The leopard house is in Xiyuan and the hunting ground is in Nanyuan.
Nanyuan is the area around Nanhaizi Park in later generations. It is twenty or thirty miles away from Beijing. In the Ming Dynasty, it was a hunting ground for the Ming royal family.
"drive!"
Zhu Houzhao galloped on his horse, followed by Wang Yuan, Zhu Lin, Shen Zhou, Li Cong and others. The imperial concubine was also there, and Song Linger joined in the fun. Unfortunately, Huang E couldn't ride a horse and archery, so he could only study and take care of his children at home today.
Guards were already riding horses to catch the prey, and an elk jumped out of the forest in panic, only a few dozen steps away from everyone.
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Erlang, that one doesn't look like anything. You can only shoot it in the eyes. Is it possible to do that?"
Wang Yuan lowered his body, rode his horse past the emperor, and took aim with his bow and arrow.
call out!
The elk was hit by an arrow in the head, rolled forward due to inertia, and then lay there motionless.
Yuan Da rushed over to check and shouted excitedly: "Your Majesty, this arrow only hit the eye and did not damage the fur!"
Zhu Houzhao galloped forward on his horse and praised: "Erlang is really a good shot."
Yuan Da had already graduated from martial arts, and when Jiang Bin lost power, the new army generals also made adjustments. Yuan Er had already made numerous military exploits, and gained the emperor's trust due to the Battle of Yingzhou, and was directly awarded the fourth rank of commander.
I guess I will go out to fight with Zhu Houzhao in the future.
Another pheasant was frightened out. Zhu Houzhao turned around and said with a smile: "Can Panpan hunt this thing?"
"Concubine, try it."
The imperial concubine chased her on horseback, and Song Ling'er quickly followed and temporarily served as the imperial concubine's bodyguard.
The imperial concubine's swordsmanship was excellent, her equestrian skills were also good, and her rifleman skills were equally superb. Unfortunately, she was a bit blind when riding horses and shooting. The arrow shot out, flew past the pheasant's scalp, and almost scared the prey to death.
After firing a few arrows, the imperial concubine was promoted to the master of strokes.
"Hahaha," Zhu Houzhao gloated and said to Song Ling'er, "General Song, come and try."
"General Song" is the emperor's nickname for Song Ling'er. Song Ling'er has been riding and shooting for hunting since she was a child. This thing is just a game in her eyes. She only saw one arrow shot out, and the pheasant died after two flutters. It was really not challenging.
Word.
Zhu Houzhao praised: "You are so good at archery. I really want you to lead troops to fight and become the female general of our Ming Dynasty. The turbans in the court will be so angry that they will blow their beards and stare. Then there will be a good show."
Song Ling'er smiled and said: "If there is any trouble in Guizhou, Your Majesty will let me go back and lead the troops to put it down."
"Then it's settled." Zhu Houzhao liked to break rules.
After hunting for a while, it was already noon.
Zhu Houzhao asked the eunuch to set up a stove and play barbecue. Wang Yuan also sent someone to bring a big pot and threw in a bunch of corn cobs for cooking.
"What is this?" Zhu Houzhao asked.
Wang Yuan explained: "The former governor of Fo Langji was a smart man and wanted to establish a good relationship with the Ming Dynasty and do business. I promised him that if I could send him seeds of new crops, I would take him north to see your majesty. With this thing, I
It's called 'corn' and is native to the big island in the far east. It doesn't care about the land, the yield is extremely high and it can be used as a staple food."
"Can it be a staple food?" the imperial concubine asked in surprise.
Wang Yuan nodded and said: "It can be ground to make cakes, or it can be boiled to make porridge. But it tastes worse than wheat or rice. Most rich people don't like it. It can be regarded as a life-saving food for the poor."
The imperial concubine praised: "It is enough to save lives. We should promote it to all provinces."
Zhu Houzhao also said: "Hurry up and plant more crops. If there is more food, I can lead the troops to fight."
Wang Yuan explained: "There are still too few seeds. I am trying to sow them in Beijing, and my students are trying to sow them in Hangzhou. The four Shujishi who are sent out this time will also try to sow them in their respective areas. It will take a few more days.
It will take years to promote it on a large scale.”
Zhu Houzhao, who had been ignoring government affairs for half a year, suddenly said: "Hou Guan, the Minister of Cangchang, is old and frail. He has resigned three times this year. Is there anyone suitable who Erlang can recommend to succeed the Minister of Cangchang?"
The full name of Cangchang Shangshu is "Governor Cangchang Hubu Shangshu".
