Wanyan Liyao held the jade cup in his hand with both hands, staring directly at the steam rising from Tingting in the cup. His legs were tightly together, and his toes moved from time to time. It was obvious that he was very embarrassed. The old man sitting in front of him was the Minister of Rites of the Sui Dynasty. He was a second-rank official. Since Wan Yanyong, the Khan of the Northern Liao Dynasty, decided to leave the Mongolian and Yuan Empire and join the Sui Dynasty, he sent no less than ten groups of envoys to quietly enter the Sui Dynasty to seek an audience with the Sui Dynasty. This is the first time since the Sui Emperor to enjoy such high-level courtesy.
In the past, when the envoys arrived in Chang'an, although the Sui court treated them with courtesy and received many rewards from His Majesty the Sui Emperor, there was no progress in requesting the Sui Dynasty to become ministers. They regarded the Sui Dynasty as the Khan of Heaven. The emperor did not see them at all.
This time, it seems that things have taken a turn for the better.
Wanyan Liyao is familiar with all the books about the Sui Dynasty, and has also asked many people about the Sui Dynasty. When he was young, he even pretended to be a Han and lived in the Central Plains for three years. If not for some important things that happened in Shiwandashan in the Northern Liao region, he would even have preferred to be an ordinary citizen of the Sui Dynasty in a small town of the Sui Dynasty. .
The Shiwan Mountains are too bitter and cold, and there is no way to compare with the splendid world of Sui Dynasty.
He likes the beautiful scenery of the Sui Dynasty, the confidence on the faces of the people of the Sui Dynasty, the writing of the Sui Dynasty, and even the women of the Sui Dynasty. Although if he is willing, all the beautiful women in Northern Liao are willing to marry him. Northern Liao was poor and extremely cold, but the beauty of the women was unparalleled in the world.
There were also several beautiful ladies from the Northern Liao in the Sui Emperor's harem. The Da Ke Dun of the Mongolian and Yuan Empire came from the Mongolian and Yuan nobles, but three of the twelve small Ke Dun came from the Northern Liao.
The nobles of the Mongolian and Yuan Empire and the wealthy businessmen of the Sui Dynasty also used marrying a woman from the Northern Liao Dynasty as a source of bragging rights. Women from Bei Liao are not only very white-skinned, but also naturally charming. I don¡¯t know how many wealthy businessmen have lost interest in those girls in brothels after getting a woman from Bei Liao.
But even so, during the three years of hermitage in the Sui Dynasty, Wanyan Liyao still felt that she would rather marry a rough-and-tumble country girl in the Sui Dynasty. It would be extremely enjoyable to quietly farm and raise flowers for the rest of her life. . When he got up in the morning, he went to the fields with a hoe, and his wife wiped his sweat and handed him water. The days were ordinary, but stable and practical.
In Northern Liao, there is no land for farming.
"I heard that there is no one like you in the cold world. When I was young, I thought of going to your place to have a look, but later I became an official and had no time. Later, my burden became lighter and I had more free time. , I can¡¯t even walk anymore.¡±
Huai Qiugong saw Wanyan Liyao's embarrassment, smiled and said: "The Sui Dynasty has always treated you Bei Liao people as friends, and I think you can feel it here. So you shouldn't be so uneasy when you arrive in Chang'an, you can This is your second hometown.¡±
Wanyan Liyao quickly put down the jade cup in his hand, clasped his hands and said sincerely: "Hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Liao are willing to prostrate themselves at the feet of the great Tian Khan. You know, we have incomparable sincerity and Loyal. As long as the great Khan is willing, we can even migrate to the Central Plains to become obedient people of the Sui Dynasty. We are willing to cultivate the land for the Sui Dynasty and donate our horses, money and food. "
Huai Qiugong couldn't help but smile, caressing his snow-white beard and said with a smile: "Your Majesty does not lack hundreds of thousands of people, and the Sui Dynasty also has plenty of land."
Wanyan Liyao¡¯s eyes dimmed for a while, not knowing what to say.
"What your Majesty values ??is your sincerity."
Huai Qiugong personally poured tea for Wanyan Li Yao and said kindly and kindly: "Before I came, His Majesty specifically told me that he knew the thoughts of your Northern Liao people towards the Sui Dynasty. To reassure you, this matter is not It can be decided in a day and a half. The Sui Dynasty is the most powerful in the world, and it is never afraid of any enemy. But doing something blindly without any preparation is stupid I say this, do you understand? "
"The common people understand."
