So anxious!

This really made Lu Dazhong and other accompanying officials very anxious.

Can't stop it!

It's impossible to stop it!

When did our Song Dynasty produce such a diplomat who is both civil and military?

If this isn't handled properly, we'll have to go to war with the Liao Kingdom!

After coming to his senses, Lu Dazhong immediately sent people to inquire about the battle situation, and made sure to capture Zhang Fei and not allow any mistakes to happen.

result!

The border soldiers didn't even notice the envoys' team.

Where are the people?

...

...

After two or three days of investigation, they were finally able to confirm that Zhang Fei did not go to the border at all, but ran south, and it is still unknown where he went.

this.!

So embarrassing!

This really is the case of saying the harshest words and running the fastest path.

Zhang Fei's counterattack completely paralyzed the entire delegation.

Fortunately, as a border official, Lu Dazhong was very familiar with the Liao people's tactics. Before every negotiation, he would show off his military power. He did the same during the last Qingli negotiations. His purpose was to make blatant threats.

They did not run away, but stayed where they were.

As expected, the Liao army simply set up camp on the spot and did not plan to launch a large-scale attack.

But the problem is that the envoy ran away!

What should I do?

So, professionals are needed to do professional things.

This young envoy was truly surprising.

This news soon spread to the Liao army's tent, and even the Liao people found it outrageous.

"Haha. There really is no one in the Southern Dynasty! We just wanted to move the camp forward, but they were so scared that they ran away."

Xiao Su, the Liao envoy, laughed.

Deputy Envoy Xiao Ying said: "Since the Southern Dynasty has sent such a coward to negotiate with us, why don't we set up camp over at Chechanggou?"

Xiao Su smiled and said, "This is exactly what I want. I don't think the southerners will dare to stop me. Give the order to move the camp to Chechanggou."

In fact, the Liao Kingdom had two purposes for sending troops this time. The first, of course, was to show their power and to hint to the Song Dynasty that they knew you were in a difficult situation now, and if you did not agree to our conditions, we would definitely take military action.

Secondly, border negotiations between the two countries are usually held within the boundary and will not be conducted within the territory of one side. They send troops to invade the border in order to push the boundary southward and gain some advantages.

Therefore, diplomacy must be cautious. Every little thing, including the blade of grass and every tree, must be carefully considered. There are many complicated rules. If you are not careful, you will suffer a great loss.

But the Liao people never expected that the Song Dynasty envoy would just run away. This was truly the most cowardly Song Dynasty envoy they had ever seen. So this negotiation was a sure win!

Since I'm just sitting there doing nothing, I might as well move a little further south.

Not to mention the Liao people, even their own people couldn't stand it.

Zhang Fei was very decisive. He ran straight to Taiyuan without even looking back.

If you run a little further, you will reach Bian Jing.

Cao Dongdong, who realized it later, was so angry that he almost fainted.

The glorious reputation of my Cao family has been ruined by a man like you, Zhang.

Break off friendship!

This must be severed!

I haven't spoken to Zhang Fei for several days, and I'm really angry.

It would be fine if you didn't dare to fight, but you actually ran away. The key point is that the other party doesn't plan to launch a large-scale attack, so why are you running?

Zhang Fei didn't care about him. He disguised himself and stayed in a brothel in Taiyuan. The reason he stayed here was not because there were beautiful women here, but because this was actually the base camp of the Taiyuan Taxation Bureau.

The "turtle man" here is the person in charge of the Taiyuan ghost tax police.

At present, there are no public security, procuratorate, courts or tax commissioners on Hedong Road, but these ghost tax police already exist nationwide. They all have to conduct a survey in advance, and once the tax commissioners arrive, they will start collecting taxes.

"Reporting to Prosecutor Zhang, the matter has been settled."

After the old turtle reported to Zhang Fei, he asked worriedly, "But will there really be no problems if we do this?"

"Compared to their direct military action, my method is much gentler!"

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "If they don't even dare to do this, then it would be better to just let them row directly."

The old turtle nodded nervously.

Zhang Fei asked again: "I walked around this city today and found that there are quite a lot of merchants here."

The old turtle immediately explained, "First, there is a market for trading with the Liao Kingdom. Secondly, after the current emperor ascended the throne, he issued many trade restriction orders targeting the Xixia trade. Taiyuan is adjacent to the Xia in the west and the Liao in the north. Many Liao merchants saw the business opportunity and started to trade, reselling some of our Song Dynasty's goods to the Xixia, and secretly smuggling Xixia salt into Taiyuan."