Although his rank and salary are equal to those of a minister, he is not a real minister of the household department. He can only be responsible for supervising the warehouse and is not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the household department.
The reason is that the vacancy is too big and the powers and responsibilities are too great, to the point where special duties must be created.
Occasionally, there is also a Cangchang Minister, that is, the Minister of Household Affairs in Cangchang, the governor-general. Wang Yuan's father-in-law, Huang Ke, served as the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and served as the governor of the warehouses in Beijing and Tongzhou. At that time, Wang Yuan was training new soldiers and even went to follow him.
Huang Ke had trouble with wages.
Cangchang Shangshu Hou Guan was a person left by Li Dongyang. Although he tried his best to cooperate with the emperor in the war, he was a member of the Qing Dynasty and occasionally had troubles, such as when he cooperated with Emperor Shi Jieka to provide military rations.
Zhu Houzhao was planning to take action. Once he controlled Cangchang Shangshu (or Cangchang Minister), he would be able to bypass the Household Department during war and go directly to the Cangchang Governor to request food and send troops.
"Your Majesty, you want to conquer in person again?" Wang Yuan asked guessing.
Zhu Houzhao said: "The Liaodong Jurchens bullied people too much. They have robbed and killed city people in Kaiyuan many times this year."
Wang Yuan was very speechless about this. There is a border market in Kaiyuan. Just some Jurchens went to the market to kill people and rob. It was not even an invasion of the border. It was just foreigners committing criminal cases in China. It was enough to provoke them.
The Emperor of Ming Dynasty went on a personal expedition?
Zhu Houzhao just got tired of being in the capital and wanted to get over his addiction to fighting.
The imperial concubine looked helpless. She had obviously tried to persuade her, but no matter how hard she tried, it was ineffective.
Wang Yuan said: "Since Your Majesty asked me to recommend candidates, I will not avoid suspicion. I am the censor of Zuoqiandu, and I can be the right minister of the Ministry of Hubu and the governor of Cangchang."
"Will he persuade me not to go to war?" Zhu Houzhao asked.
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Of course it will, but the military rations will still be issued."
Zhu Houzhao was very satisfied: "As long as he can provide military rations, let him give advice and show off to the courtiers."
Therefore, there are people in the court who like to be officials. Xi Shu was promoted to Zuoqiandu Yushi a while ago, and now he is about to be promoted again. Even though he is just the right minister of the Ministry of Finance, as the minister of Cangchang, he does not have to be responsible to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
He was only responsible to the emperor and the cabinet and had a transcendent status among the six ministries.
Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Will Erlang go?"
"Liaodong?" Wang Yuan said.
"Yes, if you and I, the emperor and our ministers, join hands again, we will definitely kill the Liaodong Jurchens so that they will not dare to cross the border!" Zhu Houzhao was eager to try and wanted to fly to Liaodong immediately.
Wang Yuan said: "If your Majesty wants to personally conquer, it is best not to use the labor army, because the household department is really short of food. The Liaodong Jurchens are also very weak. They can send out troops with only 5,000 cavalry, and they have to go early and return early, so don't delay it.
Soldiers and horses freeze to death in winter."
"That makes sense." Zhu Houzhao was also frightened by the cold winters of the past two years.
In fact, the fifteenth year of Zhengde was already the low temperature limit in the mid-Ming Dynasty.
Starting from this year, the temperature will gradually warm up, and it will rise rapidly in a few years. By then, life will be much better - that is to say, in the first year of Jiajing's reign as emperor, the average temperature began to rise.
It's just that there is no Jiajing now, only the 16th year of Zhengde, the 17th year of Zhengde, the 18th year of Zhengde...
Zhu Houzhao wanted to go on a personal expedition, but Wang Yuan not only did not dissuade him, but also took the initiative to help formulate a plan to send troops. If the courtiers found out about this, there would definitely be another round of impeachment and they would completely identify him as a sycophant.
But since you can't persuade them, why not make military arrangements in advance?
After a while, the corn was cooked.
After taking it out and letting it cool for a while, Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Madam, please have a taste."
Zhu Houzhao took a bite of the corn cob and almost swallowed it with his tongue. He widened his eyes and said, "Well, this tastes sweet. How can Erlang say it's not delicious? Bring out some seeds and I'll ask Huangzhuang to plant this corn too."
, must be promoted to the world!"
The tender corn was cooked in a large pot of water and was easily wiped out. The emperor's entourage all thought of getting some seeds back from Wang Erlang.
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "If Your Majesty likes it, I will offer roasted sweet potatoes and fried peanuts to you later."