In the study of Shuaifu, Du Zhongxiao stood with his hands in his hands, looking at the scenery outside the window. Chen Xiliang led the Khitan envoy Xiao Jiusheng in and sang a promise. Du Zhongxiao turned around and saw that Xiao Jiusheng beside Chen Xiliang was in his forties, with a strong figure and a calm temperament.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao looking at himself, Xiao Jiusheng arched his hand: "Xiao Jiusheng, the envoy of the Loyal Shun Army, comes to see the festival commander by the edict of the saint!" ”

Du Zhongxiao motioned to sit down and said, "Taiwei, you and I belong to two countries, and now is an extraordinary time, you must make it clear whose edict you are following and what is the matter with coming to see me, otherwise it will be easy to cause misunderstanding." Since the Taiwei is here, I want to come for a few days, and I will come to Beijing too. ”

Xiao Jiusheng's face remained unchanged, and he arched his hand and said, "What the section commander said is that I was negligent. ”

Du Zhongxiao sat down at the desk and said to Chen Xiliang: "It's a distinguished guest who came, and I ordered a good tea." A few days ago, Tao Qiqi brought me Xinyang Junmingqian tea, which is extremely difficult to buy on the market, please Taiwei Xiao to taste it. ”

Chen Xiliang obeyed the order, walked out of the study quickly, and ordered the servants to serve tea.

Xiao Jiusheng looked at Chen Xiliang's back and said, "The festival marshal saw Xiao in the study, and this person was the only one who was on the side, thinking that he was the festival marshal's cronies." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now it's different from the past, the border marshal is not allowed to appoint his children by his side, where is there anything to say about cronies." This is Shengzhou's signing judgment, and he is helping me take care of state affairs. Don't worry, it's okay if you have anything to say. ”

Xiao Jiusheng nodded, was silent for a while, and secretly carefully organized his words. After a while, Xiao Jiusheng took a sip of tea and said, "Sure enough, it is a good tea, the entrance is mellow, and the taste is sweet, and Beidi has never drunk it." ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and nodded, drank tea gently, and did not speak.

After a long while, Xiao Jiusheng said: "Xiao Mou came this time, not only to follow the edict of the Xijing Sheng, but also to the edict of the Queen Mother. Last year, the commander of the army came to the north and won many victories, and no one in the world dared to stop the commander of the army. Today, the commander commanded an army of nearly 200,000 people, stationed at the foot of Yin Mountain, in the land of Henan, just on the side of Xijing Road. Although the country and the Great Song Dynasty are brotherly states, they are not in harmony with each other, and the lord of the country was confused for a while, and he clashed with the festival marshal because of Tanglong Town. The lord of Tanglong Town was killed, and Yeluren, the king of the Northern Courtyard, led the army north to retreat to Beijing, and the commander drove straight into the city to take the land of several states——"

Du Zhongxiao waved his hand: "Forget it, don't talk about this." It's hard to say, and it's awkward for me to hear. Last year's events were wrong, with the death of the old lord of the country under the city of Tanglong Town, Yeluren withdrew from Fengzhou first, and it was over, and it was useless to say more. The captain is here, and it doesn't hurt to say it directly. ”

Xiao Jiusheng smiled awkwardly. These words really made him speechless, I don't know how many times I thought about it before I came, but when I arrived in front of Du Zhongxiao, I still felt that I couldn't open my mouth. Last year, the war started because of the Khitan capture of Tanglong Town, but it was kicked to the iron plate and defeated again and again. Until now, I can't get Du Zhongxiao here, ask him to raise his noble hand, it's really hard to say.

After taking a sip of tea, Xiao Jiusheng said: "Xiao Mou came this time, firstly, to apologize for the war with Jieshuai last year, and secondly, to follow the edict of the Empress Dowager and the Xijing Emperor, I am willing to rebuild the friendship between the two countries with Jieshuai——"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Although I am the pacification envoy of the river meandering road, and the pacification department is under my control, but the major affairs of the two countries must be ordered by the Privy Council." A few days ago, the imperial court sent envoys to the Northern Dynasties, and it has already been said that the two countries are still fraternal states. ”

Xiao Jiusheng was silent for a while, and after thinking about it for a while, he said: "What the festival marshal said is that the two countries are brothers, Song is the brother, and Khitan is the brother. Now that the lord of the country is dead, the queen mother and the queen are here. Who will succeed him, even if it is an ordinary family, should the uncle and the surviving person determine the head of the family? The empress dowager and the empress of this dynasty both pushed the former emperor's younger brother to succeed the country, why did your country send envoys to Youzhou? ”

Du Zhongxiao said lightly: "The father dies and the son succeeds, the gift of the Central Plains." Your lord has not yet been decided, so you naturally act according to the etiquette of the Han people. ”

