Zhang Hai took five of his subordinates from Youzhou to Gu'an, and then from Gu'an to Bazhou, which was the road to the Song Dynasty.

After Gu'an, it is not far from Bazhou.

Riding on the horse, Zhang Hai touched the secret letter in his arms, he couldn't understand what means the Khitan had to intercept his line and search openly, which was also not in line with the rules of the two countries, and if it was not done well, it would become a major event for the two countries to turn into enemies.

Zheng Lang couldn't figure it out either, but his intuition told him that the Khitan would not let Zhang Hai and his party go back smoothly. But now he has not torn his face, Zhang Hai and his party are in danger.

After Gu'an, it is the territory of Khitan Yongqing, with more lush vegetation, more water, more arable land, and a large area of farmland. Zhang Hai said: "Quick." ”

It's best that Zheng Lang guesses wrong, he doesn't want any trouble, this is in the territory of the Khitans.

There is a low mountain in front, not high, but the water system is developed, resulting in lush forests all over the mountain, Zhang Hai patted the horse, the speed is faster, want to pass through this mountain forest, then go more than 20 miles to the border pass of the Song Dynasty.

In mid-March, at noon, the six people felt a little hot when they ran fast, but after entering the mountain forest, the green mountain forest brought a pleasant coolness to the six people. One of Zhang Hai's subordinates said, "Zhang Dutou, let's stop for lunch." ”

"Don't stop, go to Bazhou to eat," Zhang Hai said in a sullen voice.

As soon as he spoke, more than a hundred people flashed out in front and back, wearing untidy armor and scooping untidy weapons, and there were more than a dozen people on both sides with bows and arrows aimed at them. One of them yelled, "Leave your belongings behind." ”

"Robbers?" Zhang Hai's sworn brother Stave said in surprise.

Zhang Hai looked at the group of robbers and said, "We are Song envoys. ”

"Head, they are Song envoys, do you want to stop them?" One of the robbers said to the man dressed as the leader in front.

"What do they do? It is the people of the Song Dynasty who have money. The leader shouted.

Zhang Hai was very angry in his heart, and just wanted to rush and kill, but suddenly his heart had an idea. Dizzy, the Khitans actually resorted to such clumsy means. What a robber. This is close to the border, how many Khitan garrisons are around, and there is no soil for any robbers to survive. He whispered, "I have to resist." ”

More than 100 people gathered around on both sides, talking in a mess. There is Chinese, there is Khitan language, Zhang Hai said: "Everyone, you want money, we don't have much on us, but we can give it to you, but don't do anything excessive." So as not to harm the peace between the two countries and make your Northern Emperor angry. ”

With that, he asked Stuff to hand over the money around him.

The group did not believe it, but gathered around them and took them prisoner from their horses. It is useless to resist, the heroes are difficult to defeat with four hands, if a few people don't stop just now, desperately break out of the encirclement. Or three or two people can kill it. Now that the horse has stopped, even if Zhang Hai has the skills, he can't escape. Moreover, these people are not weak. The six resisted for a while, and all of them were caught. I walked into the depths of the mountain forest and walked for a while, and a big river appeared in front of me.

Zhang Hai carefully recalled that this river was about the Liuyi River, an important tributary of the Juma River on the border between the Song and Liao countries (the Juma River was the Hai River, and the Haihe River was slightly south in the Song Dynasty, and the Yellow River was diverted, resulting in great changes in the water system in this area, and compared with today, it was unrecognizable).

Mountains in front and behind. The river was overgrown with dense reeds, and the occasional bird flew by, but when they arrived there was no one to visit, and the robbers built some thatched huts near the river, and put some flat boats along the river. If it is not right, you can escape to the other side in time. It's deliberately arranged, and it has to be like it, and Zhang Hai can't be suspicious, even if he doubts, he can't say any reason, and he can't find a handle!

The leader of the robbers began to search his body, and searched out all the letters and documents on Zhang Hai's body, as well as the secret letter that Zhang Hai deliberately put in his arms. Zheng Lang ordered them to find it, but it couldn't be too fake, and even Zheng Lang didn't know how the Khitans would do it, so Zhang Hai took this secret letter into his arms. …,

When the robbers saw these objects, they began to quarrel, some saying that they would kill people, and some said that they would be released. After an argument, the leader said, "Lock them up first." ”

It does look a lot like a "robber".

