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

Chapter 124 The Archer

It can be seen that Xue Siming has long been tired of staying in this ghostly place where rabbits don't shit and birds don't lay eggs. He packed his luggage early the next morning and clamored to go back to Wuyang with Yang Menglong.To his disappointment, Yang Menglong was not in a hurry to go back. He stayed in the Hundred Households Office for three full days, and did not leave until he found out the situation of the guard.

During this trip, Yang Menglong finally found out the situation of Tongbai Hundred Households.The land under the name of this hundred households is all thin fields with pitifully low yields, and the fertile fields have been robbed by others. That is to say, what the unlucky boy Xue Siming took over is an out-and-out mess.The good news is that under the name of Baihusuo, there is still a large area of ​​mountains and forests, with many Zhe trees and patches of mountain mulberry, which is a considerable wealth.It's a pity that the Zhe wood has not yet matured, and the mulberry wood is not worth much, but both are excellent materials for making bows and crossbows. Yang Menglong has been worrying about not being able to find good enough materials for the arms of the bow, and now this problem has been solved.Xue Siming hoped that Yang Menglong could help regain the land occupied by the landlords. Yang Menglong was not very interested in this. In his opinion, the land that was taken away was not much better. The yield per mu was only a little more than one stone. After so many years of farming, The fertility is almost exhausted, and it is better to try to reclaim wasteland instead of going to court to get it back.One advantage of reclaiming wasteland is that it has sufficient fertility. If the irrigation can keep up with it, it can guarantee a good harvest for several years. After a few years, the yield will drop because the fertility cannot keep up. Abandon waste, change once a year, or every three years.However, this is only allowed when there is enough land. Now that land mergers are so serious, it is impossible to talk about rotation.In other words, even if those fields were snatched back, it would be too cost-effective to spend a lot of effort to improve their fertility.Yang Menglong is not optimistic about the output of military fields. According to his plan, these military fields are the best choice for growing milk vetch and alfalfa. The former is good green manure and livestock feed, and the latter is the best pasture , Both of them are excellent honey plants. If you plant thousands of acres and then raise bees, you can make a fortune by selling honey. Why bother with the earth?He asked the people from Tongbai Baihusuo to go to Wuyang to help when the wheat was harvested. After the harvest was over, they would share their share, and then they would receive new crop seeds and plant them to ensure that they would have enough to eat.Of course, he didn't forget to send someone to send twenty or thirty shi of grain, so as not to starve the military households to death before the wheat was harvested.

As for the mineral resources in Tongbai Mountain...

Only after his troops have been trained and the bandits are wiped out can they be slowly searched and developed, there is no rush.The situation in Henan and Hubei is fairly stable now, and he has time to slowly lay the groundwork.

As soon as he entered the boundary of Wuyang Thousand Households, Xue Siming was overwhelmed by the crops that were expected to harvest, the waterwheels lined up, and the busy roads.Xu Gong and Wang Tiechui secretly despised them in their hearts, they are really bumpkins, they make a fuss about everything they see, they have no experience!He completely forgot that he was also a bumpkin two months ago.

"There were nearly 5000 people in the Qianhusuo. In addition, I brought back more than 1000 soldiers from Hebei and distributed them fields. The families of those soldiers also moved here one after another. Therefore, the number of people in the Qianhusuo is increasing. Too many." Yang Menglong explained.

Xue Siming was amazed: "It's so prosperous, even more prosperous than the county town!"

Just as he was talking, a long line of people in the distance shouted "one two one, one two one", and the neatly arranged squadron ran over in a mighty manner. Hundreds of pairs of feet were raised and dropped at the same time. , making a sound like the beating of war drums, with a special rhythm, neat and orderly, and impressive. From a distance, they looked like they were marching between two straight ropes!About two hundred steps away, on another avenue, there were also hundreds of people lined up in a long queue, fully armed and running for a long distance. The two troops marched hand in hand, which was a spectacle.When they saw Yang Menglong, they didn't stop. They ran past in a blur. The leader was Han Peng. As he ran, he shouted: "Everyone, work harder. We must beat the old man this time! Who dares to hold back tonight?" To eat, you have to go uphill twenty times!"

The soldiers shouted in unison: "Better than the old man!"

Qi Hu's voice came from over there: "You bastards, work harder and overtake them! If you win, you will get more food, if you lose, you will be served!"