Xiao Jiusheng said: "If the Queen Mother issues an edict, and Xijing Dao sends a large army to quell the rebellion in Youzhou, what should I do?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are no two masters of the country, and after pacifying Youzhou, it is natural to take the lord of the country as Zhengshuo, and it is still a state of brothers." ”

Since the alliance of Lanzhou, the Song Dynasty and the Khitan agreed to be a brotherly state, and the royal families of the two countries are ranked. When the Empress Dowager Liu was there, the Khitan Empress Dowager Xiao Yunjin was the same generation as the Empress Dowager Liu, and the two countries sent envoys to each other, and the status of the Empress Dowager's envoys was higher. Empress Dowager Liu died, Xiao Yunjin was an elder, and the Song Dynasty sent an envoy to the Khitan to follow the etiquette of the younger generation to see the elders. The emperors of the two countries, Zhao Zhen is the elder brother, and Yelu Zongzhen is the younger brother, in addition to the national ceremony, he also obeys the brotherly ceremony.

Yelu Zong really died violently, and if Yelu Chongyuan succeeded to the throne, the seniority of the two countries remained unchanged, and they were still brothers. If Yelu Hongji succeeded to the throne, he would become an uncle and nephew, which had never been done before. Xiao Jiusheng has always emphasized the state of brothers, in order to explain the status of Yelu Chongyuan.

In fact, the Khitan descendants did not all support Yelu Chongyuan, and Queen Xiao Tzuli, as Yelu Hongji's biological mother, of course supported her son. However, Yelu Zongzhen died too suddenly, and Xiao Yunjin brought all the nobles and high-ranking officials who were stationed in the palace at that time to Zhongjing, and they couldn't say anything. The two sides have been preparing for war for months, and no matter what their opinions are, they have been coerced by the tribes, and their personal opinions are no longer important.

Xiao Tartli is Xiao Xiaomu's daughter, and Xiao Yunjin is Xiao Xiaomu's sister, and the two are originally aunts and nephews of the same clan. Xiao Jiusheng is the son of Xiao Xulie, Xiao Xulie is the younger brother of Xiao Hui who is now staying in Zhongjing, they were originally inclined to serve Yelu Hongji as the emperor, but now it has become a great split between the royal family and the descendants, and there is no personal preference or dislike. Whichever side fails, the entire tribe is implicated, and can only go on hard.

Although the Khitan descendants all take Xiao as their surname, they are not actually a family. Now the big one is one of the Agu lineage, and the queens of the Khitan Dynasty are all from this family. Xiao Yunjin's younger brothers Xiao Xiaomu, Xiao Xiaoxian, and Xiao Xiaozhong have all died, and Xiao Xiaoyou was originally left behind in Beijing and was captured by Yelu Renxian. Now Agu is a family, and all of them are only looking at Xiao Yunjin.

Xiao Jiusheng's branch, the ancestor is Xiao Tzu Rin, the general who was injured by the Song army's bed crossbow under the city of Shanzhou and forced the Khitan to negotiate peace. The most prominent is Xiao Hui, followed by Xiao Xulie, and the two don't like Chongyuan. However, last year, when the incident happened suddenly, when Yeluzong really died, Xiao Hui was left behind in Beijing, and Xiao Xulie was deployed in Xijing, one had to be from the Empress Dowager Xiao Yunjin, and the other was moved by Xiao Ge and joined the Chongyuan forces.

In addition, Xiao Ge, the main general who supported Ye Chongyuan, belonged to another branch of the Hou clan, and by mistake, the two Khitan emperors were established and formed an open break between the imperial family and the Hou clan. Those who are entrapped in it do not know how many nobles and high-ranking officials.

Xiao Jiusheng pondered for a while and said: "Jieshuai, if the younger brother of the Xijing Emperor is edicted by the Empress Dowager and sends troops to quell the rebellion in Youzhou, will Jieshuai take advantage of Xijing's emptiness and smash his back?" Now that the autumn is high and the horses are fat, the army will be on the way, and the Queen Mother sent Xiao to come, and she is willing to be handsome! ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at Xiao Jiusheng and said calmly: "I am the commander of the road, and the military affairs are naturally ordered by the Privy Council." Taiwei rest assured, as long as there is no imperial edict, how can I go to war with the brotherly state? ”

Xiao Jiusheng arched his hand: "The festival commander is a promise, I hope there is no lie today!" ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "Of course." The Taiwei can go back and tell the Queen Mother, Khitan family affairs, I will not pull my hands here. ”

Listening to the tone of Xiao Jiusheng's words, Du Zhongxiao guessed that the imperial court should have given the same reply. Even if the Khitan himself fought in the dark, the Song Dynasty would not pull out. It's just that Du Zhongxiao arrived in Tanglong Town last year and fought all the way to the north, Yelu Chongyuan didn't dare to bet that he would obey the orders of the court and must send someone to come.