Chapter 481 Silk and Armor

Wearing armor and helmet may look impressive and sound nice, but it is actually painful to wear.

It is cold in winter and hot in summer and is heavy, so soldiers cannot wear it until they are about to go into battle.

If the inside can be improved, it will be more comfortable for the wearer.

Song Liyun said, "Look, this woolen cloth is much warmer and more insulating than the coarse cloth you wear. What would happen if the Zhenbei Army changed their winter clothing into this?"

Zhao Tingduo is an expert. Just by touching the woolen cloth in his hand, he can understand the huge difference.

He quickly turned the woolen cloth over several times, noting the patterns that were clearly different from those woven by the Di people, and asked, "Where did this cloth come from? How much can I buy?"

His first reaction was to follow his Di tribe soldiers.

In the past two years, he had fought more than a dozen battles and lost six of his fifty personal soldiers. He wanted to let the remaining tribesmen enjoy the best things.

Song Liyun said, "This is the sample that Steward Wan just sent me. I'd like to discuss providing the wool raw materials from the grassland to the Wan family, and then purchasing this woolen cloth for the military camp."

Zhao Tingduo's eyes were bright: "It's to earn money for the Zhenbei Army's military pay..."

"Merchants don't work without profit. It's not just about making money. You and the garrison are well aware of the benefits it can bring."

Song Liyun is a businessman. When it comes to business, he has to improve his combat effectiveness and make money from the Zhenbei Army.

Improving the combat effectiveness of the army is of self-evident importance to generals.

Zhao Tingduo thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, I'll tell my elder brother about this. However, the clan soldiers need to be equipped first."

The first thing he thought of was his own people.

"Of course. Besides, I've already told Steward Wan to order another batch of high-quality silk for the armor lining, so the wool won't prick the flesh."

"Fine silk? Can't we use cotton? We have rough skin, so why would we be afraid of it being pricked?"

Zhao Tingduo felt a little sorry for the money. Woolen cloth could barely be priced the same as a cotton jacket, but silk was not cheap.

You can't change to something more expensive just because it looks good and doesn't hurt your skin. Men going to the battlefield are not afraid of suffering a little bit.

Song Liyun smiled and was about to speak when her smile suddenly froze. She slowly turned to look at Zhao Tingduo and frowned, "What's the lining of your armor?"

Hearing her question was strange, Zhao Tingduo raised an eyebrow and said, "Just like the others, it's all cloth."

Zhao Tingduo's armor was given by Zhao Tinglei, a total of fifty sets, managed by the Ministry of Works. His armor was naturally the same as others, but it was just wiped cleaner.

Song Liyun's expression changed instantly. She hugged Zhao Tinglei and murmured, "I'm sorry, I actually forgot such a big thing!"

"What's wrong with you?" Zhao Tingduo patted her back.

I'm fine, why are you saying sorry for no reason?

"Quick, take out your armor and let me see it! I need it urgently!"

Song Liyun immediately urged Zhao Tingduo to get his armor.

What is this for?

What is this for?

Not only Zhao Tingduo didn't understand what Song Liyun was going to do, but Song Dekui and Lin Qingyuan next to them were also attracted over.

Soon, leather cow legs were tied to the two wooden pillars of the side yard training ground where the guards of the Lei Camp lived.

Zhao Tingduo personally covered the cow's legs with the leather armor worn by the soldiers.

Like a human, he wore a coarse cloth cloak over his leather armor to keep out the wind and sand.

The seven or eight guards who stayed in the City Lord's Mansion gathered around and pointed at the cow legs.

Someone asked Fang Zheng, who was holding a small notebook, "Old Fang, what is the young master doing? He's even using a cow's leg as a target for archery!"

These are the Di people’s personal soldiers from the Wuda tribe.

Fang Zheng said mysteriously, "You'll know in a moment. The young lady is getting us a treasure!"

"What treasure?"

