The north is rough and bold, and the south is beautiful. This is the biggest feeling that Zhao Kuo felt after coming to Yanjing.

Whether it is the various places in Yanjing that he has traveled to these days or everything he has seen in Yanjing City, he has truly felt the difference between the north and the south.

Especially the grandeur and courage of the new Yanjing City seemed to open a new world door to Zhao Kuo.

Zhao Kuo never even thought that a city could be so magnificent, a city could have such a large lake, and a city could have... such a grand palace!

The difference between the north and the south, except for the climatic perception, everything you see and hear makes Zhao Kuo feel fresh and surprised.

Even when looking at the rolling green mountains outside Yanjing City from afar, Zhao Kuo couldn't help but long for and imagine what kind of scene was there on the other side of the mountain? Is the vast grassland really as they said, endlessly, desolate and heroic?

Zhao Kuo really wanted to go to the pass and see the scene on the other side of the mountain, and also wanted to walk through every pass in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

After all, every pass in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun is full of legendary stories and is closely related to generations of famous generals and loyal ministers. Similarly, because of the existence of these passes, the Great Wall that stretches like a giant dragon, has enabled the Central Plains to be reborn in the fire at the critical moment and avoid the danger of destruction.

Standing on the tall and majestic city of New Yanjing City and looking at the scenery in the distance, Zhao Kuo was surging with a prosperous and heroic spirit. It turned out that only by standing on this land personally can one truly experience what the northern land under his feet has hidden for thousands of years, and only then can one truly feel... What is the backbone of the nation and the glory of the nation.

But these... need how much blood, how many generations of life and loyalty are needed to make the land and territory of the Central Plains accumulate such proud and glorious beliefs in the long river of history.

It seemed as if the sound of golden swords and iron horses were sounding in his ears, as if the tragic scene of blood fighting was floating in front of his eyes, as if not all the silent rocks in the green mountains, as if every stone was condensed by vivid lives, as if it was precisely because of the continuous green mountains, the perseverance and bloody sacrifice of generations, that the moment he could stand on the city tower and look at it today.

A slightly rapid footstep sounded behind him. Zhao Kuo did not look back. He was still immersed in his thoughts just now, and his heart was still stirring. His right hand slowly stroked the vermilion railing on the city tower. Yue Shaobao's song "Red" seemed to ring in his ears: his anger was rushing to the crown, and he leaned on the railing, and the rain stopped. He looked up at the sky and roared with a long roar, and his heart was fierce. Thirty fame and fortune... He was so ambitious that he ate the meat of the barbarians, laughed and talked about thirsty drinking the blood of the Huns. Wait for a long time to turn back, clean up the old mountains and rivers, and go to the sky.

Unconsciously, Zhao Kuo stood on the city tower facing the endless green mountains like a green dragon in the distance. After reading Yue Fei's poem Man Jianghong, he suddenly seemed to understand what Ye Qing had done these years.

Wait until you start, clean up the old mountains and rivers, and go to the sky.

Zhao Kuo ignored the footsteps that stopped not far behind him, muttered the last sentence of Man Jianghong again, and then after a while, after calming down his mind, he slowly turned around.

Standing in the tall and majestic city tower on the city wall, looking at Liu Ke, who was standing at the entrance of the huge city tower. At this moment, behind Liu Ke was a city wall road as spacious as Lin'an Imperial Street, and Liu Ke's figure seemed so small under such a comparison.

Just like Zhao Kuo standing alone in this towering city tower, he seemed so small, like an ant.

"My teacher Liu Ke has met the emperor." After Wei Jing retreated quietly, Liu Ke, who was standing outside the gate of the city tower, respectfully bowed to Zhao Kuo in Cheng Tower.

"Mr. Liu, don't have to be polite, please get up quickly." Zhao Kuo's face suddenly appeared with a smile. He walked slowly to Liu Keshi who had stood up, looked up and down at the old man who was over fifty years old in front of him, and said with a smile: "I have only heard of Lord Liu over the years, and I don't know who he is. Seeing Lord Liu today is a wish in my heart. Here, I really want to thank you. Everything I have done for my great Song Dynasty over the years is what I have done for my country and country. Now I have come to Yanjing, so Lord Liu, in order to reward you for your efforts to the court over the years, how do you want me to reward you?"

"I dare not take credit for me. The current situation in the north is because of the King of Yan, and I... I just acted according to orders, so I must not ask the emperor for rewards." Liu Keshi took a step back calmly when facing Zhao Kuo who was slowly walking to him.

This quiet retreat, in Zhao Kuo's eyes, seemed to deliberately keep a distance from him and not want to be with him.

Zhao Kuo felt a little turbulent, but he was soon covered up. After a tolerant smile, he no longer paid attention to Liu Keshi who was respectful in front of him. He stepped out of the city tower and slowly moved forward along the spacious flat wall road like Lin'an Imperial Street.

