Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 123 Two bastards make a pair
Xue Siming kept two pork legs and a loin for himself, chop it up and throw some herbs into the pot to stew, planning to cook a pot of soup for Yang Menglong and the others.The military households knew that a big man had come to Baihu's family. This one sent a few eggs, that one sent a few catties of wild fruits up the mountain, or they dug up a few yam eggs to fill Xue Siming's kennel to the brim. Good things can't be brought out, but you can't embarrass Lord Baihu too much, can you?This reminded Xu Gong and the others of the past when Yang Menglong first arrived in Wuyang, and everyone tried every means to get some local products in return, the memory is still fresh.

With the fruit in his mouth, Yang Menglong looked over and over with the black crossbow.He watched while distributing the pork, and clearly saw that more than half of the sharp arrow that killed the wild boar had been nailed into the pig's head, which showed how powerful the damage was.He pulled the forcefully and tried to shoot an arrow. He felt that there was a big gap with his own, but the power was not bad. He shot more than two hundred steps, which was comparable to the range of the arquebus. room for improvement.He found that the craftsmanship of this strong crossbow seems to be very mature. The bow arm is made of mulberry wood, and the bow string is made of beef tendon. The design of the crossbow is exquisite, and the design of Wangshan is also in place. With a lot of training, one can use this powerful crossbow proficiently and kill a warrior who has practiced martial arts for more than ten years with one arrow.He has been looking for a craftsman who can make crossbows, but he has never been able to find one. He never expected to find one in this remote mountainous area. Forget about the excitement.At the same time, he became curious about Xue Siming. He could tell at a glance that this kid was not simple, but what was going on with such a character staying in a beggar's nest-like hundred households as a bitter householder?

"Sir, the food is ready. It's time to start eating."

While he was pondering the material of the bow arm, Xue Siming ran over and saw him playing with his weapon, with a trace of displeasure on his face.

Yang Menglong returned the crossbow to him and said, "This crossbow is pretty good, how did you make it?"

Xue Siming said: "The skills passed down from the ancestors, my hometown is close to the side wall, and the Tartars often cross the side wall to plunder. Every time they come, they kill people without counting. The court officers and soldiers can't beat them. Self-preservation..."

Yang Menglong interrupted: "Border wall? Is your hometown in the border?"

Xue Siming said: "Yes, my hometown is in Yulin, Shaanxi, which is only separated by a wall from the Tatar territory. For thousands of years, the Tatars have often invaded. In order to survive, we border residents have to practice martial arts to survive." Bao. The Tatars have great archery skills, and they have war horses that come and go like the wind. We who walk on two legs can't defeat them at all. We can only compete with them by relying on strong crossbows and forts. The craftsmanship of making crossbows is like this It has been passed down." At this point, he sighed: "Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer people who can make crossbows now. Many good craftsmanship have been lost, and they are incomparable with the previous crossbows. Take this one It is considered a rare masterpiece, but compared with the crossbows of the Song Dynasty, it is still far inferior!"

Yang Menglong said: "It's not bad." He said in his heart: "Nonsense, can this be compared? The god-arm bow of the Song Dynasty cannot be restored in modern times. We can only pursue this cold weapon from the few records in historical materials. The splendor of an unprecedented masterpiece. It has been more than 300 years, if you can still create such a heaven-defying weapon as the God Arm Bow, then I really have to give you a big gift!"

Xue Siming said: "Since the Qin Dynasty, our Shaanxi has been famous for its strong crossbows. Qin crossbows, rhubarb crossbows, and god arm bows all came from the Three Qin Dynasty and are well-known. Crossbows are part of our Shaanxi, but now they are gradually It's a shame it disappeared."

Yang Menglong smiled, said nothing, and went to eat.

Several women helped cook the meal. Xue Siming was still a bachelor and had no money to hire servants. He usually went to the homes of various military households to fight guerrillas. Don't expect him to cook any good dishes.Those few women did their best. The food on the table was delicious, full of oil and water, and made people appetite. Yang Menglong was not polite, he threw away his cheeks and gorged himself. Everyone knows that if you eat with General Xiao Yang, if you are slow to start, you won't get anything to eat. If you don't want to rob you, just drink the northwest wind.

