Chapter 128: The Gap
Because there are so many people taking the test, the riding and archery test is not conducted alone. On the side of the school field, a full 200 targets were set up in a row, and the candidates showed their archery skills in groups of 200 according to the order.
Riding and archery, in fact, has to be assessed in three ways. The first is riding, the second is archery, and the third is naturally riding plus archery.
However, this year's martial arts academy exam is a bit special, and Dean Zhou is good at advocating that the riding part be erased. In the words of his old man, the Great Sui only had two pure cavalry teams in his efforts to exert the whole country. These candidates are basically useless compared to horsemanship, because the generals of the two cavalry are personally selected and dismissed by His Majesty, even if the candidates of the Martial Arts Academy have excellent results, they will not have the opportunity to enter the army after three years, and the probability of entering those two cavalry is almost zero.
There is no riding competition, and the last two items are carried out directly.
Archery and mounted archery.
Two hundred men shot arrows at the same time, ten arrows per person. Five stationary shots, five sports shots.
Fang Xie was the third batch of candidates to enter, and he stood quietly and watched while others were shooting. I looked very carefully and carefully, as if I wanted to remember every detail. On the target's side, soldiers drawn from the right guard were responsible for recording the candidates' scores. And Qiu Yu, the professor of the Yanwu Academy who was in charge of invigilating, stood behind the target. She didn't seem to worry at all about hurting herself by a feather arrow that missed the air, and walked back and forth behind the target with her hands in her hands.
Seeing that he was about to play, Fang Xie squatted down and tidied up his boots. Tie the boot barrel to the calf with the straw rope you found, tuck the hem of the robe into the belt, and tie the sleeves with straw rope as well. After getting ready, I happened to hear the invigilator's shout.
"Next batch!"
Fang Xie breathed slowly a few times, and looked at the ten feather arrows in the bow and quiver that had been given to him. On the target's side, the right guard soldier in charge of recording the results pulled out the feathered arrows from the target and collected them, and then retreated behind the bunker again. With the sound of a gong, Fang Jie's group of 200 candidates stood in a straight line where the white line had been drawn.
The fixed shot is divided into five parts, and the candidates first walk to the first white line 70 paces away from the target, shoot an arrow, then quickly retreat, and shoot another arrow on the way back. Then retreat to a distance of eighty paces from the target, stand and shoot an arrow, then quickly retreat and shoot an arrow. And so on. There are five white lines, retreat four times, and shoot nine arrows, the last of which requires the candidates to quickly swap positions at a distance of 120 paces from the target, and shoot the tenth arrow on the run.
The time to complete the archery competition, the pace of running, plus the accuracy, the comprehensive score.
The rules are not complicated, but if you want to shoot these ten arrows well, how easy is it? The foot bow they used was made by the weapon workshop of the Great Sui, and it was easy to send the feather arrows out of 200 steps. But having said that, you must know that if you shoot an arrow at a distance of more than 70 paces, you will already have to calculate the arc landing point when the arrow flies out. Retreat to a distance of one hundred and ten paces to send a bow, the distance the arrow flies in mid-air for so long that even the slightest hint of wind can change the trajectory of the feathered arrow.
And it is also necessary to complete accurate shooting while running, which can be imagined to be very difficult.
Fang Xie tied the quiver to his back and adjusted it to a position where he could draw the feather arrow with his hand. First, he pulled the bowstring a few times to get used to the strength of the bow. Before it started, he lowered his head and looked for a small pebble, clasped it between his fingers and shot it with a walking bow, watching the trajectory of the stone until it landed, Fang Xie remembered the feeling when he shot the stone just now.
The moment the gong sounded for the second time, Fang Xie immediately raised his hand and pulled out the first feather arrow from the quiver on his back, without any aiming action, drew the bow and shot the arrow, all in one go. The first arrow was seventy paces away from the target, and a fixed shot at this distance was not a difficult task for Fang Jie.
After the first arrow was fired, Fang Xie didn't even look at whether the arrow hit or not. He didn't turn around and run out for a distance like the others and then turn around to aim, but with a little foot on his feet, his body drifting backwards like a kite being picked up by the wind. Left and right** on the ground, his body swept up again and again and galloped backwards, and when he flew up, Fang Xie had already pulled the feather arrow out of the quiver. When the body landed, the bowstring was full, and it jumped up again, and the feathered arrows shot out.
