With a "swish" sound, a hardwood arrow was shot towards the target. The arrow flew about ten feet and fell into the weeds, still three or four feet away from the target——
With the bow arm in hand, Zhang Yuan could still feel the "buzzing" sound of the bow string, but he heard a "chi" smile behind him. When he looked back, Shang Feng, Cai Qixiang, and Lin Zhaoqing all had their mouths closed, and they didn't know who it was.
Are you laughing at him?
Ruan Dacheng praised: "Brother Jiezi has great arm strength. He can shoot so far for the first time!"
Zhang Yuan shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm ashamed, the bow can't even draw the string, and I can't even touch the edge of the target."
Zhang E stepped forward and said, "Look at me." He took the small bow from Zhang Yuan's hand, bent the bow and set an arrow, and shot out with one arrow, which was not as far as Zhang Yuan's shot.
Zhang E came closer, ten feet away from the target, and shot another arrow, but it still missed the target. Zhang Dai also held the hemp-backed bow to shoot. The old soldier named Zhou was carrying manure to fill the garden, and saw these few
The supervisors who couldn't shoot arrows shot him randomly, fearing that they would accidentally hit him, so they carried the dung bucket and walked quickly. The dung juice in the bucket swayed and splashed all over the floor, and the stench filled the sky——
Zhang E covered his nose and said, "You old soldier is so clueless. We are shooting arrows here, and you are picking manure to fill the garden. Isn't this your intention to disgust us?"
The old soldier laughed and said, "My dear husband, I rely on these vegetable gardens to make a living. I can't live without watering the gardens."
Zhang E said: "I bought all these vegetables. You shovel them for me. I will give you as much money as you want." The dude is so bold and energetic.
The old soldier surnamed Zhou said: "My husband, you grow this vegetable over and over again -"
Zhang Yuan said: "Old man, from now on we will come here every morning to shoot arrows, but the smell of excrement is really unbearable. Let's do this. We will give you one or two silver coins every month, and you can just carry water and water the vegetables. Although the harvest will be a bit poor,
But it’s not too bad, how about it?”
The veteran surnamed Zhou was overjoyed and thanked him profusely.
Zhang E said, "I'm warning you, don't pour manure secretly, otherwise I'll smell the stench and I won't give you any money."
The old soldier kept saying "don't dare, don't dare" and hurriedly picked up the dung bucket and left the shooting garden.
Ruan Dacheng and Zhang Dai laughed heartily.
Zhang Yuan said to Shang Feng and the others: "Brother Shang, you three shoot, we will watch."
Ryukyu prince Shang Feng and Cai and Lin often come here to practice archery. They all bring their own bows and arrows. When they came to the archery garden early this morning, they found that the three brothers Zhang Yuan were already here. They were very happy to meet -
Shang Feng gave in a little, then took a few steps back. He was about twenty feet away from the target. He opened his bow and set an arrow. With a "whoosh" sound, the arrow hit the target.
Zhang Yuan cheered loudly and asked Shang Feng for advice on archery. Seeing that Zhang Yuan really wanted to learn, Shang Feng did not hesitate to teach him. First, he talked about the archery posture. You should stand up straight, don't shrink your neck, don't bend down, and don't hold your chest out.
Don't lean forward and close back, this is the basic principle. As for arm strength, it cannot be achieved overnight, it requires years of training——
Zhang Yuan shot a few arrows according to the posture mentioned by Shang Feng, and it was indeed easy to launch and aim. Zhang Dai, Zhang E, and Ruan Dacheng also tried it one after another. They felt that there was some progress and they were all happy. Zhang E said: "Jie Zi, I want to win the bet with you."
, a daily bet, each person shoots ten arrows, and the one who hits the most arrows wins."
As a beginner, I don’t dare to say that my arrow hits the red heart, I just want to hit the big target——
This is a good bet, Zhang Yuan said: "Okay, the winnings are one tael of silver."
Ruan Dacheng smiled and said: "Keep your voice down, don't let the Prime Minister hear us, otherwise we will be punished for gathering a crowd to gamble."
