Hundreds of high and low officials returned to their positions, and the civil and military ministers had their own trains, but Su Jin had nowhere to go, he didn't know where he should be, and no one told him, so he had to stand at the end of the hall near the entrance of the palace; The door is well ventilated, but in this winter season, ventilation may not be a good thing, just after a while, Su Jin's legs were cold, and his upper and lower teeth began to fight.

Finally, an attendant came out of the side hall door, stood on the steps under the throne and shouted, "The emperor has arrived!" ”

Su Jin cheered up, stretched out his head to watch, and saw two guards raise the curtain of the passage of the left side hall, and one of them wore a crown of heaven, dressed in a yellow dragon robe covered with crimson silk, and walked out slowly.

The hundred officials knelt on the ground, and after Zhao Zhen ascended the throne and sat down, they kowtowed in unison and shouted: "Long live my emperor!" Hooray! ”

Zhao Zhen smiled and waved his hand: "Everyone, Aiqing is flat!" ”

All the officials got up one after another, stood up, and Zhao Zhen said: "Give Lu Xiangci a seat!" ”

The chamberlain brought the brocade stool and put it in the first place on his left hand, and after Lu Yijian came out to thank him, Shi Shiran sat on the brocade stool.

Zhao Zhen's eyes swept over His Royal Highness's ministers, and saw Su Jin standing at the end from a distance, with a smile on his face, and retracted his gaze and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, if there is anything to discuss today, please come forward and please, when the recital is over, I still have a few things to ask you Aiqing to discuss." ”

All the ministers knew it and understood what Zhao Zhen was talking about.

After a short silence, an official from the first train on the right stepped forward and saluted: "Chen Duyan has something to do. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "Du Aiqing, what's the matter?" ”

Du Yan said: "The head of the ceremonial house under the Privy Council reported that the Liao State sent someone to send an official letter, saying that in the near future, an envoy will be sent to come to worship the emperor with a letter of state, and the minister will ask the emperor to show his way. ”

Zhao Zhen frowned and said: "The Liao people have just arrived in the winter of the year, and now they are sending people here, what is the purpose?" Can you explain the reason in the official letter? ”

Du Yan said: "Your Majesty, the official letter did not mention it, the minister has ordered Qian Chen, the head of the ceremonial house, to find out the recital, and the minister thinks that there is no need to worry about it, it is nothing more than a gift to the host and guest." ”

Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "The Liao envoys are different from you, the welcome ceremony should be in accordance with the national system, and the grand ceremony should be treated, but the Honglu Temple can receive it with full power, and when the envoy arrives, it can lead the court to deliver the national letter." ”

Du Yan bowed and said, "Obey." After saying that, he turned around and wanted to retreat, but someone suddenly came out of the official column on the right and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has objections to this matter." ”

Zhao Zhen was stunned for a moment and said, "Chen Aiqing, do you have any objections?" ”

This person is thin and tall, with a clear appearance, and it is none other than Chen Zhizhong, the deputy privy envoy, who is also an old minister of the two dynasties, who was just transferred from the prefect of Qingzhou last year and returned to Beijing to serve as the deputy privy envoy.

"The minister is in charge of the defense of the east and west roads of Hebei, and recently the east road of Hebei has sent a report to investigate, Bazhou Beigujin Pass, Xiongzhou Waqiao Pass and a Liao army and horses are gathered, and there seems to be a track of not planning; The minister thought that if he contacted the Liao people to make the envoy this time, he was afraid that something would happen. ”

Zhao Zhen was stunned and said, "Why didn't Du Shumi mention this matter?" ”

Du Yanyin glared at Chen Zhizhong predictively and said: "Your Majesty, what Deputy Envoy Chen said is indeed reported, but the Liao people have moved troops and horses at the border from time to time, and they can't make a fuss about it; The north of Waqiao Pass is the place of the Liao people, and the deployment of soldiers and horses to garrison the border, just like the garrison and dispatch of the two armies of Baoding and Xin'an on the East Hebei Road, is an extremely common thing, and Deputy Envoy Chen can't help but make a fuss. ”

Zhao Zhen sighed, nodded and said, "It's the same reason, but you need to be careful and strictly monitored." ”

Du Yan said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, there will be no mistakes." ”

Chen Zhizhong said coldly: "The minister doesn't see it that way, this time it seems to be different from usual, the general of the Liao people with the troops is the Liao Emperor's brother Yelu Zongyuan and the general Xiao Hui, these two are the famous generals of the Liao State, and the Yelu Zongyuan is the generalissimo of the Liao State, and the assembled soldiers are said to have 50,000 elite palace tent troops and 100,000 tribal troops, which can be seen to be menacing, and it is necessary to guard against it." ”

The ministers took a breath of cool air, in the past, most of the garrisons on the border of the Liao and Song Dynasty were tribal armies and Jingzhou troops, and the so-called tribal armies were actually the subordinate troops of the prince's ministers and tribal leaders. The Jingzhou Army is only a few civilians, similar to the Xiangyong and the like, with a large number but only recruited in wartime, and the combat effectiveness is not strong.

As the most elite palace tent army, it is the emperor's guard, which is directly under the emperor's direct jurisdiction, similar to the Great Song Dynasty Forbidden Army, and its equipment and combat power are higher than those of other arms; And their duty is to protect the emperor from the Jingshi, and it is generally not a large-scale conquest, and these troops will never be transferred from the Jingshi.

Now that the 500,000 palace tent troops of the Liao State have been transferred out of 50,000 to be led by Yelu Zongyuan, there is definitely an article here.

