Zhao Ji was also reluctant to come over to take a look, this sight, was stunned, how could anyone have such a high painting skills, the person in this painting is as real as the mirror reflected, what is even more rare is that this painting is the most youthful and beautiful moment of the Queen Mother, the person who painted is all based on the current appearance of the Queen Mother, and the imaginary appearance of the Queen Mother when she was young, so that she can still do exactly the same, no wonder the Queen Mother is so moved.

Zhao Ji shook his head slowly, this time he lost again......

Li Ce looked at the surprised looks of the ministers, and couldn't help but feel proud in his heart, it seems that knowing more than one craft is so important, I can't imagine that a small sketch can make the entire ruling class of the Great Song Dynasty so shaken.

Most of the ministers present were from the imperial examination, and many of them were also very good at Danqing, such as Zhang Shixun, who was very good at this way, and the more he looked at it, the more surprised he became: "Xiyuan, you are also a calligrapher Danqing, have you ever seen such a realistic painting style?" ”

"I'm also the first time to see it, it's really a masterpiece, I don't know who made this painting, this person can be called the founder of this school of painting, in vain I boast of painting skills, but I don't know that there is a mountain outside the mountain, pitiful and lamentable." Chen Yaozuo sighed, but his eyes never took his eyes off the sketch for a moment.

Li Ce listened to the conversation between Master and Deng Guogong on the side, and couldn't help but want to laugh, if one day Master knew that this painting was painted by himself, I don't know what he would be shocked.

Ding Wei had a gloomy face on the side, he had already passed the shock when he first saw this painting, at the moment he was trying to think about how to find the flaws of this painting, so as to regain the limelight, but he couldn't think of any way after calculating for a long time, and finally had to give up, in fact, the key is that the content of this painting is too special - that is the Queen Mother! Isn't denigrating that painting a slander of the Queen Mother herself......

"Empress Dowager, the envoy of the Liao State outside asks for an audience." At this time, a small yellow door quickly came in and reported.

"Liao envoy? What are they here for? Liu E was in reverie with her eyes closed, and she was a little annoyed when she was interrupted, so she couldn't help frowning and asked coldly.

"It seems that I want to congratulate the Queen Mother on your birthday, and I also brought a gift." Xiao Huangmen replied cautiously.

"The Liao State has always been arrogant, this time the Queen Mother's birthday, they came from afar, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as congratulating the birthday." Ding Wei said with a solemn face. He is the prime minister, although he is a little more domineering on weekdays, but his political nerves are still extremely sensitive, especially in the treatment of national affairs, he is still very measured, he quickly thought that the envoy of the Liao Dynasty suddenly came, there must be a plan.

"The Prime Minister is right, if the envoy of the Liao Dynasty makes any request through this, we can't agree to him." Zhang Shixun also took his eyes off the painting, stood up and said, he rarely agreed with Ding Wei.

The officials of the Northern Song Dynasty were like this, although their political views were quite different on weekdays, and even incompatible, they were often able to temporarily abandon prejudices and reach a high degree of agreement on major matters such as national diplomacy and foreign invasion, which was the style of the literati of the Great Song Dynasty. Comparatively speaking, the Southern Song Dynasty was much worse.

"But we are guests from afar, our Great Song Dynasty is a state of etiquette, and since the Liao envoy has arrived, we can't refuse to see it, so it is degrading our demeanor." The Ministry of Rites is still a scholar, and Kong Dao is an auxiliary road.

"Seeing is a must see, but we still can't figure out the meaning of Liao, don't forget that not long ago, they just sent troops to attack our Zhending Mansion, to say that they are to congratulate the Queen Mother on her birthday, hum, I don't believe it." Chen Yaozuo said.

"I'm afraid I'm going to take advantage of this to make some excessive demands again." Ding Wei said with a wrinkled face.

