When the time came to the middle and late November, it was time for the Zhengdan envoy of Liao to set off. There was one official envoy and three deputy envoys in the embassy. Yun Yanhui and Zhao Yunchu were both deputy envoys, the main envoy was a military officer named Li Xingjian, and the deputy envoy was a relative, also surnamed Li, Li Xun, who was regarded as Renzong's uncle and cousin according to his seniority.
Concubine Li Chen died when she failed to enjoy the glory of the empress dowager. It was not until after Empress Liu died that the truth that she was Renzong's biological mother was revealed. Renzong could be said to have always felt guilty.
Therefore, in addition to the posthumous title of Concubine Li Chen, Renzong also treated Concubine Li Chen's family very favorably.
Before that, Concubine Li Chen's brother Li Yonghe also served as an envoy, because the envoy went to the Liao Kingdom, not to mention buying on behalf of others, he would definitely receive a lot of gifts, which is a fat poor.
And this Li Xun is Li Yonghe's third son. Although Li Yonghe was born in a poor family, he was able to enter the official position because of Empress Li, but he was very smart. After his sister was enthroned as the empress, he knew how to be a low-key person and was very smart, so Renzong liked him very much, and he took special care of his son this time.
Of the four envoys, three were half buckets of water, showing how strong this envoy was.
Yun Yanhui had not had much contact with Li Xingjian before. After all, Li Xingjian was from the Ministry of War and had no contact with him. This time, when Yun Yanhui and Zhao Yunchu went to report, everyone met, and Yun Yanhui accepted the old man.
Mr. Li was poor as a young boy and studied hard as a postgraduate scholar. When he was young, he stayed in Taichang Temple, knew the place, and also worked as a censor. He has no idea how rich his life experience is. He is very knowledgeable and is a famous contemporary calligrapher. He has thousands of books in his home, most of which he copied by hand.
Li Xingjian's conversation can reflect his connotation, and Yun Yanhui respects him very much.
Coincidentally, although Li Xingjian and Yun Yanhui had not had direct contact with him, because he had been a censor before, he had some friendship with the people in the censor's desk, and he knew so much about Yun Yanhui that he appreciated it quite a bit.
Not to mention the relationship between Yun Yanhui and Zhao Yunchu, Zhao Yunchu and Li Xun are both relatives of the imperial family, and they also cherish each other. As a result, the upper level of the mission is very harmonious, and happily prepares to embark on the journey to Liao and Beijing.
Every time the envoys go to Liaoning, they have to bring a lot of gifts, and this time is no exception. The gifts are extremely rich, from gold and silver utensils, to silk and satin, various foods, and so on, including many.
These things are very popular among the nobles of the Liao Kingdom. The Liao people are the happiest when they entertain the envoys and receive gifts. After all, the Song Dynasty is vast and rich, and there are many things they don't have.
This time, there is also a special "gift", which is the performance from the Confucius class. Kong Ji personally led the team and took away half of the elites of the Kong family, along with some props and costumes, and went to Liao to perform together.
As soon as the news came out, it caused a lot of discussion. There has never been a precedent for a folk artist to be invited to perform in Liao. The Bian opera is so famous, it makes the people of Beijing proud, and it is a pity for the famous actors who have lost half of their lives. They will not see anyone for a few months.
What made Yun Yanhui laugh and cry was that when they set off, everyone gathered in one place, and family members came to see them off. The scene was very lively.
At this time, Yun Yanhui saw Li Xun respectfully asking Li Xingjian if he could bring some tea to Liao.
Li Xingjian was stunned for a moment, and then said: "This is a thing for sale, how dare you have a private relationship with the Liao people."
Li Xun shrank his neck, "Well..."
Yun Yanhui almost fainted, and whispered to Zhao Yunchu, "Isn't this relative of your family heard that his father is very smart, why is he like this?"
