White-robed Minister

Chapter 258 0256 [Xu Lai Stays to Be the Imperial Son-in-Law]

Back in the tent where the envoys were settled, Guo Ruoxu took out a handful of watermelon seeds and stuffed them into Xu Lai's hand, saying, "How can Xu Tianzhang mention the Chongyuan Rebellion? What if the Liao emperor gets angry and kills the envoys?"

Xu Lai laughed and said, "The Liao Kingdom does not have the habit of killing Song envoys at will. If you and I are killed, we will surely be remembered in history."

"You can still laugh?" Guo Ruoxu was utterly speechless.

From the establishment of the Liao Dynasty to its demise, they never actually killed any Song envoys.

Even the absurd Emperor Tianzuo, enraged by Lin Shu's words, only subjected him to a three-day fast, forcing him to apologize. Lin Shu remained defiant and was detained for several months before being released. Still not appeased, Emperor Tianzuo wrote to Emperor Huizong, requesting that Lin Shu be demoted.

The real danger was being sent as an envoy to the Jin Dynasty.

The Jin dynasty was undoubtedly a barbarian state, frequently detaining or executing Southern Song envoys.

Xu Lai explained, "In recent years, two Song envoys were assigned small seats. One argued for half a day before being given a different seat, and the other ended up having to stand. If I only talk to the Liao emperor about etiquette, it's almost impossible to persuade him. I have to hit him where it hurts!"

"That was too risky," Guo Ruoxu said, still shaken.

Xu Lai smiled and said, "I was prepared. Before leaving the capital, I reviewed all the records of the Song Dynasty's envoys to the Liao Dynasty since Yelü Hongji ascended the throne. Yelü Hongji is the kind of person who looks down on you the more cowardly you are, and gives you more face the more assertive you are."

"You can do that?" Guo Ruoxu was quite surprised.

Xu Lai always planned carefully before acting. If he hadn't figured out Yelü Hongji's personality, how could he have dared to provoke him repeatedly in public?

The Liao Dynasty emperor's tent.

All the others were dismissed, and in the tent, apart from Yelü Hongji, there was only the Han Chinese veteran minister Yao Jingxing.

Yao Jingxing said, "We cannot let Xu Lai return to Song."

Yelü Hongji shook his head: "Liao and Song are brotherly nations. How can we detain their envoy? Insulting them is already impolite, and detaining their envoy would damage the prestige of the Great Liao."

"His Majesty!"

Yao Jingxing said, "I have finished reading two volumes of 'The Sound of the Bell.' This person is young, yet his learning has already reached the level of a great Confucian scholar. No—he is not an ordinary great Confucian scholar; he can be regarded as a master of Confucianism."

"A master of Confucianism?" Yelü Hongji was utterly surprised. Although he was well-versed in Confucianism, he hadn't really seen how impressive Xu Lai's scholarship was.

Yao Jingxing nodded and said, "He's a master of Confucianism, but he's currently lacking students. If we send him back to the Southern Dynasty, in ten years he'll surely have countless students and be famous throughout the land. Besides, he understands firearms!"

-

Yelü Hongji slapped his thigh: "That's right, he knows about firearms! Detain him, and our Great Liao can also manufacture firearms."

Yelü Hongji paced back and forth, muttering to himself, "We can try persuasion first, then force. We can offer them gold and silver treasures, and lure them with high-ranking positions and generous salaries."

If he were willing to pledge allegiance, it would actually enhance the prestige of our Great Liao Dynasty and humiliate the Southern Dynasty's rulers and ministers.

Yao Jingxing said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult. Judging from his writings and words, he is not someone who craves superficiality. Moreover, his academic proposition is that of inner sagehood and outer kingship, and his inner sagehood cultivation may have already reached the point where his will is as firm as iron. Forcibly detaining such a person might lead him to commit suicide to prove his integrity."

"How should we proceed?" Yelü Hongji asked.

Yao Jingxing said, "Just as the Southern Dynasty delegation was about to leave, we suddenly placed him under house arrest, and then told the Southern Dynasty's deputy envoy that this person had been recruited by the Liao Dynasty as a prince consort. Even the Song Dynasty's own prince consorts would have their careers ruined, let alone the prince consort of our Liao Dynasty. By cutting off his future in the Southern Dynasty, we can surely break his will."

Yelü Hongji said, "But my three daughters are all married."

Yao Jingxing said, "Your Majesty may adopt a woman from the imperial clan, bestow upon her the title of princess, and then marry her to Xu Lai."

