Chapter 5 Spring Dawn (Grade 6, Volume 1)

  "Go and change your clothes! After you're done, report to my personal guard squad at the viewing platform below!" Fēng Chángqīng, sensing that the atmosphere around him was somewhat off, gave the order with a smile, intending to protect him.

  Unlike Gao Lishi, he didn't think that young people having ambition was a fault. Although Yuwen Zhi's performance just now was indeed a bit too flashy. Thinking back to the past, if Fang Changqing himself hadn't had a similar unyielding spirit in his heart, he wouldn't have risen from being an unknown small soldier to becoming the deputy commander of the Anxi Four Towns. Ambition is originally the source of motivation; those who are content with their current situation and spend their days thinking about getting by until they die are truly hopeless in his eyes.

  "Thanks!" Yuwen Zhi was overjoyed, and he hastily bowed to Feng Changqing before rushing off with the armor and waist token that had just been retrieved from the enemy soldier.

  As soon as he moved to the viewing platform, his arm was grabbed by Wang Xuan and Ma Fang, who had been waiting eagerly on either side. His shoulders and back were first hit with a round of old fists, and then he was let go, laughing and scolding: "Damn it, flattering is not like that! You stuck to the viewing platform and didn't want to come down! Aren't you afraid of making everyone jealous? What's more, what official position did I teach you?"

  "Look at it yourself?" Yuwen Zhi took out his waist card and handed it over with a pleased expression. The Imperial Martial School Lieutenant, ranked as eighth-grade upper, was one grade lower than Wang Xun's regular eighth-grade upper Proclamation Vice Lieutenant, but exactly one grade higher than Ma Fang's regular ninth-grade upper Benevolent Bravery School Lieutenant. This made Little Ma Fang immediately pout and grumble in discontent: "I said so, he wouldn't come down from the platform for half a day. It turns out he's infatuated!"

  "What's up with that old dog Gao Lisi, he keeps pulling me to ask this and that!" Yuwen Zhi quickly looked around and responded in a low voice.

  Wang Xuan's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this, and he quickly glanced around before whispering a reminder: "What did Gao Jun do to offend you? You're actually treating him like this. Don't forget, if it weren't for his willingness to take the lead, you'd still be locked up in Wan Nian County's prison!"

  "Who is he?" Yuwen Zhi's anger caused him to blow cold air out of his nostrils, "Ming Yun, you're wrong. If it weren't for Jia Chang sending those twenty taels of gold, would he have come forward to save me?"

  "Have you asked Jia Chang about it?" Wang Xun was taken aback, furrowing his brow as he pursued the question. "Even if Jia Chang used his wealth to bribe someone, wouldn't there need to be someone brave enough to accept it? He holds a high position and is still counting on these twenty taels to make a fortune!"

  Wang Yuwen coldly laughed and shook his head, "He indeed didn't expect to get rich from these twenty taels of gold. But it's also a case of not seeing the rabbit without releasing the hawk. Let's not talk about this anymore! In any case, in this lifetime, you, Ma Xiaozi, Zhang Dage, Lei Dage and Jia Chang's favors, I will never forget. As for others, humph..."

  "Never mind, never mind, let's not talk about this. Anyway, we won't be dealing with Gao Yunqi again in the future!" Seeing the two becoming more and more awkward, Ma Fang hurriedly stepped forward to mediate. "However, as I always say, don't think about getting me to give you a ceremonial bow. Unless it's an unavoidable formal occasion."

  "Alright, I'll give you a gift, we won't have much more meat to spare!" Wang Xun also didn't have the heart to argue with Yuwen Zhi over such a small matter, and he playfully kicked Ma Fang, smiling in agreement.

  "Beat up your colleague, fifty military sticks!" Ma Fang immediately jumped away, threatening in a low voice. Then he smiled and pulled Yuwen Zhi, "Let's go, this venue is managed by our team today, I'll take you to change clothes first!"

  As they spoke, the three of them walked away with laughter. Before long, they changed their clothes and walked back shoulder to shoulder. Wang Xun was tall and majestic, Ma Fang was slender and agile, and in between them was Yuwen Zhi, who had a unique appearance.

  At the time when the three of them had made such a big circle, on the platform, the shooting skills of the other two candidates were also evaluated. Unlike Yuwen Zhi, who chose a soft bow that saves arm strength from the equipment provided by the army in order to seek accuracy. The burly man at target 3 and the tall and thin man at target 5 both chose black lacquer bows known for their hardness, with a force of up to two stones. Among them, the three arrows shot by the burly man were all within half an inch of the target. And although the tall and thin man did not exert his arm strength to the maximum, the three arrows each occupied one side of the red heart, forming a "pin" shape.

