The Little Officials of the Song Dynasty Chapter 254: Meet the Liao Emperor (Part 1)
Yelü Dehua's "poem" is barely a limerick, with uneven rhymes, and even Yun Yanhui could hear that his level was extremely poor, and Li Xingjian actually praised him for his outstanding literary talent.
——Of course, it is in the Liao Kingdom that he is very literary.
It's fine if it's an ordinary person. This person is an official of the Dalin Dental Institute. Therefore, if you think about it carefully, although this sentence is full of maliciousness, it is not wrong.
Yun Yanhui followed up with a few compliments against his will, and Yelu Dehua had to make an inch and asked him to sing in harmony.
Yunyan replied speechlessly, and it didn't rhyme in the same way, but it didn't fall behind. After listening to Yelu Dehua, he pondered a little and said regretfully, "The deputy envoy is still better."
"...You've won the prize." Yun Yan returned with no joy of victory.
When it came time to get along in private, Li Xingjian taught everyone a lesson.
"Since the founding of the country, the Liao people have collected a large number of Han classics and accommodated Han officials. Since the Xingzong Yelu Longxu, it has been vigorously promoted. Many Liao nobles will study Confucian classics, even when they are selected for the imperial examination. , will also test poetry and poetry.”
Li Xingjian explained the origin of the Liao people's admiration for the Han culture, "However, after all, it is a foreign country, and there are not many Liao people who are good at literature. I didn't 'rescue' the wind."
Yunyan returned to Khan, and Li Xingjian's words of "acceptable level" were obviously polite words, but in the eyes of these great scholars, they were not worth mentioning. And these people are in the minority, other than that, even Yun Yanhui can't threaten.
"When you get to their capital, you have to remind me, I'm afraid you won't be so lucky next time..." Yunyan retorted and muttered, "And why are these Liao people so stubborn, they have to drag me to the poem."
"Hehe, when we arrived in the capital, the first person to find us about poetry must be the king of the country, Yelu Zongzhen. He likes poetry the most, and he decided on the system of selecting scholars based on poetic talents." Li Xingjian introduced to them. , "In previous years, whenever Song envoys arrived, it was inevitable to accompany him to compose poems. However, the level is..."
Li Xingjian smiled and said nothing.
The big guy immediately understood that it was difficult for foreigners to learn Han culture. They started to learn Han culture comprehensively, and they didn't have many years and no background.
What's more, Tang Poetry and Song Poetry, that is the existence of the open level, there are too many talents in the Song Dynasty, and the two are not comparable at all.
……
With the dedicated company of Yelu Dehua, the mission went all the way to Beijing.
Yun Yanhui paid attention and observed that there were many fruits and vegetables planted in the territory of Liao, and they were not aristocrats, but there were many among the people. He wanted to inquire about the planting situation in Liao, but he needed to be subtle, so he said: "When I came, my mother specially instructed me to bring more preserved fruit back. I wonder what the price of preserved fruit is now?"
Liao's preserved fruit is also one of the specialties. The production was quite mature in this era. When Liao envoys went to the Song Dynasty, they would also bring preserved fruit to the Song emperor.
"The price has gone up a lot, but it's easy to say if you want more." Yelu Dehua, who was also used to buying things by Song envoys, muttered, "It's getting colder and colder in recent years. It needs to be more careful, it is easy to freeze to death, and the price has risen so much.”
After all, Yelu Dehua was inexperienced, and in a few words, he revealed the information Yun Yanhui wanted to know.
Yunyan Hui knew early on that it was getting colder all these years, the Little Ice Age, but Liao was even more bitter and cold, and the situation was even more serious.
It is not easy to grow melons and fruits, so it must be difficult to grow grain. In the Song Dynasty, it was forbidden to sell grain to the Liao Kingdom. Then, when the people's harvest was not good, one was the government's disaster relief, and the other was smuggled grain. It seems that I have to talk about this situation when I go back, and it is necessary to step up the control of domestic food.
After entering Liao, Yelu Dehua took care of them, and everyone's food changed a little.
