"The transmission of documents depends on the post station, and this kind of border war station, once the official document that needs to be transmitted is marked with the word "fly delivery", it must be transmitted at a speed of 300 miles a day according to the regulations. In case of emergency, the transmission speed can reach 400 miles, 600 miles, and the fastest can reach 800 miles. When delivering urgent documents, each post station uses fast horses, so that although it is not a thousand miles horse, each horse can run desperately and can travel thousands of miles in a day. For example, the Eight Hundred Miles Rush used by our court is used exclusively to indicate the transmission of information in case of emergency, and the recital of the envoy of Nasir is also a case of this. ”

King Ming's words made everyone think that there are thousands of mountains and mountains between the two countries, and it is useless to pass on books like flying pigeons, and only this kind of border war station can achieve the ultimate transmission speed.

"What is the status of that imperial envoy? How does it compare to the Nasir envoys? Li Zhi asked again.

"Soon after the court received the news, it is said that he is the brother of the fifth caliph, that is, the uncle of Princess Afifa. It is not clear what kind of status it is, but it is thought to be higher than the envoy Nasir, who is also his own uncle, but is at the end of the seventeen brothers in the ranks, not including the six aunts of Afifa, who is said to be the eldest brother of the fifth caliph. ”

Even Li Zhiwen was also a little moved when he heard this, Nasir once told him that among the seventeen people, he was not conspicuous in terms of intelligence and combat effectiveness, and the reason why he was sent to the Tang Dynasty as an envoy to the Tang Dynasty was only because Afifa was only close to this person except for her father.

As far as the Arab Empire is concerned, this person has no contribution in other aspects, and when Afifa is eighteen years old, he will be recalled to marry, and this position may be difficult to keep.

What is the concept of the Umayyad dynasty? In some respects, they were stronger than the Tang Dynasty, and their eastward expansion was invincible all the way, only the Tang army stopped them from the border.

In such a powerful country, the imperial envoy is the second in the seventeen brothers, and his status must be very different from that of Nasir, but indirectly, sending this person here also shows that they attach great importance to it.

"There are also many factions in their dynasty, in order to maintain their position, the caliph has long realized the importance of friendship with the equally powerful Tang Dynasty, so he sent envoys to Chang'an to communicate with the Tang Dynasty. Since they have sent such an important person this time, it is impossible to say that they have already agreed to your marriage to Afifa! ”

Obviously, King Ming has similar conjectures to Li Zhi, so he has this to say.

Princess Taiping on the side abruptly interjected: "As far as I know, that imperial envoy stayed on the border for one more day, and sent a fast horse to report the matter, obviously expressing politeness first!" There is no question about Mr. Li's identity in it, and we will not solve it in advance, for fear that it will be embarrassing after the meeting between the two parties. ”

King Ming nodded, "There will be news later tonight, at present, Jiuqing was urgently summoned by the prince because of this matter, and the current opening of the county from Sanpin is far from enough to match the identity of Princess Afeifa, and there needs to be a more suitable value and marriage should be reached." For Datang, compared to people who are not in the officialdom, and who is given the surname Li and has no blood connection, even if the difficulty of such a special promotion is unprecedented, it is not as important as the face of the Umayyad caliphate, so you kid has made a big bargain! ”

Li Zhi was a little disapproving, "It's nothing more than a fictitious title that has been hereditary since Sanpin was mentioned as a first-class duke!" ”

"Haha!" Princess Taiping laughed, "This kind of knighthood is not only a title, but a veritable knighthood, the former is that in addition to the Son of Heaven, the status and power of the prince and the prince are equal, but there is a certain degree of difference in the treatment of etiquette, and the knighthood can only be obtained by princes." Those who possess such titles are equivalent to feudal princes, and the fiefdoms are no longer just formal, but the actual right to govern the fiefs! ”

Seeing the confused look on Li Zhi's face, King Ming further explained:

"Your current title is between a princely title and a title in name only, or you are in the transition stage from one status to another, and you will inherit the greatest characteristics of the title for the next generation. However, the title of Shangpu is the real fiefdom, and before that, this kind of title will only be given to meritorious ministers, or direct descendants of the royal family with a prominent status, and then from the third rank to the first duke of the first class, you will have the same rank as the Ten Kings, and you can settle in the Ten Kings Mansion! ”

Of course, that kind of first-class prince does not have the actual authority of Jiuqing or local princes, at most he will demarcate a piece of land near the border or deep mountains and old forests, and then match a name like a prince, but the relevant treatment is there.

