Half an hour later, the sun had set over the distant mountains. Duan Sizhen is back, and it is Princess Ailan, the daughter of King Turus of Xi, and the patriarch of the Yuan Qi Folding Department, Xie Ra, who are envoys to Youzhou. They were surprised to meet the caravan here, and warmly extended an invitation.

During the Wude period, the Xi people descended to the Tang Dynasty, and the Xi chieftain could be attached to the five departments. To the time of Taizong Zhenguan, and sent tribute, Taizong is in his place to place the Rao Le Du Governor's Mansion, worship it as the envoy of the six states of the military, Rao Le Fu Governor, seal the building annoying county duke, give the surname Li, and set up five states in Xi Wubu.

That is, the Ahui Department is the weak water state, the department and the department are Qili Prefecture, the Ao Lost Department is Luohuan Prefecture, the Duji Department is Tailu Prefecture, and the Yuan Qi Folding Department is the Thirsty Ye Prefecture.

Insulting the lord is the meaning of the patriarch in the Xi language.

King Xi of the past dynasties accepted the canonization of the Tang court and was hereditary as the governor of Raole, which is actually the nature of a tribal alliance. Its tribal habitat is mainly distributed in the south of the tributary of the Tuhuzhen River, north of Dayan Mountain, west of White Wolf Mountain, adjacent to the Khitan Songmo Governor's Mansion in the north, and dependent on the Tatars in the west.

The Xi people, who were originally good at competing with the Khitans for pastures, were severely hit by Zhang Zhongwu, the envoy of the Youzhou Festival at that time, in the anti-Tang incident in the first year of Dazhong, and their strength began to decline from prosperity. On the contrary, the Khitans were originally attached to the Uighurs, but after the Uighurs were destroyed by the Mobei Gas, they turned to the Tang Dynasty and continued to invade the surrounding Xi people, Xi people, Heichezi Murowei and other tribes on a small scale, but their strength did not decrease but increased. This also made the surrounding tribes feel threatened and sought foreign help.

At this time, the strength of the five Xi people was not as good as before, and they were repeatedly defeated against the Khitans, and their subordinate departments were even more detached, and they no longer obeyed the dispatch of King Xi. Zhuang Yi had naturally heard about this, so he had already guessed Xi Ren's intention to go south.

Zhuang Yi took An Huaixin and Duan Sizhen out of the camp on horseback, and marched three or four miles down the river, and saw herds of cattle and horses drinking water in the river bay from a distance. On the edge of a small forest on the bank of the river, a large group of Xi people in leather robes and hats were camping, and a large bonfire had been lit in the middle of the camp, and blue smoke was wafting over the camp. Apparently they also found the caravan's camp and kept a safe distance.

Five Xi patrol knights came running over and stopped them, looking up and down curiously, the first one was probably a junior officer, and after bowing on his horse, he said, "Are you merchants from Pingzhou?" Where do you want to go? ”

"Haha...... Your Youzhou dialect is good! We are businessmen from Pingzhou? Come and meet your envoy to Youzhou, Lord Xie Ra. Zhuang Yi praised casually and explained his intention.

"So you're the master of the caravan, please come with me!" The knight was a little surprised to see that Zhuang Yi was so young, and when he heard the praise, a smile appeared on his face, and he turned his horse's head to lead the way.

As a headman, there are always more privileges to enjoy. The whole camp was still in disarray, but the chief's tent had already been erected. It was a large tent about thirty paces long and wide, about the size of two normal rooms. More than a dozen servants were busy barbecuing fat sheep outside the tent and preparing dinner for their masters, and several maids and maids carried all kinds of utensils from the carriage and went in and out of the big tent to busily arrange the couches, tableware, lamps and curtains.

When they saw Zhuang Yi and the others coming, they stopped what they were doing and looked at them curiously. The maids were not afraid of the living, snickering and pointing.

An old man with gray hair and beard, a thin face and a slight piggyback stood in front of the tent, and the sergeant who led the way stepped forward to muttered something to him, and he looked at Zhuang Yi and the three of them with scrutinizing eyes. Seeing that there was nothing unusual, he turned around and went in to report to his master, and after a while, he came out again, opened the white curtain sideways, and said, "Please come in!" ”

The old man then followed, guided Zhuang Yi to a bunk on the left side of the felt and sat down, and then entered the back tent, where the sound of talking could be faintly heard.

Zhuang Yi turned around and saw that Duan Sizhen and An Huaixin were still standing behind him, and said with some surprise: "Alas...... What are you doing standing? ”

"We are subordinates, of course we are standing, only if you are the master, you can sit......" Duan Sizhen was stunned for a long time, rolled her eyes and explained in a whisper, but she was slandering in her heart: What's the matter, I don't know this etiquette, you still stayed in Youzhou.

"Oh...... I forgot about this! Zhuang Yi sneered.

The two maids walked in, lit two oil lamps, and went out again, and the light in the tent was bright, but it seemed a little empty for the three of them.

