Out of the plug (4 times)

As soon as the sky was brightened, Wang Mazi and the others jumped up, urging everyone to hurry up. The traders all know that the people are a people who like to migrate, from the weak Luoshui to the Taimi River, there have been people who have seen their footprints within a radius of thousands of miles. If everyone goes late, maybe the Xi people will suddenly disappear like dew on the grassland like the Xi people. If this were the case, everyone would probably lose all their money. Therefore, no one complained about Wang Mazi's frizziness, so everyone nibbled on a dry cake in the cold wind and hurriedly ran all the way north. (Note 1)

By the afternoon, the pace of the procession had to slow down again. The terrain on the grassland has risen and fallen again, unlike Wanliyan Mountain, where mountain peaks are next to each other. Instead, a large gentle slope appeared, the end of which could not be seen with binocular eyes. The slopes of the mountains forced people to jump off the horses and pull the reins forward, and the animals carrying the goods also tensed their limbs and struggled to move forward step by step.

According to Hao Laodao and others, this kind of terrain is called a dam by the grassland peoples. I don't know where to start or when it's over. In addition to going to the Moya Department in northern Liaoning, as long as you go north, other regions have to go through this hurdle. Therefore, it is rare for caravans from the Central Plains to go so north, but the more sparse the caravanserais, the greater the profit of the group. (Note 2)

Listening to the guide's introduction, the vendors plucked up their spirits and worked hard to move forward. The taxes of the Great Sui Dynasty were not high, but the officials in each place had the means to collect money in each place. If the caravan can't make money on this trip north, a few people may lose the opportunity to set foot on the grassland again next year because they can't meet the miscellaneous taxes stipulated by the government. So, even if there is only a glimmer of hope, no one intends to turn back halfway.

For the fatigue of the muscles and bones, Li Xu has long been numb. After jumping off the horse, he immediately divided a small part of the burden on the back of the blue and white mule on the horse. The little wolf Ganluo was also put down from the bag by him, and slowly crawled north by his side. For this long-lost freedom, Gan Luo was obviously very excited, and rubbed Li Xu in front of and behind him, as if he couldn't feel the fatigue of climbing the hill at all.

When the traders saw that the burden on the blue and white mules had been reduced, they were obviously full of strength. also followed Li Xu's example, and evenly distributed part of the goods to the packer's mount. In this way, the speed of the caravan increased somewhat, and at least the animals carrying the goods stopped foaming at the mouth, and looked like they were going to die at any moment.

When the sun crawled out of the southeast again, Li Xu found that his steps were no longer soft. The wilderness in front of you is wider and more desolate. The distant mountains looked shorter, but the summits were all white, apparently the traces of snow. The weeds around it were no longer waist-high as they were near the Lishui River, and they were withered and yellow, only covering people's feet and necks. But suddenly there were many small animals in the grass, such as fat wild pigeons, bloated sandgrouses, and strange rats with huge eyes and short ears, which jumped up in front of people's eyes from time to time and fled into the distance. In the distance, there is even a large herd of thick-necked, short-tailed, yellow-furred sheep grazing leisurely. Seeing the caravan passing by, the male sheep in charge of the guard just raised his head with a right horn and watched curiously. It appeared that it had no intention of informing its companions to escape. (Note 3)

"Just rest here for an hour and let the animals slow down their feet. We've already got to the dam, and we'll be there in the afternoon! Sun Jiu bumped into Hao Laodao and the others and announced loudly.

"Hula!" The team immediately boiled the pot. The old vendor spread out his luggage rolls on the grass and fell asleep despite the cold. The younger or more energetic traders unloaded the goods from their mounts as fast as they could in their lives, and then, despite the protests of the animals, jumped into the saddle and rushed to the yellow sheep in the distance with their bows and arrows.

It was a yellow sheep, with a gentle temperament and delicious meat. The end of autumn is the time when its flesh is the fattest, the fur is thickest, and the slowest run. Just hit one end and try to get it back to the Central Plains, and the sturdy short horns, brown and yellow fur with white hair, can be sold for a good price.

"Be careful, don't run too far!" Sun Jiu shouted at the crowd that was far away. His words were drowned out in the sound of horses' hooves. The young people in the caravan, apart from Xu Dayan, a rich kid who didn't care about money at all, and Li Xu, an ignorant boy who didn't know what a yellow sheep was, who didn't want to make a small fortune? After a while, only he, Zhang San, and a few old traders were left in the camp, and the others almost all rushed out.

"So those sheep are wild!" Li Xu thought regretfully. I want to hunt on horseback, but I am really not sure about my archery. Shaking his head, he rolled out his luggage.

