In the winter and October of the first year of the Great Song Dynasty, the mission that had caused many controversies finally set out.

Originally, it was set off in September, but because of Zhou Quan's accession, especially the suggestions he made to various forces, the mission set off a little later.

Starting from Beijing, passing through the slip, the lake, and the daimyo, you can arrive at Nanjing in the Liao Kingdom. It was the first time for Zhou Quan to be so far away from the capital division, and he saw that on both sides of the official road built by the earth, there were rows of trees, although the branches and leaves withered in the autumn and winter season, it could also be seen that the local officials around the country were quite attentive. Every line of ten miles, you can see a mile of moats, by the soil to build the foundation, on the stone tablet, record how many miles out of Beijing. And every 20 miles, you can see the horse shop and the horse pavilion on the side of the road for everyone to rest temporarily. Sixty miles away, it is a visible post station, which can be used for supply and rest.

The road was very smooth, seeing that the road was smooth, Zhou Quan couldn't help but feel a little sorry in his heart, such traffic conditions, not vigorously developing business, it is really a pity.

However, in this case, the closer to Liao, the worse it becomes, and by the time you reach Xiongzhou, the official road will no longer be the same.

According to Ambassador Zheng Yunzhong, this is not because local officials are negligent, but to prevent the Liao people from invading the south. In fact, this is not only the case on the border of the Song State, but also on the border of the Liao State in order to prevent the Song people from going north.

"This place is Baigou Station, it is the last post station in Liao, you see, the opposite side is Baigou!"

After Xiongzhou and then to the north, it is the famous Baigou Station, Le Ma Yu Station, looking at the north of Baigou in the distance, you can see the fortress built by the Khitan people, and the confrontation with Xiongzhou in the south.

Di Jiang really deserves to be a geographical ghost, although he is also here for the first time, but through the envoy of the Liao State and the guide of Zheng Yun and others, he inquired about the nearby mountains and rivers clearly.

Zhou Quan followed what he pointed out and looked across the white ditch, and could vaguely see the Liao people's walled city.

"There are a lot of people!" Looking at Baigou Station again, Zhou Quan said in surprise.

This post station, I am afraid that it is the only post station on the Song-Liao border, was originally used for the envoys of the two countries to come and go. But now, relying on this post station, a small town has been formed, and Zhou Quan estimated that at least a few hundred families live here.

There is a short wall outside the town, but it is not very high, and the defense is limited.

"That's nature, there are all kinds of people here, you see, that's the Xi slave of the Khitan people, and the Liao people are followed by him!"

Xiongzhou is one of the fields, so there are few businessmen of all ethnic groups who come and go, and they do not show surprise when they see Zhou Quan and others, only a few children on the street, following the envoy team of more than 200 people to watch the excitement. But as they entered Baigou Station, the children who were watching the excitement also dispersed.

Outside the post station, in a wild shop on the side of the road, several Khitans were looking at this direction.

"Lu Bugu, this is the envoy of the southerners?" A Khitan man with hair asked in a low voice.

"Exactly, it's really funny, do you see the two in the middle, the one on the right is Tong Guan, the captain of the southern country, a castration without eggs. There are no characters in the southern country, so even this kind of goods can be a captain, and they came to our Daliao! ”

"And that kid who doesn't look like he has any hair, when it comes to appearance, even the ladies can't compare to him, such a person, is it really an envoy?"

This group of Khitans whispered, they were Khitan merchants on the surface, and ten of them came to trade in the field as a guarantor, but in fact, almost all of them had dual identities. Liao's meticulous spies are their business.

Among them, there is another person, although he is also dressed as a Khitan, but these Khitans treat him with some contempt. Others talked in Khitan dialect, but he didn't say a word.

"Let's go, we have to clear the river!" When these Khitans were discussing in a whisper, the first one said.

Not long after they crossed the river, they dispersed, and the Khitan-looking man, who was despised by everyone, led the camel and horse alone, and after a long time, he stopped.

There is a small Zhuangzi in front, he did not enter the village directly, but waited at the entrance of the village. After a while, there was a dog barking in the Zhuangzi, and the man raised his head and learned to bark twice.

The barking of dogs in the Zhuangzi stopped, and immediately after, several people rode out.

"Brother Zhao Xian, you came back today, but there is good news?" The people who came out of the Zhuangzi were all dressed like the Great Song Dynasty, dressed as Confucians, and asked with a smile.

"Ma Dalang, the person you are waiting for has arrived." The man surnamed Zhao said.

The man known as Ma Dalang's eyes lit up, and his body almost trembled.

However, he forced himself to calm down and bowed his hands solemnly: "Brother Zhao Xian, I have worked hard for you, and I will thank you in the future!" ”

The man surnamed Zhao didn't say anything, led the camel and left without even entering Zhuangzi.

Ma Dalang's eyes flashed, and several people around him were silent. At this time, sporadic snowflakes fell in the sky, and Ma Dalang was unconscious, and after a long time, he whispered: "The wish of several generations, twenty years of hard work...... It's all for now! ”

He returned to Zhuangzi, and it was not until the next day that he came out of Zhuangzi with a few people, chose the official road of Liaoguo, and slowly traveled north. Because the speed of progress was very slow, at noon, I could hear the neighing of horses from behind me, and when I looked back, I saw a large group of military horses, hugging a team of honor guards, winding up.

