Chapter 683 0678 [Dali and Xixia Brag to Each Other]

Sizhou City (Wuchuan County).

This place was first established in the fourth year of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang Dynasty. After five hundred years of operation, it still refused to obey the king, but was heavily influenced by the culture and customs of the Han people - merchants from Dongting Lake often came to do business, and criminal Han people also came to hide and avoid disaster.

At least one-third of the people inside and outside the city can communicate in Chinese.

"Zhao Yu and Zhong Youzhi wrote to me, asking me to submit to the Ming Dynasty court, and I must go to Tokyo to offer land in person," Tian Yougong asked, "What do you think, nephew?"

Xia Dajun said, "I should go."

Tian Yougong worriedly said, "When Li Bao conquered Kuizhou, he sent someone to ask me to submit. If I delay for a few years, will Emperor Zhu be unhappy and design to lure me to the capital to kill me, and then send troops to annex Sizhou?"

Xia Dajun was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "The governor is overthinking. The Ming Dynasty is already the legitimate dynasty in the Central Plains, and it will not resort to such despicable means."

"Then please accompany me on the trip, nephew." Tian Yougong said.

"I will obey your order." Xia Dajun said with a bow.

Xia Dajun was born in a prominent family in Hunan, and his father was a student of the Imperial College.

At that time, the party struggle was fierce. The Imperial College was reformed by Wang Anshi and was not valued when the New Party was in power. His father could not be an official after graduating from the Imperial College, and he could not pass the imperial examination, so he traveled around and met the equally young Tian Yougong.

Later, Song Huizong summoned Tian Yougong and consulted with Xia Dajun and his son.

According to the explanation of the Xia father and his son, Tian Yougong made Song Huizong very happy. Not only was he promoted on the spot, but even Xia Dajun became the literary officer of Baozhou (a nominal position).

Xia Dajun spent money to operate and got a job as the chief clerk of Fengjie.

When Li Bao marched into Kuizhou, Xia Dajun felt that Fengjie was not safe, and he was unwilling to succumb to the thieves, so he quickly resigned and returned home. Xia Dajun now regrets this choice very much, otherwise he would at least have been a county magistrate in the new dynasty.

What's even more tragic is that less than a year after Xia Dajun returned home, Zhong Xiang started a rebellion in Hunan.

Xia Dajun's family was killed, and he fled in a panic to seek refuge with Tian Yougong.

"My dear nephew knows the etiquette, what should I do specifically? Is it the same as the last time I surrendered to the Song Dynasty?" Tian Yougong asked.

Xia Dajun described the specific process: "Sizhou is under Qianzhou, and you should offer maps and household registration, and ask the governor of Qianzhou to present them to the court. At the same time, in the memorial, praise the merits of the emperor, review your own mistakes, and ask to go to Beijing to meet the emperor in person. I heard that the prince has great military achievements, so I should also praise the prince's martial virtues."

Tian Yougong understood: "It's almost the same as when I surrendered to the Song Dynasty, but this time I have to flatter the prince."

"Yes." Xia Dajun smiled.

Tian Yougong said: "Let my dear nephew write the memorial for me."

"It's just a little effort." Xia Dajun was also very happy. If he persuaded the Tian family to offer land, he would most likely be appreciated, and the revival of the family depended on this move.

When Tian offered his land and prepared to enter the capital, the envoys of Dali Kingdom had already arrived in the capital.

Envoy Li Boxiang and deputy envoy Huang Jian brought 420 tribute horses, musk, bezoar, cloth, swords and other items.

The entire delegation had more than 300 people, mainly because it took a lot of manpower to take care of the horses along the way.

"Has Kaifeng changed compared to ten years ago?" Huang Jian asked.

Li Boxiang looked up at the city gates and then at the streets outside the city: "Back then, it was still the Song Dynasty, but now it has become the Ming Dynasty. I don't know how many ministers I made friends with back then are left. Bianliang is still prosperous, and there are even fewer beggars than before... Hey, why are there no beggars?"

Of course they were escorted to the border of Hehuang!

The patrol soldiers inside and outside the city of Tokyo were part of the service in the Song Dynasty, but now they have been changed to regular organizations, and even their names have been changed to patrol officers.

