Like the people at the city gate, in the Peking Palace in the north of the city, Liu Zhiyuan and a kind of civil and military officials from Hedong finally received an audience from the Khitan envoys.
In the main hall, Liu Zhiyuan sat alone at the top of the hall with his hands down. The civil and military men under him were still talking in low voices, but his eyes were wandering in the main hall.
Ten years have passed since Liu Zhiyuan took charge of Hedong. If you add in the days spent with Shi Jingtang, even he can't remember exactly how many years he has stayed in Taiyuan Mansion.
It seemed that this was the first time Liu Zhiyuan observed this hall so carefully. The vermilion pillars, the criss-crossing palace beams above the head, and the tall palace door, every rafter and wood seemed to have some kind of magic power at this time, strongly attracting Liu Zhiyuan's eyes.
Liu Zhiyuan suddenly thought that those figures who had been influential in the Central Plains in the past few decades, Li Keyong, Li Cunxu, Li Conghou, Li Congrong, and the late emperor Shi Jingtang whom he was familiar with, had all sat in the same position below him as he did now, looking at The same vermilion beams above the head look down at the equally noisy ministers...
"The messenger from the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived!"
As the palace envoy played loudly outside the palace, Liu Zhiyuan's thoughts were instantly brought back to his eyes, and the entire palace became quiet. Everyone was silent and looked outside the hall.
After a while, several tall Khitan people walked into the hall together with the judge Su Fengji and others who went to greet them.
Liu Zhiyuan stood up from his seat, shook off the thick bearskin clothes behind him, waited for the Khitan envoys to salute him from a distance, then waved his hands and sat down again, as if he was just having an ordinary reception.
But when Judge Su Fengji stood back in the literary class on the left, Liu Zhiyuan glanced at Su Fengji calmly, and when Su Fengji shook his head incomprehensibly, Liu Zhiyuan already knew in his heart that the Khitan envoy was unlucky this time. .
When the leading Khitan envoy stood before His Highness, he raised his head and said loudly in proficient Chinese: "I am Gao Mohan, the direct envoy of the Khitan in the north. I am here to give an edict to the King of Beiping by order of my lord Yelu Shang."
Liu Zhiyuan pretended to listen attentively: "Thank you for your kindness, I wonder what the emperor's decree has for me?"
"My lord has something to say: Marquis Niyi violated the wishes of his ancestors and cut off the friendship between the two countries, causing the two countries to fight against each other and causing trouble. Thanks to the King of Peking, he did not forget his kindness and righteousness, guarded one side of the town, and his rule was peaceful. Today, there is peace. The Kingdom of Jin has been destroyed, and the King of Peiping is very sincere in his offer, and my lord has given me a special gift to express his gratitude."
After saying that, Gao Mohan handed the wooden stick in his hand to the attendant next to him, took out a letter from his arms, and held it towards Liu Zhiyuan with both hands. Upon seeing this, the observing judge Dou Zhengu stepped forward to take it and presented it to Liu Zhiyuan.
Liu Zhiyuan took the form and browsed it quickly. He saw that the form was written in Khitan and Chinese. The text was not long, and most of the content was words of praise and comfort for himself.
Everyone in His Highness saw Liu Zhiyuan's expressionless face and could not guess the gloom of his thoughts. They could only see that Liu Zhiyuan quickly handed the gift form to the attendant's hand again, still using the sincere but slightly flat tone: "I know. There is nothing in my heart better than the Emperor."
Gao Mohan saw that Liu Zhiyuan had read the gift form, so he took the wooden stick that he had carried all the way from the attendant's hand, held it up high and said: "My lord has learned from the loyalty and benevolence of the King of Peiping, and specially gave him the wooden cane." A staff to show grace and honor.”
Upon seeing this, Dou Zhengu wanted to go forward to get it, but Gao Mohan glared at him fiercely: "This staff was given to me by my lord personally, and I hope the King of Peking will welcome it personally."
The main hall suddenly became noisy. Yang Ping, the governor of the right government, stood out from the crowd and snorted: "I'm afraid this invitation, ambassador, is not in line with my Central Plains etiquette."
The warriors who were silent on the side also started to make noise, and the whole hall was in chaos for a while.
Gao Mohan made no move, as if he didn't hear anything. He just raised his eyes and stared at Liu Zhiyuan who was sitting upright.
Liu Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes, and then a look of anger appeared on his face - but he loudly reprimanded Yang Bin and the warriors: "Nonsense!"
Then, like a magic trick, Liu Zhiyuan's expression suddenly changed and he looked at Gao Mohan benevolently: "Since it is a gift from the emperor, there is no reason why he should not accept it."
