Chapter Thirty-Eight: Investigation

  Zhou and Wen walked into the hall together, only to see Han Xiaoqu sitting in the main seat, looking restless. When he saw the two of them, he stood up: "You two, sit down quickly, something big has happened!"

  "Please go on, sir!"

  "We just received news from outside that the Jin army has surrounded the Upper Capital of Liao, and the situation is critical!"

  Zhou Ping was taken aback by the words, thinking to himself that this wasn't a great opportunity? The more desperate the Liao people were, the more advantageous it would be for the Song Dynasty. These Song envoys could make demands out of thin air and achieve great merit! Just as he thought this, he heard Han Xiaocong say in a low voice: "I learned from a Han official in Liao that the negotiations between Liao and Jin have entered their final stage. Originally, both sides were still entangled over issues such as ceding land, titles, and hostages, but since the ancestral tombs of the Liao people are in Shangjing, wouldn't it be better to give in rather than be surrounded by the Jurchen-led Jin? If a peace agreement is reached between Liao and Jin, then our trip will have been for nothing!"

  "General, don't worry!" Wen Cheng persuaded: "Whether the Liao and Jin treaty can be concluded is not something we can intervene in. What we can do now is to understand the situation as much as possible, and then go back to report to the two ministers and the emperor, preparing for the future. However, from what I've seen, the situation is not that simple."

  "Please go ahead, Mr. Wen."

  He nodded and then carefully recounted the events that had just occurred at the top of the tower. Finally, he said in a low voice: "The Liao people are different from our Great Song Dynasty. The imperial family and ministers either participate in important matters or hold heavy troops to guard famous cities, holding great power. If there is a wise ruler on the throne, it's fine, but if they encounter an ordinary ruler, there will be internal strife. The Jin people negotiated with the Liao people, not because they really wanted to get along with them, but because their own strength was insufficient and they couldn't swallow them whole at once, so they delayed to wait for another battle; Moreover, it's not clear whether this negotiation can really succeed, even if the negotiation succeeds, if the Liao people have internal chaos, will the Jin people keep the negotiation and not send troops? In my opinion, as long as our Great Song Dynasty is diligent in domestic affairs, practices military training, and accumulates grain, there will necessarily be opportunities. Sir, you should often socialize with the Liao officials in Youzhou, which will be useful at critical moments."

  "Wen Gong's words are indeed correct!" By this point, Han Xiao didn't understand the meaning of Wen Cheng. The political structure of Liao was different from that of Song Dynasty. In order to adapt to the situation of ruling both inside and outside the Great Wall, it was roughly divided into two parts: the Southern Government and the Northern Government. The Southern Government mainly governed the 16 prefectures of Yan and Yun, imitating the Tang system, setting up three provinces, six ministries, courts, temples, offices, guards, and Eastern Palace officials, mainly composed of Han officials, who were in charge of official affairs, taxation, military horses, etc.; while the Northern Government had the Khitan Secretariat and the Palace Administration, mainly staffed by Khitans, who were responsible for managing palace affairs, tribes, and vassal states. The political center was not located in the five capitals, but rather in the mobile palace tent that accompanied the Liao emperor on his travels. This dual management system better adapted to the nomadic traditions of the Khitan people and the vast territory under Liao's rule, which had a huge difference between pastoralism and agriculture. However, it also inevitably led to conflicts between the Southern and Northern Governments. More importantly, since the core ethnic groups of Liao were the Khitans and the Jurchens, who were minorities compared to other ethnic groups they ruled, in order to ensure their own advantages, the central power and military authority of Liao were held by the upper-class nobles of these two ethnic groups. Therefore, the imperial family members of Liao, mainly with surnames such as Xiao and Yelü, possessed enormous military and political powers, which was different from the situation in Tang and Song Dynasties where, in order to ensure the stability of their rule, they deprived all imperial family members except the crown prince of their political and military powers and gave them large economic privileges as compensation. This situation strengthened the control of the Khitan and Jurchen upper classes over the empire but also intensified the ferocity and cruelty of internal struggles within the upper class. The internal struggle was no longer a palace struggle within the Central Plains Han Chinese empire, but rather an internecine war among the princes who commanded large armies. This internal strife would have disastrous consequences if it broke out simultaneously with external conflicts.

  In the following days, Han Xiaoji seemed to have completely forgotten his official duties and spent his days discussing Buddhism and poetry with the visiting ministers from Liao's Youzhou. He was quite skilled in this area, and within a few days, he had gained a very high reputation among the upper-class social circle of Youzhou. Although the Liao Dynasty had been established for nearly two hundred years, even the true Khitan people who had settled in Youzhou for five or six generations had become heavily sinicized. Even the northern officials generally had a deep cultural background and admired the culturally prosperous Northern Song Dynasty. When Han Xiaoji talked about paying compensation and ceding territory, those Liao officials still had some guard against him, but when it came to discussing poetry and Buddhism, they flocked to him like birds. For a time, the Jingjue Temple, where the Song envoy was staying, became the most fashionable place in Youzhou's upper-class society, with people coming and going constantly.

  "Three hundred and five steps, three hundred and six steps, three hundred and seven steps." Xue Liangyu muttered to himself as he walked along the base of the city wall. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and lowered his voice to say to Zhou Ping behind him, "From the east gate, 307 steps west is where the hidden soldiers' cave is!"