After a few substitutions, Fang Xie retreated to the second white line eighty paces away from the target. Draw the arrow, shoot it, then retreat sharply, draw the arrow, shoot it, and the action is smooth.
When Fang retreated to the third white line, which was ninety steps away from the target, there were not many candidates who kept a distance from him. Although Zhang Qi, who was about ten meters away from Fang Jie, had been injured before, he still showed amazing quality in this kind of pure military examination. When Fang Xie shot the third arrow and retreated, he took the time to glance at both sides of himself. He found that he was slightly faster than himself, about half a step ahead.
On the other side, Yu Xiao, the son of Yu Manlou, the general of Zuo Wuwei, was almost parallel to Fang Jie. Obviously, the general Yu Manlou is very strict with his son. Yu Xiao's posture of pulling a bow and shooting arrows and running is extremely standard, even the instructor who trains recruits cannot do it better than him.
Different from Fang Jie's point-and-ground verticality, Yu Xiao's archery skills seem to be more solid than Fang Jie. He turned his head and fired his arrows as he ran, and almost every arrow was sent out with just a slight aim.
Farther away, there were a few people with excellent skills who were comparable in speed, and six or seven out of ten people were candidates from military backgrounds.
In this kind of competition, the advantages of the military are vividly displayed.
From the time the first arrow was fired to the fifth white line, which was one hundred and ten paces away from the target, Fang Xie shot nine arrows, and it took no more than two minutes at most. There were only one or two people who were faster than him, six or seven people who had reached about this distance before him, and four or five people who were a little slower.
But at this time, the problem arose.
For example, Zhang Qiang, who had arrived a moment earlier, and the other soldier froze, as if they didn't know how to shoot the tenth arrow.
……
……
When Fang Xie ran to the position, he finally understood why the arrogance who had arrived one step earlier than him hesitated. The tenth arrow requires the candidates to swap places, but if the leading people run to the position of the candidates next to them to shoot the arrow, their vision will be blocked by the candidates who have not yet run back. That is, those who move slowly become an obstacle for them to shoot the tenth arrow. But if they wait for them to return before firing the tenth arrow, then the advantage they have won before will be lost.
When Fang Xie thought of this, he found that Zhang Qiang was looking at his side. In an instant he understood what he meant by arrogance, but he immediately shook his head. The distance between the two of them was more than ten meters, and there were at least six people in between. If the two of them switch places, the distance they run is too far, and the retreat of the candidates in the middle is still an obstacle for them. The hard-won lead in time before can't withstand a little squandering.
Without time to hesitate, Fang Xie immediately jumped to the side. He squatted down as much as he could, and then gathered all his strength on his legs. For a split second, he could feel the muscles in his legs tense rapidly. This feeling of swelling is very good, and the confidence in his heart is raised again.
As soon as he squatted down, his feet showed a strong explosive force. With two feet on the ground, Fang Jie's body suddenly pulled up. While leaping up, Fang Xie pulled out the last feather arrow from behind his back and shot it towards the distant target in front of him without hesitation.
And at this time, the candidate who was facing this target happened to retreat less than a meter in front of Fang Jie. The tenth arrow that Fang Xie shot out almost flew past his scalp, making this candidate scream in fright, and subconsciously bent forward to dodge.
Fang Xie smiled apologetically at him, and the tense muscles on his body slowly relaxed. He turned and walked back, untying the quiver from his back as he went. The overseer, the soldier of the right guard, ran over and took back his bow and quiver.
Fang Xie found a stone and sat down, plucked a hairy grass and held it in his mouth, watching those who did not finish the exam run and shoot as hard as they could, this feeling of withdrawing from the game to be a bystander was amazing.
Zhang Mad handed back the bow and quiver to the soldiers of the right guard, walked to Fang Xie and sat down with a smile and said, "I thought that I could win you in this assessment, but after all, I was overtaken by you because of hesitation." Alas...... I knew that there was such a thing as you among the military candidates this year, and I shouldn't have come. ”
Fang Xie smiled: "Actually, you can be faster." ”
Zhang was stunned for a moment, shook his head with a wry smile and said, "It's reached the limit." ”
"How many times did you look at me when you were shooting arrows just now?"
Fang asked
"Four times"
Insolent replied truthfully.
