Chapter 5 Deer Hunting (Part 1) That night, Li Xu shared with Xu Dayan his martial arts training with the coppersmith. The coppersmith did not ask him to keep the secret, so he was happy to invite his good friends to learn martial arts with him.
Yi Xu refused with a big eye, but it was not until Li Xu invited him again and again that he explained in a low voice: "I have been practicing this art of man-enemy for ten years, and it is more than enough to protect myself on the battlefield. If I want to make any big move,
I'm afraid we can't get a strategy for defeating thousands of enemies by looking for the master's guidance. Where can we find such a good opportunity except now!" (Note 1) Indeed, except for the tribe outside the Great Wall, how could there be a general in the Central Plains?
Are you willing to safely hand over your troops and horses to strangers when they first meet? Li Xu instantly understood that the opportunity given to him and Xu Dayan by God was really rare, so he no longer forced the other party to learn martial arts. Xu Dayan saw Li Xu
He was so generous and did not hide his own secrets. He pulled Li Xu to explain one by one the truths that he had realized recently through actual military training and comparing them with ancient military techniques. Li Xu felt dizzy and his head was as big as a fight, but it looked good.
My friend took great pains to memorize these experiences one by one and left them for future reference.
The next day, Li Xu didn't get up until midnight. When he rode his horse and rushed to the door of the coppersmith's workshop, the coppersmith had just climbed out of the felt bag. The master and apprentice looked at each other, laughed, and took a drink to warm their bodies.
Xiaojiu found two scimitars and continued to practice. As usual, he started with the big split, one move and then another. After Li Xu was hit, he started over again. As usual, Li Xu fell to the ground in less than one move.
Then get up and fight again with a knife
The coppersmith is an easy-going person, but he has very strict requirements for martial arts training. The coordination of the body, the angle of the attack, and the coordination of the steps all require Li Xu to be meticulous in high, low, medium, and flat, and every possible angle of attack.
Li Xu did it dozens of times before he was willing to give up. He practiced for a whole morning, barely mastering more than a dozen commonly used variations of the big split. Seeing the voices around him gradually rising, the coppersmith kicked Li Xu out again.
door
Li Xu climbed up from the snow and returned to himself in a happy mood. Zhanbao and Gan Luo completed the daily inspections, and then continued to find empty spaces where no one was, shooting archery and dancing with swords.
He saw several times that Li Xu's face was no longer as gloomy as before, and the girl felt sweet in her heart, happier than wearing any unique and beautiful clothes.
In the following days, going to the coppersmith's house to practice martial arts became Li Xu's first priority every morning. Tao Kuo took off his silk and followed him there several times. He couldn't stand the coppersmith's kicks, and after one move, he no longer wanted to smelt copper.
But Jiang couldn't bear the distraction of Li Xu standing by her, so he taught her a sword dance with beautiful postures but no practical value, and asked her to go home and figure out how to take off Tao Kuo's silk. When she had something to do, she stopped getting up early.
From time to time, she took out a long sword inlaid with gems and showed off in the snow. The snow was flying all over the sky, and the frost-like sword, coupled with her long hair like a waterfall, made the onlookers look thrilling.
More than two months passed like this, and the scimitar in Li Xu's hand gradually produced wind. He had mastered the eight basic moves and various changes, and the only difference was that he had to fight with the master. Although he still couldn't escape being slapped with the blade.
Although he was facing a different fate, he was able to deal with one or two coppersmiths. He was experienced and knew that it would take some time for Li Xu to make a big progress, so he didn't push him too hard. Once he became proficient in the basic moves and changes, he
Let Li Xu move from step to horse
Immediately using the sword is another story. When practicing step down, it is important to coordinate the whole body, and coordinate the steps with the moves. The thighs, waist and arms exert force at the same time to kill the enemy immediately, but the initiative of the body is entrusted to the war horse.
Speed and flexibility are the most important. Instead, the person's movements have to be turned around to coordinate with the mount's previous sweeps, straight thrusts and other majestic movements that rarely have the opportunity to be used. Smooth thrusts, teases, diagonal cuts, etc.
Techniques that relied on speed to kill enemies suddenly became the mainstream. The techniques were broken down again. The scimitar in the hands of the coppersmith was wrapped in felt and dipped in cold water to prevent Li Xu from being killed if he pinched it incorrectly.
Li Xu rushed forward with his horse and struck the empty space with his scimitar. The two horses stepped on each other, and the coppersmith used a felt soaked in water to slap a stain on his back. He suddenly remembered that this move was used by Xu Dayan when he killed the scout that day.
Having realized this, he turned around and rushed back to try to surprise the coppersmith. As soon as the two horses approached, the scimitar in the coppersmith's hand swung out a stream of cold wind and hit him on the chest with a "pop" sound.
"Ah!" Li Xu shivered because of the ice water seeping out of the felt. He screamed and ran out. When he turned the horse's head sarcastically, the coppersmith came up again waving a scimitar wrapped in felt.
