Zhao Kai sat on the chair and said to Li Qi sitting below.
Li Qi was a little surprised when he heard this and said: "So soon? Didn't you say it would take a few more days?"
Zhao Kai said: "According to the original itinerary, he would arrive in seven days at the earliest. I think they, like Park Zhiqian and the others, rushed over as quickly as possible."
Li Qi suddenly couldn't help it and laughed.
Zhao Kai glanced at him and said: "This is all your fault. If you hadn't first asked to cut off all business dealings with Xixia, and then asked the Zhe Family Army and Zhong Family Army to cut off their business for one or two months.
My dear, I don’t think he will come to Beijing so soon."
Li Qi rolled his eyes and said: "Your Majesty, you are also involved in this matter. Without your secret instructions from the Emperor, I can't do it alone. Don't blame it all on me!"
Zhao Kai coughed a few times and said, "When are you going to see him?"
Li Qi pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, we have to be loyal when we go out to hang out. Our original plan was to meet him in seven days. He arrived early. That is his business. We don't need to accommodate him. Let him cool off.
go."
Zhao Kai laughed and scolded: "You guys really dare to say that I am also a prince after all. What do you mean by just chilling out?"
Li Qidao: "Then what do you think we should do, Your Majesty?"
Zhao Kai said: "Actually--ahem, I also think they are not impatient enough and should teach them a lesson, but they came all the way to Da Song Dynasty with full sincerity. Isn't seven days too long, or six days?"
How's the weather?"
MD. There is a huge difference! Li Qi gave a thumbs up and said: "Your Majesty."
Zhao Kai shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Then who is the most suitable person to receive Richard during this period?"
Li Qi thought for a while and said: "Your Prime Minister Wang."
"he?"
Li Qi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't underestimate this fat old man - no, Right Minister Wang, he is very cautious, he won't say anything that should be said or shouldn't be said. Just like water
Same, even if you have been accumulating power for a long time, you can't always hit it. Moreover, he likes to make little stumbling blocks for others in his actions, so I am often tricked by him---I mean. He often relies on him
For my daughter's sake, he comes to my Zuixianju to eat and drink for free, and even if he can't finish his meal, he walks around alone. He often brings people here, even though I have hinted to him several times. But he always pretends not to know.
, it is perfect to use him to entertain Richard."
Zhao Kai laughed and said: "Actually, I don't know much about Wang Zhongling, but if he can make you suffer, he must have some tricks. Well, let him go."
After a pause, he added: "Oh, and there is news from the south that Dali has also sent envoys to the Song Dynasty."
"Really? Why didn't I know?"
Zhao Kai said angrily: "Have you come to court these days?"
"Well... although I didn't come to the court, I have been working hard on state affairs. I can't help it. I am born to work hard." Li Qi broke out in a cold sweat and quickly changed the subject: "Your Majesty, back then I asked Duan Shiwen
I promised that I would definitely support him, and this time he came. I'm afraid he wants me to fulfill my promise. I think we can get some blood."
Zhao Kai nodded and said: "I know that, what should be paid must still be paid. Let's do this. As for the food, we will transfer it from Jiangnan. As for the weapons, you can arrange it. However, you have to let us pay the money."
It’s valuable!”
Li Qi hummed and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I never do business at a loss."
Zhao Kai smiled and said: "If I didn't believe you, even if Duan Zhixing came, I wouldn't give them a penny, but when do you plan to send troops?"
"This depends on the internal situation in Dali, but I hope it can be done as soon as possible. After all, we are racing against the Kingdom of Jin to see who can stabilize the rear faster. I have already sent people to Jiangnan to sneak into Dali to gather information."
...
On the second day, Richard came to the capital. Although Xixia was not a big country, in the Central Plains, their status was at least higher than that of Goryeo and Japan. After all, they were on the same border. But this time when Richard came to Beijing,
But he received an unprecedented cold reception.
People like Park Zhiqian, Yiga Baichuan, etc. all stayed at Xiangguo Temple, but Richard was arranged in a small inn. You must know that Richard was still a prince, and this was not the first time he came back to the Song Dynasty, but
This is the first time I have stayed in an inn. Inns in the capital are generally used to accommodate officials accompanying officials from foreign countries. Big shots all live in Xiangguo Temple, which is also a symbol of status.