Wanyan Liyao¡¯s heart moved and she could hardly help but laugh. The meaning of Huai Qiugong's words was already clear. How could he not be surprised?
"You are not a commoner."
Huai Qiugong picked up a thin pile of papers on the table next to him, flipped through it and said with a chuckle: "In the third year of Tianyou's reign in the Sui Dynasty, you entered the Shandong Dao Niangzi Pass with the name Chen Sansheng. The Great Sui Road Yin was opened by the government of Xiangcheng County, Hexi Road. I don¡¯t know how much money you spent to buy it, but that¡¯s not important. The magistrate of Xiangcheng County was beheaded because of this incident. He just announced it to the outside world. He just died of illness."
"You have lived in the countryside of Xiangcheng for three years. Apart from visiting the mountains and rivers, you just shut yourself up at home and read books. You are very diligent and studious, and you have developed good calligraphy. Even the calligraphy written by the professor at Xiangcheng Rural Studies is not as good as You wrote beautifully, only threeYears later, your knowledge is incomparable to that of the professor. Three years later, because your fatherWan Yanyong, the Khan of Bei Liao, wanted to eradicate his brother who was trying to rebel, and called you back for discussion, so you left Xiangcheng and returned to Bei Liao. I firmly believe that the reason why Wanyan Yong made up his mind to surrender to the Sui Dynasty is absolutely related to the three years you spent in the Sui Dynasty Am I right, His Highness Wanyan Chongde, the prince of Northern Liao Dynasty? "
Wanyan Liyao¡¯s expression changed drastically, and he shrank back subconsciously. His eyes when he looked at Huai Qiugong were full of disbelief, and more of a fear.
"do not be afraid."
Huai Qiugong smiled and raised the paper in his hand: "I only know about this. This thing was given to me by Mr. Hou, the envoy of Qingya Town before I came. In Qingya, there are more than just intelligence materials about you. That's it. If you hadn't lived in the countryside of Xiangcheng for three years, you really studied hard, occasionally traveled around and had no other thoughts, and didn't deliberately inquire about the situation of the Sui frontier army, how could you have survived? Until now?¡±
The Great Sui Dynasty Love Office!
The governor of Zhenfu is Mr. Hou.
Wanyan Liyao remembered these two names deeply in his heart, and his awe for the Sui Dynasty became even stronger.
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The Great Sui Kingdom occupied the Central Plains and never lacked large-scale cities. The largest one is naturally the imperial capital Chang'an City. I'm afraid many old people who have lived here their whole lives can't tell how big Chang'an City is exactly. Because for more than a hundred years since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, the construction of Chang'an City has not stopped. Emperors of the Sui Dynasty had two things they had to do, and they never changed.
First, foreign war, seizing a piece of other people's land and turning it into the land of the Sui Dynasty.
Second, repair and expand Chang'an City.
Compared with his father, Yang Yi, the current emperor of the Sui Dynasty, has one thing that is worthy of praise. That is, His Majesty the Emperor, who does not seem to have a very tough style, has completed most of the renovation and expansion of Chang'an City. Because Wu Yiyi, a wealthy man in the Sui Dynasty, was willing to give half of his family property, worth hundreds of thousands of gold, to repair an entire city wall. It also included the construction of forty-eight squares in the city. Of course, as a reward, the Sui Emperor not only made Wu a first-class marquis, but also gave him an entire street in the forty-eight squares.
Chang'an City is one hundred and twenty-eight miles long from east to west and one hundred and eight miles from north to south.
How huge is the project of just building a city wall?
For more than a hundred years, Chang'an City has been under construction. When Emperor Tianyou finally completed the repairs, Chang'an City could really be regarded as a complete imperial capital. The city wall is two feet wide and four feet nine feet high. The wide wall can allow a dozen soldiers to walk side by side. Horse faces and arrow towers are all available. A heavy crossbow is installed every thirty steps, and a mace is installed every two steps.
The money spent just to make heavy crossbows and wolf fangs is staggering enough.
Chang'an City has four city gates: east, west, south and north. Each of the three cities in the east, west and south has thirteen gates, and the north city has ten gates, so the number is forty-nine. When Wanyan Liyao entered the city, he walked through the smallest Dingqian Gate, which shocked him beyond measure. If he had walked through Yongding Gate, which is directly north of Houde Gate and just south of Houde Gate, he would have been so surprised that he couldn't even walk.
