Ma Zheng didn't speak, he glanced back at his son, and then asked Zhishan, "Do you know why I'm in Dengzhou this time?" ”

Zhishan shook his head. Ma Zheng's face showed a smug smile: "In the next time, I will be edicted by the saint to go to Liaodong to meet the female leader, discuss the old good, and ask for the sale of horses according to the old rules since the beginning of the country." If the Zen master doesn't like it, he can walk with us! ”

Zhishan was stunned when he heard this, and then he was overjoyed, and hurriedly replied: "If this is very good, I don't know what to pay attention to?" ”

"A certain family is the head of the mission, just don't say much!" Speaking of this, Ma Zheng squeezed his eyes meaningfully.

"This poor monk is naturally saved!" Zhishan laughed, but for some reason, there was a hidden worry in his heart.

Since it was decided, Ma Zheng called Xiao'er to eat, and the three of them filled their stomachs like a storm and returned to the dock. The next morning, the group went out to sea and sailed in the direction of Liaodong. Not to mention all kinds of hardships along the way, on the ninth day of the leap September of that year, the group finally arrived at the coast of Liaodong. As soon as Ma Zheng landed ashore, he was discovered by the patrolling Jurchen soldiers. The Jurchen soldiers took away their belongings and tried to kill them, but under the repeated appeals of the interpreter Gao Yaoshi, the Jurchen soldiers escorted the group for seven or eight days and arrived at the residence of the gold lord Wanyan Aguta.

At this time, Wanyan Aguta had already called the emperor system, and in accordance with the old customs of the Jurchens, he set up the Bo Ji Lie system under himself, and set up seven people to form the highest power center under the emperor, namely Wu Qimai, the brother of Agu Da (that is, the later Jin Taizong), Sagai (the cousin of Agu Ta, the former prime minister), Ci Bu (Ah Gu Da's cousin), Xian Ye (Ah Gu Ta's brother), A Lihe Yi (Ah Gu Da's uncle), Mu Han (the son of Sagai), Hu Lu (Ah Gu Ta's cousin), at that time, the Jurchen had not been established for a long time, There are still quite a few open-boiled customs from the primitive tribal period. During the tribal period, when faced with difficult and important matters, the tribal elders would sit on the ground and write on the dust of the ground with their fingers, and this system was similar. Although Wanyan Aguta is the emperor, when he encounters a major event, he must also consult with these Bo Ji Lie, who have great prestige among the various ministries, in an almost equal attitude. Later, with the continuous expansion of the scale of the Jurchen attack on Liao, in order to effectively command the war, the Jin State had to use these prestigious Bo Jilie to serve as the commanders, respectively, to command the armies thousands of miles apart, and in this way, a situation was gradually formed. After the death of Aguta, the successor Jin Taizong Wu Qimai did not have the great prestige of his brother, and the old tribal cooking customs of the Jurchens still existed, and this situation became more and more serious, in a sense, after the destruction of Liao, the Jurchen Song Dynasty had the meaning of letting the Northern Song Dynasty eliminate these military nobles with high merit and unrewarded merit, but I didn't expect the Northern Song Dynasty to be so vulnerable, so that later I had to solve the problem of these military nobles by more drastic means, of course, these are later words.

Although Wanyan Aguta had defeated the Liao army many times at that time, compared to the Great Liao Empire, which had more land and population than the Jurchens, the strength of the Jurchens was much weaker, and he was naturally very happy to learn that the Song people had taken the initiative to form an alliance. But before that, Song and Jin had never had diplomatic contact, and they did not know each other, so they had to leave room for it. More importantly, the Song people sent only two officials of low rank who did not carry the national credentials. For this, Ah Guta did not understand, and it was difficult for him to understand the complex political struggle in the court of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time, and even the supreme emperor did not dare to openly send envoys to form an alliance with the Jin people before the main battle side won a complete victory. The reason why Ma Zheng and his entourage did not have a national credential and made a secret visit was not so much to guard against the Liao, but to guard against the mouths of those ministers in the court. So he did not personally receive the envoys, but sent the minister Sticky Han, who was known for his wisdom, to receive him, and tried to get the Song Dynasty to send the envoys.

On the banks of the Lailiu River, the residence of Ginting.

At that time, the Jin people had just been founded, and they were princes and ministers, and the houses they lived in were only houses made of civil engineering, but they were slightly stronger and taller, and even painting was extremely rare. After Ma Zheng and his entourage arrived, they were placed in a house in the leeward part of the mountain col, guarded by soldiers outside, and were not allowed to enter or leave unless they were allowed to do so, and in fact they were already under house arrest. However, every two or three days, the minister of the Jin people came to inquire, but there was no shortage of food, clothing, and charcoal.

"Zen Master, counting from the day I went ashore, today is already the twenty-second day, right?" Ma Zheng stroked his beard under his chin and asked in a low voice.

"Yes, it's been fourteen days here!"

"These days, it's just that sticky Han who came to ask and chat, don't say that there is a reply, I haven't even seen the face of the gold lord A Guda, what do you think the Jin people are planning?"

"Presumably because we haven't explored the details yet, we will talk about it in detail in a few days!" Zhishan replied in a tone of less than certainty.

"Hmm!" Ma Zheng nodded, but judging from his worried face, he was not sure about it.

