Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 981 0976 [General Shoots Tiger]

"drive!"

More than 5,000 cavalry swept past, and Zong Wu followed the soldiers on horseback and galloped.

Escorted by Yue Fei and his troops, he traveled around the four direct-controlled areas of Linhuang Protectorate and rewarded the civil and military officials and ordinary soldiers stationed there.

Although Yue Fei's title was not promoted, the generals under his command were rewarded generously.

Xu Qing, Wang Gui and other generals were promoted to earls due to their military exploits last year and this year. Six generals at the next level were also awarded the title of baron.

The fact that these people were given titles on a large scale perfectly reflects the significance of those two wars.

Even the civil and military officials and soldiers who stayed in the Linhuang grassland and did not go to the war were all rewarded with money as a reward for their hard work.

The rewards given to the generals were called silver dollars in the imperial edict, but in fact they were all Ming treasure notes. The imperial envoys brought them for convenience, and the generals took them back home for convenience. However, it was difficult to exchange them in the grasslands, but they could be used to trade with Han merchants.

After the rewards were given, the soldiers were excited.

There were even many caravans that headed north from Dading Prefecture upon hearing the news, taking the opportunity to sell goods to the soldiers, especially large quantities of wine, cloth, and accessories.

The soldiers who received the rewards could not help but spend their money lavishly when faced with many merchants.

Many of them brought their wives and children to settle down, and were also given land. Of course, they had to save some of the reward money, but they also had to buy clothes for their wives and children, even jewelry for their wives, and some strong liquor for themselves. These expenses were naturally unavoidable.

It was already autumn by then, and Yue Fei invited Zong Wu to go hunting, and also called on the chiefs of various tribes.

Some tribes that followed the army to the battle also received rewards. The chiefs came with their troops happily, you brought 20 or 30, I brought 40 or 50, and by the way, they tried to please the angels.

The place where they hunt is in Chifeng, which has mountains, water and grasslands, but not many people, making it an ideal place for hunting.

“Woooooooo~~~”

The trumpet sounded and the cheers shook the sky.

A young general came on horseback to report: "Angel, Protector General, a herd of deer was spotted over there!"

Yue Fei smiled and said, "Angel please."

"drive!"

Zong Wu immediately rode out on his horse, followed by Yue Fei and his generals, and the tribal chiefs also followed.

Everyone was very happy, a picture of harmony between the Han and the foreigners.

Most of those chiefs were Khitans, and they had no psychological burden in being loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

Because it was not the Ming Dynasty that destroyed the Liao Dynasty, but on the contrary, the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Jin Dynasty to avenge the Liao Dynasty. Now it has mediated the disputes among the tribes, re-demarcated the pastures, and just rewarded the chiefs. All tribes recognize the rule of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

The angel Zongwu was also respected by the chiefs.

call out!
Zongwu shot an arrow, which landed in the middle of the deer herd, accurately avoiding several deer.

"Haha, sorry for making a fool of myself." Zong Wu laughed awkwardly twice.

A chieftain named Yit Nian volunteered and said, "I will drive the deer for the angel."

"I am coming too!"

"I am coming too!"

The Khitan chieftains came out one after another, vying to curry favor with the Ming angel.

The chiefs seemed to have become slaves of the angels during hunting. They divided the work and cooperated to surround the deer and drove them directly to Zong Wu.

The deer fled in panic, but no matter which direction they fled, they were soon driven back and could only run around within a range of 20 to 30 meters away from Zongwu.

There was even a wild deer pretending to be dead on the spot, with its belly facing the sky and its four legs stiff. It was a real acting talent.

Zong Wu was surprised and asked, "Did the deer get scared to death?"

Li Geng, the chief secretary, explained: "If these animals are cornered, they may pretend to be dead."

The chiefs shouted in competition: "Angel, shoot the deer! Angel, shoot the deer!"

Zong Wu shot an arrow, hitting the wild deer that was pretending to be dead ten steps away... in the leg. He originally wanted to shoot the neck.

"Angel Shooter!"

