The Privy Council issued a military order that the Donghai Command should be disbanded and rested. The officers and soldiers of Yu Liang's army belonged to the Guard Army. Those who were not injured or disabled could return home after handing over their armor and weapons and receiving their rewards. They were originally under the command of the Guard Army in Kaifeng Prefecture, and their homes were not too far away. A month later, Yu Liang and Zhang Da came to Dongjing City again.
I mean what I say. Yu Liang patted his chest and said to Zhang Dadao, "That woman from Dongdao doesn't count. Today I'll invite you to visit a brothel to broaden your horizons."
Zhang Dazui pretended to be polite, but it was easy for a farmer to be seen through when he was acting. Yu Liang could see from his face that he was in high spirits. After all, having fun didn't cost any money.
Zhang Dadao: I feel bad for letting General Yu spend money.
Yu Liang chuckled: "Okay, if you don't want to, forget it. Anyway, this is the only time, and my money is also bought with my life."
That big face is already red, how much does that brothel cost
Damn it, Yu Liang cursed. It was hard to say. Any tower or building in the inner city would generally cost one wen. But if I were to find a prostitute, I would only charge thirty or fifty wen. An old beggar girl from an alley would only cost twelve or thirteen wen.
Yu Liang spoke eloquently, showing that he was very familiar with the land of pleasure. This fellow had a wealthy family before he joined the army.
As always, Ambassador Zhang shook his head vigorously.
Theoretically, one Guan is equivalent to one thousand copper coins, and a good copper coin can be worth several hundred coins. Under the severe monetary tightening, a cake or a cup of tea only costs one or two coins, so one Guan is considered a large amount.
So the two of them went straight to Wangchun Gate and went to the city to look for brothels. At this time, the area outside the city walls of Dongjing was like a city, because it had not been attacked or besieged for many years. At first, some wealthy families had manors outside the city, and foreign people lived near the city. As the population increased, the government built roads and set up official shops to manage public security. After a while, it became prosperous and lively. When they saw all kinds of shops outside the city, it was no wonder that many people moved here and took root.
Zhang Da was very shy and picked the best-looking one. The procuress asked for fifty coins, but Yu Liang generously paid the money first and sat down in the wooden building to drink tea and wait. Zhang Da asked him to join them, but Yu Liang shook his head and said, "I am not interested in the ladies here."
Within an incense stick of time, Zhang Da came out, but left with Yu Liang in a gloomy mood. The two walked along the increasingly densely populated streets outside Tokyo. Yu Liang asked: "Zhang Da, are you unhappy?"
Zhang Da then cursed: As soon as I entered, the woman urged me to hurry up. I thought that with 50 cents, I would have to buy as much food as possible. What a pity!
Yu Liang laughed: Since she is a prostitute, what else can she want if she doesn't want money
At this moment, Zhang Da suddenly felt a little lost and murmured, "Miko is fine."
Yu Liang turned his head and looked at him calmly, then looked up at the green willow branches on the roadside and asked, "Before joining the army, what did you feel comfortable like?"
Zhang Da touched his head and said blankly, "Eat enough." After thinking for a while, he said, "Wear warmly, the house is drafty in winter, and I miss my wife occasionally at night."
Yu Liang smiled and said, "The prostitutes here are for this." But no one can be easily satisfied, even an illiterate guy like you will be greedy. Now you know why a prostitute can be worth a penny a night.
Zhang Da had a confused look on his face, seeming to understand and yet not understand.
At this time, they suddenly saw many people on the post road outside Wangchun Gate, so they walked over to see what was going on. They saw a team of officials wearing hats and black boots escorting several carts passing by on the post road, accompanied by Japanese envoys holding staffs. The clothes of the Dongdao officials looked similar to Han'er at first glance, but they were also easy to tell apart, so it was no wonder that the people found it strange.
What interested people even more were the people on the carts. There were women dressed in bright red and green on the carts. The women were not shy at all. They opened the sides of the carts and looked around curiously.
Yu Liang looked at her for a while and said: She must be the singer and dancer presented by Japan to the royal family.
Zhang Dadeng had stayed in Dongdao for several months and immediately said, I don’t think the women in Dongdao are that good.
Yu Liang laughed and said: You don’t understand. The emperor wants this gift to be sent from afar. He wants the prestige of having guests from all over the world submit to him.
Just as he finished speaking, Zhang Da suddenly shouted: Meizi
The people around looked at him sideways.
Yu Liang looked in the direction of the sound and recognized the woman in the carriage who was in high spirits. It was Miko. Miko heard the shouting and turned around to find two familiar faces. The excited smile on her face froze there. She looked at them with a complicated expression. It was very noisy around. Yu Liang and Zhang Da had nothing to say. They watched the carriage go away silently.
After a long while, Yu Liang snorted and said: What kind of things are these Japanese imperial court sending
Zhang Da was a little puzzled. How could Meizi be chosen if she was not in Omori Town
Yu Liang said: That woman tried her best to come to Daxu, who knows what means she used.
Soon after, the Jinxiang Palace held a three-day banquet. This banquet was very different. The programs that the wives of the civil and military officials watched were more diverse. There were Japanese songs and dances from thousands of miles away, beauties presented by the Korean envoys last time, and Western Hu girls presented by the Guiyi Army. In addition, the once deserted Central Plains Imperial Academy also added a lot of people and hurriedly rehearsed songs and dances.
