"Go...... To Liao? Zhao Yan was immediately taken aback when he heard Zhao Ji's words, and said loudly with an incredible expression on his face.

"Be quiet, not many people know about this!" Zhao Yan looked around, and now no one paid attention to them, so he pulled Zhao Yan into a no-man's corner and said, "Originally, Daddy should have sued you yesterday about this matter, but because of what you said about the military academy, Daddy and I have forgotten about it, you should prepare for these two months, it is estimated that by the beginning of March at the latest, we will leave for an envoy to Liaoguo, and it will take at least two or three months to come back." ”

"Why? Just send one or two envoys to Liao, why do you have to send our two princes, and eldest brother, you are still the prince of your father's inner decision, is it too dangerous to send you to Liao? Zhao Yan asked very anxiously, in his opinion, the Liao State is the enemy country of the Great Song Dynasty, and he and a prince like Zhao Ji are going to the enemy country, isn't it a sheep into the mouth of a tiger?

However, when Zhao Yan heard Zhao Yan's last sentence, he laughed and said: "Third brother, you think too much, Liao and our Great Song Dynasty were indeed in a state of hostility before, but since the Tanyuan Alliance, Liao and the Great Song Dynasty have become fraternal states, although the border between the two countries is still in conflict from time to time, but between the high-level of the two countries, they still maintain a friendly attitude, and they often send envoys to each other, such as last year's father ascended the throne, Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji sent Liao Prince Yelu Hongji to congratulate, this year's Yelu Hongji birthday, Daddy plans to send me there, after all, we can't lose our etiquette. ”

When Zhao Yan heard this, he finally understood that the relationship between the Great Song Dynasty and the Liao State was far from being as tense as he imagined. Although the two countries have not stopped confrontation in secret, such as the Zhang Renxian incident last year, on the surface, the two countries still maintain a peaceful attitude, and there are frequent high-level movements between them.

"But, big brother, you can go alone, why do you have to let me go too?" Although he understood the relationship between the two countries, Zhao Yan was still a little uneasy, especially thinking that Zhang Renxian's guy was worse than dead by himself, and Zhang Renxian's father Zhang Xiaojie was the prime minister of the Northern Court of Liao. In case the other party finds out, he has harmed his son like that. And then recklessly avenge his son, wouldn't it be dangerous for him to do so at that time?

"Originally, I was supposed to go alone, but then something happened, and it was complicated. I couldn't say it for a while. Let's go find Daddy. We'll explain it to you in more detail then! Hearing Zhao Yan's question, Zhao Yan suddenly showed a helpless expression on his face, but there seemed to be a trace of anger in his eyes.

I was very happy about the New Year. But let Zhao Yan stir it up, Zhao Yan was also very helpless about this, so he had to go with him to see Zhao Shu, and when he was on the way, Zhao Yan casually pulled a small chamberlain and asked him to inform Cao Ying to go back first, it is estimated that he may not be able to leave until a while.

When Zhao Yan took Zhao Yan to find Zhao Shu, the other party had just finished accepting the worship of the courtiers, and was resting in a side hall at this time, when he saw Zhao Yan and the two coming in, he immediately smiled and said: "Yan'er, you already know about going to Liaoguo, how about it, do you have any ideas?" ”

"Daddy, I don't have any ideas, but Erchen can't figure it out, why do you have to let me go?" Zhao Yan said helplessly.

Hearing Zhao Yan's words, Zhao Shu motioned for him and Zhao Ji to sit down beside him, then picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip and said, "Yan'er, you went to Liaoguo this time, but you can't blame others, if you want to blame yourself." ”

"That's right, you caused it yourself!" At this time, Zhao Ji also suddenly smiled.

"Myself?" Zhao Yan screamed in surprise when he heard this.

Seeing Zhao Yan's puzzled look, Zhao Shu smiled slightly: "Of course it's you, who made your paintings so famous, and I don't know who sold your paintings to Liao, and it ended up in the hands of Yelu Hongji, he loved it at first sight, and I heard that it was from Yan'er's handwriting, but this time Yelu Hongji sent me a handwritten letter, hoping that you can go to Liao and paint a portrait of him on his birthday, if you agree, he will restrain the Liao army, and will never go south to fight the grass valley again within three years!" ”

The term Grass Valley may be a little unfamiliar to later generations, but on the occasion of Song Liao, this term is the most hated by the Song people, especially the Song people living in Hebei, after the Tanyuan Alliance, although the Song and Liao countries formed a brotherly state, but in fact, the Great Song Dynasty was in a weak position militarily, plus the Liao State was originally established by nomads, so the army also retained many nomadic vices, the most hated is to fight the grass valley, that is, military looting.

Whenever the autumn harvest, the border of the Liao ** team will go south from time to time to loot, not only rob grain, grab money, and even rob people, and then the two countries repaired, the Liao ** team was subject to some constraints, became only to grab money and grain, and as long as there is no resistance, the Liao ** team will not kill, although this is better than before, but it still brings a heavy burden to the Great Song Dynasty every year, and the border people are even more miserable.