"A relationship that's too distant won't show sincerity," Yelü Hongji thought for a moment, "My second brother's eldest daughter could marry him."

With nearly a month to go before Yelü Hongji's birthday, the number of officials and envoys coming to offer their congratulations was increasing.

Xu Lai wanted to negotiate with Liao officials, but they kept beating around the bush.

He probed subtly every day and finally discovered the Liao Kingdom's bottom line: the best outcome would be to obtain land, and if that wasn't possible, to extort money from them.

The Liao officials in charge of negotiations were always easy to fool.

For example, decades ago, the Song Dynasty suffered repeated defeats against the Western Xia, and the Liao Dynasty took the opportunity to extort money from them. Fu Bi was sent as an envoy and quickly ascertained the Liao Dynasty's bottom line, securing the greatest possible benefit for the Song Dynasty.

"You two Southern envoys, His Majesty is going hunting today and invites you to join him. Each of you may bring two attendants," the Liao envoy announced.

Xu Lai and Guo Ruoxu both changed into military uniforms and each selected two guards to accompany them.

When they arrived at the meeting point, they found that the Western Xia envoys had already arrived.

The chief envoy of Western Xia was named Weiming Kerong, and he was the brother of Weiming Hurong, who was sent as an envoy to the Song Dynasty.

Although Wei Mingke Rong was the chief envoy, he was merely a figurehead. The one truly in charge of the negotiations was Jiao Wengui, the Han Chinese deputy envoy.

In addition, there was a large group of barbarians who spoke in a gibberish language, including the Nianbage tribe (the predecessor of the Naiman tribe) from the Altai region.

Xu arrived on horseback, and several envoys looked him over curiously.

The main problem was that some Liao officials were completely ignorant of the concept of secrecy. They even used Xu Lai's performance at the banquet a few days prior as gossip during drinks, leading to envoys from multiple countries learning about Xu Lai's deeds.

The envoys from Goryeo, the chief and the deputy, were whispering to each other.

"As expected of a man from the Central Plains, he is indeed extraordinary, daring to offend the Liao emperor in public."

"Too young. I heard he was the top scholar in the imperial examination?"

"I inquired with the Liao people, and they were also spreading his story. This top scholar of the Song Dynasty was from a poor family in the mountains. He had no books or writing materials from a young age, so he would go to the village school outside the mountains to eavesdrop and practice writing with chicken feathers dipped in stream water. I even managed to get hold of a few of his poems."

"Can you really become a top scholar by eavesdropping?"

"Exceptionally gifted."

"...

""

Goryeo was initially a vassal state of the Song Dynasty, but was soon invaded by the Liao Dynasty. Through negotiations, Goryeo acquired the land east of the Yalu River and subsequently recognized the Liao Dynasty as its suzerain.

Later, Kim Chi-yang, a powerful minister in Goryeo, slept with the Queen Dowager and fathered an illegitimate child. The two planned to depose the king and install their illegitimate son as the new ruler. What followed was a series of assassinations and wars, and the Goryeo king was eventually deposed.

The Liao Dynasty, therefore, launched a punitive expedition and burned down the capital of Goryeo. The new Goryeo king fled south and encouraged local troops to wage guerrilla warfare. Unable to withstand the harassment, the Liao army withdrew after Goryeo promised to pay tribute.

The King of Goryeo went back on his word and instead recognized the Song Dynasty as his suzerain state, which angered the Liao Dynasty, prompting them to launch another attack. Goryeo actually won the war, but it was too late to sustain the victory, and they eventually reverted to recognizing the Liao Dynasty as their suzerain state.

The present-day Goryeo Dynasty uses the Liao Dynasty's reign title, has restored diplomatic relations with the Song Dynasty, and has also established relations with Japan. Its domestic political situation has been stable for decades, and it is currently in Goryeo's golden age.

"The envoys of Song and Xia, please follow me." A Liao official rode up on horseback.

Xu Lai and Wei Mingke Rong immediately spurred their horses and followed.

They came up behind Yelü Hongji, next to a group of Liao dynasty relatives and high-ranking officials.

The Goryeo envoy was displeased by this, feeling insulted, and insisted on getting closer to the Liao emperor.

Yelü Hongji ignored him, because he was quite dissatisfied with Goryeo—Goryeo had grown stronger over the past few decades and had even begun to privately call itself China.

Nowadays, there are still many countries that call themselves China. Besides the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty, and Goryeo, Jiaozhi (Vietnam) also quietly calls itself China.