"You want to win me so badly."
Fang Xie sighed, stretched his body, and said in a flat tone: "It's because you want to win me so much, so you are distracted." You keep looking at me to see if I have surpassed you, although it takes little time to look at me, but it still has some impact on your shot. If you specialize in injecting arrows, you'll be at least two steps faster than me. But you ended up only one step ahead of me, and at the last moment you wasted your time in hesitation. ”
Zhang Mad nodded, was silent for a while, and said, "I really want to win you, I really want to." ”
He also plucked a hairy grass from the weeds on the ground and stuffed it into his mouth, and said while chewing as Fang Jie: "As I said just now, this is the only exam item that has a chance to win you once." After this exam, I'm afraid that I won't have a chance. ”
"Why do you want to win me so much?"
Fang asked.
Zhang Qi hesitated for a long time, then turned his head to look at Fang Xie and replied seriously: "Because of jealousy." ”
Fang Xie stretched out his hand and patted Zhang Qiang's shoulder, but did not speak.
Zhang Madness smiled and said: "People are always like this, and they will be jealous of those who are stronger than themselves." I'm sorry, but you treat me as a friend, but I treat you as an adversary. ”
Fang Xie shook his head slowly, and said in a very light tone: "If I don't treat everyone as an opponent, how can I win over most people?" ”
Zhang was stunned for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.
At this moment, a fat figure floated over from a distance. While floating towards Fang Jie, he said with a smile: "Xiao Fang Jie, haven't you seen me for a few days?" I'll see if you've failed the test, and if that's the case, I'm going to have a nice meal to celebrate today. ”
Fang Xie looked at the chubby figure and smiled first. But when he saw the dirty appearance of that guy clearly, Fang Jie's face sank again.
"What's wrong?"
When Xiang Qingniu arrived at his side, Fang Xie looked at Xiang Qingniu's robe, which had a few torn robes on his body, and frowned and asked.
"It's not like I'm going to wipe your butt for you, my butt hasn't been wiped well, damn it, and it's stinky!"
Xiang Qingniu sat down beside Fang Xie and said while gasping, "I found the day...... Who is this? ”
He pointed at the arrogance.
Zhang Yan recognized the robe on Xiang Qingniu's body and knew what this robe meant. So he got up, clasped his fists and saluted: "I've seen a real person, my name is Zhang Mad, a candidate of this year's Martial Arts Academy, and the military brigade rate on the edge of Anyuan City." ”
Xiang Qingniu smiled and said: "Xiao Fangjie's comrades, haha, a talent, a talent...... You can go to the side and rest for a while, I have something to explain to Xiao Fang. ”
"Good"
Zhang Mad smiled and said, "You guys, I'll go over there to see the other brothers." ”
With that, he turned and walked into the distance. As he turned, the humble, sincere smile on his face vanished. I don't know what he thought of, and the look of sadness and sadness in his eyes flashed.
Slowly walking towards the arrogance of other candidates, his face gradually turned cold.
Listening to Fang Xie talking and laughing with the fat man in the black robe, his arrogant face became more and more unsightly.
I'm still an idiot trying to win you once...... You are a person who is valued by His Majesty, you have a relationship with the people in the Ouchi Guard, you have a relationship with Sanjin Hou Wu, you have a relationship with the boss of the Red Sleeve Recruitment, you have a relationship with several scholars in the imperial court, and even you have a good relationship with that beautiful female professor...... Now another real person has come out to chat with you and seems so familiar, what can I compare to you?
Fang Solution...... What exactly are you?
Insolent...... How idiot are you? You are just a small brigade with no future, you don't know the people in the Ouchi Guards, you don't know Sanjin Hou, you don't know the scholars, you haven't entered the Red Sleeve Move, you can't talk to the professors of the Yanwu Academy, there will be no big people from the Taoist sect to come to chat with you, and you will not be appreciated by His Majesty...... You're just a little guy in the Northern Barbarian tribe who had to marry the daughter of the clan leader and kill her with your own hands in order to survive and make meritorious contributions.
Insolence, the gap between you and Fang Xie is too big.
He smiled wryly as he walked.
You are people of two worlds.
PS: Tomorrow's trip to Shijiazhuang will last about four days, and there should be an update, but the time is hard to say...... Actually, the updates have never been regular, right, I'm guilty.
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