Chapter 308: The champion sees the champion (seeking a monthly ticket!)
When the Song Dynasty delegation came to Xincheng County, they saw that it was no different from the small frontier town of the Song Dynasty. Outside the city were farmland and cottages. (, 网) In the fields, there were the same Han houses and the same Han faces... looking at
These burly men from Yan and Zhao actually became citizens of other countries, and Zhao Zongji felt a sense of tearing pain.
But when those Han people saw the envoys wearing Song Dynasty clothes, they all lowered their heads and avoided them, as if they were hiding from the god of plague, which made Zhao Zongji very sad.
As the delegation walked to the city gate, they suddenly heard the rumble of horse hoofbeats. Zong Ji and others reined in the reins, and saw the city gate wide open. Hundreds of black-armored cavalry came out in four rows, each carrying a horse on their shoulders.
There is a large flag with black characters on a white background and the Chinese character "Liao" written in seal script.
Although there were only four to five hundred horses, the dark banners covered the sun, giving people the impression of thousands of troops. For a while, there was only the rumble of horse hooves at the city gate, and all other sounds disappeared.
In the blink of an eye, the black-armored cavalry were already lined up in front of the city gate. The Liao soldiers looked solemn and majestic, completely different from the loose troops on the border.
In the center of the team, two officials from the Liao Dynasty, riding on two horses, one black and one white, were looking at the envoys from the Song Dynasty with smiles.
Yelu Derong quickly introduced Zhao Zongji: "The person riding the black horse is my Daliao Prince Consort, and the one in the north is Lin Yaxiao, the number one scholar of the Liao Dynasty. The person riding the black horse is my Daliao Number One Scholar, the privy scholar Zhang Xiaojie." Okay, one.
'Confused', a 'Miss'...
Then he rode over and introduced Zhao Zongji and others to Xiao Hujian and Zhang Xiaojie.
The two sides greeted each other according to etiquette. Chen Ke saw that the 'little fool' had curly hair and a sinister look on his face. It was the number one scholar in the Liao Kingdom, 'Miss Zhang', who was fair and elegant, and pleasing to the eye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the two parties met, Xiao Hujian expressed the Emperor's welcome to the Song envoy and invited the envoy to rest in the post house. He would host a banquet in the evening and set off for Zhongjing the next day.
Although the posthouses in the Liao Dynasty were not as exquisite and comfortable as those in the Southern Dynasty, they were better than they were in terms of size! All 500 people from the Song Dynasty’s envoys lived there, including Zhao Zongji, Zhao Bian, and Chen Ke. Each of them could also be assigned a large courtyard.
After taking a rest for a while, the two deputy envoys came to where Zhao Zongji was staying. The courtyard was shaded, the windows in the lobby were bright and clean, and the breeze was blowing, which made people feel comfortable.
Zhao Bian didn't say much along the way, but at this moment, he had to remind the still confused Chen Ke: "Scholar Chen, you have to cheer up later and don't lose the first battle."
"Oh?" Chen Ke said in surprise: "What's going on?"
"Didn't you see that the other party also has a champion?" Zhao Bian rolled his eyes and said.
"Yes." Chen Ke nodded and said, "I heard that he was the number one scholar in the first year of Qingning..."
"This year is the fifth year of Qingning in the Liao Dynasty. I have already become a privy councilor. The next step is to become a prime minister." Zhao Zongji did not miss any opportunity to hurt Chen Ke and said: "How about it? Do you still feel that you are making rapid progress?
?”
Chen Ke's current official is the sixth-rank Shaoqing of Honglu Temple. In order to look good when he is on an envoy, he makes an exception and gives him a Jixian Palace Compilation - The Selection of the Palace and Pavilion. All the handsome men in the world try their luck, but he is the only one.
The number one scholar can be obtained without trying. Once he has this position, he becomes a celebrity, known as the "selected prime minister", and is called "bachelor" both at home and abroad.
Chen Ke was known as a "bachelor" at the age of twenty-four. Although there was an element of "getting promoted before going on an envoy", in the Song Dynasty, no matter how you say it, it was the kind of "stepping too far and causing trouble". You know.
It is extremely difficult to climb the official ranks in the Song Dynasty. Even if you are the number one scholar, you have to climb up from the eighth rank. Those who can reach the height of Chen Ke in ten years are rare. But the number one scholar in the Liao Dynasty improved to a poor level after five years of service.
To worship the prime minister in one step is really infuriating to one person...
"You don't understand, don't you?" Chen Ke said disdainfully: "The official positions in the Liao Kingdom are generally too high. There are seven or eight levels above the prime minister. How can you compare with me in the Song Dynasty?"
"Haha, I saw 60xs naked jealousy." Zhao Zongji laughed.
"Calm down, calm down, you two." Zhao Bian said helplessly: "Let's think about how to deal with it later? I have heard of the title of No. 1 Scholar in China. It is said that he is the number one talent in the Liao Dynasty. He is often called the number one scholar in the Liao Dynasty.
The ministers who accompany the Lord of Liao. Why do you come all the way to greet me? Isn't it just for you, the number one scholar of the Song Dynasty?"
The Song Dynasty and Liao Dynasty have not been at war in recent years. However, the competition in all aspects has never stopped. In order to maintain the cultural advantages of the Central Plains country in diplomatic situations, the envoys sent by the Song Dynasty to the Liao Dynasty were mostly literati and celebrities of the time, while the Liao Dynasty for
In order to maintain dignity, the envoys sent to accompany him were naturally the top civil servants and celebrities in the north.
Needless to say, every mission involved a battle of wits and talents, which was not only a matter of personal honor and disgrace, but also a matter of national dignity.
