A large amount of thick smoke poured into the rabbit nest along the rabbit hole. How could the rabbits endure the harassment of the smoke? Not long after, hares ran out from another hole. However, they did not manage to run away. They all fell into the net and were captured alive.
Of course, not all hares fell into the net. There were also some fat rats that were similar in size to hares. These fat rats looked similar to hares. If observed from a distance, it was very likely that they would be confused. However, if observed closely, the difference between a rat and a rabbit was quite big.
This kind of fat rat was called a rabbit rat. It was a rat that was most similar to a rabbit. This kind of rat not only had the body shape of a rabbit, but also its figure and appearance were very similar to a rat. Most of these pikas were very rare. The size of a pika was about the same as a hare. Its body length was more than half a foot, its ears were about three centimeters long, and its hind limbs were slightly longer than its forelimbs or almost the same length. There was no supraorbital process on the skull, and there were only two molars on each side of the upper jaw. The males had no penis, and their whole body was thick and soft with a thick undercoat. This was related to their living in high latitude or high altitude areas. Their fur was sandy yellow, grayish-brown, tawny, light red, reddish-brown, and tan.
The color of their fur was brighter and brighter. This kind of rabbit rat mainly inhabited various grasslands, mountainous forest edges, and bare cliffs. In the periphery of the Tang dynasty, it mainly lived between one kilometer and five kilometers above sea level. It belonged to the wild animals of the mountainous plateau and was very rare in the plains. Pikas liked to dig holes or use natural stone crevices to live in groups. They were active during the day and night. They often screamed and ran by jumping short distances. This kind of fat rat did not hibernate. Most of them had the habit of storing food. Their reproductive ability was relatively strong. A female rat could give birth to up to 30 little rabbit rats a year.
Like mice, rabbits and rats were very timid animals. They would hide in their nests as soon as they encountered any disturbance. Rabbits and rats were very vulnerable to predation by several predators, so they would not stray too far away from their nests. The hunting behavior of rabbits and rats was greatly affected by their natural enemies. First of all, they would rather forage in the pasture near their nests than leave their nests to forage in the more fertile pasture. Secondly, the most vulnerable prey, the young ones, were closer to their nests than the adults. Pregnant females needed more food, so they had no choice but to expand their hunting range. However, the further away they were from their nests, the greater the risk of predation.
Rabbit rats were realists. Sometimes they had to sacrifice some energy gains for safety. This trade-off could be achieved in many ways. One way was to reduce their foraging time as much as possible. Because it was difficult to monitor predators while foraging, the risk of predation would increase with the increase in foraging time.. Another way was to choose a safe place to forage for food, even if the food there was not very abundant.
Rabbit rats were the same as wild rabbits. They were good at burrowing and mainly fed on grass seeds and fresh grass. Their mass reproduction would seriously damage the pasture and even cause the pasture to degenerate. After burrowing, not only would they destroy the roots of the plants, but the large amount of soil that accumulated at the entrance of the holes would also hinder the normal growth of the weeds. As a result, the impact on the pasture was naturally greater. They were one of the main culprits of the pasture's degeneration.
Think about it. After a storm, where there was no vegetation, there would be ravines everywhere. In the long run, the pasture would naturally degenerate. The reason why crops could not be grown in the fields here was that the land had been seriously damaged by rabbit rats and wild rabbits. Therefore, no one was willing to open up a field here. The terrain here was also not suitable for growing crops.
"Assistant Minister Li, a total of fifteen rabbits were captured alive. Eight of them seemed to be large rats. In addition, three rabbits seemed to have escaped."
A soldier reported.
Ang Lee nodded with satisfaction and said, "Not bad, very good. Block all the smoking holes. There will definitely be no rabbits in these holes. They are completely empty. Leaving them will only interfere with the next hunt."
Obviously, there were too many holes in the surroundings. No one knew which hole had rabbits and which hole was empty. After this round of hunting, at least the holes that were smoking would no longer have rabbits. By blocking these holes in time, they could eliminate some interference. In this way, every time they filled the holes with smoke, they would benefit a lot. At the same time, they could also eliminate some interference, which was naturally very beneficial to the efficiency of hunting. The further they went, the easier it would be to hunt, and the lower the probability of mistakes. This was a good method and very useful for hunting. Li An believed that using this method, they could maximize the number of rabbits and rabbit-rats they could hunt.
