Chapter 138

 

On the sixth day of Eight Month, the Tatar envoys who came to the Central Plains to present tribute horses arrived in the capital.

The imperial court sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to entertain these envoys at the post house, and when Emperor Yuanyou came to court on the ninth day, the Tatar envoys would then go to the palace to pay their respects.

On the afternoon of the eighth day, Hua Yang entered the palace.

Empress Dowager Qi: “In Sixth Month and Seventh Month, you only enter the palace at the beginning of the month. Could it be that you’re here for the horses the Tatar envoy gave to the court tomorrow?”

Hua Yang: “What’s so good about hundreds of smelly horses? I dreamed of Mother Empress when I was taking a nap just now. I missed you so much when I woke up. That’s why I came here.”

Empress Dowager Qi: “Mom is really touched that Panpan misses me so much.”

The way she looked at her daughter, she had clearly guessed her daughter’s thoughts.

Hua Yang smiled and leaned over, her face touching her mother’s shoulder: “Mom, tomorrow the envoy will present the horses, do you plan to watch the fun?”

Empress Dowager Qi: “After the court meeting, I’ll go to the horse field.”

Hua Yang: “Then I’ll go with you.”

Empress Dowager Qi: “Want to pick one for yourself again?”

She remembered that her daughter was particularly fond of horses with snow-white hair. Several times when the Tartars offered the horse while the late emperor was still alive, the late emperor would specially reward his daughter with the most beautiful white horse.

Even though Empress Dowager Qi looked down on many aspects of the late emperor, she still felt a little sad every time she thought of the late emperor’s love for his two children.

Hua Yang: “I don’t want it. It’s just your good son-in-law, he’s been riding his old horse given to him by his eldest brother for all these years. He doesn’t mind it but I do, so I’ll just took this opportunity to ask my brother to give him a horse.”

Empress Dowager Qi naturally looked forward to the loving affection between her daughter and her son-in-law. Her daughter was usually domineering, and it was rare for her to be kind to her prince consort, so Empress Dowager Qi was happy to support her.

In the evening, the family of three had dinner together, and Hua Yang asked her brother for a horse again in front of their mother.

Emperor Yuanyou laughed and cooperated in a play with his sister.

The next day, Emperor Yuanyou went to court early.

The Tatars have only surrendered to the imperial court in recent years. If the person sitting on the throne at this time was the late emperor, even if the late emperor was famous for his lechery and his age was shown, the Tatar envoys would still speak respectfully. But Emperor Yuanyou in front of them was just fourteen years old. His already thin figure was lined up by the large dragon chair, and he looked more and more like a child who had not grown his hair. How could he make those six sturdy grassland men wholeheartedly surrender?

Talking about the tribute horses this time, the leading Tatar envoy said in a loud and clear voice: “Your Majesty, this year marks the establishment of your reign. To express congratulations, our Khan, in addition to gathering the agreed-upon five hundred excellent horses to offer to you, has also sent over a once-in-a-millennium peerless treasure horse that he acquired this year. You will see its magnificence later.”

On the dragon chair, Emperor Yuanyou and Chen Tingjian looked at each other and smiled faintly at the Tatar envoy: “Since it is a peerless treasure horse, how can Zhen let the Khan part with it?”

The Tatar envoy laughed even louder: “Your Majesty, you don’t have to be polite. If the horse is willing to listen to our Khan, our Khan will be reluctant to give it to you. It’s just that the horse’s temper is too strong. Our Khan tried to tame it several times but failed. Our Khan then said that this horse can only be subdued by the son of the dragon in the Central Plains, so he asked us to bring it to you. ”

Emperor Yuanyou pursed his lips imperceptibly.

No matter how conceited he was, he knew that his fourteen-year-old body was far from comparable to that of the Tatar Khan. The Tatar envoy said this clearly because he wanted to see him became a joke.

At this moment, Qi Jin came out of the queue and said to the Tatar envoy with a smile: “I wonder if Khan asked other grassland warrior to try to subdue that horse?”

Qi Jin had a face that was as white as jade. Even though he was wearing the official robe of a military attache, the Tatar envoy could only look down on such a pretty boy and said scornfully: “How can anyone put their hands on a peerless treasure horse?”

Qi Jin: “I’m afraid that horse is just an ordinary good horse. It’s just that the Khan is old and unable to handle it.”

This short sentence made all six Tatar envoys angry. They lined up in a row and rolled up their sleeves, ready to attack Qi Jin.

Emperor Yuanyou scolded Qi Jin: “Don’t be rude to the Khan.”

