Snowflakes fell in the sky at some point.

Walking into the city gate cave in a dull manner, Zhao Xing's face was gloomy, and Shuai Fan couldn't help but complain: "What do the imperial historians eat, don't they know how rare this agreement in our hands is for the Great Song Dynasty, we have gained a foothold on the north bank of the Yellow River, and we have pried a crack in the tightly controlled horse ban law of the Liao State."

From then on, we could exchange a large number of luxuries for much-needed war horses, and ten years later, our national strength would be completely different--- and the imperial historians would have completely ignored these many benefits......"

Zhao Xing gently persuaded: "Forget it, the existence of the opposition is to let us make fewer mistakes." Although I often think that they are excessive, but one day, if His Majesty says that one plus one equals nine, a group of imperial historians will also praise in unison, saying that our Great Song Dynasty has different national conditions, and we can't copy the mathematical laws of the earth's civilization, and we must analyze specific problems, so one plus one is equal to several in line with the national conditions, and His Majesty the Emperor said that the ---- is equal to nine, which is too great and too in line with the national conditions...... Haha, that's when we really despaired. ”

Zhao Xing is actually talking about the era of the last years of Song Huizong, the last years of Song Huizong, the party struggle has exhausted the vitality of the Great Song Dynasty, and there is only a group of submissive officials left in the court. Originally, the system of the Great Song Dynasty could prevent the emergence of warlords, but in the last years of Huizong, the officials who "dared to speak" no longer existed, and only the officials who "dared to say yes" remained, so the emperor's favored ministers inevitably became warlords; So, when the Jin soldiers came to the city, this capital, which had been bathed in the grace of the Great Song Dynasty for hundreds of years, no one was willing to pick up a knife for it; As a result, this majestic city actually fell without fierce resistance......

Shuai Fan choked for a moment: "However, the merit of destroying the country is not rewarded; Ignoring the land-grabbing merits; Huge taxes are not praised...... It's too much. ”

Zhao Xing laughed and explained: "I thought you could understand my thoughts, but now I found out that you are also a Song person, a person who grew up under the Dudu Wenzhang me, and you have been educated by the opposition since you were a child...... Times are different, and we are now in the era of commerce. You have to understand the gloom, and you have to look appreciatively and be glad that the opposition exists.

Back then, Wang Anshi changed the law, and the result was that he used the change as a means to exclude opponents of his power; After Sima Xianggong came to power. The old party has learned from each other, and as a result, what has become of the Great Song Dynasty? After Zhang came to power, he repeated Wang Anshi's routine, you and I were relegated to Hainan, if there was an opposition at that time, and we were calmly rewarded for meritorious deeds, would you and I stay in Guangnan for a few years? Will the thirty-three Circle Gang members die in the land of Lingnan?

So, for you and my future. We must tolerate the presence of the opposition. We must set up a new model of gentleman's politics for the new era, or set up a political bottom line for the future government ---- political dissent, and we must not use the technique of expropriation and punishment. Cross that line. Everybody gets it! ”

Shuai Fan snorted: "What you said is pure vanity fantasy, is it possible?" After speaking, Shuai Fan didn't explain, and strode towards the other soldiers.

Zhao Xing shook his head slightly, and he walked out of the city gate indifferently. At this time, Shuai Fan had already chatted with the soldiers, and several Privy Council officials appeared in the city, and they greeted him and exchanged pleasantries. It was nothing more than the arrangement of Zhao Xing's soldiers, and the Privy Council had already planned to place them in the capital guard post opposite Duting Xiyi.

At this time. Suddenly. A high-pitched and leisurely voice. He recited a verse of poetry. Zhao Xing heard it. That's "The Book of Poetry". His gaze turned to greet the Privy Councillor. Turn to Zhao Tingzhi. Turn to Jiang Zhiqi. I saw that these people all showed blank expressions without exception.

Pause. The sound of silk and bamboo sounded. A team of musicians blows and blows and beats around the corner---- and at the corner of the street is the "Yichenglou Restaurant" and "Yaozhang Four Stores" in the capital. The group of musicians stepped out of the middle of the tunnel. Stand naturally in the middle of the street. Continue to play.

Followed by. A group of costumed beauties sang in a cappella voice. Get out of the corner. The leader is Guan Miaomiao, the "head of the Ten Uniques" of Jingshi. She gestured slightly to Zhao Xing. Continue to sing: "I used to be in the past. Willow Yiyi.

Now I think about it. Rain and snow.

The road is delayed. Hungry with thirst.

