Chapter 38: Shunlang Realm (Part )
Early the next morning, Su Ze ordered Su Da to carry out the commission and go to Sitong City to find Gao Huan, while he took Ben Xiao to the southern suburbs to practice riding and archery skills.
Hunting was an activity deeply loved by the nobles both in the Central Plains and on the grasslands. The Northern Wei Dynasty was a regime of the Xianbei people. Although Emperor Xiaowen promoted sinicization, in order to maintain the martial spirit, he also preserved hunting as an important activity for the emperor and the nobles.
When Emperor Xiaowen was in power, hunting was held every year. He selected his personal guards through hunting. Many grassroots military officers from humble backgrounds were appreciated by Emperor Xiaowen through hunting and were promoted to personal guards. Su Ze's father was one of them.
However, after the previous Emperor Xuanwu ascended the throne, this emperor, who had received a Chinese education since childhood, had no interest in hunting. During his reign, he never held a hunting event and did not even inspect the imperial guards.
But now the emperor is young and the empress dowager is a woman, the emperor's hunting ceremony will not be held. The hunting of Prince Qinghe has become a stage for the warriors of Luoyang to show off.
The selection of talents for entry into the Qinghe Palace was a hunting event held by the Qinghe Prince.
Prince Qinghe himself was quite fond of literature, and he suggested to the Queen Mother that hunting was held in order to select talented people in the army, so Prince Qinghe's hunting changed from a hunting activity to an activity similar to the selection of elite military generals.
Su Ze's uncle found out that the selection of talents for the Qinghe Palace would take a whole day and would be divided into two parts.
The first is "shooting", which is divided into shooting on foot and shooting on horseback. Shooting on foot is to shoot arrows at a target. Each person can shoot three arrows from a hundred steps away. Only those who hit two arrows can participate in the next step of shooting on horseback.
Horseback archery is archery on horseback. One needs to draw the bow on the moving horse's back and shoot at the arrow target fifty steps away. Also, only three arrows are given. Only those who hit the target with one arrow can participate in the next step of "hunting".
Before the hunting, the guards and attendants of the Qinghe Palace would fence off the entire hunting ground. They would also put on deer antlers and use special wooden flutes to imitate the calls of male deer to attract the surrounding female deer seeking mates into the hunting ground.
Only warriors who have passed the "shooting" test can participate in the "hunting" activity. They have to carry their own dry food and bows and arrows and go on a hunting trip that lasts for a day and a night. Finally, the results are calculated according to the prey.
Of course, there are not only deer in King Qinghe's hunting grounds. It is said that there are also various ferocious beasts specially transported from the north hidden there. If you can hunt a ferocious beast, you can get a higher evaluation and be summoned by King Qinghe.
Prince Qinghe would personally talk to these warriors, and if they could gain his appreciation, they could join the royal palace.
Because Prince Qinghe was the most sought-after minister in the Northern Wei court, his hunting trips would attract other princes, princesses, and important court officials to participate. Being able to achieve good results in hunting was also a good opportunity to become famous in Luoyang.
Precisely because this opportunity is so rare and Prince Qinghe is well-known for his love of talented people, there are also many low-level officers and soldiers in the Yulin Army who want to make a splash in the selection process and become Prince Qinghe's guests and subjects.
The most enviable person is the scholar in white around Prince Qinghe.
Among these scholars in white, there were both learned scholars and brave warriors. Just like the guards in the imperial palace, they surrounded Prince Qinghe all day long.
The scholars gave advice to King Qinghe, and the warriors fought to protect him. Both civil and military officials wore white clothes when traveling. Every time King Qinghe traveled, he would be surrounded by scholars in white, causing a sensation in the whole Luoyang City.
Su Ze had also seen Prince Qinghe’s travels in the palace. In fact, it was not just Prince Qinghe’s travels, but all the travels of the princes in power in the Northern Wei Dynasty were so grand.
The tall building in the Qinghe Prince's mansion is no less tall than the wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple. The huge mansion that occupies half of the neighborhood is probably not as tall as the Jingu Garden of Shi Chong in the Western Jin Dynasty.
Not far from the southern suburbs, you can see the private hunting ground of the Prince of Qinghe. This huge area with forests, rivers, and grasslands is where the Qinghe Palace's selection of warriors is held. The servants of the Qinghe Palace are setting up fences to enclose the entire hunting ground, but Su Ze hears shouts from the front.
Not far away, I saw a group of villagers surrounding a man who looked like a manager and arguing loudly.
Su Ze led the horse over and finally heard what they were arguing about.
The villagers said, "Manager Lu! That piece of land is really my family's granted land! It's not the prince's hunting ground! That piece of land has just been planted, if it is surrounded, it will be completely destroyed!"
Steward Lu held up the bamboo slips and said, "What a bold villain! You've come to the prince's hunting grounds to open up wasteland! And you dare to say that this is your family's granted land! Considering that the prince is preparing for something big, I won't take you to Luoyang Prefecture! Why don't you leave immediately!"
The villagers were even more excited and said, "This is the land granted to my family! I have the title deed from Luoyang Prefecture!"
Steward Lu sneered and said, "What about the land deed? Can the Luoyang Yin take back the prince's land? If you make a noise again, where will the guards in the palace be?"
Several palace guards immediately drew their weapons. The villagers were shaking with fear, but when they thought of the farmland they had just planted, if these fields were enclosed as hunting areas, they would be trampled by horses and eaten by wild beasts after the hunting season, and the spring ploughing would be completely wasted.
The villagers were still preparing to continue making trouble, but the guards from the palace had already rushed over. These unarmed villagers fled in all directions, leaving Steward Lu standing there sneering.
Su Ze clenched his fists, feeling more and more disgusted. He looked at the land around Luoyang. He didn't know since when, the land granted to the people was taken away by the powerful and wealthy for various purposes. No wonder the Yao family couldn't even keep their permanent mulberry fields as they were all taken away by the government. Perhaps they had become the hunting ground or farmland of some powerful person in Luoyang.
The onlookers also dispersed. Su Ze first practiced archery for a while, then mounted Benxiao and started galloping along the beach of Luoshui River.
The Luo River flows slowly. Su Ze put aside all distracting thoughts and aligned his body with Ben Xiao under his crotch.
As the horse's body rose and fell, Su Ze finally felt the rhythm of Benxiao's running, and he began to swing his body along with the rhythm.
Benxiao ran faster and faster, stepping over the stream on the river beach and splashing water, while Su Ze on the horse also felt an unprecedented sense of pleasure.
Only then did he realize that ever since he traveled through time, he had always been cautious and hesitant!
If we want to cure this corrupt world without taking a strong medicine, how can we have the glory of the Sui and Tang dynasties?
Su Ze's thoughts finally came into focus. He saw Benxiao's four hooves leave the ground and cross a long ditch. Su Ze on the horse felt like he had been freed from a restraint and his body became a lot lighter.
Benxiao landed steadily on the ground, wondering why the master on the horse had lost weight, and started running wildly again.
It turns out that this is the state of "following the waves" that Yafu talked about!
(End of this chapter)