After saying that, Liu Zhiyuan walked down the steps of the palace and took the wooden staff from Gao Mohan's hand.
Gao Mohan stopped being aggressive and explained to Liu Zhiyuan: "According to the laws of our northern country, this staff can only be given by ministers with good etiquette, just like the several staffs given by the ancient Han Dynasty. The King of Peiping was the uncle of the Jin Dynasty, so he received it." This staff.”
Liu Zhiyuan had been in the power arena for decades and knew what kind of gesture he should make at this time. He showed a grateful look, raised his staff and said loudly: "The emperor is indeed a wise and talented master. If the Shi family can live up to the Khitan, then How come today!"
However, Gao Mohan remained unmoved. After Liu Zhiyuan returned to his seat and sat down, he spoke again: "In addition to these two gifts, my lord has another question to ask the King of Peking."
"Oh? If your Majesty has any doubts, he will tell you everything he knows."
Now it was Gao Mohan's turn to snort: "According to my lord's words: the King of Peking lives in a dangerous place, holds a strong army and does not follow the orders of the Jin Dynasty, and does not leave the town to pay congratulations in the capital when the country is over. It is neither for the Southern Dynasty nor for the If you don’t care about the Northern Dynasty, what do you want?”
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the entire hall instantly fell into silence, and sharp eyes were pierced at Gao Mohan.
But Liu Zhiyuan didn't take it seriously. He put his palms in his hands and laughed and said: "The emperor has misunderstood the late emperor! The Jin Dynasty sent troops to betray the late emperor. It would be unjust if I followed it. Besides, the army of the Shang Dynasty is invincible. How can it be that the withered troops of Hedong are weak soldiers? Can it be stopped? As for the Yi and Xia people living in Taiyuan, where the garrison troops are gathered, and if there is no owner, there will be many disasters, so they dare not leave the town. Since the emperor has doubts, he will send Bai Wenke, the deputy guard of the Northern Capital, to accompany the envoy to Xianjing tomorrow. "
Gao Mohan lowered his head, and after remembering Liu Zhiyuan's words, he said no more, and said with cupped hands: "In that case, please allow me to report back to my lord, and then to the King of Peking."
When Gao Mohan resigned, the civil and military officials in Taiyuan were no longer restrained and started talking one after another. In particular, Shi Hongzhao, the commander of Wujiedu, had the loudest voice: "The bastard Khitans are riding on us!"
However, after everyone was angry with the Khitans, someone discovered that Liu Zhiyuan in the palace had disappeared.
Liu Zhiyuan naturally did not disappear, but came to the Nuan Pavilion behind the main hall. In addition to Liu Zhiyuan, there were also Jiedu Judge Su Fengji, Observation Judge Dou Zhengu, Youdu Yaya Yang Bing, Kong Muguan Wang Zhang, Guo Wei and Shi Hongzhao, as well as Taiyuan Majun Commander Liu Zhiyuan's own disciple Liu Zhiyuan. letter.
There were not many people in Nuan Pavilion, but they were all Liu Zhiyuan's close confidants.
At this time, Liu Zhiyuan no longer needed to hold back anymore, he slapped the gift of the watch on the case, and shouted angrily: "The watch calls me your son, and also gives me a wooden cane, so who does Yelu son think of me?"
When Shi Hongzhao saw this, he immediately came out and said: "The south is in chaos. Your Highness, it is better to raise your troops and forge ahead. The last general is willing to be the vanguard!"
Upon hearing this, Su Fengji hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "There is a delay in using troops and there is a rush. The Khitan has just sent 100,000 Jin soldiers, and the tiger is in the capital. How can it be so easy to raise weapons?"
Shi Hongzhao glared angrily and dissatisfied: "Then we just stay here in Taiyuan?"
Seeing the two people arguing, Guo Wei tried to persuade them: "When Wang Jun came back in the previous period, he said that the Khitan Lord was greedy and cruel, and that the people of the Central Plains were in dire straits. He thought that he would not be able to occupy the Central Plains for a long time. Now that Hedong is stable, we might as well wait and see what happens."
Yang Bin also agreed: "Guo Kongmu is right. Now that the ice and snow are gradually disappearing, it is difficult for the Khitan people to stay in Henan for a long time. It is better to wait for their army to retreat, and then your highness can go south to capture it with troops. It will be safe."
"I know everything you said. The Khitans regard me as their late emperor, but I don't want to be their emperor! Sooner or later, I'll teach that little Yelvyao boy how powerful he is!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zhiyuan picked up the wooden crutch that Huang Chou had not yet removed and threw it straight to the side.
The wooden crutch drew a curve in the air and hit the ground with a loud bang. When everyone looked again, the wooden crutch on the ground had been broken into two pieces.
