Chapter 174: Spring Hunting in Tianshan (2)

The sky was drizzling, the camp was in a mess, the tent was overturned, the bowls and basins were smashed, and muddy clothes and daily necessities were discarded everywhere, blood could be seen everywhere, and a group of Tang cavalry was tense, separating Shatuo people and Gelu people.

The Shatuo people and the Geluo people glared at each other. They drew their swords and held swords, and were full of murderous aura. More than a dozen wounded people were lying in pools of blood and moaning in pain.

At this time, a Tang army shouted: "General Li is here!"

A team of cavalry came at lightning. Li Qing'an was wearing a helmet and his face was as if he was sinking. He rushed to the front and shouted angrily: "Who dares to use force in my Beiting!"

Shatuoye Gugu Duzhi hurriedly said, "I am not our rudeness, but the Geluo people killed my hunting dog first and insulted me as a dog."

Li Qing'an's eyes glanced coldly at the Geluo people. The Geluo prince Moussed heavily and turned his head arrogantly. The second prince Sihan hurriedly stepped forward and bowed and said, "It was the Shatuo people who invaded my Geluo family first and killed my tribe. We are already very restrained."

Gu Duzhi was furious and accused him: "Eight years ago, killing me, Shatu people, and robbing me, Shatu women and children. The leader of Shatu died under your knife. Have you forgotten?"

Moushiroduo was furious and cursed: "Shatuo Dog, I got you cheaper eight years ago. This time I will kill you and exterminate you."

"shut up!"

Li Qingan shouted angrily, and he rushed forward, pointed at the two Hushang with a horse whip and said, "I don't care about any of your grudges. From today on, whoever dares to cause trouble in Shatu or Geluo will despise me as a Tang Dynasty. I will send troops to fight him."

He ordered his men, "Stay them separately and do not get close to them."

Both Shatuo people and Geluo people were silent. Li Qingan looked at the eldest prince Motuo again. Seeing that he looked contemptuous, he couldn't help but sneer secretly and said, "I'll say it again. Starting from today, no matter how you do not take my words as a warning. If you don't believe it, you can try it."

After saying that, he turned his head and galloped towards Beitingcheng, no longer asking. Moushu Sihan looked at Li Qing'an's back and frowned. He seemed to think of something wrong, but he couldn't say it for a moment.

At the same time when the two Hu were in a row, Zhao Tingyu, the governor of Xizhou, came to Cheng Qianli's mansion. Zhao Tingyu was about 35 or thirty-five or six years old, tall and thin, fair-skinned, and had a hooked nose. Zhao Tingyu was originally a general of the Jinwu Guard. He was transferred to Beiting in the fifth year of Tianbao. In Chang'an, he belonged to the King of Qing. After Cheng Qianli failed to compete for the Anxi Jiedushi, he also became a member of the King of Qing. For this reason, the two got very close and later developed into a marriage relationship. Zhao Tingyu's younger brother married Cheng Qianli's daughter.

Since their marriage was completed in their hometown, few people in Beiting knew about it. Only old bureaucrats like Yang Fengche found clues from various documents.

This time, Zhao Tingyu came to Beiting not for spring hunting, but for this excuse to come to Cheng Qianli to discuss the next plan.

On the surface, the contradiction in Beiting seems to be a contradiction between Cheng Qianli and Li Qingan. In fact, Cheng Qianli has no power, especially military power. Therefore, the real contradiction in Beiting is a contradiction between the three real power governors. The governor of Yizhou Han Zhi has expressed his willingness to accept Li Qingan's leadership. It can be ignored. The real contradiction is a contradiction between Zhao Tingyu and Li Qingan. Zhao Tingyu's Tianshan Army has 5,000 people, which is a powerful force. This is also his confidence to dare to fight against Li Qingan.

Especially he represented the interests of King Qing in Beiting, and his confrontation with Li Qing'an was actually a confrontation between King Qing and the prince.

This time he led 500 personal soldiers to Tingzhou and stationed in an independent military camp outside Jinman County. The 500 personal soldiers were always staying away and were extremely vigilant. His army in Xizhou was also handed over to his confidant general Long Qianfei. Without his orders, no one could transfer the Tianshan Army.

In the study, Cheng Qianli looked solemn. There was a letter in front of him, which was written by King Qing. The letter clearly asked them to continue to fight against Li Qing'an and appease them. He was already seeking a quota for deputy governors from the emperor. As for whether this quota is for Cheng Qianli or Zhao Tingyu, the letter did not state it clearly.

