[Comprehensive] The days when I pretended to be a meow in the Forbidden City

Xia Anran learned from Cao Chun that Cao Cao had another advisor.

Cao Jun has been recuperating these days, and it has been nearly a month since the recuperation. The wounded soldiers are almost healed, and they go up to the mountains to train every day. Cao Chun, as the leader, naturally has no time to relax. He came to find Xia Anran with Ai Ma.

On the way, he killed a few wild animals. Xia Anran was not there when he arrived, and he was idle. Seeing that the weather was fine today, he fetched a few barrels of water from Xia Anran's well to bathe his horse.

Horses are in a state of exercise for a long time and will secrete a lot of oil. At the same time, they like to roll on the ground. Although Cao Chun's horse is already a relatively clean horse, unlike Cao Ren's favorite horse, his favorite is rolling in the sand, but some time ago The weather is cold and cold, so it is not easy for him to wash it.

In the army, horses are the most loyal companions of soldiers. The horses of Cao Chun and Cao Ren were brought up by them since they were young. They were not fed, groomed or groomed by others.

He asked the servant of the Xia family for some bath beans, and Ai Ma stood there docilely, fearing that it would be inconvenient to go back with wet clothes, Cao Chun simply took off his coat and hung it on the courgette stand beside him, the well water is warm in winter and cool in summer, and now It feels a little warm to the touch, and my own horses usually go to play in the water, so naturally there is no need to bother to boil the water.

He lifted the bucket and poured it on the horse.

When Xia Anran returned to the village, he was carrying a basket in his hand. It was Mrs. Lu who asked him to bring it back.

The chickens kept making uneasy chirping sounds in the basket, Xia Anran covered them inside according to Mrs. Lu's instructions to prevent them from seeing the scenery along the way, lest the chickens find their way back, and when he saw the chickens were disturbed, he softly comforted them Climb up the stairs.

As soon as he stepped on the last step, he saw Cao Chunzheng, who was naked from the upper body, was wiping his horse with a piece of coarse cloth. His skin was white, and it was noon, so he was particularly glaring.

Apparently the horse disliked him for being too slow, and was too lazy to wait. He simply swung his head with one leg, and his mane flicked immediately, and the water droplets densely fell on a small wheat field nearby. Fortunately, Cao Chun escaped. Hurry up, or the pants will suffer too.

He stood far away, shook his head helplessly, the horse looked innocent, blinked its big eyes, snorted and walked over to rub him.

Then he looked straight at Xia Anran, and Cao Chun also looked over.

"Jingxi?"

"Zihe." Xia Anran walked in slowly, raised the bacon in his hand and said, "You are lucky, let's eat bacon today."

Cao Chun naturally did not miss Xia Anran's uncomfortable attitude, he blinked slightly, reached out to pick up the clothes and wanted to put them on, Xia Anran happened to turn around to greet him, seeing him like this, frowned hurriedly, "Zihe, come in quickly, put on your clothes." It’s still wet, so put on your clothes without wiping it off to be careful not to catch the cold.”

Hearing this, Cao Chun smiled. Although he was confident in himself, he followed Xia Anran's words and walked into the hall, and pushed out the beloved horse who wanted to follow him.

Cao Chun took the white cloth from Xia Anran, tidied it up and sat down in a graceful manner.

The two interacted frequently, and he often helped Xia Anran do some physical work when he was eating, and now the two of them naturally no longer looked a little unfamiliar in the beginning.

Even Xia Anran's two rabbits who had a blood feud with him no longer bared their teeth at him, threw poop, or secretly dug holes when they saw Cao Chun.

After Cao Chun finished grooming and the two sat down together, Cao Chun told Xia Anran the news.After he said the gentleman's name, Xia Anran's eyes widened with joy.

Seeing this, Cao Chun was rather puzzled.

Guo Jia's reputation among the gentry was not obvious, rather, he was notorious for doing what he wanted.

