The First Yamen of the Great Song Dynasty

The long Lantern Festival holiday is so pleasant that Gao Ming doesn’t even want to go to work anymore, and he finds that doing things can easily cultivate a sense of accomplishment, such as brewing wine. Just getting all the equipment together, he feels very comfortable before he even starts. If you see a jar of wine, the sense of accomplishment will be doubled.

This is probably the fun of "farming".

Gao Ming, who runs a small workshop at home, suddenly heard a report saying that Shi Qian wanted to see him.

If it was someone else, Gao Ming would have sent him away, but Shi Qian was different, he was his confidant.

When I came to the living room, I saw that Shiqian was frowning and looking around unsteadily. For a man of his background, he can still show such a flustered expression. It can be seen that things are not simple. Shi Qian, "What's the matter, what happened?"

Shi Qian probed out, looked left and right, made sure there was no one there, then closed the door tightly, and said to Gao Ming, "My lord, something is wrong."

No one wants to hear the four words "big things are not good", especially during the Chinese New Year, when they meet each other, they usually say auspicious words, but now it's good, Shi Qian gave him these four words as soon as they met, Gao Ming's heart skipped a beat After a few times, "How bad is it?"

Then he heard Shi Qian say, "Someone from the Liao Kingdom sneaked into Tokyo City."

Originally, it would not be a good thing to involve the Liao Kingdom, and even sneaked into Tokyo, Gao Ming grinned secretly, "Speak carefully."

Shi Qian told about Duan Jingzhu's affair with the Liao people, Gao Ming wanted to drag Duan Jingzhu to beat him up, "He dares to agree to such a thing?"

"He said that he just wanted to cheat some money, but he didn't expect the Liao people to take it seriously." Shi Qian said worriedly: "It's just that he has never met the Liao people, and he doesn't know what their purpose is and what they want to see you for. "

There is not much information, so Gao Ming can't make a judgment, but the current situation in Liao Kingdom is in a state of desperation, and the comer is not good.

The Jurchens established the Kingdom of Jin, and they had long been in touch with the Liao Kingdom. However, under the strong attack of the Jurchens, the Liao Kingdom retreated one after another, and it was on the verge of fading away.

The Liao Kingdom had envoys stationed in Bianliang, and these people bypassed the envoys to privately seek an audience with the officials of the Song State. This was certainly not the official attitude of the Liao Kingdom, and it was probably for their own self-interest.

"Perhaps seeing that the power of the Liao Kingdom was exhausted, they came to the Song Dynasty." Gao Ming expressed his judgment.

"If they are here to defect, then they must show some sincerity." For example, unique information, or gold, silver and jewelry.

If these Liao people came to surrender, then there must be some value extracted from them. If this is the case, Gao Ming kept them and recommended them from him, which is naturally a credit. This is cheap and cannot be given to others.

However, Gao Ming can't be too reckless, after all, the identity of the other party is suspicious, and he can't show up rashly before he understands the situation, otherwise it will be contaminated and it will be difficult to clear the relationship.

"Let's see what their intentions are first." Gao Ming whispered in Shi Qian's ear, "Tell Duan Jingzhu to find someone to pretend to be me, and lead him to meet the Khitan people. Don't tell Duan Jingzhu the real situation, just say that you did it for Help him appease the Khitan people, come up with a way."

This is indeed more secure, if something happened, he pushed Duan Jingzhu on him, saying that in order to appease the Khitan people who were cheated of money, he found someone to pretend to be a yamen to deal with it.

Shi Qian hurriedly agreed, "But I'm afraid that the Liao people are not so easy to fool."

"It's not easy. You tell the Liao people to wait outside the Imperial City Department, and then ask the person pretending to be me to come out of the Imperial City Department's yamen. At this time, you go up, call him Lord Gao, and serve you respectfully. sedan chair, and then you leave. At this time, ask Duan Jingzhu to come up and stop this pretender, saying that there are guests who want to introduce him, and the group of Khitan people will think that the person here is Mr. Gao. Okay, let's do it. If there is any trouble, come and tell me immediately."