  Because his mood had just been ruined by Yuwen Zhi's arrogant and showy performance, Gao Lishi put on a serious face and ranked Wei Jue, who was obviously better at archery than the others, as second place. The reason being that he suspected him of intentionally showing off. If one were to suddenly become careless in the arena, not only would they harm themselves, but also implicate their comrades. Meanwhile, the burly Wang Wu, because of his honest and simple appearance, did not hold back at all when shooting arrows, and was publicly declared by Gao Lishi as the first place winner. He was awarded the title of Seventh Rank Upper Grade Fruit School Lieutenant, instantly becoming a low-ranking military officer officially recorded in the imperial records.

  And that tall and thin Wei Jue, although having the suspicion of "deliberate show-off", his shooting skills were indeed seen by so many eyes. In order not to disappoint the young men from good families who came for the trial, Feng Changqing once again played the role of a good person, recommending the tall and thin man as the eighth-grade lower official of Huai Prefecture, and in the name of the deputy commander of the Anxi Four Towns, he hired him as the archery instructor to teach the soldiers under his command shooting techniques.

  Two men, one joyful and the other disappointed, both bowed silently to thank the two great generals for their kindness. Gao Lishi nodded and ordered the two to withdraw. Then he summoned the other two who had persisted until the last round, directly recruiting them into the army, starting from the position of ninth-grade Xieliang, and waiting for future promotions based on individual performance.

  The news spread, and the whole audience erupted in cheers. All the young men from good families saw hope for advancement in the comments of the two great generals. Therefore, those who did not perform well in the archery competition put their energy into the equipment arena. Those who did not stand out in the equipment arena focused on fist and foot techniques and tomorrow's trials. Even if they had no confidence in any of the four trials, they were prepared to continue trying their luck, without expecting to get a top five spot and become an officer with a scattered job. Being able to enter the Feilong Forbidden Army as a regular soldier based on overall scores was better than staying at home and eating meals under the gaze of their older brothers! Moreover, the Feilong Imperial Guard had many opportunities for advancement, and it only took three merits to rise from an ordinary soldier to a ninth-rank spearman. In the capital, every year on January 15th, during the Lantern Festival, not losing a few rounds of fire was a rare occurrence. And every summer, clearing the drainage ditches in the city could also earn considerable merit. Who knows, maybe one day they would be lucky and catch the eye of the Emperor himself, and suddenly rise to great heights!

  In the deafening cheers, Gao Lishi shook his head slightly with an amplitude that was difficult for others to detect. These young people who came to sign up today were still a bit too tender after all. Compared to the selection in the eleventh year of Kaiyuan, the talented young men from all sides who came to sign up at that time were not only one or two points different. The applicants that year wore mostly half-old coarse linen clothes, but the simple dress could not hide the vigorous and heroic spirit on their faces. And today's young masters who came to sign up, more than half of them wore brocade clothes, and the luxurious dress was a bit overdone, and the heroic spirit in their bones was worn away by the brocade clothes.

  I guessed that Gao Lishi's mood might not be very comfortable, but I couldn't guess the reason. Feng Changqing smiled and slightly raised an eyebrow at Zhou Xiangfeng beside him. Zhou Xiangfeng, also known as "Zhou Laohu" (Old Tiger Zhou), immediately understood and took a few steps forward, bowing deeply to Gao Lishi: "I've long heard that General Gao's archery skills are unmatched in the world. Unfortunately, I've never had the chance to see it for myself. Today, I'm finally lucky enough to meet you, please, General, don't be stingy and teach me!"

  "Yes, yes! I've been stationed on the border for a long time and have heard about General's marksmanship. Today, I can finally see it with my own eyes, and when I go back, I'll have something to brag about!" A group of Anxi officers followed Zhou Xiangfeng, bowing their hands in salute to Gao Lishi.

  "Get out of here! Scram!" Feng Changqing cursed in a low voice, but his face was clearly smiling.

  "Heh heh!" Zhou Lao Hu scratched the back of his head with force, backing away while looking pitifully at Gao Li Shi's face.

  Gao Lishi was taken aback by his feigned foolishness. He laughed and said loudly, "Alright, Gao certain has been showing off his eloquence just now, but he can't hide his true abilities completely. Bring me a two-stone-and-a-half hard bow, and I'll show you my skills too! If I don't hit the mark later, please don't laugh at me!" "How could we?" Zhou Lao Hu smiled and chimed in, "It's our good fortune to witness the great general's archery skills!"

  Gao Lishi smiled, casually undoing the cloak behind his shoulder. Then he stretched his limbs and took a two-stone-and-a-half heavy white birch bow from one of his personal guards. As he slowly walked towards the target, he laughed and ordered, "Set up the target at 120 paces away! If it's not at this distance, it won't show off the advantages of the white birch bow!"

  "Ready!" The guards scurried off, picked up the target and moved back twenty paces, planting it firmly at a distance of one hundred and twenty paces.

  The good family sons who had come to respond to the recruitment had already planned to go to other places to try their luck, but suddenly heard that the emperor's most favored eunuch Gao Lishi was going to demonstrate his shooting skills in public, and they all came back. Ma Fang saw this, hurriedly stepped forward to maintain order, and after a great deal of effort, finally got the good family sons re-settled, standing twenty paces behind Gao Lishi, forming a semicircle around him from afar.

