Don't be a prince

Second arrow!

He still aimed for a long time, but when the arrow came out, it just stuck to the pear and hit the target.

The third arrow!

This time it was even more outrageous, it was Li Jian who was looking at the target.Li Jian held a wooden stick, and with a casual block, knocked the arrow aside.

Only the last arrow is left!

Although the weather was hot, Chang Sun Chong felt his back was frozen.

Bows and arrows that are usually like toys are extremely heavy at this time. The bow that can be opened easily is like a crossbow, and you can hear the creaking sound when you pull it.

After aiming for a long time, but failed to shoot, he let go of the bowstring, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and aimed for a long time before Chang Sun Chong let go.

Still failed!

Seeing Li Jian's gesture in the distance, Chang Sun Chong wanted to find a crack in the ground and get in.With my own strength, 150 steps, four arrows, how can I hit two arrows!

Seeing that Chang Sun Chong also failed, the one who was eliminated first finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Shimin sighed, threw the pear pit aside, and said loudly, "Is there anyone who can shoot at this distance?"

Three times in a row, just when Li Shimin was about to be disappointed, suddenly, a voice rang out: "Your Majesty, the general is willing to give it a try!"

Li Shimin looked in the direction of the voice in surprise, only to see a young man in his 20s, tall and thin, judging from his attire, he was just a nine-rank accompanying captain.

Before Li Shimin could speak, Zhang Shigui stood up and shouted loudly: "Get off, what are you talking about! Don't be afraid that the wind will flash your tongue!"

Li Shimin smiled and said: "Wu An, is this your soldier? Don't be scared, let him come and try."

Hearing what the emperor said, Zhang Shigui got out of the way.

The young lieutenant stepped forward, knelt on one knee and said, "Your Majesty Qizuo, the general is willing to give it a try. If he fails, he will accept the military stick!"

Seeing what he said was decisive, Li Shimin smiled and said: "Okay, young man, you are very confident in yourself! Come here, give him a bow and arrow!"

Seeing the four-stone bow sent by the soldiers, the young captain shook his head and said, "The last general has six stone strength, please give the last general five stone bows!"

six stone?

Hearing this number, everyone laughed.Six stone weighs more than 700 catties. How is it possible for such a thin guy?

Li Shimin smiled and said, "Give it to him!"

Soon, the five-stone bow was delivered to the young captain.The young lieutenant didn't make any gestures. After trying his bow, he immediately opened his bow and shot an arrow, and the arrow accurately nailed to the pear 150 steps away.

Seeing the hit gesture from Li Jian in the distance, everyone was shocked by this young captain.

Li Shimin burst out laughing immediately: "Hahaha, okay, good archery, what's your name?"

The young lieutenant knelt down on one knee and said respectfully: "Report to Your Majesty, the last general, Xue Li, is named Rengui."

"Hahaha, okay, I see that you still have the strength to spare, how about it? Do you dare to take ten steps back?"

Chapter 495 The Warmth from the Wang Family

Xue Rengui raised his head, with an unruly smile on the corner of his mouth: "Your Majesty Qizuo, the general is willing to step back twenty steps!"

"Xue Rengui, what are you bragging about!"

Hearing Xue Rengui's words, Zhang Shigui became anxious immediately.This subordinate of his stood up and slapped his colleagues in the military and court in the face, but even he would be judged by others.

It's not just Xue Rengui who is impatient.Changsun Chong, who had just missed one after another, also stood up, and said with a livid face: "Xue Rengui, right? Well, if you can still hit the shot by taking another twenty steps back, on the day of triumph, I will represent the Changsun family and set up Treat you with a feast! But if you blow it up, wait a while and wait to be beaten!"

Even in front of the emperor, Chang Sun Chong spoke frankly about this selfish revenge.Now it is not in the court, but in the army.The most taboo thing in the military is ghost domain tricks. Putting everything on the bright side, even if it's private revenge, will make people feel pleasing to the eye.

Changsun Chong's words also aroused Xue Rengui's fighting spirit. He patted his belly, and Xue Rengui said loudly: "General Changsun, the general has a big appetite. Just wait and invite the general to eat. If the general misses, Also ask General Changsun to be the executioner!"

The two of them stared at each other, and neither of them was left behind.

Seeing this scene, Li Shimin laughed out loud, not feeling disobedient at all.What he likes to see most is the struggle in the army, and now his body is inevitably going downhill, which makes him full of expectations for the next generation.

