A few days later, Zhang Renyuan set out from Shuofang again and went to the city of Western Surrender, where envoys from the Turkic Khanate (Later Eastern Turks) were waiting. The envoy had come to the Tang realm more than a month ago, apparently to borrow grain for the winter, because the northern border had been relatively peaceful in recent years, and the relationship between the two sides had not deteriorated extremely (Mo Si Khan received a promise from the Tang Dynasty in the second year of Jingyun to marry Princess Jinshan, the daughter of Li Chengqi, the king of the Song Dynasty, and then stopped for a while). Zhang Renyuan had met the envoy before, and the decision at that time was to delay the time, first send someone to Chang'an to report the news, and then let the imperial court decide...... From the standpoint of the Tang court, the feudal officials would certainly not generously fund the Turks, a potential threat to an empire.

But the second time Zhang Renyuan arrived in Xishou City, his thoughts had already changed, because they were trying to lay out another thing.

This time, Zhang Renyuan went north in the second half of the lunar month, the wind and snow were even heavier, and he saw along the way that there was a lack of pasture grass in the areas with fertile water and grass, and he could imagine the situation faced by the Turks in the north. The more bitter and cold the climate, the more Zhang Renyuan will have more certainty about negotiating.

At the end of the month, Zhang Renyuan arrived at the northernmost city of Xishou, which is located north of the Hetao and is sparsely populated, saying that the city is actually a military town fortress, and most of the residents in the city are sergeants, and the merchants and civilians are more or less connected with military needs, or their families or merchants are semi-armed civilians. Otherwise, ordinary Han people would not be willing to move to such a harsh area with bitter cold and potential safety hazards.

Especially since the beginning of winter, there are fewer people outside the fortress, and it is difficult for Zhang Renyuan to see a living person before they enter the city, and there is only a vast snow on the surrounding grassland.

As soon as he entered the city, he received the Turkic envoys. The Turks at the front were dressed in a strange and obtrusive manner: their hair was styled according to the custom of the Turks, but they were dressed in silk clothes, and their shoes and belts were completely indecent. The whole dress is not nondescript, and he has to wear the clothes of the Tang Dynasty, which is nothing more than out of stammering.

Sure enough, the envoy said with great sincerity at this time: "The Khan sincerely surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, attacked the Tang Dynasty, and sent the Khan's son and the minister of the country to the court." The Turkic people are like the people of the Tang Dynasty, and they also ask the Tang Dynasty to help urgently to prevent people from suffering. When Mr. Zhang returned to the city, did he get a message from the imperial court? ”

At this time, the khan of the Turkic Khanate was the Mosi Khan, and his son's name was Yang Izhi, which was similar to the Han Chinese...... But of course, the surname is not Yang, and their family's surname is Ashina.

Zhang Renyuan said quietly: "The side newspaper arrived in Chang'an, and after the discussion between His Majesty and the courtiers, and then issued an official document to Anbei, I am afraid it will take time......

"You can't die without help!" The Turkic envoys are extremely powerful.

Zhang Renyuan's swarthy face looked very strict and sincere, and he didn't mean to deliberately delay at all, he nodded and said: "This matter can only be decided by the imperial court, but I have an emergency plan, I will talk to you in private." ”

After hearing this, the envoy did not hesitate to send him back left and right, approached Zhang Renyuan, and said: "As long as Manager Zhang is willing to help us, the Khan will definitely reconcile with the Tang Dynasty sincerely, and it will be a commendable thing for you to return to the court for a long time in the north at that time." ”

"Hmm." Zhang Renyuan nodded thoughtfully, and said in a deep voice, "But I overstepped my authority by doing things like that, I'm afraid it won't sound good to spread out, so I have to meet with your Khan to discuss." ”

The Turkic envoys who had just said that they were extremely sincere were suddenly embarrassed, they could send the Khan's son to the Tang Dynasty, but it would be a little difficult to let Ashnamo Si Khan himself send it to the door.

At this time, Zhang Renyuan said in a low voice: "I don't want the khan to come to the Tang realm, in order to show my sincerity, I can send someone to the Turkic khan's tent to meet him." ”

The envoy was taken aback when he heard this, and looked at Zhang Renyuan in amazement, this kind of thing is indeed a little incomprehensible...... Obviously, borrowing grain is the Turks asking the Tang Dynasty for "mercy", and the Turks are in a hurry, and the Tang people are fully qualified to play official positions at this time, but why did Zhang Renyuan send his own people to the Turks instead? In this way, it seems that the Tang Dynasty is more urgent than the Turkic people who were affected by the disaster, and it is simply a living Bodhisattva.

"That's a good idea! We grassland people are clearly not ungrateful, the Khan will definitely remember the kindness of Mr. Zhang, and there will always be a chance to repay him. The messenger said movingly.

Zhang Renyuan said in a low voice: "The person I sent is very important, and you must ensure his safety." What he says represents my attitude, and you can trust him...... Because it's a dog. ”

At this time, the Turkic envoy was even more surprised, and in addition to being surprised, he also vaguely realized that this matter was not as simple as borrowing grain, and Zhang Renyuan actually sent his own son over to talk about it.

Sure enough, Zhang Renyuan whispered mysteriously: "I don't want others to know about this matter, let the dog Zhang Zhifu pretend to be your person when the time comes, don't go back with you." ”

The envoy was naturally a hundred willing, he was sent by Ashina to the Tang Dynasty to borrow grain, which was originally a difficult chore, and now although he did not immediately get the consent of the Tang Dynasty, it was not empty-handed to be able to bring back Zhang Renyuan's son.

Zhang Zhifu is a young man in his twenties, who has been with his father for many years in the bitter cold land in the north, and there are some traces of wind and frost on his face, and his hair is a little yellow, but he is finally a young man with a very tall and tough body, and he looks much more energetic than his middle-aged father.