Smuggling is a matter of repeated prohibitions, especially when you bring food, tea and other prohibited items from China to go abroad, and it’s okay to return from Liao State like Yun Yanhui, and it’s not a big problem. For similar incidents, many people in the mission turned a blind eye, especially these royal relatives, as long as it was not too much, no one would be held accountable.
However, Li Xun still foolishly asked Li Xingjian. Maybe he thought in his heart that such things were very conspicuous, and they would be discovered if they didn't say it, so he should say hello to the leader, but in fact everyone carried them silently, okay
Zhao Yunchu also sweated, and said in a low voice, "I heard that his father never carried it, so maybe he didn't teach him this."
It seems that Xiaoqing did not teach, nor did he teach unspoken rules.
Yun Yan felt embarrassed even just looking at it, and thanks to Li Xingjian, he could still say casually that it was not easy to bring this kind of thing to Liao.
Yun Yanhui hurried forward, "Gong Cui, come and have a look, is it okay to leave things like this?"
Li Xun was led over and looked at the frame stupidly, "What is it?"
"Shh," Yun Yanhui pulled him into the corner, "what are you doing just now, are you going to take the goods to Liao for sale?"
Li Xun said blankly: "No, I have a friend whose relatives are in Liao, and he wants to ask me to bring some tea over there. Unfortunately, it seems that the Han people will not be allowed to bring it?"
Yunyan replied: "..."
Yun Yan whispered silently: "What kind of friend is this, let's break up with it..."
What kind of help is piggybacking? As soon as I heard it, I knew that it was obviously borrowed from him. It's a pity, Li Xun didn't understand at all, and that person probably didn't know that Li Xun was a natural idiot, and he went to ask the envoy if he could bring something. If so, it was a failure.
Li Xun didn't hear clearly, and asked, "What did you say?"
"It's nothing, I mean, it looks like you are going to return the tea to your friend." Yun Yan replied, "I think you might as well ask your friend what he wants to bring back."
"It's too late now..." Li Xun said gloomily, "If I had known, I should have asked earlier, alas."
Yun Yan patted him on the shoulder, "Forget it." Everyone didn't have a deep friendship, so Yun Yan couldn't point it out directly, so he could only vaguely comfort Li Xun.
However, since Li Xun has such thoughts, it seems that this time, like his father, he will not play smuggling. This is actually a very correct approach. Their family is a relative, and they are relatives who are not supported by a living queen mother. If they are not single-mindedly loyal, how can they stand on the ground.
Fortunately, Li Xingjian was also a good person. After he fooled this matter, he never mentioned it again. This matter did not cause any waves, and everyone set off smoothly.
…
Due to carrying many gifts, the group arrived at the border of Song and Liao after more than half a month's journey.
At this time, there was a messenger from Liao to meet them and take them all the way to the capital.
The surname of this escort is Yelu—there are only two surnames in Liao, Yelu and Xiao, and he introduced himself as Lin Ya, the north face of Dalin Yayuan in Liao Kingdom.
Yunyan replied: "Pfft."
Yun Yan didn't hold back, and everyone looked at him, "?"
"I'm rude, I'm rude, I got a bug in my mouth." Yun Yan replied embarrassedly.
This person doesn't even look ordinary, especially with a pair of slit eyes, that's all, Yun Yanhui will not judge people by their appearance, but his name "Dehua" makes people feel a sense of contrast...
Yelu Dehua didn't notice it. After meeting everyone one by one, he first expressed a warm welcome on behalf of the Liao Kingdom, especially thanks to them for bringing the Confucius family here. The Liao Kingdom has been looking forward to it for a long time. Bian opera is true.
Yelu Dehua was full of praise for Bian opera, claiming that he had never heard of it, but he recited the words like a fluent, and also heard the humming of his colleagues who had listened to Bian opera in Song, and there were also some singing that spread to Liao. Authentic, but it also made him fall in love with each other from now on. This time, he still invited him to be his escort.