Master Liu Ke turned around and followed far behind, and a king and a minister walked silently on the empty city wall.

"The north is indeed completely different from the north I imagined. I thought... it was just bigger than Lin'an, the mountains were higher than the mountains in the south, and the water was heavier than the south, and the climate was clearer, just like the folk customs and personalities of the people in the north, and how could that be said... the bachelor's eyes don't rub the sand, right?" Zhao Kuo stroked the wide city wall and turned around and asked Master Liu Ke, who was only five steps behind him.

Just as Master Liu Ke was thinking about how to respond to Zhao Kuo's usual question, Zhao Kuo continued: "But when he really came to the North and stood firmly on this territory, I realized that this North... is completely different from the North I thought of."

"The Master is meticulous and able to discover the difference between the north and the south in such a short time can only show that... the Master is wise." Liu Keshi, who was originally a scholar, now looks more like a native northern official in Zhao Kuo's eyes. Unlike the officials in the south, the officials here all have a mouth... for example, although it is not very appropriate to be stupid, it can also be seen that officials in the northern part seem to be not good at talking.

Look, even the second person in the North who is known as the most powerful than Ye Qing, who speaks so bluntly and clumsy when facing him, Zhao Kuo.

"Haha... Master Liu Ke, this sounds like I can't help but feel sorry for it, but I don't have any

It turns out that you are flattering me." Zhao Kuo laughed twice, slapped the thick city wall with one hand.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Master Liu Ke's face. He naturally admitted that he was stupid and clumsy. Of course, he also knew very well that the reason why he became so ignorant of flattery was entirely because of Ye Qing's influence, just like the career he had originally thought was hopeless in his life, but he was able to reach such a high position today, entirely because he was given by Ye Qing.

In recent years, Liu Keshi's pragmatic style in the north and Ye Qing's high and strict requirements for him, and under Ye Qing's command, he mainly focused on various matters that were pacified after the war. Naturally, he forced him to act in a decisive and straightforward style. A little indecisive and hesitant may lead to threats and bargaining from all the major gentry and wealthy families in a newly captured city.

So over the years, before he knew it, Liu Keshi had already lost the scholar's pedantic and stubbornness, and thus became an official who was just a decisive and decisive.

The smile quickly disappeared from Zhao Kuo's face. Standing on the city wall and looking at the green mountains, it seemed as if you could see the passes guarding many soldiers. It is conceivable that if the North and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are now without Ye Qing, then the passes of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun... can they really be as solid as a rock?

Zhao Kuo had no answer in his heart, because he didn't know how fast the Mongols on the grassland were on the horse's back, nor did he know what the barbaric and poor Mongols were relying on to capture these passes that were like natural barriers.

However, since Zhao Kuo experienced the fight between Ziqi and Luodian and Dali, he had long since dared to regard war as a joke and despise those foreigners who seemed to be unclothed but were particularly fierce and barbaric as he was originally.

"The land I stepped on under my feet is the territory of my Song Dynasty?" Zhao Kuo, with a solemn expression, turned his head and looked at Liu Keshi behind him and suddenly asked.

Master Liu Ke's face was calm, and there was no sign of any strangeness. He replied respectfully: "Of course it is the territory of the Song Dynasty. Whether it is the towering and majestic New Yanjing City or the long and continuous green mountains in the distance, it is the territory of the Song Dynasty."

"All the world is the king's land, and the shores of the land are the king's ministers. Therefore, the ministers in Yanjing City and even the northern part are also my ministers, right?" Zhao Kuo turned completely and asked Liu Keshi.

Liu Keshi's calm expression suddenly became slightly turbulent. He frowned and said, "What the emperor said is that not only the entire northern land, but it will not take long. Even the large areas of territory and cities outside Yuguan will become the territory of our Song Dynasty under the attack of the King of Yan's cavalry."

"So I can trust the King of Yan with complete confidence, right?" Zhao Kuowen's ambiguousness did not mean that he believed that the King of Yan could attack the Jin Kingdom outside the Yu Pass and expand territory for the Song Dynasty, or that he believed that the King of Yan was loyal to the Song court.

"Of course, the emperor can completely believe that the King of Yan can incorporate the entire Jin Kingdom into the territory of our Song Dynasty in the near future." Liu Keshi's words not only answered Zhao Kuo's question, but also gave Zhao Kuo a position that could only be understood but not expressed, that is, no matter what, Liu Keshi would follow the leader of the King of Yan Ye Qingma.

Therefore, the King of Yan believed that the territory conquered was the territory of the Song court, and that was the territory of the Song court. If King of Yan thought it was not, his Liu Keshi would never classify those territory as the Song court.

