Yu Yan was overjoyed when he heard this, and said: "This is exactly what I want, Yue'er, do you have any good plans?" ”

Yuefei leaned over, whispered to him, and then said, "You just need to be like this, it is not difficult to beat this Zhou Gongzi, and it is just so good that Wan Xi can also see your ability." Yu Yan listened and couldn't help nodding.

After a while, Yu Mengyan persuaded Zhou Chang, Xin Jia and others to drink, and Xin Jia and others couldn't help but be humble and thankful. At this time, Yu Yan suddenly knelt on the ground and saluted Yu Mengyan, and said, "Father, everyone is pushing me like this, when will you be able to have fun?" Why don't we try archery, and if you lose, you have to admit punishment and drink alcohol. Wouldn't that be much more refreshing? ”

After hearing this, Yu Mengyan said happily: "No! The widow also felt that there was no joy in the banquet, which was a fly in the ointment. The order went down, and the ceremony of swallow shooting was held in this courtyard. At the time of the banquet, the competition archery was for fun, which was called the gift of "swallow shooting", which was also the custom of the time, and Xin Jia and Zhou Chang had no objection to this. I only heard Yu Yan say: "Today's banquet should be enjoyed by the guests and hosts." Yu Yan is not talented, so I will represent the host to go to the competition, I don't know which of the guests is willing to couple with me? ”

Zhou Chang secretly thought: Master Xin Jia and I are both Yu Yan's elders, how can we couple with him? On the surface, he said it casually, but in fact, he was specifically picking up the war letter to Kao'er. Is he sure of victory? Or is it something in the dark? Maybe it's just a frolic during the banquet, are you still afraid of him? He had already made up his mind in a blink of an axe, so he said, "Zhou Kao, you go and practice with Gongzi Yu." ”

Zhou Kao bowed and responded, "Only, father." ”

Yu Yan couldn't hide the joy on his face, and immediately came to the corridor of the court, and shouted: "Someone, Zhang Hou!" ”

Hearing Yu Yan's order, the musicians in the courtyard immediately stopped playing and retreated to the east of the courtyard with their respective musical instruments. After the center of the courtyard was vacated, the subordinates in the Hou Mansion immediately set up a cloth in the courtyard.

When Zhou Fa saw Na Buhou, he whispered to Wan Xi: "Cousin, at first glance, the shooting marquis of this Yu Mansion looks like a butterfly. He pursed his lips and said, "But this shooter is so lenient, and it is only fifty paces away, that it is difficult to even miss the shot." ”

Wan Xi said: "Well, it's not bad that you say that this shooting is very similar to a butterfly, you look at the oblique upper tongue and lower tongue, isn't it a pair of butterfly wings?" ”

Zhou Fa turned his head in surprise and asked, "What is the upper tongue and the lower tongue?" ”

Wan Ji was also a little stunned, and said, "Don't you usually shoot arrows?" Why don't you even know the upper and lower tongues? ”

Zhou Fa said: "We also have a shooting Hou, our Zhou people are tied with a white cloth in the middle of two bamboo poles, which is a shooting Hou." ”

Wan Xi was relieved and said with a smile: "I see, no wonder you don't know." The archers used by the Central Plains have two pieces of cloth on the top and bottom, which are called the upper tongue and the lower tongue respectively. The part that connects the upper tongue and the lower tongue is called the bow, and in the middle of the bow is a piece of animal skin, called the hoof. In the official competition, the tongue and bow are not counted, and only the hoofs can be funded. ”

Zhou Fa listened to it and said in a speechless manner: "I thought that Yu Ren was afraid that he would be punished for not shooting, so he made the shooting so big, it turned out that it was useless to shoot the tongue and bow." In that case, why not just get rid of these useless things? ”

Wan Xi said: "These are not completely useless, the tongue and bow can stop those arrows that are not on target. That way, when a round is over, you don't have to run far away to pick up the arrows that missed. ”

After hearing this, Zhou Fa slapped his palms and said, "Oh! It turns out that this is a lazy method, but it is also very wonderful. Big brother, if we do this too, then I won't have to run around all the time when I practice archery. ”

Zhou Kao was still a little drunk at this time, but he sat next to Wan Ji and roughly heard the conversation between the two of them. He said, "I don't know how much fur and cloth it will cost to do such a big one, and my father will not agree to it." ”