, while slashing at Li Xu with a knife, he scolded: "A move is for death, but a person is alive. Don't you know? You can't be distracted when you are charging. You can decide life or death in the blink of an eye. As long as you can hit the opponent, why bother?"
It doesn’t matter if he’s pumping forward or backward!”
Li Xu was beaten so hard that he ran away and ran a long way before he dared to return to his horse and fight again. He didn't know how many times he was hit by knives all morning. Even the horse was hacked under his crotch. It was embarrassing. Every time he saw Tong
The craftsman raised his hand and moved to both sides. Seeing that this kind of refining might not be effective, the coppersmith thought of an idea for Li Xu and ordered him to find an open place to erect two rows of wooden stakes as high as war horses.
A straw bag filled with sand was tied to his body, and he went to practice his attack accuracy and horse control ability. Li Xu suffered a lot. He practiced alone for two days. On the morning of the third day, he went to the coppersmith to show off his skills. As expected, he was beaten more frequently.
big reduction
The coppersmith fought with him again. After familiarizing himself with the basic movement requirements of the horse for more than ten days, he ordered Li Xu to pull up the wooden stakes and rearrange them. They were no longer allowed to line up in two straight rows, but were buried in staggered positions.
infantry formation shape
Li Xu followed the instructions and gradually became able to move his horse through a group of wooden piles. He could cut open a straw bag with a knife in an instant without being hit by the wooden piles. When the coppersmith saw this, he ordered him to withdraw.
The wooden piles were replaced by more than a dozen wooden frames of different heights in the open space, and a straw bag filled with soil was hung on each frame. Li Xu ran past the straw bag on horseback, slashing the straw bag with a wooden knife, but he had to avoid being killed.
The straw bag swinging back hit me
This time it was much more difficult than dealing with a fixed target. Li Xu had to deal with it for another full month before he could barely get over it. In the more than three months of his martial arts training, how did Xu Dayan and Suotou Xibu redeem the captives?
He was thinking about major issues such as bargaining over matters, how to guide the Zhulin coalition forces to practice cavalry formations, how to secretly set traps for the elders of other tribes to consolidate control of the troops for Su Chuixil, etc. Xu Dayan occasionally asked him.
Come on, with Li Xu's current scheming, he can't understand the mystery, let alone make any good and effective suggestions.
He was so focused on practicing martial arts that he naturally progressed faster than ordinary people in terms of swordsmanship, horseback riding and archery. The coppersmith initially called him stupid, but later, the word "idiot" already meant a reward. The master and the apprentice immediately
To fight a knife, it was no longer just a matter of one wrapping the knife with felt so that he could keep it in order, but the other holding a sharpened scimitar and swinging it wildly. Both men's knives were wrapped with felt and dipped in cold water. Li Xu was beaten badly.
While escaping, he would occasionally take the risk of getting hit in the vital parts and create a surprise for his master. Whenever this happened, the coppersmith always scolded him for not knowing the severity of his attack, which made him unable to work for a whole day.
Li Xu apologized and went to swing the sledgehammer for his master. The coppersmith who had taken advantage of him smiled happily and praised him for his amazing physical strength and strong physical resources. He suggested that he get himself a heavier scimitar to match his superior arm strength.
match
"In a time of peace, with your figure and appearance, you would be able to carry a sword for the emperor." The coppersmith polished the mirrors for the women and boasted to Li Xu, who was blowing air in the stove.
The ceremonial sword was used exclusively by emperors on patrols. It was long and gorgeous. The holder of the sword had to be tall and burly, so that he could hold the sword in the same position for several hours without moving. Li Xu didn't know whether the master was praising his strong arm or scolding himself for being stupid. He was thinking about it.
He retorted with words, and then heard the coppersmith say: "It's a pity that your kid's beard has grown out of shape. He is only fifteen years old, and there are black hairs bulging out from his cheeks. Eat less beef from now on, otherwise the beard will grow faster!"
"
This is one of the things that bothers Li Xu the most. Scholars value "honest and honest people," and their beard must be long and beautiful. But in the past few months, he has obviously grown taller because he eats meat and drinks every day.
There are a lot of cold hairs on the face, and the hairs on the face are thick and hard, enough to compare with the hard hair on Gan Luo's body.
"As long as you grow, you won't be considered a scholar anyway. You have a long beard and sell horses, and you can't live happily if you go back and forth on the wall!" Seeing the young man cover his face and worry, the coppersmith smiled and comforted him. He already knew why Li Xu came to the outside of the wall, and said
I sympathize with the young man's plight, but I don't think there is anything to regret about losing the qualification to take the imperial examination.
"Being an official is more troublesome than practicing martial arts and fighting. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can enter the country and fight. You can know the victory or defeat at a glance. You can't stop it even if you want to. Only being an official does not depend on who has the real ability.
But who will please your boss? No matter how good you are, you won't get good results if you can't flatter your boss. If you flatter your boss, you will become a stooped person. If you are used to it, you will inevitably become a hunchback until you have a chance to straighten your back.