Chang'an City is the heart of the Sui Dynasty, and Taiji Palace is the heart of Chang'an City.
The palace is located in the north city and covers an area of ??10,000 acres.
The palace is roughly divided into four parts, with the Taiji Palace in the middle, where the emperor held court meetings. To the west of Taiji Palace is Yeting Palace, and to the northeast is the East Palace where the prince lives. Directly south is the imperial city, where the queen and concubines live.
The emperor went to court in the Tai Chi Hall.
Not far from the small door at the back of the Taiji Hall and walking north is the Baohe Hall. The scale is more than one circle smaller than the Taiji Hall, but its importance is not much less than that of the Taiji Hall, because this is where the emperor A place to rest and deal with government affairs. The so-called Imperial Study Room is located in the Baohe Hall.
The imperial study room is the Dongnuan Pavilion of Baohe Hall.
God Bless Emperor Yang Yi can be said to be the least womanizing of all the emperors since the founding of the Sui Dynasty. The number of his concubines is less than one-third of his father's. His favorite woman was still the empress, and even the most critical person could not accuse the emperor of fault in this regard.
The emperor rarely returned to the imperial city to live, and usually lived in Dongnuan Pavilion. The ministers all said that the emperor was diligent, but in fact it was because he was too lazy.
The emperor had complained privately more than once, why should the palace be built so big, and why would he have to walk such a long way to pick up a girl? How could he still do it if his legs were sore from walking everywhere? Little did he know that the people in the West City had already complained. If the people in the West City wanted to go to the Huifeng Building in the East City to have a meal, they had to leave a day in advance. They took the city's direct carriage for a full day and half way and had to find an inn to stay overnight. ¡
Huai Qiugong, the Minister of Rites, has the privilege of not kneeling before the emperor because he is older and has made great achievements. Not only did he not have to kneel, there was a stool for him to sit on whenever he came in the Dongnuan Pavilion.
"How about it?"
The emperor pinched a piece of almond cake and put it in his mouth, reading the memorial while eating it. This was a somewhat eccentric emperor. He didn't like to sit on a chair. Instead, he had a Tukang built in Dongnuan Pavilion. When handling government affairs, he liked to sit cross-legged on the Tukang. When he was tired, he would lie down and relax for a while.
Of course, this was also praised by the courtiers as a sign of diligence.
?Actually, it¡¯s because he¡¯s lazy.
"Laziness means laziness in a certain aspect. He has never slacked off in handling state affairs.
Huai Qiugong pursed his lips and did not answer.
Emperor Yang Yi waited for a while but received no answer. He turned his head and saw that the old minister with white hair and beard was staring at his almonds and licking his lips. He couldn't help but smile, and ordered the chamberlain Su Buwei who was waiting beside him to bring the remaining half plate of almond cake to Huai Qiugong.
¡°It¡¯s not shameful to be old.¡±
Huai Qiugong picked up a piece of almond pastry and stuffed it into his mouth. While chewing it, he replied: "Your Majesty is greedy because the food tastes so sweet There should be no problem with the people from the Northern Liao Dynasty. It's not like it was set up by the Meng Yuan people." Conspiracy. The old minister thought for a while, if it was really Meng Yuan's plan, it would be too rough. "
"Brother Meng has this idea, but he doesn't have the courage."
The emperor smiled and asked: "Li Xiaozong is guarding the border town of Fan Gu, right? He is a smart man and will send people to Chang'an immediately if he knows how."
"After listening to what Yan Zhongde said, it was a man named Fang Jie who saw through their thoughts. He also said that he should rest assured that when he gets to Chang'an, there will definitely be big and big officials to see him."
"How to solve it?"
The emperor was startled: "Why does this name sound familiar?"
Eunuch Su Buwei, who was standing next to him with a bow, reminded him softly: "Isn't it the candidate selected by Fan Gu to be sent to the Yanwu Academy? Your Majesty told Mr. Hou, the envoy of Qingya Town, yesterday."
¡°It¡¯s him again?!¡±
The emperor sat up straight. After thinking for a while, he picked up a thick notebook from the desk. He picked up a red pen and neatly wrote the two words "Xianjie" on the notebook. Then he wrote a note under the name in small regular script. , dried the ink, closed the book and put it aside.
The book is very thick and looks old. It's cyan, with three big characters written neatly on the cover.