Zhao Liangsi, the chief envoy of the Great Song Dynasty Mission, observed the female knights leading the way in front of him with a wary gaze, these warriors who were almost wrapped in steel and leather were skillfully riding on horseback, they almost didn't need to use the reins, and they could convey their meaning to the war horse with their upper body and legs, as if they were connected with the mount under the crotch. In the knapsacks on either side of the horse are a variety of weapons: bows and arrows, swords, bones, spears. Zhao Liangji was so close to them that he could clearly see the heavy weight of these weapons and the layers of blackened blood on them. It didn't take much imagination for Zhao Liangsi to know where the blood stains on these weapons came from. At this time, he couldn't help but secretly congratulate himself on the correct decision he made many years ago, otherwise he would have to stand on the side of these terrible warriors at this time.

"Zhao Longtu!" Wang Huan, the deputy envoy of the embassy on the side, said in a low voice: "Why does Aguta refuse to see us, but let us come to Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing?" ”

"I don't know!" Zhao Liangsi shook his head, since he landed with the mission in Suzhou, Liaodong (Jinxian County, Liaoning) a month ago, he came all the way to the northwest day and night under the escort of the Jin people, and joined Wanyan Aguta more than ten days ago, but Wanyan Aguta kept saying that the war was urgent and did not meet with the Great Song Mission. From this series of circumstances, Zhao Liangsi has already guessed a few points of the Jin people's intentions, it should be that in order to seize the first hand in the negotiations of the Song people, Wanyan Aguta deliberately included Liao Shangjing in his pocket and then met with the Song envoys, and at the same time, he could also use the prestige of the Jin army to deter the Song envoys and gain benefits from them.

At this time, a gust of wind blew, bringing a violent stench from the female straight knights, Wang Huan instinctively raised his sleeves to cover his nose, and whispered: "It stinks, how many days have these 'Suolu' (a contemptuous name for the Jinren) not bathed!" ”

Zhao Liangsi hurriedly whispered: "Brother Wang, be careful, don't let the Jin people hear and cause trouble!" ”

"I'm afraid, I'm just a barbarian, do you still understand the language of my Great Song Dynasty!" Ignoring Zhao Liangsi's dissuasion, Wang Huan raised his scented robe to cover his nose. Looking at the performance of his companions, Zhao Liangsi couldn't help but sigh lightly, and a sense of sadness arose in his heart. As a fugitive minister of the Liao State who directly led to the "Jingkang Disaster", Zhao Liangsi's reputation in the history books of later generations can be said to be notorious, and he was beaten into the ranks of the second ministers in the "History of the Song Dynasty" compiled by the fallen scholars of the Song State after the fall of the Song Dynasty. However, if we carefully analyze the historical data, it should be said that Zhao Liangsi defected from the Liao State to the Song State and established the Song-Jin Maritime Alliance, and the starting point of the establishment of the Song-Jin Maritime Alliance may not be speculative from personal interests, but in the whole process of signing the Song-Jin Covenant and recapturing Youyan, Zhao Liangsi tried his best to fight for the interests of the Great Song Dynasty. Moreover, Zhao Liangsi himself has a clear understanding of both the interior of Yandi and the high-level of the Jin Army, and the various strategies proposed are quite realistic and feasible. Compared with Zhao Lianghei's later life, the fugitive minister of the Liao State who was beaten into the ranks of the second ministers, the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time went to the ruling ministers of the two prefectures, pacifying envoys, and even many scholars and doctors who were praised as loyal ministers and famous ministers in later generations, and their performance on the big stage of the Jingluo Youyan and Song-Jin War was much more clumsy, in a sense, the catastrophe of "Jingkang's shame" was completely created by these people themselves.

According to the custom of the female direct tribes, the tent of their commander, the first emperor of the Dajin Kingdom, Wanyan Aguta, was erected on a high ground in the military camp, so that he could clearly see the movements of his army and resist the surprise attack of the remnants of the Liao defenders in Shangjing. Of course, the possibility of such a surprise attack is not great, because the main force of the Liao army has been wiped out in a series of fierce battles with the Jin army in the Hunhe River Valley, and only a small number of remnants of the tribal army and Wujing township soldiers are left in Shangjing City, and the only role that these Wujing township soldiers can play is to look at the female army outside the city in horror on the city wall.

Under the escort of the female straight knights, Zhao Liangsi and Wang Huan came to the tent of Wanyan Aguta, and in the open space in front of the tent, they saw hundreds of knights standing on both sides, as if they were welcoming in the middle of the road. Wang Huan asked in a low voice: "Zhao Longtu, these barbarians also know a few points of etiquette, and they know that the angels of the kingdom must not be neglected!" ”

Compared with Wang Huan, Zhao Liangsi knew much more about the customs of the Jin people, he looked at the female knights in the two compartments, and said in a low voice: "Deputy Envoy Wang, I'm afraid these people are not here to greet you and me, but a little like showing off their martial arts to you and me!" ”

"Showing off martial arts?" Wang Huan's face immediately turned pale, and he even stammered when he spoke: "That Wanyan Agu is so rude, and he is so kind to his allies—"

