Chapter 137: The Hunting Meeting

The hunt was chosen on a grassland more than 20 miles away from the Yema River, which is close to the lake and has high grass and dense forests. The leaders of the various tribes under the jurisdiction of Yeli led their respective tribes to scatter in a line from different directions, and formed a large circle from a distance, blowing horns, erecting eagles and dogs, and slowly forcing each other inward, hiding in the grassland of wolves, foxes, badgers, wild boars, yellow sheep and other animals into a large circle, forced into a depression of several hundred acres. This process requires everyone to be loyal to their duties, and if that person neglects his duties, takes the wrong route, or violates the rules, he will be condemned by everyone, and if he cares only about his prey or injures a man or a hound, he will be punished by the chief.

"Roar!" Suddenly, Yeli roared, and all the people followed suit, the roar was low and sonorous, and the sound seemed to spread and spread to the trees, grass, and wildness against the earth, one after another, and echoed endlessly. The sound seemed to penetrate the mountains and rivers here, and the beasts hiding in the trees and grass suddenly panicked and panicked, as if they had suddenly lost their sense of direction...

On the high slope, I watched the frightened sandpheas, wild ducks, turtle doves... There are also many flying birds that can't be named, Zhao Ta, who participated in this kind of hunting activity for the first time, couldn't help but be a little excited, looking at the prey fleeing from the circle, he felt his blood boiling, and he had the urge to enter the circle to kill.

"Lord Wang, it's just autumn at this time, the fur of these animals has not yet grown, today is mainly to hunt yellow sheep, wild boars, hares and other beasts, don't be mistaken, make people laugh!" Zhao Xin whispered in the ear of the prince.

"Oh, you seem to be quite knowledgeable, have you ever participated in this kind of event?" Zhao Qi asked curiously.

"Hmph, of course, I remember when I didn't know how to ride a horse, I followed my father and brothers to participate in the hunt!" Zhao Xin said proudly.

"Okay, then you will follow me later, and you can remind me if you do something wrong!" As if to prove Zhao Xin's statement, the hunting team got out of the way, and those wolves, foxes and other fur animals with cubs were released, and the red-eyed wolves, with their tongues extended, drooled, snorted and panted quickly ran out of the circle, and looked back from time to time, the meat was rolling a little crazy badger pigs, walking on their little short legs against the ground, like a leather ball in the grass from time to time to hide through the horse's hoof forest, but those yellow sheep and red deer were not so lucky, and were driven back into the circle again.

"Well, later, Yeli will definitely invite you to be shortlisted for hunting first, and then you have to show your hand, don't hide your secrets, you can't hit the prey, it will be looked down upon, and then don't hurt other people's dogs, the party people don't take dogs as property, but as a member of the family!" Zhao Xin gave him two sentences and taught him some rules.

"Got it!" Zhao Tan nodded and said, Zhao Xin told a few more guards, asking them to be careful, not to stare at the prey, but to pay attention to the people around them, to prevent someone from plotting against the prince.

"Lord Wang, it's our turn!" At this time, Ye Li came over with more than a dozen personal guards and said with a smile, he had changed into a tight suit, if you don't look at your head, it is not much different from the Han people only from the clothing.

"Good!" Zhao Ta agreed with a smile, pulled out the bead gun from the saddle bag, Ye Li gave an order, and the guards behind him immediately released the hounds and falcons, and at the sound of the horn, he rushed into the circle first. Zhao Ta knocked his heel on the horse's belly, and then rushed in, Zhao Xin and the others opened the distance between the two horses and followed closely with the prince.

The wild beast in the circle was frightened, and jumped out of the grass and bushes and fled in all directions, Ye Li took a bow and arrow and aimed at a yellow sheep thirty or forty paces ago, the horse rushed forward, and as soon as he let go, the bowstring sounded, and a chirping hammer with a howl hit the neck of the yellow sheep, and the sheep jumped forward two steps forward with an arrow, and fell to the ground, and one of his guards immediately hit the horse forward, and jumped down near the prey, and cut the throat of the yellow sheep with a short knife in his hand, and then raised it high, which immediately caused a cheer. …,

Zhao Ta did not show weakness, the prancing horse with a gun rushed forward, it is not difficult to shoot on the horse, but it is not so easy to shoot at the target, even if it is usually shot in a lying position, breathing will affect the accuracy, not to mention on the back of a bumpy horse, the moment when the horse runs with four hooves in the air is the most stable time, only by seizing this fleeting moment to shoot can the hit rate be guaranteed.

'Bang' A dazed yellow sheep actually ran head-on, and Zhao Ta shot it between the eyes, blowing its head apart. Zhao Tamar's speed did not decrease, still moving forward, he wanted to play a trick like a 'governor', but his gun was a little longer, so he could only give up, pull the bolt to load again, and knock down a red deer. He repeated the simple act of loading, aiming, and firing on his horse, and as long as the prey that appeared in his sight did not slip through the net, even if it was only a flash in the grass...

After firing a cartridge, Zhao Ta skillfully withdrew the empty cartridge, took out a cartridge from the ammunition bag and replaced it, returned to the horse and started a new round of killing, Zhao Xin behind him and the five guards accompanying him lined up in a wedge-shaped formation to follow up in turn, covering each other and attacking as they usually train. Their team of men and horses rushed over, the beasts on both sides fell to the ground like weeds swept by the wind, a reckless fat boar suddenly rushed from the grass to Zhao Tamar, the shot was no longer available, Zhao Tamar drew his saber, the horse's speed did not decrease a sideways, the knife drew a beautiful arc, wiped over the boar's neck, leaving a headless monster behind him.

