Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 929 0924 [The timing of surrendering to the Ming Dynasty must be grasped]

To the southwest of the Longmen Grottoes, there is Wan'an Mountain, which stretches for more than ten miles. Part of the hillside is included in the Tiansijian Horse Farm in the north.

The rest are all royal hunting grounds!

Although woodcutters from nearby areas are allowed to collect firewood, they are not allowed to cut down the main trunks of trees. If they are caught, they will be heavily fined.

Luoyang has started using coal, and fewer and fewer woodcutters are coming into the city. The firewood used by the surrounding farmers will not have any impact on the vegetation of Wan'an Mountain.

There are no ferocious beasts in the mountains, not even wild wolves.

But there are more than ten kinds of prey, including wild boars, muntjacs, rabbits, sika deer, etc. Most of them are released by the imperial court, and the original wild animals in the mountains have long been gone.

If wild animals ran into nearby farmland and were captured by local people, the government would not bother to investigate. Even poaching one or two in the mountains was fine, but if they poached for a long time, it meant that they thought their life was too comfortable.

The royal hunting grounds of successive dynasties were actually only useful in the early and middle periods of the founding of the country.

It was not used for the emperor's enjoyment, but to train the imperial guards in the form of hunting, especially to train the cavalry among the imperial guards.

The royal hunting grounds of the Northern Song Dynasty turned into farmland a few decades later.

The royal hunting ground of the Ming Dynasty became a place for exiled eunuchs in the late Ming Dynasty, and the royal palaces inside have all fallen into disrepair.

The imperial hunting grounds of the Qing Dynasty were even more impressive. With a large enough area and enough trees, they became a timber and fur base for the Qing nobles. Whoever was sent to supervise the Mulan Hunting Ground could make a fortune by stealing timber and poaching wild animals.

When Jiaqing first ascended the throne, he also implemented new policies. He not only tried to reform domestic affairs, but also planned to revitalize the Eight Banners Army.

So, he started with hunting!
The first time he wanted to go, his ministers objected, saying that Your Majesty had only been in power for four years and there was a lot of work to be done, so it was not appropriate to go hunting.

The second time he wanted to go, his ministers objected, saying that the capital had been hit by a flood and the people were displaced. In order to reduce the burden on the court, the emperor decided not to go hunting.

It was delayed for another year, but the ministers still opposed it.

Jiaqing was furious and said that he was not going there for pleasure. The Mulan Hunt was an ancestral tradition. He was doing this to revitalize the Eight Banners Army.

The ministers were unable to stop it, and something unexpected happened halfway through.

The person in charge of Mulan Paddock reported that there has been little rainfall this year, the weather has turned cold, the water and grass have dried up, and it is really not suitable for hunting.

Jiaqing sent people to investigate secretly and found that the area was rich in water and grass, but a large number of trees had been cut down, and there was not even a deer to be seen within a radius of hundreds of miles. All the deer were killed by the guards and sold for their skins and blood.

What's even more ridiculous is that no one has been severely punished for years of large-scale deception of the emperor...

Throughout the dynasties of China, one can infer whether a dynasty is declining just by looking at the degree of dereliction of the royal hunting grounds, including the Yuan Dynasty!
……

Compared with the hundreds of miles of hunting grounds of the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty’s royal hunting grounds were still too small. How many prey could there be in a forest that stretched for more than ten miles?

Thirty thousand imperial guards, infantry and cavalry, were dispatched, advancing layer by layer around the hunting ground.

The sounds of war drums, bugles and whistles rose one after another. They took turns advancing and the various troops cooperated with each other.

Driving the prey out is only secondary; the main purpose of the exercise is to convey and execute military orders.

A group of sika deer ran out in fright, and Zhu Ming said to the crown prince Zhu Yang: "You go!"

Prince Yu Zhu Kang was born in Jinzhou, which belonged to the ancient Ankang County, so he was called Zhu Kang.

The prince will be sixteen years old this year. He was born in Yangzhou, so he is named Zhu Yang.

The third and fourth sons of the emperor were born in Xiangyang, and were named Zhu Xiang and Zhu Fan respectively...

Although Crown Prince Zhu Yang was more introverted and not very interested in martial arts, he was still forced to learn horse riding and archery.

He took several princes and attendants with him and immediately rode his horse towards the herd of deer.

The deer were frightened and fled in the other direction. In the distance, flags were waved, many soldiers shouted, and a group of hunting dogs were released.

The deer began to flee in all directions.

Zhu Yang drew his bow and shot an arrow, which landed among several deer.

He shot three arrows in succession and finally hit the hind leg of a deer.

"You've got it! Your Highness the Crown Prince has got it!"

The attendants shouted excitedly and began to surround the animal on horseback, and the injured sika deer ran around.

Zhu Yang shot four more arrows and finally hit his neck.

The servants continued to chase, and the hunting dogs pounced on the deer and bit it.

Two attendants carried the deer and followed Zhu Yang to report.

Zhu Yang's face turned red with shame, and he rode on his horse and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I have captured a deer."

"Not bad, keep it up." Zhu Ming encouraged.

Zhu Yang finally felt relieved and followed his father on horseback.

Zhu Kang wanted to show off, so when a wild boar was driven out of the woods, he volunteered to go hunting.

Zhu Ming waved his hand.

Zhu Kang immediately rode away on his horse. He made rapid progress in the military academy, especially in archery, spearmanship and riding.

With just one arrow, it hit the wild boar's side.

The wild boar felt pain and stopped running away. Instead, it turned around and rushed towards Zhu Kang.

Zhu Kang shot another arrow, hitting the wild boar's nose. Then he rode his horse to the side, gained some distance, and shot another arrow at its head.

Zhu Ming looked through the telescope with a bright smile on his face.

