Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 250 Same people but different fates

Just as before, Huo Shan followed Liu Che to perform the Dengfeng ceremony and spent a night on the mountain.

We prayed to gods and Buddhas along the way, and then went down the mountain from Shanyin.

Although they were a little tired, Liu Che and Huo Xian did not look tired. So some things were done immediately. When the emperor came down the mountain, he naturally accepted the congratulations of all officials in the Mingtang.

As the Grand Marshal and General of Cavalry, Huo Xian was now the head of all officials, leading them to congratulate the emperor. Then the army continued to set out to worship Hou Tu at Mount Suran, which was the complete worship of heaven and earth.

After offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, they began a short rest before continuing eastwards to the East China Sea in search of the Three Immortal Islands. Liu Che was certain that his destiny as an immortal was in the East.

As for not encountering too many miracles this time, Liu Che was disappointed, but he also completely understood. Immortal fate is so elusive, and it is not easy to obtain immortal fate.

Liu Che lazily got up and asked, "Where's Xian'er? She hasn't gotten up yet?"

Madam Xing replied, "I sent someone to ask earlier, and they said that the Marquis of Guanjun had gone out with his troops. He was carrying a bow and riding a horse, and he said he was going hunting."

Liu Che thought it was absurd and funny. "If we talk about going on tour, he is the happiest. When he was young, he didn't want to stay in the palace. When he grew up, he ran to Shanglin Garden. Now Chang'an can't keep him."

Mrs. Xing didn't know what to say. The Marquis of Guanjun really had a casual personality, and one could even say he was a bit contradictory.

Speaking of pleasure-seeking, many people know that Huo Xian is greedy for food and drink, likes to wear beautiful clothes, eat delicious food, and usually sits and stands in a shabby manner. But when it comes to not fearing hardships, he is not afraid of expeditions thousands of miles away.

Liu Che looked outside the palace gate and asked, "Is Cao Zong outside?"

Cao Zong immediately entered the palace and said, "Your Majesty, I am on duty today."

"Is it Xian'er who is on duty?" Liu Che said unhappily, "It's already this late, and you're still covering up for him. We were planning to have a good rest for two days, so why is he going out hunting?"

Cao Zong quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I am the one on duty today. The Marquis of Guanjun has already arranged that he will not be on duty these days."

This instantly annoyed Liu Che, "Now that the Fengshan ceremony is over, he's already having fun? It seems like unless he goes to the East China Sea, he has sent all the guards out, and he's free to do whatever he wants?"

Cao Zong couldn't say anything because this was arranged by Huo Xian. As long as the emperor gave up on him, some daring person would dare to be lazy openly.

Of course, when things are at their most glorious and brilliant, someone will not be allowed to leave, and he can only make achievements.

Liu Che shook his head, a little envious, "He is young after all. He didn't even have a good rest all the way and he just climbed the mountain. He is good, he still has the mind to go hunting. What prey here is worthy of his attention?"

Cao Zong said, "Your Excellency said that you wanted to go hunt the tiger, and you also said that the bear has come out of its cave, so it's time to go hunt the bear."

Liu Che got a headache when he heard this. Huo Shan wanted to hunt when he was in Shanglin Garden. The rare animals that Liu Che raised had been cultivated by Huo Shan for a long time, and he even had some evil thoughts.

"Him." Liu Che said helplessly, "It's better to kill a tiger this time, otherwise he will make trouble again in the future. If we don't kill a beast, the beasts I raise will suffer."

Shanglin Garden kept some rare animals and birds, which were semi-captive, so that dignitaries could occasionally go hunting. There were also some ferocious animals in captivity, which were kept in tiger gardens and bear gardens just for fun.

For example, before this, Liu Che wanted Li Gan’s son Li Yu to kill a tiger, and that was in the Tiger Garden.

When Emperor Liu Che first ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager, who respected Huang-Lao, was very hostile to Confucianism and asked the Confucian scholar Yuan Gu to go to the animal pen to kill a wild boar. As a result, this disciple of Confucius was very capable and really killed the wild boar with one knife.

Nowadays, many Confucian disciples are good at both literature and martial arts. They are not only good at speaking, but also very proficient in boxing.

Huo Xian had killed many deer, foxes, and even wolves in Shanglin Garden, but he had not caught the tigers and bears he had always dreamed of. So for the sake of his status as the Marquis of Guanjun, he had always wanted to sneak into the beast garden.

When the time comes, just kill him. Who knows where he was beaten?
When the time comes, we can just carry it around Chang'an in a swaggering manner, and people who don't know the truth will admire the bravery of the Champion Marquis.

Just when Liu Che finished washing up, someone suddenly came to report, "Your Majesty, the Palace Attendant Wei Buyi requests to see you."