Even with a shocked expression, Li Zhi understood the mysteries inside, so he smiled and said: "If this is the case, wouldn't it be that I personally have military power!" ”

"Just like a true prince, but these should be consulted with you in advance, as a prince of the region under the jurisdiction of one party, including the army, taxes, etc., you must listen to your opinion, after all, you are a special case, not a subordinate. But you have to think about it yourself, the greater the power, the more you will be sent by the emperor and the tribute will also increase, there is nothing for the real princes, but what you are engaged in is pure business, once the requirements are too high, part of the profits of Zhengqing Wenqitang will belong to the state! King Ming had the heart to remind.

"Poof!" Princess Taiping made a happy voice, "Grandma Li, look at Mr. Li's face, but he is inexplicably depressed!" ”

"What's inexplicable, it's just complete depression, okay? It turns out that the benefits are not for nothing, so isn't it a huge disadvantage for me to engage in business? Do you really want me to manage a territory? It's just a barren land, okay! ”

Li Zhi's mouth was not angry, which caused a burst of laughter.

"Not really, at least you didn't take Afifa's identity into account!"

Li Yu suddenly interjected, he is a scholar from the second grade, in charge of the edict, his status is worthy of being the prime minister of the dynasty, and he has a wide range of contacts with deeper affairs in the court:

"Maybe Afifa's status as a princess is a coincidence, Brother Zhengwen, and you don't forget your status as a son-in-law of the Umayyad Dynasty, or your fief has a huge relationship with foreign relations. In that case, if you engage in economic and trade affairs between countries, not only will you pay a small amount of tribute, but you may also receive border trade subsidies, such as tax issues, which can be completely exempted! ”

"That's right! There are precedents in previous dynasties, there was a prince in the former Sui to guard the southwest border, because the border between the two countries was harmonious, commerce was particularly developed, and a lot of trade was introduced to the interior, so the Sui Dynasty court decided to reduce its obligations to bear the responsibility of guarding the territory, sending troops to serve the king, paying tribute, and reporting on the Hajj, especially in the payment of tribute to give a retrograde subsidy! ”

King Ming suddenly remembered this, and slapped his thigh and shouted.

"And such a thing? Who is the surname of that former Sui official? If you can't satisfy me, just ask him! A smile appeared on Li Zhi's face.

King Ming waved his hand and laughed, "Text, you can underestimate the sensitivity of the important ministers of the court to political affairs, how to say that it is a rare and rare thing at this time, they will inevitably bring out a large number of literary and historical books for reference at this time, you don't need to remind them, those people are shrewd!" ”

Seeing Li Zhi looking at himself, Li Yu echoed: "That's true, and their research results should be annotated by the saints, maybe my emperor has already decided!" You don't need to worry, it's about the peaceful coexistence between the two superpowers, and I've heard that the Holy Lords call you Mr. Li, so from a personal point of view, any conferral will not be unkind to you! ”

"That's true, the eunuch in the palace told me that my father also called him Mr. Li!" Princess Taiping turned her head sideways and explained to Mrs. Lao Mingwang.

"Stop, stop, it's better for us to say less about this, otherwise it will spread outside, and I won't be hated even more?" Li Zhi hurriedly waved his hand.

King Ming understood Li Zhi's psychology, "This topic will end here!" Let's talk about the big wedding celebration as soon as possible, and we only have one day left tomorrow, so everyone is going to get nervous! ”

After that, he looked at Feng Changlu: "Master Feng, let's continue." We will not mention the things that are responsible for the three divisions under the Ministry of Rites, but first talk about some conventions related to folk and semi-official wedding customs, such as makeup, shopping, obstacles, sons-in-law, saddles, Qinglu worship hall, musk bride traces, brides, aunts and other wedding customs, these have to be involved in some ways, and the content is very much, we still hurry up to a couple, tomorrow I can't say that Li Zhi will go to the palace to participate in the canonization ceremony, and it will be a delay, leaving little time. ”

Master Feng hurriedly stood up and quickly organized his thoughts, "The custom of urging makeup is nothing more than welcoming the family to the bride's house, and the groom reads the makeup poem aloud, urging the bride to dress up as soon as possible and stop and come out to the groom's house to complete the marriage." For example, some trivial things that the adults talked about later, in addition to the Qinglu Chapel, have their own specific arrangements for the county king's mansion, and these are all carried out by specialized people with the three divisions. I think the key issue is still in the big wedding celebration......"