The Little Officials of the Song Dynasty

Yun Yan saw that Xing Zong believed it was true, and even praised Melon Essence against his will, feeling amused and speechless.Li Xingjian was really listless, that is to say, communication was underdeveloped at this time.

After tasting the ginseng fruit, Xingzong ordered people to serve wine and play music.

Li's father was a diplomatic mission to the Liao Kingdom, so he gave Yun Yanhui and Zhao Yunchu a popular science at this time, "In the Liao Kingdom, wine and music are combined. Generally, there must be wine when playing music. When drinking, the favorite thing is to add to the fun."

This belongs to the national characteristics of Khitan. The wine served is also a popular milk wine in Liao.The wines most commonly drunk by Liao people are fruit wine and milk wine, especially milk wine. Because of the developed animal husbandry, there are many kinds of milk wine.

Liao Chen seized the opportunity to brag: "Your envoy brought mellow wine, but our milk wine is not bad at all, so you can never go home without getting drunk today."

The wine given to the Liao Kingdom by the Song Dynasty was very popular. There was no such wine in the Liao Kingdom. The Liao people were fond of wine, so every time the Song envoy sent the wine, it was given to the courtiers by the Liao Emperor as a reward.

Of course, when facing the envoy Song, of course one cannot show weakness.

But with Hanchen's mind, he would not get drunk at such a banquet, so Li Xingjian only drank a few sips.

It doesn't matter if Yunyan returns, the alcohol content of this milk wine is not as high as that of wine, he drank a whole bowl in a row to get a taste of it.When Liao Chen saw him, he felt that people should not be judged by appearances. Among these Song envoys, the deputy envoy, who seemed the weakest, actually drank the most arrogantly.

As the banquet began, everyone began to drink, and the musicians also performed in the hall.Wearing narrow sleeves with the characteristics of the Liao Kingdom, most of the men have beards, and the women also have healthy complexions.

Yelu Niaolu, as a qualified embassy envoy, conscientiously introduced them to them. At this time, the performance was Sanyue.

Compared with the songs of the Song Dynasty, the songs are more extensive, with a heroic meaning, and seem to have a stronger religious color.

Yelv Niaolu translated the lyrics into Chinese and told them: "This song is about the origin of our Khitan people. In the beginning, there was a god-man riding a white horse from Mayu Mountain down the Tuhe River. A goddess Driving a green ox cart, from the flat pine forest down the Henghe River, they met at the confluence of the two rivers, where they became husband and wife.

"Gods and goddesses thrived in Muye Mountain. Later, there were eight tribes including Yuling, Mulian, and Xiwandan, and gradually formed Khitan."

Many ethnic groups have the characteristics of integrating folk customs and legends into song and dance performances. From the works of art of a country, you can see their history and soul.

After two rounds of drinking, dancers, both men and women, came up and performed traditional Khitan dances.

The people of Liao love singing and dancing very much. The monarchs and ministers all smiled and swayed along with the singing and dancing performances. They felt that if they could, they could stand up and dance together anytime and anywhere.

According to Yelu Niaolu, the content of this dance also reflects the Khitan national culture, referring to their four-season travel system.

There are five capitals in the Liao Kingdom, Shangjing is the imperial capital, and there are four capitals in the southeast, west, and middle.As the seasons change, the monarchs and ministers of the country will move. During winter and spring, they will be in Shangjing, and in other seasons they will be in other capitals.

This unique system is probably inseparable from their nomadic characteristics.

Regardless of whether the Song envoys enjoyed it or not, they all watched with a smile.

Yun Yanhui thinks it is quite good. The Khitan ethnic group has "disappeared" in modern times and merged with other ethnic groups.Now, it is very lucky to see the original flavor of Khitan singing and dancing.

In addition to performances in Khitan, these songs and dances also include dances and music in the styles of Song Dynasty and Bohai Kingdom. The whole structure is more casual. .

Many Liao officials sang along, and even Yelu Niaolu simply slapped the table with his hands to beat the time together.

When it was time to rise up, Xingzong actually stepped down from the throne again. All the officials did not respond, but the Han envoys felt strange.

At this time, Xingzong walked into the hall, snatched the musician's pipa, and then started to play the pipa himself!

Yun Yan replied: "..."

The other musicians did not stop, but their voices were slightly softer, so as to highlight Xingzong.Xingzong played the pipa and sang at the same time, and the Liao officials showed intoxicated expressions...

Yunyan returned to the capital in a mess in the wind, feeling very magical, turning her head to look at Li and Zhao Yunchu also looked confused, Li Xingjian was also slightly stunned, showing a vague expression of disapproval.

The king of a country actually goes up to perform in person, or in front of foreign envoys, which is too inconsistent with etiquette.Although the Liao Kingdom promotes Confucian culture, it still cannot change its habits.

But this is the emperor, what else could Li Xingjian say, he quickly adjusted his expression, smiled, and gave the others a wink.

Yun Yanhui and the others responded with winks, adjusted their expressions, smiled, and tried to smile.

Xingzong was completely excited. He stepped on the drum, swayed around, played the pipa and sang. His eyes were still looking around, looking for everyone's approval...

Liao officials are used to it, and every time they meet Xingzong's eyes, they will be more intoxicated, as if they are immersed in his singing.Some sycophants even made various gestures according to the content of the lyrics, almost standing up to accompany the dancer.

Xingzong sang and sang, as if remembering that this was a banquet to welcome the envoys of the Song Dynasty, and walked up to them, playing the pipa while stepping on dance steps, and communicating with the envoys of the Song Dynasty with rich facial expressions when singing, He also found time to extend a hand and invite Li Xingjian to join him.

Li Xingjian: "..."

The old man's expression was a little green, but as an old driver, he was still very calm, pretending not to understand, and raised a glass of wine to Xingzong.

