Hearing that the subordinate officials came to report to the righteous army envoys to the door to ask for a meeting, Cheng Tingli was not in a hurry at all, first washed his face, lost his mouth, and by the way, extinguished the fire, lest the smell of the fire in the past few days smoke the sons and brothers who are playing around, and then the whole court clothes, and self-pity against the half-human-high bronze mirror lonely shadow, consciously the great husband Mei Fengyi, can be a majestic country, in order to infect the envoys of Fanbang with Chinese cultural relics, and sit and watch "Zuo Chuan" for a long time , raised the righteousness in his chest, and tossed for half an hour, before he saw Zhang Zhongyao, the envoy of the Guiyi Army, who had been waiting outside the door.

Zhang Zhongyao waited for a long time, heard the rumors, and told An Sidao not to make trouble before entering. As soon as he saw the heavenly envoys sitting upright, Zheng Si was holding the teacup and blowing away the foam, Zhang Zhongyao immediately accompanied the smiling face and said again and again: "The lower officials are greedy for the style of the homeland, and they forgot their steps for a while, and they traveled for a few days, and Lord Cheng forgives his sins." Although the Song State sent an official from Duting Xiyi, who was responsible for receiving the envoys from the vassal state, to greet him, Zhang Zhongyao believed that the envoy of the Shazhou Guiyi Army was an official of the imperial court, and when he met with a member of the imperial court, he naturally had to call himself a subordinate official instead of an envoy.

Cheng Tingli saw that his eyes were sharp, not like those stubborn and arrogant Uighur and Tibetan barbarians, and he also felt a little better in his heart, so he coped with it without yin or yang: "It's good to come back, if Zhang Fan's envoy disappears, it will be difficult for this official to explain to the imperial court." Zhang Zhongyao heard his strange tone, so he had to laugh on the side, the two of them talked back and forth, Zhang Zhongyao finally said that there was a treasure in the Western Regions to be given to Cheng Supervisor to make amends, and Cheng Tingli's eyes lit up. When Zhang Zhongyao took out a delicate and clear mutton fat jade ring from his sleeve, Cheng Tingli was full of hope and suddenly turned into anger, and said secretly, what a dog looks down on people, and he deceives people too much.

Fanbang tribute was actually a form of international trade at this time, and the gifts given by the dynasty were often much higher than the value of the tribute. Therefore, the caravans of the countries of the Western Regions and even the farther countries of the Great Food Country all rushed to seek huge profits in the name of tribute. After a long time, the imperial court required the envoys to pay tribute to carry the letter of state, but who could say clearly what was thousands of miles away, and the envoys who carried a large number of strange treasures from the Western Regions were still in an endless stream. The imperial court did not want to lose the dignity of the Wanbang Dynasty, and it could not bear to disturb it, so it deliberately delayed the date of the meeting, and these envoys waited for a long time in Qinzhou and other state capitals, and they could also do some business with local merchants on the spot. The more envoys waiting, the longer the time drags on, and the supervisor of Duting Xiyi, who is responsible for arranging the reception, needs to make good friends. Therefore, this Duting Xiyi seems to be a powerless and powerless yamen, but in fact, there are always a few errands a year, which is also a big reason why Cheng Tingli is content to stay in this powerless and powerless welcome yamen, and does not go to the yamen such as the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Households.

In the third year of Qiande, Cheng Tingli was still a low-grade subordinate, and when the Uighurs of Ganzhou paid tribute, he gave the supervisor a pair of white bi as a meeting gift, and a bewitching orchid full of pearls. At that time, he was envious in his heart. After struggling in the yamen, the ups and downs of the sea and the gradual rise and fall of the palace, and finally climbed to the position of the supervisor, and it became a habit to accept gifts from the envoys of Fanbang, and his vision was also improving day by day. The envoys of the Hexi Guiyi Army were verbose for a long time, and they only shot a jade ring, which really annoyed Cheng Tingli, and his face immediately turned bad.

Dunhuang depends on the business travel and exists, Zhang Zhongyao has a lot of dealings with people from all over the world, and is accustomed to observing words and feelings, and suddenly realized that this gift was given very thinly, and immediately laughed with a smile: "This jade ring is given to Lord Cheng's inner family to enjoy and play, and the lower official has another pair of jasper cups that are quite delicate and exquisite, and it is inconvenient to carry them today, and they should be sent to the house another day, please smile and accept them." ”

Cheng Tingli's face was relaxed, and he said with a smile: "Zhang Fan's envoy is polite, this official is ordered by the emperor to drive, but the saint has not decided when to summon him, the envoys of Shazhou have many Cai, and they have stayed in Qinzhou for half a year, and if they delay for a few more days, the court will understand." After speaking, he picked up the teacup and blew it gently, Zhang Zhongyao woke up, and stood up to say goodbye.