One of the duties of patrol officers is to arrest those who go out to beg on the streets while patrolling. This is not a great achievement, so as to prevent the patrol officers from arresting people indiscriminately.

The real merit is to catch a disabled beggar, who may be able to solve the case of live cutting.

"Why are all the horses brought to the street?" A patrolman rushed over.

The Chengdu official who was responsible for leading them to Beijing hurriedly explained: "These are tribute horses presented by the Dali Kingdom."

The patrolman said: "You can't take hundreds of tribute horses to the street at the same time, which will block the streets, and they will pee and poop everywhere, making it so dirty. You drive all the tribute horses to the suburbs, and I will report to the Sifang Pavilion. The Honglu Temple will contact the Taifu Temple. At that time, the two temples will send people over together, and the tribute horses will be taken directly to the Tiansijian for feeding."

"Thank you, official." The small official from Chengdu did not dare to offend the patrolman in the capital, and obediently followed his arrangements.

That night, they stayed in the Daxiangguo Temple, because the Sifang Pavilion had been occupied by the meritorious officials who returned to Beijing to be conferred titles.

The Honglu Temple counted and estimated the tribute, and reported to the Ministry of Rites to determine the list of gifts for return gifts.

The gifts were basically given back and forth at the market price in Tokyo, so the Ming court would not suffer any loss, and the foreign envoys could make a fortune by transporting them back.

At night, an official from the Honglu Temple came up to him and asked, "Do you know the etiquette of audience?"

Li Boxiang said, "Ten years ago, I came to Tokyo and met the emperor of the Song Dynasty at that time."

"It's good to know the etiquette. Get ready and go to the palace to meet the emperor tomorrow." The official said.

Li Boxiang was quite surprised: "So soon?"

The official explained, "In two days, it will be the ceremony of enthroning meritorious officials. After you meet His Majesty, you can just follow him to watch the ceremony."

"I see," Li Boxiang asked, "On the way here, I heard that the prince of the Celestial Empire had won another victory. But there are different opinions about the results of the battle. Can you help us solve our doubts?"

The official was very proud: "It's not as outrageous as the rumors say. In the two battlefields of Hebei and Shanxi, and the battle across the sea in Shandong, a total of 20,000 to 30,000 Jin soldiers were killed and captured. More than 100,000 pseudo-dynasty troops were killed, captured, and surrendered. There were also tens of thousands of Jin Liaodong people who could not bear the tyranny of the Jin people and fled to our Ming Dynasty with their families."

Li Boxiang exclaimed: "The crown prince of the Ming Dynasty is so full of martial virtue!"

One of the official's main jobs was to brag to the foreign envoys: "You, the southwestern foreign countries, can't even beat the Song soldiers. The Song soldiers are not as good as the Liao soldiers, and the Liao soldiers are not as good as the Jin soldiers. But our Ming soldiers can sweep the Jin army. For example, Xixia actually coveted our Han land and was defeated by our Ming army. The Xixia emperor even worshipped my Ming emperor as his father, and sent a clan daughter two days ago regardless of diplomatic etiquette."

"Is the Xixia envoy also in the temple?" Li Boxiang asked.

The official pointed behind him and said, "It's in the courtyard next to you. You can interact freely."

"Thank you for your explanation." Li Boxiang bowed quickly.

After waiting for the Honglu Temple official to leave, Li Boxiang was worried: "In the past few years, the Song soldiers besieged Prince Zhu, and the Duke of China (Gao Liangcheng) also sent troops. I'm afraid he has already angered the Ming emperor and his ministers. Now, as strong as Xixia and Jin, one surrendered to the Ming, and the other was defeated by the Ming. Will the Ming Dynasty raise troops to attack Dali?"

"Since we are allowed to come to Beijing to meet the emperor, I think the past will be forgiven." Huang Jian comforted himself.

The two discussed for a while and went to visit the Xixia envoy next door.

Xixia envoys are frequent visitors to Tokyo, but Dali envoys rarely come to Tokyo. In the past, tribute trade was completed in Lizhou.

Li Renli came as an envoy again. He warmly received the two Dali envoys. After a brief greeting, he curiously asked: "Where is Dali located? Is it the Nanzhao Kingdom in the Book of Tang?"

