"The King of the Southern Court of your country wants to invite me to meet and hunt outside the city?" After hearing Chen Xiangnan's invitation, Tong Guan frowned at first, but soon relaxed, nodded with a smile and said: "Since the King With such kindness, it’s hard for me to refuse.”
When Chen Xiangnan heard that he had agreed to this matter, his somewhat nervous expression calmed down, and he hurriedly smiled and said: "In that case, Privy Tong, please make preparations in advance. In two days, we will go out of the city to meet the king, and then we will go together." Go north and hunt."
Tong Guan nodded in agreement again, and then politely sent Chen Xiangnan out. Until the other party left, he saw that the Liao soldiers guarding in front of the embassy were much laxer than yesterday. From the one or two thousand people surrounded by several layers inside and outside to now only two or three hundred people, the smile on his face But it quickly subsided, replaced by deeper suspicion and concern.
In fact, after Sun Tu made such a big noise in Youzhou City yesterday and got the defense map back, Tong Guan had already made plans to deal with the Liao people. Unexpectedly, the night passed peacefully. No one came to make trouble at all. Moreover, today Chen Xiangnan came to invite them to go hunting outside the city as if nothing had happened. Such a reaction was so weird that it made him even more worried. became uneasy.
At this time, Sun Tu also walked over with a solemn expression: "Tong Shuai, aren't they here to raise an army and ask for guilt?"
"No, I just mentioned that everything yesterday was just a misunderstanding. In addition, the King of the South Campus of Liao Kingdom is already on his way back, and he also invited me to take people to a hunting trip."
"I'm afraid there's some fraud involved, right?" Sun Tu immediately said warily.
Tong Guan sneered and nodded: "That's natural, and it's a response to yesterday's incident, but I still can't see through their true purpose. However, there is no way to shirk this matter. In the Liao Kingdom, some things still have to be done according to them. It makes sense." At the end of the sentence, he sighed helplessly.
"Xiaoguan understands. When the time comes, Xiaguan will lead his subordinates and follow Tong Shuai out of the city." Sun Tu asked for his orders in a personal manner. To this, Tong Guan immediately responded.
He was quite dissatisfied with the reaction of the Imperial Guards in the embassy after yesterday's incident. However, the Qingzhou Army showed a calm and brave side at that time. So since we cannot take all the guards out this time, we have to select the most elite comrades who dare to fight. went. At this time, Tong Guan even regretted that he had only brought a mere 200 Qingzhou troops with him when he entered the Liao Kingdom. If he had known that the forbidden army was so unbearable, he should have brought all 500 Qingzhou troops with him.
The two of them didn't say much, and Sun Tu immediately ran outside into the courtyard, called all the officers under his command who were stationed everywhere, and explained the arrangements for him to escort Tong Guan out of the city for hunting in two days. . Then he solemnly reminded: "Although this is a hunting trip, the Liao people will definitely do something secretly. What we have to do is to ensure the safety of Tong Shuai. You can't slack off at all. Also, use weapons such as repeating crossbows." Everything is ready. If something goes wrong, just look at my eyes and act accordingly. You don’t have to worry too much."
All the officers felt a surge of excitement and nervousness in their hearts. This was a fight with the Liao army, and it was an enemy different from any they had encountered before. However, they quickly expressed their position: "The lower-level officials will do their best to ensure the safety of Tong Shuai and the governor, and they will not lose me."
The face of the Song Dynasty soldiers! "
"Okay, you guys have rested in the room for the past two days, and you have refreshed your energy for me. I have a hunch that there will be a big war when we leave the city this time!" Sun Tu warned twice more, and this time Only then did he let them disperse, and he himself began to make corresponding preparations.
Time passed quickly, two days passed in a blink of an eye, and in a blink of an eye it was the day to go out to the city to hunt with the Liao people.
Although the Khitan people continued to absorb the experience and culture of the Han people to consolidate their rule after the founding of the country, some of their national traditions were not forgotten. For example, hunting in the four seasons has been preserved to this day. Especially when there is an emperor who likes hunting in all directions, the ministers are even more skilled in this. Even in Nanjing, which is handing over to the Song Dynasty and wars may break out at any time, all civil and military officials have a passion for hunting. Naturally interested, Yelu Xiongge informed him, and no fewer than a hundred civil and military officials, big and small, joined him.
With the addition of these people, the hunting team this time will naturally not be small. There are more than twenty or thirty people behind them, and as few as three or four people. There are always guards and servants following them. Moreover, this time even the ambassador of the Song Dynasty and Yelv Sibuda, the third largest official among Nanjing officials, participated in the hunt, and the team leaving the city became even larger, with two to three thousand people.
After everyone left the city, they quickly raised their respective flags, and then the impatient ones galloped forward directly. So soon, the large plain area in the north of Youzhou City became chaotic. It was lively and dusty.