My heart is sad. I don't know how to mourn. ”

A burst of indescribable sadness welled up in Zhao Xing's heart, and at this moment, he burst into tears.

Guan Miao Miao danced, did not follow the order of this poem, and jumped directly to the next que, singing: "Bilvi He, the flower of peace."

Belusho, the gentleman's chariot.

Rong car driving, four peony industry.

How dare you settle down, three victories in January. ”

What flowers bloom? Begonia flowers bloom in dense layers. What kind of car is tall and big? High war vehicle general ride. Riding the military chariot to go into battle, four strong horses galloped together. How dare you live in peace in the border land? Frequent successes within a month!

Following Guan Miaomiao's tune, Zhao Xing choked up and sang back: "Picking Wei and picking Wei, Wei is also soft."

When he returns, his heart is also worried.

Worried, hungry and thirsty.

I am undecided, and I will be hired. ”

The Privy Council officials showed a sudden expression, and their expressions showed that this welcome event was not arranged by them, but they could understand the preference of Jingcheng Lingle for Zhao Xing, and that was because Liao Xiaoxiao, the woman with the best ending in Jingcheng Lingle.

It may be difficult for modern people to understand why ordinary people can stop and sing on the road at the welcoming ceremony held at the imperial court, but in fact, one sentence can explain the reason: there was no curfew and martial law in the Song Dynasty.

With Guan Miaomiao's singing, the scenes of the past seemed to open the floodgates, and they all poured into Zhao Xing's heart.

In the spring of the second year of the Yuan, on the ninth day of the second month of the lunar calendar, on March 15 of the Gregorian calendar, Zhao Xing came to the capital and entered the world's greatest city to participate in the imperial examination. At this moment, the prosperous scenery of the city passed in front of me like a movie: the drum opera Chen Yiniang, the slashing Mei Sanniang, the hundred tongues of Song Xiaoniang, Shi Huiying's teasing, and the people of Zhangshanren...... Also, there is the deceased Liao Xiaoxiao.

In the past, after the imperial examination, Zhao Xing hurriedly went south, and then returned from Huanqing, and the disheartened Zhao Xing could not see the joy of the capital. Now, in the early morning of rain and snow, Zhao Xing once again stepped into the largest city in the world, and for a while, he had mixed feelings.

This moment, all the sacrifices. It's all worth it!

Well, it seems a bit too hypocritical to say that, so in other words---- there is nothing that is intolerable for a smart person who doesn't pay attention to the process and only cares about the result...... And this result is usually based on their own safety, that is, as the saying goes: a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.

If the Great Song Dynasty dies. Relying on the Great Song Dynasty to beg for life, who can survive?

Ha, maybe only Confucianism can continue to survive, because the death of the country is with them, which means that the "five virtues" of Confucianism have won again, and they always "go from one victory to another", that is, as the saying goes: from one country to another, this is called changing the dynasty.

Guan Miaomiao's song seems to open the faucet of Huanqing in the capital, suddenly. Countless people flow from the house, alley, and restaurant...... Or some ditch and ditch popped up all of a sudden. Wananmen is densely packed with human heads, the people of the capital of the Great Song Dynasty took out the momentum of chasing contemporary song and dance stars, holding seasonal fruits in their hands, and made a shocking cheer at Zhao Xing, I don't know who shouted, the waterfall-like fruit split head and face attacked Zhao Xing and Shuai Fan, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them were buried in the half-human highland fruit pile.

Only then did Zhao Xing realize that he had underestimated the star-chasing fanaticism of the people of Bianliang City. Rao is he has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he was also blinded by this raindrop-like fruit attack, Shuai Fan had half a piece of melon skin on his head, and said dizzily: "What is this, what's wrong?" ”

Zhao Xing took a banana from his head, struggled to pull out his hand from the fruit pile, opened the banana peel, took a bite of the banana for a long time, and said slowly: "Is this a fruit car?" ”

Shuai Fan shook and pulled his feet out of the mountain of fruits beside him. Half proud, half boastful said: "Where is this fruit throwing car, it is clearly fruit throwing Ying City, Ying City!" Ah Ye, I have been through a hundred battles, and I will not die at the hands of the enemy, so don't be killed by these fruits! ”

"Throwing Fruit Winning Car" is about the famous ancient beautiful man Pan An, it is said that this guy is very popular with beautiful women, every time he goes to the street. The fruit thrown by the girl could fill the cart. So now use "looks better than Pan An" to describe the handsomeness of the man.

