After leaving the fortress (four times), as soon as the sky cleared, Wang Mazi and others jumped up and urged everyone to hurry up. The traders all know that the Xi people are a nation that particularly likes to migrate, from Ruoluoshui to Taimi River, within a thousand miles
Some people have said that they have seen their footprints. If everyone goes there too late, the Xi people may suddenly disappear like dew on the grassland like the Xi people. If so, everyone may lose everything. So, too
No one complained about Wang Mazi's irritability. Everyone ate a piece of dry biscuit in the cold wind and hurriedly ran northward (Note 1). In the afternoon, the team's marching speed had to slow down again. The terrain on the grassland happened again.
There are ups and downs, unlike Wanli Yanshan, where one peak is next to another, but a huge gentle slope appears, and the end of it cannot be observed with the eyes. The continuous hillside makes people have to jump off the horse and pull the reins forward, and the animals carrying the goods
He also tensed his limbs and struggled to move forward step by step.
According to Hao Laodao and others, this kind of terrain is called a dam by the grassland people. I don’t know where it starts or when it will end. Except for going to the Mohe Department in northern Liaoning, as long as you go north in other areas, you have to go there.
After going through this hurdle, caravans from the Central Plains rarely go so far north, but the more sparse the caravans are in the area, the greater the profit may be for everyone (Note 2) After listening to the guide's introduction, the traders gathered their energy
, Work hard to move forward. The taxes of the Sui Dynasty are not high, but local officials have their own methods of collecting money. If the caravan can't make money this time traveling north, some people may not be able to pay the miscellaneous taxes stipulated by the government next year.
Lost the opportunity to set foot on the grassland again, so even if there is only a glimmer of hope, no one intends to turn back halfway.
Li Xu, already numb to the fatigue of his muscles and bones, jumped off the horse and immediately put a small part of the burden on the blue and white mule onto the horse. The little wolf Ganluo was also put down from the bag by him and followed slowly beside him.
Climbing north, Gan Luo was obviously very excited about this long-lost freedom. He rubbed his hands around Li Xu, as if he didn't feel the fatigue of climbing at all.
When the traders saw that the burden on the blue and white mules was reduced, they obviously had enough strength and imitated Li Xu's example. They spread some of the goods on the mounts of the packmen. In this way, the speed of the caravan was somewhat increased, at least for the packmen.
The animals no longer foam at the mouth and look as if they are about to die at any moment.
When the sun climbed out from the southeast again, Li Xu found that his steps were no longer weak. The wilderness in front of him was wider and more desolate. The distant mountains looked shorter, but the peaks were all white. Obviously, they were accumulated accumulations.
The wild grass around the traces of snow is no longer as high as the waist near the Rushui River, withered and yellow, and only covers people's ankles. However, many small animals suddenly appeared in the grass, including fat wild pigeons and bloated pigeons.
Sandgrouse, weird gophers with huge eyes and short ears, would jump up in front of people's eyes from time to time, swaying away into the distance. Even further away, there was even a large group of sheep with thick necks, short tails, and yellow fur walking leisurely.
When the grazing caravan saw the caravan passing by, the male sheep on guard just raised its head with a right angle and looked at it curiously. It had no intention of informing its companions to escape (Note 3) "Just rest here for an hour and let the livestock
Slow down your feet and we are already on the dam, we will reach our destination in the afternoon!" Sun Jiu met Hao Laodao and others and announced loudly
"Hoola!" The team immediately began to stir up trouble. The old merchants spread out their luggage rolls on the grass. Regardless of the coldness, they fell down to sleep. The younger or stronger merchants unloaded the goods on their mounts as fast as they could in their lives.
Then, regardless of the animals' protests, he jumped on the saddle and charged towards the yellow sheep in the distance, waving his bow and arrow.
That is a yellow sheep, with a gentle temper and delicious meat. Late autumn is when its meat is fattest and its hair is thickest. When it runs the slowest, you can kill one of them and try to get it back to the Central Plains. The strong short horns are brown and yellow.