Liu Che opened his eyes lazily and said, "Xuan."

The dusty Wei Buyi knelt down as soon as he entered the palace, "Your Majesty, I, Wei Buyi, pay my respects to you. Long live your Majesty."

"Long live my life! Can I really live ten thousand years?" Liu Che said irritably, "Why do you have to learn from Shan'er when you can learn from anyone else?"

The people around him all looked strange. Huo Xian called the emperor "Long live the emperor", and the emperor was very happy. Most people even knew that in addition to the so-called "Long live the emperor", he was the first one to call the emperor "Long live the emperor".

Looking at the cowering Wei Buzhi, Liu Che asked, "Why, is there anything you want to report?"

Wei Buyi quickly took out a memorial from his bosom and said, "Your Majesty, I am sending you a report on government affairs under the order of the Crown Prince. Please make your decision."

At this moment, Liu Che was in a much better mood. Although Liu Ju was now the regent and in charge of various government affairs, it did not mean that Emperor Liu Che had completely delegated power. He still held on to great power.

Liu Che looked at the memorial and said, "The Crown Prince has done a good job in encouraging people to grow crops, but why has the Crown Prince repeatedly arrested important officials?"

Wei Buyi quickly replied, "Your Majesty, most of these people were previously connected with the former Grand Coachman Gongsun Jingsheng. These people are in collusion and have neglected horse management. Your Highness the Crown Prince will rectify this."

"Shan'er is not in Chang'an, why are you venting your anger on him now?" Liu Che said unhappily, "Go and tell Shan'er in person that if these criminals have money to redeem their crimes, it's fine, but if they don't have money to redeem their crimes, they will be severely punished."

This way of dealing with things is very normal. The Han Dynasty already had such a system. Unless the crimes were particularly serious, people could pay to be exempted from punishment.

In other words, you pay money to avoid death, or you are killed or tortured.

Liu Che looked at the memorial carefully, and then said, "How is the general doing in recruiting and training soldiers? Why didn't I see you give a detailed account?"

Wei Buyi quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the general is training the Yulin and Qimen, and the Southern Army and the Northern Army are also replacing their weapons and equipment."

"Where is the food and fodder?" Liu Che continued to ask, "The fodder was collected and transported from various places. Wasn't it sent to the north?"

Wei Buyi replied politely, "Your Majesty, we haven't collected all the supplies yet, and there are still some gaps. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has ordered all the border areas to collect troops, horses, and food, and we can march north when Your Majesty gives the order."

Liu Che just nodded, showing no satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Although Liu Che was superstitious and greedy for pleasure, it must be said that as an emperor, his ability was still very outstanding. He also cared a lot about some of the political affairs handled by Liu Ju, and occasionally he was a little dissatisfied.

Although Liu Ju seemed to be a good person, having been the crown prince for more than 20 years, he was quite adept at handling many political affairs and basically did not make any major mistakes.

But the bottom line is that Liu Che's abilities were too outstanding, and when he used his own vision and abilities to demand of others, it was natural that he would feel that everyone he looked at was lacking in ability.

"Go and take a rest." Liu Che looked at Wei Buyi and said, "If you really tire yourself out, it will be hard to explain to the Queen and it will be embarrassing to the General."

Wei Buyi thanked him quickly. He was indeed tired after running all the way and naturally needed to rest when it was time.

"Look at the general's sons, none of them are promising!" Liu Che said unhappily as he looked at Wei Buyi's back, "Wei Kang is a bit promising, but Wei Deng and Wei Buyi, which one of them is capable?"

Huo Guang and others did not dare to respond. The emperor could express his dissatisfaction, and even if the general heard it, he could only agree. But if others followed the emperor's lead, they would offend the general.

If he offended the general, he might not care much. But he might be knocked down by the champion when he was walking on the street. This was something he could do.

"Look at Shan'er, he is more tired than anyone else on this journey, and he went hunting before dawn!" Liu Che said helplessly, "Huo Guang, his followers just let him do whatever he wants?"

Huo Guang stepped forward and said helplessly, "Your Majesty, the troops of Marquis Guanjun have always been loyal and have always followed Marquis Guanjun's orders."

Hearing what Huo Guang said, Liu Che was even more helpless. "There are not many people who are worry-free. Xian'er is not big enough, and those old guys are so heartless? Good children have been corrupted by them!"

Huo Shan was naturally the best. The minor shortcomings he had were definitely caused by the people around him. Liu Che had no doubt about this.

Liu Mo, unaware that he was being blamed by the emperor, grabbed the reins with one hand and rode his horse happily, "Sir, there must be a wild boar ahead, let's drive it out!"

Huo Xian immediately agreed and said to the person behind him, "Liu Dalin, you lead five people to block it!"