Compared to the big dog from Hezhong Prefecture, this old turtle from Taiyuan was obviously more rigorous and answered questions meticulously.

Zhang Fei asked: "Smuggling Xixia salt? This is a capital crime!"

The old turtle sighed, "Although the government strictly prohibits our merchants from smuggling Xixia salt, some Liao merchants sneak into the country to sell it. Even if they are caught, it is difficult to give them too severe a punishment. As long as they don't go too far, the government will turn a blind eye. After all, the salt is sold from Xixia to Liao, and then smuggled to our country. The price of salt is not much lower, and it can also meet the local salt shortage."

Zhang Fei nodded slightly.

The old turtle continued, "In addition, regarding the dispute provoked by the Liao Kingdom in Hedong, although there is news that it is related to Yelu Yixin, it is rumored that the Liao Kingdom also intends to use this incident to increase its troops here in order to curb our dynasty's attack on Xixia."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "So, does the Liao Kingdom intend to go to war with our country?"

The old turtle shook his head and said, "There is no specific news yet to confirm that the Liao Kingdom wants to use this to provoke a war, but the Liao Kingdom has indeed increased its troops here, so no one dares to make a rash judgment."

Zhang Fei nodded in understanding and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't know. After this test, we can see the strength of Liao."

The Liao envoy went even further and brought his troops to Chechanggou to set up camp, and invited the Song envoy to come there for talks.

This made Lu Dazhong and the others very angry.

This is a serious violation of our borders, yet you still have the nerve to ask us to talk.

Talk about chicken.

But there was no way. These areas were all uninhabited before. People were slowly led in during the Qingli period. There were only a few fortifications in the area, but the Liao people had already entered here to cultivate. The number of Liao people in this area was five times that of the Song people. They could only watch the Liao envoys rushing around in there.

There is nothing you can do except get angry.

The most important thing is that they have not yet found their immediate boss.

The boss is not here, what is there to talk about?

But they couldn't say that their boss was scared away. When Lu Dazhong negotiated with the Liao envoys, he insisted that they were seriously invading the border and they could not talk.

You are negotiating demarcation on my territory, and we have to negotiate with you, isn't that stupid?

Parking lot ditch.

The Liao envoy’s tent.

"What invasion? It's just an excuse."

Xiao Su laughed and said, "I already know that they are looking for the escaped envoy. Wait, they will come, as long as we don't know how to fight them. Haha!"

The Liao officials in the tent burst into laughter.

Xiao Su then told the official in charge: "Go and tell the Southern Dynasty that our Liao Dynasty is a country of etiquette. Tell them not to worry. We will wait patiently."

A Liao official said: "Special Envoy, why don't we withdraw some soldiers? Otherwise, I don't think they dare to come!"

Xiao Su nodded: "That's fine too."

"Ha ha!"

Another burst of laughter.

Just at this moment, Deputy Envoy Xiao Ying suddenly walked in.

Xiao Su asked, "Deputy Envoy, you came just in time. We are discussing how to get the timid southerners to come here to negotiate with us."

Xiao Ying, however, had a serious expression on her face and first asked all the officials around to leave.

"What happened?"

Xiao Su asked.

Xiao Ying said depressedly: "This matter may become a big deal."

Xiao Su asked, "What do you mean?"

Xiao Ying said, "Just now, the King of the Southern Court sent someone to ask whether we should lead our troops south to fight the Song army?"

Xiao Su was surprised and said, "We just burned a few houses and shot a few arrows. This was a common occurrence in the past, and it was also allowed by the higher-ups. How could it have spread to the South Courtyard?"

Xiao Ying said, "Because in several major trading houses on the border, those Southern Dynasty merchants got the news from somewhere that our army went south, killed the Southern Dynasty envoys, and wanted to start a full-scale war with the Southern Dynasty, so they fled one after another, and this also caused great panic in our country. Many nobles are questioning the Southern Court, why they arbitrarily provoked a war with the Southern Dynasty."

"ah?"

Xiao Su was immediately horrified and stood up abruptly, "Someone is trying to harm me. We didn't do anything. I didn't even see the Southern Dynasty envoy."

Xiao Ying said: "I have already sent someone to inquire and see what is going on over there."

Five days later, the spy finally arrived with news.

This result made Xiao Su laugh and cry.

It is said that the reason for this was that the Song envoy threatened to lead troops to fight, but he ran away and disappeared. The accompanying officials of the Song Dynasty were looking for him all over the world, so the news spread that the Song envoy had died in battle on the border.

This beheading

Envoy, that is a major diplomatic matter.

It's definitely time for a war!

