During the years of "good neighborliness and friendship" between the Tang Dynasty and the Khitan, there were often envoys and ministers, not only the central court repeatedly sent officials to visit each other, but also the Lulongbian Town, but also for various reasons, often sent people to the Khitan.

This time, Yelubei was going to send troops to the west, and the rumors naturally did not hide the Lulongbian Town, which had the responsibility of monitoring the Khitan, and after Li Yanchao, the envoy of Youzhou Jiedu, reported the matter to the court, the court ordered him to send a team of envoys to find a reason to go north to find a reason to touch the Khitan reality.

And the one who undertook this task was Li Yanchao's right-hand man, Li Yanrao, who was also his brother.

Li Yanrao has been in the Khitan for a few days, he has seen Yelubei in the court, and he has also seen many Khitan magnates in private, and the information of the Khitan expedition to the west has long been convinced, it is said that everything is done, and it is time to return, but he can't go back immediately, he still has to wait for someone.

Li Siyuan gave Li Yanchao a secret order, which mentioned that a minister would arrive in the West Building before and after, so that the envoys in Youzhou would obey his orders.

However, after waiting for several days, the minister did not show up, and the impatient officials began to complain, and even complained that the military situation was urgent, and there was no reason to waste time here, and they should hurry back to Youzhou to plan a countermeasure.

"The news that the Khitan wants to go west to conquer Heichezi Murowei, I heard that it was reported to the court by the Military Intelligence Department earlier, and others don't know about it, but I know that the news of the Military Intelligence Department rarely goes wrong, especially such a major event. This time, he went north to the West Tower, clearly saying that he was investigating the news of the Khitan Western Expedition and putting pressure on Yelubei on behalf of the imperial court, but in fact, there may be a lot of articles. And this article is known only to the big man. So the matter of you and me waiting for someone right now is the key to this trip. ”

Li Yanrao comforted the restless officials, "You can think about it, what kind of people are worth waiting here for a long time? ”

The officials were gossiping, and they didn't say why, Li Yanrao waved his hand, looking like Lao Tzu knew but Lao Tzu just didn't tell you, and asked those officials to retreat.

In fact, Li Yanrao didn't know who he was waiting for, he secretly wondered: The Khitan expedition to the west, the imperial court would not send troops north, and could only watch these barbarians tear up the agreement of the day. But with the temperament of His Majesty and the King of Qin, he will definitely not admit that he will suffer, what are the plans for sending people to Khitan this time and asking us to obey orders?

Li Yanrao thought about it for a long time and didn't come up with a reason, and finally could only give up angrily: this twisting and turning calculation is really not done by everyone, Lao Tzu just needs to fight, and he cares about doing so much.

Of course, Li Yanrao didn't know that Li Siyuan arranged for them to come to the West Building, and the real purpose was actually only one, that is, to help Li Congjing hide his identity.

Li Congjing's identity is not what it used to be, this time he came to the West Building, naturally he couldn't sneak around, he had to have an identity, otherwise it would be easy to cause unnecessary trouble, but he couldn't openly appear as the King of Qin, in that case, the weight was too heavy and too scary, enough to cause an uproar.

——Even the King of Qin has arrived in the grassland, isn't it that the Tang army is going north?

- King Qin personally went to the West Building, how could he watch the old agreement be destroyed?

Therefore, the cover of the envoys of Youzhou has become a necessary choice.

When Li Congjing appeared in front of Li Yanrao, Li Yanrao's jaw almost dropped in shock, and after hurriedly saluting, he finally reacted, it turned out that the big man was the King of Qin, which made him both surprised and happy. Since four years after Tongguang, he has not had the opportunity to serve under King Qin again, but he has not boasted to his subordinates on weekdays: Lao Tzu also killed the enemy side by side with King Qin back then, and swept Liaodong, Bohai, and Xilou! Today, after learning that there is another opportunity to saddle the horse for King Qin, who has long been different, he is naturally very happy.

After Li Congjing explained Li Yanrao's task to him, he said with a smile: "It's good to give you any identity, don't expect no one to recognize the lonely king, Yelubei is a smart person, and he won't be stupid enough to expose the identity of the lonely king, everyone pretends to be deaf and dumb together." ”

These things were well arranged, and then Li Yanrao asked Li Congjing what his instructions were, and Li Congjing said, "Take the lonely king to the city for a walk." ”

Li Congjing said that he was walking around the city, but he was really just shopping. For most of the day, he didn't stop looking at the flowers, which made Li Yanrao secretly sigh: The thoughts of the big people are really different from ours.

For Li Congjing, the West Building is not a stranger, the first time he went north in the first year of Tongguang, was as a businessman, mixed into the Yelu Deguang army, was brought to the West Building by the other party enthusiastically and ceremoniously, and also enjoyed a heartfelt friend treatment. After that, during his long stay in the West Building, many things happened, and it was at that time that Yelu Min became acquainted.

Like Luoyang, which is in the heart of the Central Plains, since Yelu Abaoji operated the West Building, as a well-deserved economic center on the grassland, the West Building has been prosperous. When Li Congjing wandered around the city, as he had been many years ago, he still saw business travelers from all over the grasslands, even from the Bohai Sea and the Western Regions. I have to admit that at least the prosperity of the West Building today is not much more than the first year of Tongguang.