"I heard that Han Zhi has defected to Li Qing'an." After a long time, Cheng Qianli said in a hoarse voice.

Compared with a few years ago, Cheng Qianli has become much older. He is only forty-five years old this year, and his hair is already half white. His official fortune is indeed not very good. He fought with Gao Xianzhi in Anxi, and Gao Xianzhi took office. He tried every means and refused to surrender to King Qing. Only then did he get his wish was transferred to Beiting as his deputy governor. King Qing also promised him that he would become the governor of Beiting in the future.

He was looking forward to it day by day, but he didn't expect that the last thing he had come was Li Qing'an in charge of Beiting. He suffered a heavy blow. In just one month, his hair turned white. In the past month when Li Qing'an came to be in charge of Beiting, he almost ignored everything. He was addicted to alcohol and sex all day long, and his body became much weaker.

Zhao Tingyu's back was straightened. He glanced at Cheng Qianli. Seeing that he was filled with strong alcohol and his eyes were timid and unconscious, he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied. He said coldly: "Do you think Han Zhi really surrendered to Li Qing'an? Like us, he did not allow Li Qing'an to interfere in his Yiwu army, but he acted more concealed. The one who actually surrendered to Li Qing'an was Yang Fengche. I don't know how you did it. He had a handle in his hand and could not control him."

Zhao Tingyu spoke very rudely and did not show humility because Cheng Qianli was his brother's father-in-law. In fact, his Xizhou Governor was from the third rank, and Cheng Qianli's deputy rank was only the fourth rank, and he was half a level lower than him. Within the Qingwang Party, his status was higher than Cheng Qianli.

Cheng Qianli was a little worried about his face, and he cursed softly: "You know, Li Qing'an is the chief censor and has the power to supervise. If he doesn't investigate, Yang Fengche's handles will be nothing."

"But you are too decadent."

Zhao Tingyu knocked on the table with his knuckles, "Look at what you are now. You are the deputy gubernatorial guardian of Beiting. Even if you don't have military power, you can always manage military food! But you gave up everything, and you disappointed Your Highness."

"I'm so tired, I think we might not be able to beat him."

The weakness of the body eroded Cheng Qianli's will, and his confidence was losing day by day. He sighed and said frustrated: "The Lord not only gave him military power, but also supervisory power, and even gave him the camp and field envoy, which was a military power. It would be difficult for him to deal with me! You still have good things, and there is an army to rely on, so what do I have?"

"You can't say that. You are the one of His Highness King Qing, and you fight for the interests of King Qing. You have considered yourself too much, Cheng Dupu, don't forget that you have made a poisonous oath in front of King Qing."

Thinking of the poisonous oath he had made to King Qing, Cheng Qianli couldn't help but fight a cold war. After a long time, he forced himself to speak: "What should we do now?"

"Don't do anything, just wait patiently for the imperial court's appointment letter to come. As long as we can get the deputy envoy of the Jiedushi, we will not be afraid of him at all."

"But he won't stand by."

Zhao Tingyu smiled coldly and said, "He is now being frustrated by the conflict between the Geluo people and the Shatuo people! How can I care about us? After the spring hunting is over, I will return to Xizhou immediately. You must cheer up and stop indulging in wine and sex anymore."

"Spring Hunting!" Cheng Qianli sighed, "Hunting is actually not bad."

Spring hunting is an official traditional leisure activity in Beiting. Every year in March and April, the spring is bright, and Beiting riding and archery masters gather in Tianshan to learn about riding and archery skills through hunting.

The hunting ground is south of Luntai County, which is today's Urumqi area. It is the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains. It has dense forests, many rivers, and plump grasslands. It lives with many wild animals, wolves, bears, argas, antelopes, red deer, foxes, goose-throated antelopes, etc. At that time, Li Qing'an caught a black panther on the other side of the Tianshan Mountains. The black panther skin is still hanging in Li Linfu's outer study.

At noon, a vast hunting team appeared on the endless grassland. Due to the large number of people, the hunting team was divided into three groups. The three governors each led a team, distributed on the long hunting ground of three or four hundred miles. Li Qing'an's Han Haijun led Shatuo and Gelulu, as well as civil and military officials in Beiting and the athletes from the three counties of Tingzhou, with about 800 people. Falcons circling in the sky, hunting dogs barking wildly, and horses flying like flying. In an instant, thousands of riders rolled over the hill.

"I'm talking about the young man's crazy, with yellow on the left, blue on the right, brocade hat and sable fur, and a thousand riders rolled flat on the roof."