Under the horrified gazes of the generals, Li Shimin walked up to Xue Rengui, reached out and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Very well, what I like most is arrogant soldiers. 170 paces, this distance, even if it is me, I can't do it." Guaranteed to hit every shot. However, I still want to make it a little more difficult for you, how about it?"

Xue Rengui cupped his hands and saluted, "But it depends on His Majesty's arrangement!"

Li Shimin nodded with a smile, and waved to Li Jian in the distance.

Li Jian understood, reached out and pushed the pear hanging on the target.

The pear, which was hanging by the rope, suddenly began to shake.

The difficulty of hitting the pear that started to shake is not as difficult as 170 steps.

Even Xue Rengui didn't shoot the arrow immediately after setting up his bow, but adjusted slightly.

Li Shimin was standing beside Xue Rengui. Seeing Xue Rengui's concentration, he lowered his voice and said, "I will give you three chances to shoot arrows. Once out of three times, I will give you my own bow!"

Hearing the emperor's words, Xue Rengui suddenly became excited.

Li Jian in the distance obviously had no intention of making Lizi stop. Seeing that Lizi's swing was a little smaller, he immediately stretched out his hand and pushed it again.

Li Zi, who was shaking again, basically invalidated Xue Rengui's prediction just now.

However, Xue Rengui not only did not frown, but became more confident.One arrow, shot, without even looking at it, he immediately bent his bow and shot the second arrow.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The two arrows before and after, in the end, both accurately hit the swinging pear.

But Xue Rengui didn't stop, and the third arrow came one after another, and half of the arrows hit Lizi who had stopped.

Seeing the gesture from Li Jian in the distance, even Li Shimin applauded.

The house is silent....

170 steps, swinging pears, all three arrows hit, which has surpassed the ability of ordinary people.At present, only the emperor, Feng An, and the crown prince are capable of doing such a thing in Datang.But Feng An was old, and the emperor began to decline.I'm afraid, only the crown prince can compete with this captain's archery skills!

This captain is indeed crazy enough, but there is no doubt that he has the capital to be crazy!

After a brief shock, everyone followed the emperor and applauded.Even the eldest Sun Chong, who was slapped in the face, was convinced.In the Datang Army, strength is the only reason.As long as you have strength and a little madness, everyone will take it for granted.

A military general who is not rampant enough, is that motherfucker called a military general?

The applause stopped, and Xue Rengui knelt on one knee with his back bowed.Only at this moment did a little blush appear on his face, and he seemed a little embarrassed.

Li Shimin did not hesitate to fulfill his promise. He walked up to Xue Rengui, helped him up and said, "I have so many athletes in the Tang Dynasty. I am very happy to see you again today. Xue Rengui, I named you Captain Zhaowu." , come to serve in my army! Come, bring my bow!"

Although Li Shimin said "I will reward you with my bow", it was not his huge black wooden bow.His bow has now become a collector's item, except for the occasional show off with Li Chengqian in the East Palace, even if it is Qiuhun, he dare not take it out and use it.

The master bowsmith of the previous dynasty had passed away, and his bow and Li Chengqian's bow had become swan songs.As a reward, he still doesn't have such a big hand.

Xue Rengui was rewarded with a bow wrapped with brocade and gold threads.This bow is also made by a famous craftsman, and because it is indeed the emperor's bow, it is more honorable to receive such a reward than the jade pendant.For a general, being able to obtain the saber, bow, armor, etc. rewarded by the emperor is the highest level of honor.Under this glory, even if he was promoted from the ninth-rank captain of the accompanying army to the sixth-rank captain of Zhaowu, he seemed eclipsed.

Holding the imperial bow, Xue Rengui walked up to Zhang Shigui and knelt down on one knee.

Zhang Shigui quickly helped him up, patted Xue Rengui on the shoulder and said, "You don't have to think too much. It is your honor to assign your position personally. In the Chinese army, you should also behave well and tell others that you are under Zhang Shigui's command." Come out soldiers!"

Zhang Shigui knew very well that Xue Rengui had met the dragon's gate today, and as long as there were no accidents in the future, he would probably be able to reach his position in a few years.

For such a promising young man, he can only win him over in advance.

Not only Zhang Shigui, Chang Sun Chong and others also came over, grabbed Xue Rengui's shoulders and started chattering.

They knew very well that a future warrior in the army was about to appear.If you don't win over at this time, when will you wait?

