Jiuxi

Chapter 395 Chapter 393 [Dragon and Tiger]

Jingchao, the northern suburbs of Dadu, the royal hunting ground.

Every June 25th is the Zhonghe Festival of the Jinglian people. It is the most important festival of the Jinglian people besides the New Year Festival and Shengyuan Festival.

For three consecutive days, there was a sea of ​​celebration in the capital city. Officials rested at home, people stopped working, and the court distributed meat, rice and noodles to the people as usual. The streets and alleys were filled with an atmosphere of joy.

In the southeast of the hunting ground, a group of Jinglian aristocratic men, luxuriously dressed and full of accessories, were performing a traditional activity called "shooting willows".

The so-called willow shooting refers to planting a row of willow trees on both sides of the flat ground. The people participating in the willow shooting are arranged in order according to their superiority, and then each chooses a willow branch a few inches from the ground, and cuts off part of the green bark on the willow branch. Then tie your own handkerchief as a sign.

After the willow shooting begins, one person will gallop in front as the leader, and the participants will follow behind. Then they shoot the willow branches they have selected with arrows without tail feathers. Each person is limited to three arrows, and the others will knock Drums and shouting to support the sound.

After participants shoot off their own willow branches, Pegasus rushes over before they hit the ground and catches the falling willow branches with their hands. The broken part happens to be where the skin was peeled, which is considered the best. Even if you shoot to break the willow branch but cannot catch it, this is inferior. All other situations are judged as losers.

Shooting willows extremely tests the participants' eyesight and riding and shooting skills. For the Jinglian nobles who have lived on horseback since childhood, this is one of the ways to show their personal strength, so it is very popular among young men.

What's more, His Majesty the Emperor is here today. He is having a banquet with a group of Jinglian nobles in a pergola not far away.

At this moment, a burst of even more enthusiastic cheers rang out from the willow shooting field. A young prince was seen galloping on his horse. He drew his bow and nocked an arrow while traveling at high speed, and shot down a willow stick with just one arrow.

The humiliation Lu Chen imposed on her, using her safety to threaten Jing Chao, and thus making her father's situation in the court even more difficult, were all indisputable facts that she did not dare or forget for a day.

The young prince did not return, and rode his horse straight to the vicinity of Qingyu Huaijin. Then he jumped down, walked up to Qingyu Huaijin with a smile on his face, and said, "Princess Yongping, I give this wicker to you. Please don’t dislike it.”

but……

But during the time when she was captured in Heluo City, Lu Chen respected her and did not let her suffer the true treatment of a prisoner.

Seeing him taking the initiative to walk towards Qing Yu Huaijin, there was a burst of cheers there, including Brother Hai's two royal brothers. Naturally, Prince Nalan was serving Emperor Jing at the pavilion.

Brother Hai was well loved by Emperor Jing. He had a cheerful and open-minded personality, was proficient in bow and horse, and often studied the art of war. He was full of ideas of conquering the world for his father and the crown prince brother.

His three elder brothers are all married, and the eldest prince Alihenalan was established as the crown prince three years ago, and everyone in the government and the public agrees.

If her father hadn't insisted on bringing her here, she would have preferred to stay at home and think about how to deal with the enemies in the south.

The cheers around him grew louder.

However, now when she looks at those strong figures on the field, she can't help but compare herself to the Nan Qi Wuxun who brought her humiliation.

Amidst the noise and shouting, a tall, slim and graceful woman stood a little far away from the group of young men, looking calmly at the galloping horses on the field.

Before the wicker tree fell to the ground, the young prince rushed over, picked it up calmly, and then waved to everyone.

Since she returned to Dadu, no one would knowingly mention Lu Chen's name in front of her, but that person's face and voice would always quietly appear in her mind.

She knew that Lu Chen's actions had little to do with her personally. It was mainly out of the consideration of grabbing benefits from Jing Dynasty, and at the same time, he also wanted to drive a wedge between the Qingyu family and the Jing Dynasty royal family.

Qingyu Huaijin looked at the activities in the willow shooting field and suddenly felt that his interest was waning.

Although Emperor Jing may not always be able to pay attention to what is going on in the shooting field, the final results will definitely be reported. Naturally, these young people on the field are all fighting for the lead, and even the princes are not far behind.

He is the 19-year-old Ali Hehai brother, the fourth son of Emperor Jing.

As an aristocratic woman who had witnessed the rise of the Jing Dynasty, she certainly knew the miserable fate of prisoners on the battlefield, especially women. This was why she wanted to die outside the Heluo Palace that day.

Once upon a time, like most Jinglian women, she felt that these men of the same race who were skilled in bows and horses were quite brave. Regardless of whether they met the standards in her heart, they were at least far stronger than those timid and timid rotten scholars in the south.

This is a very complicated emotion.

Brother Hai smiled and cursed twice, then looked at the woman in front of him expectantly.

Qingyu Huaijin looked at the wicker in his hand and said calmly: "This is His Highness's trophy. I dare not accept it."

Brother Hai suffocated slightly, then smiled and said: "Yongping, what kind of trophy is this? When I lead the army for my father and His Royal Highness in the future and bring back all the good things from the south, you can take whatever you like. "

Qingyu Huaijin said with a smile: "Then I will accept your reward when His Highness wins the victory." Brother Hai was a little shy, so he immediately took back his hand with a slight embarrassment, and said with great pride: "Then It’s settled!”

