"I am very frightened. Please give me clear instructions, Your Majesty." The messenger became more serious.

"Since Liao has conquered Karakhan and has taken over most of the Western Regions, its foundation has been established. Although it is not a country of ten thousand miles, it is a country of several thousand miles with fifty thousand soldiers... But since the country was established, has the imperial examination been implemented? Has an official language been set? Do you have the purpose of transporting books on this trip? Have you sorted out and maintained the East-West Avenue? Have you established laws and issued an order to declare the national order?" Zhao Jiu looked at him seriously. "Logically speaking, I am fighting a war at this time, and I should not say too much about things thousands of miles away. But firstly, the transportation between the two countries is inconvenient, and it is not easy for you to come here. Some things are better said while the situation is good. Secondly, Dashilin Ya and I are close friends. As long as I say it, he will naturally understand what I mean. Some things can only be done while he is here... To put it bluntly, if I lose here and he falls ill there, some things will be in vain."

"Your Majesty, you are joking." The Xiao envoy thought for a moment and then responded with a serious expression. "My ruler is thousands of miles away. He has heard that your Majesty is going to the north and has made up his mind. He said that the situation of Song and Jin has already reversed. Your Majesty's ten years of achievements are no less than Gou Jian's. The Jin Dynasty has been fighting for twenty years and has long been exhausted and dull... This time, the victory or defeat depends on the country, not the army, on the people, not the soldiers, and on the situation, not the battle... Your Majesty will definitely win! It is precisely because of this that the foreign ministers have come to visit your Majesty in a hurry, regardless of the haste of the incident."

"We still have to fight." Zhao Jiu shook his head. "If we fight well, we can save several years of effort. If we don't fight well, we may have to start all over again for another ten years... How can it be so easy?"

The envoy nodded without arguing. After a slight pause, he continued, "If that's the case, as long as our Liao did those things in the Western Regions, would Your Majesty send Khitan prisoners of war to our country?"

"If Liao can do that, I will certainly send people there." Zhao Jiu responded calmly. "Because if they do that, Liao will be willing to become a branch of China. As the emperor, I have the obligation to stabilize the foundation of Liao. I have no choice but to do so."

After hearing this, the envoy no longer had any doubts. He turned around, took out a Persian emerald, and respectfully paid homage to Emperor Zhao, who was sitting on a wooden stool. Then he asked to leave, saying that as a foreign envoy, he had to see the prime minister, so he went to the other side of the Fen River to pay a visit to Prime Minister Lu.

Of course Zhao Jiu had nothing to say, so he simply asked Yang Yi Zhong to escort the envoy to see Lu Yihao, bringing the carpet, Persian red flowers, and jeweled toys.

Just like that, Yang Yi Zhong took the Western Liao envoy and several attendants away, and Mei Li and other scholars hurriedly copied and collected the Liao country's letters and other items. In addition, Shao Chengzhang, the chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, hurriedly ordered people to deal with the Persian treasures that filled the hall one by one according to the previous instructions of Emperor Zhao.

As for the other close ministers and attendants, who had received a huge profit for nothing, they were naturally very enthusiastic and hurriedly followed Shao Yaban's orders to assist.

In the afternoon, the emperor followed the emperor's instructions and unpacked the remaining seven or eight boxes of emeralds. He went to the camp outside the city to display and announce the reasons, explaining the emperor's disposal and the reward. This caused a commotion in the huge winter camp outside the city.

However, there is always a lot to do. Not long after the hustle and bustle outside the city started, the cramped lobby of the Linfen government office welcomed a guest from afar, but he was not an uninvited guest.

The man who came was none other than Minamoto no Tameyoshi, the leader of the samurai reinforcements specially sent by Emperor Toba of Japan to express friendship. This man and his itinerary had always been under the control of the Song court.

Besides, the Song Dynasty and Japan were not actually allies, and even the scale of their economic and trade exchanges was very small. The reason why the two sides seemed to be fighting fiercely was mainly because Emperor Zhao ignored the economic laws and privately carried out precious metal trade in order to extort wealth to support military expenses.

This kind of trade is actually harmful to both countries in the long run, because the Song Dynasty is short of all precious metals, especially copper coins as the main currency in circulation, so it is even more inappropriate to use them for trading; and as for Japan, not to mention, the loss of gold is definitely not a good thing.

But the problem is that this transaction was conducted in the form of a direct transaction between the Zhao Song royal family and the Japanese royal family... Zhao Jiu had done too many things to exhaust the resources for military expenses, so he didn't care about this one more thing; and on the Japanese side was the royal family, specifically Emperor Toba, who had just gotten rid of his grandfather's shadow and took power, and his trusted nobles who could bypass other factions of nobles as well as the country and the court, and directly make huge profits through this transaction in order to maintain their own power and luxurious life.

Therefore, the two sides were of the same mind and hit it off right away, especially since Zhao Jiu directly avoided the idea of ​​false titles and did not mention anything about the suzerain country, which reduced unnecessary obstacles to the transaction between the two parties.

Under the two of them, the person who directly operated this matter was Zhang Jun in the Song Dynasty, and in Japan it was Taira Tadamori who controlled the Seto Inland Sea after defeating pirates. He was also the father of Taira Kiyomori who led Minamoto no Tameyoshi into the country, and the leader of the so-called Ise Taira clan, an important Japanese samurai group.

As for Minamoto no Tameyoshi, as the leader of the Kawachi Minamoto clan, a samurai group that was no less powerful than the Ise Taira clan, his visit to provide assistance was not actually a very glorious journey.

In fact, Minamoto Tameyoshi was far inferior to his old rival and peer Taira Tadamori in terms of being an official, doing things, and being a person. Just when Taira Tadamori's official position was rising, his family was accumulating more wealth, and his power was growing, he was in constant trouble... He harbored criminals, excluded his colleagues, and his subordinates were not up to standard... Of course, the most important thing is that a new emperor chooses new ministers. Unlike Taira Tadamori who was favored by the former Emperor Shirakawa and the current Emperor Toba, Minamoto Tameyoshi was able to maintain his dignity when Emperor Shirakawa was in power and got an official position only one year later than Taira Tadamori. But when it came to Emperor Toba, the latter was simply picky about him and despised him to the extreme.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!