Time flies quickly, and in a blink of an eye, it is Cheonan Festival in mid-September!

On the birthday of Yelu Hongji, the lord of Liao, the envoys of various countries and the leaders of the affiliated tribes all came to celebrate his birthday.

At noon, the huge birthday banquet hall has already been arranged by the Liao River, and the Liao lord Yelu Hongji will receive worship and congratulations here. There are so many people who come to pay their respects, and it is difficult to find a tent with enough space.

In addition, the weather this year is really good, even in Liaodong is still not very cold, and the autumn is crisp and pleasant. The outdoor layout of the site is even more spectacular, and it is also the embodiment of the nomadic wilderness tradition of the Liao people.

The three Song envoys all changed into regular court clothes, and they were dressed quite carefully. Although this trip has another purpose, it is still nominally for the birthday of the Liao Lord, and the etiquette is naturally not bad. It is one thing not to be rude to the Liao State, and at the same time, you must not lose the prestige of the Great Song Dynasty! Then he went out with the birthday gift and the congratulatory message of the national letter.

On the way, he actually met the impeachment bowl again, and when the leader of the Wanyan Department saw Lin Zhao, he came forward happily, and said with a smile on his face: "Thank you Song Envoy, Xiao Er Ah Gu has eaten the medicine prescribed by the doctor of your country, and he has been much better!" ”

"Well, the leader of Wanyan is polite, Lin Zhao responded casually, he really didn't have the heart to say anything more to impeachment, especially when it came to rescuing Wanyan!

But the impeachment bowl chattered endlessly: "Great kindness, a certain thing is remembered, and there is no way to repay it......"

"Uh, the Wanyan leader is really polite!" Lin Zhao only regarded it as a kind word, and never took it to heart at all. It just so happens that this will be wild

Hu Ke walked over and left a resentful look, obviously very uninterested in Song Envoy, and his hostility was very serious.

Several Song envoys didn't take such small roles in their eyes at all, and they all took their minds and prepared to deal with today's situation. As the saying goes, there is no good banquet, and today is the most difficult and critical juncture.

Sure enough, in a series of musical ceremonies, the Liao lord Yelu Hongji ascended the throne and accepted the congratulations! First of all, the courtiers of the Liao State first stepped forward to pay their respects, and then the envoys of other countries came forward to congratulate. It's a common session, but this time it happened to be a problem......

"Congratulations to His Majesty the Great Liao Emperor on his birthday, and I wish His Majesty a long and blessed life!" The envoys of various countries fell to their knees in unison, as if they were sincere. Of course, the three Song envoys were excepted, but they bowed slightly, and they stood out in an instant.

"Why don't you kneel?" Before the lord of Liao could speak, a civil official of the Liao State jumped out and accused loudly.

Zeng Gong said in a low voice: "This person's name is Zhang Xiaojie is the champion of the first year of Qingning (1055) in the Liao State, and he is quite talented. These years have risen sharply, step by step, but for more than ten years, he has been the governor of Liao, and he has also known the affairs of the Privy Council! Now that this person came forward, I'm afraid that the person who came is not good! Speaking of which, Zeng Gong really had some bad feelings in his heart, the champion Jinshi of the Great Song Dynasty had to start from the grassroots level, and the grade could not be improved much in many years. Look at the Liao country, this is simply fast, there is no comparison!

Zhang Zongyi said loudly: "Song and Liao are a country of brothers, with equal status, we represent the Great Song Emperor, so naturally there is no need to bow down!" ”

Zhang Xiaojie shook his head and said: "Song Liao is indeed a state of brothers, but it was established by Emperor Zhenzong of your country and Emperor Shengzong of our country in Lanzhou. At the beginning, Emperor Zhenzong of your country was the elder brother, and the Holy Emperor of our country was the younger brother. Now that the emperor of your country is the great-grandson of Zhenzong, and His Majesty of our country is the grandson of Emperor Shengzong, the emperor of your country should call His Majesty of our country the emperor's uncle. On his uncle's birthday, should his nephew kneel down to congratulate him? ”

Although this is a bit far-fetched,

But there is also evidence, and it seems to make some sense! Lin Zhao already understood in his heart that the Liao Kingdom specially recruited this "well-educated person", and it seemed that he was deliberately looking for fault!

