To The Land of Nevernight

Because there is a younger sister in his family who is waiting to be married, Tang Shen made a special effort to find out some things about the marriage of men and women in this era.

Emperor Zhao Fu of Kaiping issued an order: "All males are sixteen and females are fourteen, and they are allowed to marry." It means that when boys reach the age of 16 and girls reach the age of 14, they can start to engage in marriage, and even directly marry people and daughters-in-law.But this does not mean that one must get married at the age of 16 or 14.

Tang Shen had thought about leaving his younger sister behind.

In fact, in ancient times, there were not many married girls.

They are not really old girls, but most of these girls were engaged two years earlier, and they only got married when they were eighteen.

Men are more free, crowned at the age of 20, and there are many men without a family at the age of 20.

But no matter what, Wang Qin is 28 this year, and 28 is not married yet...

When Tang Shen got along with Wang Qin before, because Wang Qin was elegant and handsome, outstanding, he never felt that his senior brother was old.Moreover, he is a modern person, and in future generations, he is still in his prime at the age of 28.But now that I think about it, all the officials who are the same age as Wang Qin are four or five years old. How come Wang Qin doesn't even have a wife? !

Tang Shen thought for a long time, then said in shock: "Senior brother, it's not because he didn't lift it?"

Damn, this possibility is really possible!

Tang Shen quickly shook his head, putting this terrifying and weird thought behind him.

This way of thinking is fatal.

If Wang Qin hadn't refused, Tang Shen thought so, and then the other party found out, the two of them might have to form an enmity, not to mention whether they could succeed as senior brothers or not.If Wang Qin really didn't move, Tang Shen would still have found out...

It's even worse.

Tang Shen was so frightened by himself that he repeated to himself three times in his heart "whether Wang Zifeng marries a wife or not has nothing to do with me", and forced himself to forget about it before giving up.

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the Liao mission arrived in Shengjing and stopped at the posthouse where foreign envoys were received.

In the court hall that day, all the officials had a lengthy discussion on how to receive the Liao envoy.The officials who can stand in the Zichen Palace and go to the early court are at least fourth-rank officials.However, this time, all the high-ranking officials above the third rank were silent, and only the fourth-rank officials raised their voices and recommended candidates to the emperor.

The chief guest of the Ministry of Rites held up the jade wat, took a step forward, and said: "The Liao envoy's coming to Beijing is a major event for the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Although the Liao army is now stationed fifty miles away from Youzhou City, and is eyeing Youzhou, but my Song Dynasty The state of etiquette that comes to the court from all nations must not be negligent in this matter. Your Majesty, I beg your Majesty to finalize the candidates immediately to receive the Liao envoy."

Then, another civil official remonstrated: "Master Sun is right, and I also think that there is no delay in receiving the Liao envoy. As far as I know, there are 32 members of the Liao envoy this time, including Yeluhan, the third prince of Liao. Among them, there is Yeluqin, the son of the Han Dynasty. If the diplomatic relations between the two countries are followed, our Great Song Dynasty should also send a prince."

As soon as these words fell to the ground, hundreds of officials began to nominate officials one after another.

In the end, Zhao Fu finalized the candidate: "In this case, I will leave this matter to Meng Qing. As for the candidate for the prince," Zhao Fu thought for a moment, then said calmly: "Let Zhao Shang go."

Meng Lang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, took a step forward and said, "I take orders."

On that day, Meng Lang temporarily set up a delegation of envoys to receive the Liao envoys.

It has always been in accordance with the rules for the Minister of Rites to receive foreign envoys.After Meng Lang took the order, he transferred manpower from various government offices.When Tang Shen was notified by the official that he had got the job, he sighed, and after some inquiries, he found that there was actually an acquaintance in the team——Xu Yu's proud student, Yu Chaosheng!

Among the envoys this time, Meng Lang has the highest official position, and he is the second-rank minister.Below him is Yu Chaosheng, the right servant of the third-rank official department.

General Meng Lang called Tang Shen into the hall, and in front of Wang Qin, he said to him, "The envoy of Liao has arrived at the post in the morning, but we are not going to receive them tomorrow. Most of them are reckless men with nothing but strength. The third prince Yeluhan is a well-known stone bow general. He once shot and killed a sika deer with a fifty-stone crossbow on the hunting ground. But the accompanying Han Er Syelu Qin is a powerful person, you should not underestimate him."

Hearing this, Tang Shen already had a bad premonition in his heart.

Sure enough, Meng Lang said: "In the past few days, Mr. Tang will be in charge of receiving them."

Tang Shen: "..."

Wang Qin was flipping through the booklet, when he suddenly heard these words coming from behind him, he curled his lips together and did not make a sound.

Meng Lang deliberately glanced at Wang Qin, then turned to Tang Shen and said, "My Da Song must receive those Liao envoys, but my Da Song must not be at a disadvantage. The purpose of letting them hang out for a few days is to tell them that Da Song is the one who wants to receive Liao envoys." Song is not afraid of going to war, we want to frustrate their spirit. In this case, officials of the third rank and above cannot appear in front of the Liao envoy. Mr. Tang is the pillar of the country. The article you wrote three years ago during the test was written by The old man read it."

Tang Shen immediately bowed and saluted: "Mr. Meng's kindness in pointing me out is something I will never forget."

Meng Lang smiled and said, "Where is it? From reading your article at that time, I knew that only you can do this matter, and you can only do it. Master Tang, I entrust the old man to you!"

Tang Shen felt miserable in his heart, but he said: "The next official takes orders."

When leaving the room, Tang Shen subconsciously glanced at Wang Qin before he walked out the door.