Zhang Renyuan himself can't leave his post at will, but sending his son out is easy to hide people's eyes, and colleagues who are not around for a while will at most think that they have gone somewhere else to do business.

When the Turkic envoy returned, Zhang Zhifu dressed up in disguise, and then covered his head with a turban, which could not only protect him from the cold, but also cover his sideburns...... He can wear Turkic clothes on his body, but his hair is not easy to handle, and he is not a long-lived Turk if he comes back with a Turkic hairstyle. The group left the city of Xishou and crossed Yinshan, and encountered a Tang army outpost on the way south of Yinshan, but these people came from the south and had customs clearance documents, which did not attract the extra attention of the Tang army outpost, and continued to go north after a routine business.

Once you cross the Yin Mountain, it is the frequent range of activities of the Turks. Zhang Zhifu secretly instructed the Turkic envoy one night: "I only need to inform the Khan about my business." ”

The messenger nodded in agreement...... It is only because Ashinamo Si Khan has a violent temperament and often touches the interests of other nobles by forcible expropriation and extortion, that some people in the Daozhì clan are unbearable and inclined to the Tang Dynasty, and it is inevitable that there will be Tang Dynasty eyeliner among them. Zhang Zhifu's instructions were also out of confidentiality.

The city of Western Surrender was already on the border, and it didn't take a few days for the group to return to the Turkic tent, and soon they saw a large number of tents of the Turks.

The envoy who returned from the Tang Dynasty first went to the Khan's tent to return to the mission, and Zhang Zhifu waited for a while before being summoned inside, apparently the Khan already knew about him.

He still had a turban on his head, and he was dressed like a Turk, and he didn't say a word, and silently followed the guards to the past, but he didn't attract people's attention. Along the way, Zhang Zhifu really saw the plight of the Turks with his own eyes, even in the vicinity of the sweat tent, the people's expressions were miserable, and after walking for a long time, he had never seen a person with a smile, and some people looked malnourished.

Zhang Zhifu entered the sweat tent and saw that there were only four people inside, and the messenger he knew before was not there, so the four people in front of him were all unfamiliar faces. However, it is easy to guess that the person sitting on the top seat is Ashnamo Si Khan, and you can guess eight points from the dress, and the person is holding an old cane in his hand, which should be a symbol of status. The other three people sitting next to him didn't know who they were, they were probably Turkic nobles or something.

At this time, Zhang Zhifu was very cautious, not to mention that being in an unfamiliar environment would give him an unsafe feeling, so his heart kept worrying. He first saluted the old-fashioned Khan, who was seated on the throne with a cane, as if he had learned from the Turkic envoy on the way, but said nothing. Zhang Zhifu didn't dare to speak, even if he used the Turkic accent or two he had just learned, he didn't fully learn it.

When he had finished his salute, he looked alarmingly at the three people sitting next to him.

At this moment, Mo Si opened his mouth and said in Chinese: "I already know your worries, so I don't leave outsiders here." He is my son, and the other two are my brothers-in-law, Huo Ba Jie Lifa and Shi Ashibi. There's nothing they can't hear...... Are you the son of Mr. Zhang? ”

Zhang Zhifu relieved his mind a little, reached out to remove the turban, and subconsciously hugged his fists and said with Han etiquette: "I am Zhang Zhifu, and my father was the head of Shuofang Road at the time. ”

Mo Si said kindly: "Guest, please sit down and talk." I have never been to Chang'an, so although I have the heart to learn the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, I am not proficient in it, so I invite Zhang Langjun Haihan if I am not careful. ”

Zhang Zhifu was also a little surprised to hear that Mo Si actually used the word "Lang Jun", but when he thought about Mo Si's fluent Chinese, it was clear. The attitude of the Turks was still quite friendly and cordial, after all, they still wanted to borrow grain from the Tang Dynasty for the winter.

Zhang Zhifu hugged his fists and thanked him, and then sat down in the position with the fur on the side, and was cautious in his words and deeds everywhere.

Obviously, Mo Si was also curious about Zhang Ren's willingness to send his own son over, so he asked: "I don't know if Manager Zhang is willing to help us, since you have seen me with your own eyes, it doesn't hurt to say anything." ”

Zhang Zhifu pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "Since the Zhongzong Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty has been sincerely friendly with the Turks, not only my father often praises the Khan, but many people in the court also thank the Khan for his efforts to defend Li Tang Zhengshuo during the Wu Zhou Dynasty......"

For this kind of roundabout and subtle opening remarks of the Han people, Mo Si has seen it a long time ago, so he listened patiently to Zhang Zhifu's nonsense at the beginning.

Zhang Zhifu's words that "the Turks defend Li Tang Zhengshuo" are true. At that time, in order to consolidate the power he had just gained and manage the surrounding relations, Wu Zetian ordered Wu Yanxiu, the king of Huaiyang, to go to the Turks in the first year of the holy calendar, and the daughter of Nammer Si was a concubine. In August, after Wu Yanxiu and others arrived at the black sand in his southern court, he silently detained Wu Yanxiu on the pretext that the Eastern Turks had accepted Tang En and his daughter wanted to marry the Li family, and under the pretext of "Feng Tang and Zhou", he dispatched 100,000 cavalry to attack Jingnan, Pingdi, Qingyi and other armies, and then invaded Fu, Tan and other prefectures.

The righteousness was firm, but they both understood that the incident was nonsense, and the Turks had also learned the Han people's trick of "being famous", and at that time, Mo Si chanted that defending Li Tang Zhengshuo was just a name for him to wage war.

But at this time, Mo Si was very curious, why did the Tang people, who were the "creditors", say something nice at this time, and even pull out the previous things? H