Chapter 40: The Arrow Test (2)

(This book was first published on the Let's See Literature Network, referred to as the Literature Network, please support genuine subscription to protect the rights and interests of the author.) )

"Xianggong, this land of Chuzhou is the city you single-handedly defeated, why do you want to hand over the position of marshal to my brother Tianxu, and hand over the post of right deputy marshal to my uncle Zhang Tian? They don't have the ability to command the whole army, so wouldn't you make the army unstable? What's more, if you lead troops to the battle, if there are young people behind the scenes, won't you lose power? After walking out of the handsome hall with the generals, and seeing that there was no one beside him, Ma Xiuying asked Zhu Yuanzhang with some puzzlement.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, glanced at his wife and said: "I originally wanted to be the commander-in-chief, but the good man told me that if I became the commander directly, some people would be dissatisfied, and it was rumored that my father died at my hands. ”

"My husband joined the righteous army not for my own selfishness, but for the people of the Central Plains, vowing to expel the Yuan Court from my Central Plains, it is not important to be the commander, but it is important to make the army a whole, and now we will take the surrounding counties and towns in one fell swoop, we can gradually expand according to this, not to seek a wide area, only to gather people's hearts, as long as the soldiers use their lives, the land of Chuzhou will become a place where the world's heroes gather, so as to live up to my father's expectations of me."

While speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang and his wife had already come to the gate of the Shuai Mansion, and both jumped on horseback, bringing up a puff of dust and smoke and galloping towards the school field.

"Xianggong, it turns out that you already knew that your uncle was ambitious? It's just that he is willing to succumb to the left deputy marshal, which is really admirable to the concubine! Ma Xiuying frowned on horseback, she didn't expect that she had been concentrating on robbing the Shen family's property in order to raise silver taels these days, but she didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to change so much, and the response process was tepid.

Although Ma Xiuying is only Guo Zixing's righteous daughter, there are Ma Xiuying's schemes behind Guo Zixing's many battles over the years, otherwise Guo Zixing would have suffered serious internal injuries and was uncomfortable and overworked, how could he lead a weak rebel army to rush left and right to survive in the cracks?

Zhang Tianben is the right deputy marshal, and thirty percent of the generals in the army are his cronies, and he is the most talented general in Guo Zixing's righteous army, and his ambitions are also greater, and he has long been dissatisfied with Zhu Yuanzhang's state of only living in Chuzhou, and a few months ago he wanted to drive his troops south, attack Quanzhou for thousands of miles, and seize the most lucrative place in the world.

Zhu Yuanzhang had already been in contact with Lu Shaobei, although he felt that it was inappropriate, but he and Tang He decided to go to Quanzhou to investigate in person, which led to the scene in Quanzhou.

However, one side of Quanzhou faces the sea, and the other three sides are supported by the Persian soldiers and the Yuan army on both sides, so it can be regarded as getting Quanzhou, but it can't be defended, even if it can be defended, but it will be cut off from the local trade with the merchants in the interior of the Central Plains when it is besieged, which is completely contrary to the plan made by Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Shanchang before.

Now there is Chen Youliang in the north, Zhang Shicheng in the east, at this time the Yuan army has not yet dispatched a large army, if the surrounding counties and towns can be taken as soon as possible, so that the righteous army has more land and population, it can recuperate, and gradually sit bigger, and that Zhang Tian can not catch his truth, that is, he wants to make trouble, and can only start with his nephew Guo Tianxu, and he Zhu Yuanzhang actually holds the command of most of the army in Chuzhou, and then he can sweep away the only internal force that can threaten him in one fell swoop, and also occupy the right time, place and people. It is very important to conform to public opinion, and Zhu Yuanzhang is naturally very aware of this.

"Xiuying, it's not that I don't have ambitions! But at this moment, there is no need for ambition in the army, Chuzhou is just a small place, and it is only because our righteous army has little power in the righteous army, and the contact with the Yuan army is small, which makes the Yuan army look down on me. ”

"This time I went out to respond to Zhang Shicheng, so that the Yuan army could not attack with all its strength, even if Zhang Shicheng was defeated, we can also form a defensive posture in the surrounding counties and towns, and we can help each other in the terrain, although the Mengyuan iron cavalry is strong, it is not invincible in the water town of Zeguo." When he said this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face was not completely confident.