The eldest grandson Wuji saw that his son didn't have any grudges because of the slap in the face, but took the initiative to greet him, so he knew that his son's energy-raising skills were good enough.

The leader of a big family is like this. It is absolutely unwise to affect the development of the family because of personal gains and losses.Of course, he didn't know that Chang Sun Chong really had no resentment.

When a group of young people huddled together, Li Shimin took the lead to leave space for them.

After walking not far, Li Shimin said to Changsun Wuji: "The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead. Compared with Xue Rengui, I already feel old."

Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "Your Majesty, it's too early to say this now. After seven or eight years, if you say such a thing again, it will be almost the same. On the contrary, I tried to use the knife again yesterday, and the result was even It's not as good as a small soldier."

Li Shimin said with a smile: "If you can't play with a knife, then you can't play. I didn't ask you to come to the battlefield. Zhang Jian, Li Ji, your sons are here too. If that's the case, let's hand over the battlefield." For these young people, I will wait and see if the younger generation is just as brave!"

Hearing the emperor's words, everyone bowed their hands and promised.

Looking at Youzhou City, where troops from all directions are gradually gathering, Li Shimin is full of anticipation for the coming of the war.

The deployment of troops across the country cannot be completed in a short while, not to mention, in order to test the loyalty of the Hu people in Lanzhou and Hezhou, Li Shimin's transfer of troops from west to east is to test them.Just like what Li Shimin said to Buddhism and Taoism that day, if you want to get the protection of Datang, at least you have to make contributions to Datang.

The steamship developed by Li Tai was sent to the Dengzhou Shipyard a long time ago, and now the ships of the East China Sea Fleet have basically been replaced with steam engines.In the case of retaining the original sail, even if the steam engine loses the chain on the spot, there is nothing to worry about.The reason for changing to a steam engine is nothing more than speed.

When the troops were assembled, Zhang Liang and Li Xiaogong said goodbye and left.Because they have to fight across the sea, they have to adapt the soldiers who have never been on a boat before the official battle.When the prince and the emperor attacked the Goryeo water army, they reduced their combat power because they did not consider the reasons why the soldiers were not acclimatized.

It is not terrible to make mistakes, but the terrible thing is not knowing the summary.If the soldiers could adapt in advance, it would be hard for Zhang Liang and Li Xiaogong to imagine what Gao Jianwu would look like when a powerful army of more than 4 soldiers suddenly appeared on the western land of Goryeo.

What the border is doing, the imperial court can basically guess in terms of military supplies.After sending away a large number of medicines prepared by the medical school to deal with seasickness, Li Chengqian knew that the border war had entered the countdown.

Just after opening a memorial, there was a knock on the door, and Zhang Yun's voice sounded outside the door: "Your Highness, Prime Minister Du is asking to see you."

"q...let them in."

Hearing that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui had arrived, Li Chengqian was speechless.The cause of the incident was Du Ruhui, this guy was thick-skinned, and he used the excuse of having something to discuss with the crown prince. After he came to the East Palace for a lunch, there would be "strange" memorials every day, which needed to be discussed again.

And when Du Ruhui came for a few days, Fang Xuanling also followed.

Now, both of them have developed a habit, as long as it is noon, they will come to the East Palace to have a meal before going home.

The door opened, and Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling walked in with serious faces.

Fang Xuanling took out a memorial from his sleeve and said: "His Royal Highness, this memorial from Songzhou is quite strange, and Yu Chigong can be regarded as a veteran, how can you not know the severity of the emperor's order, how can you ask for it with your mouth?" one?"

Du Ruhui also took out a memorial and said: "Your Highness, this memorial of yours should be revised. Cheng Yaojin is famous for being able to take advantage of power, especially in the military supplies, there is also the word "green vegetables". Is the Ministry of War used as a shed?"

Seeing the serious looks of the two, Li Chengqian was speechless.

With a sigh, Li Chengqian didn't explain the relationship between Tubo and Huang Minglei, nor did he explain the shortage of vegetables in Fengzhou, and said directly: "There are still a large number of memorials that have not been processed here, you two will be fine." If you want to mix a meal, you have to work hard, right? Mr. Fang, the memorials here are all drafted by you, or sent over after screening, you should know the priority. You choose it, those that are not important, just send them directly Du Xiang, don't be idle, I will leave it to you to approve the medium and heavy memorials, and I will deal with some important ones alone. Finish it quickly, let's have hot pot today."

Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling felt awkward when their thoughts were broken, but they were thick-skinned at their position and age, and they helped Li Chengqian deal with it without explaining.

