A few days later, outside the old Cao Gate in Kaifeng City, Zhao Shu brought civil and military officials to the Liao Kingdom to send off a mission to King Zhao Xu, the King of Ying, and his group of people. This time, it should be regarded as the highest-level mission team in the Song Dynasty in recent years. Not only was there Zhao Xu, the chief envoy, but there were also two deputy envoys including Guangyang County Prince Zhao Yan, and the number of people who went on missions reached more than 2,000. Of course, most of them were guards, but it was enough to show that the Song Dynasty attached importance to this mission.

"Xu'er, Yan'er, this time you two brothers will be on the Liao Kingdom. In addition to congratulating Yelu Hongji's birthday, you should also look more and think more and carefully observe all the situation in Liao Kingdom, but remember not to interfere in the internal affairs of Liao Kingdom without authorization!" Zhao Shu looked at his two sons standing in front of him and gave a serious reminder.

"My son, please follow the teachings!" Zhao Xu and Zhao Yan bowed to Zhao Shu together and said. In fact, Zhao Shu had already told them these words many times when he was in the palace, but when he was parting, Zhao Shu reminded them again. It seemed that he was not particularly at ease with his two sons going to Liao Kingdom. However, after all, he was the king of a country. At this time, his personal feelings could only be put behind, and all state affairs should be the priority.

"Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived, and the delegation is about to set off!" At this moment, Han Qi stepped forward to remind Zhao Shu that the ancients had to choose an auspicious day when traveling. For such a big thing, not only should we choose an auspicious day, but we should also count the time of travel. If we miss the time, we might even have to change the day before traveling.

Zhao Shu looked up at the sky and knew that he could not continue to say this to his two sons, so he ordered the delegation to set off, then waved goodbye to Zhao Xu and Zhao Yan until the entire delegation walked out for several miles. Zhao Shu then sighed and returned to the city with a huge farewell team.

Zhao Yan in the mission did not look back frequently like others, because this morning he had already advised Cao Ying and Xue Ning'er and others not to see him off, so as not to leave. Cao Ying and others agreed to this, but when Zhao Yan went out, he was sent to Shangshuizhuang by Cao Ying and others. He waited until Zhao Yan was almost at the city gate. When he looked back, he found that Cao Ying and others had not returned. It was precisely because of this that Cao Ying and others were not in the farewell line. At least Zhao Yan didn't see them just now.

"Third brother, what are you thinking? Why are you looking unhappy?" Zhao Xu rode his horse to Zhao Yan and said, in comparison, he is very happy now. First of all, this is the first time he has taken on such a heavy responsibility since he became an adult, and he has long yearned for the Liao Kingdom. Of course, this yearning is not a good intention. He wants to see with his own eyes what the biggest enemy of the Song Dynasty looks like. Only by witnessing the situation of the Liao Kingdom with his own eyes can he think of a way to deal with it.

Zhao Yan gave him a blank look at Zhao Xu's excitement, and then said to the truth: "My newly acquired concubine was just found out that she was pregnant a few days ago. This is my first child. I wanted to stay at home to accompany her until giving birth, but I didn't expect to accompany you to Liao Kingdom with my elder brother. Can you be happy?"

When Zhao Yan was unhappy because of such a "small thing", Zhao Xu immediately laughed and said, "My man is determined to be in all directions. Third brother, you have children, although it is a happy thing, but it is still not worth mentioning compared to a major event like the Liao Kingdom. Moreover, we will only go there for a few months before we can come back. At that time, you should be able to catch up with the birth of your child."

As soon as Zhao Xu finished speaking, a young official with a long face next to him smiled and came up and said, "Your Highness Ying is not aware of anything. The newly-accepted concubine of the prince is not simple. It is Xue Ning'er, who was previously known as the second-ranked leader of Tokyo. Now many playboys and literati in Tokyo are jealous of the prince. Moreover, the prince has taken Xue Ning'er for less than two months. He usually has a beauty in his arms, so he naturally is reluctant to leave!"

This young official who spoke was also an old acquaintance of Zhao Yan and a subordinate of Zhao Yan. That is Su Shi, who served as the military weapon chief in the military weapon supervisor. This time, he was the deputy envoy of the mission, and even the reason why he went to Liao was similar to that of Zhao Yan. Because Yelu Hongji liked poetry, every time he went to Liao, there must be an official who was proficient in poetry. This time, he happened to be selected to accompany Su Shi, who was young but talented.

"Hahaha~ So that's it. I said why my third brother is listless. It turns out that he can't bear to leave the gentle hometown in his home!" Zhao Xu also laughed when he heard Su Shi's explanation. He had heard of Xue Ning'er before, but he was so busy that he had no time to pay attention to these romances and mistresses, and had never seen each other. But thinking of Xue Ning'er's fame, he probably had the best choices in appearance and talent. No wonder his younger brother couldn't bear to leave.

Regarding Su Shi's misunderstanding of Zhao Xu, Zhao Yan had no choice but to shake his head helplessly, and he was lazy to explain, or he could not explain. For real men like Zhao Xu and Su Shi, the family is just a vassal of their own career, so they would not give up their career because of their family. However, Zhao Yan is completely different. He is a family-centered person. It can be said that he and Zhao Xu and Su Shi's worldview and lifeview are completely different, so even if he wants to explain, Zhao Xu and others cannot understand it, especially those like Su Shi who like to give their concubines, Zhao Yan has nothing to say to him in terms of family concepts.

