Zhou and Wen came up to the hall together, only to see Han Xiaoxuan sitting on the first seat, looking restless, and stood up when he saw the two of them: "Sit down, you two, there's something big!" ”

"Minister, please speak!"

"We just got news from the outside world that the Jin army has surrounded Liaoshangjing, and the situation is in danger!"

Zhou Ping was stunned when he heard this, and secretly thought that this is not a good thing? The more urgent the situation of the Liao people, wouldn't it be more beneficial to the Great Song Dynasty, and the more they, the envoys of the Song Dynasty, could ask for a price out of thin air and make great contributions? As soon as I thought of this, I heard Han Xiaoxuan say in a low voice: "I learned from a Han official of the Liao State that the negotiations between Liao and Jin have entered the final stage, and the two sides are still entangled in some issues of ceding land, titles, and hostages, but the ancestral tombs of the Liao people are all in Shangjing, if they are surrounded by the Jin people, it is better to take what they want?" If the Liaojin peace agreement is reached, then our trip will be in vain! ”

"Be fair and don't be anxious!" Wen Cheng persuaded: "Whether the Liaojin peace conference can be completed or not is not something we can interfere with, now all we can do is to learn as much as possible about the situation here, and then go back and make sure to the ministers of the two provinces and the saint to prepare for the future." However, as you can see, the situation is not so simple. ”

"Gong Wen, please speak."

Wen Cheng arched his hand, and then carefully recounted what happened on the top of the tower, and finally he said in a low voice: "The Liao people are different from my Great Song Dynasty, the ministers of the clan are either involved in confidential affairs, or they are in charge of heavy troops to guard famous cities and hold great power. If there is a British lord in power, it is fine, but if you meet the lord of the middle, there will be a disaster of Xiao Wall. The Jin people negotiated peace with the Liao people, not because they really wanted to live in peace with the Liao, but because their own strength was insufficient, they could not afford to swallow it in one bite, and they delayed time to wait for another battle; Not to mention whether this peace agreement can really be achieved, even if the peace agreement is completed, and there is civil strife among the Liao people, will the Jin people abide by the peace agreement and not send troops? I thought that as long as I was diligent in cultivating internal affairs and training and accumulating food, there would inevitably be a chance to appear, and the prime minister should have more exchanges and banquets with the Liao ministers here in Youzhou, and it would be useful when it was critical. ”

"What Gong Wen said is very true!" Hearing this, Han Xiaoxuan still didn't understand what Wen Cheng meant, it is true that the political organization structure of the Liao State was different from that of the traditional Han court of the Song State, and in order to adapt to the territory of the two situations outside the Senese under his control, it was generally composed of southern and northern officials. The south mainly governs the sixteen states of Yanyun, imitating the Tang system, and setting up officials of three provinces and six departments, Taiwan, courtyards, temples, prisons, guards, and East Palaces, mainly composed of Han officials, officials in prefectures and counties, rents, and military horses; The northern officials have the Khitan Privy Council and the General Administration of the Imperial Palace, which are mainly held by the Khitans, mainly managing the affairs of the palace tents, tribes, and subject countries, and their political centers are not in the five capitals, but in the palace tents that roam with the Liao Emperor at four times. This dual management system is better adapted to the nomadic tradition of the Khitan people and the great difference between the nomadic and agricultural nature of the economy of the Liao State in the vast territory, which is reasonable, but it also inevitably produces contradictions between the officials in the south and the north. More importantly, because the core ethnic groups of the Liao State are the Khitan and Xi people, compared to the other ethnic groups under their control, these two ethnic groups are a minority, in order to ensure the advantages of their own people, the central power and military power of the Liao State are in the hands of the upper nobles of the Khitan and Xi people, so the royal kings of the Liao State dominated by the Xiao and Yelu surnames generally have huge military and political power, which is similar to the Tang and Song dynasties in order to ensure the stability of the regime, The situation of depriving all members of the royal family of political and military powers, with the exception of the crown prince, and granting substantial economic privileges as compensation, was quite different. Although this situation strengthened the control of the Khitan and Xi upper echelons over the empire, it also intensified the fierceness and cruelty of the internal struggle of the upper echelons, and the situation of its internal struggle was no longer the internal struggle of the court of the Han Empire in the Central Plains, but simply the internal attack and killing of the kings under their respective commands.

So in the next few days, Han Xiaoxuan seemed to have completely forgotten his own work, and spent the whole day talking with the visiting ministers of Youzhou in Liao, chanting Buddha, chanting the wind and singing the moon, and brazenly showing off his demeanor as a doctor of the Southern Dynasty. It should be said that he is still very good at this, not a few days of effort, in the upper social circle of Youzhou has a very high evaluation of it, in fact, the Liao State has been nearly two hundred years, even the real Khitan people have settled in Youzhou for five or six generations, and it has long been very serious in sinicization, even the northern officials generally have a very high cultural cultivation, and the Northern Song Dynasty, whose cultural prosperity is far greater than that of the Liao State, generally has a yearning and admiration. If Han Xiaoxuan talked about the matter of reparations and land cession, those Liao officials were still a little wary, but when it came to talking about poetry and Buddha, it was not rushing. For a time, the Song mission of the Jingyan Temple became the most fashionable place in the upper class society of Youzhou, and it can be said that it is like a city.