Qi Jin then bowed to the Tatar envoys and apologized.

The good-looking man politely cupped his hand to apologize, becoming more and more graceful.

The Tatar envoys knew the etiquette of the Central Plains, and Qi Jin was already like this. If they continued to cause trouble, it would appear like they were rude and stingy.

The Tatar envoy snorted loudly, raised his neck and said: “Whether it’s a treasure horse or an ordinary horse, let’s go to the horse field and have a look.”

No need to say more, Emperor Yuanyou first sent people to inform the Empress Dowager, and then led the civil and military officials and Tatar envoys to the horse field.

Empress Dowager Qi and Hua Yang arrived only a cup of tea later than them.

Emperor Yuanyou respectfully stepped forward to salute Empress Dowager Qi, and all the civil and military officials also bowed their heads.

Although the Tatar envoys also followed the salute, their eyes glanced at the faces of Empress Dowager Qi and her daughter without much respect. They looked down on the white-faced men from the Central Plains, but when they looked at this most noble mother and daughter in the world, they all felt surprised to see such heavenly beings.

After saluting, the Hua Yang siblings, one on the left and one on the right, stood beside their mother and led the crowd to the high platform on the side of the horse field. As for the six Tatar envoys, they could only follow Chen Tingjian and others to walk behind in an aggrieved manner.

Seats had already been arranged on the high platform. The imperial family of three were sitting in the middle, several cabinet elders and six Tatar envoys were sitting at the left and right, and other civil and military officials could only be standing.

Emperor Yuanyou: “Presented the horse.”

Cao Li immediately shouted “Presented the horse”, and other eunuchs passed on the emperor’s oral instructions in turn.

After a while, the horse keeper of the Imperial Horse Supervisor and the Tatar horse keeper came over with five hundred and one horses.

At first glance, the five hundred horses were all fat and healthy, but at a closer look, there were good and bad among these five hundred horses. Ten of them were the best, and the rest were relatively common Mongolian horse. Although it could be sold for hundreds of taels of silver in the Central Plains, it was not considered rare for noble people.

In addition, there was another horse with maroon hair, which was led alone outside the group of horses.

And this one, against the backdrop of five hundred horses, still stood out from the crowd. Everyone’s eyes, including Hua Yang’s, fell on the bay-red horse for the first time.

The Tatar envoy touched his messy beard and said proudly: “This bay-red horse is the unique treasure horse specially presented to Your Majesty by our Khan.”

The younger the man, the more easily they were drawn to objects that carry an air of heroism, such as treasure horse and swords. Emperor Yuanyou was no exception; he was instantly enamored by that bay-red horse at first sight.

Even though he knew that the Tatar envoys had bad intentions, Emperor Yuanyou still smiled and praised the bay-red horse: “The rumored Red HareThe Red Hare or Chi Tu was a famous horse owned by the warlord Lü Bu, who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China of the Three Kingdoms is probably like this.”

Hearing this, Chen Jingzong turned his attention to Hua Yang.

These two siblings, one love Zhou Lang and the other love Red Hare. Were they listened to the story of the Three Kingdoms together when they were young?

Hua Yang didn’t notice Chen Jingzong’s gaze. She was still looking at the bay-red horse.

At this time in her previous life, although she had already out of white clothes and no longer had to mourn for Chen Jingzong, she had no interest in coming to the palace to watch the Tatar horse tribute.

But she had an impression of this matter because the news spread out of the palace and Wu Run inquired about it and reported it to her.

Since the horse was presented to her brother, of course her brother wanted to try riding it. But with such a fierce horse, how dare the ministers let her brother approach it rashly. Instead, they let the guards try it first.

Three of the imperial guards were thrown off the horse and suffered varying degrees of injuries.

Then Nan Kang’s father-in-law, Marquis Jing’an, asked to try.

Marquis Jingnan, a prominent general of this dynasty, had been sidelined for a year because of Prince Yu’s rebellion. He was already holding his breath. However, he was unlucky and was also thrown off by the horse. Being nearly sixty years old, it took him quite some time to recover and could move freely again.

After Marquis Jing’an’s voluntary offer failed, none of the other military attachés dared to act rashly.

At this time, Qi Jin recommended himself, saying that he was her brother’s cousin who often accompanied him, and that he had a little bit of her brother’s emperor aura, so he might be able to succeed.

Qi Jin was really capable and finally subdued the fierce horse, but it was said that three ribs were broken during the taming process and he almost lost one of his hands.

