I will never be Renzong

Chapter 117 Liao envoy visits
Logically speaking, the emperor's big wedding and the empress's wedding should be on the occasion of the newlyweds, so no one should find the emperor uncomfortable, but on the second day, after Zhao Zhen had just had breakfast with Cao Danshu, a servant came to report, Liao Ask to see.

Song and Liao have been in close contact since the signing of the Tanyuan Alliance. The emperor's wedding, birthday, death, etc. will send envoys to congratulate each other, and the Liao envoy will write to see Zhao Zhen on the second day of his wedding. , In fact, it is for Xingshi to question the crime.

In the Chongming Hall, Zhao Zhen received the Liao envoy.

The envoy of the Liao Dynasty came up and said with a smell of gunpowder: "The envoy heard that your country has mobilized troops, sharpened its knives, and added [-] garrisons to the north every year. Could it be that your country wants to tear up the treaty and attack our country?" Liao!"

"It doesn't make sense for your envoy to say this well. I reorganized the army because I had too many troops in the Song Dynasty and the court's finances were not enough to make ends meet. The reason why I sent troops to the north must be that your envoy also knew that the Yellow River flooded last year and tens of millions of people were displaced. It is also impossible to recruit refugees to join the army as in the past, so I sent more troops to the north, in fact, to prevent those refugees from rebelling! How can your envoy listen to those groundless words and cause the relationship between Song and Liao to deteriorate?"

Zhao Zhen asked back, but he was thinking in his heart, it seems that someone has tricked Liao into the wind!

The Liao envoy said aggressively: "I heard that your country is buying war horses everywhere and strengthening cavalry training. This is obviously aimed at me, Daliao! I don't know how the officials will explain it to me, the emperor of Daliao!"

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen was very annoyed. If it weren't for the current strength and ruthlessness of the Liao Kingdom, Zhao Zhen really wanted to push out this arrogant and rude messenger and kill him.

"Earlier, I sent envoys to the empress dowager's birthday and the empress's birthday, and the silver taels bestowed by the Liao Dynasty were all recast. When would I want to meet the Liao country in battle? Not only that, but I also plan to give you The emperor of the country wrote a personal letter to increase the border areas between Song and Liao, and to reduce the number of garrison troops!"

Zhao Zhen said confidently that the northwest of the Liao Kingdom was not peaceful at the moment, and the Liao Shengzong had always wanted to use troops against the Jurchen tribe, but at the same time he was worried about what actions the Song Dynasty would take, so he had been hesitant. If the border between Song and Liao could be It would be a good thing for the Liao Kingdom, which was short of food, to reduce their garrison and increase their forays.

"After the Tanyuan alliance, the Song, Liao and Liao countries stopped fighting for 20 years, and they were brothers to each other. Today, the emperor of our country heard that your country has found a high-yield crop called potatoes. This envoy comes here under the order of our majesty. Ask for potato seeds, forget about the friendship between the two countries, and don't hesitate to give them!"

The Liao envoy's visit to congratulate Zhao Zhen on his wedding was only secondary, and the purpose was to obtain potato seeds. As for the questioning of crimes, it was purely accidental.

Right now, potatoes have just been planted on a large scale in Qingzhou. It is unexpected that the noses of dogs in Liao Kingdom are so sharp. It can be planted for two seasons, and the bitter cold land of Liao Kingdom can only be planted once a year. Zhao Zhen knew that he had to give it now, because although the army of the Song Dynasty was reorganized, its combat effectiveness would not be able to be developed in a short time, but he I don't want to give it in vain.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhen thought for a while before saying: "Your envoy said that you don't need it, but I haven't planted potatoes in most places in the Song Dynasty. Although there are grains, they are not enough for me. I don't want to Give it to your envoy, even if I give you a catty or two catties, it's useless?"

"What's more, potatoes also know where they are. Your country has many grasslands and the weather is cold. I'm afraid there aren't many places suitable for growing potatoes!"

Zhao Zhen continued.

"I heard that potatoes are very delicious to your majesty. Before this envoy came, I told your majesty that if potatoes are too precious, then your country can give it to our country as a yearly gift, and reduce other yearly gifts accordingly. It’s not impossible!”

The Liao envoy hurriedly paid homage.

"In this case, I will send people to go to Qingzhou as soon as possible to see if I can leave some potatoes for your country this year as a gift!"

Zhao Zhen thought that as long as it was not free, it would be fine. After all, whether it was Liao people or Song people, it was an internal matter for the descendants of China, and there was no reason to starve the people of the other side to death because of the different positions of the two countries.

"Officials! Your Majesty, I also want to ask for Buddhist scriptures from your country, and to increase the amount of trade in toilet paper and women's things!"

The Liao envoy said hesitantly.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Zhao Zhen coughed.

"I can agree to these requests from your envoy, but your envoy doesn't know that this year King Xia didn't come to pay tribute to our Song Dynasty in person, and he didn't even send his son. I am worried that there will be chaos in Xixia, so I want to buy war horses For defense, your country has so many war horses, and your cavalry even has two or three horses. I don’t know if you can sell me a batch of war horses. Of course, I don’t want to make you suffer. I am willing to pay double the price to buy them, but there is one The condition is that you can’t shoddy it!”

Although it is true that the Qilin Legion has [-] heavy cavalry, the actual number of horses is less than [-], due to the heavy burden of the heavy cavalry.

"We just defeated a tribe in Tubo on the border of our country and captured [-] war horses. If your country does not dislike it, I am willing to return to my country to persuade your Majesty to sell them to your country!"

The Liao envoy said that the Liao Kingdom did not lack war horses, but the control of war horses was relatively strict. Generally speaking, the war horses that were exiled to the Song Dynasty were relatively poor.

"That's it! I will send an envoy to your country tomorrow to discuss this matter! In order to express my sincerity, I will take the lead in reducing the troops stationed in the north. I ask your envoy to convey to your majesty the sincerity of my friendship with the Liao country. Besides, , I would like to exchange needs with your country and share the peace and prosperity!"

Zhao Zhen was overjoyed and said that the Liao Kingdom fought a small battle last year, and Zhao Zhen also knew about it. The most important thing is that these [-] war horses are Qin horses. The reason why Qin finally ruled the world among the seven heroes of the Warring States period was not only the reason of Shang Yang's reform, It is because Qin has the best war horse.

The Song Dynasty lacked horses, so if they could get these [-] horses, it would be like a tiger with wings added.

After the Liao envoy left, Zhao Zhen called Zhang Yong and asked him to quietly check the whereabouts of the Liao envoy in the past few days, because what the Liao envoy said today must have been revealed to him by an important official of the imperial court, which Zhao Zhen hated the most. This is the kind of courtier who eats the inside and outside.

"Officials! The Taiwan government hastened the [-]-mile memorial!"

After Zhao Zhen gave Zhang Yong instructions, Zhang Mao hurried in and handed a memorial to Zhao Zhen.

After Zhao Zhen opened the memorial and read it, his originally calm face suddenly became gloomy.

"Mao Ze! Go and use Wang Deyong, Zhong Shiheng, Di Qing, Yang Wenguang and other generals to call Chongzheng Palace!"

Zhao Zhen said with a gloomy face.

A gust of spring breeze blew by, and Zhao Zhen said lightly: "The wind is blowing! It's time for my sword to be unsheathed!"

(End of this chapter)