After Shi Qian took the order, Gao Ming returned to the backyard with a solemn expression, looking at his brewing equipment, his mood was not as relaxed and cheerful as before.

The problems of Liao Kingdom and Jin Kingdom were an inescapable difficulty before him.

Shi Qian returned to his home and called Duan Jingzhu out of the secret room, "I went around your father's house just now and found a few sneaky people lurking nearby, I think it might be the Khitan man , so I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to dodge like this, if you don’t explain to them, they will definitely not spare you,”

Duan Jingzhu almost cried, "Brother, what should I do? If not, you can ask my father to hide in your secret room too."

"Nonsense, I'm telling you to think of a way to get rid of these Liao people. Well, you really can't find the Yameni, so why don't you find someone to pretend to be him. Anyway, the Liao people have never seen Gao Yanei."

"But I'm afraid that if I give someone to them casually, they won't believe it."

"What's so difficult about it." Shi Qian told Duan Jingzhu the method that Gao Yanei told him just now.

Duan Jingzhu slapped his head, "That's right, it's wonderful, brother is the best, then I'll find someone who pretends to be Gao Yanei. When I bring him to the Imperial City Department, I will ask my brother to accommodate me and let him go." He goes in."

Shi Qian pretended to nod casually, "No problem, you can do it. However, I thought about it for a while, you call someone pretending to be Gao Ya Nei, to find out what the Liao people say, if they come to Gao Ya Nei, it's a good thing, say It may not be a blessing in disguise, but you still have a great achievement."

Duan Jingzhu slapped his head again, "Yeah, why didn't I think of it, then I'll ask these Liao people what they want to do."

Duan Jing lived among all his cousins, and found the most handsome one as Gao Yanei's substitute.Treated his cousin to a meal, and promised to give him a sum of money if he succeeded, and his cousin agreed without even thinking about it.

For the sake of money, they even dare to pretend to be the king of heaven, let alone a high official.

The scammers are already in place, the only thing missing is the victim.

Of course, they are also easy to find. Duan Jingzhu showed his face near the alley where his father lived, and was immediately held down by a big Khitan man, "Good guy, I have been looking for you for a long time."

The Central Plains dialect of this Khitan person is not very good.If he said it well, he would definitely send Duan Jing a lot of dirty words.

Duan Jingzhu hurriedly put on a smiling face, "Master, I'm sorry, I've been sick for the past few days, so I didn't come to the appointment on time. Didn't you see that I came to see you as soon as I recovered from my illness?"

He didn't care about the truth, anyway, he took the initiative to show up, and the Khitan people were in a hurry, so they didn't care so much, "Then stop talking nonsense and take us to see that Gao Yanei."

Duan Jingzhu continued to accompany the smiling face, "No problem, no problem, I will take you there now. This Gao Ya Nei Lantern Festival is still on duty in the Imperial City Division. I know him very well. Don't believe me, he always comes to my place. Buy sea holly. A few days ago, he asked me to keep an eye on him. He is very familiar with it."

These are all bullshits that Duan Jingzhu had boasted about before, and now he brought them up again, and the Khitan man said: "Okay, okay, don't just talk about it, take me to see people."

"No problem, let's go."

The Khitan who caught Duan Jingzhu rushed back to the inn to inform Ma Zhi.

When Ma Zhi heard that Duan Jingzhu had been found, he called everyone else back and held Duan Jingzhu like a prisoner.

When they came to Huangchengsi, they saw that the yamen was very large and full of factions, and the plaque hanging on it also showed where it was. They are all Han Chinese, and he also studied Han culture, so he can understand what is written on it at a glance, and he knows that this is indeed the Imperial City Division.

Duan Jingzhu said, "Wait here at the door, I'll go in and find Gao Yanei." He walked in, and the Liao people hid in the dark and watched him.

I saw that Duan Jing lived in the gate of the imperial city's yamen, and after a while, a young man came out, dressed in brocade clothes, handsome, with a fair face, very similar to the appearance of Gao Yamen they heard.