The soldiers over there shouted slogans loudly: "One, two, three, four!!!" Obviously no one wanted to practice the duck walk anymore. That group of soldiers ran very fast, and it was incredible that they could run so fast and in such an orderly manner. .The farmers who were tending the crops in the fields straightened up, and pedestrians on the road also stepped to the side of the road, watching the soldiers chasing each other and cheering them on. The relationship between the soldiers of Wuyang Qianhusuo and the common people was actually so good, which surprised Xue Siming. unexpected.What impressed him most about this army was its vitality. From the officers to the privates, they were all full of vitality, which was in sharp contrast to the sluggish and half-dead decadence of the Ming army.

Yang Menglong watched the soldiers run past with a smile, and said, "Let's go to the barracks to have a look."

Since the main force has gone out to practice long-distance running, there are not many soldiers in the barracks, but they are also actively training.The soldiers left in the barracks are all tall, muscular, and simple-minded muscular men. These guys are either doing push-ups with sandbags weighing dozens of kilograms on their backs, or doing push-ups with each hand. The stone lock was waving, and they were struggling with strength.There is a group of people who are practicing shooting with crossbows that they don't know where to find. They open the bow, load the arrow, aim, and shoot.On the contrary, the practice of archery is a bit messy, a rain of arrows swishes, and the target is shot in a mess.It is not easy to train an excellent archer. You have to practice from a young age. You can’t do it in ten years. The famous British longbowman started training from a young age. Due to the hard training, the index finger, middle finger, and lumbar joints were all deformed. Yes, hard training made the British longbowmen a fearsome force in Europe. Before the arquebus was widely used on the battlefield, they were invincible and made the French suffer.Of course, on the Asian battlefield, no matter how hard the archers of the Ming army train, they will not be able to achieve the prestige of the British longbowmen, let alone become a winning unit. , the crossbow is king!However, having more good archers is not a bad thing, so Yang Menglong generously set aside a large sum of money to train archers.

There are also bunkers, balance beams, horizontal bars, double shoulders, rope nets and other things in the barracks, which are not available in other armies, which made Xue Siming very curious, asking this and that.

At this time, footsteps came from the door, and two long dragons rushed in aggressively, announcing that they had completed today's five-kilometer long-distance race.What surprised Xue Siming the most was that the soldiers who returned to the barracks did not lie on the ground panting as he imagined, but gathered quickly, with the pikemen in front and the horizontal swordsmen in the back, forming two groups. The square formation, as neat as tofu cubes, was aligned with Yang Menglong.Yang Menglong chuckled, and said, "Finally, I've managed to get a good look."

This is also called only a little appearance?
Xue Siming is speechless, how far do you have to practice to be satisfied with your old man?
Qi Hu panted slightly and walked over, looked at Yang Menglong, and said with a smile: "Hey, the shopkeeper is here!"

Yang Menglong shrugged his shoulders and said: "I can't help it, I'm too busy to take care of this side... Isn't there still you, you are equal to me." He punched Qi Hu, "How about it? well enough?"

Qi Hu said: "My old bones can last for a few more years, don't worry."

Yang Menglong pointed at the two murderous tofu cubes: "Is the training going well?"

Qi Hu said: "It went very smoothly. I combined the training method of the adults with the training method of Qi's army, and the effect was amazing. After this period of training, the discipline of the troops has been significantly improved, and the response has been much faster. Sir, you saw it just now, more than 1000 people ran out, just like two straight lines, no army has ever been able to do it."

Yang Menglong chuckled, and said stinkingly: "Is my training method bad?" After a pause, he added: "Turn on, we will go up the mountain to suppress the bandits in two months, if we don't keep up with the training, we will die." A lot of people!"

Qi Hu was taken aback: "Go up the mountain to suppress the bandits!?"

Yang Menglong said: "Yes, there are now a large number of refugees, and countless desperadoes gather in the mountains and forests, killing people, stealing goods, and looting houses. Listen, the troops should be dispatched in two months at the latest." Pointing to the soldier who stood up straight and stared at Ang Dao, "Besides, veteran soldiers are all beaten. No matter how hard the soldiers who have never seen blood are trained, they are not as good as Veteran, I don't want to spend so much money and end up raising a bunch of shameless soldiers!"

Qi Hu solemnly said: "Your Excellency is right, the veterans are all beaten, I will strengthen my training later, and make preparations to suppress the bandits as soon as possible!"

