Hanhou

Wei Yue and Li Danghu competed in riding and archery, and their arrows hit the target even if it was a target [-] paces away.Qing Zhuang waved his pole in the distance, and the shooting range was full of cheers and applause.

When the quiver shot empty, the two turned their horses' heads, knowing that it was a draw again, they looked at each other and laughed loudly at the same time.

Qing Zhuang carried back the target, and everyone immediately surrounded him, pulled out the arrow that penetrated the bull's-eye, and gestured for the length of penetration with their hands, all of them were amazed.

"I can penetrate a target from four hundred paces away..."

The young and strong people gathered around the archery target, amazed and eager to win. They each fetched their bows and arrows, set up the archery target again, and took turns to shoot.

Everyone's shooting skills are not weak, most of them can hit the target at a distance of 350 steps, and some can even hit the bull's-eye.However, once they exceed [-] steps, three or four of the five arrows will miss the target, and two or three people will miss even one arrow. Looking at the bare target, they all have red faces.

Zhao Jia took the ox horn bow from the horse's back, walked up to several people, and said with a smile, "I'll try it too."

Wei Yue was talking to Li Danghu, when he heard the commotion, and seeing the crowd gathered together again, he couldn't help feeling curious, and looked over together.

Wei Qing'e walked quickly to Zhao Jia's side, holding the strong bow left by Wei Chen in his hand.

"Brother, how about a competition with me?"

Zhao Jia drew the bowstring, first aimed at the target fifty paces away, and said with a smile: "If my sister wins, next year the spring plowing and autumn harvest will be done, and all the servants will come out from the Zhao family."

Wei Qingmo raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "If I'm invincible, brother won't you help me?"

"Of course not."

"In this way, the lottery will be changed." Wei Qingmo approached Zhao Jia and whispered, "If I win, brother, how about taking me with you next time you go out?"

"Sister is going out?" Zhao Jia frowned.

"I will bring a good number of healthy servants, and I will not force myself when I encounter trouble, and I will return as soon as possible." Wei Qing said.

"Sister, traveling out of the fortress is no small matter. The situation in the grassland is unpredictable, and there are dangers everywhere." Zhao Jia put down his bow and arrow, and said seriously.

"I know." Wei Qingmo nodded, "However, if I want to revive my family and create a family business for my son, it is absolutely impossible to rely on farming alone."

"Sister, you have no children yet." Zhao Jia wanted to sigh.

"There will always be." Wei Qing'er said with a smile.

Zhao Jia wanted to continue persuading, but met the girl's firm eyes, but he couldn't say anything.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, women could also be in charge of the family.Like Wei Qing'e, who decided to recruit a son to continue the Wei surname, he is the head of the family in the real sense, and is recognized by the official temple and the people.Therefore, if Wei's mother and the Wei clan wanted to occupy Shalingwei's property, they would have to let the girl "leave home", otherwise they would never get their hands on it.

Knowing that the girl had made up her mind, Zhao Jia couldn't think of a better reason to persuade her.Furthermore, there was no shortage of female merchants in the Han Dynasty. Although there were very few who traveled to the border counties, no one can say for sure, and girls must not be able to do it.

"Sister, let me think about this."

"Okay." Knowing that the situation in the grassland is complicated and things cannot be decided hastily, Zhao Jia's hesitation is for his own sake, Wei Qing'e didn't force it.It's just that it's still necessary to compare arrows, just like Li Danghu and Wei Yue, the two siblings competed a lot when they were young, and Wei Qing'e was even slightly better at riding and shooting.

Wei Yue stood by the fence, watching Zhao Jia shoot an arrow.

From fifty steps to three hundred steps, more than [-]% hit the bull's-eye.A few arrows deviated, but they were firmly nailed to the target.

At 350 steps, the arrows began to miss the target.

The first arrow missed, the second arrow did the same, the third arrow grazed the edge of the target, the fourth arrow missed the target again, and the fifth arrow pierced the bull's-eye, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Wei Qing and San Tou climbed onto the railing and applauded Zhao Jia loudly.

"Lang Jun is brave!"

Zhao Jia put down the oxhorn bow, flicked his wrist, watched Qing Zhuang swinging the pole, and was quite satisfied with his results.As for the target four hundred paces away, he knew he couldn't touch it, so he just gave up.

