Chapter Thirty-One: The Envoy

  "That's nothing!" Zhou Ping shook his head, calming down: "Ask Li Bao, if he is willing, then say we are fellow countrymen, with excellent martial arts skills, and recommend him to Lord Han as a bodyguard. As long as we get out of the city, it will be easy."

  "Will he be recognized by Director Han?"

  "Mr. Han is a scholarly family, how could he often watch these things? Moreover, he is only of medium build, and in the past few days, he has been frightened and worried, his appearance has changed greatly, changing into another set of clothes, with some gray earth on his face, who can recognize him?"

  "Ah Ping, you're right!" Xue Liangyu nodded in agreement. Indeed, after that night's events, Li Bao had been sleeping poorly and eating badly for many nights, and suddenly looked like he had aged ten years overnight. Anyone who saw him would hardly recognize the usual spirited "Little Guan Suo".

  "You go and talk to him, see if there's anything we need to buy for the road, I'll go inform Mr. Han!"

  "Alright!"

  Han Fu's study, Han Xiaocong sat beside the desk, recalling his conversation with Zhao Liangyi that afternoon. As Zhao Liangyi was a fugitive from Liao State, according to the agreement between Song and Liao in the Chanyuan Treaty, neither side could recruit or surrender subjects from the other, so Emperor Taizong of Song had granted him an official title but did not publicly acknowledge his identity. Zhao Liangyi himself lived a reclusive life, usually residing in the mansion of his patron, Tong Guan, and only a few high-ranking officials knew his true identity. Originally, Han Xiaocong viewed Zhao Liangyi as being on the same level as Tong Guan, considering them both to be sycophants who curried favor with their superiors and were eager for personal gain. He also believed that Zhao's proposal of "allying with Jin to attack Liao" was merely a self-serving attempt to seek benefits. Han did not believe that Zhao had truly defected to Song out of admiration for its ruler, as he claimed. However, after their conversation that afternoon, Han Xiaocong could not help but acknowledge that this fugitive from Liao might have some redeeming qualities, possessing a deep understanding of the current situation in Liao. As they spoke, Zhao used his finger to draw a map on the desk with tea water, clearly explaining the geography and layout of various regions in Liao, including Youyan, Yunzhong, Liaoxi, and Liaodong, as well as the names of famous cities and towns, the appointments of military commanders, and the intelligence and abilities of key officials in the Liao court. This left Han Xiaocong with a newfound impression: "Perhaps this man is indeed telling the truth - could it be that our ancestors' hundred-year grudge will be avenged today?"

  Just as Han Xiao was deep in thought in his study, the two knocks on the door interrupted his train of thought. He looked up and asked, "What is it?"

  "Report to Lord Lang, Zhou Ping, who just arrived from Anyang, requests an audience!"

  "Zhou Ping?" Han Xiaoqiu was taken aback for a moment before remembering who it was, and casually said: "Mm, let him in!"

  After a moment, Zhou Ping pushed open the door and came in, making a long bow to Han Xiao: "Your Excellency Han, I have a request to make of you, and I hope you will grant it."

  "What's wrong?"

  "A few days ago, I met a fellow townsman in Tokyo who heard about my situation and was very envious. He also wants to join the company of Master Xiao and make a name for himself. I hope Master Xiao will agree!" At this point, Zhou Ping feared that Han Xiao would refuse, so he hastily added: "This person is born with divine strength and is especially skilled in horn-butting technique. In An Yang City, he is also one of the top, far surpassing me by a hundred times!"

  Han Xiao nodded and said, "Hmm, since you've recommended him, let's keep him then!"

  "Thank you, sir, for your consent. He will certainly repay with his life!" Zhou Ping bowed and was about to leave when Han Xiao suddenly spoke up in a low voice, "Wait, I have something to ask you."

  Zhou Ping stopped in his tracks and bowed his head, saying: "Sir, please ask."

  "I'd like to ask you: In a rural area, there lived two families, one with the surname Guo and the other with the surname Wang, who were neighbors. The Wang family, relying on their large number of people, occupied a piece of land belonging to the Guo family. The two families fought over this land several times, but the Guo family was unable to recover it. Now, the Wang family has encountered bandits and is in a precarious situation. Some members of the Guo family suggest allying with the bandits to take back the land from the Wang family; others say they should help the Wang family and jointly defend against the bandits; while another group thinks they shouldn't get involved and just wait for an opportunity to act. What do you think they should do?"

  Zhou Ping had only heard two sentences before he understood that Han Xiao was asking him about the current situation of the Song Dynasty facing the war with Jin and Liao, but had changed the subject. He hesitated for a moment before answering in a low voice: "If I'm not mistaken, sir, you should be asking about the affairs of the three countries of Song, Liao, and Jin? That piece of land is the territory of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun?"

  "How did you know?"

  "The dwarves have also been out and about these past few days. The golden ambassadors are roaming around Tokyo, having fun in tea houses and marketplaces everywhere. Who doesn't know that?"