  Gao Lishi selected five arrows with the most even tail feathers from his quiver and inserted them one by one into the hard ground in front of him, where he could easily reach while bending down. As he inserted the arrows, he chatted casually with Zhou Xiangfeng and others who had caught up with him, intentionally raising his voice so that most people around him could hear, "You have all been on the battlefield, your experience must be richer than mine. Although our Tang Dynasty's arrows are specially made by the Ministry of War, not every arrow is of high quality. When the enemy cavalry launches a charge at a distance of 120 steps, you can shoot at most three to five times. Therefore, selecting the arrows in advance can kill one more enemy and reduce the opportunity for the enemy to approach our formation!"

  "That's right!" Zhou Xiufeng looked back and responded loudly.

  As soon as these words were heard, some quick-witted volunteers immediately realized that General Gao was using the opportunity to point out their marksmanship skills, and they held their breath, fearing that they would miss a single word. However, some foolish people in the crowd still thought that Gao's ability to become a general was entirely due to the emperor's favoritism. So, while slightly sneering, they waited to see how Gao would make a fool of himself.

  Gao Lishi didn't have time to care about the candidates behind him, and slowly adjusted his bowstring while continuing to smile: "I said earlier that Yuwen's strength was insufficient, also with an eye on actual combat. Now our Great Tang's main strong enemy is the newly risen Dashi Kingdom in the west. Their territory is vast, and it's said that they are no longer inferior to our Great Tang. The quality of their armor is excellent, and can be compared to our Mingguang armor. If you use a soft bow made of one stone of horn to shoot at him, perhaps even if you shoot three arrows in a row, you still won't be able to bring him down from his horse. And after three arrows, he will still be at most twenty steps away from you. Even if the fourth arrow happens to hit his throat, his warhorse will trample you into a meat pie."

  "That's true. But a crossbow is easier to aim with! So many people like to take the easy way out and use a crossbow!" Zhou Xiao Feng thought for a moment, then responded loudly again.

  "No!" Gao Lishi shook his head slightly, "As the saying goes, 'full draw, tight release.' For those with small arm strength, a soft bow is of course easier to handle. But if one's arm strength is already sufficient and yet still uses a soft bow out of laziness, it will have the opposite effect."

  Without waiting for anyone to echo, he thought for a moment and continued: "Archery is all about one word - heart. Don't divide your heart, don't move your heart, have a steady heart, and in daily practice, you won't think of being lazy. Choose a bow that suits your arm strength, strive to draw it fully at once, without any pause in between. Quickly open the bow, steadily release the arrow!"

  He finished speaking, bent his waist and picked up an arrow from the ground. With a straightening motion, he had already drawn the white birch bow into a full moon shape. His fingers relaxed slightly, and the arrow shot out, carrying a gust of cold wind. "Plop" - it hit the red center of the distant target, but the force was still not exhausted, causing the target to shake violently back and forth.

  Without waiting for the target to recover, Gao Lishi had already bent down again, placing the second arrow on the bowstring. Straightening his waist, drawing the bow, and releasing the string, all movements were done in one breath, as smooth as clouds flowing across the sky. In an instant, the second arrow was inserted into the center of the target 120 steps away, tightly adjacent to the first arrow, with the tail feathers colliding and the white arrows flying wildly in all directions.

  "Good——” The crowd finally reacted, opening their throats to cheer in unison. Gao Lishi was deaf to the surrounding noise, bowing, standing up, bowing again, and standing up again, repeating this twice, and had already shot his third and fourth arrows into the bullseye.

  The whole audience of good families who came to respond to the recruitment went crazy drinking. Not afraid of not knowing goods, but afraid of comparing goods. Just now, Yuwen Zhi and others shot three arrows in a hundred steps, using about one drum time, and at least four or five breaths were used to aim each arrow. However, General Gao Lishi shot four arrows within four breaths, all hitting the red heart, and was twenty steps further away than Yuwen Zhi and others.

  Among the cheers, Gao Li put the fifth arrow on the bowstring. At this moment, the first four arrows had already squeezed the core of the target full, and it seemed that there was almost no gap for the fifth arrow to fall. He seemed to have noticed this too, and the fifth arrow was drawn but not fired. The cheers from the crowd suddenly stopped, their eyes fixed on the tip of the arrow, fearing that this arrow would miss and destroy the brilliance of the previous four arrows.

  As he spoke, Hou Yi suddenly smiled slightly and released the bowstring. It was as if everyone's heart had been taken out by the arrow, and all eyes were wide with wonder, watching as the arrow flew forward, inch by inch. "Pa", the cold light disappeared into the gap between the arrows, the fifth arrow, incredibly squeezed in between the first four arrows, standing proudly at the very center of the target!

  Note 1: Vermilion lacquer, white birch large bow, are the standard model bows of **. Long range and high accuracy.