Locked in a small grass hut on the very edge, and sent guards to patrol outside, Staf asked, "Zhang Dutou, what should we do?" ”

"Don't worry, do you see it, these grass sheds are very new."

"What's wrong?"

"There are mountains, rivers and forests here, and there are few people, it seems to be a place to hide dirt and dirt, but what is here? It is the border between the two countries, three years ago, you and I fell into thieves, although we are bold and dare to sneak into the capital, do we dare to bring our brothers to the vicinity of the capital in an open and honest way? ”

Stuff shook his head.

"Even if this place is uninhabited, it is a densely populated place, and in order to prevent me from sneaking into the scouts, that area has not been searched by the Khitan? How can this group of people survive? ”

"You mean ......"

"It's okay, so I let you not resist, this is the means of the Khitan envoys. There is no need to provoke them. In this regard, Zheng Xianggong guessed one point, I did what Zheng Xianggong ordered. ”

Several people suddenly realized, and heard that it was Zheng Lang's order, and they were silent one by one.

As a matter of fact, they are just some small people, and they will fight for nothing, and if they are killed, they will not have the slightest impact on the relations between the two countries. Unless Guo Kui returned to the Song Dynasty in person, but as Guo Kui, can he be a messenger?

Zhang Hai said again: "The Khitan is bound to Zheng Xianggong, this way is considered mild, otherwise we may all suffer from torture, please be patient." ”

This is the benefit of Zheng Lang sending Zhang Hai.

Clever, bold, and skilled, he is not accustomed to clichés, and if he is replaced by other generals, he may not be as good as Zhang Hai. and loyalty, the word loyalty is more important. God knows what means the Khitan will use, and if it is bought with a lot of money? 1,000 is not enough, how about 5,000? After all the calculations, only Zhang Hai is more assured. It's not that the rebels are righteous, they are each other, and the rebels are not necessarily good people. But with Zhang Hai, there are also flaws. The defect is not in the Khitan, but Zhang Hai is the most reassuring in the Khitan, but when he arrives in China, Zhang Hai's identity as an insurrectionist will become a constraint. But it doesn't matter, there is one more person, his own wife!

When it got dark, Zhang Hai said, "Brothers, don't worry, sleep." ”

Fall asleep.

The next day, the robber took Zhang Hai to talk to him: "You are the messenger of the prime minister of the Song Dynasty?" ”

"Yes. You'd better release us as soon as possible. ”

"Yes, but you can't divulge about us."

"Yes."

"Please swear a poisonous oath."

Zhang Haina had the intention to entangle with them, so he swore a poisonous oath.

The leader handed over their luggage, letters, and seals to Zhang Hai. The important thing is the two letters, Zhang Hai looked at the letters. The fire paint seal is the same. This is an illusion, although he continued to seal the letter with fire paint, but when the fire paint was applied, Zheng Lang deliberately made three marks on the secret letter, and when the fire paint dripped out, there were three places where some special lines were formed, which were not obvious. Zheng Lang said to Zhang Hai. At this point, all three lines disappear. Obviously, the secret letter and the official letter have all been opened.

It's for the Khitans to see.

But what can you say if you swear a poisonous oath? Even if it is said that it has been dismantled, the Khitan people say that it is the work of the rogue, what can they do? The strategy is not clever, but it can be effective.

The leader said again: "This is a misunderstanding, Song envoy is not strange. ”

"It doesn't matter."

"Don't report to our Khitan officials."

"If they ask, we say we're lost."

The leader laughed out loud, then nodded. And he said, "I'll send you back." ”

The six people were loosened in person, but this group of people was still very "worried", and some of them were demolishing the thatched shed. Prepare to "escape" this place. This is even more unclear. …,

I didn't expect the Khitans to come to this hand, what should Zhang Hai do? I can only smile wryly. Fortunately, I didn't suffer from flesh and skin. Walking on the road, the leader said again: "I heard from the people, you Zheng Xianggong want to be the prime minister of our Khitan?" ”

"I'm just a martial artist, and I don't know about this matter." Zhang Hai replied in a muffled voice.

"He asked you to be a messenger, which means that you are his confidant, how can you not know?"

"What are you talking about this?" Stuff said dissatisfied.