I saw Wang Qin wearing a dark red second-rank official robe, with a white jade tied around his waist.He didn't even look up, knowing that Tang Shen hadn't left yet, he flipped through the memorial and said, "Master Meng, you are very leisurely."

Meng Lang laughed, "Why did Lord Wang say that?"

"Why don't you come to my house to taste wine tonight? The fine wine from Pizhou should suit Mr. Meng's liking."

Meng Lang thought to himself, I tricked your junior brother in front of you, and you still buy me a drink?It looks like a Hongmen banquet at first glance, don't go!

"I still have something to do tonight, so I won't bother you at Mr. Wang's mansion."

Wang Qin didn't say anything more, but Tang Shen glanced at him when he walked out the door.He knew that it was not Meng Lang who Wang Qin invited, but him.So at night, Tang Shen came to visit directly, and the housekeeper of Shangshu Mansion had been waiting for a long time.

The housekeeper brought Tang Shen to the courtyard, and saw that in the cold wind, Wang Zifeng was wearing a thick cloak, and he was actually lighting a stove in the middle of the courtyard to drink!

Tang Shen couldn't help laughing: "Brother, it's cold outside, why did you cook wine?"

Wang Qin: "Didn't you say we're treating guests to a drink tonight?"

Tang Shen thought: Isn't that just a polite remark!

Wang Qin had already boiled a furnace of hot wine, and he poured a bowl for Tang Shen himself.The alcohol content in ancient times was not high. After Tang Shen drank it, his limbs felt hot and his whole body felt refreshed. It was really hearty.

Wang Qin: "Does it taste good?"

Tang Shen said with emotion: "Pizhou has produced excellent wine since ancient times, and the wine in Pizhou is really extraordinary."

Wang Qin: "This wine comes from Jinling."

"...Didn't Senior Brother say during the day that he came from Pizhou?"

Wang Qin: "It's just to prevaricate Meng Lang."

Tang Shen: "..."

As expected, Wang Zifeng couldn't believe even a single punctuation mark!

After drinking, the two of them entered the room, Wang Qin said: "As for today's matter, my junior thinks that Meng Lang deliberately asked you to do this job in order to get revenge on me?"

Tang Shen: "Of course not, Mr. Meng is not such a person who takes things personally. Although he sometimes loses his tune, he has teased me many times." Speaking of this, Tang Shen paused, and suddenly found that Meng Lang was really a person !After coughing, he continued, "But Mr. Meng chose me for another reason."

"Oh?"

"For one thing, Master Meng is right. If you want to leave the Liao Kingdom's missions in the air and give them a blow, you have to be a fourth-rank official at least, and at most only a fourth-rank official. The fourth-rank official The rank is not high enough to be in charge of negotiations, and the Liao people have nothing to do with it; the rank of the fourth-rank officials is not low, and it cannot be said that they are deliberately negligent when receiving them. And other than that...the fourth-rank officials in the envoys are not the only ones I am alone. I think Master Meng chose me, and there is a saying that he wants to borrow from his senior brother."

The butler brought the wine stove from the yard into the house, and Wang Qin poured wine for Tang Shen.

Tang Shen looked at the snow-white hops floating in the bowl, for a long time, he asked: "If I encounter a difficult problem, if I encounter a problem that cannot be solved, will Senior Brother help me?"

Wang Qin didn't answer directly, but instead asked Tang Shen: "What do you think, little brother?"

Tang Shen was silent, raised his head, looked at Wang Qin seriously, and said, "Yes."

Wang Qin smiled lightly: "Then I will listen to you."

Entrusting this job to Tang Shen is equivalent to entrusting it to Wang Zifeng at the same time!

Meng Lang couldn't command Wang Qin, but taking this opportunity to let Wang Qin do things for him, there was nothing he would rather do.

Tang Shen sighed: "Master Meng is really bad."

Wang Qin raised the wine bowl, took a sip of the wine, smiled slightly, and did not answer Tang Shen's words.

Meng Lang is bad?

Everyone said that among the six books, he, Wang Zifeng, had the worst heart.

Wang Qin sighed in his heart: "Sure enough, my junior brother still favors me."For a simple and kind person like Mr. Meng, every time he plots against him, he feels uneasy about his conscience.The younger brother felt that he was bad.Alas, this heart is really biased to the limit.

Meng Lang made a good plan and wanted Wang Zifeng to do things for him.But the next day, Tang Shen had just arrived at the Hall of Qinzheng, and before he had figured out how to receive the envoys from the Liao Kingdom, he saw a sneaky figure peeking outside the house of the fourth-rank official.Tang Shen thought the policeman, this man was wearing a eunuch costume, but he was tall and even had a beard on his face, how could he be an eunuch?Could it be an assassin?

Tang Shen backed away calmly, preparing to find the guards to catch this person.Unexpectedly, this person turned his head and saw Tang Shen.He glanced suspiciously at first, and muttered: "19 years old, handsome, wearing a fourth-rank official uniform..." Suddenly, his eyes lit up, "It's you!"

This person dashed forward in one stride, and was about to grab Tang Shen.

Tang Shen panicked and hurried to shout, but before he could utter a single word, he was held down by the bearded man.This person was tall, strong and sturdy, Tang Shen was not a child, but after being restrained by the opponent, he was completely unable to break free, and could only be taken away by the opponent.

The bearded man took Tang Shen aside, covered his mouth, and was relieved to see that no one was paying attention to them.Seeing Tang Shen's eyes wide open, he said speechlessly, "Master Tang Shen?"

Tang Shen's thoughts turned, but he didn't answer.

"Hey, are you still wary of me?"

Tang Shen: "..."

You are a sneaky assassin, if you don't watch out, who do you watch out for?

The bearded man: "My name is Li Jingde, you should know me."