When the doe was still twenty or thirty feet away from the woods, there was a hurried trumpet in the woods, and the frightened doe turned around and fled eastward, and then rushed out of the woods a group of riders, who, while blowing their horns, shouted loudly, and drove away the prey in front of them. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"Why, this hunt feels good, right?" Liu Cheng smiled and asked Yang Sichang on the side, the position of the two was at the entrance of a valley, and more than a thousand horsemen formed several invisible big hands two or three miles away, sweeping through the meadows and sparse forests, driving out the beasts in them, these frightened beasts were frightened by the sound of horns and bone whistles, and ran wildly.

Yang Sichang didn't answer immediately, his gaze swept around. Behind them was a luxurious tent: a silk surface, a gold spire, and a three-layered deerskin surface that was so light and soft that it could withstand the fiercest winds, the spoils that Liu Cheng had supposedly taken from Tushetu Khan. On all sides are smaller leather tents and shacks made of tree branches. Outside the Golden Horde were several bonfires, around which stood Mongols dressed in sheepskins, foxskins, wolf skins, or bear skins. Some were standing, leaning against their spears and birds, others arranging their nets, and others roasting their horned bows by the fire so that they would be soft and ready to be wound. In the woods behind, a group of cavalrymen in iron armor and twelve-foot spears were coming out in an orderly manner, lined up in two horizontal rows, their sharp spear tips glistening in the firelight.

"Liu Zhentai, why do you have such a big posture when you hunt once, it looks like you're fighting!"

"Really?" Liu Cheng smiled: "Actually, this war is not much different from hunting, it's nothing more than hunting and shooting beasts, and fighting and shooting people!" ”

"Really? I've never seen a deer or a wolf who can draw a bow and release a wolf! ”

"Whether it's a gun or a bow, what's the use if it's not where it should be!" Liu Cheng smiled, he noticed that Yang Sichang's expression was a little dazed today, as if he had something on his mind, but he didn't ask, if he didn't guess wrong, Yang Sichang should have taken the initiative to speak soon.

A rapid sound of birds interrupted the thoughts of the two, Yang Sichang looked his eyes to the place where the gunfire came from, only to see that under the trunk of the cavalry, the beasts rushed to a forest, and the gunners hidden behind the woods hit a row of guns, and suddenly fell to the ground, and the frightened beasts deflected and fled towards them under the drive of the cavalry.

"It's our turn!" Liu Cheng smiled and made an inviting gesture, Yang Sichang did not speak, and got on the horse with the help of Cao Wenzhao on the side, Liu Cheng jumped on the war horse and ran towards the valley. In order to facilitate the use of bows and arrows and birds to shoot prey, nets were spread on both sides of the valley, behind which were soldiers with spears and torches, whose task was to drive the beasts to the hunters, and to stab them to death with spears if any of them fell into the nets.

The location of Liu Cheng and Yang Sichang is on a small mound at the mouth of the valley, and the view from this position is the best. Hao Shaoqi stood beside Liu Cheng on foot, carrying a long shield, a few short axes hanging from his waist, and behind him stood four or five personal soldiers, all of whom were carrying good lead birds, ready to hand them to Liu Cheng at any time. Liu Cheng was on the horse, looking into the distance, while Yang Sichang was on the side, still in a trance, thinking about his own thoughts.

At this moment, there was a trumpet sound from a distance, which was given by a sentinel in the distance, indicating that the herd was closer, and then it fell silent, and one could even hear the gentle swishing sound of the north wind blowing through the snow. The Mongols below the hill looked out over the snow-covered clearing, where only the north wind swept softly, and they gathered their weapons and wondered which animal would appear first. Everyone is looking forward to the abundance of prey, because they know that Lord Jinong's favorite is a warrior with strong martial arts, and a warrior who can shoot a fierce beast will be richly rewarded.

The first to appear were a few wild wolves, and these cunning beasts immediately spotted the hunters in front of them, and they turned around to find another way out. Then came a dozen wild boars, lined up in a long black line, running through the snow like a herd of domestic pigs from a distance. Because of their poor eyesight, the beasts stopped for a moment at each run, then turned around and stopped for a while, and finally ran towards the nets, where they soon smelled the scent of man, and became more and more cautious in their steps; Finally, the sound of arrows and birds sounded, and the snow was stained with the first puddles of blood.

