Taiheiki

Chapter 121 Hunting 2
"Here!"

Wei Cong inspected the camp and confirmed that there were no violations of military law before returning to his tent to have breakfast with his entourage and senior officers. After breakfast, he changed into hunting clothes, mounted his horse, and headed out. His entourage formed a long column and followed him out of the camp and headed towards the swamp.

When Wei Cong arrived at the swamp, most of the troops participating in the hunt had already arrived at their respective positions. To facilitate the use of crossbows and bows, the garrison commanders and squad leaders, under the command of the captains, arranged the crossbowmen in a long row, facing the large open space in front of the swamp.

Rope nets were tied to either side of the clearing, and spearmen stood behind them, their duty being to drive the beasts toward the crossbowmen, or to kill them with spears if they refused to run into the clearing and were caught in the nets.

A group of lightly armed soldiers, equipped with trumpets and horns, put on gear suitable for wetland operations and entered the swamp with hunting dogs. Their mission was to drive all prey from the wetlands to the open ground. Behind the crossbowmen, a net was set up; if a wild animal escaped the crossbowmen's line, it would be trapped in the net and killed by the spears and iron forks nearby.

Wei Cong stood in the middle of a small valley that stretched across the open space before the marsh. Li Qun, one of Wei Cong's best hunters, had advised him to stay there, anticipating that the largest beasts would choose this valley as their escape route. Wei Cong had selected a powerful crossbow, and beside him, a pitchfork leaned against a tree. Li Qun and two burly guards stood a short distance behind him, armed with pitchforks and crossbows, ready to assist Wei Cong at any moment.

Ah Yun did not dismount, but remained on a hill a little further back, for when the wild beasts ran wild, it was easier to escape on horseback than on foot. The rest of the entourage formed two loose lines, checking their weapons and chatting casually.

At that moment, deep in the swamp, the deep sound of a horn blared, echoing the idle chatter in the clearing. Then, silence fell. From time to time, the call of waterfowl could be heard from the reeds. The hunters looked out at the clearing ahead, where only the wind stirred the dense reeds, wondering which animal would appear first.

They expected a rich game, for the wilderness abounded with wild deer, buffalo, boar, and even bears, fierce beasts that were irritated, angry, wary, and dangerous.

But Wei Cong and his companions waited for a long time, because those who drove the beasts to the open space searched a large area of the wilderness and were very far away, perhaps more than ten miles away, so they could not hear the barking of the dogs released after the horn was blown.

After a while, a few wolves appeared at the edge of the reeds, but as soon as they spotted the humans, they returned to the wetlands, apparently looking for another way out. Then, from the reeds, several wild boars came running out, forming a long black line, running across the open space. From a distance, they looked like a herd of domestic pigs.

They paused to listen—then turned and listened again, then turned back and rushed toward the hunting nets. But their sharp noses immediately detected the scent of humans. With a series of low growls, the enraged beasts ran toward the crossbowmen, snorting, their manes bristling, their hooves pounding the ground like a blow against a human heart. Finally, there was the clang of the crossbow's iron crank, the dull thud of a bolt tearing through the air, and the ground was stained with the first blood of the day.

Then a sharp, boar-like cry rang out, and the entire herd scattered, as if struck by thunder. Several wild boars rushed blindly forward, some toward the nets, others through other herds in the clearing. The blast of the horn was clear, mingling with the barking of dogs. The beasts, driven from the forest by the hunters, immediately filled the clearing. Such a scene was rarely seen even in the imperial hunting grounds around Luoyang; even in the heart of the empire, there were no vast expanses of open space like this.

Although Wei Cong had seen herds of deer and wild boar before him, he was still shocked by the sheer number of wild animals before him. He saw herds of yellow deer and bucks with heavy forked antlers running before him. The two kinds of animals mixed together and ran across the open space, frightened and running around, searching for a safe place but unable to find one.

