After walking for more than half a day, the group came to Duting Xiyi.

This Duting Xiyi is equivalent to the border minority office set up in the Song Dynasty, which specializes in receiving envoys from the Western Xia, Tubo, Uighur, Dali and other tribes.

Liu Renmiao was about to step forward and knock on the door to show his intention, but was stopped by Li Deming with a wave of his hand: "General Liu, you only report your name for a while, don't say that I am here too." ”

"The king's meaning is ......"

"When I see the little emperor of the Song Dynasty tomorrow, I want to hear how he and his ministers will deal with the Western Xia party next, if they know that I am here, I am afraid that there are some things they will not say in front of me. ”

"Understood. Liu Renqiao was ordered to go and submit the paperwork. Li Deming and the samurai entered the post house in turn to rest.

There was nothing to say all night, and the next day, the internal attendant came to invite: The emperor is going to meet General Liu Renqiao in the Zichen Hall this morning.

Li Deming changed into the clothes of his entourage, everyone packed up and stopped, set off early, passed through Xiangguo Temple, Jingling Palace, Xuande Gate, and came to the front of Zichen Palace.

The inner eunuch led the group to the front of the main hall, and reported the name of the audience Liu Renqiao, and someone in the hall shouted: "The Xiazhou envoy Zuodu escorted Liu Renqiao to see him, and the rest of the people waited outside the palace to listen to the announcement." ”

In front of the palace, all the commanders came to untie everyone's weapons and handed them over to the guards and forbidden troops for safekeeping. Liu Renmiao tidied up his clothes, walked two steps up the stairs, Li Deming followed him three steps away from him with a document in his hand, and the two walked into the Zichen Hall one after the other.

As soon as he entered the hall, as soon as Li Deming raised his head, he took a look at Emperor Zhao Heng, and looked at each other, both of them were stunned.

In Li Deming's opinion, although the emperor is young, he has a heroic face, and I heard that in order to inherit the throne, he got rid of the great eunuch Wang Jien and abolished the deputy prime minister Li Changling, and his wrist is very clever. In addition, he reused Kou Zhun, defeated the Khitans in a row, forced the Liao State to sign the Lanyuan Alliance, and was also a very good emperor.

In Zhao Heng's opinion, this guard of the party clan is graceful and arrogant, unlike ordinary warriors.

At this time, Liu Renmiao had already knelt down to pay homage according to the etiquette of the Song Dynasty, but Li Deming stood in place and stared at the emperor directly, forgetting to salute.

"Bold, why don't you kneel when you see my emperor?"

Li Deming turned around and saw a minister who looked like a military general, his eyes widened angrily, and he took a step forward with his left foot, as if he was about to pull out the posture and come over and knock him down.

This person's name is Cao Wei, one of the four famous generals of the Song Dynasty, Cao's father and son have been fighting at the border, and many ethnic minority tribes know each other. Liu Renmiao hurriedly turned his head and glanced at Li Deming, which means: Your Majesty, don't forget, you have to dress up as an entourage, and you have to kneel down and salute when you get here.

Li Deming smiled slightly, slowly knelt down on one knee, and bowed shallowly, which can be regarded as a passing salute. Cao Wei on the side was about to get angry, and Emperor Zhao Heng waved his hand: "General Cao, this Xirong is in a wilderness, and the party members don't understand my Great Song Etiquette, forget it." General Liu, get up and speak. ”

Liu Ren thanked him, stood up and said what Li Deming had told him, and asked to ask the Song Dynasty to make peace. Zhao Heng nodded, but did not speak. At this time, a person walked out of the Wenchen train: "Your Majesty, the minister has a book to play!"

It was Wang Qinruo, the governor of the council, who spoke.

"Wang Aiqing, what's the matter with you?"

"Your Majesty, the Western Xia Party has grown stronger and stronger over the years, and Zhao Jiqian has fought more than 100 battles in the east and west, and has laid a lot of territory, although Zhao Jiqian is dead, but Weichen heard that his son Zhao Deming is more ambitious than his father, and now he is in Lingzhou, coveting my Great Song Dynasty border Qingzhou, Lanzhou and other places, and has to guard against it. ”

The military general Cao Wei also echoed: "Yes, my Emperor Taizong trusted Zhao Jiqian several times, gave him how many coins and cloth, and allowed him to change his surname to Zhao, but this person turned his face as fast as turning a book, and just received our New Year's coins in the front, and then recruited troops and horses to attack the border, how can he win the trust of such a dishonest villain? Your Majesty might as well give the minister 100,000 elite soldiers, and wait for the minister to recover this barbarian land." ”

"Your Majesty, once we recover the land west of the river, open up the Uighurs and Tibetans, and resume trade, it will be beneficial to our Great Song Dynasty and will not do any harm. ”

As soon as these two people obstructed, the ministers in the hall nodded their heads again and again, and the buzzing sound was endless. People sent envoys to sue for peace, after all, they came to show weakness, and it was a little embarrassing to talk about conquest in front of the envoys, but what Wang Qinruo and Cao Wei said was indeed the truth.

