change the name of the country back through Liu Xiu.

Liu Xiu's impression of Xia Juli can be said to be extremely poor.

During the reign of Wang Mang, Xia Juli successively attacked Lelang County and plundered more than 1,000 people from Lelang County as slaves.

After Liu Xiu became emperor, Xia Juli did not stop.

In the fourth year of Jianwu, Xiajuli once again sent troops to Lelang County, Liaodong was too forbearant to bear, and sent the army of the county to fight, and defeated the invading enemy army, and then, taking advantage of the victory to pursue, killed Xiajuli, and trapped its king in the mountain city of Marudu for three months.

Fortunately, the king of Xiaguryeo was clever enough, and when he ran out of ammunition and food, he sent someone to send good wine and meat to the Han army on a whim, causing Liaodong Taishou to think that the mountain city of Marudu had enough grain and grass, and then led the county army to withdraw to Liaodong.

It's such a one, it's not good to fight, if you don't fight it, it will always come to harass you, faceless and skinless hob meat, it's strange that Liu Xiu has a good impression of it.

After reading Deng Yu's letter, Liu Xiu sighed softly, then rolled up the letter and handed it back to Zhang Kun.

The latter asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you want to reply to General Right?" ”

Liu Xiu muttered, "The prince of Xia Juli?

Hmph, Xia Juli has already been demoted from a king to a prince by a reckless thief, where is the prince to speak of?

It's ridiculous to come to see me in the name of the prince! ”

When Zhang Kun heard this, he subconsciously bowed down.

Liu Xiu said: "Zhang Kun, you reply to Zhonghua, just let him meet him, as for what the other party wants, he will not be allowed." ”

"Yes! Your Majesty! ”

"As for the messenger of Kushan Dumi...... Fanbang is a small country, I met in Chang'an! ”

No matter how weak the other party is, Han is the kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and it is a state of etiquette, since the other party has sent an envoy, Liu Xiu, as the son of the Han Dynasty, still has to meet, but it does not need to be so formal in Luoyang, it is enough to meet in Chang'an.

Zhang Kun nodded while listening, and when Liu Xiu finished speaking, he bowed down and said, "Slave maid, according to Your Majesty's wishes, reply to General You." ”

"Go ahead!"

"Slave and maid retire!"

After Zhang Kun left, Liu Xiu said to Lian Jingshu: "Come, Jingshu, let's play another game." ”

Lian Jingshu said with some concern: "Jingshu heard that Your Majesty was injured in Tsukaling Mountain, I wonder if Your Majesty's injuries can be healed?" ”

Liu Xiu smiled and said, "This time in Zunling Mountain, it's really thanks to Zero Lu, if it weren't for Zero Lu to save me, I'm afraid, I wouldn't be sitting here now." ”

Lian Jingshu subconsciously looked at Xin Linglu beside her, owed her a debt, and said: "Miss Xin saved Your Majesty, Yu Dahan, but there is a great grace!" ”

Xin Linglu was a little embarrassed, bowed back, and said, "Miss Lian has won the award." ”

Liu Xiu and Lian Jingshu played another game of chess, which was considered to be too much of a chess addiction and came to an end.

Deng Yu was really right, the Guishan envoy did arrive in Chang'an first.

Knowing that the emperor of the Han Dynasty was in Chang'an, the Kushan envoy did not go to Luoyang and asked to see Liu Xiu in Chang'an.

The next day, Liu Xiu summoned the envoy at the Jianzhang Palace.

To say that the magnificence, the scale is grand, in Chang'an, the first is the Jianzhang Palace.

The scale of Jianzhang Palace can be much larger than Weiyang Palace, a circle down, there are more than 20 miles, and the interior has the reputation of 'thousands of households'.

The famous Taiye Pond is located in the Jianzhang Palace, this artificial lake, far from the Cangchi of Weiyang Palace, there are three rockeries built in the lake, namely Abbot Mountain, Penglai Mountain, Yingzhou Mountain, beautiful, like a fairyland.

To receive foreign envoys, Liu Xiu still wants to show the strong national strength of the Han Dynasty, and Jianzhang Palace is naturally the most ideal place to meet them.

The Kushan envoy did not come empty-handed, and when he entered the palace, he was followed by a large carriage, and behind the carriage was a large thing, because there was a curtain outside, and it was completely impossible to see what it was.

Under the guidance of the palace guards, the Kushan envoy entered the main hall.

On the main hall, Liu Xiu sat in the middle, and there were ministers such as Wu Han, Geng Yi, Gai Yan, Cho Period, Lai She, and Liu Zhang.

The Kushan Envoy was a typical Western Regions person-looking, with slightly dark skin, medium height, a felt hat on his head, a two-section of clothing, a belt around his waist, and leather boots on his feet.

Looking at his face, his facial features are profound, his eyes are deep-set, a pair of yellow eyes, and a beard.

For the people of the Western Regions, Liu Xiu has not seen much, and he can't tell how old the other party is.

The messenger walked into the main hall and looked at the tall and majestic palace, and his face was irrepressibly surprised.

He took a few steps forward, took off his leather felt hat, stroked his chest and bowed to Liu Xiushen, and said in half-baked Chinese: "The envoy sent by the Marquis of Guishuang in Xianai, Di Rang, is here to meet the Emperor of the Han Dynasty!" ”

Liu Xiu'an sat on the throne and did not react, Liu Zhang on the side looked displeased, and shouted in a deep voice: "When you see the Son of Heaven, why don't you kneel?" ”

The messenger named Dirang said, "In Guishan, there is no kneeling ceremony. ”

Liu Zhang snorted coldly and said in a loud voice: "Guishan envoy, don't forget, this is not Guishuang, but the Great Han, it's Chang'an!" ”

Di Rang raised his eyes to look at Liu Xiu, and said loudly: "I am the messenger of Guishan, I came to see Your Majesty today, on behalf of Guishan, on behalf of Qiu Qiqi Marquis, if you bow down, wouldn't it mean that Guishan bows down to the Han Dynasty?" ”

Liu Zhang was about to speak, but Di Rang continued: "Of course, my visit to the Han Dynasty this time was on the orders of Qiu and the Marquis of Xi, and I became good friends with the Han Dynasty.

If the Han really has the strength to convince me, I can also bow to the Han Emperor. ”

Liu Xiu, who was sitting on the throne, finally spoke, and he asked, "You are talking about Qiu, is he surnamed Qiu?" ”

Di Rang smiled, shook his head and said, "No, Your Majesty has misunderstood, the full name of Qiu Ju is Kujula Kadphises. ”

After a pause, he added: "Qiu is as young as Your Majesty. ”

Liu Xiu smiled and asked, "Di Rang, you said that the big man has the strength to convince you, and you will bow down, I don't know what you mean by strength?" ”

Dirang turned sideways, turned back to the carriage that had been parked outside the main hall, and said, "Your Majesty, please take a look!" ”

As he spoke, he slapped his face.

The Guishan servant standing next to the carriage lifted the curtain behind the carriage, and Liu Xiu and everyone in the hall looked out.

People looked at it, and it turned out that there was a large iron cage pulled behind the carriage, and inside the iron cage, a lion was contained (in the Han Dynasty, the lion was called Shizi, and in order to make it easier to read, it was still written as a lion).

Seeing this big male lion, everyone present was startled, the guards in the square had never seen a lion at all, and suddenly saw such a fierce beast, even if it was locked in a cage, they still gasped.

Liu Xiu has never seen a real lion, but he has seen a lion portrait, when Emperor Zhang succeeded to the throne, the rest of the country sent a congratulatory gift, including a lion.