Li Boxiang deliberately exaggerated and boasted when answering: "There were six Zhaos in the south, and Nanzhao was just one of them. Today's Dali Kingdom has all the lands of the six Zhaos, which is not comparable to Nanzhao."

"So that's it," Li Renli was really interested in foreign countries, "I wonder what customs Dali has, and how old the King of Dali is this year?"

Li Boxiang said: "My Dali advocates Buddhism. The kings of Dali in all dynasties have the ancient tradition of abdication. When the king is old, he either abdicates to the prince or abdicates to a wise minister, and then becomes a monk to practice Buddhism."

Li Renli exclaimed: "It's really a benevolent and righteous Buddhist country!"

This is exactly what Li Renli likes. He believes in Buddhism and Confucianism.

The King of Dali abdicated and practiced Buddhism, which is simply the saint in Li Renli's mind!

Li Boxiang was bitter in his heart. If it weren't for the situation, the King of Dali would have chosen to abdicate and become a monk.

Fortunately, other countries did not understand the situation, and only knew that the King of Dali abdicated, which gave the envoys more room to play.

Ten years ago, when they met with Emperor Huizong of Song and were asked about related issues, the Dali envoys also said the same thing, which made Emperor Huizong feel inexplicably touched at the time.

A similar plot also happened in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty.

When Zhao Kuangyin heard that the Japanese emperor was "one dynasty for all eternity", he immediately thought of the chaos of the Five Dynasties. He was really overwhelmed with emotions and repeatedly praised Japan for being a benevolent monarch and loyal minister.

Li Renli began to exchange Buddhism with Li Boxiang and found that there were many differences between the two countries' Buddhism.

They soon agreed that after returning, they would ask the king to send monks to each other for friendly Buddhist exchanges.

Then he continued to brag.

Li Boxiang said: "My Dali Kingdom has 400,000 soldiers, and all the barbarians are submissive and willing to follow the teachings. However, the kings of all dynasties were benevolent monarchs, and the barbarians were punished unless they were guilty, so the people under their rule enjoyed peace for a long time. Merchants from all directions gathered and dispersed in the capital of our country, and it was only slightly inferior to Kaifeng in terms of prosperity."

Prosperity? Last year, most of the houses in the capital of Dali were burned down by a fire, and Duan Yu's palace was almost set on fire.

Li Renli also said: "Although my Daxia is located in a remote area, there are countless heroes and celebrities, and there are 500,000 soldiers. The barbarians in the surrounding vassal states are all blessed by your majesty. Merchants from the Western Regions and the Ming Dynasty have to come and do business with my Daxia. Speaking of Buddhism, the Emperor of Song sent monks to my Daxia many times to seek Buddhist scriptures!"

The two boasted to each other and talked happily for a while, and both felt that they had earned face for their country.

In the room next to it, there was a girl lying on the windowsill, doing nothing and looking at the moon to pass the time.

Li Qianshun had no sisters or daughters of the right age, so he chose a girl from the royal family and sent her to Kaifeng to ask for marriage.

This was against diplomatic etiquette and was very embarrassing.

But Li Qianshun just took this opportunity to show his weakness and humiliate himself, hoping that the Ming army would not attack Xixia, so that he could have a few years of secret development.

At least, he had to wait until a group of children grew up to fifteen or sixteen years old, and then Xixia would have enough soldiers.

Xixia was always shameless in diplomacy. When Li Qianshun wanted to marry the Liao Kingdom, he shamelessly sent envoys every year to ask for the marriage of Liao nobles.

It is estimated that the Liao emperor was annoyed by this, and finally agreed to make a girl from the royal family a princess and marry her to Li Qianshun as the queen of Xixia - that is, Yelu Nanxian.

Li Renli came back drunk and the girl couldn't help but shout, "Daddy!"

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Li Renli staggered over and scolded, "Remember, you are now the Princess of Daxia, the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor of Daxia. You and I can no longer call each other father and daughter!"

The girl was unhappy and silent for a few seconds before asking, "Will the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty agree to a marriage between the two countries?"

Li Renli said: "The Princess of Daxia has been sent to Kaifeng, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will definitely agree. Prince Zhu is a hero of the time, and marrying him now is a perfect match. Stop thinking about it and go to bed and rest."

The girl still couldn't be happy and closed the window silently.