Su Zhe and his party rode a large official ship, riding the wind and waves on the surging river, and went down the river as fast as galloping horses.
"Zi Yougong, why do we have to abandon our carriage and change our ship here in Baimajin?" Li Gefei, the deputy envoy and a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, asked.
Before Su Zhe could say anything, the deputy envoy on the other side, Li Kui, the young minister of Honglu Temple, answered: "Brother Wen, go to Hebei and go down the river the fastest. As for changing the ship at Baima Jin
Uncle Wen has never been to the west of Gyeonggi, so he doesn’t know the situation. There are pontoons connecting the north and south in Puzhou, Mengjin, Baimajin and other places. The boats on this section of the river all travel in sections. They go down the river from above.
When traveling on a business trip, they have to change ships when they arrive at Shirakamajin."
Li Gefei nodded, "That's it. Brother Si He is really a capable official, and he can do things like this easily. It's not like a certain person who just picks up chapters and sentences, which doesn't make sense in practice."
"Uncle Wen has become famous at a young age, has a famous teacher, has good morals, and is famous in Shandong. How can he be compared to such a dirty official like Si He?"
Su Che frowned slightly. From the conversation between the two of them, he could hear a hint of resentment.
This is the characteristic of the literati of this dynasty.
Although they had some talent and learning, they were arrogant about their talents and thought highly of themselves. One was dissatisfied and the other was disdainful. Li Gefei and Li Kui both had their own strengths and arrogance.
If it were the past, Su Che would definitely talk to them separately and persuade them carefully. Since he had talked with the officials several times, he had decided to try to change his style.
"Uncle Wen, Si He, as deputy envoys to Beiliao, what do you think of this mission?"
Su Che's straight to the point caught Li Gefei and Li Kui off guard.
The previous style of officialdom in the Song Dynasty was gentle and very reserved, but it was not as direct as Su Che's.
But the two of them must answer Su Che's question seriously.
Su Che is only six and eight years older than the two of them, but his reputation, official position and other aspects are much higher than them.
In particular, Li Gefei, in 1091, the sixth year of Yuanyou, became a doctor in Taixue, and was known to Su Shi for his articles. He worked at the same library as Liao Zhengyi, Li Xi, and Dong Rong, and was mentored by Su Shi's brothers. They all had literary names and were called Su.
Gate "The Last Four Bachelors".
Must be respectful.
"This peace negotiation is very difficult. On the surface, last year Bei Liao presided over the situation, and our Song and Xia countries stopped their troops to negotiate a peace. However, this year the Xia Kingdom brazenly sent troops to besiege our Yinzhou..."
This is when Li Gefei interjected, "Yinzhou is the land of Longxing in Western Xia and belongs to the five states of Jingnan."
Li Kui immediately retorted: "We, the Song Dynasty, were entrusted by heaven to succeed the former Tang Dynasty Baofu and the old land of Yinzhou in the north of Lingwu. In addition, the Li family of the Western Xia Dynasty was the governor of the Jingnan Army at the beginning.
The five states returned to the Song Dynasty. Later, due to ambition, they broke up the soil to stand on their own. This was an act of disobedience and rebellion. Therefore, it is a matter of course to recover Yinzhou."
...
Su Zhe watched quietly as the two argued.
This is the difference between a substantive officer and a clear stream.
Li Kui was a Jinshi, and later served in various localities. He especially experienced the war on Yanyan Road, so he very clearly believed that the land of Xixia was the hometown of Lingwu.
Li Gefei has never been a Jinshi, but he has always been famous for his literature and is a leader among the elite.
In their eyes, not to mention Yinzhou, Lingwu, Longyou and other places are all bitter and cold places far away. It is not worthwhile to shed blood and waste people's life and blood for these useless things.
It is better to abandon it, which will not only save military expenses and avoid war, but also show the benevolence and generosity of our court and educate the barbarian Xixia.
"Gentlemen always wishfully think that this world is a world of modest gentlemen. All people are born good, and despicable people are just blinded by greed. As long as they understand reason and move with emotion, they will always become enlightened. But they don't know that this is
A world where the weak eat the strong. There are no gentlemen and villains, only the strong and the weak."
I seem to have seen this sentence in "Ban Yue Za Tan", the author is from Longquan Mountain.
Su Zhe remembered this sentence for no reason.
At this moment, he suddenly realized what the officials had told him before he left.
"The mission to Northern Liao was a heavy responsibility. We had to carefully select candidates and prepare carefully. But something happened suddenly - I didn't expect that Liu Fa would capture Liangzhou City. So I acted in a hurry. But Mr. Ziyou
, I still trust you, I believe you can take on this important task. But I hope that on the way to Beiliao, what I need to do is to unify our minds..."
"Within the mission, especially between the chief and deputy envoys, each has his own ideas and obsessions. How can we talk about unity and working together?..."
Unify our thoughts and be of one mind.
Su Che smiled bitterly in his heart, letting the officials guess right again.
Suddenly, he realized the profound meaning of the official's careful selection of the deputy envoys and the fact that after calling them, they still chose Li Kui and Li Gefei, who had completely different attitudes, as deputy envoys.
Li Kui had radical ideas and was resolute and forthright. He could be used as a vanguard during negotiations to test the reality of the Liao Kingdom.
Li Gefei's modest thoughts and gentle temperament were used to neutralize Li Kui's fierceness and sharpness.