Wei Qing'e was one step behind Zhao Jia, but his grades were better than his.Before 350 steps, [-]% of them hit the target. At [-] steps, one arrow misses the target, and the second arrow hits the target.

"Hoduo, I won." The girl turned around and handed the bow and arrow to Wei Xia with a bright smile.

Zhao Jia grinned while rubbing his wrist, and said deliberately: "Sister Yongli, Jia Furu!"

Wei Qing's smile became brighter, and he said to Zhao Jia: "Women are not weak when riding a horse and archery! Wei Xia, Wei Qiu, get on your horse!"

"promise!"

The two girls jumped onto the horses one after another, their movements were crisp and neat, without delay.

One of Wei Qiu's arms was broken, and he couldn't open his strong bow. He opened the leather pouch on the horse's back, and inside it was a throwing spear that was cut into an arm-length, nearly three-finger-thick, with three-pointed blades on the tail.

Neither the Han army nor the Huns used throwing spears. This weapon was popular in West Asia, India and Europe, and was once the standard equipment of Roman infantry.The throwing spears used in the Roman army were up to two meters long and weighed four to five kilograms. The spear heads were made of iron. Used with epee, they could produce huge damage in legionary battles.

With the emergence of stirrups and saddles, cavalry tactics continued to improve. With bows and arrows and strong crossbows, the Han army could shovel the enemy away by charging on horseback, and throwing spears was useless.Until the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, such weapons had never appeared in the Chinese army.It was not until the Song Dynasty that similar weapons appeared in the army, called edge guns.

The reason why Wei Qing'er knew how to throw a spear and ordered craftsmen to make it was all because of Zhao Jia.

Before Wei Xia and Wei Qiu learned riding and archery with Sun Yu, Zhao Jia saw that Wei Qiu couldn't draw a strong bow, and the folks couldn't use crossbows, so he casually mentioned a few words.Wei Qing'e kept it firmly in her heart, and when she returned to Wei's village, she asked her loyal servant to find a craftsman, refer to Zhao Jia's description, cooperate with Wei Qiu's strength, and after several modifications, made a throwing spear suitable for girls.

The finished product is very different from the equipment used in the West Asian and Roman armies, and is very similar to the short throwing gun used in the Yuan Dynasty. The tail is made into a three-pointed blade to play a stabilizing role.In terms of length and weight, it can be used on horseback.

Wei Xia and Wei Qiu galloped past, the speed changed from slow to fast.

The two let go of the reins at the same time. Wei Xia drew his strong bow and aimed at a target 150 paces away; Wei Qiu held a javelin and hurled it towards a target fifty paces away at the speed of his mount.

"it is good!"

The young girl was heroic, and the young and strong soldiers applauded loudly, clapping their hands loudly, and their enthusiasm was no less than watching Wei Yue and Li Danghu's martial arts competition.

Zhao Jia curled his lips, his eyes swept over a group of men stimulated by hormones, and then landed on Wei Qingmo whose red lips were curled up and his smile didn't reach his eyes. He took a step back carefully and turned his head wisely, indicating that he didn't see anything. .

Through Wei Qiu's demonstration, Zhao Jia discovered that the improved short-throwing gun is sharp, but it has a big weakness. It can only be used at close range, and its power will weaken after fifty paces.

Of course, this may also have something to do with Wei Qiu's strength.

But in any case, with the combat methods that the Han army is used to, this kind of weapon is indeed not very useful. No wonder it did not appear in the Han Dynasty or even in the following hundreds of years.

Wei Qiu got off his horse, and Mrs. Sun and other women surrounded him one after another, wanting to try his hand.

"Your Majesty, this kind of weapon can be prepared in the livestock farm." Uncle Xiong said to Zhao Jia.

"Prepare at the livestock farm?" Zhao Jia turned his head with a puzzled expression.

"This kind of spear is easy to make, and it uses little or no iron. It is only made of wood, and it can be used by young and strong women." Xiong Bo continued.

Located in a border county, surrounded by evil neighbors, the more weapons that can defend oneself, the better.

Almost as soon as the spear was unveiled, Uncle Xiong realized the function of this weapon.Although the accuracy is not as good as bows and arrows, the killing distance is limited, and the production method is simple, and it is easy to use, and it can be used with almost a lot of strength.