Seeing that the Song envoy was unmoved, Zhang Xiaojie said again: "Hasn't your country always regarded itself as a state of etiquette, paying attention to ruling the world with filial piety, is it possible to do unfilial deeds today?" ”

Zhang Zongyi was speechless for a while, and the people of Liao were obviously strong and aggressive. If you give in, it's a big thing that humiliates the country, but if you don't give in, there must be a statement......

Zeng Gong said: "Today, we will represent the Great Song Dynasty to congratulate the emperor of Liao on his birthday, which is a state affair rather than a family affair!" ”

"Only when there is a country can there be a home, how can a family and a country be separated? Today, on the birthday of Your Majesty, don't you congratulate your uncle on behalf of the emperor of your country? Zhang Xiaojie pressed forward step by step.

This is not entirely unreasonable, and the envoys of His Majesty and the two countries must represent their own emperors and greet each other's monarchs. Formally, it seems that this is indeed the case......

Lin Zhao saw Zhang Zongyi and Zeng Gong's faces embarrassed, and immediately said: "The so-called upward and downward effect, uncle is naturally a role model for nephews. May I ask if after the death of Emperor Renzong, can the lord of Liao observe filial piety for three years with the gift of his son and nephew? The Empress Dowager of my dynasty is the uncle of the Liao Lord, I don't know if the Liao Lord has ever been filial piety? ”

"Uh...... This ...... "attacking the shield of the son with the spear of the son, Zhang Xiaojie inadvertently looked at Yelu Hongji's face, and he didn't know how to answer for a while......

When the emperor died, after mourning, he usually symbolized his surname to express his sorrow, and after dropping out of the dynasty, he sent an envoy to mourn. It's not my father's mother, isn't it a joke to keep filial piety and mourn! But if you really want to put it on the table and talk about it carefully, isn't that it!

"Emperor Zhenzong of your country also respected our country's Empress Chengtian as his uncle, why didn't he come to Beijing to fulfill his filial piety?" Zhang Xiaojie is obviously avoiding the important and trivial.

Lin Zhao said with a smile: "Yes, I have no precedent for Emperor Zhenzong and His Majesty the Emperor of your country, all because of the importance of state affairs, and cannot be abolished for public and private ...... Many elders have taught that the emperor of my dynasty is benevolent and filial, so he should naturally obey it, and now he can't affect state affairs because of family affairs! ”

"You ......"

Lin Zhao immediately took advantage of the victory and pursued: "Could it be that you want to veto the teachings of the previous king?" Is it determined to put His Majesty the Emperor of your country in a place of unfilial piety? ”

Strong words are reasonable, and this is the principle of today. No matter what, as long as it makes sense and stands up, whoever says it well will be justified. Zeng Gong looked at Lin Zhao and smiled knowingly, he finally understood now why the emperor and the ministers would send a hairy boy to envoy!

The Liao Lord, who had not spoken all this time, finally spoke, if he continued, Lin Zhao would not be able to call him an unkind and unfilial unrighteous and unfilial monarch! Although he plans to suppress the Song envoy, he has to take care of his dignity even more!

The dignified champion of the Liao Kingdom is not as sharp as a hairy boy from the Southern Dynasty, he is really annoyed! Yelu Hongji suppressed the anger in his heart and said with a smile: "Forget it, even if the emperor's nephew is here, how can I bear to let him kneel and get cold, now I don't have to, Song Envoy sit down!" ”

Needless to say, the first round of confrontation ended with the victory of the Song envoys. The three Song envoys had a lot of face, threw Zhang Xiaojie a cold contempt, and turned around and sat down......

Lin Zhao finally came to the front of the stage from behind the scenes, and this one was the most outstanding among the envoys of the Song Dynasty!