"Angel Shooter!"

The chiefs shouted with joy, and the Ming army soldiers also shouted along.

Several chiefs jumped off their horses, ignoring the deer running away around them, and tried to run over to carry the wild deer that had been shot by arrows.

Unexpectedly, the wild deer was shot in the leg, but it stopped pretending to be dead and limped away with the arrow in its leg, leaving the chiefs with nothing.

The crowd didn't dare to fire more arrows and could only chase on horseback.

It was the hunting dog raised by Yue Fei that rushed out like an arrow and quickly bit the injured wild deer.

The chiefs threw food to appease the hounds, then carried the wild deer that was not yet dead, and knelt in front of Zongwu to take credit: "The deer shot by the angel is really fat, and it can run fast even when it is injured. It is obviously the king of the deer herd."

"Hahahaha!"

Zong Wu laughed uncontrollably when he heard this.

These Khitan chieftains are so interesting, each of them is a master at flattery.

In fact, they were frightened by the military power of the Ming Dynasty. Last year, they followed Yue Fei to the Western Xia and experienced the battle with Richard's 100,000-man army. Yue Fei led a group of brave cavalry to defeat the Western Xia Iron Harriers head-on, which is still fresh in the memory of the Khitan chieftains. Using brave cavalry to charge heavy cavalry and defeat the enemy was already outrageous, and what was even more outrageous was that the Ming Dynasty's brave cavalry did not suffer many casualties.

Yue Fei waved his hand and said, "You guys go hunt again."

"Yes!"

The chiefs immediately took orders and rode away on horseback with the grassland soldiers.

Zong Wu said: "The might of the Protector General has shaken the grassland."

Yue Fei said: "It is the might of the Ming Dynasty that has intimidated the grasslands, and all the chieftains have submitted to the imperial court."

Wang Gui smiled and said, "These Khitan people would warmly welcome Ming merchants even if they met them. Now that they have seen an angel, why don't they worship him as a bodhisattva? They would like to lead the angel's horse and stirrup."

Zong Wu suddenly felt a surge of pride and laughed out loud, "The tribes on the grassland were so submissive, and this could only be seen during the Han and Tang dynasties. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the Han people have returned to the grasslands, and finally let the barbarians know the elegance of China!"

"The angel is absolutely right." Yue Fei smiled.

Zong Wu asked, "Is Mobei still honest?"

Yue Fei replied, "There has been a war. I heard from the merchants who came back from the northern desert that the weather has been getting colder and colder over the years, and there has been a snowstorm every few days. The Merkit tribe on the shore of the North Sea has found it increasingly difficult to survive, and they have been raiding southward every year, making it difficult for the Kereyid and Mongolian tribes to resist."

"Is the Merkit tribe so powerful? They can actually defeat two tribes alone." Zong Wu said in surprise.

Yue Fei explained: "The Merkits are good at using longbows and arrows, and they can move around like the wind on horses or deer. They rush out of the mountains to plunder pastures, and retreat to the mountains when they encounter large groups of enemies. Although the Kerait and Mongolian tribes are powerful, they cannot always gather heavy troops to defend the pastures."

Zong Wu nodded and said, "It is indeed difficult to guard against. The border people of Song Dynasty were like that before Xixia crossed the border to plunder."

Yue Fei said: "The Kerey and Mongolian tribes also joined forces to attack the Merkit territory to seek revenge. In the end, they were defeated. The area was full of mountains and dense forests, and large cavalry could not be deployed. Moreover, it was very easy to be ambushed in the mountains and forests. The Merkit tribe could endure the bitter cold. It is said that when food was scarce, they even went south to kidnap herdsmen and eat their human flesh."

Zong Wu was shocked: "A tribe of cannibals?"

Yue Fei nodded: "There are such rumors, but I don't know whether it is true or not. Many herdsmen in Mobei believe it."

Zong Wu sighed, "The tribes in the northern desert are already barbaric, but I didn't expect the tribes on the North Sea to be even more barbaric. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for Su Shuguo (Su Wu) to herd sheep in the North Sea for more than ten years."

