Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

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Even so, it was still much taller than the warhorse he rode in Japan.

As for cavalry lances, there were different models such as zhang 6, zhang 2, zhang 1, and 8 chi, with lengths of 5 meters, 3.8 meters, 3.2 meters, and 2.5 meters respectively.

The twelve feet in the Song Dynasty was the eighteen feet in the Han Dynasty.

If it exceeded this length, it could almost be called a horse spear in the Han Dynasty, although its specific shape would certainly be different from a long spear.

The terminology after the Northern and Southern Dynasties was very confusing. Long weapons such as spears, lances, and shuo were often referred to by various names, and even long spears used in foot combat could be called foot shuo.

I don't know if it's because it sounds impressive.

Taira no Kiyomori certainly didn't dare to choose the 5-meter lance. He picked up a 3.8-meter one, but after swinging it around a few times, he still felt it wasn't quite right for him.

In the end, he chose a 3.2-meter-long pole.

Zhao Kang, however, used a 3.8-meter carbine; he wasn't used to the 5-meter one yet.

It could even be said that among the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the entire Ming Dynasty, only a handful could wield a 5-meter lance.

Back then, the standard-issue cavalry rifles of the Jin dynasty's Heza Meng'an were only 3.8 meters long.

Zhao Kang stood on his horse, waiting quietly.

Taira no Kiyomori, however, first familiarized himself with the warhorse and weapons, galloping back and forth on horseback and occasionally brandishing his spear.

The spearheads of both men had been removed and replaced with wooden round heads of the same length, which were then wrapped in linen soaked in lime.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

The war drums sounded, and the two riders faced each other.

Mullek couldn't resist leaving the envoy's party and getting closer to observe.

He discovered that the cavalry fighting on the Ming side was more similar to the style in the Middle East, rather than the foolish, spear-wielding charges of the Crusaders.

Of course, Middle Eastern cavalry have also been disgusted by the double-gun charges, and neighboring states are conducting special training to counter them.

Zhao Kang, wielding a long spear, spurred his horse forward, completely disregarding Taira no Kiyomori.

The two warhorses drew near, their heads intertwined, about two meters apart, and each thrust their spears at the other.

"Snapped!"

The gun barrels are connected.

Zhao Kang's lance trembled slightly at the tip, and then he twisted it, causing Taira no Kiyomori to lose his grip on the spear.

Taira no Kiyomori didn't know what was going on, but he felt a tremendous force coming from the shaft of the spear, and the force was spinning and vibrating, almost causing him to drop his weapon.

Then, a sharp pain shot through his chest, and Taira no Kiyomori was knocked off his horse in a daze.

Zhao Kang slowed down his horse, turned it around, and said, "You've really practiced spear fighting? I'm afraid you can't even beat the light cavalry of the Ming Dynasty."

Taira no Kiyomori was thrown to the ground and was in excruciating pain all over his body. He was dragged to the sidelines as if in a daze.

He certainly had no experience with spear fighting, because in Heian period Japan...

There were no lances for mounted combat, only spears and halberds for infantry combat.

Mounted samurai were not equipped with spears; they used bows and arrows for ranged combat and swords for close combat, and they even gave it a name called "Horse Bowing Way".

The use of long spears in Japanese cavalry warfare would have taken several more centuries to develop, only emerging as the intensity of warfare increased.

Taira no Kiyomori was skilled in foot combat and spear fighting, and was invincible throughout Heian-kyo.

He thought it was nothing special, just riding a horse and using a spear.

When the fight actually started, he couldn't even muster any strength and was almost knocked out of his weapon.

Chapter 3676 The Way of the Horse and the Gun

Hanoi Gyeong-guk walked over and said, "It seems that what you need to learn is not only the military strategies of the Ming Dynasty, but also the martial arts of China."

Taira no Kiyomori clutched his aching chest, feeling as if his bones were broken: "I think this cavalry tactic of the Ming Dynasty can be called 'Horse-lance Way,' which is superior to Japan's 'Horse-archery Way.'"

