Zhang Dian recorded what he saw and heard along the way, which would be the most intuitive understanding of the Liao State in the Great Song Dynasty, although there was also a lot of information about the Liao State transmitted back to China in the past, but in contrast, the content that he saw with his own eyes as an envoy was also easier for the ministers in the court to accept, which was also one of the tasks of the mission.

According to what the mission saw and heard along the way, Zhang Dian found that from the Zhongjing Dading Mansion of the Liao State to the south, all the way to the Great Wall of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, this vast space can be said to be extremely desolate, and the vast majority of the Han people chose to flee to live in the land of Yanyun controlled by the Great Song Dynasty, and the remaining few people did not want to escape, but now the Liao State is very strictly guarded, and they have no chance to escape if they want to.

However, after arriving in Dading Mansion and further north, the situation here is relatively stable, and the number of Han people has also decreased a lot, so the impact is not particularly large, from time to time to see villages and towns, but these villages and towns can not be compared with the Great Song Dynasty in terms of number and scale, and even Zhang Dian also estimated the density of villages and towns and the land area of Liao, at this time the population of Liao is estimated to be about five million at most, and this number is not even one-twentieth of the Great Song Dynasty. You must know that the total population of the Great Song Dynasty, including Nanyang, has exceeded 100 million, and this number alone is enough to make the Liao Kingdom feel terrified.

The decline in population also directly affected all aspects of the Liao State, Zhang Dian along the way, found that not only a large number of cultivated land was abandoned, but also other industries were greatly affected, such as commerce, for example, in the towns of the Liao State, the best-selling goods turned out to be the goods of the Great Song Dynasty, whether it was cloth, sugar, porcelain, etc., most of these merchants were imported from the Great Song Dynasty, as for the local goods of the Liao State is not nothing, but because of poor quality, high cost and other reasons. Completely crushed by the commodities of the Great Song Dynasty, it can be said that the commerce of the Liao State looks prosperous, but in fact, it is based on the commodities of the Great Song Dynasty, and the local industry is extremely shrinking, if there is a war with the Great Song Dynasty, I am afraid that the commerce of the Liao State will immediately become extremely depressed.

Originally, I didn't understand the above knowledge related to the economy. However, he once heard Zhao Yan say that it is impossible for an official to do his job well if he does not understand economics, so he deliberately went to the business department of Gewu College for a few months to audit, and then he understood some knowledge of economics. I'm afraid it will really cause a big mess.

The closer they are to the Shangjing City of Liao, the denser the population becomes, and when they came to Shangjing, they finally saw a place where the population density was almost the same as that of the Great Song Dynasty, but it was the capital of the Liao Kingdom, and the population density could only be compared with the ordinary cities of the Great Song Dynasty, and if it was compared with the city of Tokyo, it would be too different.

For the arrival of this delegation of Chapters. Yelujun has also been very concerned, and waited until they arrived outside the capital as soon as they arrived. Yelujun immediately sent his son Yelu Yanxi out of the city to greet him in person, in order to show his importance to the Great Song Mission, and after entering the city, Yelujun immediately summoned Zhang Dian into the palace, after all, he was also very curious about the purpose of the Great Song Mission, and he couldn't wait to know why they came.

"The envoy of the Great Song Dynasty and the servant of the door, Zhang Dan, pay a visit to His Majesty the Emperor of Liao!" After entering the main hall. Immediately to Yelu Jun, who was sitting on the top of the main hall, he saluted as a king.

Speaking of Zhang Dian and Ye Lu Jun also had a relationship, when Yingzong Zhao Shu ascended the throne, Ye Lu Jun went to congratulate on behalf of the Liao State, just Zhang Dian was going to enter Beijing to catch the exam, and he saw the Liao State delegation entering Beijing on the streets of Tokyo. At that time, he was very impressed by the young but energetic Yelujun, but now he has not seen him for many years, and when he saw Yelujun again, he found that although the other party looked much more mature and stable, he did not have the sharp energy he had before, but it made him feel a heavy twilight, which made Zhang Dian also secretly worry in his heart, it seems that the rumors say that Yelujun is getting more and more mediocre, it should not be groundless.

Zhang Dian had seen Yelu Jun, but Ye Lu Jun didn't remember Zhang Tun, after all, it was decades ago, and there were so many onlookers when he entered Tokyo, he couldn't have any impression of Zhang Tun, so he smiled and said: "Zhang envoy doesn't have to be polite, Song Liao is a state of brothers, I and Emperor Shenzong were even more familiar at first sight, and they were called brothers to each other, but it's a pity that God was jealous of talent, I didn't expect Emperor Shenzong to die young, I was also grief-stricken when I heard the news, It's a pity that I can't go to the Great Song Dynasty to mourn in person due to my identity, which is really a big regret in my heart! ”

Although Zhang Dian knew that what Yelujun said was all, after all, it was during the reign of Zhao Ji that the Great Song Dynasty defeated the Liao State and recaptured the land of Yanyun, so Yelujun was afraid that he would only hate Shenzong Zhao Ji to the bone, where is there still half a point of affection?

