036 Southbound
About five or six days after the news of Quan Guanqing was sent out, Qiao Feng rushed to Bianliang City. After a series of reforms and adjustments before and after the Hundred Flowers Conference last year, Qiao Feng no longer had to think about the usual travels and traveling around the world, so he had plenty of time. After hearing Zhao Ji's request, he agreed without thinking too much.
After having enough time, and his martial arts made great progress, Qiao Feng's interest in martial arts increased greatly. He had long heard that the Duan family in Dali Country was a masterpiece of the martial arts world, and Qiao Feng had always wanted to learn and experience it. However, Dali Country is located in southern Xinjiang and the journey is long, and Qiao Feng himself did not have time to travel to Dali, so he had never had the opportunity to meet him in the past. This time, he happened to take this opportunity to go to Dali to experience it.
Zhao Ji was ready here, and the court also determined the exact departure time. For the first time in his life, Zhao Ji attended the court meeting and formally received the imperial order on his mission, and truly learned the atmosphere in the court. Seeing the confrontation and collision between these group of husbands who hold the power of the world in the court, it felt refreshing. However, it would be fine if you have seen and heard of these things, and you don’t have to waste your thoughts and consider them.
During the following period, Zhao Ji had countless banquets to attend every day. Although he had not deliberately managed his connections since his time travel, he had many old friends in the past. For example, the Grand Marshal of Xiao Wangdu, some nobles and Hanlin who had made friends in the past, and even Fanlou, who was the best in Kyoto, made a special trip to Prince Duan, inviting many courtesans and courtesans in Tokyo to perform on stage to enhance his character. The scene was so lively that it was even more lively than the annual courtesans competition, and it became the hottest topic on the streets and alleys in recent times. This gave Zhao Ji the feeling that although my brother was no longer in this circle, the legend remained.
Next, Zhao Ji attended another family banquet. The emperor couldn't help but encourage Zhao Ji, while the other brothers looked at Zhao Ji with a complicated look, envious and grateful. Empress Dowager Xiang held Zhao Ji's hand and reminded him, and kept talking for a long time, which made Zhao Ji very grateful.
The night before leaving, Zhao Ji called people around him to give me some advice. It would take at least half a year to go there, so he was not very relaxed. He calculated with his fingers that if there would be chaos in the Beggars' Sect, the disaster would have happened to be buried during the period when he left Beijing. If everything follows the old path, Mrs. Ma should have hooked up with Bai Shijing and became a traitor during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, which harmed Ma Dayuan, and then he would have hooked up with Quan Guanqing and planned to attack Qiao Feng.
This is a very bad situation, and it is absolutely impossible to happen according to the current situation. First of all, the Ma family is arranged by Zhao Ji from the inside out, and she has no chance to do anything shameful. Secondly, Zhao Ji did not find that Mrs. Ma was too jealous of Qiao Feng because of the Hundred Flowers Conference and had no motivation to plot. In addition, the Bai Shijing Bai Elder Bai has just set off for Western Xia and has no time to come to Bianliang. After the Qing Dynasty, Quan Guan finally got married under the command of Zhao Ji. The Yue family is an extremely wealthy family in Bianliang City. She is newlywed and has a bright future in front of her, so she will not be easily abandoned.
With all these arrangements, the Beggars' Sect can no longer go on the old path. The reason why Zhao Ji is still a little worried is mostly because of Mrs. Ma's unusual behavior over the past six months, but she is just a little worried, and there is no need to be upset about trivial matters.
On the day of departure, the officials gave him a banquet and all officials saw him off. Since he met by chance in Taiping Temple, Zhao Ji met Cai Jing again. Although the two reached a tacit understanding to some extent, they only nodded as a courtesy on such occasions and did not talk deeply. Although Zhao Ji joined this mission, the official envoy was still Cai Jing. As for Zhao Ji's identity, he was a very famous and strange official position, and he himself did not remember it.