"Still angry about what happened the night before yesterday?" Seeing Li Xu's hair wilting, Xu Da walked over and patted him lightly on the shoulder, "No, some people are like shit, they exist to make you feel sick." Disgusting to you, their purpose is achieved, as for how smelly they are, they don't care! ”

Li Xu was amused by this apt metaphor, and several shallow folds immediately appeared on his cheeks. The bumps along the way made his body a lot thinner, his skin darker and rougher, and a few rows of faint black hair appeared near the base of his ears. It made him look much more mature, not at all like a young man who was not yet fifteen years old.

"How do you look like you've grown up so much overnight!" Xu Dayan turned to Li Xu and looked at him with a frown. Stretched out his fist, smacked his strong shoulder, and asked jokingly.

"Really? I guess I didn't wash my face in the morning! Li Xu smiled stupidly, but there were a lot of complicated things in his eyes. He admired Xu Dayan's sharp gaze very much. But what he thought of last night, he didn't want to say.

Xu Dayan didn't have much interest in studying Li Xu's changes, and his gaze was quickly attracted by the noise coming from afar. The hunters were lucky, and in less than half a pillar of incense, someone had already hit a lamb the size of a dog. I put it on the back of a horse and run back happily. The others, apparently targeting the prime-aged ram who had begun to gallop at high speed, shouted and desperately urged their mounts to gallop and outflank.

The flock, apparently inexperienced in fighting humans, fled in a panic into the distance. Soon, several adult sheep with slightly less physical strength broke away from the group and fled to the sides with screams. This is more in line with the hunter's wishes, and on horseback, the traders bend their bows and arrows, and shoot arrow after arrow at their prey.

"You're not going hunting? That yellow sheepskin is an excellent material for boots. Wear it on your feet, it's light and warm! I don't know when, Uncle Nine came over, stood beside the two teenagers and asked in a low voice.

"I don't want to run away, but lose a horse!" Xu Dayan said disdainfully. His mount was a four-year-old jujube horse, much better than the mounts of any one in the caravan. But counting the time that everyone walked along the way, except for a few swordsmen, Xu Dayan could be ranked first. The short-sighted act of ignoring the fatigue of the mount for the sake of a small profit could never have happened to him, a man who cherished horses.

"I, I'm not very good at archery!" Li Xu replied in a low voice. Yellow sheep, he remembered this name, and the next time he met him, he must start with the big one, put the skin in the nitrate, and ask someone to send it to his hometown to make a pair of boots for his father. Over the years, in order to study for his own peace of mind, my father never mentioned how tired the road north was. Many times, in the conversation between father and son, the long and lonely trade route seems to have a lot of poetry.

"Didn't you have a bow hanging by your saddle?" This time it was Sun Jiu's turn to be surprised. He had noticed that in the entire team, only the bows used by Xu Dayan and Li Xu could be brought to the table. None of the bows in the hands of the others, wooden or bamboo, could really be used in battle.

Hearing someone mention his baby, Li Xu felt even more embarrassed. In the past, he couldn't shoot accurately, and he could deduce that the bow in his hand was too poor. And after Xu Dayan's analysis, at this moment he already knew that the hair bundle gift given to him by his uncle was a good riding bow. However, when I held this treasure myself, I shot it all over the ground. Shooting a bow on the back of a bumpy horse is even more unlikely to shoot at the target. With such a good bow but not able to shoot arrows, it is really shameful to destroy the heavens.

"Quite a big man, don't blush at every turn, show me the bow!" Sun Jiu saw Li Xu's expression twisted, thinking that he was hiding a handful of goods in his bow bag, and scolded with a smile.

Li Xu agreed, and hurriedly ran over to get the bow and quiver. Sun Jiu took out the bow arm from the bag, flipped the weight with his hand, then separated his thumb and index finger, measured the length of the bow arm, and carefully looked at the texture of the bow ear, and nodded incessantly. After hanging up the bowstring, he took out Li Xu's homemade feather arrow from the pot, and the nodding action immediately turned into a shaking head. Draw one, shake it once, until you shake your head into a wave drum, then throw the quiver back to Li Xu, and said to Xu Dayan: "Borrow a few of your feather arrows to use, Xuzi's pot of arrows is all wrong." Cavalry bows, but with infantry arrows, it is strange that they can shoot accurately! ”

When Xu Da heard this, he hurriedly presented the feather arrows he was bringing with both hands. With his skill of observing people, Sun Jiu is obviously a good performer, otherwise his position on the knife would not be so regular, and his personality would not be so bold. It's just that what errands Sun Jiu has done in the army, and what level of martial arts skills he has reached. With Xu Dayan's current ability, he still can't guess. Right now, Sun Jiu asked to test the arrow, which was a good opportunity to send it to the door. After the shot, Xu Dayan guaranteed that he could guess the length of time Sun Jiu had been in the army.

