Shen Kuo gains further reputation at court once he is dispatched as an envoy to the Khitan Liao Dynasty in the summer of 1075.

The Khitans have made several aggressive negotiations of pushing their borders south, while manipulating several incompetent Chinese ambassadors who concede to the Liao Kingdom's demands.

In a brilliant display of diplomacy, Shen Kuo comes to the camp of the Khitan monarch at Mt. Yongan (near modern Pingquan, Hebei), armed with copies of previously archived diplomatic negotiations between the Song and Liao dynasties.

Shen Kuo refutes Emperor Daozong's bluffs point for point, while the Song reestablish their rightful border line.