Zhou Fa sighed in disappointment, and said to Wan Ji again: "Cousin, as long as you shoot the hoofs in the middle, can you win?" ”

"No, you can only get one chip for hitting the hoof. Do you see the red circle in the middle of the hoof? This red circle is called it, and if it hits, it is called a middle pick, and you can get two chips. In the competition, each side needs to shoot four arrows, and after shooting, it depends on who gets more chips to win. ”

Zhou Fa frowned and said, "I originally thought that my eldest brother could win easily, but now that you are so complicated, I am a little worried." ”

Wan Xi sighed lightly: "I haven't seen my cousin shoot arrows, and I don't know if he can win." ”。

Zhou Kao raised his eyes and looked at the archery in the courtyard, and said in his heart: At such a distance, it is not difficult to shoot the hoof, but if you want to pick the arrow, it is not very certain. Although I often tried archery with others in Qizhou City, I was always fighting with my clansmen, and we were very familiar with each other, and I didn't care about winning or losing. But this time it's a competition with foreigners, and if you lose, I'm afraid not only my father, but even my uncle will feel shameless, right?

Zhou Kao stood up and came to the porch, but saw that the shooting Hou was blown back and forth by the wind, and sure enough, as Zhou Fa said, it was a white butterfly dancing in the wind. At this time, a man who looked like an officer walked to the porch and presented something to Yu Yan, Yu Yan stretched out his hand to take it, turned to Zhou Kao and said, "Zhou Gongzi, you are a guest from afar, so you can choose first." ”

Zhou Kao looked at what was in his hand, and it turned out to be a leather pouch made of leopard skin, and two unwound bows were exposed outside the pouch. This thing is called "sheath", which is a bow bag specially designed for the purpose of holding a bow, and it was a very rare thing at that time. Zhou Kao thought to himself: Yu Gongzi's meaning is to ask me to choose one of these two bows to use.

So he drew both bows, and held one in each hand to look closely: he saw that the surface of the bow was painted with black lacquer, and there were yellow rings of lacquer; The bow trunk is wider in the middle and narrower at both ends, with a wave-like curve; The length of the two bows is exactly the same, about six feet, and it is estimated that it will be more than four feet after winding. Zhou Kao thought to himself that if he looked at it from a distance, it was easy to mistake it for a colorful poisonous snake.

"How? Is there any difference between the bow of the Yu people and ours? ”

Zhou Kao turned his head suddenly when he heard this, only to realize that the person he was talking to was his father. It turned out that he was so focused that he didn't even notice that Zhou Chang and Xin Jia came to his side. He hurriedly replied, "It's a little different. Well, for example, these two bows are about the same length as ours, but the child feels a little heavier. ”

Zhou Chang nodded and said, "Generally speaking, the best wood for making bows is Zhemu and Zhumu. However, there is a kind of green sandalwood tree in Yu Kingdom, which is more tough and dense than Zhemu, not only is it not easy to break, but its elasticity is even more amazing. Seeing that this sandalwood was strong and durable, the Yu people at first used it to make wheels, and later discovered that bows made of this green sandalwood could shoot farther. For thousands of years, the Yu people have always been able to stand on the shore of this salt lake, and it is also because everyone is afraid of the power of the sandalwood bow, and no one dares to attack it. ”

Xin Jia also said to Zhou Kao: "Being able to have a well-made sandalwood bow is something that many people in the world who are good at shooting are striving for. Because this green sandalwood tree is rare, and it must grow for at least twenty or thirty years before it can become a mature tree. The fact that the Yu people used leopard skin to make a bow bag shows that they also cherished this sandalwood bow very much. ”

Zhou Kao's teachings to the two of them were all in his heart, and he saw that there was no difference in the length and weight of the two bows, so he left one and returned the other to Yu Yan.