, I can’t stand up straight either." When the master and apprentice were drinking, the coppersmith once instilled this into Li Xu.
How could a young man who had just set foot in the mortal world understand these incisive words? He hesitated while listening, but in his heart he thought of Bu Xiaowei's majesty back then.
"That's not how the sword is used!" When Li Xu was making wild gestures with the hammer, the coppersmith couldn't help but point out that this weirdo's martial arts were very complex, ranging from common knives, swords, sticks, and spears to the uncommon iron caltrop bone.
, sledgehammer, mace, he knows a little bit about almost everything. He once danced the sword while drunk, his movements were free and neat, even more elegant than Tao Kuo's naked dance, if it weren't for the oil stains on the opponent's body
Li Xu almost suspected that he had met a legendary hidden fairy in the mountains.
"Senior, if I dance with a sword in a busy city, I'm afraid all the women in the city will wave their colorful sleeves!" After following the coppersmith for such a long time, Li Xu has learned to be a little wild and unruly, and said with a smile.
"This dance is not for others!" The coppersmith drank heavily with his hands full, his face full of youthful frivolity. Every time he drank with the young man until he became dazzled and familiar, he would remember the promise he made that day and pass on some tricks and formulas to Li Xu.
The next day, when Li Xu asked for advice on what he had learned on the first day, he forgot. The next time he was drunk, Li Xu took advantage of the drunkenness to ask questions. He changed the stick to a hammer and taught Li Xu how to be a strong man and lead the army.
After rushing into the formation, he taught Li Xu the most powerful killing method with the hammer, and then taught Li Xu how to break the hammer move. Taking advantage of the strongman, he was so drunk that he woke up and passed on the skills of breaking the spear, breaking the hammer, breaking the spear, and breaking the bones of the caltrop.
As for whether these tricks will be effective on the battlefield in the future, the coppersmith spread his hands and said frankly: "I figured this out myself when I was forging iron. I don't know if it works or not!"
Encountering such a "dark master", Li Xu had no choice but to concentrate his thoughts and strive to make breakthroughs in sword skills. The more he continued to practice, the more awkward he became with the scimitar in his hand. Some moves could clearly exert their power.
It was bigger, but the length and weight of the scimitar affected the effect of the swing. At this time, he had already had a first glimpse of the skill of the sword, and knew that all this was because his arm strength, arm length and the weight of the scimitar did not match.
Ask a coppersmith to help tailor a scimitar. The master and the apprentice worked for a long time, but they had to give up halfway because the quality of the finished product was so poor.
"The reason why the sword is curved is to ensure that the length of the blade is maximized under the same blade length, so that the power of the cavalry's two movements of chopping and drawing on horseback can be exerted. Most of the people who are hit by the scimitar are not chopped.
He died because the wound was too long and he bled to death!" The coppersmith concluded in front of a large number of unsuccessful knife blanks.
"This length and width are the limits of the scimitar on the grassland. If you want to break through, the center of gravity, weight, balance and strength must be reconsidered. With my craftsmanship, I don't think I can do it with ordinary fine iron. I should be able to find the star iron.
But you won’t be able to gather that much star iron in just three to five years!” After another failed attempt, the coppersmith said with some frustration.
Li Xu was not as pessimistic as the coppersmith when it came to collecting materials for making knives. After the news that he wanted to make a scimitar was known to several friends, the sharp archer Aslan and Duer, who had only one arm left,
The wild girl Tao Kuotuosi, Eru and others all agreed to help. The five-month winter on the grassland is about to end, and the snow on the ground is already melting. After the ice and snow are gone, everyone can
I have to go all over the grassland to find a scimitar for Li Xu.
"The snow will melt soon!" One evening in the felt tent, Xu Dayan had free time for the first time in several months, sipping milk tea like a fairy, and said to Li Xu
"Yeah!" Li Xu was still immersed in the sword skills he had newly learned during the day. He didn't reflect for a while and responded vaguely.
"Don't go help the coppersmith to forge tomorrow. Relax your strength and we will lead the army the day after tomorrow!" Xu Dayan took another sip of tea, closed his eyes and whispered as if he was intoxicated by the taste.
"Let's go?" Li Xulu was stunned for a moment, "Where are you going!"
"Xi Bu?!" Li Xu asked in shock before Xu Dayan could answer.
"Well!" Xu Dayan closed his eyes and made a sleepy voice.
The snow had begun to melt. In the middle of the night, the sound of ice falling to the ground outside the felt tent was scattered on the muddy ground. Unknowingly, Ganluo, who had grown into the size of a domestic dog, let out a long and loud cry towards the full moon in the sky.
Howling "Ouch——"
"Aww-" The nearby wild wolves shouted in agreement, and in an instant, the entire grassland was awakened from their sleep by the howling of wolves.
Note 1: One person is an enemy, which refers to martial arts and ten thousand enemies. It refers to the art of war. It can be found in "Historical Records. The Chronicles of Xiang Yu"
