Zhurou

Chapter 168 Gifts
Pei Yong didn't agree immediately, nor did he refuse, he just said: "With your current strength, if you go to the battlefield with a knife and ax in hand, how many people can you kill?"

Xiao Wu hugged the clay pot, tongue-tied, unable to give an answer.

Given his age and strength at this time, if he really went to the battlefield, it would be a waste of time to die.

He strengthened himself and said boldly: "It really made me enter the camp, so I must put my heart into practicing soldiers and martial arts."

Pei Yong said again: "If you are already twenty years old at this time, practice martial arts in the camp for three months, and then go to the battlefield with weapons, how many people can you kill?"

Xiao Wu paused for a moment, as if he was thinking about it. Before long, he gritted his teeth and said, "How many others can kill? I risked my life, but I can always kill two more than them!"

Pei Yong was noncommittal, and asked again: "If you are 23 years old, you are selected into the elite cavalry battalion, and form a killing formation with your brave and skilled comrades, how many enemies can you kill?"

Suddenly, Xiao Wu's breathing became more rapid, and he stood up straighter, as if he was thinking of himself riding a tall horse, holding a sword and a bow, and the arrows hit the ground, full of bandits' blood.

He said loudly: "It can kill many, maybe twenty!"

In his eyes, if one person can kill twenty thieves, he would die without regret.

Pei Yong said again: "You have made meritorious service all the way, and you are familiar with Lu Jun. The imperial court gave you a hundred-man army, how many people can you kill?"

Xiao Wu stood blankly.

When he was a child, he also fought "battles" with his fellow villagers with mud soldiers, but it was just for fun. Now that Pei Yong asked this question, he felt that it was beyond what he could imagine in his head. He wanted to answer, but he was afraid of making mistakes. Don't dare to give a number easily.

However, Pei Yong didn't really ask him to give a definite answer, and continued to ask: "You are straight up, you are familiar with the art of war, you have experienced many battles, and you are familiar with strategy. Several people?"

Xiao Wu couldn't even open his mouth.

Pei Yong said in a low voice: "When the dynasty opened, the Emperor Taizu used [-] soldiers, defeated [-] enemy soldiers, won more than [-] heads, captured nearly [-] prisoners, and wounded countless enemies - then I will make a choice for you. Would you like to go into battle at this time and hold the battle?" Slash bandits with knives and axes, or study martial arts in the future, and then join the army?"

Xiao Wu was at a loss.

He wanted to choose, but he didn't dare to choose, he was deeply afraid that if he chose the former, he would be considered too ambitious, and he was afraid that if he chose the latter, he would be seen as timid.

Pei Yongdao: "You are not old enough to join the army, but since you have such ambitions, you should start planning well from today, so that when you reach twenty, you can join the camp by yourself."

"If you can be over five feet six in the future, and you can shoot an arrow through Yang at fifty paces, you will be selected for the Brave Army, and you will have the opportunity to lead the army to kill the enemy as soon as possible."

He changed the subject and said again: "Only going to battle to kill the enemy cannot rely on bravery alone. Only those who know the road, geography, and climate can act according to the situation. Only those who know the art of war and arithmetic can arrange troops to march and prepare supplies. Supplies—if there is not enough food and grass, I will give you millions of soldiers and horses, can you walk and kill the enemy when you are hungry?"

Although Xiao Wu half-understood what he heard, he also knew that arithmetic and the art of war were not easily learned by the people on the other side. He raised his head and asked, "How can I learn so many skills?"

Pei Yongdao: "If you can read characters, know how to read sentences, and be able to write thousands of words, you can read "Zhushu" and "Jigu Suanjing", learn "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", and recognize "Tianguan Shu", "Tianwen Xun", "Shi Shi "Calendar" to observe the astrology and climate..."

"If you want to stand out, you must be good at riding and shooting..."

After listening to counting a few things, the light in Xiao Wu's eyes has gradually dimmed.