Mulek said to Anwari: "This prince is extremely brave and the oldest, why isn't he the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty?"

Anwari said: "In the Ming Dynasty, no matter if it is a king or a noble, one wife is the principal wife, and the others are only secondary wives. The first son of the principal wife can inherit the country or property. If this son dies of illness, the second son of the principal wife will inherit it." "What if the principal wife has no son?" Mulek asked.

Anwari said: "Then the eldest son born to other wives will inherit it."

Mulek thought carefully for a while and said, "This inheritance system can avoid civil strife. But if the successor is too stupid, it will bring disaster to the country."

Anwari said: "Ming officials said that they are not afraid of the crown prince being stupid, because there are ministers to help govern the country. What they are afraid of is that the crown prince is cruel and inhumane, destroying the state system and not caring about the lives of the people."

Muleke pointed at Zhu Kang who had returned from hunting wild boars and said, "This prince is so brave, doesn't he want to fight for the throne?"

Anwari said: "If he dares to fight for the throne, he will be the enemy of all civil and military officials in the country. Unless he can defeat all opponents and defeat the endless huge army."

Mulek shook his head and said, “This kind of inheritance system is difficult to implement in the Seljuk.”

"The Emperor is hunting in person!" Anvari shouted.

Mulek also took out his bow and arrow and went out with the emperor's attendants.

Zhu Ming's mount at this time is the great-great-great-grandson of the Cornucopia - Coal Ball.

Its fur is black, shiny and smooth like silk, and it has the bloodline of Hehuang horse, Khitan horse, Wusun horse and Arabian horse.

It is not possible to classify it as a horse breed for the time being because its genetic characteristics are not yet stable and its brothers and sisters all have different appearances.

Its shoulder height is not even good enough for the Ferghana horses, only 147 cm, but it is tall enough in China. Its head is small and smart, with the characteristics of Wusun horses. Its body is similar to Hehuang horses. It has strong speed and endurance, perfectly inheriting the advantages of both the paternal and maternal lines.

He has a bad temper and is extremely aggressive.

Zhu Ming waved his whip, and Meiqiu jumped out excitedly, and in a blink of an eye he was one horse length taller than the servants.

Then it rushed faster and faster, and Zhu Ming hurriedly pulled the reins to control the speed.

Zhu Ming aimed at the leader of the deer herd, hesitated slightly, and then shot at another one nearby.

An arrow hit the neck.

"The emperor is a great archer!" the attendants and officials shouted.

Zhu Ming reined in his horse and said with a smile, "Emissaries from all countries should also try it."

The deer here were released by the imperial court, but it has been too short a time for them to reproduce and thrive. It is estimated that a new batch will have to be released after today.

In the next few years, we will have to temporarily stop hunting to allow the wild animals to reproduce.

Envoys from various countries rushed out excitedly, all wanting to show off their skills in front of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Only the surrounding vassal states and some envoys from major powers focused on the emperor's riding and archery skills.

The envoys from vassal states complained bitterly; they hoped that the Ming Dynasty would have an emperor who could rule the country with ease.

No matter how good the emperor is at riding and shooting, it doesn’t matter, but that means that the emperor is a martial artist.

The emperor is martial, and the Ming Dynasty is martial!

Cao Tuan, the Xixia envoy, thought of the famine this year and heard that a large number of famine victims from the border had fled to the Ming territory and were resettled. Many of them were even captured by the Xixia from the Song border.

Once the population of the Hengshan region of the Ming Dynasty is sufficient, the two countries will be not far from war.

In the past, the reason why the Northern Song Dynasty and Western Xia fought a tug-of-war was purely because they had no choice but to do so in the face of the current situation.

At first, the Song State steadily advanced in Hengshan, and once it conquered a place, it would immediately build a fortress. Then the Western Xia learned from it and also built a large fortress there.

The area around Hengshan is dotted with fortresses from both countries.

Due to the terrain, we had to attack the fortresses one by one.

But now the Ming Dynasty has artillery. When facing a group of fortresses, they can use artillery to push forward.

A few days ago, an official from the Honglu Temple invited Cao Tuan to drink and talked a lot about the lonely loyal people in the northwest.

It was also revealed that the Ming Martial Temple would soon enshrine Zhang Yichao's deity.

Cao Tuan’s ancestor was Zhang Yichao’s grandson-in-law!

My ancestors are enshrined in the Ming Martial Temple. So if I help the Ming Dynasty to destroy Xia, can I get extra treatment?
The problem is that his nephew is the crown prince of Western Xia.

Once his nephew succeeded to the throne, his position in Xixia would rise. Unless it was absolutely necessary, it would be best if Xixia was not destroyed, so that the Cao family could continue to be rich and prosperous for generations.

But what should we do if the Ming Dynasty really attacks?
Cao Tuan was very conflicted.

Suddenly, cheers came from the front. It was unknown which country's envoy had shot the prey.

Cao Tuan slapped his head and suddenly figured it out. There’s no point in worrying about it.

As long as Xixia did not show signs of defeat, he would be happy to be the emperor's uncle. If Xixia lost the war, he would quickly help as an insider. It would be best if he could directly change his family name to Zhang and transfer the incense of Cao family to Zhang Yichao's incense.

I can be Cao Tuan or Zhang Tuan.

"drive!"

Cao Tuan rode out on his horse, but the deer had already scattered and he could not find any prey.

Cao Tuan looked at the bow and arrow in his hand and realized that he had to choose the right time, otherwise he would get no benefit as he was doing now.

If you surrender too early, your family may be destroyed.

It is too late to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and the value of the Cao family cannot be reflected.

This timing is not easy to grasp.

(There seems to be a chapter before that where the prince's name is mistakenly written as Zhu Xiang.)
(End of this chapter)