"Speak up! Speak up! Lao Fang, you weren't this secretive before. How come you're so secretive now that you're in charge of the warehouse?"

"Why does the Third Young Master want us to bring the beef leg?"

This is a sergeant from the Lei Battalion.

Seeing Fang Zheng pretending to be mysterious, the soldiers around him became extremely anxious. If Zhao Tingduo had not been there, they would have grabbed the book to see what was written on it.

In fact, Fang Zheng didn't know what to do. Just now, Song Liyun came to the warehouse in a hurry and asked him to take out the best silk.

Song Liyun had prepared these things before, and among the dowry sent by Duke Anguo, there was even a tribute horse.

But when he saw the young lady tearing the silk into several pieces and sewing them into the lining of the leather armor, his heart seemed to be torn in two.

Fang Zheng is now in charge of the warehouse and knows the price of every item clearly.

The young lady tore a piece of silk that was worth ten taels of silver, but it was easily torn into pieces and used to pad armor.

The effect is good.

A piece of leather armor with yellowish-brown leather on the outside and bright white silk on the inside, making the whole armor look shiny.

It’s just that I’m embarrassed to mention the young lady’s poor needlework skills.

He couldn't say this, so he pointed at Zhao Tingduo who was adjusting his position and said vaguely, "You will see the city lord's archery skills later."

"Go to hell, Old Fang. Do we even need to see the Third Young Master's archery skills? Everyone knows he never misses a shot! He's the best archer in the camp, only Qi Rong and the others can compare."

"Hey, stop talking and look!"

Several people were still surrounding Fang Zheng and talking at once, while on the other side, Zhao Tingduo and Song Liyun were already prepared.

Zhao Tingduo gestured to Fang Zheng and took out two arrows from the quiver.

The field suddenly fell silent, and everyone stared at the young master.

Zhao Tingduo was less than fifty steps away from the wooden stake, and there was no pressure at all to hit the target at such a close distance.

He just raised his hand... and then let go. With two whooshes, the long arrow hit the wooden stake.

Zhao Tingduo came over, and Fang Zheng also hurried over with a small notebook in his hand.

Others also swarmed around.

The long arrow had already torn the outer coarse cloth and penetrated deeply into the leather armor.

Zhao Tingduo casually lifted the leather armor on the left side, and the arrow inside had pierced a hole in the cotton cloth and penetrated deeply into the cow's leg.

"Fang Zheng, pull out the arrow!"

Fang Zheng agreed, stuffed the notebook into the hands of the soldier next to him, and pulled out the arrow with his free hands.

He couldn't pull it out, so he quickly looked at Zhao Tingduo: "Third Master, it's hooked on the bone!"

The arrow shot very deep, almost piercing the cow's leg. The barb of the arrow hooked into the bone, and before it was taken out, a crackling sound of the bone inside could be heard.

Zhao Tingduo frowned slightly. This was how serious the arrow wound was.

The so-called arrow wound is not only caused by the sharp arrowhead piercing the flesh, but also by the rare occurrence of hitting the heart. The main cause of death is the specially designed inverted hook on the arrowhead.

If the arrowhead enters the flesh, it will hook on the bones and surrounding muscles and cannot be pulled out. You can only cut off the arrow shaft first and let the doctor perform surgery to remove the arrow.

If you try to pull it out forcefully, you might end up scratching the muscles and bones inside, causing unbearable pain or even leaving you with lifelong disability.

In severe cases, blood vessels and nerves may be severed, causing death on the spot.

On the battlefield where there are no medical conditions, arrows cannot be removed quickly, and blood loss is also a cause of combat damage.

Zhao Tingduo remembered what Song Liyun said and said in a deep voice: "Use the old method to get the arrow!"

Fang Zheng changed his hand and pulled out a small silver knife from his sleeve. He began to dig the arrowhead out of the beef leg meat along the base of the arrow shaft.

(End of this chapter)