Another year of autumn came, the grassland was covered with a layer of dusk, the leaves began to fall, Xijing this year the wind and rain were smooth and the harvest was looking forward again, Zhao Ta urged the ministries to go to the border to prevent autumn, and at the same time made people buy the surplus grain in the hands of the people, and check the horses paid by the pastures. Now that the clouds of war were once again hanging over Xijing, he could not help but be prepared for the sudden outbreak of war.

Zhao Ta had just returned to the mansion, and the cup of tea had not yet been drunk, so Feng Xi came in to tell Ma Kuo, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, that he had come back and asked to meet, he could only shake his head, thinking that his negotiations with the Jurchens had an eyebrow, but he also sighed that Ma Kuo was really dedicated, and he rushed to report when it was dark, but he could only go to the front hall with a tired body.

However, he said that this Ma Kuo agreed with Tong Guan in Taiyuan that day to go to Hebei to recruit troops, but because he bluntly offended Liu Tao's son, he was detained and imprisoned and imprisoned in Zhending Prison. He once bluntly admonished Tong Guan, and Tong Guan had to thank him, thinking that Liu Guan's son and Tong Guan also had the same tolerance as Tong Guan, so there were many offenses in his words, offending this Liu Gongzi, but unfortunately this son was not graceful and accused him of recruiting troops and rebelling.

Liu Tao did not dare to take matters into his own hands, also because he knew that Ma Kuo was a rare diplomatic wizard in the Song court, and the Zhao family also valued it very much. By the time he went to the court to talk about it, he was already the new emperor. Zhao Huan ordered someone to go to the trial, but he was worried that Liu Tao had already been appointed to the history of Hebei, and sent Hebei officials to host the case.

Although Ma Kuo is a civil official, he is a martial artist, and he can be described as a civil and military all-rounder. He spent several months in prison with nothing but sighing and regretting. I have the heart to serve the country, but I can't show it. When he had grown accustomed to prison life. One day after noon in prison, no one brought food, and I wondered in my heart. After pondering and pondering, there was still no one to see, and then I asked all the inmates next to me about the same situation......

Ma Kuo became nervous, in the place under Liu Tao's jurisdiction, if he wanted to kill him, he didn't have to play "hide and seek" at all. He will not use the next method of starvation, just find someone to come in and cut him down directly. He was born in martial arts. At least he had a lot of strength on his body, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to pass the first item of the assessment, so he twisted the restraint and sneaked out of the cell.

When Ma Kuodu was about to go out of the gate, but did not meet a jailer, he found that there was no one around, and he saw an old jailer sitting at the gate. When he was puzzled, the veteran also saw him and said with a wry smile: "Don't be surprised, Master Ma. The soldiers have entered the city! Everyone has run away, you might as well flee from this place! ”

The old man was also worried that he didn't die in the hands of the Song people, but died in the Jin people's rebellion, wouldn't it be a crime that he had borne all his life and couldn't say clearly. Ma Kuogu can't thank each other. Return to the prison again, and release all the people in the prison. There is no shortage of people in the prison who occupy the mountains as kings and gather in the mountains and forests in troubled times, and these people are grateful to Ma Kuo for saving his life. So under his leadership, they all dressed up together. Sneak out of Zhending City with him and escape to a nearby cottage.

Ma Kuo was arrested and imprisoned. But how did he also serve as an official of the imperial court, and he was able to write and martial arts, and won everyone's trust, so he supported him as the leader. Ma Kuo then united the heroes of the two rivers, often robbed and killed small groups of Jurchen troops, and launched guerrilla warfare in enemy-occupied areas. However, with the retreat of the Jurchens, these people became traitors, some were recruited to eat military rations, and some went home, but Ma Kuo could not, he was once accused of being an official and a bandit.

So Ma Kuo can only continue to be the king of the mountain with a group of heinous or homeless people, and they also want to live, so there is only one way to go - rob, but the Jurchens are gone, and the objects of robbery can only be the common people and the officials and soldiers. And these are what he is unwilling to do, and when the Jurchens go south for the second time, he once again gathers tens of thousands of horses to fight against the Jurchens, but the end is still disbanded.

Ma Kuo no longer wanted to live the days of robbing the house, so he left the thief's den, but at this time Liu Ju was still the deputy envoy of Hebei Xuanfu, at this time Tong Guan was punished, and he was cleaning up the rest of the party, he did not dare to return to the court, so he could only hide incognito in Tibet, but was discovered by the people of the Intelligence Department and reported to the prince. Zhao Tazheng lacked such diplomatic talents, so he ordered someone to contact him.

And Ma Kuo had several encounters with the prince when he was in Taiyuan, and he admired his prestige for a long time, but now he was desperate, so he agreed. Zhao Ta arranged for someone to send him to Xijing, and entrusted him with the post of a waiter in the Ministry of Rites, in charge of diplomatic work.

"Master Ma has worked hard, please sit down and serve tea!" Zhao Ta arrived in the hall and said as Ma Kuo stood aside in a regular manner.

"Thank you, you have to disturb the prince in an emergency!" Ma Kuan thanked the prince before sitting down, but his heart was warm, he had followed Tong Guan for more than a year, and he had never enjoyed this treatment.

"Master Ma doesn't have to be formal, this king is a rough man, there are not so many rules, business first, it's okay!" Zhao Ta said with a smile.

"Then you're welcome!" Ma Kuo saluted again, "Today, the lower officials have already seen the golden envoy finish Yan Yinshuke, and he came to negotiate peace on the order of the Golden Emperor!" ”

"Oh, they want to make peace with us, what do you say?" Zhao Ta took a sip of tea and asked.

"They want to join forces with us to attack the Song Dynasty and divide the Central Plains equally!" Ma Kuo said.

"Ha Lu Ha ..."Zhao Ta burst out laughing when he heard this, and it took a while to stop laughing, "He really said that?" ”

"Yes, he said that the Great Song Dynasty was unkind, treacherous, and the two countries fought together, and he also brought a secret letter to the princess ordering her to obey the Jurchens!" Ma Kuo said, taking out a letter from his sleeve and presenting it, he was a little curious why the prince was laughing.

"Hmph, what a wolf, it's just a mouthful!" Zhao Ta took the letter and opened it, swept it and handed it to Ma Kuo for him to read.

"Lord Wang, the Jurchens threatened Yelu Yanxi and forced us to submit, what do you think?" Ma Kuo looked at it and asked, this kind of thing is really not easy to do, Xijing is a remnant land after all, the Khitans are still a little powerful, Yelu Yanxi is the old master, or the old father-in-law of the prince, it is inevitable to deal with it.

"Tomorrow he will mention this matter again, although he will order someone to beat him out, and tell him that if he dares to disadvantage him, this king can raise an army to fight against him!" Zhao Ta said sharply.

"Lord Wang, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to do this, if you really attack it, it's the opposite plan!" Ma Kuo said, smiling bitterly in his heart that the prince really has a temper that does not change, and he adds his fists and feet when he moves.

"He didn't dare!" Zhao Tan sneered, "Yinshu is a person who knows each other, the tougher our attitude, the more weak its heart is, the Jurchen means to fight or not to fight, you just let it go and find out its true meaning!" (To be continued......)