This time, if Zhang Shicheng was defeated in the attack of the Yuan army soon after, Chuzhou was about to face several times the enemy, although he was confident that his soldiers were well-trained, but how could the gap in number and strength be achieved overnight?

"Xianggong, tomorrow's army is about to set off, Xu Da is the pioneer general of the middle road, Mr. Li leads a group of men and horses to stabilize the captured counties and towns, tomorrow the concubine will march to the two county governments with Xianggong separately, I should have gone back to rest earlier, but there is one person you still haven't seen, why don't you go to visit your life-saving benefactor?" Ma Xiuying said slowly to Zhu Yuanzhang on the horse.

"You mean that Brother Shang? Well, this expedition is about to go on a long journey, and it may be many days before I can return, so I have asked the chief to bring someone to see him, but I myself should go to visit him anyway, otherwise it will be considered rude, so we will go to the East Campus as soon as possible. As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned it by his wife, a trace of warmth appeared in his eyes.

Thinking of the mother and son in rags on the mountain behind Lijia Village, especially the strong appearance of the little brother Shang Yu, he never forgot it, just like when he killed the rich man's cattle in the village because of hunger, although he was beaten after sharing the food with his partners, he still had the strength to not give in.

"Your little brother is very powerful, not only killed many Quanzhou volunteers, but also changed his name to Mu Yu in Yongchuan County to kill a county official and more than ten Yuan soldiers, and also became Shen Wansan's brother, and even has the name of Shen Wansi, we have been busy with the funeral of our father-in-law in the past two days, and I have not mentioned this matter to you, so I will tell you all at this time." Ma Xiuying slowly said this sentence again on the horse.

"What? Are you saying that Brother Shang is actually the one who killed the Yuan General and was the commander of Yongchuan County? I was not mistaken, this kid is not an ordinary person! Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were full of relief, if it weren't for Guo Zixing's death for two days, it was not appropriate to laugh, I am afraid he would have looked up to the sky and laughed.

"It's just that how did this kid become the younger brother of the Shen family's miser?" Just after a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang asked a little puzzled.

"You may not believe it, your business brother has a book" Ma Xiuying told Zhu Yuanzhang what she knew, and this statement took most of the incense time.

After listening to his wife's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang's face gradually showed a dignified look, and he said slowly: "Xiuying, don't tell anyone about this matter as much as possible, Brother Shang is a disciple of Mr. Lu, and it should be this kind of ability, and the business plan seems to be an important thing in business, but its implicit military value is immeasurable." ”

"That Shen Wansan's income is only one-tenth, but it is enough for him to be rich, if you have time, you will take back that business plan from Shen Wansan's hands, and the Shen family has not been willing to support the rebels with silver taels several times, if this person falls into my hands in the future, he will definitely be punished heavily."

Ma Xiuying nodded after hearing it immediately, but found that she had already come outside the school field, and hurriedly said: "Xianggong, the school field is here, why don't we go in and see your business brother." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang took the horse, nodded and was about to speak, but he heard a noise in the school field, it seemed that there were thousands of people discussing, and there were bursts of laughter, he couldn't help frowning.

"It is extremely disrespectful for anyone to be so bold and laugh so loudly on the first seven days of his father's funeral." After that, he rode his horse from the entrance of the school field and galloped inward, Ma Xiuying was also a little puzzled, and hurriedly rode his horse to follow inside, but a group of soldiers guarding the door immediately knelt on the ground with a gun, their faces were full of reverence, and they did not get up slowly until Zhu Yuanzhang and his wife entered.

After Zhu Yuanzhang entered the school grounds, he found that not only a thousand people, but thousands of people had gathered on the east side of the school grounds, which should be a place to practice bows and arrows, with hundreds of dummies made of artemisia grass for soldiers to practice archery.

