The hall was brightly lit, and the local officials of the Liao State in Xincheng were setting up a banquet to entertain the envoys of the Song side, and the next afternoon the mission was about to leave Xincheng and go to Youzhou City. Since the total number of Song Fang's envoys was only about a dozen people, even Zhou Ping and Xue Liangyu could have a food table at the next head. Unlike Xue Liangyu, who was attracted by all the wine and food on the case and the dancing girl in the hall, Zhou Ping's attention was on the Liao official who was eating diagonally opposite, and the Liao official's gaze wandered, glancing at Han Xiaoxuan above him from time to time, and for a moment Zhou Ping even saw the official's right leg sticking out from under several cases and stabbing Han Xiaoxuan, which was a difficult action compared to his size. A few minutes later, he saw the Liao official walking down the hall, and a moment later, Han Xiaoxuan also followed. Xue Liangyu looked around, confirmed that no one was paying attention to him, and went down to the hall.

"This official finally got acquainted with Zuo Shiyi, once the situation changed, Zuo Shixiu forgot the name of Ye Lu Yuncheng."

There was a low voice not far away, and the voice was vaguely the Liao official who had just retreated, Zhou Ping hurriedly slowed down, hid behind a bush and looked over, only to see that Ye Lu Yuncheng was reaching out to grab Han Xiaoxuan's right hand, his face was full of flattering smiles, and he was saying something in his mouth. With a smug smile on his face, Han Xiaoxuan gently pulled his right hand out of the other party's hand.

"Brother Yelu, don't worry, if the times change, please seal the warehouse, appease the people, and welcome the king, at that time, the court will have its own reward, and it will be a marquis!"

"Thank you Zuo Shi, Xia Guan has long admired the Celestial Empire, but the ancestral mausoleum is here, and he can't give up, and the feudal marquis doesn't dare to count on it. When Yelu Yuncheng said this, his knees were slightly bent, and he was about to kneel, Han Xiaoxuan hurriedly stretched out his hand to support him, and said with a smile: "Brother Yelu's heart, this official already knows, this matter is not something I can decide alone, and I will know the saint after I go back." He looked around, turned and went back to the hall, and after a short wait, he also returned to the hall.

Zhou Ping waited until the two of them went back, thought about it outside for a while, and then returned to the hall, and after the banquet, he followed behind Naye Luyuncheng and said in a low voice: "Lang Jun, there is a sentence for the villain to pass it on." ”

Naye Lu Yuncheng looked back at Zhou Ping, remembering that this person was one of the Song Fang attachés in the Fang Cai Hall, he didn't dare to slack off, put aside everyone, turned around and asked, "Please speak!" ”

"My master asked me to bring a message: The matter of telling the body is within the scope of Captain Tong, and it must be dredged by 5,000 times before it can be done?"

Yelu Yuncheng was stunned when he heard this, he was originally surnamed Han, but he was a famous surname in Youzhou, and there were people in Liao who were officials in the past dynasties, and he himself had to give the surname Yelu, as a state pastor, and it was also very trusted by the Khitan people. But with the state affairs, the powerful faction of the native Han people in Youzhou like him began to find a way out for himself, after all, his family has a big business, and it is impossible and unnecessary to give the Khitan people a martyr. Just now, what he asked Han Xiaoxuan for was the death of the governor of Benzhou, lest Song Jun turn his face and deny it as soon as he arrived, it would be miserable. He had also heard of Tong Guan's reputation, and knew that this person was in a high position in the Song Kingdom, corrupt and bribed to gain power, and these five thousand guan were not much compared to what he had to do, but Han Xiaoxuan just said that he did not have this authority, and he would talk about it after returning to Tokyo, and now he sent a subordinate to ask for bribes, and his behavior was a bit strange.

Zhou Ping saw that the other party was already suspicious, and said with a smile: "The villain just brought a word for the master, and since the words have been brought, he will leave first!" With that, he turned and left.

"Wait!" Yelu Yuncheng stopped Zhou Ping, he secretly thought in his heart that he couldn't go back to Han Xiaoxuan to confirm this kind of thing now, after all, he was a local minister of Liao, and it was his proper intention to entertain the envoys of the Song State at the farewell banquet, but it would be extraordinary to run back to see the envoys of the Song State in full view, and the Khitan colleagues in Xincheng would definitely write a secret letter to Youzhou Mansion, and he only told Han Xiaoxuan about the matter of telling himself, and this person knew that it must have been Han Xiaoxuan who told him. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Five thousand guan is not a small amount, how do you want to pay it?" ”

"Follow Langjun's heart!"

"If the copper coin is too heavy, it can be exchanged for gold, but I can't raise 5,000 pieces of gold at once." Yelu Yuncheng took out a jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Zhou Pingdao: "Tomorrow morning, you will use this jade pendant to go to the grocery store on the east side of the street, and take 5,000 pieces of gold with this, and I will tell you there." ”

"The villain treats the master and worships Xie Langjun!" Zhou Ping carefully put the jade Ruyi into his arms and bowed to Yelu Yunchang.

