According to the records in the book, the Song officials who asked to see Guo Ning were Zhao Fang and Xuan Zhen.
At this time, except for a part of the Song army still stationed in the Nanxunmen and Yuanqiu areas, facing a vague confrontation with the Dinghai navy officers, most of them had returned to their original camp, dozens of miles away from Kaifeng.
These two people were the leaders of the Song army's repeated battles, which resulted in a large number of deaths in the Dinghai navy. They had only brought a few dozen followers to roam around the city. They were really courageous.
However, the officers and soldiers of Dinghai Navy did not give them a good look. The places they wanted to visit, such as Fanyan Mansion, Longde Palace, and even Daxiangguo Temple, were all under military control and could not be entered, but could only be viewed from a distance.
The two of them felt that these early relics were overturned and had no sense of restoration. They also wanted to go to the palace to collect the relics from Bianliang in Tokyo during the Song Dynasty, so they sent people to pass the news. Firstly, they intended to ask Guo Ning in person for permission. Secondly, We also want to eliminate misunderstandings between the two parties through direct communication.
In the evening, an envoy from the Ding Navy came over and said that Duke Zhou was busy with official duties and would discuss military and political matters with all parties overnight. If the Song envoy was interested, he could wait at the Xingjiao Temple where Duke Zhou stayed. If Duke Zhou was free, he would meet Meet at the end.
Zhao Fang and Xuan Zhen did not dare to neglect and went immediately.
As a result, I had to wait all night, and several inquiries were delayed by Guo Ning's insistence. The two of them couldn't be rude, so they had to sit in the living room in neat clothes all night, not even daring to lean on the table and take a nap.
Zhao Fang initially thought that Guo Ning was angry at Song Jun's repeated behavior and Shi Xiang's conspiracy, so he specially arranged to meet at this time to tease his old bones. It turned out that it was true that Zhou Guogong was busy with official duties. He looked out through the courtyard gate and saw civil and military officials passing by at high prices.
A young man dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking official walked past the gate of the courtyard where Zhao Fang was. He was leading several officials, all of whom were holding heavy files, and some were being transported on carts, and were heading to another brightly lit courtyard. It seemed that there were not only many things at hand, but also urgent matters.
It wasn't until the sky dimmed that Guo Ning sent his attendants to summon him.
Before setting off, Zhao Fang suddenly thought of something else.
He is a general guarding the frontier, and he has been in high and low officialdom for decades, so he is very cautious. He can make many decisions about the situation without Xing Xing's explicit permission, but he is not suitable for diplomatic contact with Guo Ning.
What's more, there are too many things that are difficult to understand about the attitude of the Song Dynasty's court, the Song Dynasty's prime ministers and even the Song Dynasty's officials towards the rapidly rising power of Ding Haijun, and whether they regard it as an enemy or a friend. , it is very likely that some things cannot be known to outsiders at all.
So Zhao Fang waited with Xuan Zhen in the guest house all night. In the end, he did not attend the meeting with Xuan Zhen.
This decision seemed right, because when Xuan Zhen returned the next morning, he looked extremely tired. On the contrary, Zhao Fang finally dozed off for half an hour and was able to lead Xuan Zhen and slowly walk out of Xingjiao Temple.
At the turn of summer and autumn, the sun rises early. In the early morning, the soldiers who had fought hard yesterday gradually woke up. From the temples and houses taken over by soldiers on both sides of the street, the shouts of soldiers practicing gradually came from.
After fighting a big battle, the army will rest for a period of time. There is no order to get up in the morning, and there is no need to line up for training. Zhao Fang also already knew that there was no requirement for regular soldiers to participate in labor service in the Ding Navy. In this regard, they adhered to the customs of the Jurchen army and retained a large number of Alixi, or auxiliary soldiers, in addition to the main army. The auxiliary soldiers will do various chores. Now the regular soldiers only need to eat and sleep. Conserving physical strength and recovering from injuries are their main tasks.
The sound of wheels grinding against the ground came from the corner of the street. That was the auxiliary soldiers loading food in carts and sending it to their own camps.
In every courtyard, there are also auxiliary soldiers living in the kitchen. But these carts were filled with meat, and a lot of spices were put into it when cooking. Zhao Fang could smell the strong aroma from a long distance away. It should be the result of the Dinghai navy's looting of many nobles yesterday, regardless of Both spices and meat.
Obviously, although the food savings in the hands of the Nanjing court were almost at the bottom, the high-ranking nobles in the city had hidden many good things, so that the Ding navy officers who had cleaned the city could have a feast.
It is estimated that the soldiers will enjoy it very comfortably in the past few days.
