On October 20th, although there will be light snow in a few days, people who got up early in the morning were surprised to find that Bianliang had already received the first snow. I don’t know when the snow fell at night, and there was only a thin layer on the stone road.
, and was soon trampled without a trace by the passing crowd.
Even so, this light snow can already make people feel the freezing cold, but it does not affect people's travel; the streets are still bustling with people wearing cotton-padded clothes, the rich wearing all kinds of fur clothes, and the boys
Carrying the stove for drying hands, he followed the sedan with the cotton curtain.
A pair of wooden clogs stepped firmly on the stone pavement of Gaotou Street, and the clear sound made pedestrians look sideways.
Tokichiro's clothes were still bright, but they looked a little thin in the weather, not to mention the cold wooden clogs. The chill rushed up from his feet. Tokichiro shivered from the bottom of his heart, but he still walked quickly and steadily.
With.
Next to them, Sun Junming and Zheng Qing were wearing fox fur robes and covering their bodies, breathing hot air from their mouths.
To be honest, this kind of weather is not that cold in Japan. Although Tokichiro felt a little chilly, his hands and feet were not frozen. What really chilled him was what was about to happen.
To the untouchables of Japan, the merchants of the Song Dynasty were already as high as heaven; the last time he went to Wang Fu's place, Fujikichiro only found out afterwards that he was a very big official. Sun Junming and Zheng Qing were afraid that he would show his cowardice.
Didn't tell him at all.
Today, the three of them want to meet the official family, the Taoist Emperor Zhao Ji, the emperor of the Song Dynasty.
When it came to this matter, Sun Junming and Zheng Qing naturally could not hide it deliberately, but told Tokichiro in advance.
Because there is an interpreter in the palace who can speak Japanese, if Tokichiro talks nonsense again, the interpreter will immediately expose him.
If it is exposed, all three of them will naturally be beheaded.
Fujikichiro was very nervous. When he heard that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was going to receive him yesterday, his throat muscles were almost locked and he could not speak at all.
"Just say it word by word as we teach you." Sun Junming told Tokichiro: "You are not Tokichiro today, but the Japanese envoy Fujiwara Yoshitaro, so you can't talk too much."
Tokichiro memorized those words over and over again and stayed up almost all night; Sun Junming went through them personally when he got up in the morning and felt that there was no problem before urging him to eat quickly so that he could leave for the ban.
Tokichiro walked quickly, reciting those sentences in his mouth; when he arrived at Donghua Gate, a Huang gate official came out to greet him.
"Why are you here so late? You almost missed the time!" Huang Menguan scolded: "Our family has been waiting for half an hour! If it weren't for Eunuch Liang's face..."
Before he finished speaking, Zheng Qing came forward with a smile on his face. There was a folded ten-guanjiaozi on his palm: "My father-in-law, you have worked hard! I am not familiar with the road, please bear with me!"
Huang Menguan's expression did not change, he raised his fly whisk and shouted: "Since you are here, come with us!"
Zheng Qing understood, flipped his palm, and the jiaozi fell into Huangmenguan's sleeve; Huangmenguan nodded, waved his sleeves, stretched out his hand to clasp the jiaozi, and led the three people to
Walk inside Donghua Gate.
After walking for a while, they arrived at the Ruisi Hall. The gatekeeper Huang handed Sun Junming and the other three to the little gatekeeper Huang who was waiting at the door, and went to mind his own business.
The little Huang gatekeeper frowned and looked at him for a while, especially Tokichiro, who was a little embarrassed.
"Are you the Japanese envoy? Do you have credentials?"
Sun Junming's heart moved, and he told the fabricated story about the shipwreck again, and motioned Tokichiro to take out the forged gift list from his arms: "It was Eunuch Liang who ordered..."
"Of course our family knows that it was Eunuch Liang who gave the order." The little Huang gatekeeper took the gift list and still frowned and shouted in a low voice: "Wait here!"
Fujiyoshiro understood this sentence and subconsciously saluted; fortunately, Zheng Qing next to him pulled his sleeve, so that his fault was not exposed; Sun Junming and Zheng Qing saluted at the little Huang gatekeeper's butt.
The little Huang gate officer went in to pass the news, but the three people outside the door wanted to crane their necks to see what was going on inside.
"Brother, are you okay? Brother, your heart is beating so fast!" Zheng Qing whispered.
"Silence!" Sun Junming motioned to another little Huang gatekeeper standing guard outside the door: "Don't talk nonsense in this place!"
At this moment, a voice came from inside: "The envoy of Xuan Dongying has an audience!"
Tokichiro's limbs were almost numb and could not move. Sun Junming stretched out his hand and was about to pull Tokichiro in, when he saw the little Huang gate official coming out.
"Hurry up and go in!" Xiao Huang gatekeeper shouted to Tokichiro in a low voice: "Didn't you hear the official announcement?"
Sun Junming and Zheng Qing, one on the left and the other on the right, were about to carry Teng Yoshiro in. Xiao Huangmeng held out his arms and said, "What do you mean by this? If the officials let the envoys in, it will have nothing to do with you!"
"Little father-in-law, this envoy doesn't understand Mandarin very well. The two of us will help translate."
Sun Junming smiled but was met with a cold face.
"How outrageous!" The little Huang gatekeeper turned his face and said, "What is this place? Can you enter just as you say? There is an interpreter inside who can speak Japanese. You two just wait outside for us!"