Ma Xiuying also looked forward on the horse with some curiosity, and saw that at the front of the crowd, a young man dressed as a young man was holding a bow with a strange style, looking left and right, as if he was picking arrows from a pot of arrows, and Li Shanchang and three other people in Confucian shirts were also accompanying him.

"Xianggong, that's your little brother Shang Yu, it's just strange how he came to the trial field?" Ma Xiuying said with some surprise.

The "Left Deputy Marshal" turned his head in the crowd, he heard the sound of horses' hooves before turning around, and when he saw that it was the left deputy marshal of the army coming, he wanted to shout and salute.

It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his hand and made a silent gesture between his mouths at this time, so that the hundred households were not allowed to shout, and waved his hand to signal the hundred households to restrain the subordinates around him, not to spread the news that he had come here to other soldiers, he really wanted to see what Shang Yu was doing.

The hundred-hundred-household immediately understood, waved his hand and signaled to the several soldiers around him who also found that Zhu Yuanzhang was here, to stop saluting, and instead pay attention to the actions of Shang Yu and the others in front of him.

"Xiuying, I think the bow held by Brother Shang is very special, not like a commonly used thing in our army, where do you say it came from?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked Ma Xiuying as low as he could.

"I don't know, it's very likely that a soldier in the baggage camp made a new strong bow." Ma Xiuying immediately looked at the bow held by Shang Yu in the crowd, and then replied after taking a few closer looks.

Shang Yu picked up the arrows in the quiver at this time, and picked about twenty breaths before picking out the most satisfying one, and then picked it up, but he was a little worried in his heart: "If this arrow can't even reach the edge of the grass target, won't it make these thousands of soldiers make fun of it?" But if you don't shoot, it will be even more despised. ”

Although he thought so in his heart, he finally put the arrow on the bowstring, grabbed the bow with his left hand, and gently pulled the bowstring with his right hand, and the warm current passed from the front of his chest and abdomen into his arms without his thoughts, Shang Yu was happy in his heart, and gradually raised it in the process of pulling the bowstring, his eyebrows were level, his right eye was closed, and he tried his best to aim at a grass target facing him with his left eye.

"God forbid, let my arrow hit the grass target, otherwise it will be drowned out by the laughter of thousands of people." Shang Yu secretly prayed to the sky in his heart so that this arrow could hit the target.

Thousands of soldiers behind him held their breath, watching Shang Yu's movements, in the opinion of the veterans, Shang Yu's archery posture was not very correct, his head was a little crooked, and his steps were not in the posture of front and back, and he could not stabilize the bow, but they all wanted to see the power of this bow, which was shot at the grass target one hundred and fifty steps away, the grass target seemed soft, but there were rattan and waste land leather inside, and the hardness of the human body was also very similar, if it was so far away, it could shoot a pair of piercing, The bow and arrow, which would halve the power of the enemy army a hundred paces away, would certainly be a great threat.

Li Shanchang was secretly surprised in his heart at this time, seeing that Shang Yu seemed to be able to pull the bow into a full circle without using force, which could not help but make him frightened, and said in his heart: "I can easily pull away the ordinary five-stone bow, but that also requires great strength, the bow used by ordinary soldiers is usually a five-stone bow, this Shang Yu has such divine power, but I don't know what his quasi-head is?" ”

Tang Heze's eyes widened, just now he had only pulled half of the bow was actually pulled away so easily by this half-grown child's Shang Yu, he thought to himself: "This kid has only been seen for a few months, he has such ability, he must be pulled to Brother Guorui's account, isn't this with the addition of a tiger general?" ”

Zhu Zhengqing was shocked in his heart, and said in his heart: "Brother Lu's disciple should be a person who is good at business, Tang He can only pull half a bow, how can this Shang Yu have such divine power?" Could it be that he couldn't take the elixir? By the way, the eldest lady once mentioned to me about refining medicine in Yongchuan, could it be that he took those pills? Where did he get the method of refining? A series of questions flooded through his mind.