"No need, you go back and tell Han Zuoshi, please leave this matter to him, if it can be done, I still have a lot of thanks!" After lowering his voice and saying these few words, Yelu Yuncheng looked around and saw that there was no one, then turned around and walked away quickly, as if something was chasing him in the night.

"Five thousand!" Looking at the back of Yelu Yuncheng's departure, Zhou Ping's face showed a sarcastic smile, if everything goes well, he will have five thousand yuan in his pocket at this time tomorrow, this is the wealth that he cannot accumulate in his life in Xuejiazhuang, whether it is to flee to the south or make other plans, he has the first start-up capital, and everything is so easy.

"Sure enough, people have no windfall and no wealth, and horses have no night grass and no fat!" Zhou Ping muttered to himself. At this time, Xue Liangyu's voice came from behind him: "Ah Ping, tonight's wine and food are really good, this time the Liao Kingdom is not in vain, why don't you eat more?" ”

Zhou Ping didn't answer, walked straight to his residence, and said, "Shiro, call Li Bao tomorrow morning and go out with me!" ”

The next morning, after carefully inspecting the jade pendant handed over by Zhou Ping, the shopkeeper carefully moved a wooden box to the counter, and Zhou Ping opened it to see that there was a gold ingot neatly placed inside. Zhou Ping picked one up and put it in the sun to look at it, and under the sunlight, the gold cake reflected an intoxicating light.

"A total of 70 pieces, five taels each, please count them!" The shopkeeper must know the identity of the other party and is very respectful to Zhou Ping.

"No need, presumably the prince of the mansion will not deceive my master!" Zhou Ping threw the gold cake into the wooden box, closed the lid of the box again, and hugged it, but the heavy feeling of falling made him feel a burst of excitement. According to the exchange ratio at that time, gold and silver were about one to ten, and silver and copper coins were about one tael of silver to 1,200 to 1,400 copper coins, which has always been 770 yuan.

Zhou Ping walked out of the store and saw Li Bao and Xue Liangyu standing by the door waiting, and said casually: "Li Bao, you come to help me hold the box!" ”

Li Bao took the wooden box, and his figure immediately fell down, obviously not thinking of the weight of the wooden box, but he didn't ask. Xue Liangyu on the side asked impatiently: "Ah Ping, come to this shop early in the morning to do something, you have to leave at noon, and you will be nagged by the steward when you go back." ”

"Shiro, don't say a word, you'll know later!"

The three of them returned to the building and hurriedly packed their bags. Zhou Ping put the box containing the gold in the last carriage that carried the salute and hid it carefully. At noon, the mission had lunch, and then left the new city and went north. Along the way, the guards of the Liao people were much more relaxed, and Zhou Ping looked outside, only to see that the fields on both sides of the road were mostly overgrown with thorns, obviously they had not been cultivated for several years, and the villages were not inhabited. Even if I occasionally meet a few peasants who pass by, they are also described as haggard and ragged, but in the steep places they pass through, you can often see the very strong fortresses built, and it seems that they are not the fortresses of the Liao army. Zhou Pingzheng was puzzled, and suddenly an old voice came to his ears: "Those are the local strong barriers!" ”

"Barriers?" Zhou Ping turned his head and saw that the attaché in his fifties had his eyes slightly closed, and his body was shaking with the ups and downs of the vehicle, as if he was napping, and he didn't know if he said that sentence just now.

"Yes, some of these barriers are hundreds of years old, and Youyan is adjacent to the outside of the Saiwai, and it has been a place where Hu Qi has been crisscrossing since ancient times. In the years of peace, the people plowed the fields. If there is an invasion of a strong enemy, the strong will set up a barrier in a dangerous place to defend themselves and wait for the true destiny of the Son of Heaven, and the weak will depend on the strong to survive on their own. This was the case at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the late Sui Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and today it is time again! Speaking of this, Wen Cheng sighed, and there was a lot of compassion in his tone.

"In this way, the Liao people are going to die? Isn't that a good time for me to go north and recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun? Xue Liangyu on the side was overjoyed when he heard this, and he looked like he was rubbing his palms and fists.

That Wen Cheng sneered and said, "Little nonsense, where do you understand the principle of rise and fall." ”

"You-" Xue Liangyu was furious when he heard this, and was about to open his mouth to refute, but was stopped by Zhou Ping with his hand, and said with a smile: "I was just an ordinary farmer before I waited, and I didn't have much knowledge, so I asked Gong Wen to give me direct advice." ”

That Wen Cheng opened his eyes, looked at Xue and Zhou for a while, and sneered: "You don't have to coax me, look at the two of you two hands, let alone a good hand that can open a strong bow with one stone, and it is also a rare warrior in the Western Army, farmer?" If my Great Song Farmers had such skills as you, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun would have been taken back a long time ago, so how could they wait until today! ”

"You old man has good eyesight!" Xue Liangyu heard the other party praise his archery skills, and was very proud: "I don't boast, give me a horse, two bags of arrows, and I will shoot the bow left and right, even if I am twenty or thirty foot soldiers, I can't help it. "There have been a lot of business trips in the past two days, and the updates are also messy, forgive me!

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