Although rats were very dirty and no one was willing to eat them, rabbit rats lived in the grassland all year round and accompanied wild rabbits. There were not many viruses in their bodies. Therefore, rabbit rats could be eaten. Moreover, their meat was quite good. The taste was not much different from that of wild rabbits. As long as there were enough cooking materials, a very delicious meat soup could be made.
The first time he released smoke, he got 15 hares and 8 rabbitrats. The second time he released smoke, the harvest was about the same as the first time. After the fifth time, the harvest increased, and the total harvest reached 30. On average, he got two prey per hole. This was because he blocked some of the holes that had already been explored, thus eliminating a lot of interference and making it easier to find the real prey. The number of nets was limited, and the less interference there was, the less likely there would be fish that slipped through the net.
In the afternoon, Ang Lee's group caught two hundred rabbits, one hundred and thirty rabbit rats, and six earth snakes. The group in charge of Chen Long only caught one hundred and twenty rabbits, sixty rabbit rats, and two large snakes. Compared with Ang Lee's group, their results were obviously much worse.
"How is it? You lost."
Ang Lee looked at Chen Long and said with a smile.
Chen Long was unconvinced and said, "Assistant Minister Li, it must be because there are more wild rabbits over there. That's why you benefited more."
Ang Lee said with a smile, "If you are not convinced, then let's continue the competition tomorrow. You go over there, and I will go over there. Is that okay?"
"Okay, let's compete. There must be more prey over there."
Chen Long said with a smile.
Anyway, they had already dealt with two small forces. It was no big deal to stay for two more days. Ang Lee and his soldiers could have a good rest.
After killing so many rabbits and rabbit rats at once, Ang Lee and his soldiers could naturally have a good meal. A total of a few hundred prey seemed to be a lot, but Ang Lee's group had more than a thousand people. One rabbit per person was not enough. Therefore, this amount of prey was not much. It was just enough for all the entourage to have a big meal.
Ang Lee did not intend to taste fat rabbit rats. Ang Lee wanted to taste wild rabbit. Ang Lee was still a little uncomfortable with rats. He was not willing to eat rats. He always felt that rats were not very clean.
In order to make it easier to continue hunting the next day, Ang Lee directly set up camp in this barren land. All the soldiers under his command came over.
When they left Stone City, the Zhou Family warmly urged them to stay, but Ang Lee was firm and did not stay. All the people were stationed in the barren land. Although it was a barren land, the terrain in the middle was relatively flat. After setting up the tents, they could enjoy the surrounding scenery at a close distance. The barren land could not grow crops, but it did not mean that it was a mess. On the contrary, because of the many special weeds that grew here, the scenery was quite beautiful. It had a special flavor and could be said to be poetic.
In order to cook these wild hares and rabbit-rats, the soldiers had built at least twenty large pots, each of which was filled with dozens of wild hares and rabbit-rats. The eight pythons were made into a single pot of snake soup.
With so many big pots, the smell of meat was emitted, making people unconsciously drool. The smell of meat could be smelled within a radius of more than ten miles. Even in the Zhou Family's Stone City, the smell of meat could be smelled. The smell of meat spreading for ten miles was definitely not a legend. It was real.
Ang Lee and the soldiers under his command had a good meal. This meal was very comfortable. The next day, they could continue to eat like this. It was just that they were not sure if they could catch as much game on the second day. As long as the time was prolonged, they should be able to catch as much game. After all, this barren land was more than a thousand mu. There were two mountains next to it. The wild rabbits in the mountains could also feed the barren land. With two mountains and such a large area, there would naturally be a lot of wild rabbits and rabbit rats living there. If they were careful, they would definitely be able to find a lot of wild rabbits.
Early in the morning of the second day, Ang Lee and Chen Long began the rabbit hunting competition again. The two changed their positions. At the same time, the hunting time was longer. They believed that they could catch more game.