However, Zhang Dian only dared to think about the above words in his heart, and on the surface, he had to make a moving look and bowed down and said: "Your Majesty has a deep friendship with Emperor Shenzong, and my Great Song Dynasty is also grateful to my heart, and I hope that in the future, the diplomatic relations between the two countries will be forever, so that the people of the two countries will not suffer from swordsmen!" ”

After saying a few unnutritious clichés, Yelu Jun suddenly shut up at this time, and Yelu Yixin, who was standing next to him, immediately understood, and immediately stepped forward and asked Zhang Dian: "Envoy Zhang, I don't know if your country sent an envoy to my Daliao this time, but is there anything important?" ”

At this time, Zhang Dian looked at Yelu Yixin, who was in power in the Great Liao State, and then spoke: "Your Majesty, King Wei, this envoy sent to the Liao State this time, in fact, I want to discuss an extremely important matter with the Great Liao, that is, to form an alliance!" ”

"Alliance?" Hearing Zhang Dian's words, Yelu Jun and Yelu Yixin were all stunned, and then Ye Lu Jun asked in surprise, "Didn't our Song and Liao countries form an alliance a long time ago, and it was still an alliance signed by me and King Yue himself, could it be that your Great Song Dynasty wants to change the alliance without authorization?" ”

When it came to the end, Yelujun's face was also a little gloomy, because in the past, their Liao State relied on its strong strength, and they had forced the Great Song Dynasty to change the content of the covenant several times, such as increasing the annual coins, etc., but unfortunately now the feng shui is turning, and the strength of the Great Song Dynasty is stronger than that of the Liao State, so as soon as Zhang Dian said about the alliance, Yelujun immediately thought that the Great Song Dynasty was afraid that he would change the covenant.

Seeing Yelujun's appearance, Zhang Dian immediately guessed what the other party was thinking, but he smiled indifferently about it: "Your Majesty misunderstood, since King Yue personally signed an alliance with Your Majesty, naturally it will not be easily changed, but as for the alliance I am talking about, it is another matter." ”

Hearing Zhang Dan's explanation, Yelu Jun's face finally looked better, after all, if the Great Song Dynasty really proposed to modify the covenant, he really didn't know what to do, if he agreed, he would definitely be extremely humiliated, if he disagreed, it was likely to anger the Great Song Dynasty, if the Great Song Dynasty sent troops to attack their Liao State, I am afraid that it would not only be lost Yanyun Land, but it was likely to be beaten by the Song army to the upper capital, and then the entire Liao State would be in danger of extinction.

"Ahem~, since it's not a revision of the covenant, what does the Great Song want to form an alliance with?" At this time, Yelu Yixin next to him also breathed a sigh of relief, he also thought of revising the covenant just now like Yelu Jun, although this Zhang Duan denied their speculation, he still did not dare to relax.

"In fact, the imperial court sent this envoy this time, it is to discuss an alliance with the Liao State to jointly deal with the rising Jurchens, although the strength of the Jurchens is still very weak, but my Great Song Dynasty has always regarded it as a big trouble, and your country has failed many times in the matter of stifling the Jurchens, which makes my Great Song very worried, so I want to form an alliance with the Liao State to jointly deal with the rising Jurchens!" Zhang Duan said solemnly at this time.

"What? An alliance against the Jurchens? When Yelu Jun and Yelu Yixin heard Zhang Dan's words, they couldn't help but want to pluck out their ears and wonder if they had heard it wrong, the Jurchens were still thousands of miles away from the Great Song Dynasty, and they couldn't threaten the Great Song Dynasty, right?

Seeing the expressions of Yelu Jun's ministers, Zhang Dian could also guess that they must be doubting his words, but he was also prepared, and said at the moment: "Your Majesty, perhaps in your opinion, my Great Song Dynasty proposed to form an alliance with the Liao State to deal with a small Jurchen is a bit of a fuss, but my Royal Highness the Yue King of the Great Song Dynasty has been exiled to the Jurchens for nearly a year, and he knows the horror of the Jurchens, even after returning to the Great Song Dynasty, he has been paying attention to the situation of the Jurchens. ”

When he said this, he saw Zhang Dian pause for a moment and then said: "The year before last, the Liao army was frustrated when it cleared the Jurchens, and my Great Song Dynasty once sent people to the Jurchen Sea by boat, eliminated many Jurchens, and even burned the materials stored by the Wanyan Ministry, but unfortunately I didn't expect them to survive the long winter, and now the strength of the Wanyan Department is exhausted, even more fierce than before, my Great Song Dynasty is the brother state of the Liao State, and there is an inextricable hatred with the Wanyan Ministry, so I want to form an alliance with the Liao State, Destroy the enemy of Yanbu in one fell swoop! ”

"I see, no wonder last year, the strength of Wanyan was not only not enhanced, but also became very weak, I didn't expect it to be Da Song!" Yelu Jun also showed a contemplative expression when he heard this, he already knew about Zhao Yan's exile to Wanyanbu, but he didn't know that Zhao Yan and Wanyan had such a big grudge, and even sent a fleet to the Jurchens to fight Wanyan.

However, Ye Lujun then thought that even if Zhao Yan had a personal grudge with Wanyanbu, but from the perspective of the Great Song Dynasty, the rise of the Wanyan Ministry would only contain his own troops, and it should be beneficial and harmless for the Great Song Dynasty. (To be continued.) )