After eating, Yang Menglong asked Xue Siming to go to the yard to enjoy the shade. The weather is really too hot.Probably because they share similar tastes, after sitting down for a long time, Xue Siming talked about his own background.He insisted that his genealogy can be traced back to the generation of Xue Rengui, the famous general of the Tang Dynasty, but later, due to various reasons, the family moved to Shaanxi, and then gradually declined.His home is in Yulin, Shaanxi. This is a good place, hot and dry, where you will never suffer from diseases such as rheumatism, osteoarthritis and the like. If you are bored at home, take a knife and go out. Turn left and walk a few miles to have the most direct and in-depth communication with the Mongolian cavalry.Of course, don’t expect to be rich in that kind of place. The Mongols often broke in and looted everywhere, and they might die at any time.In order to survive, the men in Yulin started to practice martial arts since they were young, and every family had weapons. When they encountered Tartar criminals, they immediately took up defense in Wubao. Therefore, the folk customs in Yulin area are aggressive, and the brave and fierce style of the pre-Qin period can still be found in them. , Mongols generally do not dare to provoke them.As a native of Yulin, Xue Siming is certainly not a good boy. He has practiced martial arts since he was a child. Also considered a little famous.Three years ago, a friend of his was killed by the Mongols when he brought a bag of salt to the Mongolian tribe to sell. Without saying a word, this man took a knife, a strong bow and a bag of arrows, and rode a skinny horse. , broke into that Mongolian tribe, killed [-] grown men when they saw them, shot thirteen to death with arrows, hacked seven more, and finally cut off the head of the tribe's chief, snatched the black horse, and fled .This misfortune was a big one. The Mongols vowed to take revenge, and even the government wanted to arrest him. With the help of his friends, he escaped from Yulin, wandered around, and came to Nanyang, where he was bitten by a poisonous snake while resting in Tongbai Mountain. , his life was hanging by a thread, and the hundred households who led people up the mountain to cut firewood found him in time, and saved his life by picking herbs.He is a person who knows how to be grateful. He couldn't just walk away after his life was saved. In addition, he had nowhere to go, so he simply became the adopted son of Baihu.Two years ago, Baihu was seriously injured by a wild boar when he went hunting in the mountains, and he died the next day. He was a bachelor and had no children, so Xue Siming had to take over from him and reluctantly became Baihu.In fact, he doesn't know how to manage these hundreds of people at all. His greatest interest is hunting in the mountains, or finding trouble with bandits who are alone. It has been two years, and the Hundred Households have not improved. Compared with Yang Menglong, he What a failure.But he has an advantage, that is, every time he goes up the mountain, he can always hit big guys, and everyone will share the rewards, and there is always meat to eat with him, so his reputation in the hundred households is still quite high, and the military households are willing to Follow him.It's just that he was a bit unlucky, the previous hundred households were soft-bodied, and the good land was snatched away, so he was left with such a little thin land, which made everyone hungry, not to mention how depressed they were.

"In the past, there were often bandits who tried to trick Baihusuo. I killed a dozen of them, and they all calmed down." He said with a little pride.This can be regarded as the only achievement he can get.

Yang Menglong curled his lips, and said in his heart: "There are so many bandits who have no vision to come here? The whole beggar's nest, please don't come here!"

"My lord, there are a lot of bandits in Tongbai Mountain, and our guards can't find a few decent knives. It's too dangerous. Can you give us some good knives?" Xue Siming changed the subject, and focused on Xu Gongpei again The horizontal knife on his waist made his mouth water.

Yang Menglong pulled out his saber and handed it over: "Is this the kind of saber you want?"

Xue Siming took it with both hands, nodded like a chicken pecking rice: "Yes, yes, it is this kind of knife!" Carefully touching the blade with his fingers, feeling the cold murderous aura, the whole person was infatuated: "Good knife, good knife!" Knife! I have played with eight knives if not ten, but I have never seen such a good knife! Look at this steel mouth, it is thin and tough, it is really good at blowing hair! And look at this knife body, the back is thick The blade is thin and flexible, and it is not afraid of head-on collision with heavy weapons... My lord, where did you buy this knife? This is not the equipment of our Ming army!"

Yang Menglong said lazily: "I don't like the garbage of the Ministry of War, so I found someone to make it myself, can't I?"

Xue Siming was not surprised by this. The imperial court's control over the army became more and more lax. As long as you have the ability, no one cares about you, let alone making knives or cannons.What surprised him was that the knife was so sharp, with a light wave, the thick tree branches snapped off, like cutting tofu, it was incredible.His eyes became brighter and brighter: "I don't know how many adults cast?"

Yang Menglong said: "There are hundreds of them, right?"

Xue Siming's eyeballs were bigger than pig urine bubbles: "Hundreds of them, are they all like this?"

Yang Menglong snorted: "If it's not like this, what else could it be?"

Xue Siming's hands trembled: "My God, this is a precious knife that cuts iron like clay. Hundreds of them were cast at once. This... how much does it cost!"

Yang Menglong looked at him: "You also want such a knife?"

Xue Siming nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.Nonsense, who wouldn’t want a sword like this?

Yang Menglong slapped him on the shoulder: "It's not easy to want a sword? I don't think you are a hundred household material. You don't want to be a hundred household. You can mess with me. You don't have a problem with any kind of sword you want." !"

Xue Siming was overjoyed: "Thank you, sir, for the promotion...it's really great. I don't want to be this Baihu for a long time, and now I'm free at last!" OK.

Xu Gong rolled his eyes, this is a good time, two bastards put together, enough for a load!

(End of this chapter)