Pekoe fur can be sold for a good price
"Be careful, don't run too far!" Sun Jiu shouted loudly to the crowd going away. His words were instantly drowned in the sound of horse hooves. The young people in the caravan, except for Xu Dayan, a rich kid who didn't care about money at all, and Li Xu, who didn't care about money at all,
Who doesn't want to make a small fortune as an ignorant young man who doesn't know what a yellow sheep is? After a while, he was the only one left in the camp, along with Zhang San and a few old traders who were too tired to ride horses, and almost all the others rushed to the camp.
Got out
"It turns out those sheep are wild!" Li Xu regretfully wanted to ride his horse to hunt, but he was really unsure about his shooting skills and shook his head, unrolling his luggage in panic.
"Still angry about what happened the night before yesterday?" Xu Da saw Li Xu's hair wilting, walked over, and patted him gently on the shoulder, "You can't do it, some people are like shit, they exist just to make you feel sick, to make you feel sick,
Their goal has been achieved, and they don’t care how stinky they are!”
Li Xu was amused by this apt metaphor, and several shallow wrinkles immediately appeared on his cheeks. The bumps along the way made his body a lot thinner, and his skin became darker and rougher, and appeared near the ears.
A few rows of faint black hair made him look much more mature, not like a boy under fifteen years old at all.
"Why do you look like you've grown up so much overnight!" Xu turned his eyes to Li Xu, frowned and looked at him with his fist stretched out, and hit his strong shoulder, jokingly asking
"Really? It's because I didn't wash my face in the morning!" Li Xu smiled stupidly, but there were many complicated things in his eyes. He admired Xu Dayan's sharp eyes very much, but what specifically did he think of last night?
But he is unwilling to declare it to his mouth
Xu Dayan didn't have much interest in studying Li Xu's changes. His eyes were quickly attracted by the noise coming from the distance. The traders who went hunting were lucky. In less than half a stick of incense, someone was already hunting.
A lamb as big as a domestic dog was placed on the horse, and it was running back happily. Others were obviously targeting the mature ram that was frightened and started to gallop at high speed, shouting and desperately urging the mount to gallop.
outflank
The sheep obviously had no experience in fighting humans, and they fled away in a panic. A few adult sheep with weaker physical strength broke away from the group and fled to both sides screaming. This was more in line with the pursuers' wishes.
On horseback, traders bent their bows and arrows, and shot arrow after arrow at their prey.
"You don't want to go hunting? That yellow sheepskin is the best material for making boots. Wear them on your feet. They are light and warm!" At some point, Uncle Jiu came over and stood beside the two teenagers and asked in a low voice.
"I don't want to run out of strength, but lose a horse!" Xu Dayan said disdainfully. His mount is a four-year-old bay-red colt, which is much better than anyone else's mount in the caravan.
In terms of walking time for everyone along the way, except for a few swordsmen, Xu Dayan was ranked first. This short-sighted behavior of ignoring the tiredness of his mount for a small profit is absolutely impossible for him, a person who loves horses.
"I, I'm not very good at archery!" Li Xu replied in a low voice to Huangyang. He remembered the name. The next time he met him, he would shoot the big one, have the skin tanned, and ask someone to send it to his hometown.
My father made a pair of boots all these years so that he could study with peace of mind. He never mentioned how tiring the journey north was. Many times, in the conversations between father and son, the long and lonely trade route seemed to have a lot of poetry.
"Isn't there a bow hanging next to your saddle?" This time it was Sun Jiu's turn to be surprised. He had noticed that among the entire team, only the bows used by Xu Dayan and Li Xu could reach the hands of other people on the table.
No matter whether the bow is made of wood or bamboo, it can really be used for fighting.
Hearing someone mention his treasure, Li Xu felt even more embarrassed that he had not been able to shoot accurately before. He could deduce that the bow in his hand was too bad. After Xu Dayan's analysis, at this moment he already knew that the hair gift his uncle gave him was
A good riding bow, but if I hold this treasure myself and shoot the bow on a bumpy horseback on the ground, it is impossible to shoot the target accurately. It is a waste of natural resources to have such a good bow but fail to shoot the arrow accurately.