Sun Jiu took the quiver from Xu Dayan's hand, pulled one out of his hand, and flew on the horse. With a slight knock on his legs under the horse's belly, one man and one rider immediately went out. Seeing this, Xu and Li hurriedly rode their horses to follow, and only then ran out of more than a mile, and just in time, several large yellow sheep that had lost their herds were chased by the traders and rushed over.

Good Sun Jiu, take an arrow and open a bow. Just listen to "Stretch!" There was a crisp bowstring sound, and the largest ram and sheep at the front fell in response. Sun Jiuyi held a bow in his hand, rushed up on his horse, leaned over slightly on the horse's back, and shouted, "Get up!" ”。 With one hand, he swept his prey off the ground, mounted it in front of him, and rode back.

"Good!" Not only the vendors, but also the swordsmen who came to see the excitement also cheered. It was not easy to shoot an arrow at a gallop to hit the target, and what was even more rare was that Sun Jiu's arrow pierced the neck of the yellow sheep, not only immediately taking the life of the beast, but also preserving the integrity of the skin.

"That's natural, Brother Jiu used his life under the command of Gao Dashuai back then, and he also shot down Xiao Mahashuai's banner in the army of ten thousand horses. If it weren't for the greed for military merit by some bastards, Brother Jiu would at least be able to become a captain! Uncle Zhang pursed his lips and boasted triumphantly to the swordsmen. (Note 4)

All the swordsmen were very surprised, and they gathered around to find out about the old affairs of the marshal Gao Ying's army against Nan Chen, and asked who was so capable of letting General Gao Ying, who was known as fair and strict, show favoritism and let him rob Sun Jiu's capture of the flag. Sun Jiu refused to say much, but just pulled out the arrow on the sheep's neck and returned it to Xu Dayan, and then threw the whole sheep to Zhang San, and ordered him to arrange for someone to roast the mutton for everyone to taste.

Seeing Sun Jiu so calm, everyone admired him even more. In particular, a few swordsmen, seeing that their destination was about to arrive, their recklessness was revealed. After seeing Sun Jiu's archery art, they also restrained their behavior and stopped bragging.

Sun Jiu turned the empty bow back to Li Xu's side, but he didn't let go of the bowstring. Pointing to the mark on the bow arm and explaining to Li Xu, "This is a riding bow specially built in order to defeat Nan Chen during the Kaihuang period. It took several years of effort to concentrate the famous bow makers from all over the country, and there are only more than 1,000 of them that can reach this level. With such a hard riding bow, if you use it as a stepping bow to shoot, of course you can't shoot accurately! ”

"Please ask Uncle Nine for advice!" Li Xu and Xu Da saw the treasure and prayed.

"Apprentices need to kowtow!" Du Scar walked past with a yellow sheep that was not much bigger than a rabbit and said stupidly.

Sun Jiu ignored him, returned the bow to Li Xu, pointed his fingers at the position where he held the bow, the basic movements of his arms and body, and then said: "What's so difficult about this, it's just a matter of one sentence, there are special songs in the army, and every cavalryman can memorize them." Then he held the bow in his hand again, and did not shy away from being eavesdropped, and sang in a low voice: "The momentum is like the wind, and the eyes are like lightning; Open the bow and put the arrow ...... tightly" (Note 5)

"That's it?" A few swordsmen who came over to "steal art" shouted in disbelief. The person who walks the knife pays attention to Tibetan skills, and the less one person learns his own skills, the more safe he is on the road. They had never heard of Sun Jiu's behavior of casually singing the song in front of everyone.

"It's easier said than done. Anyone can memorize the song, and if they can shoot accurately, they can't find one out of a hundred people! Sun Jiutou said without looking back, handed the bow back to Li Xu again, and told with a smile: "In fact, there is a two-word secret, everyone understands." Without him, it's just 'familiar'. If you practice a few more times, you will naturally be able to understand the truth! ”

With that, he jumped off his mount and staggered towards Uncle Zhang to help him peel and roast meat.

Li Xu held the bow and was so happy that he forgot to dismount. He was overjoyed to find out the reason why he was not accurate in archery and heard the song of mounted archery in the army. What is even happier in my heart is that I "stole" the art of watching people that I learned in Xu Dayan, and the first time I used it, I was blinded. Uncle Nine did abandon business to join the army, but he was robbed of his credit in the army, so he turned back angrily.

If you learn martial arts well in the future and settle your parents well, can you find a victorious war like Xu Dayan to find a career for yourself? Uncle Jiu's merits were coveted, so he quit the ranks. If you are more lucky than him, you may be able to survive to the position of brigade rate (100 people).