Zhao Kuo was a little discouraged, even a little displeased. Liu Keshi's words and attitudes had completely expressed his position, that is: After Zhao Kuo came to Yanjing, if you want to get along well, then nothing will happen in Yanjing. However, if something happened in Yanjing City that was unfavorable to the King of Yan, Zhao Kuo believed that Liu Keshi would immediately turn against others. Even if he was the emperor of the Song court, it would be in the eyes of Liu Keshi.

Zhao Kuo, who figured this out, could no longer see the slightest respect he respected to him from Master Liu Ke. On the contrary, the respectful Liu Ke in front of him made Zhao Kuo realize that Master Liu Ke’s respectful attitude towards him at this time was because of the face of King Yan.

Therefore, Master Liu Ke’s respectful attitude was not against himself, but Ye Qing, who was far away in Liaoyang.

Zhao Kuo took a deep breath, calmed down his respectful attitude towards Liu Keshi, but he was slightly unhappy and continued to ask: "Where is Yu Yunwen's next move?"

"Return to the emperor... I really don't know about this." Liu Keshi bowed slightly and said.

A nameless fire suddenly rose in Zhao Kuo's heart, but looking at Master Liu Ke's expression that was not like a lying, Zhao Kuo suppressed the anger in his heart and asked calmly: "You Liu Ke has always been known as the second person in the north. Do you think you don't know about Yu Yunwen's army? "

When Liu Keshi faced Zhao Kuo's questioning, he almost rolled his eyes habitually, and then asked: You, the emperor, don't know, I am a third-rank official, why do you have to know?

However, he just thought about this kind of anti-question in his heart, so he naturally did not say it in front of Zhao Kuo.

"The emperor, I am known as the second person in the north, but it is just a spread of rumors and exaggeration. My mission in the north has always been to do those tedious post-war comfort matters after the King of Yan conquered the city and conquered the land. In addition, if I have some time, I will only provide food and grass for the army that went to the King of Yan to fight. I have no right to participate in the rest of the matter, and I dare not inquire about it privately." After Liu Keshi finished speaking, he saw that Zhao Kuo was about to question it, so he hurriedly said: "Yes, I have led troops to fight, but that was the time when he followed the King of Yan to attack Xia in the early years. And because of the situation, there was no one under the King of Yan's command, so I pulled me out to make up for the number. Although the minister lucky enough to lead the army to win a few games in the last battle,... to be honest, I don't know how I won until now."

Facing Liu Keshi's explanation, Zhao Kuo was so angry that he laughed. Especially when he looked at Liu Keshi's innocent old face, Zhao Kuo could even imagine that when the King of Yan was helpless, he pulled Liu Keshi out to lead his troops to fight, Liu Keshi's confusion and nervousness came.

"The King of Yan claimed to have hundreds of thousands of troops in the north, so how could he not even take out a few generals when he attacked Xia?" Zhao Kuo asked with interest.

When Yan King Ye Qing attacked Xia, Liu Keshi was not as old as he is now, and Zhao Kuo had not become emperor yet, and even... At that time, he didn't know anything about it and was still playing with peeing mud.

However, Zhao Kuo later asked Li Fengniang about the scene when Ye Qing was attacking Xia, including how Ye Qing got to where he was today step by step.

Some things that are at a high level.

It is precisely because of the grudges and grudges between Ye Qing and the court, or the royal family, that after so many years, it can almost be said that the decline of the royal family and the rise of Ye Qing are almost the same in the timeline.

Emperor Gaozong wanted to find a handy knife, but finally chose Ye Qing, who was the head of the Lin'an Imperial Guard at that time. Ye Qing also seized the opportunity given to him by Emperor Gaozong, which made him unable to destroy the knife even in the end, but he failed. Instead, the weapon became sharper and even to the point of hurting others and oneself.

The court did not want to raise tigers as a disaster, so from Emperor Gaozong to Zhao Kuo's succession to Emperor Song Ting, almost every emperor had thought of getting rid of Ye Qing's weapon that could hurt others and himself. But in the end, everyone failed, but Ye Qing became more and more brave and braver, and finally reached such a high position today.

Nowadays, there are even such rumors in the north: there may be no Lin'an court in the north, but it must not be guarded by the King of Yan.

This is also the words Zhao Kuo heard almost every day after he traveled from Lin'an to Yanjing, especially the folk rumors in some restaurants and tea shops, which regarded this matter as a must-have topic of conversation for drinking every day.

Zhao Kuo, who came back to his senses, nodded subconsciously in the face of Liu Keshi's tacit eyes and said, "Yes, the situation at that time was indeed very difficult for King Yan, and it can be called internal and external troubles."

"The current situation is also very difficult for the King of Yan." Liu Keshi said calmly, obviously because he was trying to make some sense.

Zhao Kuo looked up at Liu Ke in surprise, then nodded and smiled: "Yes, the current situation is also very difficult for the King of Yan, so you, Liu Ke, blame me for coming?"