The hall was filled with the sounds of stringed instruments and orchestras, creating a prosperous atmosphere.
The civil officials boasted in their memorials: "The emperor has conquered the whole country, and people from all directions have come to him. He has ushered in a prosperous era and brought peace. He is stronger than the Han Dynasty and far surpasses the Tang Dynasty."
In addition to the singing and dancing girls, there were also envoys and officials from various countries attending the banquet. Goryeo and Japan had sent people, and there were even envoys from the Liao Dynasty post station in Tokyo, as well as the Tibetan tribes, Hexi, Western Regions, Uighurs, and Dangxiang. There were all kinds of people in the hall, wearing strange costumes, which was an eye-opener for the nobles and ladies in Tokyo.
Emperor Guo Shao and the two queens rewarded Han Tong and other civil and military officials with saddles, ribbons, robes, jade pens and other items to recognize their military achievements in Dongdao. As for the feelings of the Japanese envoys present, they didn't care.
Guo Shao had a smile on his face and looked very excited, which made the countless officials and palace servants who had worked hard to prepare for the banquet very pleased.
When the Dongdao dancers came on stage to perform, Guo Shao really didn't care about their origins. As long as they had local characteristics, it was fine. He just wanted to see something new and he didn't understand them anyway.
Guo Shao didn't know much about the arts of various countries, or even the arts of the world, but he felt that he was born with a keen eye for observation. After watching the show, he could roughly tell the pros and cons of the women offered by various countries. The diligently trained singing and dancing girls were different in their exquisite movements. The women offered by Japan were obviously not as good as those offered by Goryeo. Perhaps it was because they had just fought a war and they were not convinced.
There was a great deal of joy in the hall. Guo Shao would raise his glass to celebrate with the ministers from time to time, and would turn his head from time to time to chat with the two queens with a smile.
Fu Jinzhan turned around and smiled calmly, saying: "The Tubo and Uighur people never came to the Central Plains to pay tribute before. Now that your majesty's reputation has spread far and wide, I think they are now very worried that your majesty will continue to conquer the west."
Guo Shao praised: "The Queen has quite a point. Confucius said, "Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?" I think there are only two reasons why these friends from afar are interested in coming. One is that they are profitable, and the other is that they feel threatened. Otherwise, it would be boring."
Fu Jinzhan covered her red lips lightly with her wide sleeves of flowered silk, her eyes smiling like the moon.
The most majestic dance on the stage was performed by the dancers from the Imperial Music Bureau of Daxu. Amid the grand sound of bells and drums, their long sleeves of feathered robes were like large clouds or blooming like gorgeous petals in spring.
When the ministers congratulated him, the whole court shouted "Long live your life", which made Guo Shao truly feel the expansion of the country's power.
From west to east, from north to south, he felt that his power had not been fully released. Perhaps there was more desire and vitality that needed to be expanded. For a moment, Guo Shao's heart was filled with awe. He suddenly understood why Qin Shihuang had to look for the elixir of immortality, because too many hegemonies had not been completed.
The banquet lasted for three days and was temporarily suspended that night.
The Goryeo envoys who attended the banquet returned to the Goryeo post station in Tokyo. The officials of the post station urged the envoys who had just arrived in Tokyo to write to the court asking Daxu to fulfill his promise and march into the northeast.
The envoy was quite hesitant. The house under the lamp was full of Goryeo style. The envoy said in a deep voice: Have you ever thought about how far Japan is from Daxu, and how long it took Daxu to conquer Japan
Several people looked at each other.
The envoy said with a worried look on his face: "I personally think that Xu Jun's arrival in Liaodong is not necessarily a good thing. I am afraid it is a strategy of attracting wolves instead of driving away tigers."
Everyone was shocked, as they had never heard of such remarks. The chief officer of the post station said: Goryeo is different from Japan. Our country has never been disrespectful or hostile towards the Central Plains.
The envoy said coldly: "The advantage of Xu's army entering Liaodong is that it can contain the Liao Kingdom, but the situation is no longer the same as it was before. The one expanding in all directions is no longer the Liao Kingdom, but the Xu Kingdom. If their power expands to Liaodong, do you think the Central Plains will really generously hand over the old land of Bohai Kingdom and make the Goryeo Kingdom stronger?"
The envoy's words made some sense. The man in the posthouse asked again: "Brother, why do you have such an idea?"
Today, the Japanese envoy saw that there were people from Hexi, Tubo and the Western Regions attending the banquet. I personally think that even people from as far away as the Western Regions smelled the danger. The officials in Kaifeng were so stupid that they were thinking about fighting for food in the tiger's mouth while they were lying beside the tiger's bed.
Someone said: Successive monarchs of our country wanted to recover the old territory of Bohai Kingdom and they have been preparing for decades. It is really hard to accept that all the efforts will be wasted in an instant.
The envoy sighed deeply and looked out the window at the courtyard, which was decorated like a Goryeo courtyard. The lanterns under the eaves and the guards' uniforms made people feel like they were in a foreign land. It was already late at night, but the lights outside the posthouse were bright, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly. The curfew could not hide the prosperity of Tokyo. In comparison, Goryeo's capital was far behind.
He turned around and said: Goryeo has never been weak, but if it unfortunately goes to war with Daxu, it will definitely be defeated. Our country should avoid conflict with Daxu and find a more appropriate way to survive.