At this moment, he only heard Shang Yu let out a breath and said, "Hurry", the arrow in his hand shot out of his hand, and a strong wind sounded in front of him, and the arrow disappeared like lightning in the eyes of thousands of people.

The grass target in front of him did not move at all, Shang Yu was a little frustrated, and said in his heart: "Sure enough, I didn't hit the target, this time my face is really embarrassing, and the soldiers all over the city will know the joke that I made a bow but couldn't shoot an arrow." ”

Thousands of soldiers did not laugh out loud, and these soldiers who had been through the battle knew in their hearts that it was not as it seemed on the surface, and they all saw the majesty of the arrow when it was fired, and the question was where was the arrow now?

Seeing that Tang He and Zhu Zhengqing were silent at this time, Li Shanchang raised his hand and motioned to a ten-captain and said, "You take two soldiers to the grass target to find the arrows and see where the arrows have gone?" ”

The ten-captain summoned two soldiers to trot all the way to the grass target to look for Shang Yu's arrow, but Shang Yu lowered his head in despair, still worried that he would only laugh at the crooked arrow.

"Brother Shang! I see that the power of your arrow is very strong, and it doesn't hurt if you can't shoot it accurately! If the strength is reduced slightly, if this kind of bow can be made in large quantities, it will definitely cause a lot of damage to the enemy, and you will already be considered to have done a great contribution to our righteous army. Li Shanchang said.

But he was thinking in his heart: "This Shang Yukong has a divine power, but it seems that he doesn't know martial arts, otherwise the posture of holding a bow will be better, and if someone is there, he will naturally become a brave general." ”

Shang Yu said with some interest: "Thank you Mr. Li for the compliment, Shang Yu is ashamed!" ”

At this moment, a soldier came over with a grass target and shouted: "Shang Gongzi shot the target in the chest, and he pierced it!" For a moment, all the soldiers cheered with joy as if they had exploded.

If such a bow is equipped in the army, it will definitely reduce a large number of casualties, pose a great threat to the enemy, and increase the chances of survival in battle, how can they not cheer with joy?

Li Shanchang couldn't help but be overjoyed and said, "Brother Shang! Congratulations, it's rare that you can not only make such a good bow, but also have such archery! ”

At this moment, the ten-captain who was far away on the east wall to search for the arrow branch shouted loudly: "Shang Gongzi's arrow is actually only the tail of the arrow outside the blue brick wall, and he shot through the east wall. ”

Although this sound was not loud, it stopped the cheers of thousands of people, and they looked at Shang Yu in a daze, holding a five-stringed bow, and they all refused to believe what their ears heard.

The east wall was three feet high, and it was built to prevent the stray arrows from hurting the passers-by outside the school, and the two-and-a-half-foot-thick blue brick wall was actually shot through by Shang Yu's arrow after shooting through the grass target, which was really too incredible.

At this moment, a loud laugh came from behind thousands of soldiers.

"Hahaha! This is really the Heaven Destroying Yuan Dog, Brother Shang Yu, you shot this arrow well! If it is in the battlefield, such an arrow will be shot out, it will definitely be able to wear more than a dozen generals into a string, my Zhu Yuanzhang can be regarded as an eye-opener, there will be such a divine bow in the world, it is really a blessing for our army! ”

Thousands of soldiers turned around, and as soon as they saw Zhu Yuanzhang, the real coach in their hearts, and Ma Xiuying on the school ground, they immediately knelt on the ground.

"See the Left Deputy Marshal! See Miss! Thousands of voices seemed to be on the ground, along with Zhu Zhengqing, Li Shanchang, Tang He and the other three were also half-kneeling on the ground, only Shang Yu stood behind the crowd with a bow and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang who was laughing a little confused.

"I actually once saved a marshal in the rebel army, and he actually called me like this, calling me brother!" This is a scene that Shang Yu has never forgotten many years later, just because Zhu Yuanzhang called him a brother on this occasion, and he fought side by side with him in the future process of dominating the world, and spared no effort to give everything he learned in his chest.