"We don't want to be grass coars, I heard that you Zheng Xianggong are very capable and have a bite to eat. Why today? If your father-in-law becomes the prime minister, we will turn theft into goodness. ”

"I really don't know, here, we are only responsible for protecting the personal safety of the two chief and deputy envoys, and the others have nothing to do with us." Zhang Hai took over the topic.

Set, nothing out. The leader said, "Everyone, take care all the way. ”

As he spoke, he turned over his horse and disappeared into the depths of the mountains and forests.

Several people glanced at each other, and Zhang Hai said: "Don't say much, let's go, and when we reach the Song Realm, we will be safe." ”

"Whoa."

Several people soon came to the avenue, and sure enough, there were officers and soldiers on the avenue looking for them, and when they saw Zhang Hai and his party coming out, one of the generals asked, "Where have you been?" ”

"Lost," Mr. Zhang said dissatisfied. I thought, where have we been, you don't know yet?

"This is the avenue, how did you get lost."

Zhang Hai almost wanted to say, how did you get lost, and asked you Khitan emperors to go. I couldn't help but say, "I got lost, I saw a deer yesterday, we itched, chased the deer into the mountains, and then got lost." ”

The military general is still asking: "No, although the mountains and forests in this area are dense and the mountains are not big, why are you lost?" ”

The six of them were so angry that Zhang Hai secretly made a gesture to keep them from speaking, and replied: "That's the case, it's late when we chase the deer, so we got lost." I didn't divide things into things, and then rested in the mountains and forests for the night. When I came out this morning, I saw a big river and asked the fishermen, only to know that we were going in the wrong direction. Fold it back. ”

"So that's the case, Zhang Dutou also likes hunting?" How much do Khitan generals like hunting, they are comrades, and asked in surprise.

The six of them were even more angry, they wanted to hunt, they had a chance, why bother hunting at this time, not only kidnapping themselves, but also forcing themselves to lie for them, but peace was important, they all endured it and did not have a seizure. These people sent Zhang Hai to the Juma River very carefully and solemnly, and also reproached: "You are envoys, and you can't delay your business because of hunting." ”

Even Zhang Hai was so angry that he almost spurted blood, he didn't want to do much, he ruined Zheng Lang's good deeds, and endured it, but he only promised. Crossing the Juma River, it is the tall and colorful Great Wall built by Yang Liulang, and the long corridor woven with willows and thorns. Then he dug ponds and lakes all over his side, using water and vegetation to block the nomadic cavalry.

In this regard, Zheng Lang was very skeptical of its effect.

Because when the Jin people invaded the south, they didn't see much of a role in this Great Wall. Therefore, in Zheng Lang's heart, he thought that it only played a role of blocking and intimidation. Not very practical.

The idea was a little wrong, and it wasn't until the Yellow River was diverted again that Zheng Lang came to his senses. It was not without effect, the diversion of the Yellow River forced the Haihe River system to move northward, and the large amount of sediment brought by the Yellow River increased the terrain in the north. It further reduced the role of Yang Liulang's arrangement. At this time, it still works. Zhang Hai handed over the seal, and the officers and soldiers defending the city put them in. The six horsemen set off quickly to the south.

Came to the capital, according to the system. None of them could go home, but stayed in the inn and waited for news. But both letters were handed over.

At this time, the capital was watching the national affairs and the imperial examination.

First of all, Pang Ji played in Shaanxi, and the imperial court opened the Xia Kingdom, with the intention of relieving wealth and relieving the people. It has been almost a year since he was enshrined in the oath, and the dispatch has not reduced the number of soldiers. The expenses of his deliberations and rulings, as well as the additional officials, instigators, and envoys who are now useless, should be all discarded. …,

It's a very simple twist.

But I have seen Pang Ji's keen eye for politics.

When it is said that the cost is not reduced by the use of soldiers, it must be an exaggeration. However, the Song Dynasty system had a rewarding attitude towards such exaggeration. Seeing a group of people displaced, Your Majesty, hurry up, otherwise the world will be in chaos, take a look. The people are struggling to make ends meet, and the whole country is displaced.

Ouyang Xiu, Bao Zheng, Han Qi, and the villains also used this exaggerated method to admonish.