A young man immediately rode out with several cavalrymen. Huo Xian's hunting was always a grand affair. Hunting a wild boar was like fighting a war, and he would often arrange some tactics and so on.

Huo Xian took out his bow and said with a smile, "I haven't hunted for a long time. This time it's my turn to show off my power."

Liu Mo was a little dissatisfied with this. "Your Excellency is a man of great achievements. You defeated the Xiongnu army. It's just a small hunt. How can it be worthy of your Excellency!"

Zhao Hexi beside him also nodded seriously, he thought so too. His lord was a man of great deeds, he should kill the Xiongnu until they cried for their parents and their army was in disarray, and his lord should have gone on a long expedition and returned victorious.

When it comes to hunting, even if it is a tiger, it is not worthy of our lord, and it cannot show the lord's unparalleled bravery at all.

"I'm just looking for something to do. You have to kill a few wild boars for me!" Huo Xian was a little angry. "We're not going hunting yet. When I shoot the first arrow, who among you won't follow suit?"

At this point, Liu Mo and Zhao Hexi were speechless. Although they were both missing arms and could not draw bows and arrows, the soldiers and young men under their command were very promising.

As long as the Lord's arrow is shot, there is no need to think too much, the other soldiers will immediately follow suit. It is an instinctive reaction and there will be no doubt at all.

In the past, these four generals laughed at Maodun Chanyu, saying that he needed to use whistling arrows to indicate the direction of the arrows, etc. But the troops of Guanjun Hou did not need to do that, they just followed the prince in shooting arrows, and there was no need to think about the others.

Holding the horse's belly tightly, Zhao Hexi said, "My Lord, this time I'm keeping an eye on those wild boys, and they've all gone wild!"

In fact, what Huo Xian was most worried about were Zhao Hexi and Liu Mo. Since the appearance of saddles and stirrups, the riding skills of these two had been somewhat improved.

Although not as good as when they were healthy, they just rode with one hand holding the reins most of the time. When necessary, they would urge the horse by themselves, relying entirely on the strength of their legs to sit on the horse's back.

This was also a common tactic used by cavalry before the appearance of stirrups and saddles. Now that the quality of the Han cavalry is getting higher and higher and the threshold is getting lower and lower, saddles and stirrups play a very important role.

In the past, cavalry relied on the strength of their legs, and most of the time they used their hands to swing weapons, so they had no time to control the reins. So it was common for them to fall off their horses.

Now they can use their feet in the stirrups to gain leverage, and the saddle can help them stabilize their bodies. Not only does riding a horse become easier, but it also frees their hands on horseback and allows them to exert more force.

Huo Xian drew out his arrow and aimed while riding his horse.

"You two just follow me!"

A wild boar that was fleeing in panic suddenly fell to the ground, having been shot in the hind leg by Huo Xian's arrow. After rolling a few times, the wild boar struggled to get up, showing its strong vitality.

But the next moment, the sound of hurried horse hooves was heard, and a long knife cut through the sky, the wild boar's head flew up, and blood splattered everywhere.

"This Zhao Hexi!" Liu Mo was angry, "My Lord, he is really too outrageous!"

Huo Xian also felt that it was outrageous, and agreed to follow him and not to help. But the moment he shot the arrow, some other troops followed with a hail of arrows, and Zhao Hexi subconsciously urged his horse to rush out.

Then the result was that after a rain of arrows, several wild boars fell to the ground, and Zhao Hexi led the young and strong men in the village to harvest them with knives.

The whole action was done in one go, without any delay. These people were very adept at "killing" the fallen prey on horseback. They just had to charge forward on horseback without having to dismount.

"I'll go and deal with Zhao Congxiao right away." Huo Xian was cautious, "Uncle Liu, you said Zhao Congxiao is now a marquis, can I deal with him?"

Zhao Hexi came back triumphantly carrying the pig's head and shouted, "Your Majesty's magic arrows killed this largest wild boar with just one arrow!"

"Am I blind or are you? Everyone is watching!" Huo Xian couldn't help but curse, "They all saw that the wild boar I shot was not the largest one, and it was able to crawl up. How can it be considered a magic arrow?"

Zhao Hexi was not embarrassed, "You must have seen it wrong. You shot the biggest wild boar. Everyone was watching!"

Anyway, since you have shot the wild boar, there is no way you can let it run away, so you have to finish it off quickly.

Liu Mo smiled and asked, "Your Majesty is going to go back and take care of Congxiao! Old Zhao, Congxiao is also a marquis now, can Your Majesty take care of him?"

Zhao Hexi immediately laughed and said, "Your Excellency, there is no need to do anything. I will take care of it myself! Your Excellency, how did that bastard anger you?"

(End of this chapter)