"If I learn this battle tactic and then teach it to my mounted warriors, I will be able to easily sweep through all the counties and kingdoms!"

"Then you should do your best," Hanoi Kyung-kuk said with a smile.

Taira no Kiyomori said, "Please give me some gold and silver. I want to become an apprentice in the Ming Dynasty and learn martial arts from a retired Ming cavalryman!"

The competition is still ongoing.

This time, it was military attachés from missions from Chola and Ceylon who were engaged in one-on-one combat there.

The two countries are sworn enemies.

Ceylon was once conquered by the Chola, and the Chola suffered from Ceylon raids for a long time.

As they competed, they started fighting for real, their weapons slamming against the shields, causing the left hand holding the shield to crack from the impact.

In the end, the Ceylon officer prevailed, smashing the Chola officer's shoulder with a single blow.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "The winner will be rewarded with a bolt of silk. The loser will receive proper medical treatment and a silver dollar as encouragement."

The Ceylon military officer, upon receiving the silk, became even more smug and brandished his hammer against his shield.

The Zhu Luo military officer next to him sneered, "What's so great about them? First, our country was destroyed, and then the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to the seaside."

"Even if you defeat us all, the King of Ceylon will be nothing more than a puppet."

The Ceylon military officer was furious and charged forward, swinging his hammer.

The Ming soldiers quickly stopped them, and the two sides continued to hurl insults at each other from a distance.

Soon, the Seljuk and Fatima military officers also began their contest.

The former was a general in the Sultan's personal guard, and the latter was a Mamluk general in the Caliph's army; both were heavy cavalrymen in battle.

The great war between Persia and Egypt!

Zhao Yuan was quite interested in this and even picked up a telescope to observe it closely.

The heavy cavalry equipment of these two countries seems to be inferior to that of the Ming and Jin dynasties; their armor is only slightly better than that of the Ming dynasty's elite cavalry.

They fired their weapons at an angle, not in the European style of close-quarters combat.

At first, the two joined forces and charged forward, but as the fighting progressed, they stopped charging and instead rode their horses in small circles, attacking each other with their spears.

Zhang Guangdao came over and said, "The cavalry tactics of these two countries are very similar to our elite cavalry, and even their weapons are almost identical."

"The curved swords at their waists are quite interesting; they should be very effective at killing lightly armored infantry."

Zhao Yuan said, "After the hunt, we can exchange ideas with the military officers from various countries."

"Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me. I should make good use of their strengths."

"Yes!" Zhang Guangdao bowed and stepped back.

"Oh!"

The military officer from Fatima on the field has been shot off his horse.

The two were roughly equal in martial arts skills, but the Seljuk military officer had been fighting for many years and had countless lives on his hands.

The Fatima military officers, however, had not been on the battlefield for a long time and dared not reclaim the territories occupied by the Crusaders.

If they were to compete in martial arts at this point, he would lose in terms of sheer force of will.

It wasn't until dusk that Zhao Yuan announced, "That's all for today. Tomorrow, the hunt will begin, and we'll see which country catches the most game!"

To the southwest of the Longmen Grottoes lies the Wan'an Mountain, which stretches for more than ten miles. A portion of its slopes has been incorporated into the Tian Si Horse Ranch to the north.

The rest are all royal hunting grounds!

Although woodcutters from the surrounding area are allowed to gather firewood, they are not allowed to cut down the trunks of trees, and those caught will be heavily fined.

Luoyang has begun using coal, and fewer and fewer woodcutters are coming into the city.

The amount of firewood used by the surrounding farmers will not have much impact on the vegetation of Wan'an Mountain.

There are no wild beasts in the mountains, not even wolves can be found.

But it has more than ten kinds of prey, including wild boar, muntjac, rabbit, and sika deer.

Most of them were raised by the imperial court, and the original wild animals in the mountains had long since disappeared.