Qingyu Huaijin said no more.

Under the pergola in the distance, Emperor Jing smiled and looked at the nobles who were changing cups and cups below. His narrow and deep eyes immediately turned to the other side, and he happened to see the fourth son Hai Ge and Qing Yu Huaijin standing opposite, and couldn't help but smile: " The kid Yongping should go out more often, go hunting with Lao Si and the others from time to time to relax, instead of just being bored in the house."

Everyone knows that Emperor Jing cared deeply for Qingyu Huaijin and even used tens of thousands of horses to rescue her from the Qi people.

After Emperor Jing spoke, the surrounding area immediately fell silent. The other nobles naturally had their own thoughts after hearing these words. Qing Yugong seemed not to notice the glances from others, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty is very kind, and I would like to thank you for your grace on behalf of my little daughter. "

Emperor Jing smiled, stood up and said, "The two marshals will accompany me for a walk. You continue to have a banquet. You will not return until you are drunk today."

"The minister obeys the order."

Everyone quickly stood up and saluted.

The Royal Hunting Ground occupies a large area with excellent scenery.

The cool breeze blows on the grass, dissipating the summer heat a lot.

Qing Yugong and Sa Gai followed Emperor Jing, both of them looking intently, obviously not having any idea of ​​communicating secretly.

After the more than 10,000 war horses were handed over, several major military nobles of the Jing Dynasty were moving closer to Sa Gai, and they were quite dissatisfied with Qing Yugong, the marshal of the South Courtyard, because the Battle of Heluo really humiliated the Jinglian people. The root cause lies in the fact that Qingyu Huaijin was accidentally captured.

Originally, the strength of the Qingyu clan was only lower than that of the royal family, and a level higher than that of the Huiluo clan, who was born in Sagai. However, as several other major clans changed their stance, the two sides gradually reached a delicate balance.

Emperor Jing looked at the green greenery in front of him and said leisurely: "The Qi State Court Hall has been very busy recently."

Sa Gai echoed: "I have read the relevant report, and I didn't expect that the Emperor of Southern Qi would have such courage and fight against the powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River under such great pressure. What's even more surprising is that he could still achieve results."

The reason why he dared to openly exaggerate the Southern Qi Emperor was because Emperor Jing always required his subordinates to tell the truth. He could neither be afraid of enemies outside the Jing Dynasty nor deliberately despise nonsense.

Emperor Jing smiled and said: "Li Duan is a very capable man. If the late Emperor of Southern Qi had made him the crown prince and abdicated early, our cavalry might not have been able to cross the north of the river. Even so, he fled to Yongjia alone to support Southern Qi. The imperial court is gathering power little by little, plundering money from those nobles to support the development of the border army, so that Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun have no worries, which shows that they should not be underestimated. "

Having said this, he stopped and turned to look at Qing Yugong and asked, "How does Prince Changshan view this matter?"

Qing Yugong muttered: "Your Majesty, the Emperor of Southern Qi made the right choice. If he wants to rectify his military preparedness to deal with our army, it is imperative to weaken the clans in the south of the Yangtze River. But in my opinion, his actions are a little too urgent."

Emperor Jing narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a smile: "The prince is indeed meticulous, and I think so too."

Sa Gai couldn't help but lower his head, feeling a little more disgusted with Qing Yugong in his heart.

Emperor Jing continued: "Judging from Li Duan's performance in the past fourteen years, he is a very patient and calm person, but his behavior in the past few months has highlighted the word "impatient". Tell me, a person who is relaxed in dealing with things Why did the Youdu emperor suddenly undergo such a big change? What is the reason that makes him eager to eliminate internal troubles? You know, our dynasty has not sent troops yet. "

Qing Yugong whispered: "Maybe... it's because he is not going to die soon."

Sa Gai was shocked.

Emperor Jing was not happy when he heard this. He looked up at the clear sky and said slowly: "If this is really the case, it would be a pity. Among all the monarchs in the world, only Li Duan is barely worthy of being my opponent."

The two marshals had no objection to this.

After Emperor Jing ascended the throne, he used strong tactics to cool down the Jinglian nobles, so that the dynasty, which relied on killing to continue to grow stronger and stronger, stopped the momentum of expansion. On the premise of consolidating the internal foundation, he planned the world in an orderly manner.

Such a character and vision are no less than those of the wise kings recorded in history books in the south.

Emperor Jing withdrew his gaze and said: "Of course, this is a good thing for our court, and I will not be too pretentious. Since Li Duan is not in good health, then my court will naturally give him some big gifts to speed up his Death. After autumn, Nanyuan can send a few elite troops south to go to Yan State’s Dongyang Road to kill the Qi State’s frontier troops.”

Qing Yu bowed his head respectfully and said, "I obey your order."

Emperor Jing turned to look at Sa Gai and said calmly: "The final victory or defeat will not be determined in the southern battlefield for a while. I will not underestimate Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun. But the world is so big that it does not need to be limited to one place. I have said before I told you that if I can conquer the seven tribes of Shazhou, my cavalry can ignore the Hengjiang River and go straight to the heart of Qi. Therefore, I will give you a month to think about how to avoid disturbing the world. Under such circumstances, the land in Shazhou will be included in the pocket."

Sa Gai grinned, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

(End of this chapter)