The dry-mouthed Zhang Duan walked out of Yelu Yixin's Wei Wangfu, and then couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief, and then turned his head to look at the Wei Wangfu behind him, and then whispered to himself: "Finally, Yelu Yixin still knows the severity, and finally sent Xiao Yanshou's supplies over, if he delays it like this, I'm afraid Huanglong Mansion will really not be able to keep it." ”

Xiao Yanshou probably never dreamed that the reason why he suddenly received the materials that were owed before was all thanks to the words of Zhang Dian who threatened Yelu Jun and his ministers before, Zhang Dian heard that the situation in Huanglong Mansion was not good, especially after Xiao Yanshou was rushed there by Yelu Yixin to die, he was very anxious, and after a few days of endurance, he finally couldn't help but come to Yelu Yixin's mansion to inquire about the situation, but what reassured him was that Yelu Yixin was also frightened by his words before, and he actually sent someone to inform his subordinates early, Let them distribute the supplies, it is estimated that Xiao Yanshou has received those materials now.

Thinking of the above, Zhang Dian couldn't help but smile slightly, from Yelu Yixin's attitude, it has been shown that the Liao State is very jealous of the Great Song Dynasty, and he doesn't dare to really tear his face with them, so that Zhang Dian is almost certain that Yelu Jun will definitely agree to the alliance with the Great Song Dynasty in the end, and now he has not expressed his position for a long time, no matter how he can't pull this face.

Guessing the thoughts in Yelu Jun's heart, Zhang Dian also felt very relaxed, in the next few days, he also mixed with Yelu Yanxi every day as usual, speaking of which, although Yelu Yanxi doesn't like to read very much, but he likes to be vassally elegant, and has made friends with a group of literati of the Liao State, and some people will jump out to chant poems at the banquet, but the talents of these Liao literati can't be compared with Zhang Dan at all, and the result is in a short time. Zhang Dan's talent spread among the upper nobles of the Liao State, which also attracted more nobles to hope to make friends with him, the talented envoy of the Great Song Dynasty, and for a time the invitation to Zhang Dian flew to the official post like a snowflake, but Zhang Dian had only one, and it was naturally impossible to agree to everyone's invitation, and as a result, many Liao nobles were proud to invite Zhang Dian for a while. This also made Zhang's reputation even more famous.

It is estimated that Yelujun had a very bad impression of Zhang Dan, and he was very uncomfortable when he saw him mixing so well in Liao, so he summoned him to the palace again on this day, and then agreed to form an alliance with the Great Song Dynasty to jointly eliminate the Jurchens, but the specific covenant and how to implement this matter need to be further discussed.

The reason why the Great Song Dynasty sent an important minister like Zhang Dian was mainly to give him more power when he was in the Liao State. So in the next few days, he discussed some detailed covenant content with several ministers of Liao on behalf of the Great Song Dynasty, although there were many disputes during this period, but finally the opinions of the two sides were agreed, the main content of the covenant is that the Great Song Dynasty will continue to support some materials of the Liao State, in order to ensure that these materials are used to clear the Jurchens, so the Great Song Dynasty will send special officials into the Liao State for supervision, and the Liao State will ensure that enough troops will be sent to the area of Huanglong Mansion. Even if we can't completely eliminate the Jurchens, we must curb their rising momentum.

In addition to the main ones above. Zhang Dian added an additional clause at the end, that is, if the Liao State was unfavorable to suppress the Jurchens, or even if the Jurchens counterattacked and captured the Huanglong Mansion, then the Great Song Dynasty had the right to unilaterally terminate the alliance and reserve all other means that could contain the Jurchens.

Originally, this last one was very threatening, whether it was Yelujun or the other ministers. They did not agree with Zhang Dian to add such a clause at the end, but Zhang Den's attitude was very tough, because in this way, the Great Song Dynasty would have a reasonable reason to send troops to the Liao State, and it would also form a spur to the Liao monarchs and ministers. They didn't dare not do their best, so he insisted on adding such a clause anyway.

The Great Song Dynasty is no longer the Great Song Dynasty of the past, since the last Battle of Yanyun, the Liao Kingdom has been a little afraid of the Great Song Dynasty, so in the face of Zhang Dan's tough attitude, they finally had to compromise, which also made Yelu Jun feel the humiliation of the Luanhe Alliance again.

