Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 60 Competition (4k)

"Good arrow!"

Henan Prefecture covers a very large area. As an organ to suppress violence in the entire Shendu and the capital area, there is a shooting range in Henan Prefecture, which is specifically for the city gate officers guarding Henan Prefecture to practice shooting.

But over the years, the city gate captain has seldom come to the archery ground to practice archery. The entire ground of the archery ground is overgrown with weeds, and the haystacks used as targets have turned yellow and rotted.

Su Ze frowned. He didn't expect that the city gate captain of Henan Prefecture had fallen to this level.

The official in charge of the archery range knew that Su Ze was a favorite of Li Daoyuan, the left prime minister, so he naturally did not dare to neglect him. He quickly dispatched runners to dig out a few usable hay bales from the warehouse and carry them to spread on the shooting rack.

However, the archery bows in the warehouse were old and unusable, so he could only bite the bullet and say to Su Ze:
"Captain, last year there was a heavy rain in Luoyang, and the archery bows in the treasury were soaked in water. Now they are all unusable."

Su Ze was not too surprised. Not to mention the small Henan Prefecture treasury, even the entire imperial court's arsenal had very poor maintenance of weapons such as bows.

According to the military book left by my father-in-law Li Tong, the bow is the most precious weapon.

Those generals who were good at archery would usually put the bow case in their bedroom and sleep with the bow in their arms during the dry winter to prevent the bow from cracking.

The bowstring also needs to be maintained by applying butter on a daily basis to maintain its elasticity.

This also made Su Ze understand why the archers in the imperial guards of all dynasties were often not very strong in combat, but in dynasties like the Han and Tang dynasties where there were no dedicated central imperial guards, strong archers could become elite troops.

The reason is that in dynasties that implemented the imperial guards system, the large number of imperial guards gathered in the capital were both a protection and a threat to the imperial power, so treasuries were established to store weapons.

The weapons and armor are fine, and the swords are at most rusty and can be used after a little polishing.

But the same cannot be said for bows. If they are stored in the armory without anyone to take care of them, they will become unusable within a few years.

The bows in the Luoyang armory were good enough to shoot arrows without breaking.

The good families of the Han Dynasty provided their own weapons and maintained their own bows, and the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty also provided their own weapons and horses to serve the country, so in both eras, there were world-famous strong archer troops.

Su Ze was unwilling to continue to embarrass the official, so he waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I have my own bow. Let's go to the treasury and see if there are any arrows that can be used."

The official went to the treasury in person and finally dug out a bundle of competition arrows. The arrows had wide arrowheads and would not penetrate the haystacks. They were specially used for practice and competition.

Su Lin took off the longbow on his back and handed it to Su Ze. Su Ze held the longbow and began to build up his strength by slowly releasing the bowstring according to Professor Su Lin's method.

Su Cho also took a bow from his personal attendant. Archery is one of the six arts of a gentleman, and as a child of a noble family, Su Cho also practiced it since childhood.

He also imitated Su Ze and did a few warm-up movements, then drew his longbow and shot an arrow, which hit the center of the bull's eye on the haystack.

"it is good!"

The officials and soldiers who were watching cheered. Su Chao looked at Su Ze beside him, who was still preparing to draw his bow and release it.

After Su Ze had gathered his strength, he began to aim at the arrow target and shoot arrows.

All he saw was him pulling the bow to its full extent, nocking on the arrow, and concentrating his strength carefully, following the force-generating techniques in his father-in-law Li Tong's military book, and finally releasing the string in a dashing manner.

The arrow was like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins, and it pierced through the haystack with a whoosh. The huge impact force went straight through the haystack, breaking the rotten straw rope that had long been rotten, and the entire haystack exploded!
Seeing the power of Su Ze's shooting, Su Chuo said, "Brother Su, mine are just arrows for feasting, and yours are arrows for battle."

Su Ze carefully recalled the feeling of the arrow he had just shot, and felt that compared to what he had practiced before, the power of this arrow was more natural.

When Su Ze was shooting arrows before, he used the strength of his arms, relying only on the power built up from his young body.

But the arrow just now had been shot using all the strength of his whole body, not just his arms, but also his waist and abdomen. That was why he was able to easily pull the bowstring and focus on shooting the arrow, instead of rushing to shoot after pulling the bow as he did before because he didn't have enough strength and was unable to focus on aiming.

Su Ze drew the bow and shot arrows again. After shooting three arrows in a row, if it were in the past, he would definitely feel sore arms and unable to continue shooting arrows. But today, because he used his whole body strength, after shooting three arrows in a row, Su Ze only felt slightly sweaty, but his arms did not feel too heavy. He felt that he could shoot three more arrows.

Su Chao was also surprised by Su Ze's supernatural power. For ordinary people to shoot arrows with a full bow like Su Ze did, they would have to rest for half a day after shooting one arrow. If they shot arrows continuously, they might strain their muscles. It was impossible for ordinary archers to shoot with a full bow at such a high intensity.

