In the Huihong Palace, sandalwood is curling.

Zhao Ta sat on the top, accompanied by Bai Shizhong, and there were more than a dozen subordinate officials of the Ministry of Rites below, and everyone drank tea without saying a word.

The Ministry of Rites is still noble and noble, Bai Shizhong has been walking on thin ice all these years, not to mention how the official achievements are before, there is always nothing wrong with it, so he has secured the current position, if he can make some contributions in the future, he is still expected to worship the prime minister.

Now the court pattern seems to be dominant, but Bai Shizhong knows that it is actually a three-legged situation, and these three are secretly close to different princes, and their hearts are clearly revealed.

Bai Shizhong didn't choose which side, and the position of the secretary of the Ministry of Rites couldn't make him stand in line easily, just observing in secret, savoring it, and winning a bright future in the future.

Although he didn't choose, he was biased towards the prince in his heart, the prince was orthodox, and although the third prince Zhao Kai had the secret support of nearly half of Cai Jinggao's courtiers, he knew that Liang Shicheng was the prince's person, and with this hidden appearance, the third prince Zhao Kai wanted to take the throne, but it was difficult.

As for the second prince next to him, Bai Shizhong doesn't understand it very well, he is obviously outstanding in literature, but how can he be martial?

Throughout the history books, similar to this kind of martial arts nobles, most of them appeared at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the Spring and Autumn Period was decided, the martial spirit did not change, and even some princes also participated in the battle of the deer, and it is normal to be martial, but this dynasty...... Even at the beginning of the dynasty, there was no such scene.

Bai Shizhong peeked at Zhao Kai, only to feel that this second prince was not quite consistent with the rumors, it was rumored that he had been looking forward to ten years, and stepped into the court, he should be a powerful character who could not bear to show it, why did he look aggressive, as if he was going to draw his sword and kill people in the next moment?

Zhao Ta took a sip of tea, knowing that Bai Shizhong was secretly looking at himself, this person was cautious, but there was a poisonous snake in his heart, Emperor Daojun in the late Xuanhe period, there was a temptation to change Zhao Kai as the prince, but was dissuaded by Liang Shicheng, at that time Bai Shizhong stood in line with the prince, the bet was successful, and finally the official became the prime minister.

At this time, an official from the Ministry of Rites on the side reminded that it was a quarter of an hour later, Bai Shizhong couldn't help frowning slightly, how could he not know that this was deliberately done by the Liao people, but Emperor Daojun had a will, and his Ministry of Rites was only responsible for reception in this matter, as for the specific negotiation, it was Zhao Ta who presided over it, and couldn't help but look over.

Zhao Ta's face was gloomy, undisguised, he didn't drink the tea, closed his eyes slightly, and only secretly calculated in his heart how long it would take for the will of the royal card to be given last night.

About a little later, as if it were another quarter of an hour, someone came to report that the Liao delegation had arrived.

According to etiquette, the officials on the side of the Ministry of Rites have to go to greet them, and as for who to pick up, it depends on the size of the other party's official rank in the Liao State.

As for negotiations, at least a senior official is required to attend.

The official system of the Liao State was also a mess, roughly divided into the north and the south.

There are the North Privy Council and the South Privy Council under the court officials in the north, the North Privy Council is in charge of military affairs, the South Privy Council is in charge of the people's livelihood, and there are the King of the North Court and the King of the South Court under the North Privy Council.

The king of the northern courtyard is in charge of the Khitan soldiers, and the king of the southern courtyard is in charge of the Han soldiers, and the military dispatched for expeditions is all under the Northern Privy Council.

The southern court officials manage the Han Han and Bohai people, and there is also a privy council, which is generally called the Han Privy Council, which is very easy to be confused with the southern privy council in the north court, but it is not actually one.

Judging from the list of the names of the mission, the highest official position of the Liao State mission this time is the general secretary of the Northern Privy Council, which is similar to that of Shilang, probably four grades from three grades.

There are also two generals in the mission list, who are rank officers, and the specific position in the Liao State is not clear.