Therefore, when the Song Dynasty merchants in the border trading markets learned the news, they ran away as soon as possible, because if the two countries went to war, the trading markets would be the first battlefield, and the profit-seeking merchants would definitely have the first reaction to protect their property.

The people living on the border of Liao State also became anxious and panic-stricken because they had never heard of any war.

The key is that Liao and Song had been at war for decades. In terms of trade, they were already interdependent. Moreover, the main merchants engaged in trade in Liao were almost all nobles of Liao. At the same time, the prosperity of the border also benefited the people living on the border.

If you, a Song Dynasty merchant, run away, they will all suffer huge losses.

The key point is that they have not received the news that they are going to go to war with the Song Dynasty. How could they hide such a big thing from us?

The entire border was suddenly filled with public resentment, and the Liao nobles were also furious, so they went straight to the South Courtyard to make trouble.

The King of the Southern Court is Yelu Yixin, currently the most powerful official in the Liao Dynasty. He is the one who wants to stir up trouble here.

But you can make a fuss about it, but don’t really do it!

The key point is that you didn't even negotiate, didn't raise any demands, and the other party didn't say no, but you wanted to fight. You are simply treating state affairs as a joke!

Faced with everyone's questioning, Yelu Yixin was also confused and did not order them to fight. So he quickly sent people to ask what they were doing and who told them to kill the envoy.

Xiao Su quickly wrote back to the South Courtyard.

Your Majesty!

Misunderstand!

It’s all misunderstanding!

We just burned a few houses and didn't kill anyone. We don't know where Envoy Song ran off to, so it's not our fault!

On the other hand, he quickly sent someone to tell Lu Dazhong and the others to dispel the rumors as soon as possible and to find their envoys to negotiate with them as soon as possible, so as to avoid a major accident.

It's costing my life.

So easily frightened.

Lu Dazhong and his men are still unaware of the situation and are confused, but the Liao Kingdom keeps sending people to urge them to clarify, "You should go and clarify, we have not started a war, we are just looking for a place for negotiation, and the fortifications that were burned were only to create a safe environment for negotiations."

It's really easy to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of effort to refute them.

Lu Dazhong was also panicked at first and quickly sent people to investigate. It turned out that someone had spread a rumor that Zhang Fei had died heroically in battle, which caused panic in the market. Now all the merchants had fled and the entire market was empty.

This left Lu Dazhong speechless, and he immediately sent people to communicate with the government, telling them that it was just a misunderstanding and asked them to appease the merchants.

After arranging these things, Lu Dazhong changed his mind and decided that no matter where Zhang Fei was, he responded to the Liao envoy that Chechanggou was an invasion of the border and was not in line with diplomatic etiquette, so we could not go to negotiate.

This time, Xiao Su didn't say much and simply went back to Dahuangping, northwest of Chechanggou.

But in fact, Dahuangping also belonged to the territory of the Song Dynasty, it was just slightly better than Chechanggou in location, so Lu Dazhong still said that it was not in line with diplomatic etiquette.

But this time the Liao envoy did not obey and insisted on negotiating at Dahuangping.

Lu Dazhong said that he could not make the decision and Zhang Fei had to come back to make the decision.

Xiao Su was very unhappy. Where is your boss now?

Where are the people?

Get them out now!

It was a good negotiation, but this kid turned it into a mess, and the noise even spread to the South Courtyard.

Taiyuan Prefecture.

"Based on the situation on the border of Liao, they should not have any plans to go to war with our country for the time being." The old turtle said to Zhang Fei: "Whether it is the people, merchants, civil officials or generals on the border, they are all very surprised and even panicked."

Zhang Fei asked: "Can we only be sure that it is only temporary?"

The old turtle nodded and said, "It's hard to be sure. The Liao Kingdom has indeed increased its troops here. At present, it is impossible to accurately judge what the Liao Kingdom hopes to gain from this negotiation.

In addition, judging from this incident, trade with our country also had a huge impact on the Liao Kingdom. When the merchants in the market ran away, it directly alarmed their South Courtyard. It is said that this was because it affected the business of many nobles in the Liao Kingdom, including Yelu Yixin himself.

At the same time, the people on the border of Liao were also very dissatisfied with this, and the people in Liao were full of resentment. But according to our observation, the reason why the people were so dissatisfied was not just because of the market. It may be that the treacherous officials in Liao were in power in recent years, which led to the people's miserable lives, and the people took this opportunity to vent their anger. "

Zhang Fei nodded and thought to himself, it seems that what Prime Minister Han said was not false. Going to war between the two countries was indeed against the will of the two peoples. The problem now was what exactly the Liao Kingdom wanted to gain.

