The Xia envoy Wu Zongzhi was Zhang Yue and said, "It turns out that Duke Zhuangyuan was disrespectful and disrespectful. I have long admired your name in Xixia!"
The envoys in the palace and the officials in the guest province all knew Zhang Yue, and they were all afraid of spoiling their job.
Zhang Yue cupped his fists and said: "It's easy to say, easy to say. If your noble envoy comes from afar, we should treat him with courtesy. But if your noble envoy insults Your Majesty, then we should treat him with disrespect!"
Wu Zong looked Zhang Yue up and down and said: "Master Zhuangyuan, the happiness between the Xia and Song Dynasties is like fish in water. You can't ruin the national affairs by having a good reputation at a young age!"
Wu Zong took a heavy breath at the word "state affairs".
Zhang Yue said: "Of course, the Song Dynasty and Xia Dynasty are fish and water, but the Song Dynasty is water and the Xia Dynasty is fish. Water can be without fish, but fish cannot be without water. You Xixia people all rely on our foraging fields in the Song Dynasty to provide livelihoods, and fish and water matters It’s easy to see.”
Wu Zong snorted loudly when he heard this, and cupped his hands and said: "The Zhuangyuan Gong's words are sharp and sharp. I am ashamed of myself. I will no longer humiliate myself. I am just trying to see whether the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty are as good as the Zhuangyuan Gong's articles."
After saying this, Wu Zong stopped talking and walked away.
After Wu Zong left, both the envoys and the accompanying envoys were in great panic. They all said to Zhang Yue: "It's broken. It's broken. The Xia envoy will be angry and will definitely blame us. Once the Xia Lord raises troops to investigate, I will It’s hard to escape the blame!”
The escort who had just spoken to Zhang Yue said: "You have a distinguished status, Lord Zhuangyuan. If this happens, you will only be fined a few kilograms of copper, but we will be punished."
Zhang Yue comforted him: "Don't worry, I will deal with it."
After hearing what Zhang Yue said, the others didn't believe it and would only be punished by the court.
But Zhang Yue thought to himself, I am worried that the Xixia people will not invade!
On the first day of the lunar month, the emperor and the queen mother held a night banquet in Tianqing Tower to entertain officials above the rank of attendant.
This was the emperor's first banquet after he recovered from illness. On the surface, the emperor and the queen mother seemed to be in great harmony.
After the emperor composed the imperial poem, he sent it to all the ministers. Han Qi and other ministers all scrambled to reconcile it. In the imperial poem, there is the word "wandering", and the ministers all use this as the rhyme and harmony.
When he was writing poems, actors from Jiaofangsi came on stage to perform.
Several actors acted as tenants looking for a rental house. When they arrived at the mansion, the actor pretending to be a tooth man asked, "Why don't you come in?"
Several tenants shook their heads and said, "Wandering."
It means that the house is too winding and you are afraid of getting lost when entering.
The tenant came to the back hall again, and Yaren asked, "Why didn't you come in again?"
Several tenants shook their heads and said, "You are also wandering!"
There are too many twists and turns in the meaning.
Hearing this, Han Qi and several ministers already had smiles on their faces.
Finally Fang Ya asked: "Do you want to rent?"
One tenant said: "It's okay, but it would be too much wandering."
After talking about the emperor, the queen mother and other ministers laughed heartily. It turned out that the actor was sarcastic in a roundabout way, and the ministers "wandered" too much while composing the poem, and every sentence rhymed with "wander".
Seeing the actors' ridicule, Han Qi, who had just used "wandering" to compose the poem, did not feel dissatisfied. The other ministers also regarded it as amusement. The audience burst into laughter and applauded the actors' wit.
Han Qi looked at all this with satisfaction. This peaceful scene where the monarch and his ministers were happy together was exactly what he had been doing for the Prime Minister.
While the play was being rehearsed on the stage, an official suddenly came to Han Qi and whispered a few words. The officials in the audience couldn't help but look sideways, wondering what happened.
After hearing this, Han Qi nodded, signaled the other party to leave, and then continued to watch the show as if nothing had happened.
When the officials saw Han Qi sitting on the stage and watching the show calmly, they didn't take it seriously.
After a while, Han Qi stood up, moved a few steps to the Queen Mother and the Emperor, and said: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, we just came from Chongyuan Pavilion to report, which caused a dispute between the envoys and the Xixia envoys."
The emperor showed concern, but said nothing.