The blood of a top predator in his body began to boil, and he fired arrows one by one with his crossbow and bow. Whenever a deer or elk was hit, it would rise up its front legs, fall to the ground and kick around, splashing dust, Wei Cong would shout excitedly and ask his subordinates to drag their prey over and cut off its horns as souvenirs.

The attendants were also shooting arrows. Everyone loved hunting. Their faces were flushed with excitement about their achievements, just like innocent children.

Wei Cong's attention was drawn to a massive bear, its shoulders and back gray. It unexpectedly leaped from a nearby bush. Wei Cong shot an arrow from his crossbow, piercing its shoulder. The beast roared fearfully and reared up. Just then, Li Qun rushed out from the side and expertly stabbed the bear's chest with his iron spear, piercing its back. His strike was so accurate and powerful that the two axe-wielding guards who had rushed over didn't need to finish him off.

"Zisheng, well done!" Wei Cong shouted excitedly, "If we peel off this bear's skin, we can make a great mattress!"

As the hunt continued, the clearing in the forest was finally littered with the carcasses of various beasts, but the hunt was not over yet. In fact, the most interesting and dangerous moment of the hunt was approaching, as the hunters encountered a herd of a dozen bison and drove them towards them. These enormous beasts, the largest of which could reach over two meters in height, had become extinct from this land as early as 1,000 AD.

Bearded bulls walked at the head of the herd, their heads lowered to the ground, and often paused as if considering where to strike. Their huge lungs emitted a deep roar like rumbling thunder, and steam rose from their nostrils; they kept probing the mud with their forefeet, and seemed to be watching their enemies with their bloodshot eyes hidden deep under their manes.

Then the men shouted in unison, a cry echoed from all sides; the horns blew again, echoing from the most remote corners of the wilderness; and now the hounds rushed into the clearing with a chilling bark. The dogs' presence enraged the cows with their calves in the herd. The herd, which had been pacing until then, suddenly broke apart and ran madly across the clearing. A wild bull, a huge yellow old bull, first charged at the crossbowmen standing aside, then, seeing the horses on the mound, stopped, roaring and digging the ground with his horns, as if to spur his own fighting spirit.

"Oh no, the bull is going crazy! Kill it quickly!" shouted the experienced Li Qun. He took the crossbow, cranked the handle, and the crossbow in his hand pulled with a bang. An arrow whistled and shot into the neck of the beast from its head.

"Hit it!" people around shouted. "It's gone."

But suddenly the bull let out a terrifying roar, causing the frightened horses to rear up. With the roar, the bull charged straight at Ayun on the mound. Just as quickly, a figure rushed out from under a nearby tree, extended an iron spear, and stabbed the beast's neck fiercely. In an instant, those nearby saw the spear pierce the beast's neck, immediately bending like a bow and breaking. The man jumped aside, snatched a two-handed axe from the guard nearby, and chopped it down fiercely at the bull's bent neck beside the horns.

The axe struck with such force that the bull fell as if struck by lightning, its head nearly detached from its neck, and blood gushed out like a fountain. "Ayun, you're not hurt, are you?" Wei Cong saved his concubine. Ayun's face was pale and frightened, but she was unharmed. After confirming that everything was correct, Wei Cong ordered the man who had killed the bull to be summoned. The man was tall and burly, towering over Wei Cong like a wall, his body stained with the blood of the beast. He bent his knees and saluted Wei Cong.

"It's you, Meng Gaogong!" Wei Cong immediately recognized the man who won first place in the spear competition.

"It's me, General!" Meng Gaogong lowered his head.

"You saved my woman and child. How should I reward you?" Wei Cong said with a smile.

"You have already rewarded me!" Meng Gaogong replied, "My family and I have all benefited from your grace. If not, we would still be digging in the mountains!"

"That's all in the past, let's leave it at that!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "How about this! This time I'll reward you with ten ounces of gold and promote you to the rank of officer. I hope you'll kill the enemy for me and make meritorious contributions!"

"Thank you for your reward!" Meng Gaogong accepted the horseshoe gold under the envious gaze of the crowd and bowed in gratitude, saying, "I will definitely kill the enemy for you, General, just like I just killed that wild buffalo. Even if the rocks shatter and the rivers dry up, I will never regret it!"