Zhuang Yi was sitting a little bored, a sound of footsteps came, the curtain of the back tent door was lifted, and a man in his forties came out, with a short figure of five who looked strong and powerful, wearing a black fur-rimmed fur hat, a broad forehead, a ruddy and fat face, and thick lips, looking very honest, only a pair of slender eyes made people feel his shrewdness. "This guest from Pingzhou! What's your last name? Where do you want to do business? Xie Ra walked up and sat down cross-legged, spoke fluently with a Datang Hebei accent, and asked with a smile.

"Hui Xie Patriarch, my surname is Zhuang, my name is Zhuang Yi, we plan to cross the Xuanshui, go south of the White Wolf Mountain to Liaodong, I heard that the Bohai people there have precious Dongzhu, old mountain ginseng and the best leather goods. We brought very little cargo this time, and once the trade route is discovered, we will carry out a large-scale transaction. Zhuang Yi took out the lines he had thought of in advance and replied casually.

"Oh...... Is it? Which caravan are you? Why don't you go to Yuguan? But walking through this treacherous mountain and water, aren't you afraid of being robbed and plundered? Xie Ra asked with a puzzled expression.

"We are the caravan of the Zhao family, because there are robbers, so our family master wants to go to Xuanshui and open up another trade route, if we go to Yuguan, the Gao family and the Zhang family in Youzhou will be unhappy, this will cause conflicts, presumably the patriarch should have heard of it, right?" Zhuang Yi didn't need to think about it, and the answer was like a stream.

"Haha...... Your master is so greedy! Monopolized the Songting Pass Business Road, and wanted to grab the Yuguan Trade Road! I don't know how much iron you can bring this time, but I want all of them. ”

"It's a pity, we didn't bring iron, only a small amount of salt and cloth, if the patriarch of Xie Ra wanted, we could also change it. I don't know if the patriarch of Xie Ra went to Youzhou this time, was it a business or something else? ”

"Oh...... There's no iron! Xie Ra was very disappointed when he heard this, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Don't hide it from you, since last year, the Khitans have frequently launched tentative attacks on our tribe, and it seems that there is going to be a large-scale operation. Can Zhuang Xiaolang tell us? ”

"I know something about this, the new Jiedu envoy is named Li Quanzhong, a native of Fanyang, fierce and cunning, ambitious, forced to kill the original section commander Li Keju and replace himself. Youzhou has just experienced the war, and besides, Li Quanzhong's position as the marshal is not coming from the right way, and the time is still short, I am afraid that it is not very stable. Zhuang Yi said eloquently.

"Oh...... How should this be good, can Zhuang Xiaolang teach me? Xie Ra had already heard about it, and after Zhuang Yi said this, he also felt that this mission might fail, so his face couldn't help but change, and he became a little anxious.

"I wonder what the will of the Patriarch of Xie Ra is? Do you ask Youzhou to send troops to help? Zhuang Yi asked tentatively.

"If you can get Youzhou to send troops, it's good, if not, then form an alliance and support some weapons and armor, it should be fine, right?" Xie Ra's heart began to be bottomless, and he asked with a blank face.

"Support? Let them give it away for nothing? It's unlikely, and I'm guessing you'll have to pay some price. Zhuang Yi said casually in his mouth, but his heart was active, and the wonderful plan in his brain began to become clearer and clearer. It seems that Xi people are anxious to want an ally, but Youzhou is unreliable.

"No, it won't! The Khitans are greedy, and if they drive us away, they will go south to plunder Youzhou, and Li Yuanjun of Youzhou must understand this, and he will definitely agree to our ......" Xie Ra comforted himself.

"Oh! That's right...... I hope you will succeed in this trip! Zhuang Yi despised it in his heart, these innocent and cute people, those short-sighted guys in Youzhou, if you don't take the opportunity to kill you, you should be happy.

"This Zhuang Xiaolang! Since you are leading the caravan of the Zhao family, it must have a high status in the Zhao family, can you help introduce your family master? Xie Ra's eyes rolled, as if he remembered something, and tentatively asked for help.

"Ah...... Is this it? Zhuang is just a little deacon, I'm afraid I can't help, sorry! Disappointed the Patriarch of Xie Ra! Zhuang Yi was taken aback and hurriedly prevaricated.

"That's it! You are going to White Wolf Mountain, do you have a guide? It's a tough way to walk over there, so don't get lost! Xie sighed in disappointment, kindly wanting to help.

"Thank you Patriarch, we have a guide, you won't get lost......"

"Someone! Banquet...... This Zhuang Xiaolang! If you don't dislike the ugliness of this place, how about having dinner here? Xie smiled and kept the guests.

"It's better to be respectful than to obey your fate, thank you Patriarch Xie Ra!" Zhuang Yi bowed his hand and said, for Xi Ren, Zhuang Yi decided to set up a good relationship, which is beneficial to the big thing he will do. Of course, the premise is that after they know their identity, they will not immediately go berserk and then draw their swords against each other.