This was of course all arranged by Zhang Fei, because the place where the ghost tax police are most concentrated on Hedong Road is in the market. Coupled with his methods, he is fully capable of creating panic in a short period of time.

The purpose was to test the strength of the Liao State.

According to the news, the Liao Kingdom is indeed increasing its troops here, but it is impossible to judge whether the Liao Kingdom is stirring up trouble in order to make a fortune or to use this incident to start a war.

At the same time, Zhang Fei also wanted to test the attitudes of officials and people on both sides towards going to war.

But the Song Dynasty currently had very little negotiating capital, only economic advantages.

It just so happened that the other party came to the door and invaded the border to cause trouble, so Zhang Fei took advantage of this and used it to create a misunderstanding, and by the way, find out the strength of the Liao Kingdom and prepare for future negotiations.

Zhang Fei asked again: "What are Lu Dazhong and the others doing now?"

The old turtle said: "On the one hand, they are negotiating with the Liao envoy, and on the other hand, they are looking for Zhang Jiankang everywhere. Now the Liao envoy has moved his camp to Dahuangping, but Lu Dazhong and his men have not agreed yet."

"Alas, it seems that this is all they are capable of." Zhang Fei sighed and said, "Get ready, we are going back."

"yes."

After Lao Gui left, Zhang Fei went to the private room opposite.

"snort!"

Cao Dongdong, who was drinking alone in the house, saw Zhang Fei coming in and immediately said, "Coward!"

Zhang Fei waved his hand, signaling Taozi to go out first. After Taozi left, he immediately retorted sarcastically: "You are the coward."

"Bah!"

Cao Dongdong slammed the table and stood up, "I am going to the north to fight the enemy, but you want to flee south. Who is the coward?"

Zhang Fei said, "Can you use your brain? Why did the Liao people do this? They just want to provoke us, wait for us to go, and then humiliate us. We only have a few soldiers, and they have more than 10,000. You are still running there stupidly. You do whatever they want you to do. You are a coward. I am different. They want me to go north, but I insist on going south. I am a tough guy."

Cao Dongdong was driven crazy by his sophistry.

"Don't get excited yet, this result speaks for itself."

Zhang Fei said: "Now the Liao envoys are looking for us everywhere, and they have even retreated, crying and begging us to negotiate."

Cao Dongdong asked suspiciously, "Really?"

Zhang Fei said: "Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, ask Taozi to ask. I'm telling you, I won't go and let them wait there. Am I not a tough guy enough?"

Cao Dongdong blinked and said, "Zhang San, we still have to go. This is a serious matter. If we really mess it up, how can we report to His Majesty?"

If the other party provokes him, he naturally cannot tolerate it with his explosive temper and must fight back, but if you say you don't want to negotiate, he dare not do that. The reason he can still live until now and has not been beaten to death by Cao Ping is that when it comes to major issues, he knows very well what to do.

“No!”

Zhang Fei said: "They ignored me at first, but now I will make them unable to reach me. Today, we brothers will not go home until we are drunk."

As he spoke, he sat down, poured himself a glass of wine, and drank it leisurely.

Cao Dongdong rolled his eyes around and said, "Okay, let's not go. Why should we be afraid of him? Let me go to the toilet and we'll have a drink."

"Wait for you!"

"wait for me!"

Cao Dongdong ran out happily and immediately called Taozi over, whispering, "Taozi, go and find out if anyone is looking for us outside."

"Why!"

Only one day later, Zhang Fei finally set off at the urging of Cao Dongdong. To be precise, it was Cao Dongdong and Taozi who carried him onto the carriage.

As soon as he showed up, Lu Dazhong and his men quickly learned the news, because the government officials in the entire region were now looking for them, and they were afraid that Zhang Fei had returned to the capital.

After several days of traveling, Zhang Fei returned to the vicinity of Tianchi Lake.

The moment they saw Zhang Fei, Lu Dazhong and the others were about to shed tears. This was really tormenting!

"Sorry! Sorry! I got lost. I'm not very familiar with the road conditions here. I ran and ran and ended up in Taiyuan."

Zhang Fei bowed and said apologetically.

One is going south, the other is going north, you can still get lost.

I don't believe you.

Lu Dazhong did not argue with Zhang Fei. As long as he got back, it was good. He said, "Prosecutor Zhang was wrong. If Prosecutor Zhang had not escaped... ahem, got lost, the Liao envoy would not have explained to us about sending troops, and returned to Dahuangping from Chechanggou."

Zhang Feixi asked happily: "Really?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

The accompanying officials also echoed.