But he said that when Zhou Fa saw his father arrive at the porch, he couldn't hold it back in his heart, so he pulled Wan Xi's sleeve and said, "Cousin, let's go outside too, you can't see anything in this hall." ”

Wan Ji hesitated slightly, then left the table with Zhou Fa, and stood side by side with Xin Jia under the corridor. Seeing this scene, Tai Ji asked Mrs. Jiang: "This archery is a man's business, Wan'er is still a girl who has not left the cabinet, why did the eldest brother let her watch it and didn't stop it?" ”

Mrs. Jiang shook her head and sighed: "The two of us have no heirs, and your eldest brother has always raised Wan'er as a man. In fact, not only archery, but also took Wan'er out of the city to hunt without telling me, and I quarreled with him a few times after I learned about it. Ahem, what's the use? For many years, I didn't bother to talk about it all day, so I just went with them. ”

Tai Ji knew that not having a son was always a problem for her eldest brother and sister-in-law, so she didn't dare to answer. At this time, Yu Mengyan came to the two of them and said, "Two ladies, the swallow shooting is about to start, why don't you go to the courtyard to watch it together?" ”

Mrs. Jiang smiled a little shyly: "When they shoot arrows later, they have to take off their clothes and bare-chested, so it is inconvenient for us to watch." I think it's better to be free. ”

Yu Mengyan said: "When Yan shoots, I have to make a judgment, so the widow only has to be with him for a while." Mrs. Jiang and Mrs. Tai said, "Lord Yuhou, please." ”

Yu Mengyan got up and came to the corridor, and at this time, the people in the house had already displayed all the utensils needed for swallow shooting on the west side of the hall. These utensils are all ritual utensils used in the shooting ceremony, so each one is exquisitely made, and many items have never been seen before, and it is inevitable that Wan Xi will ask questions again.

"Cousin, the one over there has a dragon head carved at each end, but the lower half looks like two snake tails entwined, I don't know what it's for?"

"The name of this thing is 楅, and it is actually a wooden frame for throwing arrows. Don't you see that there are four feathered arrows next to the dragon's head? When the swallow shoots, it is necessary to take arrows from this frame, and when both sides have shot four arrows, it is called a fan. ”

In fact, there are also Zhou people in this frame, but Zhou Chang has always been thrifty, so the Zhou people's trees are very different in size and shape, so that Zhou Fa didn't recognize them.

"Ahh Also, look at the monster next to it, it actually gave birth to a human face. It has a hole in its back, so what's the use? Zhou Fa then asked.

"This is in the bark tree. Zhong is a kind of instrument carved from wood and used to decorate chips, which are usually carved into various animals, such as carved into the shape of a deer called Luzhong, in addition to Jizhong, Tiger Zhong and so on. The bark tree is a kind of human-faced beast in ancient legends, not an ordinary product in the world, so the bark tree is a noble thing that only the Son of Heaven and the princes can use. ”

When Zhou Fa was in Qizhou City, he also taught him how to count chips, but he didn't like to learn this subject the most, and every time he saw his husband fiddling with those slender bamboo sticks on the ground, he had a headache. Seeing Yu Ren counting with chips when shooting arrows made him feel suddenly interested.

Yu Mengyan saw that the tools of the swallow shot were ready, and ordered: "Wind up." "Some people in the palace have already presented several bowstrings made of cow tendons, and Yu Yan and Zhou Kao each took one and tied it to the two bows.

Yu Mengyan waved his right hand, and immediately someone brought a tray with two pieces of sui clothes, which were made of cowhide, mainly to prevent his arm from being cut by the bowstring when archery. Zhou Kao and Yu Yan both took off the left sleeve of their shirts, leaving their left breasts exposed, and then each put their clothes on their left arms.

Yu Yan said: "Doesn't the son use Yujue?" Only then did Zhou Kao notice that there were still a few jade Jue on the tray, which were the wrenches on the big finger of his right hand when archery. Zhou Kao took out a wrench made of animal bones from his bosom and said, "I have always carried it with me, and this one is more convenient." ”

At this time, I only heard Yu Mengyan shouting loudly: "Arrows!" ”

According to the order, Yu Yan and the two came to the side of the frame, respectively took four feather arrows, held one of them between the index and middle fingers of the right hand, and inserted the other three arrows in the belt, which is called "holding one and three".

"Have you two ever set the order of the upper and lower shots?" Yu Mengyan asked.

Yu Yan replied: "Father, Zhou Gongzi is a guest, so he should be in the position of the top shot." ”

Zhou Kao tried his best to refuse because he was young, but Yu Yan insisted again and again, and he had to agree. According to the regulations at that time, the person who shot first shot the target, but at this time, Zhou Kao had a lot of thoughts in his heart, and he had no time to think about whether it was better to shoot first or shoot later.

