Qi Ning knew Han Yu's concerns. After all, they were members of the Qinhuai Legion, military personnel, and had nothing to do with the mission. If they continued to move forward and walked within the territory of Eastern Qi, it would inevitably cause conflicts.
Han Yu and others returned to the boat and bowed to Qi Ning again. Qi Ning waited for them to ferry away before giving the order to move forward.
The convoy only traveled a short distance when they heard the sound of horse hooves in front. Looking up, they saw hundreds of cavalry appearing in front. They were full of murderous intent. There was still some distance, but these soldiers and horses reined in their horses. , only one person was heard shouting: "There is no war between our two countries, why do we need to cross the river and send troops?"
Qi Ning shook his head and sighed, thinking that the other party still didn't understand what was going on. After a long delay, if the Chu army had really crossed the river, they would have easily established a position on the river bank by now.
Wu Dalin urged his horse forward and said loudly: "We are a delegation from the State of Chu. We are going to Lucheng to meet the king of your country. The letter of credence is here. Don't misunderstand us."
There was a burst of excitement on the opposite side, and a moment later, two cavalrymen came over on flying horses, arrived in front of Wu Dalin, looked around, and then asked: "Where is the credential?"
Wu Dalin turned around and saw that Qi Ning had already handed the credentials to Qi Feng. Qi Feng took the credentials and urged him to come forward immediately and handed the credentials over. The other party took the credentials and ran back to the formation. A moment later, he saw again When more than a dozen cavalrymen came over surrounded by a black-armored general, Wu Dalin saw that the black-armored general was in his early forties, thin and had a mustache. As he got closer, the black-armored general smiled and said: "You are A mission from Chu State? Fortunately, I explained clearly, otherwise I would lead my troops and kill you all in one fell swoop."
Wu Dalin said with a serious smile: "Your two countries are friendly countries, so naturally we will not raise weapons."
The general threw his credentials over, glanced at them, and saw that Qi Ning was the leader of the mission, and asked, "Who is that?"
"That is my great Chu Jinyihou, the envoy who is on this trip." Wu Dalin said solemnly: "I wonder what you call me?"
The general said: "You can just call me General Meng." He added: "I heard that there are four hereditary marquises in the Chu State. Jin Yihou has great military achievements. Jin Yihou also single-handedly created the Qinhuai Army. The former Qi General passed away. This must be General Qi’s son?”
Wu Dalin frowned and said, "Jinyi is here, don't be rude."
General Meng was startled and said slightly angrily: "He is your Marquis of Chu State, not our Daqi Marquis. Don't be arrogant in front of me."
Qi Ning laughed and said: "This must be General Meng Jiao and Zhou Meng, right? I have admired his name for a long time, and when I saw him today, he is indeed worthy of his reputation."
Meng Jiao was startled on Monday, then smiled and said: "So you have heard of my name?"
"Of course I have heard of it." Qi Ning smiled and said: "I heard that General Meng is highly regarded by King Taishan. Not only General Meng, but also General Meng's sister is also deeply loved by King Taishan. The Meng family brothers and sisters have such a favor. , its reputation spreads far and wide, and there are not many people who don’t know about it.”
Qi Ning was speaking sarcastically, thinking that Meng Jiaozhou would be furious, but Meng Jiaozhou showed no signs of anger and said complacently: "Yes, I am the prince's favorite general, and my sister is the prince's favorite." Ji, you know this, it shows that you are well informed." He urged his horse forward, saw the convoy, and asked: "Are you going to present a gift to me, Daqi?"
Qi Ning said with a smile: "This is a state matter. General Meng still doesn't want to know too much. We have to hurry, and we ask General Meng to let us go and don't waste time."
Meng Jiaozhou glanced at Qining and said, "Come here, take a look at what's in the car."
Qi Ning calmed down and said calmly: "Who dares!"
Meng Jiao was stunned on Monday, and then said angrily: "If you pass through my defense area, you will be inspected by me. If there are weapons hidden in the car, I will not let it go."
Wu Dalin frowned and said: "General Meng, our Da Chu envoy is going to King Lu City to pay a visit to the king of your country and to build good relations between the two countries. How can you not be kind to receive us but to make things difficult for us? This is an envoy, not a caravan. Why? Can I allow you to search?" He snorted coldly and said, "Does General Meng not understand the etiquette of negotiation between the two countries?"
Meng Jiao was stunned on Monday, a little confused, turned around, looked at the soldiers beside him, and asked: "Is there such a rule?"
The soldiers all looked at each other, not knowing why.
"General Meng, you have seen the credentials." Wu Dalin said solemnly: "If you feel that there is something wrong with the credentials, you can report it immediately to the superiors and ask your country's Ministry of Rites to send someone to negotiate. Of course, it will be confirmed by then that there is no problem with the credentials. Question, you, General Meng, have delayed our trip. We will naturally report it to the monarch of your country and ask him to give us a satisfactory answer." With a stern expression: "If you think there is no problem with the credentials, it means that we are The envoy of the Great Chu, I, the great envoy of the Great Chu, are on a mission to your country, and I will not allow you to be presumptuous."
"Certificate of credence?" Meng Jiaozhou raised his hand and touched his forehead. Qining frowned and said, "General Meng can't even understand the credential, right?"
Meng Jiaozhou immediately said: "Of course I can understand it clearly."
"Then General Meng will naturally know whether it is true or false." Qining said: "If it is false, we will go with you now. You arrest us all first, and then report it to the superiors and have someone come over to check. If it is true, , send a few people to lead us to King Lu City."