When Xun Yu recommended Guo Jia to Cao Cao, he was practicing in the field, but Cao Cao had a rare promotion that night and introduced this talented man to many generals. A shallow conversation during the banquet was not enough for Cao Chun to define him, but these few days The day he saw Cao Cao and Xun Yu were all in a good mood, so he guessed that Guo Fengxiao was really a great talent.

It's just that Xia Anran's attitude... is rather interesting.

Seeing that Xia Anran was happy alone, he didn't say anything, he just brought up the matter after returning.

So when Xia Anran was thinking about how to meet this Guo Fengxiao, Xun Yu brought him to the door.

It was a bit cool that day, and it was still raining in spring, Xia Anran was a little surprised when he heard that there was a visitor at his desk chopping wood.

He hurriedly got up to greet him, and saw Xun Yu walking slowly in the drizzle, clad in green clothes and holding a bamboo umbrella, but behind him was a person who was slightly shorter than him.

Xia Anran was taken aback, and hurried out of the house to greet her in the rain.

After exchanging pleasantries, the three entered the room and sat down. After serving tea for the two of them, Xia Anran looked at this and that, and then contacted what Cao Chun had said to him earlier, his eyes almost flashed with caution.

He looked at Xun Yu with burning eyes, waiting for him to introduce himself, but Xun Yu ignored his expectant eyes, just took a sip of tea, sighed, and then smiled to the person beside him, "Feng Xiao, try this For tea, Jingxi's tea is a must."

Bong Xiao!It really is Fengxiao!

Xia Anran's scorching eyes looked at the young man beside him again,

The young man who was stared at by this gaze was not wearing a crown, and his long hair was loose and loose. He was wearing blue-gray clothes, but his collar was not neatly folded like Xun Yu, but was slightly opened. Seeing him, that man She hooked the corners of her lips at him, her brows and eyes were coquettish, and there was a little laziness, very chic and coquettish.

Then he raised his teacup and sniffed lightly, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said in surprise, "This is your barley tea?"

Xia Anran nodded sharply, but Xun Yu answered, "Feng Xiao has a very sensitive nose, it's barley tea. It's what Jingxi got from the barley, roasted, ground, and then boiled in water."

Guo Jia nodded when he heard the words, took a sip, chuckled, "It's interesting." At the end, he praised Xia Anran, "Mr. Xia Lang is so thoughtful..."

"Just call me Jingxi." Xia Anran finally seized the opportunity to interject. He glanced at Xun Yu sadly with his small eyes, obviously he didn't know when he offended the mastermind.

This is deliberately bullying him.

But even if he knew this in his heart, Xia Anran only dared to moan a few times in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it out of his mouth.

Seeing him like this, Xun Yu smiled and said to Guo Jia, "This is Xia Anran, named Jingxi, my lord's little friend."

This surprised Guo Jia a little, his eyes flickered, and then he looked at Xia Anran more cautiously.

At this time, the identity of the person offering advice is different. If it is a counselor under the account, sharing the honor and disgrace, offering advice is what it should be, and it is its duty.

And if it wasn't for the affiliation, it would be a timely help, especially since Guo Jia had heard a little about Xia Anran from Xun Yu before, knowing that he was generous in publicizing water conservancy and winter wheat, both of which were equally important. For great success.

I thought he was waiting for Duke Cao to recruit him, but I didn't expect...

Just as he was thinking about it, he saw the child's face was flushed, and he said hesitantly, "I, I also want to join Mr. Cao's tent... but I haven't found the opportunity yet."

Hearing that the two counselors were taken aback for a moment, they heard a pop of laughter, and Xun Yu smiled and raised his forehead, "Jingxi, oh Jingxi."

He had a helpless face, "I thought you hadn't settled down yet..."

Xia Anran rubbed her hands a little awkwardly, "No, I just want to wait until the time is right..."

The two laughed secretly when they heard the words, they both thought that he was waiting for the winter wheat to mature, but they didn't know that Xia Anran was secretly preparing to make a big one for the nomination certificate.

Seeing this, neither of them stopped persuading, Xun Yu even nodded to express his approval of Xia Anran's idea, and secretly thought that after returning to the camp, he should hint this matter to the lord, and prepare in advance for Anxia's heart.