"I don't dare." Liu Keshi said hurriedly.

Zhao Kuo deeply understood that Liu Ke's ministers dared not blame him for saying this and did not dare to blame him. This does not mean that he came to Yanjing. It is right for Liu Ke's master, right?

"Why did you suddenly return to Yanjing from Liaoyang?" Zhao Kuo asked with a question.

"My mission in Liaoyang has been completed, so I will naturally return to Yanjing." Liu Keshi frowned and replied.

Zhao Kuo summoned him to come over. He originally wanted to accompany him to the Yanjing Prefecture Office, but now he has been standing on the city wall. Moreover, Zhao Kuo's questions always seem so jumping and illogical.

Liu Keshi was shocked when he thought of this, and suddenly looked up at Zhao Kuo, who was looking into the distance again, and said intimately: Does such an illogical question mean... At this moment, Zhao Kuo was actually full of contradictions and entanglements? Does that mean that until now, he didn't know how to face the King of Yan and how to move the capital to Yanjing in the future?

Thinking of this, Master Liu Ke thought about it a little quickly in his mind, and then figured out some joints and Zhao Kuozhao himself. After the possible purpose, Master Liu Ke said tentatively: "Master, you just asked about Yu Yunwen's next move. Although I don't know, I guess..."

"Oh? Then you might as well talk about what will Yu Yunwen do next?" Zhao Kuo turned around and asked immediately without waiting for Master Liu Ke to finish his words.

"If I guess well, Yu Yunwen's next move should be further north. The purpose may be to the King of Yan to restrain him and beware of the Mongols who might have coveted the Jin Kingdom for a long time and Yelu Liuge's family." Liu Keshi said seriously.

"Mongols? Haven't the Mongolians been expeditioning Hualazimo and are continuing to move westward?" Zhao Kuo frowned and asked in a question.

"Yes, what the emperor said is very true. However... I think that at present, Wanyan Xun of the Jin Kingdom is going to mobilize a large army to attack Liaoyang. After Danluo returned to Liaoyang, the King of Yan naturally had to fight against Wanyan Xun head-on. At this time, the King of Yan had not had many troops in the Jin Kingdom, but because of the rebellion and win-win strategy over the years, the King of Yan might send an army from Changling, the Jin Kingdom to the capital Huining Prefecture when Wanyan Xun led his army to attack Liaoyang. Once the Changling defenders left Changling, the Mongols, especially Yelu Liuge, would definitely think about attacking Changling, so as to completely lock the Jin Kingdom in the gate between the two mountains, so that they could not enter and exit freely." Liu Keshi said quickly.

Zhao Kuo was silently digesting Master Liu Ke's guess, and at the same time, he also judged in his heart whether the reason why Master Liu Ke's guess was true or not was just for the purpose of eliminating his own doubts.

"If Changling was a Jin general, would he really obey Ye Qing's order?" Zhao Kuo asked solemnly.

"The imperial guards stationed in Changling are... an old friend who has known the King of Yan for many years. This person is loyal to the former emperor of the Jin Kingdom, Wanyan Jing and Queen Li Shier..." Liu Keshi replied seriously.

"Qi Shilie's Gods Slave?" Zhao Kuo had already guessed that the old friend of King Yan might be the Qishilie's Gods Slave.

"That's right." Master Liu Ke replied.

Zhao Kuo let out a long sigh, and the big stone pressing on his heart finally fell to the ground.

Because of this, it can be explained clearly that the reason why the five thousand elite soldiers in Yanjing City still did not withdraw from Yanjing after they arrived.

"Does the King of Yan know about the big and small things in Yanjing now?" Zhao Kuo thought for a while, then began to walk down the city wall first, slowly down the steps, and asked Master Liu Ke behind him.

"I know." Liu Ke replied sternly.

Without Zhao Kuo's words, Liu Keshi also knew that after understanding the movements of Yu Yunwen's army in Ruzhou, Zhao Kuo would have to understand or solve it next, which was probably the matter of the 5,000 elite soldiers in Yanjing City.

However, Liu Keshi had already made up his mind on the way to come. No matter whether the Yan Prince's Mansion would make concessions, Liu Keshi would never make concessions. Even if he died, he would keep these five thousand elite soldiers in Yanjing City and take care of the entire Yan Prince's Mansion.

"You know about the 5,000 elite soldiers around the Yan Prince's Mansion?" Zhao Kuo pretended to ask inadvertently when he was about to walk down the steps.

"The King of Yan doesn't know about this, and it's not the idea of ​​the Prince of Yan's Mansion." Liu Keshi replied in a stiff tone.

"Oh? Whose idea was that?" Zhao Kuo was slightly stunned and asked.

"Li Heng's idea." Liu Keshi replied: "Li Heng was transferred back to Yanjing by the King of Yan from Xiping Prefecture last year."
Chapter completed!