On March 5, the 19th year of Yongle, the month-long Huailai "hunting" of the Ming Dynasty officially kicked off.
Today in Huailaiwei, the weather is sunny and cloudless.
The blue sky stretches as far as the eye can see, with no edges needed to declare its depth.
The high platform for viewing the ceremony is built against the mountain.
On the huge hillside, people have carved out stone-based stands with a radius of dozens of feet.
The bright red carpet decorated the entire stand in red.
In the middle, there is a simple dragon chair made of rosewood. It is five feet long and two feet wide. There is a golden cushion in the middle.
In addition to the carved dragon heads on the backrest and armrests, the difference between this dragon chair and other dragon chairs is that there are two weapon racks on each side.
In the weapons rack on the right, there is a shining three-foot sword. In the weapons rack on the left, there is a long gun of about one foot.
There is no red tassel on the spear, and the five-inch long black tassel flutters slightly in the wind, seeming to show off the glorious years when he accompanied the emperor in the north and south campaigns.
Ming Chengzu was sitting on the golden cushion, wearing a yellow dragon robe and a black mink velvet cloak, looking as energetic as ever.
On the left and right sides of the dragon chair, dozens of pear wood chairs were arranged. They were senior officials from various ministries in the DPRK and foreign envoys.
Lin Shangli stood quietly behind the dragon chair of Ming Chengzu, watching the surroundings vigilantly.
Standing next to the dragon chair was Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui, who was wearing fine armor.
With a sword on his waist and a powerful stance, he is on par with Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty.
In the square under the stands, an infantry team with uniform uniforms and military appearance has been assembled.
Hong Tianren, Minister of War, stood at the front of the team, wearing armor and combat boots, riding a strong military horse.
He held the horse's rein with his left hand, and held a bright Qinglong Yanyue Sword with his right hand. The few strands of gray hair floating out from under his helmet still couldn't conceal his heroic power back then.
The outside of the square was filled with local people who came to watch, and a gong and drum team consisting of hundreds of people was neatly arranged at the front of the crowd.
With his legs clamped on the military horse, Hong Tianren quickly rushed to the bottom of the stands.
With the rein in his hand, the military horse kicked forward and jumped more than ten feet high. A long horse cry echoed around, and it stopped steadily.
Hong Tianren was getting stronger, so he jumped off the horse.
With a forceful thrust of his right hand, the Qinglong Yanyue Sword in his hand hit the hard ground for more than half a foot.
"Clatter, crash, crash", the armor on his body made a metallic friction sound, and he knelt on the ground with one knee.
He cupped his fists with his hands and looked firmly at Ming Chengzu who was sitting on the dragon throne: "Your Majesty, all the troops participating in the 'hunting' have been assembled. Please decide whether to start the 'hunting' or not."
With everyone watching, Ming Chengzu slowly stood up from the dragon throne, his hands naturally drooped, and he looked at the assembled team in the center of the square: "Which army is the first to enter?"
"Your Majesty, they are Sichuan Coyote soldiers." Hong Tianren replied respectfully.
"Tell me what this coyote soldier is good at. The many people around him don't know, and neither do the envoys from foreign countries in the stands. Explain it first, and then start hunting." Ming Chengzu said.
"Yes, I obey."
Hong Tianren straightened up and pulled out the Qinglong Yanyue Sword beside him. He didn't care about the bit of soil brought up on the ground, jumped up and climbed onto the horse's back.
He crossed his legs and rushed to the center of the square again.
His eyes circled around the square and finally landed on the stand where the foreign envoy was sitting: "The coyote soldiers come from Sichuan during the Ming Dynasty. There are more than 100,000 coyote soldiers stationed in Sichuan, and they participated in this 'hunt'.
A total of five thousand and one people. Among them are five thousand combat soldiers and a battlefield commander."
Hong Tianren's voice was rich and resonant.
"Are these Sichuan coyote soldiers?"
"The emperor has mobilized all the coyote soldiers from Sichuan. We can feast our eyes on it today."
"I heard that the coyote soldiers are agile and invincible, but I didn't expect that we could see them today."
"I traveled more than twenty miles. Although I was delayed in fertilizing the fields, I might have seen the coyote soldiers, which was still worthwhile."
"You have just traveled more than twenty miles, but I came here from Miyun."
The people outside the square started talking one after another, with excitement and pride on their faces.
On the stand, an envoy wearing strange clothes, a mustache, and slightly dark skin, and two people next to him who were obviously from the same place, lowered their heads and whispered.
"What did they say, these are Ming Dynasty's coyote soldiers?"
"It doesn't look like there's anything impressive about it. The soldiers are all short in stature and can fight at close quarters. I'm afraid they are no match for our Timurid army."
"They are all infantry. How can we march faster?"
"Keep your voice down, don't let the Ming Emperor hear you."
"Looking at each of them carrying bows and arrows, I'm afraid they are good at jungle warfare."
"If you look at their drills, everything will be clear."
In the square, Hong Tianren loudly preached again: "We are named the Coyote Soldiers because they move like coyotes and are as ruthless as they kill the enemy. Their strength is jungle warfare, but the same goes for positional warfare."
It's unambiguous. Now, please feel the powerful crossbow volley of the Coyote soldiers up close."
With that said, Hong Tianren spurred his horse and retreated towards the edge of the square.
The troops of these coyote soldiers were arranged in a horizontal line of fifty men, and a hundred vertical lines.
The person standing alone at the front, although still dressed as a coyote soldier, did not carry a bow and arrow on his body, but a short knife on his waist. He was the battlefield commander of the entire coyote soldier.
The battlefield commander suddenly pulled out the short sword from his waist, pointed his right hand at the densely packed piece of straw Zhachen's puppet fifty feet away, and shouted: "Get ready."
After giving the order, the five thousand people uniformly took off the crossbows behind them, quickly took out an arrow with their right hand, quickly placed it on the crossbow, and at the same time, stretched the entire back of the bow into a crescent moon.
"Fire step by step." With a loud shout, the battlefield commander swung the short knife in the direction of the straw puppet.
"Bang", a huge harmony sounded, and the fifty soldiers in the first row flew forward with arrows in their hands.
As soon as the arrow was shot, he hurriedly squatted down.
"Bang", another harmonious sound came, and the arrows in the hands of the soldiers in the second row followed the arrows in front.
"Bang", third row.
"Bang", the fourth row.
"Bang bang bang..."
A hundred harmonies were quickly completed, and the flying arrows in the air were like the water of a river, one wave after another, rushing towards the puppet in the distance.
The sound of "swish, swish" was heard in the air, and the flying arrows in the air blocked the sunlight, making the square dark.
After all the arrows fell, the straw dolls in the distance had disappeared, leaving only straw scattered on the ground in the breeze.
Occasionally, you can see a few arrow tail feathers that are not completely submerged in the ground.
