Chapter Thirteen: The First Encounter with Liao Yun

  Yun Qi slowly got down from the carriage with a gloomy face, filled with regret. Looking at the somewhat smug prince, Yun Qi could only give up. How could ordinary people compete with the most powerful capitalist?

  "Yun Qi, hurry up!" The crown prince who was walking ahead shouted without turning his head.

  Looking at the prince in front of him, wearing a blue palace dress with golden silk and dragon embroidery, Yun Qi rolled his eyes and muttered: "Just now you called me Brother Yun, now you're calling my name directly, really not treating me as a dish!"

  Two men, one in front and one behind, stepped into the gate of the entire Dongjinwei camp. The soldiers on duty at the gate saw the prince arrive, quickly knelt down on one knee, clasped their fists, and respectfully said: "Greetings to Your Highness!"

  "No gift"

  The prince smiled and helped up the soldier who was closest to him, asking: "Who is the officer on duty today?"

  The soldier was still in the midst of excitement from being helped up by the prince and didn't hear for a moment. At this time, a soldier next to him spoke up and replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, it's Deputy Commander Liao."

  The crown prince was slightly stunned and asked in surprise: "Deputy Commander Liao? How did he end up on duty? Isn't it always the case that only Husband takes on this responsibility?"

  The soldier bowed his head and replied respectfully: "This... I don't know, Your Highness. Please move to the commander's tent first, and I will go invite Deputy Commander Liao."

  The prince turned around and looked at Yun Qi again, then said to the soldier: "No need, I brought someone with me. You lead the way in front and take us on a tour."

  "Yes! Your Highness!"

  Following the soldier, Yun Qi looked around and found that the overall layout of the military camp was a three-sided barracks, with all the houses made of canvas tents, perhaps for convenience. The other side was a wooden wall made of logs as high as one person, and there was only one exit in the military camp, which was the entrance they had just entered. The area surrounded by the wooden wall was about the size of two football fields. Yun Qi had no impression of such a structure, and it was his first time seeing it. The prince had said earlier that this was a military camp composed of more than 2,000 people. If placed in the world where Yun Qi used to live, it would be a regimental unit. If it belonged to a large military region, the area occupied by a regimental unit would not be less than the area occupied by a university. From one company to another, they often had to drive, and a comprehensive drill ground for year-end assessment was probably as big as the entire military camp.

  After a while, they bypassed the barracks and arrived at the edge of the training ground. The soldiers who were originally training seriously saw someone coming and recognized that it was the prince. As a result, the entire training ground became more lively. Several captains in charge of the training saw that it was the prince who had come, and immediately ran up to him, one after another, to pay their respects.

  "Is Vice Commander Liao present?" the Crown Prince asked.

  "Oh, over there..."

  Following the direction of a husband's finger, a bare-chested and muscular back appeared in Yun Qi's line of sight. Although it was far away, Yun Qi could still see that the strong man had a ferocious scar on his back, from his shoulder to his waist, which made Yun Qi imagine how brutal the person who inflicted this wound must have been.

  The strong man responded to the soldier's reminder, turned his head around and found that the prince and others were looking over here. He smiled awkwardly, took a shirt from a soldier's hand, quickly put it on, and ran over.

  "Then he will meet with the Crown Prince."

  He rushed to the front of the prince, and the strong man respectfully saluted, while also secretly wondering in his heart. This prince rarely came to the military camp, even if there was something, he would often call the eunuchs from the palace to convey it, why did he come personally today?

  When he got closer, Yun Qi finally took a good look at the man's appearance. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, with an upright air about him, and his features were square and sturdy. This kind of face was one that Yun Qi only needed to see once before not wanting to look again, because in Yun Qi's memory, this kind of face was very unlikable - stubborn, inflexible, and obstinate, the type who would rather die than yield, and even ten oxen couldn't drag him back.

  "Liao Deputy Commander, rise. I just asked the soldiers and they said you were on duty today. What's going on?" The Crown Prince asked.