These three people are all northern officials, Khitans, and it is extremely difficult for the Han people to become northern officials, but there are many Khitans in the southern officials, and the Khitans in the southern officials all wear Hanfu, practice the Han system, and learn decently.

In addition to these three people, there are also two Han southern officials, the southern officials of the Liao State imitate the Tang and Song Dynasty systems, and the official titles are almost the same, but the water is very large, and they probably have to be lowered by one or two levels.

One of these two people is a doctor in Zhengfeng and the other is a general in Dingyuan, both of whom are loose officials, and their specific positions are not specified.

According to the list of missions, the other party sent a waiter to the north, and the Great Song Dynasty should have a waiter to greet him, and Shangshu to meet, especially the Ministry of the Enemy Lie Madu Division, which is actually equivalent to the Ministry of Rites of the Liao State, and its functions are similar to the Ministry of Rites of the Song Dynasty.

While speaking, the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites stood up, and was about to ask Zhao Ta and Bai Shizhong to go to pick up people, Zhao Ta slammed the tea bowl on the table and said, "Who dares to go!" ”

Zuo Shilang was not surprised when he heard this, he could sit in this position in the court of Emperor Daojun, which one is not like an oil spirit? From entering the door to now, where can you not see that His Royal Highness King Qi is not in a good mood?

He didn't look at Bai Shizhong at the moment, he just sighed, and sat down unchanged, which was even more secure than Bai Shizhong.

A moment later, the junior officer at the head of the ministry led in a group of people, but there were as many as a dozen of them, and the five leaders on the mission table walked in the forefront.

Zhao Tan's eyes swept over these people, but he frowned slightly when he saw the last person.

It turned out to be Xiao Min, but today this girl is wearing a black gauze robe, which is more and more white as jade, bright and beautiful.

Zhao Ta is not afraid of being insightful at the moment, Xiao Min's identity in the mission is a business travel, with the blood of the descendants of the Liao Kingdom, in addition to the matters of setting up the ring, this meeting has some business matters to discuss, so it is normal for business leaders to participate.

It's just that Zhao Tan wondered about the true identity of Xiao Min, the identity of Yelu Dashi's fiancée is nothing, Yelu and Xiao surnamed Liao are everywhere, hundreds of years have passed, and there are many civilians, but if she can come to participate in this kind of ritual meeting, then her background is by no means ordinary.

Seeing the Liao envoy coming in, the faces of the people in the Ministry of Rites were not good-looking, after all, they had waited for such a long time, and anyone was impatient, knowing that the Liao envoy was deliberately delaying.

The Liao people also have a cold face, the mission to the Song Dynasty, the first time encountered the situation that no one greeted outside the ceremonial department, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the two sides of the mission have come and gone no less than 100 times, it can be said that it is unprecedented, this is worse than their deliberate delay in time, there is always a perfunctory reason for delaying time, but what is the reason for not greeting it?

Zhao Ta looked at it a few times, then closed his eyes slightly, did not speak, and did not drink tea, as if he was asleep.

Bai Shizhong saw it on the side, and couldn't help but cry out in his heart, this Wang Jia is too different from the rumors, wouldn't this scene put his Shangshu on the brazier to roast?

But now that they have entered the hall, it is not good to squeeze each other anymore, Bai Shizhong had no choice but to open his mouth and invite the opposite side to sit down, but seeing that the opposite side was unhappy, the atmosphere in the hall gradually became wrong.

Zhao Ta is the mainstay, he doesn't speak, Bai Shizhong naturally can't talk about the ring, the Liao people are used to being domineering in the Song Kingdom, where are they willing to bow their heads and talk first.

For a while, the people on both sides, you look at me, I look at you, big eyes and small eyes, the officials of the Ministry of Rites are not afraid of this, and even the generals have always been willing to bow down when it comes to the ability to stare at the eye.

After another moment, the enemy led by the envoy finally couldn't bear it anymore, and snorted coldly: "I don't know the number of etiquette!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the officials of the Ministry of Rites on the other side frowned, and Zhao Ta, who was on the main head, slowly opened his eyes: "What do you say?" ”