"Greetings, Lord Tisi." The one who interrupted Fan Xian's meditation was Lord Lin Wen, the co-envoy of the Qing Kingdom in the Northern Qi Guild Hall.
Fan Xian looked away from the mottled city walls, and said, "In this country, it's better to call me Fan Zhengshi."
Lin Wen was slightly taken aback. He has always been in a foreign country, so he is not very clear about the details of what happened in Kyoto, but he also knows that this Lord Fan Tisi is a popular figure in the court. He did not expect that the first sentence of salutation would be refuted by the other party. When he came back and looked at the other party's expression, he couldn't help thinking that this young official was a flamboyant person relying on his father's shadow, and he couldn't help feeling a little worried.
Lin Jing, deputy envoy of the mission, smiled and explained: "Master Fan means that since you are here to Xuanyi, you should not use the identity of the Overwatch Council, lest the other party feel unhappy."
Only then did Lin Wen understand, and said with a smile: "Everything is arranged by Mr. Fan."
Fan Xian turned his head and glanced at the resident official in Northern Qi. This person had a regular face, but he looked familiar, so he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. Lin Jing explained with a smile on the side: "Master Lin Wen is the cousin of the lower official."
Fan Xian was enlightened, and said with a smile: "So that's how it is. The so-called father and son soldiers in the battle, and brothers fighting tigers, there are two of them by my side. I think this mission will go smoothly."
…
…
A Northern Qi official came over, and the three of them stopped talking in a timely manner, and began to study the traces on the walls of the upper capital and the crawling routes of the ants. It wasn't until the official walked behind the three that Lin Wen seemed to have discovered it suddenly, and said in surprise, "Brother Wei Hua is here today?"
Fan Xian turned around, looked at the Northern Qi official named Wei Hua, smiled slightly, and was inconvenient to say anything.
That Wei Hua bowed his hands, seemed to be quite familiar with Lin Wen, and scolded with a smile: "If it wasn't for picking up your mission, I'm afraid I'm still happy in Lixiangyuan at this time."
Fan Xian was delighted, it seems that this person is just like Li Hongcheng, and he is as good as that.
Lin Wen hurriedly introduced to Fan Xian: "This is the Northern Qi Honglu Shaoqing, Mr. Wei Hua." Then he introduced to Wei Hua: "This is..."
Unexpectedly, Wei Hua waved his hand with a half-smile, and said, "Master Fan is famous all over the world, why use brother Lin to introduce him?"
Fan Xian was slightly taken aback, cupped his hands and said, "You have a poor reputation. Don't dare."
"Master Fan is too modest." Wei Hua's facial features are rather handsome, but there is always a sense of slack in his eyes. He doesn't look like an official, but like a madman. In the coming year, I'm afraid he will be in charge of the Southern Dynasty's internal treasury, and before he went to the embassy, the Chunwei fraud case was exposed, and the heads of seventeen officials fell to the ground, and the bones and bones were turned around... Master Fan has transferred to the Northern Qi Dynasty."
He laughed twice, and said: "I don't know what the emperor of your country thinks? An important person like Mr. Fan, of course, should be kept in the capital for a good life. How can we get our great Qi country to suffer? In case... encounter some wind and cold on the way, what should we do?"
Fan Xian could hear the slight threat in the other party's words, but he didn't care at all, and said with a smile, "How can you be so weak?"
Wei Hua found that this very talented and famous young official seemed to be very interested in the city wall of Shangjing, so he couldn't help but proudly said: "This city has been built for 300 years and has never been invaded by foreign enemies. Does Mr. Fan also think it is extremely majestic? ? I don’t know how it compares to the capitals of Nanqing?”
Fan Xian smiled slightly and said: "Majestic is naturally majestic, but it seems to be a bit old. It seems that your country needs to find a time to repair it."
In the words of the two, they secretly hurt each other, and everyone was silent. Wei Wei Hua said softly after a long while: "Master Fan is coming from afar, so I will naturally be the host. After finishing the business, I will ask you to show me your face."
Fan Xian looked at him twice, wondering why this person always showed a faint hostility between the lines, but this kind of hostility did not reach the level of hatred. He couldn't help being a little curious, since he had never met this person before, How could you offend the other party
Lin Wen laughed beside the two of them at this time and said, "I'd like to teach Fan Zhengshi to know that this Lord Weihua is the eldest son of the Marquis of Changning who was envoy to this court last year. Lord Hou got drunk, and after returning to the country, he never forgot, saying that there was a powerful young man in the Southern Dynasty, who not only wrote good poems, but also had an amazing drinking capacity. Lord Wei Hua often listened to it, so naturally he wanted to compete with adults."
"So that's how it is." Fan Xian smiled wryly, and looked at Lord Wei again, and sure enough, he could see some similarities with Marquis Changning from his face. Last year he served as a deputy envoy to receive the Northern Qi mission, and he had a lot of dealings with the Marquis of Changning. Later, during the palace banquet, he even had a good drink, and he was considered a half-drinking friend. To avenge my father, I have to wait for a while, otherwise it doesn't matter if I get drunk, and I will mess up the business between the two countries, so I won't be able to explain it to Your Majesty."
Everyone laughed and saved the matter for later.