The Queen Mother glanced at Fu Bi, who was sitting on the west side of the stand, but asked Han Qi, "What do you think, Mr. Han?"
Han Qi said: "The reception envoy Gao Yi, the escort envoy Zhang Jin, and the banquet envoy Zhang Yue are all stable and reliable people who understand the general situation and will not easily provoke conflicts. I am afraid that this matter is from the Xia people."
"However, the Xia people came from afar to congratulate the emperor on his grand occasion, and it is a festive time. If it does not harm the state, I think it is better to comfort the distant guests."
Empress Dowager Cao smiled slightly and said: "It turns out that Zhang Sanlang is accompanying the banquet..."
"Mr. Zhaowen, I'll leave this matter to you!"
Han Qi returned to his seat to discuss with Zhao Gai, who was participating in politics.
Zhao Gaidao said: "A year ago, the leader of the Xia Kingdom changed the Xishou Military Division to the Baotai Army, the Shizhou Military Division to the Jingsai Army, the Weizhou Military Division to the Xiangyou Army, and the Zuoxiang Military Division to the Shenyong Army. Set up Xiangqing Army in Xiping Prefecture, Lingzhou. These military supervisory departments are connected to the border of our country."
"Most of the country's rulers' actions and actions do not follow the old rules, and Xixia has repeatedly violated the border since last year. I think the Xia envoy is testing the dynasty's true and false intentions."
Han Qi nodded and said: "My servant has such an opinion, so we need to be more careful. We will not discuss this matter with the Xifu."
Zhao Gai couldn't help but glance at Fu Bi who was watching a show on the other side.
Zhao Gaidao said: "Mr. Sir, I think the matter is so big. Could it be that Bachelor Zhang provoked this matter?"
Han Qi said: "We are inseparable from each other! This kid is easy to cause trouble!"
The next day.
Zhang Yue learned that the Xixia envoy was very angry and stayed in the stable that night before returning to Xixia the next day.
When the minister Li Ding and other officials learned of the matter, they reported it to the imperial court, saying that the Xixia envoy felt that the Song people did not entertain them well and did not say that the imperial court came far away. Li Ding asked for an order to punish Zhang Yue who was accompanying the banquet that day, as well as the accompanying envoys, escorting envoys, the imperial cook, and officials from the guest province. Only the word Zhang Yue was mentioned.
In order to appease the Xixia envoys, Li Ding proposed that the accompanying envoys who were to be escorted into Helan's lair with one million soldiers were demoted to a lower rank, and the escorting envoys were delayed for a year.
Explain this to the Xixia envoy.
As for the officials who had known what happened, they were all indignant. However, Zhongshu did not mention a word about the Xia envoy's insult to the emperor. Instead, those who protected Da Song's face were punished.
Many officials are dissatisfied.
Zhang Yue felt that although he had not been punished, he could not just sit back and watch this matter, and went directly to the political hall to ask for an explanation!
Zhang Yue went to the political hall to ask for an audience with Han Qi.
After waiting for several people, we finally met.
Zhang Yue came to the hall and bowed to Han Qi. The prime minister was more polite than all his officials. When the officials bowed to him, the prime minister stood straight, or at most he lowered his hands as a gesture.
However, when Fu Bi became prime minister, he changed this approach and treated all officials with courtesy.
Even Fu Bi was like this, but Han Qi and Zeng Gongliang didn't dare to do so. Now that Han Qi has become prime minister, when he saw Zhang Yue and bowed to him, he also bowed in return.
After the two of them sat down, Han Qi said: "Zhang Xianliang is here, what do you think?"
Zhang Yue was awarded a high rank because of his virtuous and upright conduct, so some people called him the number one scholar, while others called him a virtuous person. Han Qi called Zhang Xianliang, which was also a tactful reminder that it was thanks to me that I recommended you to Xianliang and Founder.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty is above, and I will tell you about the Xixia envoys here."
Han Qi said: "Then you shouldn't ask me, but for all government orders, just ask Jixian (Zeng Gongliang)."
After saying this, the official on the side said: "Sir, respect me!"
As soon as this sentence came out, it meant seeing off guests. Zhang Yue said seriously: "Mr. Zhaowen, this matter must be done by you!"
Han Qi knew what Zhang Yue wanted to do with him, and wanted to shirk it, but seeing Zhang Yue being so upright, he was slightly unhappy and said, "Tell me!"