This is a progressive state, unlike other dynasties. It's good, it's good, it's good, and it's shouting loudly, but there's a big problem down there. In this way, people can be vigilant, but sometimes it is too exaggerated, and it does lead to some negative effects and decisions.

The real finances are really improving.

The Law of Reduction only settled all veterans last year, and it will not be until the end of this year to see real results. The wind and rain are smooth, and the state tax revenue has not increased but decreased, but the people's income has increased unabated. The country's income is decreasing, and the people are gradually regaining stability. However, it can also be said that the tax has been reduced, and the veterans are being resettled, food is being stored, and there is still money needed for Baoding. The native soldiers needed money, and it was true that the expenditure was not reduced much.

This is not intended to be here, but to point directly to the new law.

After Fan Zhongyan and the others went down, no one dared to speak out about their attitude towards the new law, except for overthrowing or overthrowing it. Pang is the only one who has a positive attitude towards some of the strategies in the new law. Your Majesty, you can't defeat them all, some of them are still beneficial. For example, the reason why the reduction of some useless officials, instigators, and envoys was not carried out well was because they were not properly employed, and they had a strong partisan nature at the beginning. Now that there are no friends, these good strategies should be preserved.

In the book, Zhao Zhen admired it greatly.

It was rare to say this, but he didn't say anything, and continued to use Jia Changchao to clean up Fan Zhongyan's imprint.

It's not that Zhao Zhen hates Fan Zhongyan, as a Ming Jun, he doesn't want the ministers below to appear as friends, and to clean up Fan Zhongyan's imprint, just to clean up the traces of friends. It really worked, before and after the Qingli New Deal, it was the party of Zhao Zhenchao, but after a few years, there were no friends in Zhao Zhenchao.

There is a dispute, which is the vertical and horizontal of the interests of various ministers, and they are held into small groups, a dozen people, three or two people, not the people of the world. For example, Zheng Lang's small group, Jia Changchao's small group, and the future Pang Ji's small group, Han Qi's small group, are not enough to do harm. Without Zhao Zhen's balancing skills, it is possible that party strife will become a serious harm in the Zhao Zhen Dynasty. Even Zheng Lang didn't see this, he only felt that Jia Changchao had gone too far and wanted to mess with him.

In fact, Jia Changchao at this time was very important to Zhao Zhen. At least if he feels that the party still has influence, he will continue to reuse Jia Changchao.

Although he admired Pang's nationality, he kept silent to prevent the resurgence of the Junzi Party.

This attitude also affected Zhang Fangping.

He doesn't have a good impression of the so-called gentlemen's party, even if he is afraid of the Fan Lou banquet, except for Zeng Gongliang, all the people seated are gentlemen's parties. Including Fan Zhongyan, Zhang Fangping also looked down on him. thinks that Fan Zhongyan sells his reputation and harms the country, and even Zheng Lang was deceived by him.

This attitude is also brought to the so-called gentlemen, including Wu Yu, not to be complicit. There are also new laws. Fan Zhongyan's reform of the imperial examination, some of them are also good, the policy theory is not as effective as Fan Zhongyan thought, writing the policy, Ouyang Xiu and later Su Dongpo, Su Xun, Zeng Gong and others have deep attainments in the policy theory, but a few people pointed out a good way out for the Song Dynasty, and they jumped into the party struggle one by one, but they couldn't dial it. But at least it's better than poetry.

It was originally good, but Fan Zhongyan admonished again and restored the name opening system in the early Tang Dynasty. Zhang Fangping is very disgusted by this, you are a poor family, thanks to the name system, so you forgot your roots, and now the name system is restored, so how many poor children can go to high school? My family background is far better than yours, but I wouldn't do that. …,

A system of opening names made Zhang Fangping suspicious of Fan Zhongyan's reform of the imperial examination. It happened that Zhao Zhen issued an order to let him and Hanlin Bachelor Sun Luan, Longtu Pavilion Straight Bachelor Gao Ruone, Jixian School Manager Yang Wei, and Qian Mingyi Quan know Gongju. So it was played, and the program of the Ministry of Rites was set from the previous dynasty. From the beginning of Jing You, he mostly used variants to learn from high school, and he passed on the effect later, and he forgot his original habits. Recently, the article is in order to come up with so-called novelty. It is strange to win, to be grotesque and high, to wander and obscenity, to cross the rope and ink, and to learn after confusion. The imperial court was tired of issuing edicts and warnings, but scholars were happy to let go and could not dial themselves. Examiner of the Tribute Academy. There are new styles of learning to more than 800 words (an article is more than 800 words), each sentence may have 16 words, 18 words (the original is four or six words, seven words have, less, a sentence of more than a dozen words is almost none). And those who have more than 1,200 words in the arguments, and ask the court to ask the court to learn the new style but do not conform to the program, have already been examined. Re-apply for the edict and advertise the world.