  Liao Yun stood up and casually wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, saying: "Oh, today was originally supposed to be Zhang Chang's shift, but his wife gave birth today, so I gave him a few days off. The other husbands in the camp are all busy with their own tasks, and there aren't any extra people, so I'm filling in for him for a day."

  It turned out to be this way, Yun Qi nodded secretly in his heart, such an officer is very rare in later generations.

  The prince said, "I see." Then he pointed to Yun Qi beside him and said, "This is a friend of mine. I brought him here today and will give everyone a surprise later. Can you take us to the general's tent first? I have something to discuss with you.

  "Yes! Your Highness!"

  Led by Liao Yun, the group arrived at the largest tent in the military camp. The white thick canvas was brushed with a layer of unknown oil on the outside, estimated to be used for rainproofing, reflecting the sunlight that shone on it. When they lifted the curtain, the interior was very simple: a main table with a jug of wine and two book scrolls on it, and two rows of horse saddles placed on either side. The four walls inside the tent were also surrounded by bamboo strips for fixation purposes. On the wall opposite the main table hung an ancient-style long sword, next to which hung a helmet with a glossy black finish, this was the entire layout of the commander's tent, simple yet dignified.

  The prince entered the commander's tent and sat down on the chair behind the main table, looking up at Yun Qi standing beside him and saying: "I have some military affairs to discuss with Vice Commander Liao, you can go out and take a stroll." After finishing speaking, he also gave Yun Qi a wink, meaning that it was about his business, but it was inconvenient for him to be here, so he should go wherever he wanted, and after the discussion was over, he would call him in again.

  Yun Qi nodded in understanding, bowed back to the prince, and then nodded at Liao Yun beside him before walking out.

  Yun Qi stood outside the tent, thinking to himself: Since the prince has intentionally sent him away, he might as well take a look at how the so-called elite soldiers of this era are trained. With that thought in mind, he walked towards the training grounds along the same route he had taken earlier.

  Once again standing at the edge of the training ground, looking around at the soldiers in training everywhere, but without the panic that appeared when he saw the prince earlier, Yun Qi secretly praised: focusing on training, except for seeing his own direct superiors, he can maintain a state of training at all times, and his discipline is not inferior to that of later generations of soldiers.

  The ground was a flat open space, covered with a layer of fine sand, presumably to reduce the inevitable pain from accidents. Yun Qi found that inside the field, there were constant shouts and soldiers divided into several hundred-man squads, but what they were practicing were some monotonous basic moves, nothing more than anti-strike punches, stabbing, close combat and other such training. If it was just for fighting on the battlefield in the future, it would be barely acceptable, but to become the elite troops in Yun Qi's heart, it was far from enough.

  Just then, Yun Qi saw a group of soldiers practicing archery at the other end of the school field. The round target was made of straw and had a red circle painted in the middle. The soldiers stood fifty paces away, holding long bows, waiting for a certain captain to give the order: "Fire!"

  "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh"

  Suddenly, more than a dozen bows and arrows were fired in unison, flying towards the target on the opposite side. After one round of shooting, Yun Qi's heart was clear: it turned out that not everyone's archery skills were so outstanding. At first glance, without mentioning the two big-headed soldiers who missed the target directly, no one actually hit the center of the red circle in the target, and most of them deviated from the target, hitting the surrounding area. Looking again at the arrows shot into the target, their postures were also very different. Some arrows pointed upwards, obviously thrown, while some arrows hung on the target, indicating that the archer's strength was insufficient. However, not a single arrow was shot straight in. It seems that the 50-step distance has reached the limit of the soldiers' archery skills in this era.

  The subsequent widespread use of these crossbows in the army was even more filled with confidence.

  ……………………

  P.S: Finally, there are multiple "shooting" (characters), Old Mo admits that he has become evil... Old Mo is going to sleep now! Don't forget to vote, everyone.