In the early morning of the next day, the envoys of the Guiyi Army set off on the road, a group of people boarded the boat from Qinzhou, went down the Weishui, passed through Jingzhao Mansion, because he was afraid of delaying the emperor's summons, Zhang Zhongyao did not dare to stay in Jingzhao Mansion, that is, Chang'an to worship the tomb of the ancestors, the official boat of the Shazhou envoy passed through the Guanzhong Plain, and changed the big boat when he did not arrive at the Hezhong Mansion, and then sailed into the Yellow River from Weishui, and changed the boat again when he went down the river from the Yellow River into the Bianhe River.

Approaching the Kaifeng wharf, the official ship of the envoy suddenly stopped, waiting for a group of official ships to dock first. Zhang Zhongyao looked at it from a distance, and saw that there were 20 official ships in total, and the two ships in the center were particularly tall and magnificent. At this time, although the festival envoy was far from being as high and powerful as the nine major festival envoys in the early Tang Dynasty, the person who held the position of the festival envoy must be the head of the court and the important minister. Political power, the court relied on it, quite jealous of all parties to make an alliance against the court, why these two did not care about this festival at all, actually swaggered in broad daylight to return to Beijing to report on their work, although he was often in Hexi, but extremely concerned about the Central Plains court, knowing that the dynasty guarded the inside and outside, with the text and the imperial army, to avoid the occurrence of the foreign feudal palace forced palace.

After the official ship docked, the mission could not enter Kaifeng Mansion directly, but rested for a few days at a post station next to the wharf, and waited for the Duting West Post to inform the Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites, and then arranged a place to live in the post house in the city, before they could calmly enter Bianliang and wait for the emperor to summon them. Because there were many people in the official ship of the Jiedu envoys, they also stayed in the wharf post station that night, and lived next to the courtyard where the envoys lived.

After staying here, Zhang Zhongyao called An Sidao and instructed in a low voice: "The high-ranking officials of the imperial court are here, and you should restrain your fellow citizens to be cautious in their words and deeds, so as not to cause trouble." In addition, ask the post station guard, which Jiedu envoy is next door?" After An Sidao went out, Zhang Zhongyao washed his face in the room, he had never been on this boat for a long time when he was in Shazhou, and he stayed in the boat for several days, only to feel that the bones were sour, so he took out the Qingfeng sword he carried with him, and planned to dance the sword in the courtyard to activate his muscles and bones.

At this time, the people's morale in the Central Plains was very different from that of the Tang Dynasty, and the two ways of civil and military were different, and the scholars did not practice martial arts, but only concentrated on reading, looking forward to the scientific field and the first to become a trend. However, the Western Regions and Hexi Prefectures are almost always under the threat of foreign soldiers and horses, and the scholars of the Tang Dynasty are good at learning swords, and martial arts such as horseback riding and hunting are still popular, and although Zhang Zhongyao is a civil official, he is also quite proficient in swordsmanship.

After dancing the sword for a while, Zhang Zhongyao felt that the palms of his hands and feet changed from cold to warm, his breath was smooth, his forehead was slightly sweaty, and he was about to go back to the room to rest, when he suddenly heard the sound of humming in the courtyard next door, thinking that the entourage of the festival envoy was performing martial arts, Zhang Zhongyao came from afar, and he had no foundation in Bianliang, and he also wanted to get acquainted with a few heroes, so he followed the sound and left.

There is a moon gate between the courtyards of the post station, and it is not locked, Zhang Zhongyao came to a pavilion along the winding flower path, only to see a veteran holding a five-foot iron lance, exhaling and opening the sound, pointing to the east and pinching the west, although there is no sound of breaking the wind, but the moves seem to contain great strength. This veteran has a slight star frost on his temples, his face looks like a forty, but his body is as thick as a bear and tiger, he wears a purple brocade robe on his upper body, ties his hem around his waist, and his eyes are round. Zhang Zhongyao saw that he was in a bad mood, presumably he met a festival envoy, if he left at this moment, it would seem abrupt, so he watched with all his attention, and secretly applauded in his heart.

In the pavilion, there was another old man dressed in civilian clothes, I don't know if it was the guest Qing or a friend of the martial arts envoy, while twisting three locks of beard, while smiling and watching, he saw Zhang Zhongyao approaching from a distance, nodded to him, Zhang Zhongyao saw that he had a gentle attitude, and he had to bow from afar. At this moment, the veteran of the dancing lance suddenly burst into thunder, threw the iron lance out of his hand with a "bang", and flew towards the pavilion like lightning. Zhang Zhongyao hurriedly said: "Be careful!" Before the words fell, he saw the short lance slam into the pavilion pillars, if it was off the rails, he was afraid that he would pierce the old man who drank tea in the pavilion, and his hanging heart fell. Seeing that the old man in the pavilion was as if nothing happened, the gentle smile on his face did not change at all, and he gently picked up the teacup and took a sip, Zhang Zhongyao's face was slightly hot, and he said in his heart, this is the style of a famous man in Middle Earth. ”