"Three hundred and five steps, three hundred and six steps, three hundred and seven steps." Xue Liangyu whispered the number in his mouth, and walked forward along the root of the city wall, when suddenly he stopped, lowered his voice and said to Zhou Ping behind him: "Three hundred and seven steps west of the east gate is the Hidden Soldier Cave!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhou Ping responded, carefully drew a cross representing the Tibetan Soldier Cave on a sketch map, and wrote down the Arabic numeral 307. But who knew that these were two spies who were gathering intelligence? It turned out that in the past few days, when Han Xiaoxuan was showing his strength in the upper-class social circles of Youzhou, Zhou Cheng and the others were not idle, and they wandered around Youzhou City all day long, as if they wanted to see the demeanor of the first city in the north. But in fact, it is not so simple, Zhou Ping also received a total of sixteen years of education from primary school to university in his previous life, although many things may not be useful in his previous life, but in the late Northern Song Dynasty, the enemy capital can be of great use. These days, he pretended to be wandering, but he used charcoal to shorthand the situation of the city fortifications on the white paper, returned to his residence and then sorted out the white paper, and when he returned to the Great Song Dynasty, he redrew it on a large map that was the city defense map of Youzhou, although due to the constraints of the conditions, he had no way to draw contour lines and record the data unique to modern military maps such as elevations, but even compared to the maps treasured by the Privy Council.

"Brother Zhou, it's almost over the east gate, let's go north, right?" Xue Liangyu's interest is very high, as a teenager who grew up in a martial family since he was a child, he knows very well the importance of the work he and Zhou Ping are doing, these maps mean the blood and lives of thousands of people in the war, and even determine the outcome of a battle, he never imagined that he could use such an ingenious method to record the entire city defense situation in Youzhou on this piece of thin paper, if he called Zhou Ping "Brother Zhou" a few days ago is still a little impulsive, then now it is completely convinced, He believed that following this companion, who was about ten years older than himself, would have a very bright future.

"No need!" Zhou Ping looked at the sky: "It's not early, besides, our identity is sensitive after all, and we are always dangling around the city wall all day long. Let's go back to Joji Temple for dinner, the vegetarian food there is still very good! ”

"Hmm!" Xue Liangyu nodded and said with a smile: "But if it's about fasting and eating, where is Xianglan (that is, the common name of Daxiangguo Temple) here." ”

"You know how to eat!" Zhou Ping smiled: "Okay, let's go back to Tokyo this time, let's go to Xianglan Haosheng together!" ”

The two returned to their accommodation, only to find that something was wrong. Not to mention the strict security at the door, the dozens of attendants waiting in the courtyard were also gorgeously dressed. Zhou Ping couldn't help but secretly call himself surprised, there are a lot of high-ranking officials and nobles of the Liao State who come here these days, but even the Guangling military festival envoy of the current dynasty, and the left Qigong of the Pingzhang Shi under the Tongzhong Book Sect is also a light car and a simple follower, and he came with a light coat, and he did not bring any honor guards. After all, both sides tacitly tried to dilute the official status of the participants in order to establish a personal intimacy for future use. This group of people suddenly appeared, which was quite an eyesore.

At this time, Zhou Ping happened to see Wen Cheng coming out of it, and stepped forward to point to those entourages and asked, "Gong Wen, who is here, and it is like this?" ”

Wen Cheng looked at no one on the left and right, and whispered in his ear: "It's the person in the tower that day." ”

"Xiao Puxian?" This startled Zhou Ping: "What is she doing?" Didn't it happen that day? ”

"Don't panic!" Wen Cheng saw Zhou Ping like this, and said with a smile: "There is also her husband Ye Luchun, the king of Qin and Jin, I heard that this person is generous and studious, especially likes Buddhist scriptures, Han Xianggong is quite accomplished in Buddhism, and it is common for them and their husbands and wives to come." Speaking of this, Wen Cheng saw Zhou Ping's frightened expression, which was very different from the calm and calm appearance on weekdays, so he rarely laughed: "I have heard for a long time that Xiao Puxian has the appearance of a celestial man, and he is known as the first among the nobles of the Liao Kingdom. ”

"Gong Wen laughed, but I heard that this Yeluchun has always been known as a virtuous king, and he is quite popular with Yan people, so I want to see the real face today!" Zhou Ping was talking, but his legs and feet walked towards the house. The gatekeeper had already recognized him, and knew that he was the confidant of the envoy of the Song State, so he lifted the curtain and let him enter the door six or seven steps away. Zhou Ping arched his hand to him and entered the door, and suddenly felt a hot air rushing to his face, and a layer of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead, and he didn't know how many earth dragons were installed under this floor, and it was like the late spring in the south of the Yangtze River in this northern Xiongcheng. Zhou Ping saw that more than ten people in the room were all sitting upright and concentrating, listening to the lecture of the first person, it was Han Xiaoxuan.

"The six ancestors of Zen Buddhism have a cloud: 'Awareness is inherent, and afflictions are inherently absent.' The direct manifestation of enlightenment is epiphany. If you force yourself to be liberated, you will fall behind! Han Xiaoxuan sat cross-legged on the futon, dressed in a kudzu robe, wearing a Dongpo scarf, holding a whisk, white face and black beard, and his mouth was like a river, just like a fairy.