Now, in terms of momentum, the Liao people are no longer as aggressive as they used to be.

Lu Dazhong added: "However, Dahuangping still belongs to our country. I have negotiated with the Liao envoys many times, but they still refuse to give in. In addition, they invaded Hengdu Valley and went directly to Chechanggou. It seems that their bottom line is the ancient Great Wall.

”

Zhang Fei asked: "Do you have any drawings?"

“Yes.”

Lu Dazhong immediately took out a drawing and spread it on the table.

Zhang Fei went forward to take a look. Although the map was very irregular, it was not difficult to find that Hengdu Valley, Dahuangping, and Chechanggou were running from west to east, almost in a parallel line. Hengdu Valley was deepest towards the south, while Chechanggou was deepest towards the east. Dahuangping was in the middle of the two places, closer to the north.

Lu Dazhong pointed at the blueprint and said, "The original boundary was at the Niutou Mountain watershed, almost along the Great Wall. If they succeed, they will expand it to the south by 17 or 18 miles."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "County Magistrate Lu, you will be my adjutant during the negotiations."

"Yes." Lu Dazhong nodded subconsciously, but then he added: "But I don't know how Prosecutor Zhang plans to deal with it."

Zhang Fei said: "Talk while we talk."

Lu Dazhong asked again: "Did Prosecutor Zhang agree to let them talk in Dahuangping?"

Zhang Fei sighed, "They are so shameless that they want to talk about it. What can we do if we don't agree?"

Seeing that he answered so casually, Lu Dazhong felt a little anxious. How could diplomacy be so casual? But then he thought, he ran away at every turn, which might be considered rigorous.

Zhang Fei added: "But negotiations are negotiations, and neither side can stay in the area. This place must be vacated, otherwise, I will not go."

Lu Dazhong's eyes lit up. This was a good idea. Since the other party was stationed in Dahuangping, it was equivalent to asking them to move out first. He nodded quickly and said, "Yes, I will send someone to negotiate with the other party."

On the other side, when Xiao Su and the others learned that Zhang Fei had returned, they finally felt relieved. They were speechless to have met such a lunatic, but they were a little hesitant when faced with Zhang Fei's request.

If it were someone else, they would definitely ignore him, but this kid was not scared at all. They were stationed in Dahuangping, so the kid really didn't dare to come, so they agreed.

They withdrew the camp from Dahuangping, but only to the edge of Dahuangping. In fact, Dahuangping was just a village, not very big. There was not much difference between the outside and the inside. But in diplomacy, one step more or one step less would be a big problem.

Only then did Zhang Fei agree to come to Dahuangping to negotiate with the other party.

At dawn, Zhang Fei rushed to the agreed location with his accompanying officials, only to meet Xiao Su, Xiao Ying and other Liao envoys outside the big tent.

None of the Liao envoys had a good look on their faces.

Because the appointment was at noon, but Zhang Fei came early, which proved that I am the host here and I am here early to welcome the guests.

The Liao people had been monitoring the Song Dynasty delegation, and when they saw them set out so early, they immediately understood what was going on and hurried off.

No one slept well.

How can I not be angry?

"Good morning!"

Xiao Su was in no mood to engage in polite and hypocritical greetings. She said angrily, "But if I remember correctly, we agreed to meet at noon."

Zhang Fei asked back: "Then why did you all come so early?"

Xiao Su said excitedly: "It's obvious that you guys arrived early."

Zhang Fei said: "But we seem to have arrived together. Is this a tacit understanding?"

Tacit understanding? Xiao Su almost swore, and suddenly looked at the young official, "Are you the Erbi Zhangsan?"

Zhang Fei cupped his hands and said, "That's right."

He didn't mind being called that, and some people in the capital even called him Zhang Dayebi.

Xiao Ying, who was standing by, suddenly said with a fake smile: "You are really young, no wonder you are so agile."

It is a sarcastic remark that he runs fast.

Zhang Fei couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "To be honest, I was also wondering why the emperor sent a young man like me to negotiate. I'm here to negotiate, not to lead troops to fight. Shouldn't the more experience the better? It turns out that he saw my agility!"

Xiao Su couldn't help but frown.

Lu Dazhong secretly glanced at Zhang Fei and felt that the special envoy in front of him and the special envoy who escaped were two completely different people.

Zhang Fei suddenly extended his hand and said, "Messengers from the Northern Dynasty, please come in."

Xiao Su was startled, and also stretched out his hand and said, "Members of the Southern Dynasty, please come in."

Whoever enters first is the guest.

Everyone wants to be the master here.

In the end, the envoys from both sides entered the tent side by side.