Duan Jingzhu bowed to people, seemed to be talking about something, and gradually walked towards them. During the period, several people passed by them, all of them nodded and bowed to Gao Yanei, and one person even called him Mr. Gao clearly. , were heard by them.

It can be seen that Gao Yanei is indeed correct.

Ma Zhi watched Gao Yanei's face nervously, and seeing his expression, he didn't seem very happy. He sweated deeply, thinking that this matter might not be possible.Sure enough, I saw that Gao Yanei got into the sedan chair and seemed to be leaving.

And at this moment, Duan Jingzhu's persistence was seen. He poked his head into the sedan chair and dragged his legs on the ground to prevent the sedan chair from moving forward. Duan Jingzhu was convinced and nodded.

And following Duan Jingzhu's guidance, he looked in the direction of the Liao people, and the Liao people immediately bowed to Gao Yanei, and the two groups of people met each other.

Ma Zhi was overjoyed.

Duan Jingzhu bowed and thanked "Gao Ya Nei" and watched him get back into the sedan chair.

He returned to Ma Zhi and them, and said like an invitation for credit: "If I hadn't worn out my lips, Gao Yanei would not have seen you at all. Ma Zhi asked excitedly. Hearing what you mean, then Gao Yanei agreed to see us, that's right." , tonight, in Fengle Building, he will meet you."

One of them said dissatisfiedly: "Is it just him? I thought he was in the Taiwei's mansion, even his father came to see us."

"That's not bad, don't ask too much, if you have a good talk with him, he will be further introduced to the Taiwei."

Ma Zhi also felt that he could not ask so much, and shook his head towards his companion, "Yes, no problem, just Fengle Building tonight."

Ma Zhi and the others arrived as scheduled, and it took a quarter of an hour for Gao Yanei to come late, but anyway, it's good that I came, Duan Jingzhu introduced in the middle: "This is Mr. Gao, this is from Liao Kingdom Lord Ma."

In fact, what Duan Jingzhu didn't introduce was that just above their heads, there was a gentleman named Liang Shang.

Ma Zhi looked at Gao Yanei, and saw that he was really young, but it didn't matter, as long as he could speak in front of the emperor.

"Gao Ya Nei" said straight to the point: "Although you have come from afar, you bypassed the envoys of the Liao Kingdom living in Bianliang and met me directly. I don't know what you want to talk to me about. Because I have other So I hope you don’t have to go around the corner, just say it directly. By the way, you can speak the Central Plains dialect.”

Ma Zhi said: "Don't worry about this yamen, my Central Plains language is very good, and there will be no misunderstanding between us because of communication problems."

"Gao Yanei" nodded, "Then tell me, what is the purpose of your coming to Bianliang?"

Ma Zhi did not hide his purpose of coming, "To be honest, I have a good plan to offer to the Song Dynasty, and now the Liao people are struggling to survive. The emperor Yelu Yanxi is in a daze, and the whole country is in chaos. And the Jin Kingdom is against him, and now It is rising, and the momentum is fierce, I think that the Jin Kingdom will replace the Liao Kingdom sooner or later."

The "Gao Ya Nei" in front of me is Duan Jingzhu's cousin, he is not interested in these important national affairs at all, he just wants to make a fool of himself and leave, "So?"

Ma Zhi didn't know whether this Gao Yanei was not surprised by favor or humiliation, and remained calm in the face of danger, or because he was a dude, ignorant and incompetent, so he couldn't understand the pros and cons of the general changes in the world, and he didn't even feel a little shocked.

But everyone has seen it, and I have to say something: "So my good strategy is, it's better to join forces with Jin Guo to destroy Liao."

Duan Jingzhu, a cousin, had a blank mind and didn't take these things to heart, but Shi Qian was different. He heard these words clearly on the beam, and almost fell off the beam.

Even Duan Jingzhu was stunned by Ma Zhi's words, and couldn't help interjecting, "Aren't you from the Liao Kingdom?"

How can one betray one's own country and attract two enemy countries to destroy one's own country.