That's not all. Richard also brought a letter of congratulations. According to the rules, he should submit the letter of congratulations on the second day after arriving in Beijing. However, he never got the order to enter the palace and waited for a full day.
, Richard was approved to submit the congratulatory letter, but the Song court did not allow Richard to enter the palace for various reasons.
Richard was completely panicked. The Song court clearly treated him coldly on purpose. The reason was naturally that Xixia and the Jin Kingdom sent troops together.
They say that it is difficult for a small country to survive next to a big country, and this is absolutely true.
After this battle, Xixia is undoubtedly in a very embarrassing situation. In fact, at the beginning, Xixia had always been hesitant about sending troops to the Song Dynasty. Although they also dispatched troops and generals to stockpile them at the border, they continued to return to their villages.
There was no action until Wanyan Zongwang attacked Kaifeng. Seeing that the Central Plains dynasty was in danger, Xixia quickly sent out troops to fish in troubled waters. After all, everyone likes to add insult to injury, and Xixia did not take the Song army seriously. Who knows
At the beginning of the war, the Song army was repulsed, and immediately afterwards, Wanyan Zongwang suffered an unprecedented defeat in Kaifeng.
Now Xixia is completely panicked. They don’t know what to do. Let’s keep fighting. The Jin Kingdom can’t beat them. What else can we do? Don’t fight. They’ve already been beaten before. How could the Song court stop here?
However, when they learned that Song and Jin were preparing to negotiate peace, they quickly turned to war and sued for peace, apologized to the Song Dynasty, and hoped to resume exchanges between the two countries. However, Zhao Kai was not willing to give up and cancel all negotiations between the two countries.
Pretending to break with Xixia.
Once the Song Dynasty cut off its trade with Xixia, Xixia had nothing to do, and it was like this almost every time. However, in the past, Xixia's military force was stronger than that of the Song Dynasty, and it could use force to force the Song Dynasty to open trade, but the current Song army is not the same army as before.
Song Army, this move is obviously inappropriate. Moreover, it was possible to smuggle salt in the past, but now Zhejia Army and Zhongjia Army have strictly ordered their subordinates not to smuggle Xixia green salt. Violators will be killed without mercy. In addition, there are still
A large-scale sweep of civilian smugglers has been carried out on the border between the two countries.
The salt and pig samples cannot be sold. Tea and grain cannot be brought in. This is simply a trap for Xixia to die.
What made Xixia even more depressed was that Wanyan Sheng and Wanyan Zonghan repeatedly sent envoys to question Xixia, since you have surrendered to me, Dajin, not only did you not obey my orders, but you also played tricks on me at the most critical moment.
How did it work.
The Western Xia king was criticized for being completely injured.
In the past, Xixia was always able to drift between Song and Liao, but this time, they offended both sides.
They are a small country, so how dare they offend these two big bosses at the same time, so on the one hand, they explained their difficulties to the Kingdom of Jin. On the other hand, they quickly sent Richard to Kaifeng to apologize to the Song Dynasty.
What advantage did you not take advantage of, but instead made you feel coquettish and aggrieved?
On the way here, Richard had already expected that this task would be very difficult, but he thought that according to the past practice of the Song Dynasty, regardless of the relationship between the two countries, the etiquette was still very thoughtful. However, when he arrived in Beijing, he
He encountered an unprecedented cold reception. Not to mention the emperor's interview, he didn't even see a single official. It had been two days and the biggest official Richard had ever seen was a small official from Honglu Temple who was delivering messages.
All signs are very unfavorable to Xixia.
In the past few days, Richard was really an ant in the hot pot. He sent people everywhere to inquire about Li Qi's news. It was not how close he was to Li Qi, but the former ministers in the court, like Cai Jing.
, Li Bangyan and others were determined to die and leave. Now in the central government organization, he knew Li Qi and would not look for anyone else but Li Qi. However, Li Qi has been missing in the past few days and has not been seen.
It wasn't until the third day that Zhao Kai finally sent a minister with enough weight to meet Richard. Of course, this weight refers to weight to a certain extent.
This person is none other than Wang Zhongling.