Everyone was silent for a while, in fact, everyone knew that the Liao Kingdom was coming, and they must want to ask for something, but the key is to give or not to give? Of course, the Great Song Dynasty didn't want to give it, but if he didn't give it, what should he do if the Liao State was in trouble to send troops?

Zhao Zhen saw that the ministers were silent, he glanced at the Queen Mother, and saw that she was also dignified, and couldn't help but say: "Privy Envoy Lord Zhang, if I start a war with the Liao State, what is the chance of victory?" ”

The ministers roared, and looked at Zhao Zhen in surprise, only to see Zhao Zhen's eyes blazing at the ministers, and all the ministers opened their hearts as soon as they met his gaze.

The privy envoy is the good old man Zhang Qi, if you want to say who will not offend people the most in the entire Great Song Dynasty, and who will get by the most, then this person must be Zhang Qi! Zhang Qi is over 60 years old this year, his political experience can be described as an ancient well backwater, and he is not shocked, he can sit in today's position, it is completely because he has survived and walked a little shit luck. Therefore, Zhang Qi cherishes his current position very much, no one can be offended, and he will not earn anything.

The privy envoy was the only position that could compete with the prime minister, the so-called "East and West two governments, holding civil and military". The east province is the prime minister's office, and the west province is the Privy Council. But this year's privy envoy Zhang Qi was too cowardly, and he didn't have his own opinions on everything, and Ding Wei said that he was what he said, and as a result, a huge privy council was like a subsidiary of Zhongshu Province.

The two deputy envoys, Cao Wei and Xia Zhu, had the intention to fight against Zhongshu Province, but their rank was not symmetrical with Prime Minister Ding, and they could not play any substantive role at all.

Zhang Qi trembled out, looking old, he was about the same age as Ding Wei and Zhang Shixun, but he looked much older than the two.

"Back to Your Majesty, this dynasty has not taken the initiative to raise troops for nearly 30 years, and the sage governs the country, so don't start a war." Zhang Qi shook his head and admonished.

Zhao Zhen secretly scolded him for being an old fox, he was asking him what his chances were, but he brought out such a big reason for himself, and it was really in vain to ask. He looked at Ding Wei, although Ding Wei was domineering, he could only ask him at this time.

Ding Wei saw Zhao Zhen looking at him, and couldn't help but raise his head and said: "A sage rules the country, and it is not false to raise troops easily, but if it is repeatedly provoked by foreign clans and offends my Great Song Dynasty, it cannot be tolerated again and again." In the first year of Jingde, the Empress Dowager of Liao and the Lord of Liao, Yelu Longxu, led an army of 200,000 to invade our Great Song Dynasty, and Emperor Zhenzong drove the expedition in person, and finally the Liao army fled in the desert. ”

Ding Wei's meaning is very clear, if the Liao people are too much, then fight!

Zhao Zhen nodded, although Ding Wei has never been likable, but as the prime minister, he is still quite courageous at this critical time, and he is the main battle.

"Don't be busy fighting the war, the Liao envoy hasn't come in yet, it's not too late for the first family to express their intentions and then discuss." The Queen Mother Liu E suddenly said lazily, and Zhao Zhen was interrupted by her, so she had to reluctantly sit back on the dragon chair.

Now that the Queen Mother had spoken, the ministers were not good at discussing, so they kept silent and waited for the Liao envoy to come to the palace.

Li Ce secretly paid attention to the Queen Mother's expression, and found that when Zhao Zhen privately asked the ministers about the winning rate just now, her face was obviously a little ugly, and she interrupted Zhao Zhen just now, could it be that the Queen Mother was dissatisfied with His Majesty?

In this vacancy, the Liao envoy has already led the little eunuch to the palace.

Li Ce's eyes suddenly widened, this ...... Isn't this the Liao people in Fanlou? The leader seems to be called Yelu Xinghe, look at the bruise in his left eye, who else is he or not? It's over, it's really a narrow road, and now it's in trouble!