His behavior is truly shameful
"You're a big man, don't blush all the time, bring me the bow!" Seeing Li Xu's twitchy expression, Sun Jiu thought he had something fake hidden in his bow bag, so he scolded with a smile.
Li Xu agreed, and hurried over to get the bow bag and arrow pot. Sun Jiu took out the bow arm from the bag, weighed it with his hand, then separated his thumb and index finger, measured the length of the bow arm, and looked at it carefully.
Looking at the quality of the bow's ears, he couldn't help but nod his head. After hanging up the bowstring, he pulled out Li Xu's homemade feather arrows from the pot. His nodding movement immediately turned into shaking his head and pulling one, once, until his head turned into a wavy drum.
, then he threw the arrow pot back to Li Xu and said to Xu Dayan: "Borrow a few of your feather arrows to use. Xu Zi's arrows in this pot all miss the cavalry bow, but he can shoot accurately with infantry arrows."
That’s the weird thing!”
Hearing this, Xu Dayan quickly offered up the feather arrows he had brought with both hands. Using his skill of observing people, Sun Jiu was obviously experienced, otherwise the position where he hung the sword would not be so regular, and the human temperament would not be the same.
He wouldn't be so generous. It's just what kind of errands Sun Jiu has done in the army and what level of martial arts skills he has reached. Judging from Xu Dayan's current ability, it's still hard to guess. Now that Sun Jiu is asking for an arrow test, it's a good opportunity to shoot.
After that, Xu Dayan promised that he could accurately estimate the length of time Sun Jiu had served in the military.
Sun Jiu took the arrow kettle from Xu Dayan's hand, pulled out one in his hand, flew on the horse, knocked his legs lightly under the horse's belly, and rode out immediately. Xu, Li and the two young men saw this and quickly rode on.
After catching up, I ran for more than a mile. Just in time, several large yellow sheep that had lost their flock were chased by the traders and rushed over.
Good Sun Jiu, when he nocked the arrow and opened the bow, he heard the clear sound of the bowstring "Stretch!". The largest male yellow sheep running in the front fell down in response to the sound. Sun Jiuyi held the bow and rushed forward on horseback.
Shang leaned over slightly, shouted "Get up!" and snatched the prey from the ground with one hand, placed it horizontally in front of him, and rode back.
"Okay!" Not only the vendors, but also the swordsmen who came to watch the excitement cheered. It was not easy to hit the target with an arrow while running fast. What was even more rare was that Sun Jiu shot through the Yellow Sheep's chest with one arrow.
The neck, not only took away the beast's life immediately, but also preserved the integrity of the skin.
"That's natural. When Ninth Brother served under Marshal Gao, he once shot down the flag of Marshal Xiao Maha in the tens of thousands of troops. If some bastards hadn't been greedy for military merit, Ninth Brother could at least be a captain!"
Uncle Zhang curled his lips and boasted proudly to the swordsmen (Note 4). The swordsmen were very surprised, and gathered around to find out about the past when Marshal Gao Ying attacked Nanchen, and to find out who was so capable that he could actually
General Gao Ying, who was known to be fair and strict, showed favoritism and allowed him to snatch Sun Jiu's victory in capturing the flag. Sun Jiu refused to say anything. He just pulled out the arrow from the sheep's neck and returned it to Xu Dayan, then threw the whole sheep away.
Give it to Zhang San and order him to arrange for people to roast the mutton for everyone to try.
Seeing that Sun Jiu was so calm, everyone admired him even more, especially a few swordsmen. Seeing that they were about to arrive at their destination, their frivolous attitude showed up. After seeing Sun Jiu's shooting skills, they also restrained their behavior and stopped boasting.
Sun Jiu took the empty bow and turned it back to Li Xu. Without letting go of the bow string, he pointed to the mark on the bow arm and explained to Li Xu, "This is a specially built cavalry bow gathered all over the country in order to conquer Nanchen during the Kaihuang period."