Wang Zhongling originally thought that he was the deputy prime minister and should shoulder more responsibilities, such as receiving the Xixia envoys. But the problem was that Zhao Kai just asked him to entertain Richard, and then---and then nothing
.
Wang Zhongling understood that Zhao Kai didn't have an important task assigned to him. He really asked him to entertain Richard. It was purely a matter of etiquette. However, he was not annoyed. Instead, he felt that it was quite good. After all, it was easy.
But in any case, for Richard, this is really a blessing after a long drought. After all, the other party is also the deputy prime minister. If nothing else, at least he can get a lot of information, especially about Zhao Kai.
After all, Zhao Kai had just ascended the throne. If you understand Zhao Kai, you will understand the direction of the central policy of the entire Song Dynasty.
However, after spending three days with Wang Zhongling, Richard's wishful thinking was wrong.
Wang Zhongling is an old man. He takes Richard everywhere to see, play, eat, drink and have fun. But if you want to talk to him about state affairs, even if it is just a little bit involved, he will take out the Four Books and Five Classics and chatter about it.
Richard felt dizzy when he said it. He finally figured it out and figured it out, but found that there was no information at all, it was like he didn't say anything.
What’s even more deceptive is that usually when you have a big meal with Wang Zhongling, you have to pay for it yourself. This fat man doesn’t look like a master, he is clearly a scoundrel!
Ever since Li Qi revitalized Zuixianju, Wang Zhongling had developed the habit of walking away with his mouth. There was no concept of paying or anything like that.
Urgent!
When Richard, an impatient man, met Wang Zhongling, a slow man, he was completely defeated. To be honest, Richard wanted to strangle Wang Zhongling to death. He only wanted to find one person, and that person was Li Qi.
Qin Mansion.
Li Qi was wearing an apron and leaning against the kitchen door, seeming to be deep in thought, while Wu Xiaoliu was sitting on the threshold, holding his chin in his hands, with a look of pain on his face.
It turned out that on the day Richard arrived in Beijing, in order to avoid being harassed, Li Qi took Ji Hongnu and his son, euphemistically called visiting, and hid in the Qin Mansion. After all, Mrs. Qin was Li Zhengxi's godmother, which was very normal.
And here, you can also meet Wang Zhongling very well.
However, he has been sitting in the kitchen these days because Zhang Chun'er has told him the venue and rules of the competition. The venue is Xiangguo Temple. As for the rules, there are no rules or restrictions. You can cook whatever you want.
Anyway, it was idle time, so Li Qi began to think about the dishes.
Wu Xiaoliu pursed his lips, looked up at Li Qi, and said, "Brother Li, isn't Mrs. Zhang your defeated general? Are you taking it so seriously?"
Snapped!
"Ouch."
Without saying a word, Li Qi slapped Wu Xiaoliu on the head and said, "Then what did you say should be taken seriously?"
Wu Xiaoliu rubbed his head, held his mouth, and said with tears in his eyes: "I---I was wrong."
Another move. Li Qi snorted and said: "Don't underestimate Zhang Chun'er's cooking skills, and the key to the competition of cooking skills is new taste."
"New flavor?"
"Yes, I told you before that the tongue can store taste. This is why people often say that if you eat a delicious dish ten thousand times, you will spit it out. The tongue also has the habit of liking the new and hating the old. If we jump over the wall with a Buddha
If we participate in the competition, we will lose from the beginning, because Buddha Jumps Over the Wall will not bring any surprises to people, and the judges will taste it with a disappointed attitude. If we want to win, we must create a new flavor.
.”
Wu Xiaoliu seemed to understand, and said, "But aren't there just a few flavors?"
Snapped!
"Ouch!"
Li Qi slapped Wu Xiaoliu on the head again, and said angrily: "How many times have I told you, every food has its own unique taste, and there are only a few flavors. How many times do you think this is the case?"
What on earth are you going to do in Nian? Get in immediately and wash all the kitchen utensils for me."
"Ah? Brother Li, I just washed it yesterday."
"You ate yesterday, don't you need to eat today?"
"Yes, yes, I'm going to wash it now."
PS: Keep asking for monthly tickets. I hope all you foodies will work harder and put the little chef into the top six of the classified monthly ticket list...