The officials have done what they should do, and the only one left is the envoy.
He is the one who prepares Taiwan and assists, promotes political transformation, reconciles yin and yang, and is the prime minister of the country.
Su Che took a few breaths gently and said solemnly: "It seems that Uncle Wen and Si He have not truly understood their mission to go to Beiliao."
"mission?!"
Hearing this noble word, Li Kui and Li Gefei stood in awe, and the resentment they had just argued disappeared.
"Going to the Northern Liao Dynasty is not only related to the temporary safety of the Song Dynasty, but more importantly, the resurgence of the Song Dynasty for a century." Su Zhe took out two documents from his sleeves and handed them to Li Gefei and Li Kui respectively.
The two documents are exactly the same. The title is "Discrimination between Song, Liao and Xia". The author is unknown. It only says "Secretary Provincial Book Bureau" and the words "Class C Confidential".
"Some people today compare Song, Liao and Xia to the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty. They use the Song Dynasty to describe Wu, the Western Xia to describe Shu Han, and the Northern Liao to describe Cao Wei. They want Song and Xia to be like Wu and Shu and to fight together against Cao Wei. This is extremely ridiculous! This analogy is inappropriate!
To compare, the Song Dynasty is the Cao Wei Dynasty, the Western Xia Dynasty is the Shu Han Dynasty, and the Northern Liao Dynasty is the Wu Dynasty. The Northern Liao Dynasty secretly supports the Western Xia Dynasty, flanks the Song Dynasty, and reaps the benefits..."
"A more appropriate metaphor would be that the Song Dynasty is a tiger, the Northern Liao Dynasty is a wolf, and the Western Xia Dynasty is a jackal... At that time, the tiger was sick and was weak for a while, so the tiger fell down and was bullied by dogs... Once the tiger gradually recovered from the disease and gradually became more powerful,
It is difficult for a jackal to block the edge. Only by hooking up with the wolf and joining forces can the tiger be frightened... As for the wolf, the best situation is that the tiger is always sick and weak. If he makes the slightest move, the jackal will step forward and bite him.
Fan..."
After reading it, Li Kui thought thoughtfully and said, "Although the words are vulgar, they are rough and rational."
Li Gefei frowned and said, "Using animals as a metaphor for the country is grossly inappropriate and has low intentions. Moreover, the words and sentences used are too vulgar and ungentlemanly..."
"The intention of this article is for officials, and the writing style seems to be that of Cai Yuandu."
As soon as Su Che's words came out of his mouth, Li Gefei felt very embarrassed.
The official's intention is not high-minded. Cai Bian writes it, but he dares to say that it is vulgar and ungentle?
Su Che smiled and said to Li Gefei and Li Kui: "The officials specifically asked Cai Yuandu to write in this way. The officials said that ceremonies, edicts and other occasions should be solemn and dignified. But informing the people is too arrogant.
Sorry, the law is clearly written to inform the people of norms and morals. But if you can’t even understand the words, how can you talk about following them?”
"An official once said, 'Killing without teaching is cruelty.' In order for the people to abide by the law, we must first let them know the laws of the country and understand their meaning. Therefore, the official decided to start from the Secretary Department, and all writings,
Two points need to be followed. One is that it is straightforward and easy to understand, and the other is that the semantics are accurate. In the future, the Zhongshu Province will also follow this principle when formulating laws for chanting."
"In addition, the Chinese Literature Museum of Hongwenyuan also received an edict to do three studies. The first is to compile punctuation marks to express the meaning of sentences; the second is to simplify the fonts to make it simple and clear and easy to write; the third is to compile a set of phonetic notation
The symbols, mainly the Roman alphabet, are the phonetic notation for each Chinese character.”
"Zhuyin?"
"Yes, it means dividing the phonetic rhymes of the characters and labeling them. If you know how to pronounce phonetic pinyin, even if you don't know some new characters, you can still read their pronunciation and then know their meaning."
"Why these Roman letters?"
"Rome is a name for Spain, and the Roman alphabet is one of its characters. Most of the characters of the countries in Thailand and Spain are based on this script. Officials say that the Song Dynasty will one day call all the countries to come to the dynasty, and there must be a Thai and Western language.
It is a convenient way for the country to learn Chinese characters of the Song Dynasty."
Su Che saw the dumbfounded Li Kui and Li Gefei and slapped his forehead.
"I'm going too far, my old habit has come back again. Uncle Wen, Si He, our task for the past two days is to study the "Discrimination between Song, Liao and Xia" and write down my thoughts after reading it."
"Mr. Ziyou, how do you judge whether this review is correct?" Li Kui glanced at Li Gefei and asked.
Su Che smiled and said to the door: "Please invite Liu Cunyi."
After a while, a tall and thin man in his thirties entered the cabin.
Su Che introduced: "This is Liu Cunyi, a member of the Propaganda and Education Department of the Secretarial Provincial Works Bureau. His courtesy name is Shenyan. He was one of the first batch of scribes selected by the Secretariat Provincial Government when the official was in charge of the Secretariat.
righteous."
Liu Cunyi said modestly: "I have only learned a little bit about the official family. It is a great honor to be able to study and make progress together with Mr. Su and these two gentlemen today."
Li Kui and Li Gefei looked at each other with colorful expressions on their faces.
Chapter 182 On the way to the mission This chapter has been completed!