Yang Menglong nodded in satisfaction, then remembered something, and said: "Old man, I found you a piece of good material, do you think it suits your mind?" Then he pushed Xue Siming out, "Hurry up and salute the old man !"

Xue Siming did not dare to neglect, and saluted respectfully: "Xue Siming, who is of humble rank, is here to see the general!"

Qi Hu widened his eyes, looked Xue Siming up and down, and pinched his muscles with his hands. After struggling for a long time, he nodded: "It's a good piece of material...have you seen blood before?"

Xue Siming said: "Yes. My family used to be at the border, and the Mongolian Tartars killed my good brother. I sneaked into their tribe with a strong bow and knife, killed more than 20 of them, and slaughtered the patriarch, and then fled to Central Plains."

Qi Hu's eyes widened: "You killed more than 20 of them? Didn't you brag?"

Xue Siming said: "No bragging, thirteen were shot to death with arrows, seven were hacked to death with a knife, and counting the patriarch, there are a total of 21."

Han Peng shouted from the side: "Are you bragging? Do you think you have three heads and six arms?"

Yang Menglong said: "Whether it's true or not, you'll know if you try it."

Xue Siming said: "Just try it. How do you plan to try it, general?"

Yang Menglong said to Han Peng: "Get him a strong bow." Han Peng waved to an archer who was practicing archery, asked for the bow and arrows, and handed them to Yang Menglong.Yang Menglong pulled the string and said: "We captured this bow from Jiannu. It is as strong as a stone. You said you shot thirteen Mongolian Tartars to death with arrows. You must be very good at archery, so give it to us." Show me your skills." He handed over the bow.

Xue Siming took the bow and didn't see how hard he was, so he pulled the bow into a full moon shape, then let go, shook his head and said, "This bow is too soft, give me another one."

Yang Menglong said to Xu Gong, "Lend him your bow."

Reluctantly, Xu Gong untied his own bow and handed it over, saying, "This bow is as strong as two stones and five times, and ordinary people can't draw it at all..."

Xue Siming frowned and said, "Only two stones and five buckets?" He took it and pulled it, and reluctantly said, "It's still soft, but there is no stronger bow, so let's make do with it. General, what do you want me to shoot?"

Yang Menglong pointed to a target a hundred steps away: "Shoot there and see how many rings you can hit."

Xue Siming was also polite, took a sharp arrow and glanced at it, and saw that the shaft of the arrow was painted smooth, and the arrow family was in the shape of a triangular prism. The tip of the arrowhead was made of steel, which was extremely sharp. Clamping, the body leaned back slightly, and exerted force with both arms, and with a hey sound, the strong bow, which was difficult to use even for Xu Gong, was drawn into a full moon shape, without aiming at it, the hand let go, whoosh!The sound of the sharp arrow piercing the air was sharp and loud, very ear-piercing, and the momentum was quite frightening, but... the arrow was so poorly aimed that it didn't even touch the edge of the target, and flew out of the wall without a trace.Everyone present couldn't help bursting into depressive laughter, some people shook their heads, this kid has some strength, but his aim is too poor, his level is not as good as that of a rookie.He also said that he shot thirteen Mongolians to death, bragging about not paying taxes.

But Wang Tiechui applauded: "Good arrow skills!"

Qi Hu said: "It's really good, and the sharpshooter who can penetrate Yang with a hundred steps is nothing more than that!" He said to a soldier: "Go, get the arrow back!"

The soldier ran out in response, and came back after a while with a sharp arrow in his hand, with a black cat on it - this unlucky black cat didn't know if he had taken the wrong medicine. He climbed up the wall to watch the excitement, but was shot through by Xue Siming with an arrow, almost cutting him in two.Looking at the long-dead black cat, everyone couldn't help but gasp. You must know that Xue Siming's location is a hundred steps away from the wall. Even though he is so far away, he can still hit one with one arrow. The cat is famous for its speed, but its archery skills are too terrifying!Some people couldn't help shouting: "Are you covered?"

Before the words fell, the screaming sounded again. This time, the arrow was shot towards the sky, and a sparrow that was flying well dozens of steps away suddenly let out a scream, and exploded into a cloud of blood. The sharp arrow was bloody and fleshy. It roared all the way, flew a long way before falling obliquely, and nailed to the wall.

This time, everyone was dumbfounded, the entire barracks was silent, and needles could be heard.

(End of this chapter)