It is said that poor literature is rich in martial arts, but even if they can learn literature, how can they be really poor?

He is so poor that he doesn't even want to take an extra bite of his meal. A month ago, he even ate his last meal and didn't finish his next meal. He didn't know when he would starve to death.How can I have spare money to buy paper and ink, let alone Shuxiu.

As for the so-called archery on horseback, let alone think about it.

Holding the pot, his anger was already half lost, but he refused to give up completely after all, he stood still and refused to move away, then turned his head to look at Zhao Mingzhi.

Zhao Mingzhi didn't say a word, raised the cup in his hand, and drank the bean water in it.

For some reason, Xiao Wu was suddenly blessed. He walked up to Pei Yong with the pot in his arms, held up the pot to look at it, and said, "General, please show me the way!"

Pei Yong didn't speak, and was quiet for a while.

The rough pottery pot had a big belly and a tall body, and it was filled with more than half of the pot of bean water, which was heavy.

Xiao Wu was not very old at first, and his strength was not enough. Now that he was hungry and full, his arm strength was even weaker. It was a bit difficult to lift the pot, and his arms were trembling, but he never retracted the clay pot halfway. .

Everyone in the room saw something, everyone held their breath, and no one dared to speak out.

After a while, Pei Yong moved the cups on the table to the edge of the table, and lightly tapped the edge of the table with his index finger.

Xiao Wu's heart was beating so fast that his ears could almost hear the sound of "thumping" in his chest.

He hastily stepped forward and put down the clay pot with shaking hands, and carefully filled the empty cups on the table with a whole cup.

Pei Yong raised his glass to the brim, put the cup back on the table, looked at Xiao Wu and said, "In the future, if you can win the two rankings and still have the heart to join the army, I will ask for it from the court. If you can win the martial arts exam , I will also take you under my command, as for whether to be a soldier or a general, it depends on your ability."

His request was so high, whether it was literary or martial arts, all the people at the table sighed.

For ordinary people, regardless of Wen Lu or Wu Lu, it is as difficult as climbing the sky. How is this different from bluntly refusing?
Pei Yong ignored the reactions of others, and continued: "His Royal Highness is making Guozixue run the Enlightenment Academy, regardless of age or origin, as long as someone in the family recognizes the land, or enlists into the city defense army, or is building the city wall, Whether it is a child in the family, or myself, the academy will not reject anyone who comes, and they can all enroll..."

"Since you have ambitions, it's time to learn from others. Don't disappoint His Highness."

As soon as these words came out, not only Xiao Wu was surprised and delighted, but also Lady Deng who was sitting across from him also exclaimed, Baba went to see Zhao Mingzhi.

Mrs. Deng has two daughters and one son. Although the son is young, the daughter is already sensible. If she can read a few words and learn arithmetic, even if she goes to an outside shop to order others, she will get a few more copper coins. As for her, she can't even write her own name.

Zhao Mingzhi saw that everyone was looking at him, so he nodded in response, and said: "A few days ago, I sent people to screen houses in and outside the city, and when I decide on a place, I will choose from Guozixue and Harem. Gentlemen and gentlemen as professors..."

"The battle in Xuzhou has not stopped, and there is a shortage of troops in the city. In addition to the Enlightenment Academy, I also have the idea of ​​​​setting up another construction team. At least half of the current militiamen and city defense troops will be withdrawn. As for the lack of manpower, I want to recruit from among the women. How many working hours are divided into the day, and the remuneration is paid according to the working hours—even if you don’t know if it works, you can try it.”

"Wait to prepare a backup team first and choose the leader. I am also under her. I work one or two hours a day..."

As Zhao Mingzhi said, he looked at Mrs. Zou, and said: "The last time my lady said that when she was in my hometown, she used to build houses by herself, laying walls and laying soil. It would be better to teach laying bricks again."

He laughed again: "Although I am a stupid apprentice, I just hope that I will not dislike him."