The frightened pigs let out a terrible scream and dispersed, as if struck by lightning, and several wild boars rushed into the net, pierced by the spears from behind, while many more rushed towards Taniguchi. Liu Cheng raised the bird gun in his hand, aimed at the front one, and then pulled the trigger, and the muzzle of the gun sprayed fire and white smoke, and the wild boar seemed to be slammed by an invisible heavy fist and fell to the ground.

"Your Excellency, please!" The soldiers next to the horse hurriedly took the launched bird gun from Liu Cheng's hand, and handed Liu Cheng a bird gun with a good medicine. Liu Cheng didn't continue shooting, but handed the bird gun to Yang Sichang next to him, and said with a smile: "Master Inspector, you can try it too!" ”

"What about you?" Yang Sichang took the bird gun with some hesitation, he was no stranger to this kind of weapon - he had tried the firearms commonly used by Liu Chengjun several times before this. It's just that the reserve of being a civil official makes him not very accustomed to this cold and hard object in his hands.

"It's been a long time since I've shot an arrow, and the last general wants to try his hand at archery!" Liu Cheng took out a horned bow from the bow bag next to the saddle, and took out an arrow from Hulu, and drew the bow to aim at a wild boar under the hillock. Yang Sichang didn't speak, aimed at a black wolf behind him, pulled the trigger, and when the white smoke cleared, he saw that the wild wolf was still jumping around, and it seemed that it had missed.

Liu Cheng also relaxed the bowstring, his archery skills were much better than Yang Sichang, this arrow hit the left rib of the wild boar, the wild boar rushed to the mound, several soldiers just wanted to raise their spears to assassinate it, but heard a loud roar "on", the wild boar suffered an axe on the head, and fell to the ground with a scream, but it was Hao Shaoqi's means.

At this time, the herd of beasts driven by the cavalry arrived, Yang Sichang's eyes widened in surprise, it was the first time he had seen this kind of scene, a group of roe deer and wild deer mixed together, running in the clearing, frightened everywhere, looking for a safe place in vain. Liu Cheng whistled excitedly, constantly shooting with bows and arrows and bird guns, when a deer or wolf was shot by him, erected his front feet, and fell down with kicks in the snow, Liu Chengcheng shouted excitedly, and several Mongolian soldiers in front of him also shot arrows, looking elated.

The only one on the hill who was not caught in this carnival was Yang Sichang, who sat on horseback and looked at Liu Cheng with an unfamiliar eye, as if he had met each other for the first time.

"General Cao!" Yang Sichang's voice was very low: "Do you feel that Liu Zhentai is a little different from other generals of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

"Different?" Cao Wenzhao also shot two prey, and was having fun, this young general was quite talented in the use of weapons, and he still asked Hao Shaoqi on the way to learn how to use the bird gun, and he only fought four or five times before he became as skilled as a veteran. At this time, he was suddenly asked by his boss, and he couldn't help but be stunned for a while: "This, the last general thinks it's okay!" ”

At this time, everyone's attention was attracted by a large bear with gray shoulders and back that somehow escaped from the nearby woods. Liu Cheng shot an arrow at it, but only hit it in the shoulder, and the angry bear let out a terrifying cry and rushed towards the hillock, Hao Shaoqi picked up his shield and was about to step forward to stop the bear. A man rushed out of the stabbing spur, raised his heavy spear to stab the boar, and the beast raised its front legs and roared terribly, but the man pierced the bear from the mouth to the back of the head with astonishing skill and courage, so that the man behind him with the long axe to mend the knife found that it was not needed at all. In the face of such courage and skill, the pro-soldiers let out a burst of exclamations, and Liu Cheng patted his thigh hard, and said with a smile: "Good, good, what a warrior, come here, I have a heavy reward!" ”

The man who had just killed the bear walked over under the guidance of his own soldiers, Yang Sichang noticed the braid on his head and the burly figure, obviously this was a Jurchen, he frowned: "Liu Zhentai, this is a Dongyu!" ”

"Yes, the one who was captured a few days ago seems to be called Strong, yes, it is called Acton!" Being able to think of the names of his subordinates, Liu Cheng laughed excitedly: "Acton, you are called this name!" ”

"Yes, that's the villain's name!" Acton's eyes widened in surprise, he didn't expect that the general in command of tens of thousands of people could remember the names of his subordinates who had only met once or twice, which made him a little flattered.