Since Xia Anran had the heart to return to Cao, Xun Yu put down the teacup, looked a little dignified, and talked about the business.

"Does Jingxi know that our army is at a stalemate?"

Xia Anran nodded. He heard what Cao Chun said a few days ago, and he also knew that Cao Jun was in a dilemma. Now that Xun Yu mentioned this, he knew that he had come to a conclusion.

Sure enough, Xun Yu said, "To solve the current situation, we have three strategies."

"The lowest and most stable, that is, go north to vote Yuan."

"The middle policy is to stand still and find another food and grass."

"The best policy..."

Xia Anran answered silently, "The best strategy is to take Cheng Gao?"

"No." Guo Jia waved his feather fan lightly, "The best strategy is to take Chenggao, Xingyang, and Zhongmou."

He looked directly at Xia Anran's pupils that shrank suddenly due to surprise, and saw himself in it with a calm face, "Cao Jun has an army of [-], and with the strength of a county, he can't support him."

"If it is strong enough, I'm afraid it will hurt the people's roots."

"The three counties of Chenggao, Xingyang, and Zhongmou are lands with high yields. If the three counties are gathered together, the people will not be harmed."

It's just that these three counties belong to Zhili and are directly under the management of Henan Yin, so they can't justify themselves or be granted a title, so...

"Yu heard that Jingxi and Chenggaopang county magistrate are old, I wonder if you can recommend one or two."

Xia Anran: ...

Xia Anran: Teacher!Teacher, did you see it?This is the person!This person doesn't even blink his eyes when he calculates and takes advantage of others!She also smiles very nicely!

Xia Anran replied without hesitation: "Okay."

The three of them walked on the road with umbrellas against the pattering spring rain. Xun Yu and Guo Jia were all good talkers, and Guo Jia was also very interested in Xia Anran, so the three of them walked while talking, which was not boring.

"Jia just saw that Jingxi seemed to be chopping wood when we entered... I heard that Jingxi was good at creating, and the lord specially asked us to bring umbrellas before we went out. Get wet." Guo Jia and Xia Anran walked side by side behind Xun Yu, he had a distasteful personality and was about the same age as Xia Anran, but after a while the two got into a ball and talked less. scruples.

Xia Anran concentrated on looking at the road under her feet. There were moss growing on the stone steps, and it was slippery after being exposed to the rain. She needed to be careful. Listening to his question, he distractedly replied, "Well... I'm making a crossbow."

As soon as the words fell, he saw a shadow flash in front of him, and the person next to him slumped and sat on the ground.

Both Xun Yu and Xia Anran looked over in shock, and saw Guo Jia sitting and looking up at them with a blank expression on his face, but his flirtatious peach blossom eyes were drooping slightly at this moment, a little wet.

Xia Anran looked at the uneven stone steps, then at Guo Jia who was wearing thin clothes, gasped, oh, how painful it is!It feels like sitting down, the tail will be broken!

He and Xun Yu rushed forward to support them, but Guo Jia pushed them away without saying a word. He said calmly, "Jia suddenly heard that Jingxi could make a crossbow. He was so excited that he lost his composure. You two laughed at me." .”

"puff."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone laughing from above. Guo Jia suddenly raised his head and glanced away sharply, but saw that both of them had just the right amount of worry on their faces, and their eyes were extremely sincere, as if what he had just heard was an illusion. .

He glanced around the faces of the two of them, fixed his gaze on Xun Yu's face, and slowly narrowed his eyes.

"Cough," Xia Anran immediately interrupted, he invited Guo Jia to go back to Zhuangzi for a rest, and begged him to take the time to show himself whether the bow and crossbow he made needed to be improved.

Seeing his sincerity, Guo Jia modestly stated that he only knew a little bit, and could only serve as a reference. The two shirked for a while, and then he slowly stood up under Xia Anran's respectful support, so the three turned around and went up the mountain again. go.

When Guo Jia sat down, he was completely soaked from top to bottom. Xia Anran called someone to prepare hot water for him, and he simply took a bath. He and Xun Yu waited for him outside. After half an hour, the people outside were bored waiting for him, so Xia Anran simply took out the small crossbow he made first.