Li Qing'an laughed loudly. He rode a majestic chestnut Gaochang horse, holding a fire bow in his hand, and rushed to a Gaogang, followed by hundreds of flying riders.

The north wind was flying on the hills, and a falcon retracted its wings and fell, and stopped on his shoulder. Li Qing'an looked into the distance. There was a vast forest in front of him, and to the north was an endless grassland. A river winded like a jade belt on the grassland, flowing into the sea of ​​courtyard hundreds of miles away.

The leader of Shatuo Gu Duzhi rushed forward and laughed loudly, "I heard that Li Jun is unparalleled in magical arrows. Can we open our eyes?"

Most of the Beiting officials only heard that Li Qing'an was Anxi's first arrow, but they had never seen him show his archery skills, and they all agreed with it after hearing this.

"Empress, shoot an arrow!"

Li Qingan did not refuse and said happily: "Okay, I'll show my ugly face to everyone."

He pulled out a long arrow with his name engraved and looked up to find the target. At this moment, several harrier hawks flew out over the forest in the distance, hovering towards this side. This was the falcon invading their territory and they came to drive them away.

Leading the lead is a huge eagle with five feet spreading its wings and is much larger than all falcons.

"This is the Eagle King!" Several eagle slaves shouted excitedly.

The eagle seemed to be angry by the invader's rudeness. It spread its wings and whizzed past the invader's head, causing a burst of exclamation. Moussiloduo was depressed and put down his bow and arrow. He wanted to shoot the Eagle King, but the speed was too fast and his arrow could not capture the target. Not only him, but all the warriors showed disappointment. This Eagle King could not be conquered by the arrow.

Instead of raising the bow, Li Qingan shrank his pupils and looked at the pride of heaven. This was a newly grown goshawk with a sharp and curved mouth, covered with iron-gray feathers, and his toes and claws with a hook were vigorous and powerful.

He was moved. Just as cavalry loves horses, the generals on the frontier have a special yearning for eagles. Eagles are also a symbol of identity. Being able to collect the eagle king as a soldier is also a dream of Li Qing'an.

He slowly pulled the bow, and he knew that the Eagle King would show off his martial power again. Sure enough, the Eagle King soared in the sky, and the falcons flew away one after another. They were afraid of the eagle King's momentum.

The Eagle King made a sharp long and sharp sound, as if he was cheering for victory. It circled down again and whizzed past the hills. Just as it passed by, Li Qing'an's powerful long arrow broke out of the string, like a bolt of lightning, pounced towards the Eagle King.

With a whine, the Eagle King's body suddenly sank, and his body continued to decline, circling like a feather falling from the air. Everyone's eyes widened. Almost everyone saw that there was a long arrow inserted on the Eagle King's wings. It tried to fly back to the forest, but it was powerless.

The Eagle King screamed sadly, and finally landed on the grassland three hundred steps away. The hunting dogs barked and rushed towards the falcon. Li Qing'an rode his horse and shouted loudly, "Do not touch it!"

He set his bow and shot arrows, and the arrows were like meteors. In a moment, several hunting dogs that had already pounced on the Eagle King were shot to death one by one by one. The hunting dogs became timid and whimpered and fled in all directions.

Li Qingan dismounted and slowly approached the eagle king. The eagle's eyes were blood red, and he glared at him, and a wave of sad and desolate roars came from his mouth. It wanted to pounce on the person who shot it, but it was powerless.

"General, leave this Eagle King to me! I can tame it."

The eyes of the eagle slave Meng Wulang flashed with excitement, and Li Qing'an nodded, "I'll recover from his injuries. I'll tame this eagle myself."

Meng Wulang spread a thin net, covered the Eagle King, carefully caught it, and held it high, and cheers suddenly appeared on the hills.

At this time, three horses galloped in the distance, and the cavalry immediately reported loudly: "General, there are flocks of antelopes thirty miles ahead, with a thousand heads."

"good!"

Li Qing'an turned over the horse, took out a horn and blew it hard. The low horn sounded throughout the world. This was the order to hunt. He pointed to the east with a long bow, and the cavalry shouted, whistling down from the hills, following Li Qing'an to gallop eastward.

These are several groups of antelope that have lived in the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains for generations, with more than a thousand heads. Spring is the season for them to breed. They are gathering by the river to drink water. Suddenly, the barking of dogs from afar alarmed them. They raised their heads vigilantly and ran towards the forest.