  "Hmm!" Zhou Ping responded with a nod, carefully drawing a cross on a rough map to represent the hidden cave, and jotting down the Arabic numeral 307. To an outsider, they were just two ordinary passersby. But who would have known that these two were spies gathering intelligence? As it turned out, while Han Xiao was making a big show in the upper echelons of Youzhou's social circle, Zhou Cheng and his companions hadn't been idle either. They spent their days strolling around the city, seemingly to take in the sights of this northern capital. But in reality, it wasn't that simple. Zhou Ping had received 16 years of education from elementary school to university in his past life, and although many things may have been useless back then, they were now proving to be extremely useful in the enemy's capital city during the late Northern Song dynasty. These days, he pretended to be strolling around, but was actually using a charcoal pen to take notes on the city's defenses on white paper. When he returned to his lodgings, he would organize these papers and later, when he returned to the Song Dynasty, he would redraw them onto a large map, creating a defense map of Youzhou. Although due to limitations, he couldn't yet draw contour lines or record elevation data like modern military maps, it was probably comparable to the treasured maps stored in the Imperial Secretariat's Geography Office.

  "Brother Zhou, the eastern gate is almost done, shall we head north next?" Xue Liangyu's enthusiasm was high. As a young man who grew up in a martial family, he was well aware of the importance of the work he and Zhou Ping were doing. These maps represented the blood and lives of thousands of people in war, and even determined the outcome of battles. He had never imagined that they could record the entire defensive situation of Youzhou on these thin sheets of paper with such precision. If a few days ago he called Zhou Ping "Brother Zhou" with some impulsiveness, now it was completely sincere. He believed that following this companion who was about ten years older than him would lead to a very bright future.

  "No need!" Zhou Ping glanced at the sky: "It's getting late, and after all, our identities are sensitive. If we keep wandering around the city walls every day and arouse the suspicions of the Liao people, they might search us and find these maps. That would be a complete waste of our efforts. Let's go back to Jingguo Temple for dinner instead, their vegetarian dishes are still quite good!"

  "Hmm!" Xue Liangyu nodded and smiled: "But if it's about vegetarian food, this place can't compare to the Temple of the Great Compassionate One."

  "You just know how to eat!" Zhou Ping smiled: "Forget it, this time back in Tokyo, let's go to Shibuya together and have a good stroll!"

  The two returned to their residence, but found that something was amiss. The heavily guarded entrance was not the only issue; dozens of attendants in the courtyard were also dressed in luxurious attire. Zhou Ping couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder. In recent days, many high-ranking officials from Liao had come to this gathering, including even the current Military Governor of Guangling, Left Chancellor Zuo Qiuyong, who had arrived with a simple retinue and wore only light fur clothing, without any ceremonial attendants. After all, both parties were tacitly downplaying their official identities in order to establish a close personal relationship for future use. The sudden appearance of this group was quite jarring.

  At this time, Zhou Ping happened to see Wen Cheng coming out from inside and walked forward, pointing at those followers and asked: "Wen Gong, who has come, how can it be like this?"

  Wen Cheng looked around and saw no one nearby, then leaned in close and whispered: "It was that person from the tower that day."

  "What's Xiao Pu Xian doing here?" This startled Zhou Ping: "What is she doing here? Is it about what happened that day?"

  "Don't be flustered!" Wen Cheng said with a smile, "Also coming is her husband, Qin Jin Guo Wang Yelü Chún. I've heard he's kind and loves to learn, especially fond of Buddhist scriptures. Han Xiang Gong has some attainments in Buddhism, so it's not unusual for the two of them to come together." Wen Cheng noticed Zhou Ping's shocked expression, which was quite different from his usual calm demeanor, and couldn't help but tease him: "I've long heard that Xiao Pu Xian has a heavenly appearance, ranking first among the noble ladies of Liao. That day in the tower, I'm afraid you didn't look down on her. Today's opportunity shouldn't be missed, Brother Zhou should go in and take a look!"

  "Wen Gong laughed, but I heard that Ye Yu Chun has always been called a wise king and is quite popular among the people of Yan. Today, I want to see his true appearance!" Zhou Ping said with his mouth, but his legs were already walking towards the house. The gatekeeper had long recognized him and knew he was the confidant of the Song Dynasty's envoy, so he lifted the curtain and let him in from a distance of six or seven steps away. Zhou Ping bowed to him and entered the door, suddenly feeling a wave of hot air rushing towards his face, and a layer of sweat beads appeared on his forehead. He didn't know how many heating pipes were installed under the floor, but it was as warm as a late spring evening in Jiangnan in this northern city. Zhou Ping saw that there were more than ten people sitting upright and listening intently to someone lecturing at the front, who was none other than Han Xiao Quan.

  "The Sixth Patriarch of Zen said: 'The nature of enlightenment is originally present, and afflictions are originally absent. Directly experiencing the nature of enlightenment is sudden awakening.' If one strives for liberation, it's actually falling into a lower vehicle!" Han Xiaocong sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, wearing a hemp robe, with an Eastern Slope hat on his head, holding a fly whisk, and having a white face with black whiskers, speaking as if the river was suspended in mid-air, looking just like an immortal.