Yunyan wanted to eat it, so she brought a lot of instant noodles, bitter bamboo shoots, sauces, etc., just like when she went to the farm, it was easy to eat on weekdays, and she was satisfied.
In the territory of Liao, the Liao state also provided food. Yunyanhui generally eats mixed food, and does not eat Liao food at all, which is too shameless.
Liao people eat a lot of dairy products, and since they entered the Liao territory, they provide a bowl of milk porridge to the four envoys every day, which is very precious.
This milk porridge is made of milk and wheat. It tastes good and has a strong milk fragrance, so Yun Yanhui eats it clean every time. If you feel a little tired, and you happen to be in the town, you will buy a little fruit and put it in pieces.
When Yelu Dehua saw it, he sighed very much, "I thought milk porridge was already fine enough, but who knew that you Song people would eat it even more, adding fruits to milk porridge, why didn't I think about it?"
"Although your country likes to eat cow and sheep dairy products, when it comes to playing tricks on it, we, Song Dynasty, have more." Yun Yan smiled back.
Every year, Da Song imports a lot of sheep from Liao to meet domestic demand. Although dairy products are not the most popular food in Da Song, they are far more varied than Liao people.
Yun Yanhui also made ghee bubble snails on the spot. Yelu Dehua almost stared out of his eyes after eating it. He ate up a plate of ghee bubble snails, and then sighed with emotion. Rushing to send ambassador to Song country.
Yun Yanhui and others secretly observed the situation of Liao all the way, and arrived at Shangjing unknowingly.
At this point, it's time to change the embassy to recruit the Song mission, and Yelu Dehua's mission has been honorably accomplished.
What surprised Yun Yanhui was that the ambassador who received them was also his acquaintance, a good friend of the people of the Song Dynasty. He used to be an ambassador to the Song Dynasty and helped Yun Yanhui buy watermelon seeds. shoe.
Yelü walked first to greet the envoy Li Xingjian, then laughed and hugged Yunyan back: "Old friend, I heard that you are coming to Daliao, and specially asked to be the ambassador of the consulate. I'll entertain you in Beijing like that." He looked at Yun Yan back and smacked, "I think you've grown up!"
Yun Yanhui also hugged Yelu's shoes back in surprise, "Hai Lin, I thought I'd meet you, but I didn't expect to be the ambassador of the consulate because of my loyalty." He corrected Yelu's shoes again. , "What does it mean to grow up, when you saw me, I wasn't even a child."
"That's how tall you are?" Yelu laughed, and together with Yun Yanhui, introduced their origins to Li Xingjian.
Li Xingjian said with a smile, it's easier to talk if everyone is friends.
After a month's journey, it is now the end of December. The members of the embassy rested in the embassy for two days and practiced etiquette.
Yun Yanhui took advantage of this time and went out for a walk with Zhao Yunchu.
Like the Liao envoys who are in the territory of the Song state, there will be people watching them. When they come to the Liao state, Yelu Yaolu has always been by their side, performing the dual duties of companionship and surveillance.
Yun Yanhui and Zhao Yunchu had a purpose. When they strolled on Shangjing Street, they mainly chatted with those who sold horses to find out who was good at raising horses.
The animal husbandry industry in Liao Kingdom is particularly developed, and horses are well-raised. This year, the Song Dynasty also issued a new order on raising horses to increase the number of horses. Therefore, they hope to introduce the developed horse raising technology of Liao.
However, this purpose certainly cannot be said openly, so they take the opportunity to act in private.
After inquiring about the person, I handed the information to the person in the embassy who was good at speaking Liao, and taught him to make friends privately and get back with some skills.
——At the same time, the envoys are going to meet the monarch of the Liao Kingdom.
Liao Xingzong, the monarch of the Liao Kingdom, that is Yelu Zongzhen held a banquet in the Wugong Hall, and the Song envoys went to the hall to meet. It was mainly Li Xingjian who spoke clichés and gave gifts.
This gift list is similar to previous years, but this year there are some new things.
The Liao Emperor was informal, and when he heard the gifts, he wanted to take a look at it on the spot.