When he saw the bow and the wooden warehouse above the crossbow, Xun Yu's expression turned serious when he saw that he was smiling but not a smile. He took Xia Anran's small crossbow in his hand, frowned slightly, and immediately opened the wooden warehouse. , and then he took a small breath.

There were several rough-cut bamboo sticks inside, and there were four or five sticks by visual inspection.

"This is just a trial." Xia Anran blushed a little at his rough handwork. Of course, what he made was not a continuous crossbow, but a very basic storage arrow crossbow, that is, a continuous firing crossbow.

This is not at the same level of difficulty as the rumored Zhuge Liannu that can shoot several arrows at the same time.

The theory is very simple, just like the clip, put the arrow in a wooden box first, pull it with the bowstring, the arrow will fall into the buckle due to gravity, and then the bowstring returns to its original position after shooting, and then pull it up The arrows fall, so back and forth.

To put it simply, it is to pull once to shoot, and then to shoot again.

Compared with ordinary crossbows, the advantage of arrows may be that the arrows are stored in wooden boxes instead of filling them by themselves. Xia Anran feels that this is nothing new.

And the biggest problem is that this kind of crossbow, because the arrow is small in size, there is no way to insert feathers, so it is very easy to be affected by the wind after shooting.

Strictly speaking, this is a defensive weapon that is long-range but can only be used as a melee weapon. In later generations, this weapon is generally classified as civilian and used to prevent bandits.

The deterrent effect played is far greater than its actual attack effect.

Although both bows and crossbows are long-range weapons, their status on the battlefield is completely different.

After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the manufacturing process of the Qin crossbow was lost. The Qin crossbow gradually disappeared from the battlefield because of its cumbersome, time-consuming, and difficult to carry shortcomings. It was still used in the Western Han Dynasty, but it had become a complete defense tool in the Eastern Han Dynasty. .

It was replaced by the Han crossbow, which was a sharp weapon capable of repelling the Hun cavalry in the Western Han Dynasty. Like the Qin crossbow, it needs to be stepped on and pulled up with all the strength to wind up, but the size has been slightly reduced, and the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted three columns in turn. Stand in line for shooting to achieve full coverage of archers.

The biggest advantage of crossbows and arrows over bows and arrows is that they are faster and more accurate.

Bows and crossbows have always been sharp weapons for restraining cavalry until they were replaced in the age of firearms.

What Xia Anran made was a repeating crossbow. He took a wooden box with several arrows in it. He slid the wooden box down, turned the bow and crossbow under Xun Yu's wide-eyed eyes, and then slid the wooden box into it. Groove, then turn back.

Xun Yu could hear the sound of crackling and falling, and the child said helplessly, "Adding arrows can only do so much. You need to reverse the crossbow. The crossbow buckle groove is reversed, so that the crossbow does not need to be turned over when loading the crossbow to reduce the delay, but so far it has not been successful."

To put it simply, Xia Anran made a pistol that needs to be changed, but his barrel is relatively stupid, and he has to turn it around when changing the gun. He wanted to make an automatic pistol but couldn't do it.

"And there is one more problem." Xun Yu managed to keep smiling and pretended to listen attentively, and Xia Anran said in distress, "Sometimes the arrows get stuck in the box, probably because I have different sizes when rubbing the arrows." Uniform reason."

Xun Yu's smile gradually disappeared.

Xun Yu silently looked at the helpless Xia Anran, and said with some difficulty, "That is to say...Jingxi's bow...is basically finished?"

Xia Anran: "No... Is it because Anran didn't explain clearly? Adding arrows needs to be flipped, and the arrows will snap..."

"What about other than that?"

"Well... nothing else is a problem."

Xun Yu took a deep breath, trying to maintain a gentlemanly manner, "Can I show you how to use this crossbow?"

Xia Anran blinked, leaned close to him and raised his hand, fixed it, then pulled up the lever with one hand, then pulled it down again, moved her fingertips again, and Xun Yu's index finger touched a bracket.

