After traveling westward for five full days, it was not until they entered the boundary of Beiling County and turned into the Guangling River that the boat turned to go downstream. As a result, the traveling speed is much faster than before.
The ship only stayed in Beiling County for half a day. After replenishing some daily necessities, it set off and continued southward, rushing to reach Nanshui County as soon as possible to meet the mission. Calculating the time, it has been more than two months since the mission set out in early March. The mission should have arrived at Nanshui County and is waiting for the two to arrive.
Going with the current, the speed of the boat is naturally much faster. After another five days, the ship finally entered Nanshui County. Standing on the bow of the ship and looking at the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river was refreshing. Located in the land of Nanling, there is no hustle and bustle of Daliang in Kyoto. There are only green mountains and green waters, the singing of apes and birds, and a natural and peaceful landscape of Nanling.
All in all, after Shao Xi and Lao Wu came out of Daliang City in Kyoto, they spent only one month on their way to Nanshui County. However, the mission was different. They wandered along the road. More than two months. When the two arrived at Nanshui County, the delegation had only arrived at Nanshui County for a few days.
After Shao Xi got off the boat, they greeted the clerk sent by Yujiang County and asked him to return to Yujiang County. The two of them rode horses instead, and arrived at Nanshui City in less than half a day.
Nanshui County is originally a small border county, so this Nanshui City does not look very prosperous and lively, but it is full of fireworks. It is not as solemn as Daliang in Kyoto, but more casual and natural. The relaxed and comfortable atmosphere is quite like a paradise.
The two of them came all the way to the post house. As soon as they entered the post house, they bumped into Xu Maocheng, a doctor in Zuosi, Shangshu Province. Xu Maocheng hurriedly paid a visit to Shao Xi, and gave a detailed report to Shao Xi on the delegation's trip, asking for instructions on the next itinerary.
"Mr. Xu, do you know where the reception group from Nan Zhao is at this time? Are they ready to receive our delegation? You must complete the contact with them in advance before our delegation can enter."
Xu Maocheng hurriedly bowed and said: "Back to Mr. Shao, before you arrived, the official had already contacted the officials sent by the Nanzhao reception team together with the county governor. The person who came said that the reception team was ready and was just waiting for me to come to the envoy. After entering the country, they will guide our mission all the way, and the daily needs of the mission along the way will be taken care of by the reception team. We are just waiting for Mr. Shao to tell us when to set off."
"Oh? Nan Zhao's efficiency is quite high! I wonder who leads the reception team? What is their official rank? But was it sent by the Emperor of Nan Zhao?"
"This..., Mr. Shao, this is where I am in trouble, so I have to ask Mr. Shao for instructions."
Shao Xi was slightly startled, "Since everything has been arranged, what's the point of difficulty?"
Xu Maocheng hesitated to speak at this time, with an expression on his face, as if he was afraid that what he said would anger Shao Xi, so he opened and closed his mouth several times without saying anything.
When Shao Xi saw his look, he immediately became impatient and said angrily: "If you have something to say, just say it happily. Why are you hesitating? You might as well speak up about what's wrong, and no one will blame you." .”
"Yes, yes, sir, back to Master Shao, the person leading the reception team sent by Nan Zhao this time is a director of the Rites Department of Nan Zhao, surnamed Wang."
"What? Did I hear it wrong, or did you not figure it out? The person who led the reception group sent by Nan Zhao was a director of the Ministry of Rites? Did they send a junior official from the eighth rank to receive the delegation?"
Shao Xi thought this was a bit unbelievable. Diplomacy was no small matter. No matter which dynasty we were in, equal diplomacy between states must be treated equally when envoys came to visit. Envoys sent by neighboring countries are officials of several grades, and our dynasty usually sends officials of several grades to receive them. This is a diplomatic etiquette and a basic respect for envoys and neighboring countries.
Generally, when an envoy from a superior country goes to a small country, the small country will even send higher-ranking officials to receive the envoy from the superior country to show respect for the superior country.
Nowadays, in the small Southern Zhao Kingdom, the person sent to receive the mission was actually a junior official from the eighth rank in the Ministry of Rites. Although he was only responsible for reception and guidance along the way, sending a junior official of such a rank clearly did not lead the Jingyuan Dynasty. In the eyes of the mission, it can even be regarded as a humiliation.
Let an official of the eighth rank receive an official of the fourth rank, which means that you, the fourth rank official of Jing Yuan Kingdom, are only worthy of being received by the eighth rank official of our Southern Zhao Kingdom. In addition to being humiliating, this approach is also a naked provocation.
Seeing Shao Xi's displeasure, Xu Maocheng quickly explained: "My subordinates also negotiated with the Nan Zhao reception group about this matter, but the reply they received was that this was how the Nan Zhao court arranged it, and the reason was the reception and service along the way. There is no need to worry too much about the mission leading the way, there will naturally be officials to receive you when we arrive in Yongchuan City."
"What a fart! When someone comes to your home to be a guest, you sit in the hall and send your dog out to greet the guest. Is this the way to treat guests? Contact the reception team of Nan Zhao and ask their manager to go to Nanshui If the county comes to see me, if he doesn't come, the envoy will go back home and the matter will be over."
Xu Maocheng himself was originally very angry about this matter, but now that he saw Shao Xi getting angry, he naturally did not dare to neglect it. After answering, he hurriedly went out to contact the officials sent by the Nanzhao reception team and asked their leader to come to Nanshui County.