The next link is that various countries present their leaders to the lord of Liao, and all kinds of rare treasures and rare specialties have appeared. Most of the Jurchens offered ginseng, Dongzhu, and Haidongqing; Murwei presented dozens of excellent white wolf skins; Goryeo sent two large corals, and several other beauties had already entered the tent of the Liao lord a few nights ago......

Tubo is to send the alpine snow lotus and the river Huang BMW; Xixia seems to have made a bloody investment, what jade carvings in the Western Regions, big food treasure knives, rare treasures, everything, especially a white deer, this thing was a symbol of auspiciousness in ancient times.

In the end, all eyes fell on the Song envoys, and they were very interested in the birthday gifts of the Song Dynasty, which had always regarded itself as the superior kingdom of the Celestial Empire! Zhang Zongyi stood up on behalf of the Song Dynasty to present gifts to the Liao lords: one side of the Songhe Fushou Changshu brocade screen, several pieces of exquisite porcelain, one piece of Fulushou gold ornaments, and several pieces of exquisite calligraphy and painting......

It can be said that they are all related to the birthday, with the characteristics of the Great Song Dynasty, and are mainly gifts for stationery. Normally, it's nothing, but now the other countries are really too conspicuous, so it looks a little shabby. When Zhang Zongyi spoke, he was still a little unconfident...... But after thinking about it, hundreds of thousands of coins per year are cheap enough for Liaoguo, and they are not bad for birthday gifts......

Of course, Zhang Langzhong still explained slightly: "This Shu brocade screen is made by more than ten embroiderers in Shuzhong for half a year, carefully embroidered, gold ornaments and porcelain are made by my first-class skilled craftsmen in the Great Song Dynasty, as for these paintings and calligraphy, they are all written by famous people in the past dynasties, all of them are rare genuine, I wish His Majesty the Emperor of Liao a blessed life and Kangning!" ”

Having said that, it still seems to be inferior after all, and the Liao lord Yelu Hongji reacted calmly, and only glanced at it a few times and then stopped paying attention. He was full of praise for the treasure knife and BMW, and despised the Song Dynasty intentionally or unintentionally.

In the end, in order to despise the Song Dynasty and show the wealth of the Liao Kingdom, there was also a sentence: "I like the birthday gifts sent by various countries, I like it very much, when the envoys return, I will give a gift back to the monarchs of various countries. ”

This is domineering! Is it possible that you want the rivers and mountains of Liao, and your woman, you will also give? Just kidding, let's get down to business! Although the Liao Lord is generous, who would dare to ask for this thing indiscriminately?

For a time, the Tubo people asked for Buddhist scriptures, the Tangut people asked for the horse whip of the Liao lord, and the Goryeo people asked for some precious cups, and at the same time asked for some rare and exotic treasures within a moderate range......

The last choice is still Song Envoy, what do you want? Zhang Zongyi and Zeng Gong hadn't yet had an idea, and Lin Zhao had already gotten up and said, "Lord Liao means ...... As long as there are things in Liao, can they be given away? ”

"Not bad!"

"Well, the things that the Great Song Dynasty seeks are quite precious, I hope the Liao Lord will not be stingy......"

"As long as you can say it, I will naturally agree!" Yelu Hongji looked at Lin Zhao with interest, what tricks could this young Song envoy play? Everyone else is in the same mindset!

On the edge of the Liao River, in the huge venue, thousands of pairs of eyes were all focused on Lin Zhao. What kind of gift did the Song envoy want to ask for from the Liao lord?

Zhang Zongyi was afraid that Lin Zhao would go too far and cause trouble by opening his mouth indiscriminately, so he wanted to open his mouth to remind him, but was stopped by Zeng Gong's eyes. Zeng Gong believes that Lin Zhao will definitely be measured......

In front of everyone's eyes, Lin Zhao bent down and picked up a handful of loess from the ground, held it high, and said loudly: "Your Majesty the Great Liao Emperor, the Great Song Dynasty is going to do this......"