Chapter 593: The Drama of Shooting Willows, the Purpose of Military Affairs

Shooting willow batting has always been a traditional test item in the Ming army's big parade, different from martial arts competitions, these two kinds of competitions rarely hurt people, the former is designed to test archery and equestrianism, the latter is to focus on equestrianism and control, Zhu Di often uses these two to assess the nobles. For Zhu Zhanji, who has been riding a horse with the avant-garde of the government army since he was a child, shooting willows is simply commonplace.

"Good!"

Some of the young soldiers in the avant-garde of the government army have followed Zhu Zhanji to the battlefield of the Northern Expedition, some have followed the imperial grandson for many years, and some are newly selected. But at this moment, seeing that none of the three arrows missed, no matter who shouted, they all shouted hello. In the earth-shattering cheers, Zhu Zhanji, who was dressed in a red robe, quickly turned his horse's head and ran back, and saw that Zhang Yue was already preparing with a bow and arrow, so he smiled and stood aside. It wasn't until he saw that Zhang Yue had already mounted on a battlefield that he approached Peng Shisan.

"Peng Shisan, I heard that Yuan Jie learned martial arts from you back then?"

Although Peng Shisan saw Zhu Zhanji coming, he lowered his head and stepped aside, but he didn't expect this imperial grandson to talk to him. Seeing that Zhang Yue had already fired three arrows in a row, and he could vaguely see that all the wickers seventy steps away had been broken by the arrows, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in amazement, and then hurriedly owed Zhu Zhanji.

"Back to His Royal Highness, not only back then, but now as long as I follow the young master, he will always have half an hour in the morning to practice martial arts. When the young master was young, his bones were not good, and he was barely so-so when he practiced sword and boxing, but he couldn't pull the bow if he didn't have enough strength on his arm, so we thought of a lot of ways to practice strength, and then I was finally able to pull the bow. However, learning to ride and shoot at the age of ten was a little late after all, so it was absolutely impossible for him to become a martial artist. ”

"According to what you say, when he was a child, in addition to learning the Four Books and Five Classics with Du Yishan, he also suffered a lot in martial arts?"

It was the first time Zhu Zhanji had heard of this, so he asked a few more questions out of curiosity. Hearing Peng Shisan talk about Zhang Yue's weak body when he first practiced martial arts, he couldn't help but think of the days when he was taken by Zhu Di and strictly disciplined since he was a child, so he couldn't help but feel a little concerned. When Zhang Yue galloped back in high spirits, he threw such a little emotion out of the clouds, and ordered his two entourages to gallop forward.

Although Hu An, the elder brother of the imperial grandson concubine Hu, is the avant-garde commander of the government army, since Zhu Zhanji does not love the Hu family very much, he is not willing to pay much attention to the brother-in-law, and this time he came to the school to drive him away. As usual, he and Zhang Yue shot willows from 80 paces away, while the others shot willows with their bows 100 paces away. Seeing that the two people he picked out were missing one of the three arrows, he couldn't help but be very dissatisfied, and when Peng Shisan cleanly shot three wickers and returned, he was even more annoyed.

Could it be that you can't lose this time?

Just when Zhu Zhanji was suffering from gains and losses, Shi Heng galloped out like a sharp arrow. Zhang Yue specially brought people today, and he wanted to see how this kid would behave, but suddenly he heard a thunderous shout, followed by a sharp sound of breaking the air. But in a flash, the sound of breaking the air sounded three times next to each other, and in a few moments, the figure had already turned around. Originally, Shi Heng was stout, but his face was flushed at this moment, and he actually had the look of Guan Gong with a red face.

"The three willows are all broken!"

Hearing this shout that opened his voice, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but forget his annoyance, and looked curiously at Shi Heng, who had come forward. Although he himself is also an arrow, the difference between eighty steps and a hundred steps is not small, and it is very rare for this young man to have such an archery technique at such a young age. asked Zhang Yue for his name and surname, and he called Shi Heng to come forward, and when he learned that he was using a knife, he ordered Ma Wu to see a set of knife techniques. When he saw that the silver light of the human sword dance was splashed, he couldn't help but blurt out a good word.

Zhang Yue, who was watching from the sidelines, wanted to take this opportunity to give Shi Heng a chance, and when he saw that he was so good at grasping, his heart couldn't help but move slightly. Being good at seizing opportunities and being able to endure hardships for others is the advantage of a martial artist, but if you are too good at climbing up the pole, you have to guard against it. Seeing that Zhu Zhanji's face was full of red light, he didn't pay attention to the fact that a few junior colonels stepped forward quickly with wicker in both hands, so he didn't make a sound to disturb and walked over by himself.

"Lord Zhang, this is the broken willow obtained from shooting willows today."

In order to prevent cheating, the broken willows obtained from willow shooting have always been submitted for inspection. Zhang Yue checked them in turn, and when he saw that all of them were completely cut off from the exposed place, he waved his hand and ordered the little school to retreat temporarily. When he returned to Zhu Zhanji's side, he saw that Shi Heng in the audience had finished dancing and was standing there with his hands down, not daring to say a word.

"Good talent, you really have a unique eye for the Yuan Festival, and you have brought a wonderful person!"