"Brother, what kind of person is that Yelu Hongji? We will celebrate his birthday this time. Are there any things to pay attention to?" Zhao Yan directly turned the topic to the matter of their mission.

When Zhao Yan asked about this, Zhao Xu immediately put away his joking attitude and said seriously: "When it comes to Yelu Hongji, he is indeed a very talented person. He is proficient in music, good at calligraphy and painting, and loves poetry. He often writes poems to his subordinates, and also regards his ministers as his friends. He can be said to be quite elegant, but at the same time, he is addicted to wine and sex, often ignores the government affairs. In addition, he believes in Buddhism, prints Buddhist scriptures and builds temples and pagodas, which is exhausting the people and money. In recent years, the national strength of the Liao Kingdom has been declining. It can be said that it is all thanks to Yelu Hongji, but this is a great thing for our Song Dynasty."

"Your Highness Ying is right. If Yelu Hongji was born in an ordinary family, he would definitely become a talented man like Liu Sanbian. Unfortunately, he was born in the imperial family by mistake. He drank and had fun every day without thinking about the government. If there was such an emperor in the Liao Kingdom, it would inevitably decline. It is a blessing for my great Song Dynasty!" At this time, Su Shi also spoke, and his view of Yelu Hongji was completely consistent with Zhao Xu.

Zhao Yan nodded when he heard this, but then he looked at Zhao Xu with some contempt, because Zhao Ji, the famous Song Huizong in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty, was the son of Zhao Xu. Now he said that Yelu Hongji was not doing his job properly, but his son Zhao Ji was even more unbearable than Yelu Hongji. He had never done any serious business except drinking, writing and playing with women all day long. As a result, not only did Song Jiang and Fang La uprising broke out in China, but he was defeated externally. In the end, he was directly destroyed by the Jin Kingdom, and he ended up killing a foreign land. Only the small court of the Southern Song Dynasty survived, so Zhao Ji was not as good as Yelu Hongji. At least Yelu Hongji did not lose his ancestors' foundation.

The three of them walked and talked about the situation of the Liao Kingdom. Although there were some records in later generations of Liao Kingdom, many historical documents of the Liao Kingdom were burned down after the Jin Dynasty destroyed Liao Kingdom, and even the originally huge Khitan tribe disappeared mysteriously. As a result, there were not many records of the Liao Kingdom in later generations, and Zhao Yan had even less contact. At most, he only had some understanding of the lives of important figures such as Yelu Hongji and Yelu Chongyuan, but he rarely knew the customs and customs of the Liao Kingdom. Fortunately, both Zhao Xu and Su Shi had a lot of knowledge about the Liao Kingdom, and Zhao Yan also got a lot of information about the Liao Kingdom from them.

"Your Highness, King Ying, is now ten miles away from the capital. Please ask the two Your Highness and Deputy Envoy Su to get off the horse and take a car!" Just as Zhao Yan and the other three were talking, another acquaintance came forward and spoke. It was Huang Wude, the big intelligence leader next to Zhao Shu. The mission and the spy have always been inseparable from each other. Every time the Song Dynasty sent an envoy to the Liao Kingdom, it was also a good time to collect intelligence, especially this time, there were two princes, Zhao Xu and Zhao Yan, so Zhao Shu specially sent Huang Wude.

Hearing Huang Wude's words, Zhao Xu nodded immediately. Zhao Yan smiled and said hello to him, and then dismounted with Su Shi. The reason why he rode a horse when he left the city was to look more majestic, but the journey to Liao Kingdom was long. If Zhao Xu and the other three were asked to ride horses every day, they would definitely exhaust themselves. So as long as they left Tokyo, they would change to a carriage.

In fact, it was not just Zhao Xu and Zhao Yan, but all other civilians in the regiment also changed to carriages, leaving only the generals in the imperial guards riding horses. As for the ordinary imperial soldiers, they could only run on two legs. There was no way. Who would have made the Song Dynasty short of horses? In addition to the Western Army and Hebei Army, only the generals in the imperial guards in the capital had horses to travel for transportation.

By the evening, Zhao Yan and the others finally arrived at a small city station in the east of Tokyo to rest. In the following time, almost all of them were rushing to travel. Fortunately, their itinerary was carefully arranged in advance, and the number of trips to go every day was planned in advance. In addition, the mission was protected by imperial guards, so there were no eye-opening guys along the way, which was very smooth.

After nearly a month, Zhao Yan and his delegation finally arrived at Yingzhou, the closest to the Liao Kingdom in the Song Dynasty. This Yingzhou was not the Yingzhou on the legendary sea, but a state under the rule of Hebei Road in the Song Dynasty. It was originally Hejian County in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but is now divided into two by the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom. The place occupied by the Song Dynasty was called Yingzhou, and later it was changed into Hejian Prefecture by Song Huizong.

When Zhao Yan and his delegation arrived in Yingzhou, all local officials came to welcome him. This kind of thing was always handled by Zhao Xu. Zhao Yan only needed to follow him and nodded and smiled. But at this moment, Zhao Yan suddenly saw a person among the officials who were welcoming him. He said strangely: "Why is he here?" (To be continued)
Chapter completed!