The main tasks of this mission must be completed by Cai Jing. As for what Zhao Ji has to do, it should be to rush to Dali for a few meals and drinks, and convey a few words of encouragement from the officials. Although the task is simple, the scale of various ceremonial guards has almost doubled with Zhao Ji's joining the mission. Seeing the long team of envoys, Zhao Ji couldn't help but secretly smacked his tongue. With so many people on this long journey, eating horses alone is a huge expense. The ancients' communication method was really luxurious.
After noon, the delegation set out from Donghua Gate. Zhao Ji was wearing regular court robes and riding on a tall horse with a stern face. There were mighty imperial soldiers in front and behind, and at the same time, he set up various flags and banners to support him. Cai Jing, not far away, was probably the case.
After the team turned onto Xiaoyu Street, the people of Bianliang City stood on both sides, cheering. This was Zhao Ji's first experience of such a highly anticipated treatment. His face became even tighter, but many thoughts arose in his heart, thinking that it was no wonder that the Song Dynasty won the scholars, and his personal appearance was also an extremely important one. In this case, if someone was pointed at and commented on because of his appearance, it would inevitably damage his majesty. The film and television image of Bao Gong in later generations was basically impossible in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Ji even asked someone to ask for information. Not only was Bao Qingtian Bao, but he was not a black-faced scholar with a famous appearance.
Just as they walked slowly along the way, they accepted the attention of the people. More than three hours had passed since the team left the city from Nanxun Gate. They paused on the gentle slope outside the city gate for a while, and the flags and flags were closed. Zhao Ji and Cai Jing also got off the horse and took the carriage respectively, and returned to the camp in sequence as support. Some elite soldiers who really escorted the delegation also came on as substitutes. Qiao Feng, who had been waiting outside, also took advantage of this opportunity to join the team.
After about half an hour of correction, the team continued to go on the road, Cai Jing and others went first, while Zhao Ji had an independent guard of honor to follow. This time, their route to Dali was first to go to Zhengzhou, and then all the way south through Huguang and into southern Yunnan. There were not many waterways to go on, so the noise of cars and horses along the way was indispensable.
On the first day of the road, the delegation only left Bianliang City for more than ten miles away. There was still some time before the sun set, but Cai Jing ordered his stay to rest. The nearly 1,000 team had no post station to arrange, so most of the delegation members could only camp outside, while Cai Jing and other groups of civil servants who served as envoys held a banquet in the inn and invited Zhao Ji to attend. Seeing these envoys looking leisurely and leisurely, Zhao Ji couldn't help but sigh that indeed, the civil servants of the Song Dynasty would not treat him badly and completely regarded this mission as a public tour. Judging from this situation, they probably would have to go all the way. If these were recorded and filmed a road film, although the content was monotonous, it was really the dream of most men.
At the banquet, Cai Jing saw that Zhao Ji was a little nervous, and he smiled and said, "Prince, please relax. Our mission to Dali Kingdom is to rebuild the country and commend the Dali king. There is no difficult purpose, so there is no need to be solemn."
Having said that, Zhao Ji still couldn't stand the atmosphere of singing and dancing, so he stayed for a while and said goodbye. With this time, it would be better to listen to Qiao Feng talk about the strange things in the world. Zhao Ji said goodbye, and the other envoys did not seriously try to keep each other. They had different identities. If Zhao Ji stayed here, they could not let go.
The next day, the team continued to go on the road, and the journey took longer than the previous day. We walked thirty miles before camping and resting. At this speed, Zhao Ji estimated that it would take three or five years to travel between Dali.
However, this situation lasted for not long. After leaving Henan and Hubei, the mission speed increased. Although the envoys would not feel wronged, they knew that they could not delay the main business. However, this good phenomenon could not last long. Although the team speeded up next, they often stayed for three or five days after arriving at a big city. Officials visited friends and visited scenic spots and historical sites.
At this time, Zhao Ji finally confirmed that he had indeed joined a tourist mission, and some of the little thoughts in his heart were no longer indifferent. He disguised himself as he left the team, took three or five guards, and called Qiao Feng to wander south together. It really felt like he was exploring the world. The only drawback was that he did not know martial arts, otherwise he would be very moved to the south and the kiosks.
Chapter completed!