"Stand up and talk! Are you from the Beijing camp?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
Gu Mancang stood up and replied, "Yes! I'm a boxer from the Beijing Camp! I teach you boxing and kicking!"
"Do a good job! I won't treat you unfairly in the future! The biggest rule here is to be obedient! Do you understand?" Zhao Xiaofei said.
Gu Mancang smiled innocently and said, "Your Highness is giving me food because you appreciate our hardship. I am willing to go through fire and water for you."
"Well said! Let's see how you perform in the future! Keep practicing!" Zhao Xiaofei said. He then continued walking inside, and behind him he heard the shouts of the escorts training.
Arriving at the second courtyard, he saw a tall, thin man teaching people archery. Everyone was practicing bow-holding postures, half-kneeling on the ground, holding the bow in their left hand and pulling the bowstring with their right. This time, the tall, thin man ignored Zhao Xiaofei and continued to teach them.
Zhao Xiaofei didn't care about these empty formalities at all. He took the initiative to walk over and take a look, and asked, "When will they be able to practice it?"
At this time, the tall and thin man in charge of training turned around and replied: "Your Majesty! If you don't recruit from the fighting industry or hunters, it will take them two or three years to become apprentices!" His tone was full of disdain.
"How do you talk to the prince consort like that?" Xiao Wen asked angrily.
Zhao Xiaofei stopped Xiao Wen and said, "Don't be rude! What he said is right!"
Zhao Xiaofei knew that learning archery was truly difficult. He'd once played with a Kaiyuan bow during a company team-building activity. He had the strength to shoot far, but aiming was a problem. It would take several years to become a pro.
Zhao Xiaofei took the bow from the escort and examined it. It was a common bow used by Ming Dynasty border troops, a large bow called the Kaiyuan Bow. The Kaiyuan Bow was made of bamboo and ox horn, with mulberry and elm wood for the bowstring and ox horn and hardwood for the bowstring. Its range and power were immense! He definitely couldn't pull it. He returned the bow to the escort and asked the tall, thin man, "What's it called?"
"I am Li Deliang!" Li Deliang saluted with his fists clasped.
"Xiao Wu! Bring me my bow!" Zhao Xiaofei ordered. Xiao Wu immediately took out a box, put an arm guard ring on Zhao Xiaofei, and took out his pulley compound bow.
Zhao Xiaofei drew his bow and aimed at the target without hesitation. With a whoosh, the arrow hit the target squarely. Although it didn't hit the center, this result was unexpected for Li Deliang.
Zhao Xiaofei put down his bow and arrow. Li Deliang stepped forward and said with his head bowed, "Your Highness, your archery skills are superb. I admire you!"
"What's there to admire? You didn't even hit the bull's eye!" Zhao Xiaofei laughed.
"I've been shooting arrows for years, but I can't always hit the bull's eye. Your Majesty, your first arrow is already pretty good!" Li Deliang wasn't being flattered. The archery masters we see in TV dramas or encounter are, after all, a minority. Only a few can hit the target without missing an arrow. And even if there were any in the Beijing camp, Zhu Chunchen would have kept them for himself!
"It's not that my archery skills are so good, it's that this bow is very good. Li Deliang, you try it!" Zhao Xiaofei said and handed it to Li Deliang.
Li Deliang, an expert archer, knew this bow was truly exceptional. He took it with both hands and pulled it, feeling it took very little effort. He then noticed a tool in front of it that he thought was for aiming, and he took another stab. Then he nocked an arrow and gently released it. With a whoosh, the arrow flew towards the target. With a thud, it hit the bull's eye.
Zhao Xiaofei clapped his hands and said, "Master Li, your archery is excellent! A sword is given to a hero, and I'll give you this bow!"
Li Deliang knelt down, but he didn't dare to accept it and said, "Your Ma-ren, I don't accept gifts without merit. I am unworthy of this bow!" Li Deliang estimated that this bow would cost more than a thousand taels of silver, and it would definitely not be bought! Just now, he had a look of disdain on his face and spoke rudely to the Prince Consort. So he didn't dare to accept it.
"Take it! I will let everyone use this kind of bow in the future. If everyone uses this kind of bow, I wonder when they will be able to start their apprenticeship?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
When Li Deliang heard that everyone was equipped with such a bow, he wondered how much money it would cost. His Majesty was truly rich. He thought for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty! If everyone was equipped with such a bow, and they trained continuously every day, only two months would be enough!"
"Okay! I'll give you this bow. Get used to it first so you can teach them later. We'll try to go on a escort mission in two months!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"I will do my utmost to help you!" Li Deliang said with a fist salute.
"Okay! Let's practice first!" Zhao Xiaofei said as he walked to the last yard. Inside, there were 40 people, each holding a stick. They stood one leg forward, one behind the other, forming a lunge stance and lunging forward with the stick. They shouted, "Kill!"
A red-faced man shouted, "Stop! You! What's wrong with your leg? I've taught you several times, it's the right leg forward. Do you know which one is right?" The red-faced man walked up to the man and kicked him on the right leg.
The red-faced man heard someone coming in, turned around, and quickly stepped forward, knelt on one knee, clasped his fists, and said, "My humble servant Mao Jiu pays his respects to the Prince Consort!"
"Get up and answer! How about it? How long will it take to let them go out to escort the goods?" Zhao Xiaofei asked.
"Your Majesty! It will take at least a year! If we have to escort the goods, it will take at least half a year!" said Mao Jiu.
"Too long! Three months at most! You think of a way! If it works, I will give you an extra three months' salary!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"I will try my best! But these people are just farmers who have just put down their hoes. Some of them are too stupid! They can't even tell left from right!" Mao Jiu said with a frown.
"If they can't tell the difference between left and right, ask them which hand they use with chopsticks? Which hand they use to hold the bowl? Except for left-handed people, everyone can tell the difference between left and right!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
Mao Jiu chuckled after hearing this and said, "Your Highness is truly extraordinary. We, the roughnecks, could never have come up with such a brilliant idea! I'll teach them this later!"
In the Yangxin Palace, Chongzhen had just put down his memorial to the emperor to rest. Seeing Wang Chengen walk in, he asked, "What's the matter?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