So, Li Xingjian asked someone to carry the things up.
The first thing that is different from previous years is that there are some brewed tea leaves, which are similar to scented tea, but have a different taste.
The second is a large vat containing transplanted melons. This is produced by Taozhiyao, cultivated in a greenhouse, and transported to Liao in a jar thousands of miles away. I don’t know how rare it is.
Since it is produced by Taozhiyao, this melon naturally looks like a little doll.
Xingzong came down from the temple curiously and observed the "melon essence" up close, "This, what is this, it looks like a human figure!"
Xingzong speaks very smooth Chinese, and Yun Yanhui peeks at him from the side.
Originally, it wasn't very clear to see from a close distance, but now he walks down and can see clearly. He is not young, and should be about the same as Renzong. The two sword eyebrows are thick and black, and the eyes are sharp, but he has a beard and a body shape. He is also taller, and looks a lot more mature, not as good as Renzong Qingjun.
The state of Liaoning paid more attention to the scenery of the Song Dynasty, and said excitedly: "This is probably the ginseng fruit of the Song people! It is said that it has absorbed the essence of the heaven, earth, sun and moon to grow into this doll..."
This person repeated the nonsense about melons compiled by Tao Zhiyao, and Xingzong listened with relish, "Ginseng fruit, ginseng fruit, okay, pick one and give it to the Queen Mother immediately, and invite her to eat it at the old man's house. Longevity."
All the courtiers looked envious and looking forward to hearing this...
There are several ginseng fruits in this vat. Will your Majesty give them to them?
Yun Yanhui was secretly moved, the Liao people are so honest, and now they call melon essence ginseng fruit in the whole world!
Next, there is a third difference, that is, the living Confucius class.
Kong Ji brought two leading actors to the audience. Xingzong had also heard about Bian opera for a long time and was very interested in inviting them to come to the scene.
Kong Ji said, however, that this Bian opera is a combination of opera and scenes, and it is necessary to dress up and set up the stage well before starring for the country. Otherwise, they will feel sorry for their imperfect performances.
Not only did Xingzong not blame them, but he felt that this was everyone's demeanor. He immediately ordered people to set up a music booth outside the temple, trying to restore the stage as much as possible. At that time, he would invite all the ministers to enjoy the most authentic music from the Song Dynasty. Bian play.
After seeing the gifts, Xingzong asked the Song envoys to sit down and have a drink and a feast.
Xingzong couldn't wait to have someone pick a ginseng fruit and taste it.
The fat doll with the brows as if it was born was carefully removed by the palace servants and placed in Xingzong's hands.
Xingzong held the ginseng fruit and scrutinized it for a while, and after thinking for a long time, under the attention of all the ministers, he bit down half of the "body" and shattered it.
Everyone stared at Xingzong: What does ginseng fruit taste like?
Xingzong thought to himself, Damn, it doesn't seem as good as the ordinary melons in our Liao Kingdom.
Li Xingjian said in a timely manner: "This ginseng fruit is placed on the melon, but it is full of the essence of the sun and the moon. Eating it can make people smarter and stronger."
The eyes of the ministers of the Liao Kingdom suddenly became even hotter. They had long heard that this product was very famous in the Song Kingdom, and the supply in the country was in short supply, and because it was a fruit, it was difficult to transport, and they could not ask for it. This was the first The first time I saw the real thing with my own eyes, and then listened to Song Shi's introduction, my heart was even more itchy.
Just by looking at the appearance of ginseng fruit, you know that the effect is not ordinary. If it doesn't have any ability, how dare it grow like this? !
Yun Yanhui was drunk all the time. He didn't dare to brag like that when he was selling things. How could old man Li speak big words when he started talking about foreigners? It's a shame that he thought Li Xingjian was an honest man at first. A wise old man.
Xingzong hesitated for a moment, scratched his nose, and praised: "Ha ha ha, no wonder after I eat it, my tongue is full of saliva, and my whole body is refreshed. It is indeed a ginseng fruit, it is really more effective than ginseng!"