It's too chic, Shuai Fan's action of waving his hand and pulling down the watermelon skin from his head is too chic. The crowd erupted in louder cheers and screams. It is no less lively than the feeling of a modern fanatical stargazer meeting an emperor superstar.

At the beginning, the sudden fruit attack also frightened the throwers, they didn't expect the fruit thrown to be so huge, so that in the blink of an eye, the two big men and their horses were buried in the fruit mountain, but seeing the two calmly pulled themselves out of the fruit pile, and were in the mood to laugh at each other while tasting the thrown fruit, the audience let out a cry of surprise, and could only return with more violent fruits.

This time, Zhao Xing's attendants were slow to react, they didn't expect their master to suffer a "fruit murder" in the capital Bianliang, when they saw a more violent fruit attack, they were a little stunned, reminisced, and hurriedly stepped forward to block the thrown fruit with their bodies, and they had to deal with the crowded audience frequently.

The crowd screamed from time to time, and the girl fainted, the scene was very fanatical, and the calm Confucian outside the field also commented from time to time: "I really deserve to be a famous general of my Great Song Dynasty, and I can still maintain my composure under a sudden attack, ah, the famous generals of the ancient times are nothing more than that." ”

A person next to him glanced at the man who spoke just now with disdain, and retorted: "What is the famous general of the ancients, Di Qing of this dynasty has only laid down half of Jiaozhi, and he is respected as a famous general...... Have you seen the previous ceremony of the coming of all nations, I clearly saw the slap of Zhao Taiwei on the faces of those kings, they were slapped by Zhao Taiwei's slap, and their faces were so plump. This kind of majesty, who can compare it in ancient and modern times? ”

Zhao Xing's guards tried their best to open the way from the crowded crowd, and trekked to the outside of the Xuande Building with difficulty, and the forbidden army finally came out to greet them, helping Zhao Xing to block the fanatical audience, Zhao Xing and Shuai Fan, the two undefeated generals, fled into the Xuande Building with a full body of fruit juice, melon peel, banana peel, and grape skin, and their clothes and armor were not neat...... The two of you have today. ”

Zhao Xing hurriedly greeted: "Zeng Xiang, there is a spare court uniform, and the image of the subordinate is not neat, so I don't dare to ......"

Zeng Buhaha smiled and said affectionately: "Leave people, I have received the lamp you sent." Very beautiful lights, I loved it. ”

First of all, a polite word to get closer to the relationship, Zeng Bu continued: "Today happens to be the last banquet of all nations, Your Majesty is entertaining the envoys of all nations in the Zichen Palace, and the two of you can go to bathe and change clothes, but in the old man's opinion. It is most appropriate to dress up like this. ”

After that, Zeng Bu hinted meaningfully: "Grace comes from above." ”

Zeng Bu means that it is most appropriate for you to go to the little emperor in such an embarrassment now, and let the little emperor reward you with a new set of clothes. Zeng Bu reminded Zhao Xing to give up his hand. immediately thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, Zeng Xiang." ”

Shuai Fan was also relieved at this moment, Zichen Hall was the hall where the big ceremony was held, especially when such a national ceremony was held. This shows that in the specifications of the outing. The little emperor bowed his head to the imperial historians, but in terms of the specifications of the banquet, the imperial historians made concessions to the little emperor. It was agreed that a banquet of the highest level would be held in a hall where the official state ceremony was held.

The banquet has been set up, the ministers have sat in front of their own food table according to their grades, Han Zhongyan led several important ministers to greet at the gate of Zichen Palace, including Zuo Zhengyan Chen, and Zhang Shangying, the household servant; The court invited the doctor, Baowen Pavilion to be made Ye Zuqia; Senior Minister's Scholar, Right Guanglu Doctor, and Servant Li Qingchen; Chao Sanlang, Shaofu Shaofu, Xijing Xingshu, Zhongdafu, Guanglu Shaoqing, and Nanjing Lu Jiawen...... Wait a minute.