After a while, Ma Zheng looked left and right, lowered his voice and asked, "Zen master, what do you think of this Jurchen?" ”

Zhishan was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he understood the meaning of Ma Zheng's words, and replied with a deep sigh: "It's a mixed blessing!" ”

"What is joy? What is worry? ”

"The Jurchens you and I saw along the way, whether they were princes and nobles or subordinates, were all accustomed to hard work and were good at riding and shooting. Even a woman is a child, and she can ride a horse and bend a bow, and these are just that. Speaking of this, Zhishan stood up, walked to the door, pointed to the distance, and asked, "Brother Ma, do you know who lives over there?" ”

Ma Zheng looked in the direction of Zhishan's finger, and saw that it was a set of four or five houses in the morning sun on the hillside, and the appearance was no different from other houses, but there was a few acres of flat land in front of the house, and there were more flags. He shook his head and asked, "I don't know, who lives here?" ”

Zhishan sighed and said, "I learned from the Liao slave who brought us food in the past few days that that this is the residence of Wanyan Aguta!" ”

"Huh?" Ma Zheng couldn't help but be taken aback and asked, "Really?" How could he, the king of a country, live in such a house? ”

"Hmm!" Zhishan nodded, pointed to the tallest flag in front of the courtyard square and said: "That is the big banner of Wanyan Aguda, if he leads the troops to the battle, that big flag will also go with him, and the plan can't be wrong." ”

Ma Zheng opened his eyes wide and looked at the big flag carefully, although he couldn't understand the exotic characters on it, but looking at the patterns and patterns, the shape and size of the flag, which were obviously higher than other flags, he knew that what Zhishan said was true, so he couldn't help but sigh and returned to the house and sat down.

"Brother Ma, Xirong Beidi was born outside the Saiwai, living in pursuit of water and grass, accustomed to hard work, and skilled in riding and shooting, which is also a common thing. But like the Jurchens, who are even, simple and sincere, you and I have been dealing with the Qingtang tribes on the Five Roads of Shaanxi for decades, have you ever seen it? ”

Ma Zheng thought about it, and finally shook his head reluctantly. It is true that the Qingtang Qiang people have entered the class society for a long time at that time, and the gap between the chiefs and the ordinary people in the tribe is huge, and some are even more disparity than within the Western Army.

"If the top and bottom are even, there will be less resentment, and if you are simple and honest, you can fight. It is no accident that the Jurchens are small clans, more than 100,000 Dingkou, and they can defeat a big country in a row in a few years, and they will shock the Northeast! Speaking of this, Zhishan turned around and said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, if they are friends, it is gratifying; If it is an enemy, it is terrible. When making a contract with the Jurchens, you must be secretly vigilant, keep your promises openly, and do not give authority to others. After the destruction of Liao, when you lose to play with beautiful jade treasures, confuse their minds, soften their muscles and bones, and clutch their upper and lower levels, I can get peace in Huaxia! ”

Ma Zheng listened to Zhishan's words and nodded: "What the Zen master said is very true, but you and I are humble and light, but I am afraid that the superior may not be in the ear!" ”

Zhishan was about to answer, when a loud announcement suddenly came from outside. The two knew that it was Na Muhan who was coming, and hurriedly got up to greet each other. I saw that Na Muhan was different from the past, his face was full of smiles, and he entered the house with two attachés in a hurry, and asked: "You are still used to living here these days, and there has been a lack of food and burning."

Ma Zheng and Zhishan glanced at each other, bowed and said: "Thank you for the love of Shifting Lai Bo Jilie (Sticky Han's title), everything has never been lacking, I have waited very well, I don't know when I can meet the monarch of your country?" ”

"My lord is not here at this time!" Sticky Han smiled: "Besides, you haven't brought the national letter, what's the use of seeing my lord?" ”

"The Great Song Dynasty heard that your country had broken through more than 50 Khitan cities, and he wanted to rebuild with your country and buy war horses. Now the Khitan is angry and resentful, and this dynasty wants to hang down, and to save the suffering of life-saving souls, and is willing to work with your country to map Liao. Although this envoy did not bring a letter of state, the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty told us to come to your country first to discuss, if promised, there will be an envoy with a letter of state! ”

Sticky Han listened to Ma Zheng's words, a sly smile flashed on his face, and asked: "These are just what you said, as the saying goes, the sound passing through the woods is like water flowing in a river, leaving no trace, how can I believe that what you say is true?" ”

"The waves on the sea are dangerous, and we don't know the sincerity of your country, what a big deal is the alliance between the two countries, and we will carry the national letter when we come for the first time, if it falls into the hands of the Liao, wouldn't it be a bad thing?"

"You can rest assured of this, my Dajin has a bitter hatred with the Khitan people, if you don't destroy Liao, you will not give up!" Mu Han replied in a resolute tone, there is still a layer of unspoken meaning in Ma Zheng's words, if they bring the national letter of the alliance to attack Liao for the first time, the Jurchen side can use this as a bargaining chip for peace talks with the Liao side, and coerce the Liao side to make greater concessions, and then Song will fall into the dilemma of facing the Liao side's anger against the alliance betrayer alone. Therefore, the Song side could only reach an alliance with Liao on the premise of confirming that Jin would never negotiate peace with Liao.

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