However, Su Ze's three consecutive shots were all full shots, and his power was still undiminished. This "supernatural power" made Su Chao even more envious.

Su Cho has suffered from "weak qi" since childhood. He is very envious of people with strong bodies. Su Ze is both literary and martial, which makes Su Cho feel that they are compatible. He can't help but get close to him.

Just when Su Ze was shooting arrows in Henan Prefecture, at the residence of Hou Gang, the Right Prime Minister of Henan Prefecture, a group of his cronies gathered around Hou Gang and were discussing by the fire.

Although Hou Gang had served as a high-ranking official of the rank of Weiwei, he came from a poor family and started his career as a chef.

The so-called "Chang Shi Dian Yu" was the imperial chef in the palace. Because he was good at cooking and had a strong character in his early years, he repeatedly advised Emperor Xiaowen to eat according to the solar terms. He was considered to have a strong character and was given the name "Gang".

Favored officials like Hou Gang were naturally looked down upon by the royal family and the ministers. When Prince Rencheng Yuancheng held a banquet at his home, Hou Gang was already serving as the Minister of Imperial Guards, but Prince Rencheng Yuancheng said to his attendants, "Please prepare some food for me." They mocked Hou Gang by using his experience as a royal chef, but Hou Gang remained calm and still sat opposite Prince Rencheng Yuancheng and left only after the banquet.

However, these were things that happened before Hou Gang was dismissed. Because his son Hou Yuan was involved in a fight with armor and weapons, Hou Gang tortured a Yulin Lang to death. Although he was spared from death with the help of the Han clan, he was also dismissed from office.

After that, Hou Gang kept asking for favors in order to get himself reinstated. He finally established a relationship with Jiangyang King Yuan Yi and got Yuan Yi's support to serve as the Chancellor of Zangshu.

After the post of Henan Yin became vacant, Hou Gang sent all the money he had amassed in recent years to the residence of Jiangyang Wang Yuanyi, and finally got the position of Henan You Lingyin.

Hou Gang was determined to get the position of Henan Yin, so he summoned his trusted subordinates and investigated the two cases with all his strength.

When Hou Gang was the Minister of Imperial Guards, he had thousands of retainers in his family. But after he fell into poverty, most of them left. He also spent a lot of his family wealth trying to get back on his feet over the years, so he could no longer afford to support so many retainers.

There are only more than 30 guests left in the mansion. Although Hou Gang has not received much education, he knows that it is impossible to investigate two cases with such a small number of people.

Hou Gang asked for help from King Jiangyang Yuan Yi, who served as the general in charge of the army and mobilized some men from the imperial guards to serve him.

Hou Gang asked people to check the files and finally decided to start the investigation from the case of Longhua Temple.

However, Hou Gang's subordinates investigated Longhua Temple for a whole day, but they could not find any useful clues as to how the murderer sneaked into Longhua Temple to kill people, and how he escaped in armor in Luoyang City which was under curfew.

Hou Gang was furious and drove all his followers away. Then his son Hou Yuan asked:

"Grandpa, I heard that Li Daoyuan has started investigating the case of Siyi Pavilion. The Longhua Temple case is so difficult to investigate, why don't we investigate the case of Siyi Pavilion as well?"

Hou Gang looked at his useless son and became even more annoyed. He scolded him:

"If it weren't for you, your grandfather would still be the Minister of Defense! How could he investigate these trivial matters?"

After saying this, Hou Gang pretended to hit him, but Hou Yuan quickly dodged. After Hou Gang's anger subsided, Hou Yuan said:

"Grandpa, don't be angry. As long as the case is solved, you will be the governor of Henan." Hou Gang said after he calmed down, "It's not me who wants to investigate the Longhua Temple case, it's King Jiangyang who wants me to investigate this case."

"King Jiangyang?"

Hou Yuan certainly knew that King Jiangyang Yuan Yi was his father's biggest backer. His previous reinstatement of Zang Shucheng and his current appointment as the Right Prime Minister of Henan Prefecture were all recommended by King Jiangyang.

After the Jin Ping Assassination Case, the situation in the court became delicate.

After that case, Qinghe Prince Yuan Yi never went into the palace alone for "questioning".

Prince Yuan Yi of Jiangyang, who had made great contributions in protecting the emperor last time, was given the entire Langwei system responsible for defending the Forbidden City, which was also handed over to Yuan Yi, the leading general. This was equivalent to handing over the entire palace's guard force to Yuan Yi.

This was an unusual signal, and the court was talking about whether Yuan Yi had gained the favor of Empress Dowager Hu and became her new lover.

But Hou Gang didn't believe it. Yuan Yi was a distant relative of the royal family and had an ugly face. What about the appearance of Prince Qinghe Yuan Yi? No matter how blind Empress Dowager Hu was, she would not choose Yuan Yi as her concubine.

It was only because of Prince Qinghe's inappropriate behavior in the last Yongning Temple incident that Empress Dowager Hu became suspicious and temporarily alienated him.