After understanding his situation, Chen Ke smiled bitterly and said: "Could the war start in this small county?"
"This is just a small test of my skills, just to give you a show of strength." Zhao Bian said: "The real drama will naturally be performed in front of the Emperor of Liao."
"It's still a TV series..." Chen Ke was depressed.
"What if the envoys who were able to return honorably became prime ministers? They are all real gold refined by fire." Zhao Bian looked at him sympathetically and said, "I am optimistic about you, Scholar Chen."
"I'm optimistic about you too." Zhao Zongji smiled happily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While he was talking, officials from the Liao Kingdom came to invite him to the table. Bian was worried and gave a few more words before he, Chen Ke and Zhao Zongji entered the banquet hall hand in hand. It was a three-coupled hall connected to the flower hall, and the hall was completely in Song style.
The furnishings include two rows of officials from several countries, seated east to west and facing each other according to their rank.
I don't know if it was a deliberate arrangement or a coincidence, but Chen Ke was smiling at Zhang Xiaojie v. Number One Scholar, with sparkles in his eyes.
Chen Ke also squinted his eyes without showing any signs of weakness, making a strategic gesture of contempt.
There was a faint smell of gunpowder in the air.
Of course, everyone has an identity, and it’s impossible to just pinch them when they come up.
Amid the sound of silk music, the banquet began. Even though it was just a small banquet in a border post house, you could not sit down and start drinking. You must abide by etiquette.
According to ancient etiquette, there are about four steps in the etiquette of drinking wine: worship, sacrifice, spit, and bow. The so-called "bow" means that both parties have to kneel down to show respect to each other. Therefore, there are no tables and chairs in the hall, but ancient couches.
Both parties bowed before taking their seats.
After sitting down at the table, pour a little of the wine in the cup on the ground as a tribute to the earth's fertility. Then take a sip to taste the wine, which is called "spit". After the guest tastes the wine, he should praise the wine to make the host happy.
At the end of the day, you have to drink the wine with your hands up. You must give a toast to show that you really appreciate the wine.
After that, the host has to toast to the guests, which is called 'reward', and the guests have to toast the host in return, which is called '酢'. To toast people in order is called 'walking wine'. When toasting, both the person toasting and the person being toasted have to '
"Avoid the seat", that is, stand up and move away from the original seat. When toasting, you also say a few words of toast. The toast is usually three cups.
What is different from that of later generations is that at this time, when the superior is humble enough to drink, only the subordinates can raise their glasses; the superior's wine glass has not yet been finished, and the subordinates cannot drink it first. Therefore, it is respectful to do it later, not to do it first in later generations.
Respectfully……
There are many more complicated details that have been eliminated by people, and will only be emphasized one by one in such "more serious" diplomatic situations.
In short, drinking according to ancient rituals is as if the whole body is tied with lead. In order to make people relax, colorful drinking orders have been produced...
After the ceremonial toast was over, Xiao Hu Jiancai, the prince-in-law of the Liao Kingdom, said: "There are no singing and dancing girls in this remote county, so drinking wine is not a pleasant experience." After that, he looked at Zhao Zongji and said, "Why don't we make the drinking order?"
To add to the fun?"
"I wonder how the drinking order was carried out in the Northern Dynasty?" Zhao Zongji asked with a smile.
"It's no different from the Southern Dynasties." Xiao Hu said. Just like the "Hahan" and "Hari" in later generations, Asia in this era was collectively "Harbin and Song". Even a powerful country like the Liao Kingdom was not exempt from this.
In fact, due to the majority of Han people in the territory and the frequent exchanges with the Song Dynasty, the nobility of the Liao Kingdom had been highly sinicized.
They speak Chinese, wear Song Dynasty clothes, learn the Analects of Confucius, practice Han etiquette...every aspect of their daily life is imitating the scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty. Whatever the latest trends in Beijing will be spread to Beijing in half a year at most, and will be widely spread among the upper class of Liao Dynasty.
In order to spread the word, the first several generations of Liao emperors issued decrees not to imitate Han people's clothes. However, this did not stop the Khitan aristocracy from becoming more and more sinicized, as if this could distinguish them from the lower class civilians.
Naturally, people in the Liao Kingdom have long been familiar with Chen Ke's name, and the poems he wrote are even more popular. It is just that they are afraid that they will embolden others and destroy their own prestige, so they always pretend not to know him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since it was a drinking order, naturally everyone had to participate, so at the beginning, some simple small orders were made. For example, the word limit order. It required you to say a sentence, starting with the word 'xiang' and ending with the word '人'. Xiao Hujian
First of all, he ordered: "We know each other all over the world, how many people can know each other?"
Zhao Zongji said to him: "If you don't drink empty wine when we meet, you will go back. The peach blossoms at the entrance of the cave will also smile at you."
Yelu Derong thought for a while and said with a smile: "There is a Li Huzi in Xiangzhou."
The leader of the order, Zhao Bian, asked: "The last requirement is 'person', but you don't meet it!"
Yelu Derong smiled and retorted: "Isn't Li Huzi a human?" This made the whole room burst into laughter, but it was he who deliberately took advantage of Qiao.
There are no idiots here, and idiots don’t dare to be there. Most of them can take over smoothly. When the atmosphere warms up, the difficulty begins...
This chapter was written non-stop for six hours. When I saw people writing other types of writing, they would code one chapter in an hour. The monk was full of guilt and silently vomited a mouthful of old blood∽ My dears, at least tonight
There are still two chapters. The current ranking is 22. As long as I can get one more, I won't sleep tonight... and it will be full for four more chapters...
I really tried my best...
{Piaotian Literature www.ptwxz.com thanks all book friends for their support, your support is our biggest motivation}