At this moment, someone from outside the palace came to report, and Pan Luozhi, the leader of the Six Grains of Tubo, asked to see him.

The three words of Pan Luozhi sounded in Li Deming's ears like thunder. Pan Luozhi is not familiar with others, he is too familiar, if it weren't for this person to design a frame-up, his father would not have been seriously injured. The enemy who killed his father was close at hand, and his eyes were almost bursting with fire.

"Brother Xiao Zhao, I'm coming to see you, hahahaha. With a grockling laugh, a huge figure entered the main hall. The man was dressed in a tiger skin, bare-legged and a pair of leopard skin boots, and was naked with two thick arms, with well-defined lumpy muscles. Looking at the face again, the eyes are deep, the bridge of the nose is high and narrow, the chin is wide, the unkempt beard is piled up on the chest, and the hair is tied into dozens of small braids dangling.

I saw him go to that station and arch his hand upward: "Brother Xiao Zhao, do you miss me?"

The civil and military ministers all thought: You don't care about the courtesy of the monarch and the minister, you dare to call the emperor "Brother Xiao Zhao", how many heads are enough to cut off this rough man?

How do you know that Zhao Heng was very happy to see Pan Luozhi: "Pan Madman, you are not up or down here, aren't you afraid that I will ask someone to beat you?"

"Hahahaha, okay, my little brother Zhao is also the emperor no matter what he says, and if he is the emperor, he should be worshiped by the world. Kowtow to the emperor a few times, and don't suffer. ”

Saying that, Pan Luozhi knelt on the ground, knocking his head three times, everyone saw that the green bricks on the ground were cracked by him with the top of his head, and even Cao Wei couldn't help but be stunned when he saw it, thinking that this reckless man had so much strength.

"Okay, that's enough, you get up and talk. Saying that, Zhao Heng suddenly switched to Tubo, and Pan Luozhi understood and responded in Tubo.

Li Deming understood a little, it sounded like the two of them seemed to mention Yan'an Mansion and Dingzhou Mansion, and his heart moved, this seemed to be his route to the south. When they listened carefully, Zhao Heng and Pan Luozhi had already changed the topic, talked about the prosperity of Bianliang, and talked for a while, and the two looked at each other and smiled and turned to the official language of the Song Dynasty.

Li Deming thought to himself, this emperor and Pan Luozhi have a good personal relationship.

"Your Majesty, I heard that the people who came to kowtow to you today, as well as the barbarians of the party, where are they?"

In fact, Li Deming and Liu Renqiao were standing aside, wearing the traditional costumes of the party members, Pan Luozhi and the party members had fought many times, and they would not be unaware, but he deliberately raised his voice and asked, obviously not taking Li Deming and them seriously.

"The two next to you are the envoys from the Western Xia Dangxiang tribe, and this is General Liu Renmiao, the ...... It must be his entourage. ”

As he spoke, Zhao Heng glanced at Li Deming.

"Liu Renqiao, hahahaha, I think Zhao Deming's kid will send whom, after making trouble for a long time, he is the defeat of this king's subordinates. Back then, his master and son lost their lives at the hands of this king, what kind of thing is he?"

"You ......" Liu Renmiao took a step forward angrily, but Li Deming secretly pulled the corner of his clothes.

Although the enemy who killed his father was in front of him, Li Deming instantly saw the situation, after all, this is the palace of the Song Dynasty, and it may be difficult to get out once it falls out, and judging from the dialogue between the little emperor and Pan Luozhi, the relationship between the Song Dynasty and Tubo is obviously much closer than that of Western Xia, and the longer it is entangled here, the more unfavorable it will be to himself.

"What, General Liu is not convinced, do you want to show a few hands to this king here?" Pan Luozhi squinted, looking disdainful.

Zhao Heng didn't speak, just quietly watched the actions of both parties. Li Deming thought to himself that this little emperor seemed to be intent on provoking a dispute between Western Xia and Tibet. I was disrespectful to him just now, and this trick is very clever.

The two of them stood there very embarrassed, and the air in the hall was about to freeze, and at this time, an old minister from the Wenchen came out to play.

"Your Majesty, I think that although the Tubo, Uighur, and Dangxiang tribes have fought over the years, it is only a sibling dispute between my Great Song brothers, unlike the Khitan Liao State that has the heart of a tiger and a wolf. Your Majesty can give great grace to heaven, let these three brothers make friends for generations, share Hexi trade, build a field, and trade, and work together with our Great Song Dynasty to fight against Liao, and please think deeply. ”

Speaking was the courtier Wang Dan, at that time, Wang Dan was not only the elder of the three dynasties, but also the minister of the humerus, with his prestige, Zhao Heng also had to give three points.

After all, it is an old minister, this suggestion not only reduced the embarrassing atmosphere in the main hall, but also gave Zhao Heng a round: As long as these three ethnic groups do not make trouble, the strength of our four families together is much stronger than that of Liao.

"Lao Pan, you see, the minister is far-sighted and dedicated to your good. ”

Zhao Heng was noncommittal, but asked Pan Luozhi's opinion first.

Panroch looks like a rough man, but in fact he is very cunning. As soon as he heard Zhao Heng kick the ball over, his eyes rolled and he already had an idea.