"Hmph, the emperor of the Liao State still has the face to use the grass valley as a condition in exchange? This is too thick-skinned, isn't it? When Zhao Yan heard this, he immediately said with an angry face, according to the original Tanyuan Alliance, the Liao ** team should not have gone south to the Great Song Dynasty, but the Liao ** was strong, Yang Wenguang's father Yang Liulang was fine when he guarded Hebei, and the Liao army did not dare to go south, but since Yang Liulang died, Yang Wenguang was also transferred to serve in the Western Army, and as a result, there was no general in the Hebei Army, and the Liao Army repeatedly went south, which was clearly bullying the Great Song Dynasty, and the Great Song Dynasty did not have the slightest way to do it.

Seeing Zhao Yan's angry appearance, Zhao Shu next to him was actually uncomfortable in his heart, his chest seemed to be blocked by something, but in the end, he could only sigh and say: "Although I said that, what can we do, blame me for being inferior to others!" ”

"Daddy don't be sad, now my Great Song Dynasty is accumulating strength, as long as we wait until the corn and sweet potatoes are successful in the southern tuntian, there will no longer be a shortage of food, and the third brother will reform the weapon and put forward the method of military school, so that I can definitely make the military strength of the Great Song Dynasty strong, maybe it won't take a few years, my Great Song Dynasty can destroy the Western Xia in one fell swoop, so that I have the strength to confront the Liao State head-on!" In contrast, the young Zhao Ji is more confident, maybe this is the sharpness of young people.

Hearing his son's comforting words, Zhao Shu's face finally looked better, and he said to Zhao Yan at the moment: "Yan'er, Yelu Hongji personally wrote a letter to ask you to help him paint a portrait, and he took out the condition of not going south for three years in exchange, which has already shown his sincerity, so it is really difficult for Daddy to refuse!" ”

Seeing Zhao Shu's embarrassed appearance, Zhao Yan couldn't refuse, so he finally nodded and said: "In this case, Erchen and his eldest brother will go to Liao, but Erchen is a little worried, with Liao's attitude of repeatedly losing trust, will they really keep their promise not to go south for three years in the future?" ”

Hearing Zhao Yan's words, Zhao Shu and Zhao Ji both shook their heads together and smiled bitterly, and finally Zhao Shu spoke: "Although Yelu Hongji promised not to go south to loot for three years, with the credit of the Liao people, I am afraid that I can't believe it at all, but Yan'er, you must know that since Yelu Hongji proposed to use the condition of not going south for three years in exchange for you to paint his portrait, if we don't agree, the Liao army's fight against grass valleys in the future will definitely be more unscrupulous, and the people on the border will suffer." ”

Zhao Yan also smiled bitterly when he heard this, now the Great Song Dynasty is somewhat similar to the China of later generations, and the Liao State can be compared with the United States, now the Liao State is strong, and the Great Song Dynasty can only tolerate it everywhere, but then Zhao Yan thought that with his own arrival, the Great Song Dynasty has been giving birth to some unpredictable changes, and from the general direction, it is all showing for the better, it is estimated that it will not take many years for the shape between the Great Song Dynasty and the Liao State to be reversed, and then it is time for the Great Song Dynasty to raise its eyebrows.

Seeing that Zhao Yan was silent, Zhao Shu spoke again at this time: "Now the situation in Liao is also very unfavorable to my Great Song Dynasty, the Emperor of Liao Yelu Hongji is addicted to wine, and handed over all the major affairs of the court to the imperial uncle Yelu Chongyuan and Yelu Yixin, Zhang Xiaojie and others, among which Yelu Chongyuan hates the Han people and has always advocated the use of troops against my Great Song Dynasty, and now he is crowned as the imperial uncle by Yelu Hongji, and he holds a considerable part of the power of the court and politics, which is a great threat to my Great Song Dynasty!" ”

When he said this, he saw Zhao Shu pause for a moment, and then spoke again: "Fortunately, Yelu Yixin, Zhang Xiaojie and Yelu Chongyuan disagreed, and the domestic part of the Liao was divided into two parts, but now Yelu Chongyuan relied on the identity of the emperor's uncle to slowly suppress Yelu Yixin and Zhang Xiaojie, and it was precisely with the connivance of Yelu Chongyuan that the Liao army's action to go south to fight the grass valley became stricter and stricter year by year, so now Yelu Hongji took the initiative to make this request, and his father had to agree!" ”

"Yelu Chongyuan?" Zhao Yan didn't listen carefully to Zhao Shu's speech, but when he heard the name Yelu Chongyuan and the title of Uncle Huang, the whole person was stunned for a moment, because he always felt that this name was a little familiar, but for a while he couldn't remember where he had seen it?

Zhao Shu talked about the internal situation of Liao, just to make Zhao Yan pay attention to this trip to Liao, but he didn't expect that after he finished speaking, Zhao Yan was sitting there in a daze, as if he was not listening to his own speech, which made him a little angry, and immediately said: "Third brother, what are you thinking?" ”

"Daddy, this Yelu Chongyuan you are talking about, in addition to being named the emperor's uncle, was he also named the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses by the emperor of Liao?" Zhao Yan finally thought about it at this time, if Yelu Chongyuan was really the person he thought of, then he would have to go if he didn't want to go this time, and maybe he could take the opportunity to do something. (To be continued!)

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