The imperial court's memorials, not all memorials, require the emperor to personally pass the purpose.

For example, there is no need to worry about prisons.Some local cases, even if you see it, so what?What you see is basically written by local officials.Even if it's an unjust case, you can't tell between the lines in the processed words.Instead of reviewing prisons here and pretending to be a generation of Mingjun, it is better to learn from the Song Dynasty and establish a punishment department to strengthen the review of criminal cases.

Delegate power to those who should be delegated, and the constitutional monarchy actually has a lot of merits.The emperor can't be wrong, so the royal family only needs to be the face of the country.

As far as the current Datang is concerned, talking about democracy directly will only make it fall apart immediately.In this case, it is better to go in the direction of constitutional monarchy first and switch.As for democracy, it is good to leave a seed. As long as the seed is well-growthed, it is basically predictable to germinate in the future.

With the help of Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, Li Chengqian quickly finished processing the memorial.Because Du Ruhui is the rotating official of Shangshu Province today, these memorials can be sent directly to various ministries for implementation.

After handling the government affairs, you can relax.

The hot pot in the East Palace will naturally not disappoint the two of them, especially the spicy pot with cornel, which Du Ruhui loves very much.

Getting used to cornel, Li Chengqian is not so obsessed with chili.The steam engine has not really succeeded. After it succeeds, it will be much easier to go to America by steamship.

There are so many good things in America, how can we not make people salivate over it?

Fang Xuanling didn't like to eat mutton before, but since he came into contact with the way of eating hot pot, he broke the precept instead.

After eating the mutton for a while, Fang Xuanling sighed and said: "Judging from the military supplies required by Dengzhou, Zhang Liang has already started preparing for the war. The second batch of equipment supplied by the imperial court to Liaodong has been delivered halfway. Your Highness, do you think someone wants to Isn't it a little oversensitive to rebel? You know, the second batch of equipment is all gunpowder weapons. If the old minister wants to rebel, these weapons must be taken down!"

Li Chengqian said with a smile: "Even if it is on the premise of risking the transportation team and choosing to die together, exposing your whereabouts?"

Hearing this sentence, Fang Xuanling shut up.If that was the case, he really wouldn't dare to make a move.

After taking a bite of green vegetables, Du Ruhui said: "In this matter, weigh the pros and cons. Even a veteran would not dare to take this risk. Old Fang, since we have started to prevent, we should not relax. Who is sure that the enemy will not be here?" When you and I are slack, take advantage of the void?"

Fang Xuanling put down his chopsticks and poured a glass of wine for Du Ruhui himself, which seemed to agree with Du Ruhui's statement.

Biting his chopsticks, Li Chengqian saw Zhang Yun coming with the secret report from Baiqisi and the secret guard, so he motioned him to show the secret report to them.

After receiving the secret report, Fang Xuanling's expression changed after only a few glances, and he handed the secret report to Du Ruhui.

Seeing that Fang Xuanling's complexion changed drastically, Du Ruhui had taken precautions, but after seeing the content of the secret report, he still swallowed, his complexion not much better than Fang Xuanling's.

Instructing Zhang Yun to take away the secret report and burn it, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "You two also came out of troubled times, so naturally you know what's in it, it's not that simple. Since the isolated coal mine in those days completely occupied the market in Chang'an, The Wang family's coal industry has shrunk back to the Taiyuan area. Even if it is still involved, it is through the channels of the remote tribesmen in Taiyuan, and they no longer come forward.

Now that the weather is getting colder, businessmen in the coal industry are starting to prepare.This year, the output of the coal mines affiliated to Donggong was basically sent to Liaodong.As a result, a large amount of market share has been vacated.However, even so, it is still not worth the risk of being slapped in the face by the Wang family to get involved again.

Judging from the shops rented by the puppets of the Wang family in Chang'an, the sale of coal alone can help them hide more than ten thousand people.Just imagine, if these 1 people took up arms..."

Without thinking too much, the faces of Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling became extremely ugly.

What a way to repair the plank road and cross Chencang secretly!With coal sales as a cover, the Wang family can really blatantly bring people to Chang'an.Especially this year, the coal market has lost the crown prince, and there is a faint trend of rising prices. In order to balance coal prices, the Ministry of Household Affairs will inevitably open up the threshold of the coal industry for all parties.

At this juncture, it is really inconvenient for the prince, or the court, to directly reject such a large amount of coal.