Although she vaguely revealed that there might be a change in errands before, she had never made it clear like today. Lady Zou nodded hurriedly, then shook her head and said, "Your Highness, how stupid!"

He said again: "Don't worry, although I am not as brave as those brave ones, if I have a way to exchange for money, I can also exert my strength - there are many women like me, even if a person can't hold a stone, The three of us hugging together, how can we be worse than others?"

"Let me tell you, some people seem to have great strength, but in fact they are not as careful as we are in doing things, and they are often lazy, and they are not as good as us. Everyone has their own advantages, so we may not necessarily lose..."

Before she could finish speaking, Mrs. Deng and an old woman on the opposite side had already nodded and echoed: "That's the reason, they may not be strong, but five or six out of ten will be lazy..."

Li, who was at the side, heard that their words were becoming more and more unreal, so he coughed several times in a hurry, and then stopped the chatter of several people.

Zhao Mingzhi then talked about a few ideas. For example, she also plans to set up nursing homes and Salesian Villages in the refugee camps. The former takes care of the elderly, the weak, the sick, widowed and lonely, and the latter gathers children. If the parents really can't take care of the child, they can send the child to the hospital for temporary care as long as they pay a certain amount of money every day.

These matters should have been led by the yamen, but they couldn't make time, so they planned to let her pay the money first, select capable women, and see if they could continue to operate in the future.

As soon as these few things were brought up, everyone at the table was overjoyed, and they scrambled for advice.

—Which family does not have old people and children?

These are all real stakes. The better and more detailed the work is, the more benefits everyone will get.

The walls of the house here are thin, and the doors and windows are wide open. From the outside, not only can you see everything at a glance, but if you are a little closer, you can clearly see what is said inside.

Everyone was eating in the house. There were many people surrounded by people from far and near outside, but they dared not approach because of the guards around them. There are more and more people, and they are getting closer and closer, and some people can't help but talk through the doors and windows.

Because of the signal, the guards didn't stop them much. As they talked, the small house was already surrounded by three floors inside and three floors outside.

Seeing that everyone at the scene was very caring, Zhao Mingzhi simply recruited the outsiders to come over and take a pen and paper to record them one by one, and planned to study them carefully after returning home.

At the end of the table, no one remembered to persuade them to drink and persuade the food. Seeing that the shadow of the sun was slightly shifted, it was already two o'clock, Mu Xiang came in repeatedly to remind him, and Zhao Mingzhi also knew that there were important things ahead, so he hurriedly got up and left.

At this time, Mrs. Deng was sitting opposite Zhao Mingzhi, and she hurriedly raised a large tureen at her hand and said, "My lord, this is my self-brewed fermented glutinous rice wine. Although the taste of the wine is strong, it is not very intoxicating. It is best to use it as wine. The eggs were sent to the city yesterday for sale, and half a jar was sold in just one night.”

As he spoke, he did not know where to find a piece of cloth to wrap the gaiwan, and then personally handed it to Zhao Mingzhi, saying: "Bring it back to the palace, nobleman, one day..."

When she said this, she stopped talking again, and looked at Mu Xiang, and then sent the covered bowl to Mu Xiang's hand, saying: "Sister, please help me take it back, remember to ask someone to burn it at night Turn on the fire, boil the fermented glutinous rice with water, take the eggs, if there are no eggs, you can use duck eggs, or stir them up with chopsticks, or knock them in whole, boil them half-cooked and give them to the nobles - very nourishing .”

He said again: "The nobleman will go to farm during the day, and after a while he will have to repair the wall and lay bricks. I don't know how many things will be done in the future. Considering his age, he is actually not much older than my daughter. How can he bear this kind of suffering..."

When had Mu Xiang seen such a posture, she was about to reach out to stop her, but Mrs. Deng stuffed the tureen into her hand, and neither put it nor took it.

And with her starting, everyone on the table also started to dig things out of their bosoms and the ground.