After the signing of the covenant, Zhang Dian immediately bid farewell to Yelujun, and promised that after returning to the Great Song Dynasty, he would urge the Great Song Dynasty to transport the first batch of supplies to the Liao State, and also hoped that the Liao State would keep his promise and arrange for the accompanying Song officials to supervise the whereabouts of these materials. Yelu Jun didn't want to see Zhang Dian anymore for a long time, so he immediately arranged a send-off banquet for Zhang Tun, and then asked his son Yelu Yanxi to send the other party out of Beijing.

At the same time, in the Kunning Hall of the Imperial Palace of Tokyo City of the Great Song Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Gao, who had already recovered from her illness, walked slowly in the hall with the support of her son Zhao Hao, because the imperial doctor had instructed her to walk more after taking the medicine every time, which could speed up the absorption of the medicinal power.

"Queen Mother, I heard that Zhang Dian went to the Liao State, it seems that he wants to form an alliance with the Liao State to deal with some Jurchens, is this matter a bit too child's play, after all, the Jurchens are too far away from our Great Song Dynasty." At this moment, I suddenly only heard Zhao Hao speak a little casually.

When the Empress Dowager Gao heard this, she turned her head and glanced at her son, and sighed secretly in her heart, she naturally understood her son's thoughts better than anyone else, but she also knew that Zhao Hao's ability was not the material to do big things at all, so she said lightly at this time: "I know about this matter, although I don't understand why Zhao Yan did this, but since he planned this matter, and has the support of His Majesty and the ministers, this matter has become a foregone conclusion, so it can only be left to him. Anyway, our Da Song is only a few supplies at most, and it is not a loss. ”

In fact, as early as when the court had just made a decision to form an alliance with the Liao State to form a joint Jurchen, Empress Dowager Gao already knew about this matter, but she was recuperating at the time, and she really didn't have the energy to take care of this matter.

"Queen Mother, it's nothing to support some materials in Liao, but what if Liao gets these materials and doesn't deal with the Jurchens, but instead uses them to guard against our Great Song Dynasty, in addition, even if they use these materials to deal with the Jurchens, and they really defeat the Jurchens, but this will only make the Liao Kingdom lose one less big enemy, so that they can deal with our Great Song with all their might, but our Great Song Dynasty has produced so many materials. But I didn't get anything. Zhao Hao spoke again at this time, looking at his anxious look, as if he was really thinking about the country and the people.

"Okay, don't talk about this anymore, the mourning family has its own sense of proportion." Empress Dowager Gao was a little dissatisfied at this time, Zhao Hao said so much. It was nothing more than wanting to provoke his dissatisfaction with Zhao Yan, but he didn't want to think about it, with Zhao Yan's current status, it was not that she could move if she wanted to, plus this matter was supported by Zhao Xu, although Zhao Xu was still young, he was the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty after all, and many ministers in the court had begun to change the direction of the wind, although she was in better health now. But it is absolutely impossible to overturn Zhao Xu's resolution so openly, otherwise it will only make waves in the court again.

Seeing that Empress Dowager Gao seemed unwilling to listen to herself, Zhao Hao had no choice but to shut up, but he was still quite unconvinced in his heart, because he couldn't see any threat to the Jurchens to the Great Song Dynasty, and Zhao Yan's move would only waste money and food in vain, and even indirectly enhance the strength of the Liao State, which was a big mistake.

A few months later. Zhang Dian returned to the Great Song Dynasty with the letter of alliance with the Liao State, and at this time, the Empress Dowager Gao's body had almost recovered. Speaking of which, this is not a big miracle, after all, she is already so old, many people think that it is impossible for her to survive this serious illness, but they didn't expect that Empress Dowager Gao not only survived, but also seemed to be more energetic than before.

Empress Dowager Gao's body recovered, and Zhao Xu could only take a back seat again. After all, he is not yet at the age of pro-government, but after Zhao Xu tasted the delicious taste of power, he was a little reluctant to let go, and confided in Zhao Yan a few times for this, and Zhao Yan could only persuade him to relax. When he grows up, it may be impossible for him to get rid of those government affairs.

However, although Empress Dowager Gao returned to power, she did not show any objections to the alliance with the Liao State, and after Zhang Dian returned, she handed in the letter of alliance, and she also signed the letter of alliance on behalf of the Great Song Dynasty, and then handed over the matter to the political hall to deal with. The supplies were quickly mobilized, and some other officials who were in charge were also drawn to the capital to gather, and when everything was ready, these officials led the army to escort the supplies to the Liao State, and they would be the first officials to be sent to the Liao State, and then every two months, new supplies would be sent until the Jurchens were completely wiped out.