The masters of bow making have spent several years working hard to achieve this level, but there are only more than a thousand such hard riding bows. If you use it as a walking bow to shoot, of course you will not be able to shoot accurately!"
"Please give me some advice, Uncle Jiu!" Li Xu and Xu Da prayed as if they saw a treasure.
"You need to kowtow to become a disciple!" Du Scar said angrily as he walked by carrying a yellow sheep that was not much bigger than a rabbit.
Sun Jiu ignored him and handed the bow back to Li Xu. He pointed his fingers at the position where he was holding the bow and the basic movements of his arms and body. Then he said: "What's so difficult about this? It's just a matter of one sentence. Military
There are special chants in it that every cavalryman can memorize." After that, he held the bow in his hand again, not shying away from others eavesdropping, and chanted in a low voice: "The force is like the wind, the eyes are like lightning; when the bow is fully opened,
Fire the arrow tightly..." (Note 5) "That's it?" Several swordsmen who came over to "steal the art" said in disbelief that the person who took away the sword head paid attention to hiding his skills. One less person would learn his own skills and go on his own on the road.
The safety is even greater. They have never heard of Sun Jiu's behavior of casually singing the lyrics in front of everyone.
"It's easy to say, but difficult to do. Anyone can memorize the formula. If you can shoot accurately, you won't find one in a hundred people!" Sun Jiu said without looking back. He handed the bow back to Li Xu again and warned with a smile: "
In fact, there is another two-word secret. Everyone knows it. It’s just ‘familiar’. If you practice it a few times, you will naturally understand the truth!”
After that, he jumped off his mount, staggered towards Uncle Zhang, and helped him skin and roast meat.
Li Xu held the bow and was so happy that he had forgotten to dismount. He accidentally found out the reason for his inaccuracy in shooting and heard the song of cavalry archery in the army. Although these gains made him overjoyed, what was even more happy in his heart was that he was in the army.
Xu Dayan "stole" the skill of observing people, but he was blinded by the first time he used it. Uncle Nineteen did abandon business and join the army, but he was robbed of his credit in the army, so he was angry.
And look back
If you learn martial arts well and settle down with your parents in the future, can you be like Xu Dayan and find a sure-win war to make a career for yourself? Uncle Jiu's credit was taken by others, so he quit the army. What if
I have better luck than him, maybe I can get to the position of brigade rate (leader of 100 people)
Although these dreams are far away, they can still be done after all. Running around on the grassland all year round, I am so tired that I don’t even have the chance to dream.
As a sensible child, Li Xu did not dare to underestimate his father's livelihood, but he was very afraid that one day he would become like Wang Mazi and Du Scaru, numb and shameless.
"What are you doing so stupidly? You haven't put away your bow yet!" Seeing Li Xu start to be in a daze again, Xu Da tapped his head lightly with the arrow pot and then took out half of the arrows from the pot and gave it to Li Xu.
Asahi
"Brother Xu, this, how can this be so embarrassing!" Li Xu hurriedly shied away. The things used by Xu Dayan were more sophisticated. How much is such an exquisite half-pot arrow worth? Although the two have become friends, they just take things from their friends.
This is not Li Xu’s habit
"Hold it, defend yourself!" Xu Big Eyen whispered. He looked around and found that no one was paying attention to him. He lowered his voice and said, "Uncle Jiu was deliberately trying to show off his power. Something was not right!"
"Deliberately...!" Li Xu let out a low scream, and the second half of it was immediately suppressed by himself. Why did Uncle Jiu show off his power? No wonder he, a person who has always been very peaceful, would suddenly show off.
Here comes the shooting skills! It turns out that he is deliberately showing off to everyone. Who can he show it to? In this caravan, except for Hebei and Henan, the traders gathered in one place are just a few swordsmen who work part-time as guides. Could they...
.?
"We were led by a few strangers and traveled thousands of miles to get here. We are trapped and short of horses. If the other party is a horse thieves roaming the grassland, we are just like a group of big fat sheep who have been sent to the door!" Xu Dayan turned his back to everyone,