  Han Xiaoquan looked at the young man in front of him with a new gaze and asked, "Then tell me, how should we respond?"

  Zhou Ping thought for a moment and replied in a low voice, "In my humble opinion, no matter what strategy is adopted, the most important thing is to make good preparations at home, select generals and train soldiers, store grain and fodder. Once we are strong, it doesn't matter which side we stand on, we won't suffer losses. For example, when the fruit on the tree is ripe, if you don't wear a soft hat on your head, it's okay if the fruit falls to the ground, but if it hits your head and breaks it, that would be terrible."

  When Zhou Ping finished speaking, the room fell silent. Half a beat later, Han Xiao's laughter broke the silence: "Good, good, good! This metaphor is well put, well put!" He stood up and walked back and forth in the study for several laps, suddenly stopping his footsteps and looking at Zhou Ping, saying: "It seems that this time I came back from Anyang and found a rare talent!"

  "My humble husband is overpraising me, I'm just a lowly person and don't dare accept it!"

  "This time go to Liao country and work hard, after coming back I will naturally help you find a good job!"

  "Thank you, sir!"

  As he came out of the study, Zhou Ping only felt a chill on his back, which was all the sweat he had just broken. At this time, he had a wry smile on his face and muttered to himself: "I've done what I can do, how it will be in the future is no longer my responsibility!"

  Unlike the previous envoys to Liao, this time the envoy's scale was small and the journey was very fast. A few days later, Han Xiao brought the delegation out of Tokyo, heading north across the Yellow River to Xiong State. From Xiong State, crossing the border river Bai Gou between Song and Liao would be Liao country. At the designated ferry on the riverbank, they boarded the ferry sent by the Liao side and went straight to the other side. There, the reception staff of the Liao side welcomed them, and after checking the documents, Han Xiao and his party were welcomed to the guest house to rest.

  Inside the embassy, Zhou Ping curiously looked around at this strange building, which was used exclusively for the rest, accommodation and courtesy calls of envoys from both countries. The building should be said to be very luxurious. However, strangely, the entire embassy was surrounded by a high wall over 20 feet high, and the only exit was guarded by several Liao soldiers. Any attempt to go out was refused by the gate guards with extremely polite but firm tone, claiming that all this was for the safety of the envoys of your country. They were currently contacting the front station to arrange reception matters, accommodation and itinerary, and asked the envoys to rest assured and wait for notification of their departure time after everything was arranged.

  One day later, Zhou Ping was finally able to leave this magnificent prison, but he immediately discovered that waiting for them were several special carriages. These carriages had a special name -轺车 (yú chē). They were also used by the Liao State to receive Song Dynasty envoys and provide them with transportation. The degree of luxury and attention to detail varied according to the status and position of the passenger, as well as the friendly relations between the two dynasties at the time. However, all these types of carriages had one common feature - apart from a large skylight, there was only a small window on either side of the carriage wall, which was also covered with a thick curtain that blocked out most of the light.

  "Ah Ping, what's wrong with this car?" Xue Liangyu complained, as a 17-year-old boy, he was already fed up.

  "This is a curtained carriage, the purpose of which is to prevent us from seeing the outside scenery, lest we leak information!" A member of the delegation in his fifties replied: "This car won't even take a straight road, so as not to let us remember the route from the border to a certain city."

  "Ah?" Xue Liangyu was taken aback and asked: "Is it the same on the side of the Great Song Dynasty?"

  "That's natural!" The attendant sneered: "You two have never participated in this kind of mission before, don't even know this!"

  Zhou Ping and Xue Liangyu exchanged a glance, clasped their hands together in respect and said: "Lord Wen, this is our first time, if there's anything we didn't do well, please point it out to us."

  He grunted and continued to doze off, he was an old official of the Ministry of Rites' Guest Division, surnamed Wen, named Cheng, who had been in the government for decades. He had participated in more than 20 missions to Liao State, with extremely rich experience. Unfortunately, he didn't have a good background and at his age, he was still only a ninth-grade official, spending his days dozing off in the carriage, looking like an old man on his last legs. Zhou Ping thought this trip would be full of risks, but unexpectedly they arrived safely in Youzhou, it seemed like a gain, yet for some reason, there was a hint of disappointment in his heart.

  But the situation changed when they arrived at Xincheng. At the relay station in Xincheng, the Liao guards were more relaxed, and there were only a few old soldiers dozing off at the gate, while around the station, there were all sorts of people coming and going every day. Some of them just wanted to take a look at the Han officials from the south and boast about it to their neighbors when they returned; others had ulterior motives and came to seek an audience, wanting to gain various benefits. Compared to Zhao Liangyi's trip to the south in the fifth year of Zhenghe, today's situation was even more unfavorable for Liao, and it didn't take much courage to make such a preemptive investment. Some readers thought the name was not good, but actually, the word "幕府" (mufu) originated from China and fit the content of this book. I asked the editor, and changing the title is a big taboo.