At this time, I saw a person holding a flag in front of the shooting marquis, and then held the flag high above the top. The flag was not square or round, but it was like a long strip like a goose's neck, like a swimming snake when blown by the wind. Zhou Fa couldn't help but whisper again: "What is this person doing?" ”

Wan Xi said: "This is the person who sings, also known as the winner." He is responsible for guarding the side of the shooter, and if someone shoots the hoof, he will hold the flag in his hand high; If the top of the banner is downward, it is not shot. The people in the hall were all counted according to his instructions. ”

Zhou Fa pursed his lips and said with a smile: "At such a close distance, wouldn't it be clear at a glance whether you are in or not, so why do you need to get it?" ”

"But this swallow shooting gift must not only be able to hit the hoof, but also require that the arrow cluster must penetrate the hoof's skin, otherwise it cannot be raised. Therefore, the winner must also go to the back of the shot to check it to know if it is considered a shot. ”

Zhou Fa nodded and said, "Hmm, I see." ”

But it was said that Yu Mengyan saw that the person who sang was already in place, and announced: "Yan Shot begins!" Yu Yan and Zhou Kao were originally sitting upright by the shelf, but at this time, the two stood up and shook each other. Zhou Kao was about to step forward, Yu Mengyan said loudly: "According to the usual practice, it is still necessary to talk about the rules in advance: this is the first one, that is, do not shoot - if someone shoots and injures the person, it will be judged immediately; Second, if you don't let go of it, the arrow cluster does not penetrate the shot, and you can't get funded. Are you all clear? ”

Yu Yan and Zhou Kaoju bowed to Yu Mengyan to show compliance. Only then did Yu Mengyan let Zhou Kao step forward and said, "Shoot up!" ”

Zhou Kao stood under the eaves and faced the shot sideways. He made up his mind and did not immediately open his bow, but first looked at the banner in the hand of the receiver to judge the direction of the wind. He then aligned the mouth of the arrow at the bowstring, which was a small groove at the end of the arrow that would not easily fall off when fastened to the string.

The receiver in the distance saw that Zhou Kao's arrow had been wound, and immediately left from the front of the shooting and hid behind a large wooden plank next to it. The plank was so large that it completely covered the winner, and the front of it was covered with a layer of animal skin.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Fa almost laughed out loud, and said to Wan Xi: "This winner is so timid, for fear of being shot by an arrow, he wants to hide behind that big shield." ”

Wan Xi said: "The wooden board is not a shield, its name is Rong, and it is used exclusively for the recipient to hide during the salute. ”

Zhou Fa shook his head disappreciatively and said, "Actually, he can rest assured, even if my eldest brother has his eyes closed, he will never shoot so far." ”

As he was talking, he only heard a "poof", the sound of the bowstring, and Zhou Kao had already shot the first arrow. Zhou Fa immediately looked at the shooting place, and saw that the arrow was resting on the hoofskin, and he was overjoyed in his heart, and secretly shouted: Hit!

But the winner came to look at the place where he was shot, but did not raise the flag. Zhou Fa couldn't help but protest: "They cheat, obviously ......"

Before he finished speaking, he saw Zhou Chang glaring at him angrily, and shouted in a low voice: "Shut up!" Zhou Fa had to swallow the words back into his stomach, he raised his eyes to look at Zhou Kao, Zhou Kao shook his head at him, and also signaled him not to say more.

Zhou Kao took a few steps back, and secretly reflected in his heart: Did he not shoot through the skin of the hoof? My father said that this sandalwood bow was extremely powerful, so Shicai didn't dare to use too much force. Is it not strong enough? Or is it the wrong angle of injection? How do I adjust the force?

At this time, Yu Mengyan said: "Shoot down and shoot." Yu Yan strode forward, shot his bow and arrows, and his movements were done in one go, and he looked very skilled. Zhou Fa looked carefully, the arrow was indeed shot on the hoof's skin, and the recipient looked at it and raised the flag upwards obliquely, indicating that the arrow cluster had pierced and shot Hou.

Although Zhou Fa didn't dare to speak, there was still anger on his face. He decided that this winner must be biased in favor of Yu Yan, otherwise why didn't he raise the flag when he was shot in the Zhou exam?

With a smug smile on his face, Yu Yan looked at Wan Xi, but Wan Xi never looked at him. Yu Yan said secretly in his heart: I will wait for me to defeat your cousin, I don't know how you feel?