But King Jiangyang was in his prime, and everyone with a discerning eye could see that since Hou Gang wanted to curry favor with King Jiangyang, he naturally had to obey his orders.

Hou Gang said: "King Jiangyang wants me to investigate the clues of the demon in Longhua Temple and hunt down the demons of Mahayana in the capital."

Hou Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Why did King Jiangyang want to hunt down the Mahayana sect demons?"

Hou Gang shook his head and said, "I don't know about this, Grandpa. King Jiangyang also asked us to do another thing, asking us to interfere with Li Daoyuan's investigation of the Siyi Pavilion case."

"Why?"

Hou Gang looked at this useless son. Even if he was doing favors, he had to be good at guessing his superiors' intentions! His son had no talent for politics except fighting bravely.

Hou Gang has made up his mind that as soon as he officially takes office as the governor of Henan, he will find a job for his son outside the capital and send him far away from Luoyang!

But facing the problem of his only son, Hou Gang still said:

"Since coming to the Divine Capital, the Rouran King Anagui has sent a large amount of gold and treasures to the Jiangyang King's palace. The Jiangyang King promised to persuade the Queen Mother to send the imperial army to escort him back to the Rouran."

"However, this matter has been opposed by General Li Chong, and the Queen Mother is also hesitant."

"As long as the Siyi Pavilion case can be delayed, King Jiangyang can speak for King Rouran and persuade the Queen Mother to send him back north."

Hou Yuan suddenly realized and said, "So that's it!"

"There's another reason."

"besides?"

Seeing his son so stupid, Hou Gang couldn't help but pick up the stick again and said, "Grandpa, I am competing with Li Daoyuan for the position of Henan Yin. Do you want him to solve the case first?!"

"Get out of here!"

Hou Yuan was yelled at and kicked out of the mansion by his father. He looked at the sky and saw that the sun was about to set. Since he couldn't go back home, he could only spend the night at someone else's house.

Hou Yuan thought about it and decided to go to his good friend Zhang Zhongyu's house to drink.

Zhang Zhongyu's father, Zhang Yi, was originally an important official in the court, just like his own father, Hou Gang.

However, Hou Yuan got into trouble later and his father was dismissed from his post. Now Zhang Zhongyu has become a Censor-in-Chief, a clean official on par with the Director of the Imperial Secretariat and the Palace Attendant. This is the starting point for Hou Yuan's career he had always dreamed of.

As long as his father could be appointed as the governor of Henan, he could also be given a good position. Thinking of this, Hou Yuan immediately went to Zhang Zhongyu's house.

On the roof of Hou Gang's residence, a dark shadow jumped into the garden and hid behind the rockery.

Su Ze, who was temporarily living in the dormitory of Henan Prefecture, was reading two new prompts sent by the system.

[Su Bai, the envoy of Bailu Cao, monitors Hou Gang's residence and collects intelligence. "Secret discussion in Hou Gang's residence, part 1."]

[Su Bai, the envoy of Bailu Cao, monitors Hou Gang's residence and collects intelligence. "The Secret Conversation between Hou Gang and his Son, Part 1."]

After reading the records of secret talks in Hou Gang’s mansion, Su Ze opened the map.

After hearing that Hou Gang was appointed as the Right Prime Minister of Henan Prefecture, Su Ze quietly opened the map of Hou Gang Prefecture, but unexpectedly discovered that the huge Hou Gang Prefecture was just a yellow area, not the red area like the imperial palace.

Su Ze decisively sent Su Bai to sneak into Hou Gang's mansion. It turned out that Hou Gang could not afford to support his retainers after being deposed, so the security in the mansion decreased and it turned into a yellow area.

Su Ze once thought of sending Su Bai to assassinate Hou Gang directly and avenge his father, but after hesitating for a while, he gave up the idea.

It is possible to succeed in assassinating Hou Gang, but we can't let him die so easily!

Moreover, the system can purchase more and more followers, so there will always be opportunities for revenge in the future.

Su Ze wants Hou Gang to experience the feeling of having his family torn apart, so that he can avenge his father in this body.

However, not killing Hou Gang for the time being does not mean that Su Ze will let Hou Gang go.

Jiangyang King Yuanyi has connections with the Mahayana sect's demons. This is information Su Ze already knew.

Yuan Yi ordered Hou Gang to investigate the Longhua Temple case. Naturally, he wanted to keep the case under his own hands to prevent others from tracing it back to him.

Since Hou Gang is competing with Li Daoyuan for the position of Henan Yin, Su Ze doesn't mind creating some "small" troubles for him.

Looking at the Mahayana strongholds marked on the map, Su Ze picked up the chess pieces around the map and grouped them again.

Su Ze changed into the patrol officer's uniform, crawled out of the dog hole of the Henan government office, and joined the team that had just been formed.

The next day, Su Chuo knocked on Su Ze's door early in the morning and said hurriedly:

"Last night, another murder occurred in Luoyang! A Mahayana sect stronghold was destroyed, and four Mahayana sect demons were killed on the spot! All the money and food they had collected by deceiving believers disappeared!"

(End of this chapter)