But it was too late. A cavalry rushed up from the edge of the forest and cut off their retreat. Then there were cavalry surrounding them from all directions, cutting off all their escape routes. The cavalry began to shrink and the encirclement, and the antelope fled in horror.

The tragic hunting began. The cavalry shouted and approached the antelope flock. The arrows were shot like rain. The antelope kept falling into the ground. As the hunting officially opened, the original queue gradually dispersed. The cavalry each formed their own formation, excitedly setting off the bow and arrow, shooting at the poor antelope, shouting, horse hooves, hunting dogs biting, and splashing water.

At this moment, a scream suddenly came from the cavalry group. The leader of Shatuo fell from his horse, and a wolf-tooth arrow was inserted on his back.

The sudden change shocked everyone, and the hunting gradually became quiet. Suddenly, more than a dozen Shatu cavalrymen rushed towards Mutaroduo. Mutaroduo's face turned pale, holding a bow and arrow in his hand, and a grim smile that had not yet dissipated on his face. He finally seized the opportunity.

Geluo surrounded him one after another, drew his sword and angrily towards the Shatuo people rushing up. A sneer flashed in Li Qing'an's eyes. With a wave of his long bow, hundreds of Tang troops rushed up, separating the Shatuo people who were about to break out of conflict.

An unexpected incident in humans saved the antelope, and hundreds of antelope seized the opportunity and fled into the forest.

Li Qing'an urged him to step forward, Gu Duzhi had been rescued by the military doctor. Although he dodged in time, the arrow from Toutuo still shot him in the back, making his life dying.

"Return to the station immediately!"

Li Qingan glanced at the two Hus coldly and said, "It seems that I need to settle the old account for you."

In a big white tent, more than a dozen Gelulu people sat against Shatu people, old hatred accumulated new hatred, hatred burst into their eyes. Guduzhi was seriously injured and could not come to attend the mediation meeting. His son Zhu Xie Jinzhong replaced him. Zhu Xie Jinzhong held the hilt of the knife in his hand, and the joints were clattered, and he wanted to cut off the head of the Mutarodo opposite him with a knife. History was so similar. Eight years ago, his grandfather was seriously injured under the arrow of Chief Gelulu, who was trying to stab the Black Mountain. He died three months later. Eight years later, his father was seriously injured under the arrow of the Black Mountain son. Whether his father could survive is still unknown. The deep hatred between the Shatu people and the Gelulu people can only be cleaned with blood.

Moushuluoduo didn't care at all. He had no intention of joining this shitty spring hunt. He was determined to kill to Jinshan Ranch and smash the damn Shatuo people into pieces. However, the success of this arrow today made him feel that he had not come to Beiting in vain.

But Tushi Sihan next to him was worried. He had always felt something was wrong. He suddenly figured out that it was Jinshan Ranch, and Jinshan Ranch was still in the hands of Shatuo people. Li Qingan said that if anyone was committing a crime, he would send troops to attack whom. What should he do if Jinshan Ranch? Can't Gelu people get it back?

At this time, Li Qing'an spoke: "Gelu and Shatuo were originally the same clan, but today they have such a deep hatred, which makes me embarrassed!"

"Encourt!" Zhu Xie Jinzhong was about to speak, but Li Qingan waved his hand to stop him.

"For the sake of peace and peace in Beiting, this general decided to mediate for your two tribes. I try to be fair and fair, but there is an ugly saying I want to say before. Actually, I said it the day before yesterday. After I make the decision, no tribe is allowed to cause trouble again, otherwise it will be disrespect to the Tang Dynasty. I will send troops to attack him. Have you heard?"

Li Qingan looked at them, and he said to Zhu Xie Zongzhong: "Sha Tuo will make a statement first!"

Zhu Xie Jinzhong had received his father's advice in advance, and he hurriedly said, "Shatuo will obey the orders of the envoy."

"Where is Ge Luolu?" Li Qingan glanced at Mutaroduo.

Moushu Sihan was anxious to speak, but Moushu Luoduo glared at him fiercely, "You are not qualified to speak on behalf of Ge Luolu."

Moushu Sihan suddenly became hoarse. Moushu Luoduo twisted his neck and said in a muffled voice: "Our Geluo's statement is very simple. If General Li handles it fairly, we obey. If General Li handles it unfairly, we cannot accept it."

His unruly words made the senior officials of Beiting beside Li Qingan all look down. Yang Fengche and the military inspector Wang Tingfang looked at each other. Yang Fengche snorted and said, "Is this what your father Heishan meant?"

"Yang Dupu, since my father sent me here, I can fully represent Ge Luolu."
To be continued...