"Deputy Envoy Wang, do you know that this grassland is different from the Central Plains, the strong eat fat, and the old eat the rest. Noble and strong, cheap and old. The strong are at the top, the weak are above the bottom, and there is no etiquette and righteousness. Even if the two clans form an alliance, they often spread their bows and arrows, wear armor and hold troops, and show off, otherwise there is a huge disparity in strength between the two sides, how to form an alliance? ”

"Sure enough, it's a group of barbarians who don't know etiquette!" Wang Huan whispered hatefully, "You actually want to form an alliance with such Yidi-" He had just said this, when suddenly the two guards at the door of the tent suddenly raised the horns in their hands and blew violently, and the loud sound of the horn interrupted Wang Huan's complaint. Before Wang Huan and Zhao Liangsi could react to what was going on, they heard a guard shouting in Khitan language: "The envoys of the Song State have come to see the Emperor of the Dajin Kingdom!" ”

Zhao Liangsi hurriedly bowed to the tent, and Wang Huan was slightly stunned before hurriedly following. The two of them entered the tent, only to see the first person sitting, burly, majestic, presumably the Emperor of the Jin Kingdom, there were more than ten people sitting on both sides, it should be a female nobleman. Seeing Zhao Liangsi and Wang Huan coming in, Ah Guda laughed loudly: "Please get up, please get up!" It is really rare to see the envoys of the Southern Dynasty today. ”

Zhao Liangsi bowed, bowed and said: "Foreign minister Zhao Liangsi pays a visit to the emperor, my lord has a letter from the imperial pen, and the alliance's attack on Liao is all on it!" Then he took the letter out of his bosom and handed it over.

"Wait!" Wanyan Aguda waved his hand: "The matter of the alliance between the two countries, how important is it, how can it be in this tent, when a certain family takes this upper capital, wouldn't it be better to make an alliance in the palace of the old Khitan thief?" ”

Zhao Liangsi was stunned when he heard this, and he was more sure of Fang Cai's speculation in his heart, but he was on other people's territory at this time, and what Wanyan Aguda said also had his truth, so he had to laugh and say: "The emperor orders, and the foreign ministers can only obey!" ”

"Huh!" Wan Yan Agu laughed and said, "I also heard that you southerners are extremely prosperous in the city of Tokyo, and they are almost heavenly. My army is very bitter cold, and there is no pastime, these days came the news, Liaodong drought, the army shot willows and prayed for rain, just invite the two envoys to watch, just to pass the time! When he said this, Zhao and Wang said loudly: "Blow the trumpet and beat the drum, ready to start!" ”

The guards answered, and soon there were trumpets and drums outside, Wanyan Aguda stood up and walked outside surrounded by a group of female nobles, Zhao and Wang had no choice but to follow out, and sat down on the Hu bed that had been set up long ago. In fact, the custom of shooting willows was in the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties at that time, and its origin was varied, some said that it was the inheritance of ancient archery, and some said that it was a part of the sacrificial ritual of the ancient Xianbei people; Others say that it is a type of black witchcraft in shamanism; The general form is similar, all of them are inserted in the field of willow branches, and then the shooter gallops through on horseback, shooting at the target of the willow branches, the middle is the top, and the middle is the bottom, and the details are slightly different. Zhao and Wang are from the Liao family, and the other is a eunuch of the Song State, so they are naturally no strangers to the activity of shooting willows. They also knew that it was not easy to shoot a wicker stuck in the ground on the back of a galloping horse, which had extremely strict requirements for the knight's equestrian and archery skills, and in ancient society, having a large number of warriors who were good at riding and archery meant strong military power, and Akuta was not to pray for rain in front of them, but to show off his strength.

Soon the sound of drums and trumpets ended, and the female knights who had just been preparing to shoot willows in the open space outside lined up, waiting for the order to set off, judging from their horses and costumes, the order of their line-up should have been determined by the dignity of their status. More than a dozen servants inserted the prepared wicker into the mound, and Zhao Liangsi noticed that the outer skin was peeled off in the middle of the wicker, revealing white branches, which was exactly the chest or head of an infantryman.

A guard walked up to Wanyan Aguda and whispered a few words, Zhao Liangsi saw the other party nodding, and the guard waved his hand to the drummer. As the drum sounded, the first knight kicked the horse's belly twice, and the horse galloped out, he opened his bow, aimed at the wicker on the first mound and let go of the bowstring, the shovel-shaped arrow cut the wicker in two, and then the knight leaned down and stretched out his arm to catch the broken wicker, but unfortunately he did not catch it, and there was a sigh of regret from the crowd of onlookers.

"Zhao Longtu, you have to not only shoot but also catch it to win, right?" Wang Huan asked in a low voice.

"Hmm!" Zhao Liangsi nodded: "The Jin people are wearing heavy armor, and they use a lot of heavy arrows, it seems that these are elite soldiers who are charging into battle!" ”

Wang Huan nodded a little blankly, and Zhao Liangsi saw that Wang Huan didn't see the key point, so he explained in a low voice. It turned out that the army at that time prepared different bows and arrows in order to meet different combat needs. For example, in order to deal with the enemy army in armor, conical arrows are generally used to provide penetration; When dealing with unarmored targets, you can use broad-bladed arrows to shoot at close range; Light arrows can reach far, while heavy arrows can shoot at armored targets at close range, etc. Generally speaking, the bow and arrow of the cavalry must not have the same range and power as the infantry bow, so if the cavalry and infantry simply shoot each other, it will definitely not be able to draw it.