Although Kong Ji had heard a lot of praises, he couldn't help but feel a little beautiful in the face of Yelu Dehua's praises from his heart. In addition, he also received some short-term training in Honglu Temple, and he knew what their existence represented, so he was very peaceful. He thanked Yelu Dehua deeply, and ordered someone to give Yelu Dehua a classic aria from "Looking for Love Fish" on the spot.
When a person opens his mouth, Yeludehua knows which one comes out, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is reciting. But it was the first time he had heard the original Bian opera with his own ears. He was a tall man, and he actually burst into tears when he heard it.
Yelu Dehua wiped his tears with his sleeves, choked and said, "This part is really touching, Liang Sheng is willing to throw himself into the sea for He Lishu's sake... woo woo woo!" He said, pulling Li Xingjian and saying, "You say yes, right? What do you think of this passage?"
Li Xingjian was very witty. He never forgot, and made a comment from the perspective of literary art, and then he quietly pulled out his sleeves and let go.
Yun Yanhui came up in time and started to joke: "I don't know if Brother Yelu knows that Bian Opera has a nickname?"
Yelu Dehua: "Huh? Please enlighten me?"
He has been intentionally collecting relevant knowledge about Bian Opera, but he really didn't know that Bian Opera has a nickname.
"Because the rudiment of Bian opera only had the pipa as an accompaniment, so it is also called Tanci." Yunyan replied incessantly, "It is assembled in various palace tunes to interpret the stories in the playbook, integrating the essence of Zaju, speaking and other skills. In the end, Bian Opera was achieved. It is called Bian Opera, but a considerable part of the accent of this Bian Opera is Jindi accent, because although this opera took shape and became famous in Bianjing, it originated in Zezhou…”
Yun Yanhui told stories about the origin and characteristics of Bian Opera, so that Yelu Dehua was dizzy, and it was too late to digest this knowledge, where can he take care of other things. In the end, Yelu Dehua was very impressed and thanked Yun Yanhui for telling him this.
Yun Yan replied: "Hehehe, nothing, when we go back to Shangjing, we can set up the gongs and drums and sing all the stanzas, and it can be considered as a fulfillment of your wish."
Yelu Dehua nodded again and again, and then said slightly shyly: "Brother Yun is so proficient in Bian opera, and he is also literary and elegant, to be honest, I have written a lot of poems about "Wang Qingyu", can you give me some pointers? Woolen cloth?"
I'm coming! Liao people's favorite thing to do! Exchange literature with Song people!
"Oh, this..." Yun Yan took a step back, wanting to change into Li Xingjian.
Who knows, Yelu Dehua grabbed Yun Yanhui's hand and said expectantly, "It would be even better if we could sing in harmony!"
Yunyan replied: "..."
Yun Yan turned back and glanced at Li Xingjian, only to see Li Xingjian nodding slightly, and her heart suddenly came to a conclusion.
Li Xingjian knew his details. Since he agreed, it means that Li Xingjian knew that the Liao people had a lower cultural level, so he assuredly said, "Then please read the work."
Yelu Dehua then closed his eyes, brewed his feelings for a while, and recited with emotion: "Bianjing swims to black carps, and eats grass and flowers and thinks about the king at night. Infatuated with good sons and daughters, both pairs will become immortals!"
Yunyan replied: "..."
Yelu Dehua slowly opened his eyes, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and was moved to cry by his own poem.
Yun Yan Hui turned to look at Li Xingjian.
Li Xingjian nodded with a smile, "As expected, the escort is a person of outstanding literary talent in your country. It is no wonder that he is able to serve in the Dalin Dental Institute."
Yun Yan replied: "...haven't asked about the duties of the Liaoning Dalin Dental Institute?"
Zhao Yunchu said quietly: "Professor Wen Han."
Yunyan replied: "..."
Yelu Dehua has a slightly proud face, and it seems that he is very proud of being able to take office in a place equivalent to the Hanlin Academy of the Great Song Dynasty.
And Li Xingjian still looked like the old god was there, but Yun Yanhui felt a chill when he thought of the words he praised Yelu Dehua just now. Come on, the old man is simply too damaged!