When these people saw Zhao Xing and Shuai Fan looking embarrassed, they laughed in unison, and the others only laughed and didn't say anything, and Ye Zuqia, who was round and round, teased: "Ah also." Zhao Taiwei fought in Nanyang and went deep into the Liao realm for 300 miles, and he did not see such an embarrassment, which shows that the people of Bianliang in the capital are much more fierce than the Liao soldiers. ”

This ridicule caused a burst of laughter, Zhao Xing sighed in disappointment, everyone thought that Zhao Xing's sigh was to cover up his embarrassment, Shuai Fan knew Zhao Xing's character, and he covered it by fiddling with the peel on his body. Leaned closer to Zhao Xing and asked in a low voice, "Why are you sighing?" ”

Zhao Xing saw everyone leaning forward and back with a smile, and took the opportunity to reply in a low voice: "I originally thought that the new army had a new atmosphere, but now it seems that there is still tension in the court, you see, everyone is on guard against each other when they are laughing." ”

Zhao Xing and Shuai Fan talked in a low voice, not noticing that Zeng Bu had already come to the two of them, he listened to Zhao Xing's words, reached out and gently pinched Zhao Xing's hand. Whispered, "Virtuous nephew." Come to my house when you have time. ”

With Zeng Bu's action, Han Zhongyan's laughter stopped abruptly. He stepped forward, pretending to be affectionate, but Zhao Xing could feel the politeness in his bones: "Speaking of which, when the old man took office, he also robbed a carriage from the people, and today I saw the creditor, but the old man did not have the consciousness to avoid debts, haha, the old man of the carriage is very satisfied, and he doesn't plan to pay it back, what do you have to do?" ”

Zhao Xing smiled honestly and replied: "Lord Han, the old rules, calligraphy and painting are compensated, you give me a few calligraphy and paintings, and you will pay off the debt of the carriage." ”

Han Zhongyan laughed loudly: "The old man's words are not as good as Su Laopo, by the way, how good is your teacher recently?" ”

Han Zhongyan reminded Zhao Xing in a vague way: Don't forget, your teacher was relegated to Lingnan by Zeng Bu's group, so don't get too close to him.

Han Zhongyan's reminder, Chen Wang's gaze towards Zhao Xing was much kinder. He was a man of letters. Zhao Xingken went to Lingnan for his teacher, and when he served in the local area, he unscrupulously sheltered his teacher, and in the eyes of the literati, such a disciple is worthy of pride.

Chen thought so in his heart, the older ministers present all had similar ideas, and they all abandoned their party positions at this moment, looked at Zhao Xing, a descendant, with satisfaction, and nodded again and again: "Po Gong has been in Linhai for several years, and now he has been pardoned and returned to the court, I want to come and wait for me to see Po Gong's demeanor again in the capital soon, but Po Gong has been in Lingnan for several years, why haven't I heard the poems circulate?" ”

The eunuch Liang Shicheng appeared from behind the crowd with a flattering face, he nodded frequently at everyone, and said with a smile: "The official family is in a hurry, ministers, can you enter the palace to discuss?" ”

In the Song Dynasty, the banquet was open, and the ministers could walk around each other, and each dish was accompanied by singing and dancing, which was very noisy. After Liang Shicheng's reminder, the ministers let open the door of the palace and led Zhao Xing into the palace.

When the officials in the hall saw Zhao Xing coming in, they were silent at first, and then burst into laughter.

On the jade seat, the little emperor also fell with laughter, he leaned over and said a few words to the eunuchs beside him, several eunuchs led the two people to bathe and change clothes, and after changing into new clothes, they came to the palace again, and everyone looked at the two people with great joy.

Not to the center of the Great Song Dynasty. I don't know how many officials there are in the imperial court. The target of today's banquet is the ministers above the third grade, just like that, the officials filled the entire hall, Zhao Xing and Shuai Fan sat down for a short time, and the ministers kept coming to greet each other, and those long official names made the two of them dizzy. Shuai Fan couldn't help but blurt out: "My lord, now, I'm willing to go back to Guangnan again, my God, remembering so many names and faces is more tiring than fighting ten battles." ”

The bell rang three times, the ministers took their seats, the eunuchs came out to drink with the dust, and the banquet began.

First, several ministers took turns singing slogan poems. Congratulations to Song and Liao on the re-signing of the treaty, followed by the left and right servants to take the lead to congratulate Your Majesty...... After a long period of etiquette, the bell rang again. The official state banquet of the Great Song Dynasty began.

This is a first-class feast of the Great Song Dynasty, and the pomp is naturally very large.

This banquet is also the end of the banquet of "All Nations Come to Dynasty". The farce directed by Zhao Xing began on Zhengdan, the whole banquet was divided into nine, each with a name, and now this is the last state banquet, it just so happened that Zhao Xing took the Song Liao New Covenant back to Beijing, so the little emperor specially ordered him to wait for him to come back to open the banquet, for this reason, Wang Shiru was also stained. Skip the pre-congratulatory ritual and go directly to the temple to sit down.