In fact, some of the new articles among the students are still good, but there is a mistake in the new learning. It's that kind of strange danger. This made Zhang Fangping very unaccustomed to it, so he was unlucky with the new style article, and he was given more than 400 words, or those with more words in a sentence, all of them were dethroned.

Played on, quasi.

Zhang Fangping was still a little unconvinced, and selected some sinister sentences, with a good memory, and passed the provincial test. He remembered. Then it gets in the newspaper, and the article can entertain itself, and if it is not well written, it is a big deal that no one reads it. But if you want to write it to the examiner, I would like to ask you, the students, who can understand these sinister sentences. Could it be the stone drum text that Han Yu read?

Zhao Zhen laughed after reading it, and ordered the Ministry of Rites to find out those desolate test papers, and watch them again, how new, dangerous, and strange they were. Zhang Fangping's intentions are good, but this practice is a step backwards in history. At this time, the new style of writing, that is, the ancient prose style, was popularizing, but the literati were mostly learning the prose style, which was changing, and there was no good goal, and the sinister style was a unique product of the reform of the ancient prose style. After the past, the spring of Song Dynasty prose will come, and these sinister bodies will disappear. You can't kill them all with a stick.

But when admitting students, Zhao Zhen listened to the advice of Zheng Lang and Pang Ji, and gradually controlled it, and Zhang Fangping admitted 715 people in the provincial examination, and the provincial yuan was Pei Yu. When he arrived at the palace examination, Zhao Zhen only gave 230 jinshi, 190 people were born, and 170 people were from the same background, and a large number of unqualified jinshi were deleted. The branches are also declining, and the number of people who have been given the branches and the first in history has become thirty-twenty-three, from 415 to the first. The number of people who gave them the name of the family has also been declining, from 720 to 516. The champion is Jia An.

When Zhang Hai rushed to the capital, it was the time when the capital finished releasing the list and many jinshi were carnivaling in the capital.

After reading the letter, Zhao Zhen was about to edict Zhang Hai to see him, and Jia Changchao said: "Your Majesty, it's not proper, when Zheng Lang chose Zhang Hai to envoy to Khitan, he took a fancy to his courage and bravery, and this person was a bandit after all, and he committed the crime of rebellion. If it weren't for His Majesty's benevolence, it would be possible to destroy the Nine Clans. If it is received by His Majesty, what is the case? ”

Just one sentence made Zhao Zhen dispel the idea of meeting.

He has a large belly, but in any case, Zhang Hai is a rebel, which is the biggest taboo of feudal rulers. Then he looked at the letter again, and Jia Changchao and the others couldn't see anything from the letter. I thought that the secret letter was what Zheng Lang wanted to say.

Zhao Zhen saw three fat words.

Some people can't understand why the open letter has become Zheng Lang's heartfelt words, but the secret letter can't be believed.

But I understood what Zheng Lang meant, Zheng Lang did not agree to preside over the Khitan imperial examination is what he wanted to say, as an official of the Song Dynasty, what kind of system would it be to preside over the Khitan imperial examination. If it weren't for Zheng Lang's envoy to Khitan, he would have wanted Zheng Lang to preside over the imperial examination. Thinking of this, there are mixed tastes. Zheng Lang's place was broken by the Khitans. …,

But it doesn't matter much, let yourself rest assured. As for the Khitan's misdeeds to Zheng Lang, it was a louse on the bald man's head, obviously, he didn't look at it, and then he went down and sent a messenger to negotiate, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Feel free to do it yourself.

The meaning is understood, but the position of the two letters is reversed, so he does not understand.

