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The Yinling Mountains in Zhongnan are beautiful, with snow piled up to the clouds.
The clear sky shines through the forest, but the evening chill grows in the city.
On the Qinling Mountains, revered as the dragon vein of Chinese civilization, a clear whistle echoed throughout the fields. The red sun hung over the mountaintops, war horses rushed through the woods, and Lady Red jumped on her horse and rushed to the top of the mountain. Her red dress was set against the vast white snow, like a burning rainbow.
Five hundred guards under the forest followed Qin Mu's roar as they passed by. The serow, goral, wild boar, black bear, musk deer, muntjac, squirrel, golden monkey, giant panda, badger, small civet, clouded leopard, takin, serow, porcupine and other animals hiding in the forest ran away in panic and were surrounded by the guards again.
Qin Mu drew his bow and was about to shoot at a little muntjac when he suddenly saw two arrows flying at him. With two puffs, the little muntjac fell to the ground. Qin Mu, who was about to show off his skills, could not help but get angry: "Ying'er, if you make trouble again, I will beat you up!"
"Howl!" A whistle sounded straight into the sky. Hong Niangzi put away her bow and rode her horse, floating down the hill like a cloud and disappearing into the forest.
The guards around gnashed their teeth, suppressed their laughter, and shouted as they rode their horses to hunt their prey.
Qin Mu looked at a giant panda climbing on a tree. Well, he really couldn't bear to do it. Besides, he had originally ordered the protection of the panda, so he couldn't take the lead in destroying it.
There are still many giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains these days, but the reproduction rate of these animals is not high, so they still need to be protected.
Forget about protecting tigers. Two years ago, there was a "tiger disaster" in the area from Sichuan to Qinling Mountains. There were so many tigers that they hurt people. People on the road had to walk in groups.
Despite this, incidents of tigers injuring people continued to occur frequently, and Qin Yiming had to send out troops to hunt and kill a group of them before the situation was slightly better.
Sima Kai rode up to catch up and said breathlessly, "Your Majesty, we have killed a lot of prey. Your Majesty should take a rest first."
"Look at you, you're such a bear. Look at you. You're the only one in the tree."
"Your Majesty, hehe, this humble minister can better highlight your Majesty's heroic and extraordinary character!" Sima Kai looked at the giant panda curled up in the tree, and then said, "Your Majesty, why don't you catch one and bring it back for Princess Mingyue to enjoy. This giant panda is chubby, and the princess will definitely like it."
Qin Mu was somewhat tempted. His eldest daughter Mingyue was over one year old, and he was spoiled by his daughter. If he caught a panda for her as a pet, she must like it. Having a panda as a pet, which rich man could compare to her? Haha.
"Xiao Kaizi, how is the preparation for the Polytechnic Institute going?"
"Your Majesty, it is easy to find a professor for mathematics. Physics and chemistry are a bit more difficult. I am currently looking for one."
"Don't bother me, I can just let Hong Bao do it. Do I need you?"
"Yes, yes, yes. I will definitely find a way to get it done. Your Majesty, please rest assured."
"Is the recruitment of students going smoothly?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Are you afraid that your academy will not be able to recruit students? Never mind the teachings. There will always be people vying for the opportunity to study for free."
"Little Kaizi, come with me." Qin Mu got off the horse and handed the reins to Li Shi. His black boots stepped on the thin snow and walked towards the top of the mountain. Sima Kai hurriedly followed.
As the two walked, Qin Mu said something.
After a while, Sima Kai suddenly exclaimed: "Your Majesty, this..."
"What is this? I thought you were a responsible person, but now you look so ugly. If you don't want to, I won't force you. I'll let Jin Gongnan write it."
Seeing Qin Mu unhappy, Sima Kai became anxious. He secretly complained and replied, "Your Majesty, I will write it, but can you allow me two days to think about it and sort out my thoughts first..."
"Then let your father touch it up, right?"
"No, no, no, Your Majesty, I will write it tonight."
Sima Kai finally understood why the emperor suddenly became interested in hunting and brought him along. He was secretly happy about it. Now he realized that this was not hunting at all, but a trap set for him to fall into.
"Xiao Kaizi, you must learn to take responsibility for everything. Your father cannot protect you from the wind and rain all your life. You have a quick mind and are a good candidate, but your shoulders are still a little immature. What you lack now is the courage to take responsibility.
I asked you to write this memorial to let you go through fire and water. If you don't even have the courage and are only thinking about protecting yourself, then I will be very disappointed."
"Your Majesty is teaching me that I must finish writing the memorial tonight."