"That's why your majesty invited the vassal state of Su to be worshipped in the Confucian Temple," Yue Fei said. "When Yelu Dashi was in Mobei, the Merkit tribe actually surrendered and sent troops to help Yelu Dashi fight. The Kerey, Mongolian, and Merkit tribes that are fighting each other now are actually all vassal tribes of Yelu Dashi. If I have the chance, I would like to go to the Western Regions to meet Yelu Dashi."

Zong Wu smiled and said, "Pengju should first carve a stone in Yanran and drink water from Beihai. After you have done these, it won't be too late to lead troops to the Western Regions."

"Thanks to your good words, my dear brother," Yue Fei said, "when the population of Linhuang Protectorate recovers a little, I will take my generals and the tribes of the grassland to Mobei. No matter what, I will let my horses drink water from Beihai and engrave a stone in Yanran!"

Zong Wu cupped his hands and said: "I wish Pengju a great victory!"

Yue Fei bowed in return and rode forward with Zong Wu on horseback.

As they ran into the woods, they heard the soldiers driving the prey shouting, "There's a tiger! There's a tiger!"

Zong Wu had no awareness of protecting wild animals and immediately shouted, "Kill the tiger quickly and get rid of this harm to the people!"

The soldiers kept hammering and banging, and the tiger was frightened and ran quickly into the woods to avoid the attack.

The Ming soldiers did not let him go, and chased him on horseback, shooting arrows at him to scare him.

Yue Fei ordered: "Drive that big beast over here!"

The generals rode on horseback with their soldiers, surrounded the city from all sides, beat gongs and shot arrows.

The hunting dogs seemed a little scared, but they still barked at the tiger from a distance. When the tiger was driven over, the hunting dogs quickly went around and continued to bark at the tiger.

"Protector, be careful!"

Everyone shouted.

Yue Fei had already rushed out and took out three shovel-shaped arrows. This thing was not for hunting, but for shooting heavy armor, and there was a certain chance that it could penetrate heavy armor.

Facing the tiger's roar, the coal ball under Yue Fei's crotch was not afraid at all, or it might be that he had never encountered a tiger before.

The divine horse ran straight towards the tiger, and the tiger was shocked and angry. Seeing Yue Fei riding alone, the tiger also ran towards Yue Fei.

Yue Fei drew his bow like a full moon, and the arrow flew out like lightning.

An arrow shot into the left eye of the running tiger!

The tiger was shot and fell to the ground, but after struggling for a few times, it stood up again. Yue Fei had already drawn his bow and shot the second arrow, which hit the tiger's right eye accurately.

The soldiers on horseback surrounded the tiger and tried to kill it with their spears.

Yue Fei shouted, "Everyone, step back! Don't damage the tiger skin. I am aiming at the eyes on purpose. I want to present the intact tiger skin to Your Majesty!"

The tiger was shot in the eyes but was not dead yet. Everyone received the order and rode away on horseback.

The tiger could not see and roared in place, while the hounds surrounded it and barked wildly. When the tiger heard the dogs barking, it pounced, but the hounds immediately ran away and hid, making the tiger crazy.

Finally, the tiger became visibly weaker, its movements became slower and slower, and its roar was no longer as loud and powerful.

Yue Fei borrowed an iron rod from a general, dismounted, walked towards the tiger, and hit it on the head with the rod.

Not only did the generals gather around, but the chiefs also came to watch the fun.

Seeing that the tiger's fur was intact and it had only two arrows in its eyes, everyone revered Yue Fei as a god.

A Khitan noble who was good at skinning animals volunteered to kneel beside the tiger carcass and start skinning. After a long time, he peeled off the tiger skin, held the skin in both hands, knelt down in front of Yue Fei and presented it to him: "Protector General, the tiger skin is ready!"

Yue Fei turned to Zong Wu and said, "When the tiger skin is tanned, please bring it back to Luoyang to present it to the emperor."

(End of this chapter)