For warriors who train and fight all year round, this kind of relief after victory is the most pleasant. Winning a great victory, killing countless enemies, seizing the enemy's capital, and destroying the enemy's political power. Such a great victory has more than just military significance. Every soldier knows that this will definitely lead to the kingship of Zhou Guogong later, and it will definitely be accompanied by a large number of rewards.
Of course, it would be even more pleasant if he survived and could enjoy the upcoming reward.
Zhao Fang and Xuan Zhen stood in the middle of the road. They saw a soldier waving his weapon casually, stretching his muscles and bones, and after practicing a few times, they couldn't help but start singing. Immediately, some people catered to him and sang together. Sometimes they sang military songs, and sometimes they changed to some kind of funny ditty, which made others laugh.
Zhao Fang looked around both sides of the street and saw that the faces of the soldiers were not good, even gloomy.
That must be because Paoze's brother or good friend died in yesterday's battle.
Zhao Fang is very familiar with this mood. The mood of these soldiers will remain depressed for a long time, and they are irritable and irritable, which can easily cause trouble in the army and may even cause a roar in the camp. Therefore, suppressing and monitoring these people is also very important.
But then he saw that some naval officers came to comfort them and said something gesticulating, which actually made these officers nod their heads.
Zhao Fang took a few steps closer to listen to what a certain officer said.
The accent of northerners is very different from that of southerners. Fortunately, this officer is just an ordinary junior officer at the grassroots level. His eloquence is not very good, and his repeated words are quite simple. So Zhao Fang guessed and understood several passages.
The general meaning is that this war is not a trivial matter. The war dead will definitely be enshrined in the Temple of Heroes and will be worshiped for generations. The person who refuses to do things for them is the old god of the Quanzhen Sect. In addition, the families of those who died in the war will be exempted from taxes, will be given land, and their children will be eligible to go to school.
How can orphans and widowers cope with these things? Military households have to help each other when they have nothing to do. Since you have a deep friendship with the war dead, you should come forward to support them!
You have taken good care of your good brother's family, rather than showing it to everyone with a stern face! If you can continue to make meritorious deeds and receive rewards, you can take better care of them!
When the officer spoke later, his tone was serious, as if he had given the soldiers an important task. The soldier's complexion gradually improved with the officer's words. He patted his chest and assured the officer that he would definitely take care of him and do something.
If you think about it carefully, these words are not incomprehensible to Zhao Fang. The Song Dynasty also provided various compensations for fallen soldiers. But most of them were given to generals. Most ordinary soldiers died when they died. If their families were unable to survive after their death, they could at most get support from their local government according to the standards of widowers and widowers, so as not to starve to death.
Zhao Fang often used money to provide relief to the families of soldiers and soldiers who were living in hardship, which was considered a rare act of kindness. How could it be possible that like Ding Haijun, every ordinary soldier could discuss such high-profile matters behind his back, and then really have a set of procedures for dealing with it?
Zhao Fang's expression became more and more serious. He walked slowly along the road, watching more and more soldiers wake up and go out to visit the courtyard; watching them eat and drink, and then habitually picked up the weapon and practiced twice, and then remembered that he could rest today.
Some of the soldiers who had finally relaxed were sitting and chatting at the entrance of the courtyard. Some climbed to the top of the courtyard wall and looked at the tall and low buildings in the distance. Then they heard the singing of their former companions and sang along.
When Zhao Fang walked near Duanmen, the sound of singing and cheering woke up thousands of people, and the joy spread to more people.
During the night before, the soldiers had not been freed from the fatigue of the battle. Until this time, they cheered and jumped to their heart's content. Many people threw their helmets into the air, which then caused the officers to laugh and curse. They held their swords and guns high, like jungles swaying in the wind, and the blades of their swords and guns shone coldly under the early morning mist; they danced their flags, and the flags fluttered high, just like people's moods.
Occasionally, messengers would ride to a certain courtyard and issue orders to the soldiers stationed here. The cheering soldiers immediately packed up their weapons and luggage without any delay.
Zhao Fang suddenly couldn't restrain his curiosity and asked Xuan Zhen in a low voice: "What did you and Zhou Guogong talk about last night?"
Xuan Zhen smiled bitterly: "Where did last night come from? We just finished talking, and it's already morning!"
Along the way, Xuanzi didn't say anything. He felt very tired, and he believed that his face did not look good. Just walking along the street, his back and waist were sore and a little numb.
He is really not young anymore. Running from south to north and back again in the past two months has consumed so much energy that the belt on his stomach can be tightened more than three times now.
Xuan Zhen often remembered that when he was young, he used to read and compose every day and night, never letting go of the scroll, constantly thinking about how to get ahead, show off his talents, and finally achieve his current status.
Then success and fame came, glory and wealth came, but when I turned around I found that my back was hunched, my hair was white, there were more wrinkles on my face, my energy was not half as good as when I was young, and I would feel groggy after being slightly tired.