Shao Xi felt unhappy! Now that I haven't left the Jingyuan Kingdom, the other party wants to give me a slap in the face first. If this matter goes by without mentioning it, I won't know how to humiliate myself when I get to the Southern Zhao Kingdom!
This kind of thing must not be tolerated. The envoy will not leave the country until Ziwu Maoyou is brought. At worst, this trip to Southern Zhao will not go.
Old Wu asked Shao Xi nonchalantly, "Just ask Xu Maocheng to bring the words to you. Why do you have to ask their boss to come over to see you? What are your plans?"
Shao Xi put his thumb on his chin and sneered, and said with some annoyance: "It's rude to come and not go back. Since they want to cause trouble, we can't just continue, of course we have to retaliate to them. If you don't want me to be happy, shouldn't you? Would I make them so comfortable? Since I have chosen to be shameless, I am naturally happy to reach out and slap him."
Old Wu listened to what he said for a long time, but he only got a vague understanding of what he was going to do. However, based on what Old Wu knew about him, there was a high probability that this boy was going to do something immoral.
Because they are located on the border, it is common for people in the two places to travel between each other. As for local officials, if they are invited by the other party, they can visit each other as agreed. There is no such strict distinction between which stone and which road. The river is the dividing line between the two countries.
Therefore, Shao Xi sent Xu Maocheng to invite the other party's principal to come over. From a normal point of view, there was no problem. However, after crossing the border, officials could only move among each other and could not go anywhere else at will, so Shao Xi called Lao Wu. They rushed to the Sheriff's Mansion together.
As the southernmost county in the Jingyuan Empire, Nanshui County is not large, and naturally the size of the county governor's mansion is not much larger. When Shao Xi saw the county governor's mansion for the first time, he really felt that it was not as good as the county government offices in some big counties. It did look a bit shabby. However, this place is far away from Kyoto and is not a wealthy place, so the situation is understandable.
The name of the governor of this county is Tao Qingyun. Although he looks dark-skinned and looks like a farmer working in the fields, he is indeed a good official who works hard and loves the people. He is deeply loved by the local people. Moreover, this man has a great personality and respects his status as a border county. Shou deeply feels the great responsibility.
Whenever there was a conflict between the people of the two countries on the border, he would always stand up and try his best to safeguard the interests of the people of his own country. Therefore, he also criticized the reception of the Southern Zhao country this time and refused to communicate directly with the other party. It's because the other party doesn't have enough official rank and is not qualified.
At this time, his subordinates informed him that Master Shao, who was from Kyoto, came to the county governor's house in person. Tao Qingyun also hurriedly led the county officials to greet Shao Xi outside the gate of the house. For him, it was a great honor for officials from Kyoto to visit him in person. He himself was an extremely observant person, and he was afraid that he might have neglected the etiquette, so he appeared to be more respectful when welcoming him.
"Tao Qingyun, the governor of Xiaguan Nanshui County, and officials at all levels in the county welcomed the imperial envoy, Mr. Shao. I don't know that Mr. Shao is here today, and I have been negligent. Please forgive me, Mr. Shao."
Shao Xi had heard about this man's reputation in the local area before, so he didn't feel any falseness towards his respectful attitude at this time.
"Master Tao, you are so polite. Please forgive me! This time the envoy to Nanzhao is stationed in Nanshui County, and it has indeed caused a lot of trouble to Master Tao. Thank you for your hard work. I am here to pay you a visit. I would like to borrow your place to deal with the reception group from the Southern Zhao Kingdom."
Upon hearing this, Tao Qingyun hurriedly bowed and replied: "What are you talking about, Mr. Shao? You are an envoy of the Holy Imperial Majesty, and you are a superior officer of the lower official. It is an honor for the lower official to come to my Nanshui County. This county The Shoufu should be used by adults, why should I borrow it?"
"Hahaha! Mr. Tao is indeed a cheerful person, so let's talk inside!"
He led the county officials and a group of people to sit down in the main hall. The Nanshui County Sheriff's Mansion was not large in size, and the facilities in the mansion were also quite simple. Shao Xi asked about this, and Tao Qingyun's answer was that the local people were living a difficult life and could not bear to recruit local labor, so they simply repaired it themselves with the county officials on weekdays, so it looked a bit crude.
Good guy! The head of a county actually led his officials to build a house by himself. This is something that even county magistrates in many places cannot do, right?
This is the kind of official who sincerely regards the suffering of the people and the suffering of the people as his own suffering. This kind of official is the official that the people need, not those high-ranking lords in the capital.
"Does Lord Tao Qingyun know that the leader of the Southern Zhao Kingdom's reception team is actually an eighth-rank official? What do you think of this matter?"
"Opinion? Humph! What else would I think of them? Just disdain! A small country in the south is so arrogant and disrespectful to the envoys of the Jingyuan Dynasty. I don't care about them!"
Ho! This temperament is really cool! Shao Xi likes it very much! He doesn't hold back on anything he thinks or says, and even curses when he's unhappy. The governor of Nanshui County is indeed a down-to-earth parental officer.
"Oh, Lao Tao, you are very straightforward! I like your temperament. We can't suffer the loss of being dumb, we have to teach them a lesson, right? I have asked Xu Maocheng to invite the other party's chief to your place, do you think we should How to do it?”
"Hmph! We have the final say when you enter our land. When you come here, give them a slap in the face and give them a lesson. It's really a shame for them!"
...! Good guy! Cruel enough!