At this time, he had already changed into Khitan costumes and stood on the side of the road, as if watching a lively journey. But when they were still far away, they saw someone rushing forward from the army and horses, shouting in Khitan and forcing them to leave.

Nama Dalang drove the horse a little farther away, although the Liao soldiers were dissatisfied, after all, they knew that the Liao State still retained a large number of Hu Feng, and the people were not too afraid of the government, so they could only give up.

Ma Dalang carefully looked at the envoys of the Great Song Dynasty who were "escorted" by the Liao soldiers, and the one who caught his attention the most was naturally the leader of the envoys. He first looked at Zheng Yunzhong, shook his head slightly, and then saw Tong Guan, and his eyes lit up.

After watching Tong Guan, his attention turned to Zhou Quan.

First, because Zhou Quan is young, among the 200 people in the entire mission, Zhou Quan is probably the youngest. The second is because the purple horse that Zhou Quan rode is a divine horse, which is a cut higher than other horses, even if it is Liaoguo, such a horse can be regarded as a good horse.

"It's a good horse, but it's the man on the horse...... Why did the Great Song Dynasty send this son here as an envoy, could it be that a child of a noble family came to earn a meritorious service? ”

Since ancient times, it has been a merit to go to a foreign country and live up to its mission. Ma Dalang's conjecture is somewhat consistent with the facts, Zhao Jiyun Zhou Quan sent an envoy, originally to earn him some credit, so as to reward the official position and lead him as a close minister.

Ma Dalang was looking at him, and suddenly noticed that the young man looked at him with a curious look, and then left the queue.

"Zhou Xiaolang, Zhou Xiaolang!"

Zheng Yunzhong, who was the envoy, suddenly had a headache when he saw this scene, and he shouted twice behind him, but Zhou Quan just waved his hand back.

Ma Dalang was stunned, he saw so many Liao army layers of "guards", he had already given up the idea of getting close to the envoys of the Great Song Dynasty today, but he never thought that the young envoy who was concerned by him would actually drive his horse over.

The Liao soldiers did not expect that there was such an unruly among the Song people. It must be known that the Song people have always regarded themselves as the state of etiquette, and when they went to the Liao State, they could be said to be cautious every step of the way, drinking wine and chanting poems, they had to think twice before acting, how could they leave the team without permission!

Back in Bianjing, those mad dog-like counselors can make up at least three or five charges: losing the country's body, insulting the mission, and secretly marrying the enemy......

The Liao State sergeant came back to his senses and was about to stop Zhou Quan, when Tong Guan spoke at this time: "Xiao Gui, please make it convenient for you." ”

Tong Guan's heart was all unwilling and reluctant, but he had been caught by Zhou Quan, and he had to think about the aftermath for Zhou Quan.

Xiao Gui's envoy is Xiao Zhizhong, he was originally an envoy sent by the Liao State to the Great Song Dynasty, and when the envoy of the Song State came, he was the accompanying envoy. Hearing what Tong Guan said, he smiled and said: "This Zhou Xiaolang is really difficult!" ”

Tong Guan felt the same way when he heard it, and couldn't help but nod his head again and again.

Along the way, for more than 30 days, he has long been fed up with Zhou Quan's whimsical ideas.

Zhou Quan brought a large number of items, which he said, gifts to complete the mission, and then he always mingled with those guides and soldiers, and whenever he passed through a place, he always forced the local officials who came to meet and listen to the dispatch to make the regiment turn.

It can be said that this guy is very annoying and not inferior to a naughty boy.

Zhou Quan ignored the people behind him, he rode to Nama Dalang, and said hello in Khitan language.

This Khitan language was learned by him from the Liao people, but he lacked some foreign language talent, and he learned it all the way, and he could only speak dozens of sentences, and even fewer could barely understand it.

Ma Dalang was already startled when he saw him coming to him, and he was shocked again when he heard him say this Khitan language.

"I'm Han and can speak Chinese." After hesitating, Ma Dalang said.

Zhou Quan smiled when he heard this, in fact, Di Jiang, the ghost of Fang Cai, had reminded him by his side that this person should be a Han person.

"This brother's noble surname, but this person in the vicinity?" He also asked in Chinese.

Ma Dalang shook his head: "I am from Nanjing, and I am just doing things here." ”

The Nanjing in the Liao population is Yanjing, and Zhou Quan just asked casually, and when he heard that he was from Yanjing, he inquired about the situation in Yanjing.

What is delicious and fun, where is it more lively, what books are popular in the market, which kabuki is good at what songs, is there also a commentary...... A whole bunch of questions, and occasionally a few questions about prices. These questions made Ma Dalang dizzy, and he thought that he was wise, but he couldn't help it at this time.

Fortunately, it was impossible for the messenger team to stop and wait for Zhou Quan, so Ma Dalang excused himself to go on an errand, turned to a fork in the road, and said goodbye to Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan is still unsatisfied, he is very convinced of market research, and it is rare to meet such a person as soon as he enters the territory of Liao, so he naturally wants to ask more.

But at this moment, he heard the sound of horses' hooves, and then the sound of scolding and crying came into his ears.

He stood up and looked at the purple horse, and saw a small group of Khitan soldiers in hair and robes, chasing a person.