By the way, there's also the Karakhanid Khanate in Central Asia, whose ruler also called himself Peach Blossom Khan (Chinese Khan). For example, forty years ago, when Suleiman ibn Yusuf first became Great Khan, the coins he minted bore the inscription "Suleiman Qadir Peach Blossom Khan".

Of all the regimes that claim to be Chinese, only the Dali Kingdom is missing.

A young man rode up to Xu Lai, looked him over carefully for a moment, and praised him with great satisfaction: "Indeed, a handsome man."

What's going on?

Xu Lai cupped his hands in greeting and asked, "May I ask how you are addressed?"

The young man laughed and said, "I am Yelü Heluwo, the King of the Great Liao and Song Dynasties."

It turns out he was Yelü Hongji's second younger brother.

Xu Lai deliberately ignored his royal title: "I have met the Second King."

Yelü Heluwo's ​​face was full of amiable expressions, and he was increasingly satisfied with Xu Lai's appearance.

Xu Lai was completely bewildered. Why was the other person looking at him like an elder looking at a junior? Xu Lai really couldn't guess that Yelü Hongji wanted to marry this man's daughter to him.

Because Yelü Heluwo is too young, he has only just turned thirty this year.

Xu Lai himself is already twenty-five years old, so what's with his father-in-law being thirty?

"Is that His Highness the Crown Prince of Liao?" Xu Lai asked, pointing to the child next to Yelü Hongji, as he took the opportunity to gather information.

Yelü Heluwo nodded and said, "The Crown Prince was able to hunt when he was seven years old. At that time, he encountered ten deer and shot nine of them."

""

Xu Lai exclaimed with emotion, "He will surely become a wise ruler in the future."

Damn it, what can a seven-year-old do? It was only because the guards helped to surround them that the deer were exhausted from being chased and could only let a little kid shoot at them.

Xu Lai then asked, "How old is the Crown Prince?"

Yelü Heluwo said, "He is thirteen years old this year."

Just then, the bugle sounded, and Yelü Hongji led the group to set off.

Xu Lai followed the main group on horseback, galloping faster and faster. The autumn weather on the grassland was pleasant, and riding a horse with the wind blowing was extremely refreshing.

The grasslands here are not flat, but rather have many rolling hills, and after galloping for a while, you can also see forests, rivers and lakes.

Liao cavalry had set out ahead of time and quickly drove a herd of wild deer out of the forest.

Yelü Hongji took out his binoculars to observe, pointed at the herd of deer, and said, "Who will go and shoot them?"

"Your son is willing to hunt deer for his father!" said the thirteen-year-old Crown Prince Yelü Jun.

Yelü Hongji laughed and said, "Go."

"Waaaaah~~~~"

Yelü Jun spurred his horse and galloped to the vicinity of the deer herd, drawing his bow and shooting. The first arrow missed, but the second struck the deer squarely in the head. The courtiers cheered wildly, their flattery erupting like a tidal wave.

With the help of guards and hunting dogs, Yelü Jun shot five deer and brought them back.

Then, Yelü Hongji's two younger brothers also began their own performances.

Then the main force began to disperse, heading to different areas to hunt. The Western Xia envoy, Weiming Kerong, quickly shot more than ten prey and came specifically to the Song envoy's side to show off his prowess.

Xu Lai was not good at riding or archery, so he could only paddle the whole way.

Guo Ruoxu looked somewhat embarrassed, because he was a military officer and it was time for him to demonstrate his abilities. However, he only knew calligraphy and painting, and his archery skills were inferior to Xu Lai's.

"Scholar Xu, Vice Envoy Guo (Vice Envoy of the Left Treasury of the Western Capital), come and shoot a few arrows!"

A guard shouted from the edge of the woods.

Xu Lai and Guo Ruoxu were each allowed to bring two attendants, carefully selected from the delegation's guards. Now the guards had shot their prey half to death and were telling them to hurry and finish them off.

It is estimated that when the Liao crown prince was seven years old, he also shot nine deer in the same way.

Guo Ruoxu quickly rode his horse over, approached the prey, and with all his might drew his bow, finally managing to kill it.

Xu Lai didn't make a move, but joked, "Brother Guo is a master archer."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Guo Ruoxu laughed heartily, not feeling offended at all, but rather finding it amusing: "How about Xu Tianzhang throws a couple of arrows?"

Xu Lai shook his head: "Never mind. Next time, I'll use a musket."

Guo Ruoxu suddenly thought of something: "How come the Liao emperor has a telescope?"

Xu Lai said, "It was probably obtained on the battlefield."

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