Zhao Ta peeked at it, although the formation on Yeli's side seemed to be chaotic, but under Yeli's whistle command, he flexibly galloped around the field, separated the beasts that were ready to shoot from the herd, drove them into the encirclement, shot calmly with bows and arrows, stabbed to death with spears or threw out the flying ropes to capture the beasts alive, the formation was flexible, with tacit understanding, showing high tactical literacy. Zhao Ta couldn't help but sigh, no wonder the nomads are unparalleled in riding and archery, their skills are not deliberately trained, riding and archery is just a part of their life, it is a compulsory course for daily production activities, and it is also the need for survival, just like being born.

Zhao Ta and Ye Li shot out of the circle for a while, and then those tribal leaders led people to rush into the circle and start a new round of killing, until the bloody atmosphere in the circle was overwhelming, leaving only those female beasts and underage beasts with cubs, and then withdrew from the encirclement, and the remaining beasts quickly escaped from this bloody place!

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At the end of the hunt, someone went to clean up the slain beasts, and on a flat ground by the lake, Ye Li invited Zhao Ta to take a seat, and the leaders of his tent also sat in a circle, like a round table of Western knights. Soon, a servant put on the table the food and drinks, and brought the hunted beast in order.

Zhao Ta somewhat understood, according to the rules of Western Xia, the hunting meeting was the most important and authoritative form of party deliberations, and it was a meeting in which the king or the head of the tribe convened the heads of various clans to discuss military and political affairs. If there is a war that requires the mobilization of troops, he will lead his subordinates to shoot together, and after hunting wild beasts, everyone will sit together and share the prey and let everyone express their opinions, and then arrange the combat mission. Yesterday was just to pick up the wind for him, and today is the official discussion.

"Leaders, what is the matter of Prince Song Yan's visit to our clan, everyone must have understood that I want to listen to everyone's opinions by bringing you together today!" After three rounds of wine, Yeli put down the wine bowl and said.

"General, it has been a hundred years since our clan migrated here, and there have been countless battles with the Great Song Dynasty. After a moment of silence, a chubby guy said.

"Leader Dongqiu, this is a good word, but now that we have been defeated repeatedly, and we have fled from the battle, and we have lost the commander of the army, the crime is not small, if we are held accountable, we will not be able to get rid of it!" …,

"What the leader of the fold name said is reasonable, now the Supervision Army Division has sent 30,000 troops to assemble in Mingtang River, and it will be there in a few days, and Weng Li, the supervisor of Qu Yehe, has also been sent to our department many times to lobby, colluding with traitors, trying to annex our clan, and now he has Chen Soldier Liangu, if the two armies attack each other, I am afraid that our clan will be difficult to resist and end up as slaves with others!"

"I don't agree, my clan has a number of 10,000 accounts, although the loss of thousands of soldiers, but you can also collect 10,000 elite soldiers, once the traitor returns to the Song Dynasty, it will be decomposed and moved inward, and it will be better to steal a life, it is better to fight to the death, maybe you can still find a way to live!" A bearded leader glared at Zhao Ta fiercely and said.

"I heard that the envoy sent by Xingqing Mansion is intended to appease our clan, not to use sword soldiers, and the dispatch of troops is only to prevent the Song army from attacking Yulin County again, can you wait for the envoy to arrive before making a decision?"

"Baishu is only afraid that you are waiting for the envoy to come, in order to seize my power, you hooked up with Xingqing Mansion, do I really not know?" Hearing this, Ye Li slammed the wine bowl and said sharply, and several guards behind him all drew knives and glared at him, as long as he gave the order, they could take him down.

"General, my subordinates have no intention of seizing power, they just want our clan to be spared from swordsmen, and I want to ask Brother Cha to mediate with the Military Supervision Division!" Baishu was not afraid, and argued.

"Baishu, don't scare me with Brother Cha, others are afraid of him, but I Yeli refuses to accept him, your correspondence with him is in my hands, and I already know the inside story!" Ye Li pointed at Baishu and shouted, Baishu's face changed several times, and he didn't dare to say anything again.

"Alas, now that the two sides are forcing each other, our clan has lost in a row, and its strength has been greatly damaged, even if it wins, I am afraid it will be difficult to gain a foothold here, it is better to rely on the Great Song Dynasty, but I don't know how the Great Song Dynasty treats the people of my clan?" A leader looked at Ye Li and then at Zhao Ta and said.

"Prince Yan, although my clan has the intention of returning to the Song Dynasty, but it has not been discussed in detail, as the leader, I have to consider for tens of thousands of people, you have also seen the current situation, the conditions we proposed, can you call the shots!" Yeli turned to Zhao Ta, who was sitting beside him, and asked.

"If you return to the Song Dynasty, everything is easy to say, my father and emperor before I leave Beijing will be subject to my right to execute on the spot, as long as the conditions are not too excessive, I can call the shots!" Zhao Ta kept listening to their arguments, but he just drank wine and ate meat without saying a word, and when he saw Yeli asking, he kicked the ball back and asked them to bid, and he could pay back the money on the spot!