It takes a long time to make a horn bow, and special forging is required to make a spear, and it is much simpler to make a throwing spear.Iron is rare, so use less or even no, or change it into stone or animal bone to make a pointed point, which can also be used in battle.

The most important thing is that the cost of this thing is low!

The army can't use it, but the civilians can equip it. When they meet the Huns, they will throw them away. If they don't have enough numbers to make up, a large number of wooden guns will fly out. They can disrupt the charge formation even if they don't die.

Schumpeter was not the only one who realized the power of throwing guns.

Wei Yue and Li Danghu have been in the army all year round, so they can tell the advantages and disadvantages of this weapon at a glance.As far as the army is concerned, it is indeed a bit tasteless, and the cavalry is even more useless.However, the rationing of the servants and the young and strong of the border county can somewhat make up for the loss of weapons, and it can also have a certain effect on the harassment of the Huns' rangers.

Li Danghu even thought of the chariot from this, and discussed it with Wei Yue enthusiastically.

The pre-Qin version of the chariot lacked defense, so put wooden boards around it; if the throwing was flawed, try to make it into a shot;

As Zhao Jia thought before, some things are not impossible, but a layer of tulle is hidden in front of them, and people in the world can't think of them.As long as the yarn is lifted, imagination and creativity will expand infinitely, and God knows what tricks the Western Han warriors who took it as their mission to level the grassland will come up with.

"This time I came to Yunzhong, I really benefited a lot." After discussing the chariot, Li Danghu leaned on the wooden stake, poured two caramels from the silk bag, fed one to his mount, and threw the other into his mouth inside.

"Oh?" Wei Yue turned her head and stopped the black horse with her arms, keeping a certain distance between it and Li Danghu's mount.

"Don't pretend to be confused." Li Danghu snorted, and bumped Wei Yue with his elbow, "If it wasn't for his young age, the prefect Wei's recommendation memorial would have been sent to Chang'an long ago, right?"

Wei Yue smiled, did not answer Li Danghu's question directly, and said in his mouth; "The emperor rewarded [-] yuan for the method of taming cattle."

Li Danghu paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Ah Yue, when he enters the dynasty, Mr. Zhao Lang will surely rise to the top. It is impossible to say that Yinshou will be higher than you and me."

Family background is important, but it cannot represent everything.

If Zhao Jia hadn't been too young to be a Langguan, with the merits of his method of taming cattle and new farm tools, he would definitely not be able to escape.If you get more military exploits, the speed of promotion will definitely not be slow.Even if it is not like what Li Danghu said, it will not be much worse.

After the commotion, the young and old dispersed one after another, leaving only a few people to clean up the target bows and arrows, send the usable ones to the warehouse, and send the unusable ones to the kitchen for fire.

The teenagers and children followed Qing Zhuang, carrying rattan baskets, pulling a trailer, and picking up the broken arrows on the ground.

The women went back to the stove and hurriedly cooked their meals.

Because of the arrival of Wei Yue and Li Danghu, there were more than 30 more mouths, and they were all big-bellied military men. The women made a plan, and it was too late to make steamed buns and steamed cakes, so they simply steamed more millet and rice, and cooked more soup cakes.

Aunt Sun asked people to open the warehouse and took out half a basket of eggs, plus the previously marinated rabbit and lamb.Eggs are boiled into soup cakes, rabbit meat and mutton are baked on the fire, brushed with honey and sauce, and it will be fragrant in a short time.

"Ah Qing, Mrs. Sun asked you and Ah Zhi to fetch dried vegetables." Wei Juan was wearing a coarse cloth skirt, her jet-black hair was braided behind her head, and her sleeves were tied tightly around her wrists for the convenience of work.

"Understood." Wei Qing agreed far away, handed the trailer to Ah Mai, carried the rattan basket on his back, and went to the warehouse with Ah Zhi.

Zhao Xin and Gongsun Ao walked by, the latter stopped suddenly, handed a cloth bag to Wei Juan, waited for the other party to take it, did not speak, and strode away with a blushing face.Wei Juan opened the cloth bag and found a carved wooden hairpin inside. He was taken aback for a moment, and then looked at the boy's back, his cheeks blushed.

"Sister Juan?" Wei Qing came over with dried vegetables on his back, and was surprised to see Wei Juan standing in a daze and looking at Ah Zhi.