Zhao Zhen's face was not good, and he said in a low voice: "Chen Aiqing, can you understand this matter?" ”

Chen Zhizhong said: "I just got the report last night, and I was going to ask Du Shumi to take a look at it early this morning, but Du Shumi discussed other matters with Lu Xiang when he was in the courtroom, and the minister had time to inform him." ”

Du Yan glared and said: "Vice Envoy Chen, this is yours, but you don't come to tell me about such a big thing, isn't this teaching me to deal with the loss of evidence in front of the emperor?" ”

Chen Zhizhong hurriedly said: "Du Shumi is not angry, and the fault of the lower officials is also." ”

Zhao Zhen frowned and said: "This matter may be really strange, the Liao people are like this, do they really want to use troops against my Great Song Dynasty?" Ladies and gentlemen, who will speak for me. ”

There was a buzz in the hall, and the ministers were discussing, each guessing the intentions of the Liao, Zhao Zhen looked at everyone, his eyes fell on Yan Shu, and said, "Yan Aiqing, what do you think of this matter?" ”

Yan Shu stepped forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that you don't need to care too much. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Oh? What do you mean by that? ”

Yan Shu said: "The Liao people have an alliance with my Great Song Dynasty in advance, and it is impossible for them to use troops brazenly without warning, and if the Liao people intend to attack our Great Song Dynasty, how can they send people to send an official letter to come and order the envoys to come to worship, and the minister thinks that there must be other reasons for this; However, it is unlikely that the two countries will immediately engage in military exchanges. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded, feeling that what Yan Shu said made some sense, and all the ministers in the court also nodded their heads in agreement; If the Liao people had no intention of sending troops to make it difficult with the Great Song Dynasty, then there would be no need to worry, and the atmosphere suddenly eased a lot.

Lu Yijian stroked the white beard under his chin and bowed slightly, seeing Zhao Zhen's eyes shooting towards him, he coughed and stood up, turned around and scanned the audience, everyone immediately stopped talking, and there was silence in the court.

"Lu Aiqing, what do you think?" Zhao Zhen said.

"Your Majesty, the old minister basically agrees with Yan Sansi's words, but the old minister has a few additions." Lu Yijian spoke slowly, not waiting for Zhao Zhen to ask, and continued to himself: "My Great Song Dynasty Zhenzong Dynasty signed an alliance with the Liao people in Lanzhou, and so far the border between the two sides has been without military affairs for nearly forty years, and the two countries are also friendly to each other, and envoys come and go more than dozens of times every year; When the first emperor died, the Liao people mourned the Liao lord and the ministers of the Han Dynasty for several days, and the concubines were all stained, which was caused by decades of good relations between the two countries, not a false intention. ”

Some of the ministers nodded silently, while others shook their heads slightly, disapproving.

"After the holy mountain ascended the throne, adhering to the ambition of the emperor and the Liao people, following the covenant of Lanzhou has never been crossed, although the Liao lord has changed, but it is not enough to break the promise and tear up the covenant against my Great Song Dynasty, so the old minister thinks that this move will not make a fuss; His Majesty can wait for the arrival of the Liao envoy to make further inquiries to find out the reason. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "It is reasonable, it is not advisable to overreact, otherwise the Liao people will also be frightened, which will damage the friendship between the two countries, but just pay close attention to the border movements." ”

Lu Yijian said: "This is exactly what the old minister meant, if my Great Song reacted too much, but fell into the handle, and was criticized by the Liao people, it is not easy to explain." ”

The ministers nodded yes one after another, and they all breathed a sigh of relief, Yan Shu and Lu Yijian both said that this matter was okay, and gave Zhao Zhen and the ministers a reassurance.

In the midst of the echo, someone laughed 'sneering', the voice was very loud, and the laughter was full of sarcasm, which sounded unusually harsh.

Everyone turned their heads to see who was laughing, hundreds of pairs of eyes shot straight at the end of the hall, a young man wearing a blue official robe, standing there nondescriptly, with a smile on his face, his hand still covering his mouth before he could put it down.

The person who laughed was Su Jin, Su Jin listened to what Lu Yijian said about the Lanzhou Covenant, and the friendship between the two countries couldn't help but laugh; As a liberal arts college student, Su Jin still has some impressions of this covenant, this is an out-and-out covenant of loss of power and humiliation of the country, but it was praised by these people and displayed as a merit, I really can't laugh.

"What's so funny about this, my lord?" Lu Yijian's face sank like water, and he asked coldly, he was originally looking for trouble with this Su Jin today, but he didn't expect that before it was his turn, he jumped out and caused trouble.

Su Jin didn't expect that everyone would laugh at him so much, but he was a little caught off guard, and when he saw Lu Yijian asking, he hurriedly suppressed the panic in his heart, and bowed his hand and said, "Xiaguan Su Jin has seen Lu Xiang." “

Lu Yijian said indifferently: "I know you are Su Jin, the old man is asking why you are laughing, above the court, the monarchs and ministers are discussing national affairs, but you are here with a hippie smile and a sarcastic face, it is too undeserved." ”

"Yes, yes, do you understand the rules?" The blackbeard and flatbread-faced Pang Ji hurriedly agreed.

"I want to ask Special Envoy Su, what did Lu Xiang and the emperor say just now that made you so happy." The black fat man Du Yan also stared at Su Jin and scolded angrily.

Yan Shu and Ouyang Xiu secretly shook their heads and sighed, this Su Jin, he simply doesn't understand the rules, he should stand in a proper manner above the court, and before it was your turn to speak, he made a sarcastic voice, isn't this making himself uncomfortable?

Su Jin saw the menacing appearance of Lu Yijian and others, and he also beat a little drum in his heart, and secretly scolded himself for why he laughed like that, causing trouble for no reason.

But looking at it like this, if you don't give an excuse to prevaricate, these people won't spare themselves.