After thinking about it, he looked at Zhang Fangping and said, "You go to the post house to ask." ”

One of the ministers of Fan Louyan, he is Zheng Lang's person, and he will not harm Zheng Lang. Zhang Fangping said: "Huh. ”

For Zheng Lang and his entourage, he was also very concerned in his heart. But here's the problem.

There are three people that Zheng Lang trusts the most. One is Zhao Zhen, he is the emperor, it is necessary to maintain the safety of his courtiers, and he also believes in himself. The second is the family, who only believes in Cui Xian, not that Jiang Xing'er is not good to herself, there are many demons in the capital, and I am afraid that Jiang Xing'er and her mother are not tight. In fact, during the whole process, only Cui Xian knew Zheng Lang's overall plan. Among the many ministers, Zheng Lang only believed in Fan Zhongyan, which was the noblest virtue in the entire Song Dynasty.

Everyone else is inferior, including several people in the Fan Lou banquet, who are in the Song Dynasty, even if they are at a funeral, they are all influential, just like Sima Guang repaired books in Luoyang. As soon as he left the Song Dynasty, he was a human being, and he was always selfish, Fan Zhongyan was wonderful, but he couldn't find it, and it was difficult for others to say. Everyone has their own interests, and they are not afraid of 10,000, but they are afraid of what happens. Including Zhang Fangping.

Zhang Fangping's moral exercise is okay, as long as he is in the Song Dynasty, Zhang Fangping is absolutely assured, but not in the Song Dynasty, Zhang Fangping's moral exercise can only say that he can, he can play 80 points, not 100 points. The reason why I like Zhang Fangping is that he is talented, has good morality, and has similar ideological concepts. In addition, in the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, there are not many people who have unique views in economic history, such as Li Ji, Zhang Zai, Lin Xun, Ye Shi, Wang Anshi, Zhu Xi, Chen Liang, Su Dongpo, and Zhang Fangping. Regardless of the flaws in their opinions, they dare to stand out and come up with their own unique ideas. This kind of unconventionality is quite important to Zheng Lang.

That is, Zhao Zhenchao can only pay attention to Zhang Fangping in terms of economic thought.

There are no specific details about what else is or what is proposed, and it is either old and clichéd, or it is empty and impractical.

Moreover, even if Zheng Lang believes in Zhang Fangping, how can Zhang Hai meet Zhang Fangping, the difference between the two statuses is too great, and Zhang Hai's identity as a rebel will also make people jealous.

Therefore, Zhang Fangping came to the post house, Zhang Hai said fifteen and ten. But he strictly followed Zheng Lang's instructions and did not go deeper, including the encounter with robbers on the border.

Zhang Fangping transmitted Zhang Hai's words to the palace.

The news didn't work very well, some things happened in the Khitan Nanjing Palace, and even Guo Kui didn't know if he hadn't listened to Zheng Lang's conversation afterwards, not to mention Zhang Hai.

Therefore, Zhao Zhen is still puzzled.

But I have to make a show, and by the way, I will send another envoy to have a detailed conversation with Zheng Lang, and I will know everything. So he sent messengers to discuss the matter.

At this time, a message of an explosion came from the capital.

Zheng Lang not only presided over the Khitan imperial examination, but also served as the Khitan eunuch.

How could the Khitan let Zheng Lang go easily, the two sides fought with wits and methods, I don't know what Zheng Lang thinks, and I can't force it at first. So he used this strategy, and then spread the news to Song Jing through the field. Coupled with the arrangement of some well-intentioned people, it spread quickly and quickly entered Beijing. Far faster than the Khitans imagined!

Zhang Hai stayed in the post house, did not restrict his freedom, but could not go home according to the rules. Usually bored, I also go to the wine inn to eat, drink and have fun. No one cares, so why bother with him as a small person?

Then I heard this rumor.

He was only from a fourth-class family, which was not very good, and his vision was not so high. But the simple truth is still understood. Zheng Lang was an envoy of the Song Dynasty, and for the sake of safety, it was expedient to engage in it, and it was okay to cooperate with the Khitan people to review the test papers, but he could not preside over the imperial examination, let alone serve as the Khitan Taifu. At least one point, Zheng Lang's integrity is lost.

I handed Zheng Lang's letter, why did this rumor come out?

If Zheng Lang loses his integrity, even if he returns to the Song Dynasty, with this defect, he may not want to enter the two mansions for the rest of his life. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )