The next day, March 30, Zhao Yang went to the palace to meet with the officials and conveyed the indignation of the Liao envoy to them.
In fact, at this time, Zhao Zhen had also learned that the negotiations between the Sansi Yamen and the Liao envoy were in a stalemate over the list of transaction items, but he did not expect that the Liao envoy would go to Zhao Yang, let alone Zhao Yang because of this matter. I went to the palace specially to discuss the matter.
"Is it necessary? For this reason, the DPRK and Taiwan have repeatedly remonstrated to stop this matter." He asked in surprise.
"It's very necessary!" Zhao Yang was very upright and explained seriously: "Allowing domestic books to flow into the Liao Kingdom will help make the Liao Kingdom more biased towards Chinese culture, and at the same time, it can also further weaken the hostility between Song and Liao. "
"But didn't you say that there must be a war between Song and Liao?"
"Yes, but what I said about 'there must be a war' is based on China's concept of 'great unification'. It means that the two countries of Song and Liao will eventually decide the outcome of the legitimacy, but it does not necessarily have to be through war. Just like the two countries Ten years later, if the Song Dynasty worked hard to govern and became stronger, while the Liao Kingdom was declining due to poor governance, and officials made promises to the Lord of Liao and the officials of the Liao Kingdom, the Song Dynasty might be able to annex the Liao Kingdom without any blood... Of course I Just to give an example, the Liao Kingdom will definitely have to resist before the general trend is irreversible, but no matter what, a war with tacit understanding is better than an endless war."
"Hmm." Zhao Zhen nodded thoughtfully, and immediately sent someone to issue an edict to the Sansi Yamen, ordering the Sansi Yamen to agree to the Liao envoy's request.
After talking about the matter, Zhao Zhen asked again: "How are the preparations for going to Shaanxi?"
Zhao Yanggong cupped his hands and said: "It's been roughly explained. After I leave the capital, the officials can appoint Shen Tao as the chief envoy, Qian Gongfu can be the strategic envoy, and Lu Dafang can be responsible for the construction of the new government office. ... Probably At the beginning of the month, I can go to Shaanxi with Mr. Gao."
"So urgent?" Zhao Zhen frowned.
"We have to speed up as much as possible." Zhao Yang explained: "According to what Xiao Gu and a few people said, the Liao Kingdom originally planned to use troops against Xixia after the spring planting in early April. Furthermore... I feel that the Liao Kingdom underestimates Xixia too much and is afraid that It’s about suffering a loss.”
He told Zhao Zhen his personal thoughts, and Zhao Zhen was suspicious when he heard: "Li Yuanhao has recently died, and the orphans and widowers of Xixia are in power. The country will inevitably be unstable. The Khitan will take the opportunity to attack, but you think the Khitan will lose?"
Zhao Yang shook his head and said: "It's just my personal judgment... In short, there is nothing wrong with speeding up the steps as much as possible."
Zhao Zhen agreed with this, and after a long silence he said: "On the day of departure, remember to come and say goodbye to me."
Zhao Yang thought for a while and agreed.
After leaving Chui Gong Hall, Zhao Yang went to the Political Affairs Hall on the way to find Fan Zhongyan, the political minister.
After all, Fan Zhongyan entrusted his son Fan Chunren to hand over the list of generals who were good at fighting among his former subordinates to Zhao Yang. Zhao Yang should personally thank him.
Faced with Zhao Yang's thanks, Fan Zhongyan waved his hand and said: "There is no need to be polite, Zhao Sijian. Not to mention Zhao Sijian's kindness to me, I recommended all my former subordinates to Zhao Sijian in the hope that Zhao Sijian can support me." One or two of them. For example, Zhang Kang, although he was a civil servant, was well versed in military affairs and knew Tao strategy. However, when he was appointed to deploy the capital of Jingyuan, manage strategies to appease the recruiting envoys, and also knew Weizhou, he was punished because of his disagreement with Zheng Jian. During the impeachment, Zheng Jian was accused of abusing ministerial funds, and was impeached by the supervisory censor Liang Jian. He was almost imprisoned. At that time, I and several colleagues acted as guarantees for him to prevent him from being imprisoned. However, Zhang Kang's official career was bumpy until now. He has been ups and downs in the ranks of generals, and is also quite controversial in the court..."
"Is it because of the minister's money again?" Zhao Yang said with a strange expression.
"Ha." Fan Zhongyan smiled bitterly, shook his head and said: "Both Teng Zongliang and Zhang Kang are generous and selfless people. I admit that they did misappropriate the minister's money, and even used the minister's money to make private profits, but I can guarantee that they personally never I haven't taken a penny, most of it is used to pay for the sergeants... If Zhao Sijian doesn't believe it, he can find out when he gets to Jingyuan Road."
"I believe it." Zhao Yang nodded and said, "If there was really corruption, how could Teng Zongliang almost have no money to bury him when he died?"
Fan Zhongyan was stunned for a moment, then sighed with a wry smile.
Originally, Zhao Yang wanted to ask about the relationship between Fan Zhongyan and his brother-in-law Zheng Jian, and why the latter targeted Fan Zhongyan's friends and subordinates so much, but seeing Fan Zhongyan's expression, he couldn't ask further.
Immediately, Fan Zhongyan briefly introduced Fan Ke, Zhou Mei, Guo Kui, etc. to Zhao Yang, and handed the letters he wrote to everyone to Zhao Yang, asking Zhao Yang to convey them on his behalf.
During this period, Fan Zhongyan also mentioned Wang Xin, but it was a pity that this former subordinate died in office last year while conquering Wang Ze's rebellion.
While chatting, Fan Zhongyan suddenly mentioned the Lin Mansion on Hedong Road: "Lin Mansion broke down the family, I wonder if Zhao Sijian has ever heard of it?"
General Zhe, one of the "Three Generals of the Song Dynasty"?
Zhao Yang raised his eyebrows and said, "I would like to hear the details."
"The Zhe family of Linfu was the founding general of the Song Dynasty and the envoy of Jingnan Army, Zhe Congruan. They guarded Linfu for generations. However, because the family was from Dangxiang, they were always suspected by the court, especially after Li Yuanhao's rebellion. After the Song Dynasty became emperor, the situation of the Zhejia family in Linfu became even more embarrassing. Although they repeatedly repelled the invasions of Liao and Xia, they still could not gain the trust of Bianjing. When I was on Yanyan Road, I also visited Zheji. Min, according to my personal opinion, this person is a loyal, righteous and courageous person. Zhang Kang was also recommended to me by him. Unfortunately, because of his party background, it is difficult for him to gain the trust of the court and there is nothing I can do. This time Zhao Sijian When you go to Shaanxi, you might as well meet the people of the Zhe family, you will definitely gain something."
Zhao Yang nodded repeatedly.
Naturally, he wanted to pay a visit to the famous general of the Zhe family.
After bidding farewell to Fan Zhongyan, Zhao Yang went to see Gao Ruona again to discuss the date of departure for Shaanxi.
It was said to be a discussion, but to put it bluntly, Zhao Yang's schedule was still the main one. Gao Ruona knew this very well, so he did not express an opinion and listened to Zhao Yang's arrangements with an expressionless face. At the end, he said in a strange tone: "Zhao Yang" The deputy envoy has made arrangements, how can I, the chief envoy, dare to have any objections?"
Zhao Yang also knew that this guy was a bully and he said without any secret: "As long as you know, take advantage of these few days to communicate with the Privy Council. If something goes wrong, I will leave you in Shaanxi and return to Beijing alone." !”
Gao Ruona was angry and angry, but he did not dare to explode, so he had to swallow his anger and accept the task of communicating with the Privy Council.
In the evening of that day, Zhang Yaozuo held a banquet in Fanlou again.
This time he booked three elegant rooms, one for Zhao Yang, Fan Chunren, Shen Yu, Wen Tong, Qian Gongfu, Lu Dafang, Huang brothers and others, and one for a banquet in his Kaifeng Mansion. officials, and the remaining room hosted a banquet for Xiao Xiaoyou, Xiao Guhe, Qiu Hong and other Liao envoys.
After all, he had the right to know the affairs of Kaifeng Mansion, and it was indeed within the scope of his duties to entertain the Liao envoys.
In this regard, Zhao Yang asked Zhang Yaozuo privately very keenly: "You didn't use the pretext of entertaining the Liao envoy to give money to the minister of Kaifeng Prefecture, right?"
Zhang Yaozuo didn't dare to hide it, and said cryptically: "The officials fined me half a year's salary. I borrowed the Liao envoy to hold a banquet to congratulate my nephew. Is that okay?...Besides, whether it's the roads of various states or the capital, there are How many people have never used the minister’s money to eat or drink?”
Zhao Yang rolled his eyes and said: "Then you think about it for yourself. Is it worth it to be criticized and impeached repeatedly over a banquet? ... Anyway, I can't help you, I'm going to Shaanxi soon. No, I won’t be able to return to Beijing for at least a year and a half.”
Thinking that Zhao Yang was going to Shaanxi soon, Zhang Yaozuo couldn't help but panic and complained: "I don't want to stay in Beijing, why bother to go to Shaanxi and suffer?"
Zhao Yang was too lazy to pay attention to him and went to the elegant room of Xiao Xiaoyou and other Liao envoys.
Seeing Zhao Yang coming, Xiao Xiaoyou and other Liao envoys actually stood up to greet him. The reason was as Xiao Xiaoyou told him: "Thank you very much, Director Zhao, for your advice and speaking up. Today, when we were negotiating with the officials of the third division of your country, they left the meeting midway. When I came back, I agreed to put all books except controlled books on the for sale list. That scene... Wow, it was so happy."
Zhao Yang laughed dryly, and couldn't help but secretly thought: Yes, I just offended Tai Jian, this time I also offended the Third Division.
After a few words of greeting, Zhang Yaozuo called five flower cards to add to the fun. Zhao Yang took the opportunity to withdraw, bid farewell to the Liao envoy and returned to his elegant room.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he returned to his private room, he heard a female voice inside the private room singing the red aria he had written on paper that day, which made him stunned.
Qin Yunu?
Zhao Yang was slightly startled, but he didn't feel that it was the voice of Master Qin. When he opened the door of the elegant room and took a look, it turned out that it was not the voice.
But the flower card named Qin Yunu was also among them, just like that day, sitting quietly behind his seat, quite peacefully.
Zhao Yang raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhang Yaozuo beside him, who chuckled and said, "I'm afraid I don't know, right? In fact, I'm a little surprised, too. I didn't expect that this Qin master, with the poem I wrote in the past, , unexpectedly became the oiran of Fanlou... But it is said that she is not easy to sing to outsiders. Oh, by the way, the huapai who is singing at this moment is the oiran of the past, but now it is said that she is compared with the Qin family Go down."
Zhao Yang was a little surprised. When he walked into the elegant room and returned to his seat, he looked at the "former oiran" with interest. After sitting down, he turned to look at Qin Yunu and thought to himself A comparison.
According to his personal evaluation, Qin Yunu was more advantageous than the "former oiran" in terms of age and appearance. He was only around 20 years old by visual inspection. The reason why he failed to become an oiran that day was probably because he was not famous enough.
Qin Yunu also noticed Zhao Yang's gaze, and her pretty face turned red.
Not long after, when the former oiran finished singing the last line, Shen Dun, Lu Dafang, Wen Ting and others applauded.
Shen Tuo smiled and asked Zhao Yang: "Jing Xing came to comment, how did everyone Zhou sing?"
"Not bad." Zhao Yang said with a somewhat unwilling smile. In fact, in his opinion, although the former oiran named Zhou had a mellow voice, his singing was only average.
Of course, this was because he had heard the authentic singing methods of later generations, so he felt that Zhou's singing method was extremely awkward.
Mr. Zhou seemed to have heard some clues, and said awkwardly: "Little Mr. Zhao doesn't blame the slave family. It was clearly the lyrics that Mr. Zhao gave to the Qin family's sister, but the slave family used them to sing..."
"It doesn't matter." Zhao Yang shook his head and lied: "Sing what the predecessors have done, you can sing it if you want."
Hearing this, Qin Yunu pouted imperceptibly, but the Zhou family was quite happy and thanked him repeatedly: "Although it was done by predecessors, if it weren't for Xiao Zhao Langjun's talent and learning, I would not be able to do this." I didn’t know there was such a poem in this world... The way is all about slaves’ thoughts. As the poem says, although slaves are humble, they also know the great meaning.”
Shen Yu and others all praised and echoed, regardless of whether that Zhou person was sincere or fake.
Later, when everyone was half drunk, Shen Tuo smiled and said to Zhao Yang: "We originally wanted to invite everyone from Qin to sing. After all, Jing Xing gave the lyrics to everyone that day. It's a pity that everyone from Qin saw that Jing Xing was not there. I don’t want to sing to outsiders..."
Qin Yunu's face turned red when Shen Yu said it, and he defended in a low voice: "All the sisters in the building like this song very much, and they all compete to sing it, and they are not bad at singing it. The Nu family just doesn't want to be embarrassed..."
Wen Tong also saw some clues from the side, and he shouted: "Now that Jing Xing is here, Qin people are willing to sing for a while?"
"……Um."
Qin Yunu hesitated for a moment and nodded shyly, causing Lu Dafang and others to boo.
Any fool can see what this Qin family member is thinking, and Zhao Yang is no exception, but he feels in his heart that these women who sell songs in restaurants are used to seeing high-ranking officials, and for some reason they don't want to mess with them.
However, in view of the booing from Shen Yuan, Wen Ting and others, he had no choice but to express his position, so he held up his hands and said, "Then we have Lao Qin."
"Don't dare."
Qin Yunu bowed his head slightly, and then sang the Chi Ling song. The singing method and accent were completely different from those of the Zhou master, and it had a different flavor.
But if Zhao Yang, who had heard the original sung by later generations, evaluated it, it was really average, so he didn't have any reaction.
After a while, when Qin and everyone finished singing the last line, Shen Yu deliberately asked Zhao Yang with a wicked smile: "Jing Xing, what do you think of Qin and everyone's singing?"
"Not bad." Zhao Yang nodded.
Upon hearing this, Qin Yunu's originally expectant eyes suddenly dimmed, and his pitiful look made everyone present look at each other.
Seeing this, Shen Hao smiled calmly and said, "Jing Xing...is he so strict?"
From the sidelines, Tong also asked out of curiosity: "Could it be that Jing Xing has heard other people singing before?"
Zhao Yang did not deny it and nodded slightly.
Seeing this, Qin Yunu said with some expectation: "Then... can Mr. Zhao teach me?"
"No." Zhao Yang shook his head.
Everyone present was stunned, and Shen Tuo coughed unbearably as a reminder.
Seeing this, Zhao Yang explained half-truthfully: "It's not that I don't want to teach. In fact, I have forgotten the singing method. I just feel that it is not right..."
In fact, he just doesn't want to teach, and he doesn't know why.
But everyone present believed his words, including the Qin family member. They saw her biting her red lips and hesitated: "I will try to change the singing method, but I wonder if Mr. Zhao will still come?"
Zhao Yang was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and laughed at himself: "It costs a lot to come to Fanlou, I can't afford it."
Before he finished speaking, Qin Yunu said anxiously: "It doesn't cost anything, Mr. Zhao can go to the slave's room..."
"Hoo ho."