Most of the people in the imperial court of the Song Dynasty were like me. In fact, the Song Dynasty itself was as tired as me.
Think about how energetic Duke Guo Ning of Zhou was when he saw him last night. Think about the officials who controlled the key passes of the city overnight, established military strongholds, and counted the people and property. The number was more than a hundred? Look at the cheering soldiers at this time. There are more than one hundred thousand soldiers like this under Guo Ning's command?
Each of them is highly motivated and ambitious! Therefore, after they gathered together and established a political power, their expansion momentum was like riding the wind, destroying the Kingdom of Jin like a raging fire!
At that time, the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty said that there were billions of Han people in the North, but there were no heroes. If there were any, why not afford them and lose gold. Now the heroes of the Northland have risen, and the destruction of the great wealth is only a matter of a few moments. So, what is this hero's attitude towards the Song Dynasty, and how should the Song Dynasty respond?
This is what Xuan Zhen wanted to find out when he asked to see Guo Ning.
Xuan Zhen stopped and looked at Zhao Fang.
He said slowly and authentically: "Yesterday, I wanted to discuss with Zhou Guogong the division of Tang, Deng, Ying, Cai and other states on the pretext of collecting old Song Dynasty objects in the imperial city, and also discussed whether there was any cooperation between the two families in Longshang, northern Sichuan. Maybe. Duke Zhou ignored what I said, but asked me to convey a request to Mr. Shi."
"What request?"
"Zhou Guogong said that since the move of Zuo in Song Dynasty, the Jurchens and Beidi have entered the main domain. This is not a manpower, but a gift from heaven. Now the fortune cycle, he started from the end, swept Yunshuo and Qilu in a few years, and now he has settled the river. Huai is about to attack Qin Gong. In this situation, he has elite soldiers who can control strings and arrows, and he has the majesty of tens of thousands of followers. It is inevitable that he will take advantage of the situation to replace Dajin. However, he is self-effacing and has little literary education. Studying classics and history, he was afraid that his omissions would be laughed at by future generations. So he asked, if he followed the rules of Yao and Shun and inherited the imperial line of the Jin Dynasty by abdication, could the Song Dynasty send officials north to celebrate the new dynasty? Zhao Jian, will you also assist in completing the abdication ceremony?"
Zhao Fang frowned: "Are you asking us to rush forward and hold his new dynasty?"
"Without our intervention, Daikin would definitely be doomed."
Xuan Zhen said with a bitter smile: "His surname is Guo, and he also takes Zhou as his country name. Outsiders will inevitably think that this newly built Zhou Dynasty has any connection with Guo Wei's later Zhou Dynasty. If he really announced that he would inherit the later Zhou Dynasty, and use the Song Dynasty as the usurper If he reverses the dynasty, there will be big trouble between the two families! On the contrary... Ahem, if we send people to participate in the process of his abdication, it will be like the assistance between brothers. Since we are a country of brothers, what will happen in the future? It’s easy to communicate about things.”
"A country of brothers? Did Guo Ning say this himself?"
"He didn't say it directly, but that's what he meant. In addition, he didn't ask us to take the initiative to send people to celebrate. Instead, he would arrange for envoys to come to Lin'an respectfully to pay tribute to the court and officials first, and then, Invite me, a famous scholar from the Song Dynasty, to give lectures in Zhongdu."
"That makes sense."
Zhao Fang nodded: "I don't know who the envoy will be. I guess he must be the important minister under Guo Ning, right?"
Both of these two have dealt with Ding Haijun, but they are really not familiar with Guo Ning's temperament that hates pretense. In Guo Ning's view, Ding Haijun's envoys have already been in Lin'an, so why do they need to send additional people?
Ten days later.
Outside Lin'an City, on the banks of the Shangtang River, in the Banjing Pavilion, which was specially designed for envoys to live, Li Yun washed his face seriously, combed his short beard under his chin, and then changed into a serious official uniform. He took a look at himself in the mirror and felt that the man in the mirror was really a spirited young man.
After adjusting his clothes for the last time, Li Yun walked out slowly with square steps.
Previously, when he was in Lin'an, he was accompanied by Ding Yan and Hou Zhongxin as escorts. But at this moment, the person who first led the people to greet him outside Banjing Hall was Shi Miyuan's close confidant, Xue Ji, who had newly become a bachelor of Duanming Palace.
Behind Xue Ji, hundreds of people bowed and saluted.
This scene shocked Li Yun. He couldn't help but murmured:
"In the past two years, I have been running around with the tiger skin as a banner. Now, the tiger skin has become more and more majestic. It actually makes me a little nervous. I feel like I am the best among monkeys!"