When Sun Junming and Zheng Qing heard this, they had no choice but to push Tokichiro forward and let the little Huang gate officer lead him in.
"Keep an eye on these two people, don't let them wander around the palace!"
The little Huang gatekeeper didn't forget to remind his companion before going in. The latter simply called two guards and looked at Sun Junming and Zheng Qing hard.
Sun Junming was quite calm, but Zheng Qing's face changed a little, and he kept winking at Sun Junming.
Sun Junming glanced at the two guards and shook his head decisively.
At this point, we can only see whether Tokichiro can live up to his expectations.
...
...
Tokichiro followed the little Huang gatekeeper into the Ruisi Palace. The heater had been lit inside, which was warm and dry, and immediately drove away the chill from Tokichiro's body.
"This is where the Emperor of the Song Dynasty usually stays?"
Tokichiro moved his limbs and looked around nervously. With his thin body, he looked like a monkey running down the mountain.
This image made the Taoist Emperor Zhao Ji couldn't help laughing, and he was the first to laugh out loud. The officials all laughed, and Eunuch Liang, who was next to him, naturally couldn't help but laugh too.
There was another person who laughed louder than the official. Suddenly the room was filled with laughter, and even the interpreter couldn't help but laugh.
This burst of laughter made Tokichiro confused about what was going on, but it seemed that the one sitting in the middle was the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. Tokichiro was so sure because this person was the only one sitting in the whole room, and everyone else was sitting there.
It's standing.
But why does everyone look so happy?
Tokichiro slapped and slapped his body, fearing that something might make people laugh.
But this action made the laughter that had been silent grow louder again.
"Envoys come forward!" Liang Shicheng shouted sharply: "Do you understand the etiquette?"
The interpreter immediately performed his duty and said these two sentences again in Japanese. Although some of the pronunciation seemed a bit weird because he was suppressing laughter, Tokichiro still understood.
The clogs started ringing again, and Fujiyoshiro took two steps forward, knelt down and kowtowed three times seriously: "Envoy Fujiwara Yoshitaro of Japan pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. Long live, long live, long live!"
These kowtows were quite decent, because Tokichiro had practiced them countless times in Xixi Tower, but the targets were Sun Junming and Zheng Qing. Although the pronunciation of these words was a bit stiff, they were said in Chinese.
"Get up." Daojun Emperor Zhao Ji nodded with satisfaction: "It's not easy for you to travel a long distance. Although the weather was unpredictable and the ship capsized, you still kept this gift list, which can be considered thoughtful."
As soon as Zhao Ji finished speaking, the interpreter next to him repeated it again in Japanese.
Seeing that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty did not doubt his identity, Tokichiro secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up and was about to reply according to the predetermined formula when he suddenly remembered a lazy voice next to him: "Wait a minute!"
Tokichiro was startled, and when he looked around, he saw that it was the young man who laughed the loudest just now.
"Lord Ximen!" Liang Shicheng's expression changed and he shouted: "Is this the time for you to interrupt?"
Ximen Qing shrugged nonchalantly: "Eunuch Liang, I have some doubts about the identity of the envoy." After speaking, he cupped his hands at Daojun Emperor Zhao Ji and said: "Your Majesty, this person claims to be the envoy of Japan, but there is only one
There is no proof at all for the gift note, so the official expressed doubts."
Everyone in the room took a breath after hearing this, and turned their eyes to Tokichiro. Although Tokichiro didn't understand what Ximen Qing was saying, everyone's behavior already showed that things had changed, and his heart suddenly started beating.
Faster...
Zhao Ji became interested after hearing this: "If the Qing family has any questions, you might as well ask the envoy in person."
Ximen Qing accepted the order with a smile: "I obey the order."
When Zhao Ji opened his mouth, Liang Shicheng was not afraid of getting angry. The news of the Japanese envoy requesting an audience was reported to Zhao Ji personally by him. However, when Wang Miao interceded, he patted his chest to vouch for it.
Liang Shicheng was willing to come forward, firstly because Wang Fu said that the envoys were willing to pay 30% of the return gift as a thank you, and secondly because Japan had not officially sent an envoy to pay tribute for hundreds of years. This credit was actually more important to Liang Shicheng than money.
Isn’t it the purpose of a great country to come to court for all nations to come to court?
When envoys paid tribute, the Song Dynasty had to pay tribute several times in return. Only in this way could they show the grace of the superior country, right?
In Zhao Ji's opinion, spending such a small amount of money is simply not a big deal.
It's just that Japan hasn't come for a long time, and Daojun and Emperor Zhao Ji have nowhere to spend the money.
"But the official doesn't understand Japanese." Ximen Qing turned to the interpreter: "Please interpret for me."
The interpreter solemnly accepted the order. Ximen Qing smiled slightly and turned his attention to "Yoshitaro Fujiwara": "This officer, Yoshitaro, has some doubts in his mind and wants to ask you three questions."
After listening to the interpretation, Tokichiro hesitated for a moment, then nodded and replied in Japanese: "I would like to ask your question, sir."
Liang Shicheng pricked up his ears nervously, while Emperor Daojun knew Ximen Qing's nature and waited with interest for Ximen Qing's questions.
Unexpectedly, Ximen Qing's first question was beyond everyone's expectations.