Meng Jiaozhou said with some embarrassment: "Then... the credential is of course... well, of course it is true."
Qining laughed and said: "General Meng has a keen eye. Since it is true, the next step will be easy. Send someone to lead the way. Now that we have arrived in your country, the food and accommodation on the way will naturally be arranged by your country. General Meng should know all these etiquette, right?"
"I understand, this... Of course I understand this." Meng Jiaozhou forced a smile and said: "You are the Chu State's envoy. I... I will naturally arrange for someone to send you to King Lu City, and you will be provided with food and lodging on the way...!"
"It doesn't have to be too extravagant." Qi Ning said sternly: "Just follow the standard of three hundred taels of silver per meal. By the way, breakfast can be simpler, fold it in half, and one hundred and fifty taels is enough."
Meng Jiaozhou opened his eyes wide and said in shock: "One meal... three hundred taels of silver per meal?"
Qi Ning pretended to be surprised and said: "General Meng has a good reputation. I have admired his reputation for a long time and know that General Meng is highly regarded by King Taishan. Doesn't General Meng know these rules?"
Meng Jiaozhou smiled hurriedly and said: "I know, I mean, a meal... a meal of three hundred taels, isn't it... isn't it a bit shabby?"
Qi Feng suppressed his laughter and pretended to be solemn: "Our Lord Marquis has always been frugal and will not embarrass you too much."
Meng Jiao said with a smile: "That's right." But he was thinking in his heart that this meal cost three hundred taels, even if all delicacies were arranged, it wouldn't be enough money.
Qi Ning turned to Qi Feng and whispered a few words. Qi Feng took a piece of silver from his arms and threw it over. It weighed about four or five taels. Meng Jiaozhou hurriedly reached out to take it and asked: "This...?"
"When we came to your country, the first big man we saw was General Meng, so please accept it, so it's just a small gift." Qining said with a smile.
Meng Jiaozhou was a little angry, thinking that a few taels of silver was just a gift, and the money that slipped through my fingers was much more than that, but he did not dare to say more, thinking that since the other party was a mission, he still You should deal with it well so as not to say or do the wrong things and be laughed at by others.
He was originally a rich indigenous man in Xuzhou, and he knew all about how to make money, but how could he understand the diplomatic relations between the two countries? Moreover, after the founding of the Eastern Qi Dynasty, there was actually no normal exchanges with the other two countries. The two sides sent envoys to each other. It is also extremely rare. How could Meng Jiaozhou know all the etiquette between the two countries in negotiations, but in front of everyone, he did not dare to show that he knew nothing, and reluctantly smiled and said: "Thank you, thank you."
He turned around, waved his hand and said, "Let the Chu State envoy pass!"
However, the envoy did not move. Meng Jiaozhou couldn't help but said: "Everyone, I have ordered you to get out of the way, why haven't you left yet?"
Qi Feng sighed: "General Meng, you... do you really need us to remind you?"
"Remind?" Meng Jiao was stunned on Monday, "Remind what?"
"Noble people often forget things." Qi Feng said: "General Meng, it is not polite to come and go without coming back. This... you should understand. Our brothers have worked hard all the way to your country, and just entered your country for transit. The first person we met The big shot is General Meng, should General Meng...should he also express his gratitude?"
Meng Jiaozhou was a little confused: "What does it mean?"
Qi Feng sighed: "General Meng, it's fine with the Marquis, but... But the brothers have had a hard journey, General Meng should reward us with some tea money."
"Money for tea?" Meng Jiaozhou opened his eyes wide and lost his voice: "There are still such rules? You want... you want me to pay for the reward?"
"It has always been the rule that the two countries have diplomatic relations, good neighborliness and friendship." Qi Feng frowned and said: "Don't General Meng know at all? If... if it is inconvenient for General Meng, after arriving at King Lu City, your officials from the Ministry of Rites will ask Well, we can only tell the truth."
Meng Jiaozhou looked a little panicked and said hurriedly: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you said... You said this tea payment is also customary?"
Qi Feng nodded and said: "General Meng, don't worry. In fact, you don't have to pay for the money. You can report the money you gave to the brothers for tea later to the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites will allocate the money to you." That’s right, when we came to your country, we didn’t send anyone to inform you in advance. Your country may have forgotten and failed to remind General Meng in time. This is our fault.”
Qi Ning suddenly smiled and said: "That's all, General Meng has a good command of the troops. Maybe he is not clear about these red tapes. If General Meng really can't come up with it, we won't force it."
Meng Jiaozhou thought to himself that since I didn't come from my own pocket for the money, it didn't matter. Anyway, he would pay some in advance and ask for it later from the Ministry of Rites. He had the support of King Taishan and was not afraid of being cheated by the Ministry of Rites. He asked for advice: "I don't know... I don't know." How much does this tea cost?"
"Our mission, including the Marquis and Leader Wu, is a total of 253 people." Qi Feng said seriously: "How much depends on General Meng's wishes. Even if each person is only given a few dozen taels of silver, we I won't be surprised." He added: "Of course, the Marquis will not need this money. Others may not really want this money. They are just looking for good luck and hope that the two countries will be good neighbors and friendly."
Meng Jiaozhou swayed. He was not proficient in anything else, but he was a first-class person at counting money. He could calculate in an instant that this person had dozens of taels, and there were more than two hundred people. Wouldn't he take out thousands of taels of silver? You gave me a few taels of silver as a greeting gift, but I have to pay thousands of taels of silver to go out. How the hell do these two countries have such weird etiquette when they have diplomatic relations