After a light click, a wooden stick was nailed to the wooden post.

Xun Yu glanced at Xia Anran. After the wooden stick was shot, he could hear a slight sound of falling inside the wooden box. He pulled the lever by himself. It was very light, and he could easily pull it with his strength. The kit is also very light, with his strength...

With a bang, the second wooden stick hit the post.

Xun Yu kept moving, fine-tuning the gestures, and then the third, fourth, and fifth made the sound of emptying. Xia Anran shook his hand and knocked on the wooden box. He heard the sound of bamboo. With the sound of the sign falling, he glanced at the child with [Look, the quality is not good] written all over his face, and he continued to pull the trigger, the fifth and sixth.

"Six bamboo sticks can be placed in a wooden box, but is it the limit?"

Xia Anran blinked, "It shouldn't be..."

"should?"

"Addition will be very heavy."

Xun Yu was silent for a while, and tilted his head slightly to look at Guo Jia who was walking out slowly, "What do you think Feng Xiao thinks?"

Guo Jia, with loose black hair and wearing loose clothes, walked slowly to the side of the pillar where the bamboo stick was inserted. He pinched the bamboo stick with his fingers and pulled it out. He looked at the position of Xun Yu and himself, and said, "Separate Eight steps, one inch into the wood."

The two looked at Xia Anran together, "Is this data the limit?"

"No way..." Xia Anran was a little shy to be stared at by two beautiful men, he coughed lightly "Make metal arrows, which can increase the damage; if you want to increase the accuracy, you can drill a small hole three inches from the end." hole, and chisel a wind channel in the arrow shaft to reach the end, after shooting in this way, a vortex can be formed, and the weight can be reduced, so the speed and accuracy can be improved.”

Seeing the burning eyes of the two, Xia Anran said shyly, "Yes, but I haven't been able to do it yet."

He only knows this knowledge theoretically. It is said that it was invented by a monk in the Tang Dynasty. This story was mentioned when watching aviation programs. The air rectification used in modern missiles is this principle.

Xun Yu and Guo Jia ignored each other, and Xun Yu showed a friendly smile, "Jing Xi."

"Just now you said... you couldn't find the right time to enter the lord's tent, Yu thought it would be a good opportunity to use the crossbow as an opportunity."

"Jia's reconsideration."

"Huh? But you guys agreed just now..."

"Jingxi, look." Xun Yu persuaded earnestly, "My lord already has two counselors under his account. You are still young. If you enter the account later, you will have a younger generation and younger age. I'm afraid it will be difficult to talk about it."

Guo Jia immediately continued, "That's the reason. Although Jia is older than you, if Jing Xi enters the account before me, Jia will definitely call you Duke Xia."

This, is this so?

Xia Anran stared wide-eyed, a little moved, but he looked at the crossbow in Xun Yu's hand and hesitated, but it was only a semi-finished product after all...

No, wait!

He suddenly thought of a person. In history, Chen Gong also entered Cao Cao's account, and Cao Cao was about to get in touch with Chen Gong. If there is no accident, Cao Cao's reputation and power now are better than when Chen Gong surrendered in history. It is much bigger. If there is no accident, Chen Gong is likely to surrender to Cao Cao.

He thought about it carefully, age is a disadvantage, this cannot be changed, Xun Yu is right, the seniority cannot be lowered any further.

So he immediately held the hand of Xun Yu's Guo Jia, and now he couldn't care less about the excitement of holding hands with the idols. He was so full of heart that he wanted to vote for Cao immediately. He asked the two experienced people very seriously, what should they do? Tell Cao Cao that I want to join you?

Are you shy to say it directly?How did you guys do it?

Xun Yu - passed by Xia Anran safely.

Guo Jia—— was passed by Xun Yu Anli.

Both of them looked at Xia Anran with sincere smiles.

"Jingxi, please listen to me."

==

The two military advisers were not there, so Cao Cao didn't discuss anything. He and his two younger brothers were watching the martial arts competition in the field. The master was watching. The soldiers fought more and more fiercely. Having been on the battlefield, his skills are naturally not bad, just when he thought about taking off his armor and leaving the battlefield, he suddenly saw the soldiers who followed Xun Yu's country come in a hurry.