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Quanling, Lingling County (now Yongzhou, Hunan), the Han army camp.

It was already the end of September, and even in the south, the autumn wind was bleak, the grass and trees withered, no longer lush and lush. The sentries on duty were still wearing thin summer clothes, and they could not help but hunch over in the fierce mountain wind.

"Dou Youping asked us to pacify the Wuling barbarians so that we can return to Jiangling and pacify the E bandits!" Feng Kun sighed and handed the letter in his hand to Ying Feng opposite him.

"Recruit the Wuling barbarians?" Ying Feng took the letter without even reading it. He angrily said, "Dou Youping truly knows nothing about military affairs. Doesn't he understand the principle of eradicating all evil? We've finally managed to force the Jingfu into the mountains. If we can hold out for another winter, there will surely be unrest among the barbarians. If we retreat now, it will be difficult for us to return!"

"I guess the situation in Jiangbei is tight?" Feng Gun answered in an uncertain tone.

"You've already sent Zhao Yannian. He's guarding Nanjun well, so how could the situation be so tense?" Ying Feng sneered. "The Emperor has made him the Grand General. Aren't the Three Rivers and Five Schools, the Wuhuan cavalry of Hebei, the Southern Xiongnu of Bingzhou, and the famous cavalry of Liangzhou at his disposal? The bandits may be numerous, but they're just a mob! Do they need tens of thousands of our tired soldiers?"

"Dou Youping thinks further ahead than we do!" Feng Gun sighed. "He also said in the letter that although the court has appointed him as the general to fight against the moth bandits, the world is in turmoil right now. He can only station his troops in Wancheng for safety, and cannot rashly march south and risk everything!"

Ying Feng flipped through the letter, his anger gradually subsiding. Finally, he sneered, "Dou Youping went to Luoyang not to fight the enemy but to supervise the war. No wonder he promoted Zhao Yannian again. It turns out he found a useful dog!"

"Uncle, Dou Youping is not wrong!" Feng Kun sighed. "This is all the court has left. If, I mean if, he were to be defeated by the thieves, the consequences would be disastrous!"

"What's so unbearable about that? At most, the Dou clan will be wiped out!" Ying Feng snorted coldly. "He simply feels that the emperor is about to die, so he dares not stray too far from Luoyang, lest he be kicked out of the small circle that will establish the new emperor. If he stays in Wancheng, the emperor will die today, and he can return to Luoyang the next day to control the government! He's full of selfish motives, yet he insists on pretending to be a moral paragon. It's truly disgusting!"

Hearing his old friend's complaints, Feng Gun didn't know what to say for a moment. As Ying Feng said, Dou Wu, as the empress's father, became the general to assist in government affairs. This was a common practice in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and there was nothing much to say. But the problem was that the current emperor truly grasped power by launching a coup in the second year of Yan Xi and killing the family of the then general Liang Ji. Since then, the emperor has never appointed a general to personally control the government. But now the emperor appointed Dou Wu as the general, and even asked him to leave Luoyang and personally lead the troops to suppress the E bandits. The intention behind this is quite intriguing.

As everyone knows, the current emperor's time is numbered, and he has no biological son. If the emperor died while General Dou Wu was away from Luoyang, it would mean that Dou Wu himself would be excluded from the decision-making process for the succession, something Dou Wu absolutely could not allow. Therefore, after leaving Luoyang, Dou Wu stopped in Wancheng, mobilizing troops from all directions while urging Feng Kun to quickly pacify the Wuling barbarians and end the war in southern Jing so that he could return to lead the campaign against the E bandits. It was understandable that Dou Wu himself would focus his attention on the upcoming succession battle in Luoyang.

"Uncle, in these troubled times, Dou Youping is far better off in power than a eunuch!" Feng Kun said with a smile, "At least you and I won't have to worry about not being able to escape unscathed after the battle, right?"

"I don't think so."

(End of this chapter)