Towards evening, when Qin Mu reached the foot of Mount Zhongnan, the imperial guards who were accompanying him had already set up their tents, and the two imperial chefs they brought with them were busy processing the hunted game.
The guards also got to work happily, built a fire, and began to roast game. The camp was already filled with the aroma of meat.
The four daughters of Li Xiangjun who were waiting in the camp came out of the big tent. On the snow, four beauties in palace dresses danced gracefully with various postures.
Seeing Lady Hong riding a rouge horse and wearing a red cape, like a piece of colorful clouds, accompanying Qin Mu on his horse, the four girls were envious. They were all delicate and could not even ride a horse, let alone gallop through the mountains and forests, so they could only stay in the camp and wait.
There were several charcoal stoves in the big tent, and a thick blanket was spread on the floor, making it very warm. As soon as Qin Mu entered the tent, Li Xiangjun came up to help him untie his cloak and asked with a smile, "Your Majesty, you have hunted a lot of prey, are you tired?"
It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned this, but as soon as Qin Mu mentioned it, he couldn't help but turn around and glare at Hong Niangzi.
Lady Hong remained calm and continued to speak confidently, "My duty is to protect Your Majesty. I cannot let the prey hurt Your Majesty..."
Slap! Qin Mu finally couldn't help but raised his hand and slapped her round buttocks that were shaped like a full moon. Li Xiangjun, Xu Ruoshi, Li Zhiyin, and Dong Xiaowan didn't understand what was going on. Four pairs of beautiful eyes blinked curiously, and their eyes were full of smiles.
Hong Niangzi was slapped in public, her cheeks slightly red. Qin Mu raised his hand and asked threateningly: "Is a little muntjac a threat to me?"
"It...it's too close to Your Majesty. What if...what if it scares Your Majesty's horse..."
Snapped!
There was another crisp slap, and Hong Niangzi's rouge horse finally gave in and ran out in a flash: "I'll go warm the wine..."
The game hot pot prepared by the imperial chef was served. Qin Mu sat on the soft and warm tiger skin and said as he ate, "This Zhongnan Mountain is really nice. Well, when I have money, I will build a villa here and go hunting. It is really a good pastime."
Li Xiangjun smiled like a flower, and while offering wine, she said: "Throughout the ages, I'm afraid that Your Majesty has always said that when I have money, I will do this and that, hehe..."
"Xiangjun, don't laugh. I am indeed poor. No, I have to take advantage of the New Year holiday to figure out some way to make money."
According to the custom of past dynasties, the court would have a ten-day holiday before the New Year and would not return to work until after the Lantern Festival of the following year. The holiday lasted nearly a month. This time, celebrating the New Year in Xijing should be relatively leisurely, without so many grand ceremonies, so Qin Mu said so.
"Your Majesty, what other ways do you have to make money? Can you tell Nunu about it?"
"The quickest way is, of course, to sell you out."
Li Xiangjun could not help but say angrily: "Even if your majesty wants to sell the slaves, there must be someone who dares to buy them."
“Hahaha… ... ... ” Qin Mulang laughed, put his arms around Li Xiangjun’s slender waist, and “grabbed” a sip of wine from her tender cherry lips.
Xu Ruoshi hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, if you really want to build a separate courtyard, I have some private money, Your Majesty can use it first."
In the palace of the Qin Dynasty, Xu Ruoshi could be called the richest woman, with her dowry alone amounting to hundreds of thousands of dragon coins.
Li Zhiyin also said: "Your Majesty, I also have a little..."
Well, this is the second richest woman. When she married into Qin, the King of Korea also gave her a lot of dowry.
"Okay, stop making a fuss. I was just saying it casually. It's a waste to spend so much money to build a palace when you don't even have the chance to live there once a year."
Dong Xiaowan gave Qin Mu a piece of deer meat and asked, "Your Majesty, are you not going back to Nanjing this year?"
"No, I won't go back. After the spring, I will invite the leaders of the Mongolian and Tibetan tribes to hold a hunting party."
In fact, apart from this hunting trip, Qin Mu wanted to stay in Chang'an, the Western Capital, to have some peace and quiet. If he returned to Nanjing and submitted many of the policies he had formulated to the court for discussion one by one, it would probably take ten years, let alone five years, to implement many of them.
Most of those censors were of upright character. It was no big deal for them to speak out against the emperor. Many of them even dared to die for their criticism, just like he did last time.
This time when he came to Xijing, Qin Mu did not bring any imperial officials or censors with him on the pretext of personally leading the expedition. If he pushed for the implementation of some policies in Xijing, he would have less resistance if he had made things a done deal first.
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.(To be continued..)
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