※※※
Shangjing in the Northern Qi Dynasty is indeed very prosperous. Although the streets are not wide, there are restaurants and restaurants along the way, green tiles and pale walls, shaded by tall trees. It doesn't look like a defeated country.
Under Wei Hua's reception, the mission headed west of the city, and the group arranged to live in the imperial courtyard behind Honglu Temple. From this arrangement, it can be seen that the Northern Qi emperor had given the Qing mission enough face.
Along the way, Fan Xian chatted with Wei Hua, and found that this son was very familiar with the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty. Not only could he name some dignitaries, but judging by his tone of voice, he seemed to even know Prince Jing's son Li Hongcheng. This made Fan Xian I was surprised that the capitals of the two countries are quite far apart, and I don't know how they got acquainted.
During the conversation, Fan Xian also had a vague understanding of the current Northern Qi government. Of course, before going north, he had read countless files in the Overwatch Council, and he knew that the Northern Qi court was far from being as harmonious as Wei Hua said. , golden light.
The Empress Dowager of the Northern Qi Dynasty is only in her thirties, and she is still young. His Majesty the Emperor has not been in power for a long time, and it is impossible to completely control the government. If it weren't for the fact that the two countries lost the war with Northern Qi last year, and temporarily suppressed the conflict, the current Shangjing would have already been in chaos.
Uesugi Tiger was originally a general in the north, and for this reason, he was transferred back to Shangjing.
Fan Xian pretended to have no intention of asking: "I heard that General Uesugi is an immortal hero, when Brother Wei is free, take me to pay a visit."
Wei Hua asked differently: "Master Fan is interested in General Uesugi?"
"Although I'm not a frail scholar, I always admire the heroes who resist the barbarians." Fan Xian smiled gently.
Wei Hua's complexion was different, he didn't seem to want to talk about that Uesugi Tiger. Fan Xian saw his expression, stopped talking, and smiled slightly.
When the mission arrived at the other hospital, relevant people were responsible for arranging the accommodation. After a long time of busy work, the arrangement was finally made. Wei Hua, as the young minister of Honghe Temple, had to arrange dinner as a matter of course. During the banquet, he tested Fan Xian's drinking capacity, and found that this young official was actually drinking wine as water. He really perfectly practiced the true meaning of the word drink. Meaning, I couldn't help being startled, and suddenly weakened the idea of avenging my father by drinking.
Xi scattered people, only the missionary's own people were left in the other courtyard, and the guards of the Northern Qi Dynasty politely only guarded the outer gate, and left all matters in the inner courtyard to the mission group to handle.
There were only five people in the room, Fan Xian, two brothers Lin Wen and Lin Jing, Gao Da and Wang Qinian.
Fan Xian closed his eyes for a long time, and after confirming that no one was eavesdropping around the room, he said softly, "We are in the heart of the enemy's country, so be more careful in what you do and say."
The two brothers, Lin Wen and Lin Jing, were indeed a little quiet, and they nodded slightly in response. It was just that Wang Qinian and Gao Gao seemed to be Fan Tisi's confidantes, and they might not know much about the current situation in the Northern Qi Dynasty. Report to Fan Xian to know.
"Uesugi Tiger's job is idle?" Fan Xian frowned. This was completely different from the previous judgment. The Overwatch Council originally thought that the most capable general in the Northern Qi Dynasty, since he was transferred from the wild and snowy land to the south, it must be to deal with Qing. How did the aggressive offensive turn into a idle job again
"General Huaiyuan, although his name sounds nice, but he is in the capital, and there are only a hundred private soldiers around him. In this capital, there are Shangjing Garrison, three commanders, and General Hussars... Although General Huaiyuan has an extra character, his status is respected. , but there is no soldier in his hand, even if Tiger Uesugi has peerless courage, he can only face up and down obediently, hugging his concubine and sighing." Lin Wen said slightly mockingly: "The tiger is raised in a tunic. It’s just scary.”
Fan Xian tapped on the table lightly, shaking his head, very puzzled: "What are you doing? Sending such a guy back to the capital, not letting him go out to fight, just raising him like this, does this mean that Bei Qi has too much money and nowhere to spend it?" go?"
Lin Wen sighed and said: "The Northern Qi emperor and empress are fighting, and everyone wants to win the support of Uesugi Tiger, but everyone is afraid that Uesugi Tiger will completely fall to the other side, so we have to let it go now. But Uesugi Tiger's name is here, in The appeal of the military is too strong, even if there are only a hundred of his personal guards in Beijing, no one would dare to underestimate him."
Fan Xian shook his head and sighed, "No wonder there were only so many private soldiers here at the Wudu River this time. I wondered that Uesugi Tiger would not be so negligent in responding to such a big matter as Xiao En's escape."
Lin Wen was taken aback, he didn't know what happened to the mission along the way. Lin Jing quickly explained in a low voice. Lin Wen was shocked. Seeing that Fan Xian didn't seem to be injured, he felt relieved and said worriedly, "What is the relationship between General Uesugi and Xiao En?"
Fan Xian fell into silence, and after a long while, he said softly, "If there is no mistake in the yard's judgment, Uesugi Tiger should be the orphan Xiao En adopted back then."