Then Xingzong turned to the table of the deputy envoys, and the three deputy envoys were busy serving wine...

Yun Yanhui didn't feel that it was impolite for the emperor to play and dance at the banquet like Li Xingjian did. After all, this is a national characteristic of the family, but if there is a disagreement and dance, then let it be...!

Fortunately, Xingzong didn't force them to embarrass themselves, and when he saw them drinking, he turned back.

Everyone looked at each other, and they all saw the meaning of rejoicing in each other's eyes.If Li Xingjian hadn't set a good example here, they really didn't know how to gracefully refuse an emperor's invitation to dance.

Xingzong played the pipa for a while, and then he enjoyed himself, and returned to the throne as if nothing had happened.

After the banquet, the envoys of Song Dynasty returned to the embassy and got together to discuss the previous experience.

Li Yi said inexplicably: "My father once said that the rituals and music of the Liao Kingdom are a bit casual, and the monarchs, ministers and people love dancing and music. However, it seems that such a thing that the king of the country plays music and dances at banquets only happens at their private banquets. Did not appear at the banquet with envoys."

Yun Yan replied speechlessly: "Then what's wrong with their monarch, did he drink fake wine?"

Li Xingjian said with a pale face: "It's really..."

He couldn't go on, and he was extremely disapproving in his heart.

Yun Yan replied that the reasons for their disapproval were different from theirs, so she didn't take it to heart the most, and went to sleep easily after eating a snack.

Zhao Yunchu secretly went to sleep in Yunyan's room at night, still wanting to discuss with Yunyan, "Brother Yan, what do you mean the king of Liao drank fake wine? Is there something wrong with that wine? Any medicine?"

Yun Yanhui almost laughed out loud, "Why are you still thinking about this?"

Of course, this kind of thing has a greater impact on an authentic ancient person, Zhao Yunchu pursed his lips, "Can you imagine that the official family played the pipa at the banquet?"

Yun Yan thought about it for a while, and suddenly felt chills, "This is not the same meaning. The Emperor Liao played the pipa at the banquet, which is almost the same as our official family composing a poem at the banquet."

It's just that the awkward dance later... otherwise Yun Yan would appreciate it.

When Yunyan said this, Zhao Yunchu could accept it a little bit, thinking about it, after all, you can't use their Song people's ideas to make demands on Liao people, and these Liao people are still incestuous.

——The marriage system of the Liao Kingdom is quite special. Only the Yelu family and the Xiao family are allowed to intermarry, regardless of seniority, so there will be situations where uncles marry nieces and grandfathers marry granddaughters.For so many years, almost all the queens of the Yelu clan of the Khitan royal family were Xiao clan.

The two slept quietly together for one night, and Zhao Yunchu slipped back to his room early the next morning.

……

A few days later, it will be the first day of the first lunar month. Today, Emperor Liao will entertain the envoys of Song Dynasty again, and the music shed has been set up. The Confucian troupe will perform the classic Bian opera "Looking for Love Fish" which is popular in Bianjing for the first time in Liao Kingdom.

I don’t know how many nobles of the Liao Kingdom are looking forward to this moment. They have all admired Bian Opera for a long time, including Xingzong’s harem concubines. Everyone knows that Bian Opera will be staged today, and they all count the days to wait.

Yun Yan accompanied Kong Ji into the palace ahead of time, and went to check the stage. Most of the props were brought from Bianjing. The stage was not as good as Pu Guanze's big stage, and the surrounding environment was average, but it was enough.

The members of the Kong family class took the time to rehearse, making sure there was no problem, and then began to put on makeup.

This time the banquet was held in the Hall of Culture, and the schedule was similar to that of the previous one, except that halfway through the banquet, Xingzong ordered everyone to move outside the hall to watch a special gift from the Song Dynasty—the Bian Opera performance.

The courtiers and concubines of the Liao Kingdom could not wait for a long time. When Xingzong gave an order, everyone stood up and moved outside.

The curtain slowly opened, the light gauze embroidered with flying flowers, and the scholar in green shirt stood motionless on the side of the stage, like a painting. This scene alone made the nobles of the Liao Kingdom clap their hands and applaud.

This is expected, not to mention them, even the people of Song Dynasty have never seen such a stage arrangement before, let alone the people of Liao Kingdom who are more heroic in their aspects.

The sound of the pipa flowed like water, and the scholar on the stage followed the music, moved his body, walked a few steps very rhythmically, stood in the center of the stage, flicked his sleeves, and the painting came to life.

This kind of aesthetics is very classical in the Han family, but the nobles of the Liao Kingdom were deeply influenced, so they can understand it very well.

Previously, only the libretto and unauthentic singing methods were passed down through word of mouth, but now Bian opera is performed by professional artists, coupled with a very innovative stage design, which really amazes everyone.

Due to limited time, the whole performance was not performed, but only [-]% of the performance was performed.It stands to reason that there will be other dance and music performances in the future, but the nobles of the Liao Kingdom strongly demanded to continue the performance. Although they all knew the plot, after the first two discounts, everyone agreed that the complete performance is the most amazing.

Xingzong was even more impressed. No wonder Kong Ji insisted on performing on stage. This Bian opera is not only the art of singing, but also includes dance beauty, makeup and so on.

Under everyone's strong request, Xingzong also broke the process and asked Kong Jiaban to continue the performance.

At night, the whole play came to an end, and the applause could not stop for a long time. The Liao people were still immersed in the performance just now, and they could only feel the lingering sound, which was unforgettable.

Zhao Yunchu whispered back to Yunyan: "Brother Yan, is it time to 'start'?"

Yun Yan looked back at the Liao people who were mesmerized, and replied in a low voice: "What's the hurry, it's not time to start the slaughter."