After a morning and an afternoon of hunting, Ang Lee's group had caught more than five hundred game, which was almost the same as yesterday's harvest. Chen Long's group had only caught two hundred and sixty game, which was still far less than Ang Lee's group. This made Chen Long very depressed.
"How about it, Chen Long? You still lost. It's not that there is not enough game here, but that you don't know how to hunt. Haha!"
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Chen Long nodded. He was completely convinced. He was indeed inferior to Ang Lee in all aspects. Even when it came to hunting in the wild, he was far inferior to Ang Lee. This made him very helpless. The game was there, but the group he was in charge of could only catch more than half of Ang Lee's group. The number of people and resources on both sides were the same, and the hunting position had also been exchanged. There was nothing unfair about it. The result of the hunt was always Ang Lee's victory, which made Chen Long convinced.
"Assistant Minister Li, is there any trick to hunting? Why did your group catch so much more game than ours? "
Chen Long asked curiously.
Ang Lee replied, "Of course there is a trick. How can you catch more game without using your brain? If you want to deal with wild hares, you have to block the abandoned cave while hunting, eliminate interference, and … "
After listening to Ang Lee's several techniques, Chen Long suddenly realized. He really didn't think of this. Although it was not very difficult, he really didn't think of this.
Because the hunting time was twice as long as yesterday, the game harvest was also more than yesterday. However, even so, it was only enough for everyone to have a big meal. After a meal, there was nothing left.
Dinner was prepared early. After eating, Ang Lee took Zhao Yefu's small hand and strolled on this beautiful wasteland. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the reeds that were half a person's height, which looked particularly beautiful. A breeze blew, and many reeds danced in the wind, which was intoxicating.
"An, the scenery here is so beautiful!"
Zhao Yefu said softly.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "It is very beautiful, but compared to you, it is nothing. My Yefu is still the most beautiful."
"Hee hee."
Zhao Yefu smiled and threw herself into Ang Lee's arms, looking particularly gentle.
Looking at the afterglow of the setting sun and holding a beauty in his arms, there was nothing more delightful than this.
After two days of stay, Ang Lee's prospectors and the representatives of the Chen Family had determined the best route. This route perfectly avoided the Chen Family's stone city and most of the fertile villages. They only occupied three hundred mu of fertile land and one village. The loss was smaller than the loss of the Zhou Family. This made Ang Lee very satisfied. The less villages and fertile land they occupied, the better. Especially fertile land, which was an important resource for the local people to survive. If they occupied it on a large scale, it would cause the people to starve.
Since the Zhou Family and the Chen Family's route had been determined, Ang Lee and his party continued to stay here. It was time to continue south.
There were too many small forces in the northern part of Pyu. These small forces were more or less related to the Zhou Family and the Chen Family. As long as these two families were willing to send people to help, it would be much more convenient for Ang Lee and his party to explore the route.
They were also willing to help. They could get a good reward for helping. Ang Lee was very generous to the two families who were willing to help. The treatment he gave would definitely satisfy the two families.
After buying a lot of maps, Ang Lee and his subordinates determined the approximate route. They led everyone and the Zhou Family and the Chen Family to explore the route together.
After spending a full two months, the route to the northern part of Pyu was finally determined. Ang Lee was very busy in these two months. He had to climb mountains almost every day to explore the terrain. It must be very tiring.
However, even if it was very tiring, Ang Lee was still very happy as long as there were results. The railway was very important to the Tang dynasty. With the railway, the Tang dynasty would be able to easily travel to the Indian Ocean in the future. Their control over the Indian Ocean would be greatly strengthened. This was what Ang Lee wanted to see the most.
Elephant Mountain in the northern part of Pyu was the last big mountain. After leaving Elephant Mountain, they would enter the Pyu Plains. The plains were the areas that the Pyu Imperial Court could truly control. Ang Lee was prepared to rest for a few days. He would first enjoy the scenery at Elephant Mountain before continuing south.
The reason why Elephant Mountain was so named was because there were elephants here. Moreover, they were wild elephants. There were not many of them, but there were at least a few hundred of them. In order to protect these large elephants, the local forces and the Pyu Imperial Court had explicitly prohibited the killing of wild elephants here.
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