It was only then that Sun Tu really carefully observed the current specific landforms and conditions of the area north of Youzhou, which later generations could call the North China Plain. Compared with the prosperity and wealth of land a thousand years later, now Youzhou City is actually a bit desolate inside and outside. The city is okay, the population is relatively dense, but once you leave the city, it is completely a wilderness, in the endless vast land. There are not many decent villages on the plain, let alone towns. There is only one road that is not too wide and extends to the end of the northern horizon.
In such an environment, wild beasts are indeed very easy to breed. Only two or three miles away from the city, you can see some medium-sized wild beasts such as deer and deer in some bushes. As for small beasts such as hares, it is even more common. There are many, as long as you are passable in archery, you can always gain something by taking action at this time.
Not only had most of the Liao people started to move around, shooting the surrounding prey, but the three hundred Song soldiers who came out to protect Tong Guan also killed many while moving forward. This made Tong Guan also interested, and he actually Under the protection of Sun Tu and several others, he personally rode forward and chased a stag that was desperately fleeing.
This deer was able to escape several times from the arrows of many Liao people. Its movements were indeed fast and agile, and it actually knew how to save its life. When escaping, it did not just run in a straight line like other animals. Sprinting with all his strength, relying on speed to dodge arrows, but when danger comes, he will suddenly jump left and right, causing the Liao people's several flying arrows to fall into the air.
Tong Guan was also happy to see the hunter. He was chasing after him and fired three arrows in a row, but still failed to hit the deer. Instead, it opened a wider distance.
At this time, there was also a team nearby that took a fancy to this agile enough stag, and the leading Liao people also fired arrows one after another.
, but because of the distance, it does not pose any threat to it at all. But when Tong Guan saw this, he became a little anxious: "I want to capture this deer, hurry up and catch up!" How could the prey he was looking for be taken away by the Liao people
Upon seeing this, Sun Tu quickly urged his horse to charge forward. His body heaved up and down with the bumps of the horse, and he was unable to shoot the bow and arrow in his hand. Although his archery skills are good, they are only foot shots. After all, horse shots are a little lacking, so he is not in a hurry to take action this time.
But just because of this, Sun Tu saw things more clearly than others. After some chasing, he gradually saw some clues. This deer's hearing and body reflexes are much better than those of other similar deer, so it can always hear the direction of the arrows coming from behind and dodge calmly at that moment, which is a preemptive method in martial arts.
This allowed him to sigh at the power of the deer and also have a way to deal with it. He immediately drew the bow to full capacity and shot an arrow to its left side. Then he quickly took another arrow straight to its back, and at the same time said something in his mouth. He shouted at Tong Guan: "Tong Shuai, shoot the deer to the right!"
Tong Guan, who was not far away from the side, became a little confused after a few arrows missed the target. If he kept failing to hit the target, he, an important minister of the Song Dynasty, would not know where to put his arrows. Now after hearing Sun Tu's words, Tong Guan didn't hesitate too much. He didn't aim at the deer and shoot the arrow as before, but shot to the right side of the stag.
Then, a scene appeared that shocked many people. Just when Tong Guan's arrow hit, the deer actually jumped to the right as if it was stupid, just in time to hit the incoming arrow, as if it was committing suicide.
With just a puff, the arrow penetrated into the stag's neck, causing it to let out a mournful cry. After taking two more steps, its body softened and it slowly fell down.
Tong Guan shot down the stag that had escaped the pursuit of many people with an arrow. Everyone present was stunned at first, and then many people let out a burst of admiration and cheers, especially the Song Army guards who followed behind and shouted loudly: "Captain is mighty!" The Liao people who had already rushed forward sighed with regret, and without saying anything else, they turned around and rushed towards other prey.
Tong Guan's face was also flushed at this time, and he laughed excitedly: "Okay, this is really a good sign." Then he looked at Sun Tu who had retreated: "Thanks to Qianli again this time." He could also see that if Sun Tu's two arrows hadn't forced the stag to dodge to the right, he might not have been able to hunt it easily.
Sun Tu said humbly: "Tong Shuai is still sharp with his bow and horse, and the lower official just put in a little effort."
This time Tong Guan felt more and more satisfied. Sun Tu was not only capable and courageous, but also smart enough. Should he put him to good use in the future? Rather than just leaving it in Shandong and doing things that have nothing to do with the overall situation...
While I was thinking about it, there was suddenly an earth-shattering roar from the front. It was actually the roar of a tiger! This sound frightened everyone's horses, and their hooves weakened. Several soldiers accidentally fell off their horses.
At this time, the expressions of Sun Tu and Tong Guan changed: "Has the tiger hunting started ahead?"
Once the tiger appears, their deer hunting behavior will be nothing. Without much hesitation, Tong Guan gave an order and led the team to rush towards the place where the tiger roared...