"You've done a good job, you're so daring, you're so skilled!"

"Don't dare!" Acton kowtowed, and replied in stammering Chinese according to his habit in the Eight Banners: "Actually, it's nothing, the slave is a Sauron, who grew up in the old woods since he was a child, and has fought bears, wild boars, and even tigers!" ”

"Good, good!" Liu Cheng smiled: "Say, what do you want?" ”

Acton looked around with some trepidation, and he had just gotten rid of his captivity, deciding that it was better to keep a low profile: "The slave only hopes to be able to kill the enemy for the adult!" ”

"Kill the enemy for me? It's a simple requirement! Liu Cheng looked left and right, laughed loudly, and then he took off the saber from his waist and threw it to Acton: "Since you want to kill the enemy for me, then take this steel knife!" ”

"Thank you, sir!" Acton looked at the saber in his hand in surprise, and kowtowed two more heads gratefully, he naturally knew the meaning of this: "The slave must open the way and pave the bridge for the adults and kill the enemy!" ”

The hunt was over, and the clearing at the mouth of the valley was covered with the carcasses of all kinds of wild beasts, and the hunters skinned off the best part of their flesh to prepare for today's breakfast, and the surplus was smoked and roasted into dried meat, and the hounds gathered around excitedly, waiting for the bones and internal organs. Liu Cheng and Yang Sichang returned to the tent, several pieces of deer breast were set up on the iron chisel, the grease fell on the charcoal fire, making a squeaking sound, the cook carefully sprinkled spices on the deer breast, and the whole tent was filled with a charming aroma.

"Master Overseer, every time I finish hunting or riding a horse, my appetite is very good!" Liu Cheng took a sip of Ma ****, and it seemed that his interest was very high: "Maybe I was a Mongolian in my last life!" ”

"Maybe!" Yang Sichang only had water in his cup, and like most southerners, he didn't like this fermented dairy drink, and he frowned and looked at Liu Cheng: "But you look like a Mongolian now!" ”

"Really?" Liu Cheng smiled: "What's the way to do this?" The cavalry under my command was almost entirely Mongol, and without them, I would have been like a man without legs. Just like riding a horse, if you want to be a good rider, you need to know what horses like and hate, and it's best to make them feel like you're a horse too. If I want to command the Mongols, the best way is for them to feel that I am like them, a Mongol, and that people are always close to familiar things! ”

"But you've been a little bit like this, haven't you?"

"Master Overseer!" Liu Cheng showed a sarcastic smile on his face: "I am a martial artist, I can't compare to the scholars who sit in the court and talk about the Tao, we defeat the people who are going to die, where can we take care of so much?" Zhao Wuling King Hu Fu rode and shot, who can say that he violated the etiquette of the first king? ”

Liu Cheng's words were like a basin of cold water poured on the top of Yang Sichang's head, like an initiation, he raised his head and said to Liu Cheng: "Liu Zhentai, I have something I want to talk to you about in private!" ”

Liu Cheng made a look, and the people in the tent retreated, leaving only him and Yang Sichang. Yang Sichang coughed lowly: "I received a letter from the Beijing division yesterday, Zhou Yanru was dismissed, Wen Tiren was injured, and the saint wanted to recruit me to return to Beijing to be a scholar of the military department and a scholar of the East Pavilion University." ”

"Oh? That was a bonus! Liu Cheng said that he was surprised, but there was no surprise on his face, and there was no expression on his face.

"It's not a happy event!" Yang Sichang sighed, he got up and paced back and forth in the tent: "To be honest, although I have been very busy in Shanxi in the past few months, I have been eating and sleeping all day long, but compared to Beijing, I am much more relaxed than in Beijing. ”

"Would you rather be the head of the chicken than the queen of the cow?" Liu Cheng said with a smile, he can understand Yang Sichang's feelings, he is a feudal official in Shanxi, and he is a feudal official, but he is the target of everyone when he returns to Beijing to be a cabinet minister, and he doesn't know how much to think about and how much to deal with, and only he knows the taste of it, anyway, he must be grateful for Liu Cheng himself. (To be continued.) )