With this excitement, Zhu Zhanji transferred the title he gave to Zhang Yue to others. It's just that after all, he has been the emperor's grandson for more than ten years, and he knows that he can't be rewarded indiscriminately, but he just gave a few words of encouragement, and ordered people to stay in the front guard of the government army, and then left Chen Wu and a few other eunuchs to wash the horses. Although several eunuchs are eunuchs, they have never done this kind of rough work in the palace on weekdays, and they used to find it interesting to see Zhang Yue do it himself, but now they are dumbfounded, and they can only watch Zhu Zhanji take Zhang Yue and others out of the city.

The Ming Dynasty paid attention to firearms, and Zhu Di paid great attention to the research and development of firearms because he had suffered a big loss on the battlefield in the past. The Ming army was also equipped with soldiers in each David's office, but it had always been rationed according to the number of 100 households, and it was not an independent army. There are more than 20,000 people in the front guard of the government army, and like other princes' guards, they are also equipped with guns as Zhu Zhanji's guards. However, due to the limited production of the Gunpowder Bureau of the Inner Government, the guns were not as good as the Shenji Battalion, and there was not much live-fire training on weekdays.

But on this day, the imperial grandson came to inspect it himself, which was naturally different from usual. The 300 sturdy soldiers carefully selected from each guard gathered in the school field specially for the drill of the soldiers, all dressed neatly and in good spirits. After everyone bowed, it was a formal drill, because the color is used in the new type of sharpshooter and arrow, the target in addition to the wooden target covered with cowhide, there is also a pig iron target covered with iron armor, when the order is ordered to shoot in three sections, only to see the smoke of gunpowder, only to hear the sound of gunfire shocking the sky.

For fear that someone would plot against him, Zhu Zhanji was firmly protected by a group of guards, and no matter how he raised his eyes, he could not see the situation of the drill. When the smoke cleared, he called Zhang Yue to step forward and carefully inspect the targets that had been beaten a hundred paces away.

"These firearms are indeed sharp, but if it is against the Mongols, it is still necessary to ensure that the cavalry on both wings has enough combat power to intercept the enemy, and then the spearmen must be able to follow closely. Otherwise, even the most skilled gunners, who are rushed in front of the enemy after a volley, will surely die. Compared with bows and arrows, this firearm is expensive after all, and if you want to constantly improve and equip it, I am afraid that it is an extremely terrible number. Yuan Festival, you also followed the last Northern Expedition, you should know the real situation. Although a lot of war horses were captured, the grain and grass reserves of the military horses were lost even more, and the casualty figures reported to the military headquarters were greatly discounted. ”

Zhu Zhanji is not a nobleman who is better than the hands of women in the deep palace, but he does not agree with Zhu Di's poor soldiers who blindly march north. He knew that Zhang Yue was different from those lecturers who reported everything to the top, and he said his opinion bluntly while the people around him were scattered and guarded from afar. He took two steps with his hands behind his back, and when he saw that Zhang Yue had not followed, he couldn't help but turn his head.

"What His Royal Highness said is indeed reasonable, the Shenji Battalion can be invincible during the Northern Expedition, and it is indeed relying on the strategy of the 3,000 battalions and the five army battalions. Even if the Shenji Battalion firearms are sharp and well-trained, and can fire a few rounds of salvos in the face of the horse team's charge, after all, accuracy is limited beyond 100 paces, and it is too dangerous within 100 steps. Moreover, the main force of the 3,000 battalions was the original Mengyuan army, and if these people used it well, it would be a great benefit, and if they were not used well, it would be a great harm, just like the Wuliangha people. It is naturally good for the imperial court to be benevolent and divide the people, but many of the people who surrendered were from the Qin and Twilight Chu dynasties, and it was really unreliable to be placed on the border. ”

When Zhang Yue hurriedly followed up and said such a thing, Zhu Zhanji was relieved and more satisfied that Zhang Yue did not simply want to be knighted for military exploits, nor did he blindly give benevolence and righteousness. Although he was close to Yang Shiqi and other Eastern Palace officials, he hated their control; Although he and the nobles fought together, he hated them for instigating Zhu Di to go north again and again. It's just that with his identity, there are few peers around him, and even if he does, he is often too constrained by red tape to speak, so he feels that Zhang Yue is unusually in tune with his spleen.

"Therefore, it is really unnecessary to blindly fight Arutai, it is better to give Warat a good opportunity. But Xia Shangshu and the others couldn't persuade the imperial grandfather, and I couldn't persuade him. Now that I have you, I can think of a way together. Do you know that the imperial grandfather heard that Arutai still did not give up, and he had previously revealed in front of me that he wanted to continue the northern expedition. ”

"Still going north?" Zhang Yue was taken aback at this time, and gasped even more, "I just came back last year, aside from the military food consumption and horse manpower of the Northern Expedition, the emperor is old after all, how can he afford to go out of the fortress like this?" ”

"You must persuade the emperor's grandfather, no matter what method is used, if this battle continues, it will only be a waste of material resources and manpower." Zhu Zhanji burst out with such a sentence almost without thinking about it, and immediately crumpled the cowhide horsewhip in his hand tightly, turned his head to stare at Zhang Yue and said, "April 17 is the Emperor's Grandfather's Halloween, and the day before I invited him to teach in the Xiyuan to review the avant-garde of the government army. You've always been resourceful, think about it before that day. ”

April 16 in the West Garden? Thinking of this, Zhang Yue's heart suddenly moved, and he agreed without saying a word. Since you want to try it, then let's do two things together.