"A good bird chooses a tree to live in. Yelu Yanxi is incompetent and only knows how to enjoy himself. Now the Liao Kingdom has been suffering from natural disasters for many years, and it is at the end of its strength. Besides, I am a Han, but I am only restricted by the Khitan on their territory and cannot return to the Central Plains. Although I I am in the Liao Kingdom, but my heart has always been towards the Song Dynasty."

Ma Zhi expressed his loyalty, but the "Gao Ya Nei" in front of him didn't seem to have too much reaction, his expression was very cold, "Oh, so it is like this." Slowly opened his eyelids, and said to Ma Zhi calmly : "But you are from Liao, how can you make Jin and Song form an alliance?"

"It's not difficult. I used to follow the silver envoy of the Liao Kingdom to the Jurchen tribe all the year round, and I am very familiar with the Jin Kingdom. As long as Da Song agrees to make friends with the Jin Kingdom, then I will go to the Jin Kingdom with Da Song's sincerity. Discuss with them, I believe they will not reject this point, the Kingdom of Jin was oppressed by the Kingdom of Liao, and rebelled angrily. For hundreds of years, the Song Dynasty has been taxed by the Kingdom of Liao. I believe they can understand the feeling of sending Song Kingdom. That's the basis of alliances."

The Liao Dynasty sent a silver envoy to the Jurchen tribe to ask for sea holly from the local area, which made the Jurchen tribe miserable. The direct reason for the quarrel between the two parties was that the emperor Yelu Yanxi of the Liao Kingdom once called several tribes affiliated to him. , After getting drunk, they asked the chiefs of these tribes to dance. At that time, only Wanyan Aguda of the Jurchen tribe could not dance.

When Shi Qian heard this, he finally understood that although this person came from the Liao Kingdom, he was very familiar with the Jin Kingdom, and wanted to tie the needle between the Jin Kingdom and the Song Kingdom, and join hands to destroy the Liao Kingdom where he was. .

This news is too important, it is related to the life and death of the three countries.

He had already heard all the key information about the shift of time and construction, so he didn't waste any more time and quietly slipped down the beam to find the real Gao Yanei.

When Shi Qian came, Gao Ming was inspecting his distillery house, he was covered in heat, but after listening to Shi Qian's words, he seemed to have fallen into an ice cave.

Lian Jin destroyed Liao, called Ma Zhi.

Isn't this the pit song horse?

Because of this strategy he ran to Da Song Xian, Song and Jin formed a maritime alliance and attacked Liao together.

If the Liao Kingdom perishes, the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun will belong to the Song Dynasty. This is also the fundamental point that makes the Song Dynasty excited.

There were five capital cities in Liao Kingdom. According to the agreement, Jin Kingdom attacked three, and Song Dynasty attacked two of them, namely Nanjing (Yanjing) and Xijing (Datong).

As a result, Da Song didn't even hit one, not to mention two. In the end, Jin Guo turned around to help Da Song after capturing the three capitals.

Because the Song State did not fulfill the contract to lay down the capital of the Liao State, in the end it paid to buy the Yanyun area from the Jin State, the most important thing is.This expedition against Liao exposed the fact that Song's combat effectiveness was low.

How could the Kingdom of Jin not take advantage of the advantages, and soon found an excuse to go south to attack the Song Dynasty, and then after a series of coquettish operations by Zhao Ji and his son, it was over.

But in the final analysis, it was the bane planted by this maritime alliance that united Jin to destroy Liao.Once the Liao Kingdom was destroyed, the Song Kingdom directly bordered the Jin Kingdom without even a buffer zone.

No matter what, Gao Ming would never let this horse cheat Song again.

Ma Zhi and the others finally met Gao Yanei, and told them all about their plan, but Gao Yanei told them to wait for news in the inn before going back to discuss with his father.

"What's the point of discussing this? Such a good plan, Song people are just suspicious."

"However, the capital of the Great Song Dynasty is really prosperous. It would be great if I could live here in the future."

Originally, the prosperity of the Liao Kingdom could not be compared with that of the Song Dynasty, especially the Liao Kingdom suffered from natural disasters in recent years, and it was in ruins everywhere, and there was nothing comparable to this Tokyo Bianliang.