Cao Cao raised his eyebrows, seeing that the group of people didn't look panic-stricken, he decided in his heart, got up and wanted to meet his two beloved military advisers back, but saw Xia Anran following behind them, he lightly sighed One sound.

Ge Yinxia Anran changed his previous attire when he was not wearing a crown. He wore a straight train and a small crown on his head. The young man held a wooden box with his back straight. His eyes were bright and clear as he looked over. The three of them bowed to him.

Cao Cao's heart moved, he had a premonition that something was going to happen, and it would definitely not be a bad thing, so he walked quickly, but before the person arrived, the bold laughter came first, "You two gentlemen have worked hard, quickly enter the account and eat," and then He turned to Xia Anran again, with some worry in his tone, "Jingxi, why are you here now? The city gate will be closed in a while."

Xia Anran took a deep breath and said softly, "Mr. Cao."

"Hey," Cao Cao smiled kindly, and patted Xia Anran on the shoulder, "I said in advance that it's cold outside," he frowned, and squeezed Xia Anran's shoulders, "Why are you wearing such thin clothes? " After saying that, he took off the fur coat on his body, and Xia Anran wrapped it up.

The heights of the two were about the same, and Cao Cao's fur was a little longer when wrapped around Xia Anran's body. Xia Anran pursed her lips, and suddenly said, "Mr. Cao, can you allow Anran to ask the third question?"

Cao Cao paused for a moment with the hand that was tying his collar, and then let it go. His expression turned serious, and he took a step back, "Please, Jingxi."

"Grand Cao... When I first met you, I asked you why you started the army. You said that it was only because of the king's salary and to share the worries for the king. Is this the original intention?"

"for."

"So, until now, have you lived up to your original intention?"

"No charge."

Xia Anran paused, "Mr. Cao, the original intention is easy to get, but it is always hard to find." His expression was complicated, "If Mr. Cao one day ranks among the three princes and has the military power in his hands, can he not change his original intention at that time?"

Cao Cao laughed loudly, his voice piercing through the sky, "I, Cao Mengde, will do what I say."

"That being the case, An Ran's original intention will not change."

Xia Anran bowed to the end.

"An Ran believes that Mr. Cao is a real hero."

"Lord."

The author has something to say:

Xia Miao was cheated daily 1/1

Is Guo Jia cute today? The 19-year-old Guo Baobao is hehe

It was Xun Yu who asked how to ask.

=w=

The Liannu made by Xia Miao is... er, a very simple crossbow, not the Zhuge Liannu. The Zhuge Liannu is instant-fired. What he makes is one shot at a time but can be fired again in a short time. The advantage is persistence , the disadvantage is that there is no accurate head.

The design of the Zhuge Liannu is also doomed to be inaccurate, but if people send 7 pieces at a time, there is always one that can hit, not to mention that this thing was originally invented to solve the lack of manpower in the Shu Han and the AOE cannot be covered on a large scale.

Xia Miao's guns were popular in villages during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was a headache to face bandits in villages with this kind of weapon, because this weapon is for fighting for character. When there is no wind, it is very sharp when it is launched. If there is wind, it will go where. It’s not easy to say, so bandits generally don’t come to attack villages with this weapon (unless it’s windy, they can attack at the windward outlet)

It's not that there is no way to improve it, that is, as mentioned in the article, tampering with the arrow body, digging holes to play the role of feathers.But this requires very delicate calculations.

It's not that Xun Yu is ignorant, but he saw a possibility when he saw this, and he thought that Xia Miao would do this and other things.

So don't hesitate to come to my lord bowl.

You don’t seem to have noticed the author’s foreshadowing before, Xia Miao is in the Forbidden City...but he has seen many exhibits of restored objects, so he knows a lot of principles, but he is clumsy...cough.

As a snail, the author was very scientific when Ji San's Tangmen weapons were not so inexplicable. I have also studied it, and I can open the crossbow. I am satisfied with it.