This practice of archery is the same as other games. Someone takes the lead and competes with each other, so the interest naturally rises. Zhang Dai didn't like this kind of strenuous work at first, but was driven by Zhang Yuan and Zhang E, and he became very interested. From the second day of July, every day
I came to the Shooting Garden early in the morning to learn archery. Not only Zhang Dai and Ruan Dacheng came to participate in archery, but also several young supervisors from the Renzi class of Guangye Hall also joined in. There were also several supervisors from Zhengyi Hall brought by Zhang E.
After all the repairs, Lai Zhang's bow was put to use——
Mao Jiancheng kept staring at Zhang Yuan. He saw Zhang Yuan playing archery in the archery garden every day in a flamboyant manner. He privately found out that this was approved by Gu Jijiu. He was so angry that he had no choice but to slow down.
On the eighth day of July, the ten-day exam was carried out as scheduled. The first ten-day exam was very simple. It was just a question from four books. Zhang Yuan was naturally excellent, so he had a day off on the ninth day of July.
Early on the morning of the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, I received the "Go out and come in to honor the card" from Wei Dazhong and went out of the triple gate. I met Zhang E outside the gate. We had agreed in Shepu yesterday that the two brothers had applied for release from prison together. However, Zhang Dai and Zhang Yuan were in the same class.
, there is only one "respect out and in respect card" in a class, Zhang Dai and Zhang Yuan cannot go out at the same time——
The morning sun was rising, and the mornings and evenings became much cooler after entering July. Zhang Yuan had been in prison for more than half a month. This was the first time he went out with a license. He was in a relaxed and refreshing mood. He chatted and laughed with his third brother Zhang E until he stayed outside.
, seeing two young men, Fu'er and Mingyan, spreading money and betting in front of the door, Zhang E motioned them not to make any noise, and entered the small courtyard with Zhang Yuan. There were three couplets in the small building, in the middle was Zhang Dai's residence, and to the east belonged to Zhang E.
The west side belongs to Zhang Yuan, and is divided into two floors. The lower floor houses the male servants, and the upper floor is the bedroom of Zhang Yuan's three brothers. The study, Su Zhi, Lu Mei and Mu Zhenzhen's three personal maids naturally also live in the upper floor -
Green Plum in the east building was leaning on the railing and looking down at the flowers and plants in the courtyard. When she saw the two young masters walking in, she said happily: "The third young master is back, and young master Jiezi is back -"
A lot of people came out at once, including Neng Zhu, Feng Hu, Zhang Dai's two healthy servants, as well as Laifu and Wu Ling. Wu Ling said: "The third young master has come out several times, young master, why did you come out today?" with a big face.
Calling: "Sister Zhenzhen, Sister Zhenzhen, the young master is back——"
With footsteps as light as a deer and a gentle breeze, Mu Zhenzhen ran out of the back garden and stood in front of Zhang Yuan, with a red face and beads of sweat on his forehead. He was holding a small dragon stick in his hand and the corners of his skirt were still tucked around his waist.
Brave and agile, the joy on his face seemed to be overflowing, and he shouted: "Young Master——"
Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "You are really practicing martial arts, aren't you lazy?"
Only then did Mu Zhenzhen think of lowering the hem of her skirt and saluting the two young masters.
Zhang E laughed and said, "Look, Jiezi, Mu Zhenzhen's eyes are watering. She misses you so much."
Mu Zhenzhen was so embarrassed that he couldn't raise his head, turned around and ran back to the west building.
Zhang E pushed Zhang Yuan: "Jiezi, come on, you must be holding yourself back too."
Alas, this third brother is too vulgar, why can't he be more subtle? Zhang Yuan smiled and went up to the west building. Seeing that the door of Mu Zhenzhen's room was closed, he shouted: "Zhenzhen——"
Mu Zhenzhen responded from inside: "Master, wait a moment." His voice was shy.
Zhang Yuanxiang thought that Mu Zhenzhen was bathing and wiping himself inside, and was sweating all over from practicing martial arts. He was really not as open-minded as his third brother Zhang E. He couldn't be eager to have sex with Mu Zhenzhen just after returning from the Imperial College.
, even though I am hungry and thirsty, it is not to this point. There are still a group of people watching downstairs.
Zhang Yuan entered the study room. The windows were bright and clean, and it was spotless. There were two stacks of lead mangosteen paper on the desk, one was white paper, and the other was full of words, all of which were written by Mu Zhenzhenlin.