"Brother Zihou, you have worked this trip to Liao!" Under the shade of the willows of the Bianhe River next to the Yue Wangfu, Zhao Yan smiled and said to Zhang Dian who was dressed in civilian clothes, it was also very interesting to say, Zhang Dian and Zhang Zai's words were the same, but the two of them looked at each other unpleasantly, Zhang Zai thought that Zhang Dian was talented and not virtuous, and Zhang Dian thought that Zhang Zai was corrupt and stubborn, but they were all close to Zhao Yan, and before they occasionally met together, there were often disputes, so Zhao Yan also tried not to invite them to the palace together, for example, today he only invited Zhang Tun.

"Your Royal Highness is polite, the envoy to the Liao State is only the duty of the lower officials, fortunately, our Great Song Dynasty is stronger and stronger, as long as the lower officials are tougher, they have to endure everywhere, so this trip to the Liao State really made the lower officials raise their eyebrows!" Zhang Dian also laughed happily at this time.

Completing the mission of the envoy certainly made Zhang Yan happy, but what made him even happier was Zhao Yan's banquet today, although he had a close relationship with Zhao Yan before, he still maintained a relationship between the top and bottom, he was attached to Zhao Yan to do things for him, not Su Shi and Zhang Zai, who were friends with Zhao Yan, but now Zhao Yan invited him as a private person, and he also talked and laughed with him, which made him immediately aware of the change in Zhao Yan's attitude towards himself, which was what made him the happiest.

"I love to listen to these words of Brother Zihou, as the so-called weak country has no diplomacy, when our Great Song Dynasty faced the Liao State in the past, it was almost everywhere suppressed, but when we were stronger than the Liao State, this situation was immediately reversed, so the national strength is the foundation of everything, if our Great Song Dynasty wants to be superior to other countries, we must maintain a strong country and devour more resources."

When he said this, Zhao Yan suddenly paused, and then continued to speak earnestly: "Our world seems to be very big, but in fact, most of it is seawater, only thirty percent of the land, and there are still quite a lot of places that are not suitable for human survival, so the resources in the world are actually very limited, so our Great Song Dynasty must expand outward as much as possible, occupy more favorable resources, and lay a solid foundation for the prosperity of future generations!" ”

"Your Highness has a long-term vision, and it is beyond the reach of the lower officials!" Hearing Zhao Yan's words, Zhang Yan couldn't help but sincerely admire, it was the first time he heard Zhao Yan say the plan in his heart for the Great Song Dynasty, and it was also the first time he knew that Zhao Yan's mind was so big, and his eyes were no longer limited to the surroundings of the Great Song Dynasty, but focused on the whole world, no wonder others praised him as the first sage king of the Great Song Dynasty.

"Hehe, it's a good thing to have a long-term vision, but the road has to be walked step by step, and the meal must be eaten in one bite, for our Great Song Dynasty, the most important problem now is to solve the troubles around us, such as the Liao State, such as the Jurchen, only by solving these threats, our Great Song Dynasty can rest assured to expand outward." Zhao Yan is not a person with low eyes, although he often has some dreams of conquering the four seas, but he has not relaxed the current threat.

"I understand, thank you for your guidance!" Zhang Yan was convinced again, and at the same time, he was more excited in his heart, Zhao Yan was able to tell him this, which showed that he trusted himself more.

Zhao Yan invited Zhang Dian to come today, firstly, he was very satisfied with his performance in Liao, and secondly, he also felt that with Zhang Tun's talent, he could indeed focus on cultivating, Su Song has been getting older and older in recent years, and his interest in astronomy is far greater than that of being an official, and he has more than once revealed the idea of wanting to go to Gewu College to teach, so Zhao Yan also has to plan for what he will do after he retires, it just so happens that Zhang Dian is keen on power, and he also has this talent, so if Su Song retires, I could have asked him to make up for it.

After chatting a few words of gossip, Zhao Yan inquired in detail about the process of Zhang Dan's envoy to the Liao State, and when he heard what he saw and heard along the way, especially the decay scene south of Zhongjing in the Liao State, and the situation of Yelu Yixin's monopoly on power, he couldn't help frowning, although he also knew that the Liao State was going downhill, but he didn't expect the strength of the Liao State to decline so much, with the current situation of the Liao State, even if he got the support of the Great Song Dynasty, could he really destroy the Jurchens? (To be continued.) )