If a wild animal wanders into nearby farmland and is captured by the local people, the government will not bother to investigate.

It's fine to poach one or two animals in the mountains, but if you go poaching regularly, it means you think you're living too comfortably.

Royal hunting grounds of all dynasties were actually only useful in the early to mid-term of the founding of a dynasty.

It wasn't for the emperor's enjoyment, but rather for training the Imperial Guards, especially the cavalry, through hunting.

The royal hunting grounds of the Northern Song Dynasty were turned into farmland a few decades later.

The royal hunting grounds of the Ming Dynasty became a place for exiled eunuchs at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the royal palaces inside all fell into disrepair.

The royal hunting grounds of the Qing Dynasty were even more impressive. Due to their large area and abundant forests, they became a base for timber and fur production for the Manchu nobles.

No matter who is sent to oversee the Mulan Hunting Grounds, they can make a fortune by illegally logging timber and poaching wild animals.

When Jiaqing first ascended the throne, he also implemented new policies, attempting not only to reform domestic affairs but also to revitalize the Eight Banners army.

So he started by hunting!

The first time the emperor wanted to go hunting, his ministers objected, saying that the emperor had only been in power for four years and that everything was in need of rebuilding; it was not appropriate for him to go hunting.

Chapter 3677 Reducing the Burden on the Imperial Court

When he was to go a second time, the court officials objected, saying that the capital had been hit by a sudden flood and the people had been displaced.

To alleviate the burden on the court, the emperor should refrain from hunting.

It dragged on for another year, and the court officials still opposed it.

Emperor Jiaqing was furious, saying that he was not going there for pleasure. The Mulan Hunting was a matter of ancestral law, and he was doing it to revitalize the Eight Banners Army.

The courtiers were unable to stop them, and then another unexpected problem arose halfway through the journey.

The head of Mulan Hunting Ground reported that there has been very little rainfall this year, and the weather has turned cold.

The aquatic plants have withered, making it unsuitable for hunting.

Emperor Jiaqing sent people to investigate secretly, and they found that the area was rich in water and grass.

However, a large number of trees were cut down, and not a single deer could be seen for hundreds of miles around. They were all stolen and killed by the guards to sell for deer hides and blood.

Even more absurdly, this large-scale deception of the emperor over many years has gone unpunished...

Throughout Chinese history, one can infer whether a dynasty was declining simply by observing the degree of neglect of its royal hunting grounds.

Including the Yuan Dynasty!

……

Compared to the Qing Dynasty's hunting grounds, which covered hundreds of miles, the Ming Dynasty's royal hunting grounds were still too small. How many prey could there be in the forests that stretched for more than ten miles?

Thirty thousand Imperial Guards, infantry and cavalry, were dispatched and advanced layer by layer around the perimeter of the hunting grounds.

War drums, bugles, and whistles rose and fell as they advanced in shifts, with each unit coordinating with the others.

Driving the prey out was secondary; the main exercise was the transmission and execution of military orders.

A herd of sika deer were startled and ran out. Zhao Yuan said to Crown Prince Zhao Yang, "Go!"

Prince Yu, Zhao Kang, was born in Jinzhou, which belonged to the ancient Ankang Prefecture, hence the name Zhao Kang.

The Crown Prince will turn sixteen this year. He was born in Yangzhou, hence his name Zhao Yang.

The third and fourth princes were born in Xiangyang, and were named Zhao Xiang and Zhao Fan respectively...

Although Crown Prince Zhao Yang was more introverted and not particularly fond of martial arts, he was still forced to learn horseback riding and archery.

He, accompanied by several of the prince's attendants, immediately spurred his horse and charged towards the deer herd.

Startled, the deer fled in another direction from a great distance.

Further away, command flags waved, a large number of soldiers shouted, and a pack of hunting dogs were released.

The deer herd began to scatter and flee.

Zhao Yang drew his bow and shot an arrow, which landed among several deer.