No matter what Li Congjing and Yelubei have in their own minds, since four years after Tongguang, the Tang Dynasty and the Khitan have maintained normal diplomatic relations, thanks to the Xilou Agreement of that year, the status of the Tang people in the Khitan country has been improved, and the interests of all aspects have been guaranteed. The streets are full of Tang people dressed in all kinds of costumes, striding with their heads held high and their eyebrows high, as if they were walking in their own back garden.

Every time he sees these Tang people, Li Congjing will feel better.

Border trade can no longer meet the needs of the two countries to communicate with each other, allowing Tang Dynasty merchants to travel freely in the grassland, and even Khitan merchants to trade freely in the Central Plains, which is a major policy of Li Congjing's treatment of the grassland.

The steppe army can be defeated, the steppe tribes can be conquered, but then what?

Where are the roots of the grassland people who are inexhaustible in wildfires and spring breezes blowing and recovering from the south?

What should the Central Plains Dynasty do if it wants to completely rule the grassland?

Li Congjing doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of history, what he wants is to lay down a place, that is, to govern a place, digest a place, and turn the mountains and rivers and people of this place into the territory and people of the Tang Dynasty from the bones.

Because of this, force alone is not enough, he also needs more profound means.

And what Jeremiah did in the future was related to the beginning of his policy, and he certainly attached great importance to it. That is to say, as part of Li Congjing's plan for the grassland, when Yelu Deguang and Yelu Bei are fighting, it is not impossible to ensure that Yelu Min supports Yelu Deguang.

"General Lee doesn't seem to have any interest in shopping?" Li Congjing saw that Li Yan was listless, so he asked him with a smile.

"Absolutely not!" Li Yanrao hurriedly straightened his waist and put on a spirited appearance, "The last general is very interested!" ”

Li Congjing didn't poke at him, but said: "The lonely king has no interest in shopping, not only is he not interested, but he can be called disgusted." He smiled and said: "But if you don't go deep into the streets and alleys of the market, how can you know what the people here are like, how can you know whether the shops are prosperous, how can you know whether the children are strong, how can you know whether the neighbors are friendly and friendly, how can you know whether the order of the government is deeply popular?" ”

"When you see that, shopping isn't shopping." Li Congjing continued, "It's an inspection. ”

"Patrol?" Li Yanrao repeated in a daze.

"Inspect your own realm and your people." Li Congjing dropped this sentence and said no more.

Although Li Yanrao is not good at twisting and turning, this does not mean that he is stupid, he reacted quickly, and his heart was already turbulent: "King Qin wants to defeat the West Tower and defeat the Khitan?!" ”

If Li Congjing knew what he was thinking, he would definitely correct him, it was not "laying", but "conquering".

As for today's wandering, of course, Li Congjing's purpose is not as glamorous as he said, the actual situation is: whether it is the enemy's people or his own people, he must understand something, know himself and the enemy, in order to survive a hundred battles. Especially when making some grand and delicate plans, some differences in details are enough to determine the success or failure of the whole plan.

For example, from the discussion in the streets and alleys, he can understand how the Khitan people view Yelubei, whether they sincerely support their emperor, and whether they praise Yelumin. The affirmative and negative answers will of course have a completely different impact on Li Congjing's plan.

In the evening, Li Congjing finally finished his shopping trip, and it could be seen from his stretched brows that he was quite satisfied with the information he had gathered today. Li Yanrao saw that it was getting late, so he asked Li Congjing if he wanted to go back to the post house to rest. The reason why he asked this question was because Li Yanrao knew that the Military Intelligence Department had quite a lot of industry in the West Building, and the conditions there might be much better than the conditions in the post house.

"Go visit the Prime Minister of the North Courtyard." Li Congjing said after a little muttering.

"Yes" Li Yanrao's face suddenly turned a little weird, how could he not know Ye Lumin, the prime minister of the North Courtyard, not only did he know, but when they were in Youzhou, they were old acquaintances with each other

"Wait." Li Congjing thought about it and stopped Li Yanrao, just when Li Yanrao thought that Li Congjing was going to change his attention, he heard Li Congjing say: "Find a place to eat first, and when I meet the prime minister of the North Courtyard later, she may not entertain the food I am waiting for."

Li Yanrao's eyes became even more weird, thinking to himself, Your Highness, what are you going to talk to people about, will people be so ruthless that they don't even care about food?

After eating and drinking, Li Congjing arrived in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the North Courtyard under the guidance of Li Yanrao. Although Mo Li, Tao Yaoyao and others walked to the West Building, Li Congjing did not let them follow when they went out today, and at this time there were only Meng Songbai and other guards beside him - these guards could give him almost zero help in the contest of intelligence, and there was no need to count on it at all.

Li Congjing took a deep breath, he knew that tonight's meeting with Yelumin would definitely not be easy, not to mention that this meeting was very important, the major events of the Tang Dynasty and Khitan in the next hundred years may change because of this, only Yelumin himself should not be underestimated, and it should not be easy to fight wits and courage in the middle, Li Congjing did not dare to take it lightly.

"Go and report." Li Congjing pulled away his sharp eyes.