These dreams are far away, but they can be done after all. It's better than running around on the grassland all year round, so tired that you don't even have a chance to dream.

As a sensible child, Li Xu didn't dare to look down on his father's livelihood. But he was very afraid, afraid that he would one day become a person like Wang Mazi and Du Scar, numb and shameless.

"What are you doing stupidly, don't put your bow away!" Xu Da saw that Li Xu was in a daze again, and gently tapped his head with a quiver. Immediately, half of the feather arrows were separated from the pot and stuffed to Li Xu.

"Brother Xu, this, how embarrassing is this!" Li Xu hurriedly shirked it. Xu Dayan uses more exquisite things, I don't know how much such a delicate half-pot arrow is worth? Although the two have become friends, it is not Li Xu's habit to take friends' things casually.

"Take it, defend yourself!" Xu Dayan whispered. looked around, and found that no one around was paying attention to him, so he lowered his voice and said, "Uncle Nine was deliberately standing up just now, and things are a little bad!" ”

"Deliberately ......!" Li Xu let out a low half-exclamation, and the second half was immediately forced back into his stomach by himself. Good and dignified, what is Uncle Nine doing. No wonder he's always been a very peaceful person, but he suddenly shows off his shooting skills! It turned out that he deliberately showed it to everyone. To whom? In this caravan, in addition to the traders gathered in one place from all over Hebei and Henan, there were a few swordsmen who worked part-time as guides. Are they .......?

"We were led by a few strangers, and we came all the way here, and we were sleepy. If the other party is a horse thief across the grassland, we are equivalent to a group of big fat sheep sent to the door by ourselves! Xu Dayan turned his back to everyone and made a gesture of wiping his neck with a knife to Li Xu. Even if you can't find the caravan tonight, you can't let the caravan mess up. Therefore, Uncle Nine must show his hand to prevent others and his own people from deliberately causing trouble in despair! ”

"Oh!" Li Xu nodded lightly and slowly climbed off the horse. If it weren't for Xu Dayan's reminder, he wouldn't have seen the hidden mysteries behind these clues. Thinking about the possible battle, he felt a pang of tension all over his body, and his legs involuntarily began to tremble.

If they encounter horse thieves, the dealers' hearts are already scattered, and they can't organize an effective resistance. With Uncle Zhang's character, he must have left everyone and fled first. And to Wang Mazi, Du Scar and the like, it is already righteous to help the horse thief lift the rope in order to survive. Uncle Nine can't find a helper, so his martial arts are always high, how many opponents can he stop?

"Don't be afraid, no one can hurt you with me! As long as I have a wooden stick in my hand, three or two Du Scars can't get close at all! Xu Dayan swore and promised, seeing that Li Xu was still pale, he gently touched him with his arm, and comforted him in a low voice: "I met the Turks that day because the guy didn't take advantage of it, and he ....... with a horsewhip."

"Thank you, Brother Xu, when the time comes, I won't trouble anyone!" Li Xu inserted the feather arrows given by Xu Dayan into his quiver one by one, and replied slowly. The arrows used by Xu Dayan are indeed very exquisite, although they are a few points shorter than those used in the foot bow, but the shaft of the arrow is smoother, the arrow edge is sharper, and the tail feathers are neatly trimmed, like several knives inserted diagonally.

"This kid is getting really fast!" Xu looked at Li Xu and thought in surprise. At the moment of inserting the arrow, the good friend suddenly seemed to be a different person. Cowardice, timidity, and woodenness, these ordinary and similar problems with him disappeared one after another, and were replaced by a mountain-like calmness and heaviness.

"Uncle Nine said it well the day before yesterday, I can't rely on others to help me with everything!" Li Xu reminded himself hard while collecting the arrow.

Note 1: The weak Luoshui, that is, the Salamudon River, is between the Wengniute Banner of Chifeng and the Right Banner of Bahrain in present-day Inner Mongolia. Taimi River, the old road is near the present-day White City.

Note 2: Straw. In the area of present-day Jilin, Heilongjiang and Sakhalin Island, which was occupied by Russia, it was a great power in the late Sui Dynasty.

Note 3: Yellow sheep. The scientific name is Mongolian gazelle, which was once widely distributed in the Inner Mongolia region of China. The body length is 100~150 cm, and the weight is generally 20~35 kg, but the largest can reach 60~90 kg. Once the main winter food for grassland herders, it is now on the verge of extinction.

Note 4: In the battle of Sui and Nanchen, the commander of this battle was Yang Guang, and the actual commander was the veteran Gao Ying.

Note 5: Seen in the Tang Dynasty Wang Ju's "Shooting Classics and Horse Shooting General Law"

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