The Zichen Hall where the banquet is held is decorated with lanterns, and the hall is luxuriously covered with splendid curtains, and the bright candles are high. Civil and military officials and foreign guests all sit in the main hall (upper hall), Duodian (side hall), and corridors on both sides according to their ranks, and the cushions under their buttocks are also strictly divided into ranks, and the seats of officials above the third rank are vermilion, and the lower ones are green, black, and so on.

It is rare to participate in the state banquet of the Song Dynasty. Zhao Xing looked around excitedly, greeting acquaintances with flying eyes, and observing the layout of the store, as if he wanted to engrave all this in his mind...... Ah, his only regret now is that he can't find Li Gonglin, otherwise, it would be beautiful to let that guy depict this scene, especially to depict the scene of his own presence for future generations. I just don't know. Later generations saw themselves with such a task in the painting. How surprised should you be?

The officials of the Ministry of Rites also continued the ritual in the preset singing hill tower in front of the palace, and this ceremony had to line up the "battle of the immortals", divide the "six tributes", and worship nine times. Sing hymns five times---- this is called "Nine Dragons and Five Phoenixes", when the officials of the Ministry of Rites dance to congratulate, the officials of the Si Tianjian also sing slogan poems on the side of the Singing Shan Tower, this kind of chanting is called "chicken singing". To be able to participate in this kind of state banquet, the officials are sincerely afraid, few look around Zhao Xing like this, like a hillbilly who enters the city for the first time, Zhao Xing makes eyes at people, and the officials who are touched by his gaze have strange faces, as if the muscles on their faces are cramping, they can't control their expressions, they desperately purse their mouths, as long as Zhao Xing looks away slightly, they turn their backs, and their shoulders are shaking like a convulsion......

Zhao Xing admired the surrounding layout without blushing and heartbeat, turned his head, and found that Shuai Fan's hand was stretched out to the food plate in front of him, he hurriedly stretched out his hand, stopped Shuai Fan, and lowered his voice to remind: "Look at the food on the plate, you dare to reach out, stop it, don't make people laugh at you." ”

On the top of the main hall, there is a dazzling array of food displayed in front of each official's seat, and those food displays obviously have a difference in rank, and the plate in front of Zhao Xing is displayed with ring cakes (equivalent to today's steamed dumplings), oil cakes, jujube towers, and pigs, sheep, chickens, geese, rabbits, and even bone meat are added in front of the Liao envoys......

But these foods are called "kanpan", and they can be seen but not eaten. You're going to look greedy, and when you stretch out your hand---- you'll be immediately despised. In these years, uneducated people stretched out their hands to the plate, which is called "not knowing etiquette", and the barbarians of the Liao State will not do it.

Shuai Fan muttered dissatisfiedly: "I'm hungry, I've been in a hurry all the way from morning to now, my hungry chest is close to the back of my mouth, this is a torture to see a table full of food that can't be eaten!" ”

According to Shuai Fan's grade, he can't sit with Zhao Xing. But today's state banquet also has the meaning of rewarding merit, so Shuai Fan is tied with Zhao Xing as a meritorious hero.

Originally, before such a state banquet, the officials of the Ministry of Rites would greet the participants to the side and introduce the etiquette to be paid attention to in advance, and during the introduction of the Ministry of Rites officials, the officials attending the banquet could eat some snacks that they brought with them so that they would not make a fool of themselves at the banquet. But what was a little unexpected today was that because this state banquet had to wait for Zhao Xing and Shuai Fan, the officials in the palace were delayed for too long, and even the officials of the Ministry of Rites were almost hungry, so as soon as Zhao Xing arrived, they led him and Shuai Fan into the hall, making the two miss the opportunity to eat something in advance.

However, the torture of the two is not over, the first three glasses of wine at the banquet in the Song Dynasty are not served, and there are a series of performances mixed between each cup of wine, including ventriloquism, music, dance, etc., there are many tricks.

The state banquet of the Song Dynasty drank a total of nine cups of wine, these nine cups of wine to drink for an afternoon, the interval between each cup of wine was half an hour, Zhao Xing and Shuai Fan finally waited until the ceremony was completed, the eunuch just announced the cup, the two of them couldn't wait to raise the wine glass and drink it all, and after putting down the wine glass, the two of them touched their stomachs together, licked their lips unfinished, Shuai Fan also muttered in a low voice: "I finally found where the stomach is, this thing is a stomach, lazy, immediately helped me point out the location of the stomach......"