Although this Tokyo is not the Paradise of Elysium, it is definitely one step closer to the Land of Elysium than the Liao Kingdom.

These few people were immersed in the planning of a happy life in the future, when suddenly the door was kicked open with a bang, and a few officials rushed in with scrolls in their hands, "You! You! And you!"

"That's right, this person is the Demon King Fan Rui."

"Unexpectedly, you are so courageous, you dare to enter Tokyo City to watch fireworks!"

Ma Zhi was taken aback, what Fan Rui?The Demon King of Confusion?

"Don't talk nonsense, arrest all these robbers in Mangdang Mountain!"

Ma Zhi understood that he mistook them for robbers.

Ma Zhi said calmly: "I am not Fan Rui, the demon king of the world. You have misunderstood the person. This is our guide."

He handed over the guide, but who knew that the officer took the guide and tore it into pieces, "What is the use of this guide now? There are too many fakers, we only recognize the portraits. We have arrested you for a long time, I finally found out where you are staying, take them all back to the Yamen!"

Ma Zhi saw that these arresters were also people with superb martial arts skills, and he was sure that he had met Gao Yanei today, so he agreed to many things. Even if they were caught, they would be released safely tomorrow, "Okay, I'll go with you."

A few of his men wanted to resist, but Ma Zhi shook his head at them.

If you resist now, these yamen servants will find that they are from the Liao Kingdom, and it will be difficult to explain.

Tomorrow Gao Yanei finds that they are not in the inn, he will definitely inquire about their whereabouts and rescue them, so there is no need to act rashly.

Several other people also thought of this, put down their fists, and looked at these yamen servants coldly.

Let's see who will be unlucky tomorrow.

In this way, Ma Zhi and his subordinates went out with these officials. Several of his subordinates dared not speak out, because a word would expose their poor Chinese and arouse suspicion.

When they went downstairs and walked to the lobby of the inn, they saw a man standing in front of the counter, looking towards them, suddenly raised the pocket in his hand, and saw a cloud of white powder spilling out of it, Ma Zhi and others People quickly raised their sleeves to block them, but the churning powder still got into their eyes.

In an instant, tears filled my eyes, and I couldn't tell the difference between southeast and north.

Just when they couldn't figure out what happened, Ma Zhi felt someone grab his wrist, "Follow me!"

Ma Zhi wanted to say who are you, but felt many people surrounded them and walked out, "There is no time to explain, get in the car!"

Ma Zhi and the others couldn't see clearly for a while, "Who are you? What are you going to do?" Called Gui Ming, his eyes couldn't see, he couldn't resist at all, and there were a lot of people on the other side, so he got into the car in such a daze.

Sitting in the car, Ma Zhi listened to the people next to him say: "Master Fanzhai, don't panic, we received news that you went to Tokyo to watch lanterns, and were discovered by people from the yamen, and the brothers came to rescue you as soon as possible. .Let’s go back to Mount Mangdang now! Brothers are waiting.”

Ma Zhi complained in his heart, it turned out that this group of people were Fan Rui's brothers, but he couldn't see, what should he do, "I can't see."

"Village Master, the brothers are eager to save people, and accidentally hurt your eyes, but don't worry, when you get out of Tokyo City, I'll just wash you with some medicine."

"Can't I wash it now?" Ma Zhi said anxiously, "Where are the brothers who are with me?"

"In the carriage at the back. Ah, the officials are chasing after me. Let me shoot a few shots and kill them. Being a robber is already dead. Who is afraid of whom?!"

Ma Zhi heard that his entourage was in another carriage. He was alone now, and he didn't dare to act rashly. He only hoped to stop quickly to wash his eyes, and find a chance to escape and return to Tokyo.

At this time, a water bag was stuffed into his hand, "Village Master, you are thirsty, take a few sips."

When Ma Zhi was in a hurry, he really felt a little thirsty. He unscrewed the water bag, drank a few gulps, and then felt dizzy. Although he couldn't see it with his eyes, he still felt that the world was spinning, "Why, why... "Before he finished speaking, he leaned his head against the wall of the car and remained silent.