Wei Juan was awakened suddenly, hurriedly put away the wooden hairpin, took the rattan basket, turned and left quickly.

Wei Qing and Ah Zhi became more and more curious, and told the matter to Zhao Puonu. The latter smiled strangely, and did not give them any explanation. He quietly walked behind Gongsun Ao, suddenly put his arms around Gongsun Ao's neck, and laughed loudly. Said: "Ao wants a wife!"

Gongsun Ao blushed and elbowed Zhao Ponu, who easily dodged it.Xin Zhao took the opportunity to tell the reason why Gongsun Ao had wounds all over his hands, and the teenagers burst into laughter.

Wei Qing was ignorant, vaguely understood, and seemed not to understand.The three heads looked at me and I looked at you, all with confused faces.

After eating, Zhao Jia sorted out the materials he wrote down, put them in a wooden box, and sent them to Wei Yue.Among them are filled maps, terrain features along the way, and nomadic areas of the other tribes of the Xiongnu.

Wei Yue opened it and read it, and asked Zhao Jia, "Are they all recorded by Ah Duo during his trip?"

Zhao Jia nodded.

Handing the wooden box to Wei Wu, Wei Yue put one hand on Zhao Jia's shoulder, and said gently: "I will hand over the things to Ah Weng. If A Duo Ming has free time in the future, he might as well come to the city. There are caravans from the Southland entering the city. A lot of millet was brought in."

Hearing that there was a caravan transporting grain, Zhao Jiadeng's spirits lifted.

"Thank you, Third Young Master!"

"Aduo is always polite to me." Wei Yue's smile became helpless.

Feeling inexplicably apologetic, Zhao Jia opened his mouth to speak, but Wei Yue suddenly gave him a brain jump.

Holding his forehead, Zhao Jia was stunned.

"Aduo is still the same as when he was a child." Wei Yue leaned over with a smile, her brows and eyes were curved, and she looked helpless.

"I just said, growing up with you, I must have been bullied a lot!" Li Danghu suddenly jumped out, grabbed a leg of lamb in his hand, waved it twice vigorously, and said to Zhao Jia, "A Duo, Ah Yue has changed his temper!" No, it’s better if you move to Shangjun, where you have pastures..."

Before Li Danghu could finish speaking, Wei Yue suddenly grabbed his shoulder and dragged him for a few steps.

"Danghu and Ah Duo met for the first time, so they should be called kings."

During the whole process, the smile on Wei Sangongzi's face did not change at all, it was always gentle and gentle, as gentle as a breeze.But judging from Li Danghu's expression, the hand on his shoulder was really strong, and it was impossible to break free easily.

Not long after, Li Danghu threw away the leg of lamb and started fisting and kicking with Wei Yue, which aroused a burst of applause.

Zhao Jia stood there, speechless for a while, and decided to act as if he hadn't seen anything, so what to do.

Even if they didn't meet each other for a long time, he could conclude that Wei Yue and Li Danghu had a very close friendship and nothing major would happen.Besides, these two are fierce men who can nail through an archery target at a distance of [-] paces. With his slender arms and legs, it is better to stand back from a safe distance and just watch.

Gangneung Fortress

Yunmei was sent to Linjiang Prince's Mansion, four days passed, not to mention Liu Rong, not even a Meiji in the mansion.As a newcomer, she didn't have any familiar faces, so the girl didn't dare to ask anyone casually, so she could only lock herself in the house, and easily see no one before the situation was clear.

On the fifth day, a servant woman finally came and said that the king of Linjiang had summoned her.

Yunmei's heart trembled slightly, she immediately cheered up, followed the servant girl to leave the residence, and came to the main hall where King Linjiang was.

The gate of the palace opened, and an eunuch led Yunmei in.

The girl held her breath, lowered her gaze, carefully stepped forward, and bowed in salute according to what she learned in the palace.

"Get up." Liu Rong's voice was a little low, but he didn't put pressure on anyone.

Yunmei stood up and sat down, never raising her gaze.

"I heard from the audience that Yunji was born in Yunzhong County?"

"Back to the king, it is true."

"Want to go home?"

Hearing this at first, Yunmei couldn't restrain her astonishment, she raised her head suddenly, and met Liu Rong's angry eyes.