Not only them, but also the refugees who had gathered here hurriedly went home, and some of them who had prepared early, put the ceremony on their body, and they also came to offer at this time.

Seeing that this posture was very wrong, the guards hurriedly gathered over.

Zhao Mingzhi reached out to take the tureen from Mrs. Deng, and said, "Thank you for such a good thing. I'll keep it myself. I'll make boiled eggs to eat tonight."

Then he looked at the rest of the people and said: "There are many opportunities to meet again in the future. There will always be a day that disturbs everyone. In fact, there is something to do later, so I won't stay longer today."

After finishing speaking, she hugged the tureen and bowed beside her, causing countless people to rush to return the salute, and some of them didn't know what happened later, when they saw the person in front salute, they also saluted themselves.

Everyone bowed and bowed, bowed their hands, blessed the body, everyone only paid attention to returning the salute seriously, but they all performed their own salutes, which were completely different and chaotic, making the atmosphere inside and outside the room hard to describe, if only it was dignified , and there is a bit more inexplicable taste in it.

When a group of people came out of the camp, they walked all the way, and there were more people behind them.

They followed from a distance, and they didn't come close together, for fear of blocking the road, but they refused to leave, as if they had to watch the princess guard of honor go far before they would disperse.

Zhao Mingzhi didn't dare to delay any longer, he quickly got into the car and waved goodbye to everyone.

Mrs. Zou and her party naturally followed to see off, but Xiao Wu was a few steps away, standing not far behind Pei Yong.

Pei Yong didn't notice it at first, and when he saw Zhao Mingzhi got into the carriage, and confirmed that the driver was in place, and the rest of the place was in place, Fu then took the reins of his own horse, didn't get on the horse, but suddenly turned his head away.

"Kid," he said.

Xiao Wu reacted, and hurried forward with small steps.

Pei Yongdao: "My background is similar to yours. My grandparents have been farming in the countryside for generations. My biological father died early. When I was five years old, I led the cows with a rope, drove ducks with willow branches, and looked at the handwriting on the tombstones of various families on the mountain. , and dipped his hands in water to smear the stone, as a temporary post."

"I also don't have the money to pay for Shuxiu. First, I wake up every day after dark, and then go to my husband's house to deliver firewood and water, wash and cook, and I just want to study outside the classroom..."

He only mentioned a few words, and then said: "Later, I was admitted to the academy, and most of my classmates were from aristocratic families. Since elementary school, I have six arts, and you have mastered riding and shooting. I am far behind, so I recommended my article on the magistrate's case. Collected "Wu Jing Zong Yao", and used his famous post to visit craftsmen, and taught himself how to make bows and arrows..."

"After I became familiar with the structure of the bow and arrow, and knew where the force is exerted and where the force is received, I then learned to draw the bow and shoot the arrow. Sure enough, I am three points better than ordinary people..."

A few words made Xiao Wu's eyes straighten.

Speaking of this, Pei Yong paused and said: "When I see you today, it's like seeing myself in the past."

After hearing this sentence, Xiao Wu couldn't help raising his head and shouting: "General!"

Pei Yong responded lightly, got on his horse, reined in his horse and turned around again, and finally said: "Goodbye."

Simple two words, as if saying something, but not saying anything.

That night, two Xiying soldiers came to Mrs. Zou's house, bringing a bow and two books.

The leading soldier pointed to the bow and said to Xiao Wu: "Jedu specifically confessed that this is the first bow he made according to the drawing in the book when he was young, and he always carries it with him. This time I give it to you as a souvenir."

The other handed over the scroll and said: "This is handwritten by Jiedu. If you want to learn how to make bows and arrows yourself, you might as well use it as a reference."

Xiao Wu took the bow and held the scroll, he felt that the fire in his heart was burning hotter, making his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, eyes, ears, hands and feet all heat up, as if he had inexhaustible energy all of a sudden.

(End of this chapter)