Zhang Yuan was just about to sit down at the desk when he heard someone talking downstairs——
"This is where Mr. Zhang lives. Mr. Zhang left the prison early in the morning - Mr. Zhang -"
This was the voice of the conductor named Jiang in the Imperial College. Zhang Yuan thought to himself: "Who did this conductor Jiang bring here?" He stood up and walked to the corridor to look down. He saw the conductor Jiang standing by the gate of the courtyard, a man in green.
A thin young man with red and black clothes was walking through the door. Zhang Yuan's eyesight was not good and he couldn't see the face of the thin young man clearly. He heard Wu Ling say: "Ah, it's the little Eunuch Gao - Young Master, the little Eunuch Gao from the Hangzhou Weaving Department is here.
Already."
Zhang Yuan responded upstairs: "Little Eunuch Gao, please come upstairs and sit down."
This thin young man was Xiao Gao, the godson of Eunuch Zhong. He didn’t know his name. Xiao Gao raised his head and saw Zhang Yuan. He hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted: "Mr. Zhang, Eunuch Zhong has arrived in Jinling. He is at the place of Eunuch Xing, the guarding eunuch. Please invite Mr. Zhang."
Go and meet each other.”
In May, Zhang Yuan met Eunuch Zhong in Hangzhou. Eunuch Zhong said that the eunuch Zheng Zhihui who succeeded him as the head of the Hangzhou Textile Department had left Beijing. He would complete the handover and leave Hangzhou around the end of June. Today is the ninth day of July. Eunuch Zhong
We have already arrived in Nanjing, and the journey is quite fast——
Mu Zhenzhen changed into a blue dress and came out. Zhang Yuan asked Mu Zhenzhen and Wu Ling to go with him to see Eunuch Zhong. The third brother Zhang E was impatient to associate with the eunuch, and Eunuch Zhong did not invite him and stayed at Tingchan Residence.
Playing with Green Plum and Fu'er.
There was a sedan chair waiting outside the door. Xiao Gao asked Zhang Yuan to get on the sedan chair. Zhang Yuan wanted to walk, but thought about it and got on the sedan chair. He glanced at Executive Officer Chiang standing aside, beckoned him over and warned him, "Don't talk too much in prison.
"And asked Laifu to reward him with a penny.
Executive Officer Jiang said repeatedly: "The villain understands, the villain understands, and I will never dare to say anything."
Watching Zhang Yuan leave in a sedan chair, Executive Officer Jiang straightened up and thought to himself: "Where does this young master come from? Even the garrison eunuch Xing Gonggong wants to invite him. Mr. Zhang has friendship with the garrison eunuch. How can I be afraid?"
What Inspector Mao!"
The Nanjing garrison eunuch is the foreigner of the ceremonial eunuch. It is obvious that he has great power. When the garrison eunuch is present, all the six ministers in Nanjing have to stand aside. During the banquet, the garrison eunuch always takes the first seat——
Zhang Yuan was sitting on the sedan chair. Mu Zhenzhen and Wu Ling were holding on to the edge of the sedan chair. Xiao Gao and Wu Ling were walking aside. Zhang Yuan asked Xiao Gao: "On what day did Eunuch Zhong leave Hangzhou? Was the journey smooth?"
Xiao Gao said respectfully: "Eunuch Zhong left Hangzhou on the 23rd of last month and arrived in Nanjing yesterday. Eunuch Zhong wanted to see Mr. Zhang before entering Beijing, and he had an old relationship with Eunuch Xing, the Nanjing guard, so he took a detour.
coming."
Zhang Yuan asked again: "What kind of person is Eunuch Xing? Little Eunuch Gao tells me so that I don't violate taboos."
Xiao Gao said: "Eunuch Xing, Tan Long, originally collected mining taxes for Grandpa Long Live. Because of his merits in collecting taxes, even though the mine supervisor was later removed, Grandpa Long Live allowed Eunuch Xing to stay in Nanjing as a garrison eunuch. It has been almost ten years.
, Mr. Xing believes in Buddhism and likes to build temples - this is all the villain knows."
"Xing Long?" Zhang Yuan remembered that his teacher Wang Siren once told him about this Xing Long. Teacher Wang was the magistrate of Dangtu more than ten years ago.
Dangtu Hengshan was the leader of Emperor Gao's Dinghu Lake and deceived Xing Long. The people of Dangtu still appreciate Teacher Wang's virtue.