After an unknown amount of time, he heard someone say in his ear, "Hold it up, slow down, eh? He's awake? Give him some more water."

Ma Zhi didn't want to drink, but he didn't have the strength to resist at all. He was forced to drink something again. This time he didn't fall asleep, and he still retained this trace of consciousness. He felt that someone was feeding him, and he opened his mouth when he was half asleep and half awake. and fell asleep again.

Occasionally he also woke up, knowing that he was locked in a dark box, and seemed to be sent somewhere, and as soon as he made a slight movement, someone would come and pour him a potion that could make him sleepy.

After an unknown amount of time, when he opened his eyes again, he finally saw the blue sky, with the coolness of the wind blowing across his face. He sat up straight away, and found that his head was no longer dizzy, and his feet were no longer heavy.

He almost jumped up for joy, he was free!

Breeze!blue sky!And the ocean!

Um?ocean? !

It is indeed the ocean. Looking around, there is endless blue water in sight.

He looked forward, looked back, looked to the left, looked to the right, all of them were sea water.

And he was standing on a used sailboat, as small as a speck of dust in the ocean.

"What's going on?" he growled. "How come you're on a boat?"

Hearing his roar, several bearded men with high noses and deep eyes came towards him, chattering at him a lot, but he couldn't understand a single word.

Fortunately, at this time, a man who looked like a Han came, and Ma Zhi quickly asked, "Where is this boat going? I want to get off the boat!"

"This is a boat for a pilgrimage to Majia. Don't worry, I'm entrusted by your friend, and I will definitely deliver you safely."

Maka, where is that?Ma Zhi's sea breeze couldn't help but make him feel completely chilled, even his heart. Why did he come to the sea?When will I be able to land, "When will the ship stop? I will get off the ship!"

"I will stop for supplies at Sanfoqi, but since your friend entrusted me, I will definitely send you to your destination."

"What friends?! I have no friends, I was framed!" Ma Zhi roared.

"Okay, okay, stop arguing! This ship will return to the Song Kingdom, you can take it back at worst."

"How long will it take to return?"

"Three years."

"Ah—" Ma Zhi screamed.Three years later, it is impossible to predict how the situation among the three countries will be, so there is no need for his advice.

"Okay, stop screaming!" The man waved his hand impatiently, "It's time for prayer, if you dare to speak out, be careful not to be thrown overboard by these big cannibals to feed the fish."

Only then did Ma Zhi realize that the whole ship was silent, and everyone was preparing for prayer.

He didn't dare to offend everyone, so he didn't make a sound, and shrank to a corner, thinking in grief, where is Sanfoqi?Where is Majia?

In the vast sea and blue waves, the sailboat sailed thousands of miles away by riding the wind and waves.

-

Gao Ming held a cup of brewed distilled wine in one hand, and slapped the cup with the other, a strong smell of wine penetrated his nostrils.

He smiled with satisfaction, "That's not bad."

Looking at the blue sky in early spring through the window, he couldn't help but think that the sky above the sea must be bluer. I don't know where Ma Zhi is. I wish him a happy pilgrimage.

As the saying goes, I will send you away, thousands of miles away.

Ma Zhi was sent on a sailing ship to Mecca in Arabia, and several of his entourage were thrown to the border of Song and Liao. They did not find Ma Zhi, and did not dare to go deep into the hinterland of Song, so they had to go back to China.

Although he sent Ma Zhi away, he couldn't offer the deceitful strategy of uniting the Jin and destroying the Liao Dynasty, but it didn't mean he could sit back and relax.

On the contrary, the real test begins.

Gao Ming faced the difficult problem of how to regain the Yanyun area and protect the Song State in the struggle between Liao and Jin.

His smile gradually disappeared, and he drank the wine in the wine cup in one gulp. After a moment of silence, he stuck out his tongue and gasped, "It's so spicy!".

He thought for a while, poured another cup, and walked out the door, "Father, I have something good for you to try."