Li Ce quietly hid back, and said in his heart: Don't let this guy recognize himself later.

There are three envoys of the Liao State to the palace, and the three of them are headed by Yelu Xinghe in front, and I saw him wearing the unique clothes of the Liao State, holding a long box in his hand, walking in front with his head held high, and he felt like he had entered his own door.

"Yelu Xinghe, the general of the Liao State, came to congratulate the Empress Dowager Liu on her birthday on behalf of the Emperor of the Great Liao, which is a congratulatory gift from our Great Liao State." Yelu Xinghe did not kneel, but reached out and directly held up the gift box in his hand, where is the slightest meaning of gifting, look at his arrogant attitude, it is clearly provocative.

Lei Yungong secretly looked at the prime minister, and when he saw Ding Wei nodding, he walked up to Yelu Xinghe with some unhappiness and reached out to take the gift box.

The gift box was opened, it turned out to be a glass bottle, but this glass bottle is different from the ordinary glass bottle, this bottle is crystal clear throughout, and it looks somewhat similar to the glass of later generations, of course, it is not as transparent as glass, but in this era, it is already a rare treasure.

"I can't imagine that there is such a precious glass bottle in Liao, it seems that the emperor of Liao has also made a bloody investment this time, and this glass bottle is worth 10,000 taels of silver." A minister muttered quietly.

Yelu Xinghe saw the admiring looks of the ministers of the Song Dynasty, and couldn't help but say proudly: "There is a pair of glass bottles in total, and our Emperor Daliao kept one for himself, and this one was given to the Empress Dowager Liu, hoping that the Empress Dowager Liu will live with Tianqi and thousands of generations." "The idioms of the Han people, the Liao people are naturally not very well-understood, and it is not easy for a martial artist like Yelu Xinghe to be able to say a few four-character idioms.

Zhao Zhen secretly scolded the Liao people for being treacherous, and actually offered such a noble glass bottle, why? Because there is a tradition in the Great Song Dynasty, whenever a foreign envoy comes, he will usually be rewarded, and if the envoy also brings a gift, then the Great Song Dynasty must have a corresponding return gift. But once the gift is returned, you can't simply send a little thing away, the specification and value of the return gift must be higher than the other party, so as to highlight the status of the Great Song Dynasty.

"Okay, the old body accepted it, and the gift that the old body gave to the emperor of the Liao State will be brought back when General Lao Yelu goes back." Liu E said lightly.

Yelu Xinghe saw that Liu E didn't seem to be interested in this crystal clear glass bottle, so she was a little dissatisfied and said: "Queen Mother, don't you look down on this glass bottle?" ”

Liu E didn't hide it from him: "The old man has received too many congratulatory gifts today, but your glass bottle is also a good treasure." ”

Yelu Xinghe sneered, he thought that Liu E was deliberately damaging him, such a precious glass bottle is rare in the world, she didn't even look at it, obviously it was deliberate!

"The Queen Mother of Shengming, this glass bottle can't be given to you now, this bottle is also left by our Emperor Daliao, he is also very fond of this treasure, but he wants to inlay a layer of gold leaf on the inner wall of this glass bottle, so that this treasure is not more precious? However, the skill required for this is extremely high, we Daliao is not such a skilled craftsman, Su asked the Great Song Dynasty to produce a large number of people, I don't know if anyone can complete this skill?

Before I came, our Emperor Daliao said that if this matter can be completed, he will give a gift to the Queen Mother, if so...... Hey. Yelu Xinghe said slyly, implying that if things can't be done, this thing has to be taken back.

"Is there any reason why the gift of giving someone should be returned? If you Liao are poor and can't afford to send it, don't send it, and you won't be afraid of people's jokes if you go back on your word. Cao Wei was straight, and couldn't help but scold at first.

Ding Wei, Zhang Shixun and others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, it turned out that it was just a gold leaf, and they thought that Liao was going to make some rude requests for money and land.

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