"Your Majesty, it's not difficult to get through the generations, but our family doesn't know if General Liu can be the master. ”

Liu Renmiao glanced at Li Deming, saw that he was noncommittal, his face was expressionless, and he hurriedly turned around and gave a deep salute: "Your Majesty, the young general will definitely convey the good intentions of His Majesty and the ministers on his behalf, and strongly recommend King Xiping to be friends with the Great Song Dynasty." ”

The meaning of this is very clear, I can be friends with your Great Song Dynasty, but those two tribes are difficult to say! Especially this Tubo Liugu Division, which has a deep enmity with our party and people, and it is even more difficult to say that they are brothers!

Zhao Heng nodded slowly: "If your party members are friendly with the Tubo and Uighur tribes for generations, I will be even happier." ”

Pan Luozhi shook his pigtails and smiled: "Your Majesty, General Liu didn't mention living in peace with our family, it seems that this brother can't do it, and he has to say something." I can give face, I want to be with him, our family welcomes him, I want to fight, and our family is not afraid of him. ”

"The king of Wuwei County is kind-hearted, and he will be able to promote the eternal friendship of the three tribes, and the old minister believes that the king of Xiping will be able to know the good intentions of my emperor. Prime Minister Wang Dan said and bowed his hand and returned to the Wenchen train.

"This king borrowed the auspicious words of the old minister, I hope that Zhao Deming knows each other and does not live up to everyone's kindness......" As he spoke, Pan Luozhi turned around and arched his hand to Zhao Heng: "Brother Xiao Zhao, I came this time, and I can bring you a rare gift." ”

"Oh, I'm looking forward to Pan's gift. After all, Zhao Heng was young and vigorous, and when he heard that Pan Luozhi was going to give a gift, he couldn't hide his curiosity, and he also wanted to deliberately leave Li Deming and them aside.

"Come on, take it up. Pan Luozhi raised his voice and shouted outside the hall, and he heard the clanging of iron ropes outside the hall, and ten Tubo warriors with big shoulders and round waists pushed a large iron cage into the main hall, and a behemoth in the cage roared continuously.

"Huh, what is this?"

"Shanhuang! This is Shanhuang......"

Some of the ministers who have seen the picture book of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" have already recognized this giant beast as a prime-aged Shanhuang. It's just that this Shanhuang is wearing an iron beak and is spinning around in the cage, his eyes are red, and he is constantly looking at the surrounding environment.

Zhao Heng stood up and took two steps forward, wanting to get closer to watch, but the forbidden army in front of the palace hurriedly protected him.

"Lao Pan, are you a mountain yellow beast?"

"Yes, this is Shanhuang. ”

"I heard that the Mountain Yellow Beast has been extinct for a long time, how could it suddenly appear, and where did you catch it?"

"Our family is also strange, on the way this time, I happened to meet this beast in the area of Qilian Mountain, and it took a lot of trouble to catch it, and it took more than a dozen of my subordinates to overturn it. ”

As he spoke, Pan Luozhi slapped the iron cage with his hand, and the mountain yellow was enraged, and with a loud roar, everyone only felt that there was a muffled thunder in their ears, and some Wenchen even covered their ears, which made the two tremble.

Suddenly, the mountain yellow in the iron cage seemed to smell something, it held its head high and sniffed the smell in the air carefully, identifying the direction, and then, two fierce lights stared at the skin of Li Deming's waist.

Li Deming suddenly remembered that the fangs of the mountain yellow that he killed in the Weiming Valley of Helan Mountain were in this skin. The beast must have smelled its companion. The party wizard mentioned that Shanhuang is both male and female, and the one he killed is a male, and this one seems to be a female beast, could it be that they are a couple?

As he pondered, the shanhuang in the cage slammed the iron cage railing like a madman, it stood taller than a yak, and after a few palms, some of the iron railings were slightly deformed.

"Quick, get this beast out. ”

Pan Luozhi didn't expect Shan Huang to suddenly go crazy after entering the main hall, and hurriedly commanded his subordinates to carry away the iron cage.

As soon as a samurai approached, a railing broke off, and Yamahuang's front paws stuck out of the cage, and in a flash, the samurai was scratched in the chest, blood sprayed, and internal organs flowed out.

Shan Huang, who smelled the smell of blood, was even more irritable, kicked the ground with his hind legs, and continued to slap the iron cage with his forefoot, looking like he was about to break out of the cage. The Wenchen in the main hall was already paralyzed on the ground in fright, and the Praetorian Guards did not dare to move forward with weapons in hand, and dozens of warriors in front of the hall were about to protect the emperor from the side door.

No one expected that at this moment, Li Deming snatched the waist knife of a Praetorian Guard and threw himself into the iron cage.

At this time, Shanhuang broke a railing again, and was poking his head out of the iron cage, seeing that he was about to get out after a few more struggles, Li Deming's eyes were quick, and he used all his strength to slash down, and Shanhuang's head the size of a bull's head fell to the ground in an instant, and the bones rolled to the feet of Pan Luozhi, and the blood in the cavity spurted out a few feet away.