Even the steady people like Fan Chunren, Qian Gongfu, Huang brothers and others showed aunty smiles, and others needless to say.
Wen Tong even hinted with a smile: "I don't want to say anything to ruin the scenery at this time..."
Under everyone's interested gaze, Zhao Yang looked at Qin Yunu with some surprise, and met the latter's seemingly complicated gaze.
After a long while, Zhao Yang nodded slightly and said: "I don't have much free time at the moment. I'm going to Shaanxi. It's estimated that I won't be able to return to Beijing in a year and a half..."
When she heard the first half of the sentence, Qin Yunu's eyes dimmed, but when she heard the second half, she seemed to be filled with hope again. She nodded and said, "Well... During this period, the Nu family will think of several more ways to sing." , wait for Mr. Zhao to return to Beijing..."
Zhao Yang was stunned for a moment, but he was also curious about whether this Qin master could sing the tone of later generations, and nodded slightly.
On the second day of April, everything that should be arranged was arranged, and the edicts, official letters, and ultimatums issued by the court were also complete. Zhao Yangsui and Gao Ruona were ready to leave for Shaanxi.
On the day of his departure, Zhao Yang entered the palace to bid farewell to the officials.
When he learned that Zhao Yang was about to leave for Shaanxi, Zhao Zhen was also quite emotional: "You are so unscrupulous, and I can't control it. If you go to Shaanxi, be careful. If you need anything on the way, ask the local magistrate. If you are in danger, Remember not to take risks, as long as you return to the capital, I won’t blame you even if something bad happens.”
With that said, he signaled Wang Shougui to hand Zhao Yang an edict and a sword.
"Isn't the edict issued?" Zhao Yang asked doubtfully.
Zhao Zhen didn't answer, so Zhao Yang opened the edict and took a look. His face showed surprise after just one glance.
I saw a line in the middle of the edict: Xu Shaanxi Economic Strategy recruits and appeases the deputy envoy Zhao Yang to make his own decisions on Shaanxi's military and state affairs. Jingzhao Mansion, Yongxing Military Road and Shaanxi Fourth Road are all dispatched. Anyone who violates the rules can be withdrawn. , cut first and then play.
"This is a secret edict I have given you. Do not reveal it to anyone without it being written down." Zhao Zhen said calmly.
Zhao Yang looked at Zhao Zhen in surprise, feeling the weight of the secret edict in his hand.
After a while, he turned around and asked Wang Shougui: "Is the fish... dead?"
Wang Shougui had a look of astonishment on his face. He secretly glanced at the official's unlucky expression and whispered: "He died a long time ago... He died three times. Later, the Royal Medicine Institute used sheep to test the medicine, and they also died..."
Zhao Yang nodded, and then said to Zhao Zhen in a complicated tone: "In this case, the officials should be worried. There is no elixir of immortality in this world. If the officials want to maintain their health, just take some supplements such as Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng. , Cinnabar, sulfur and other substances are really unnecessary. They are highly poisonous. If the objects used to ward off evil spirits in the palace also contain such minerals, it is best to remove them. In addition, avoid drinking alcohol and having sex with women every day. Eat three meals on time, don't stay up late, don't work too hard, if you sit for a long time in the Chui Gong Hall while reviewing notes, you might as well get up and walk around outside the hall, stretch your muscles and bones, so that even if you don't live forever, at least you can live a long life... As for Fan Xianggong, it is not advisable to push for reforms in a hurry. If the officials cannot clarify it, any reforms are empty talk. According to what I said to the officials before, just work on it slowly. ...Also, officials must stick to their opinions. Don't be soft-hearted and let others believe whatever they say. The two governments should not be transferred frequently, leaving the officials at a loss. It is also not advisable to believe in the remonstrances of the Central Government, especially under the guise of celestial phenomena or disasters... Furthermore, it is not advisable to It is not appropriate to change orders in the morning and at night..."
Zhao Zhen was angry and a little emotional, and his mood was quite complicated.