The surrendered horse was also very tired, and at the same time it had lost its pride. When her brother went to try riding it again, it went smoothly. It happened to comply with the words of the Tatar envoy, and the horse was only willing to serve the emperor of the Central Plains.

Originally, Hua Yang didn’t need to worry about this matter, but…

She looked at Chen Jingzong quietly.

She often praised Chen Jingzong’s strength in front of her brother. Chen Jingzong died long ago in the previous life, but in this life, he was standing here well. Will her brother ask Chen Jingzong to tame this horse later?

Qi Jin broke his ribs, and Hua Yang was just slightly concerned. But if it was Chen Jingzong, Hua Yang couldn’t bear it, and she was even more afraid that Chen Jingzong would break more than just his ribs.

As the thought arose, a layer of sweat broke out on Hua Yang’s palms.

Soon, the Tatar envoy personally brought the bay-red horse over and asked Emperor Yuanyou to try riding it.

Emperor Yuanyou did not show any timidity and really wanted to take the test. But then Chen Tingjian and other cabinet ministers came forward to dissuade him. Civil official was already good at talking, not to mention these seasoned cabinet elders were even more skilled. With a string of eloquent arguments, they not only persuaded Emperor Yuanyou to reconsider but also preserved his dignity. As for the Tatar envoys, they didn’t understand much of what these old men were saying anyway. They simply waited to witness the spectacle of the officials of the Central Plains making fools of themselves.

Then as if nothing happened, Emperor Yuanyou was about to arrange for his guards to go on a trial ride.

But Hua Yang suddenly spoke and asked the Tatar envoy: “How do you tamed horses in the grasslands?”

Everyone looked at Hua Yang.

The Tatar envoy liked the beautiful Grand Princess and was very polite when he answered. He told Hua Yang several ways to tame horses. Among which, such fierce horses captured from outside were usually subdued by force.

“I heard that people in the Central Plains use iron whips to punish disobedient horses. We grassland men disdain this. Horses are spiritual and are our best companions. How can we treat them like ordinary animals.”

Hua Yang nodded and said: “Horses are indeed very spiritual. Since you call this bay-red horse a peerless treasure horse, its spirituality is probably not inferior from human.”

The Tatar envoy smiled proudly: “It’s very smart. It doesn’t eat soft and hardunmoved by force or persuasion. It just refuses to let our Khan to ride it.”

Hua Yang: “Its willingness to appear in front of the Khan shows that it originally wanted to serve the Khan, but it found that Khan was not a wise ruler of the world, so it refused to bow its head.”

The Tatar envoy’s smile froze.

Hua Yang looked at her brother again: “The peerless treasure horses are like the rare talents in governing, difficult to come by in a thousand years. Throughout history, great sages each had their own temperament. Some actively engage in the affairs of the world, while others wait in seclusion until recognized. Just as Liu Bei of Shu Han made three visits to the thatched cottage to recruit Zhuge Liang. Your Majesty, this horse may wish to serve a wise ruler, but even a man as brave and strong as the Khan can’t easily won it over. This indicates that it seeks not just a conqueror of the four corners of the world, but a benevolent ruler with aspirations for the welfare of the realm.

“A benevolent ruler respect the wise, thus winning the allegiance of the people. Therefore, I believe that Your Majesty should also treat this horse with courtesy and kindness, always take care of it personally, and use your generous and loving mind to influence it. Only in this way can we demonstrate the way of governing the country as a benevolent ruler.”

Emperor Yuanyou: …

He was shocked by his sister’s words. Chen Tingjian and other civil servants were the first to kneel down and shouted that the grand princess was wise.

The civil officials knelt down, and the military attache also knelt down with a roar.

Empress Dowager Qi smiled, looked at her daughter approvingly, and then said to Emperor Yuanyou: “Your sister’s words are reasonable. This horse has travelled thousands of miles to come to our Central Plains. How can Your Majesty treat it with brute force? That is definitely not how our court treat guests and talent.”

Emperor Yuanyou liked that horse very much, so much that he didn’t want anyone else to tame it for him. Moreover, he knew very well that taming a fierce horse could not be accomplished overnight. Give him time to gradually become familiar with the treasure horse, and the horse trainer would work day by day to reduce its wildness, and maybe after two to three months, the horse would obey his orders.

Emperor Yuanyou used the rhetoric of benevolent ruler to dismiss the Tatar envoys.

The Tatar envoys were very aggrieved. When it came to talking about great principles, their six mouths couldn’t outmatch the delicate and charming grand princess!

The author has something to say:

The little emperor’s eyes are full of love.

Bay-red horse: Why this person comes to see me every day?

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