Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 44: Wusheng Examination

Chapter 44: Wusheng Examination (Part )
As the rules of flat shooting were read out, Lu Shang concentrated and calmed his breath, staring intently at the slowly moving target in the distance, regulating his breathing. He reached out and drew an arrow, nocked it on the string, drew the bow to full length, and locked his gaze on the target.

collapse!
The sharp arrow flew off the string and hit the bull's eye steadily, and exclamations were heard all around.

Lu Shang's face was calm as he shot several arrows in succession. Every arrow hit the target and the feathers trembled.

This art of horseback archery is similar to martial arts, and both require precise control of strength, speed, and balance.

Lü Shang, with his extraordinary martial arts accomplishments, was a master of many disciplines, not just horseback archery. With his precise control of mind, body, and strength, shooting from horseback, on foot, and even horizontally was a simple feat for him.

"it is good,"

Yang Lin, who was inspecting the training ground, saw Lu Shang's archery skills and blurted out.

"Thousand years old..."

Seeing the chief examiner Yang Lin applauding, the invigilator beside him immediately whispered to Yang Lin about Lu Shang's performance in the horse archery and foot archery tests.

After learning of Lu Shang's achievements, Yang Lin smiled and nodded, saying to his attendants, "I never thought that fool Lu Yongji would have such an outstanding son. They all say that the Duke of Qi's son acts eccentrically and doesn't follow the rules. Now you can see for yourself, isn't this child a general?"

Yang Lin had a very good first impression of Lu Shang. After all, he was his sister-in-law's nephew. Although Yang Lin called Lu Kutao sister-in-law, he actually treated her as his mother. It is said that an elder sister-in-law is like a mother, and Yang Lin deeply understands this.

You have to know that when Lü Kutao first entered the Yang family, Yang Lin was only a child. Although Yang Lin was Yang Zhong's younger brother, he was raised by Lü Kutao as his own son since childhood, and often called his sister-in-law "sister-in-law", showing a deep affection for her.

So I feel gratified when I see my sister-in-law's grandchildren become successful.

Fellow examiner Yang Su pondered for a moment and said softly, "He is indeed a capable general and can be of great use!"

Lu Shang is extremely skilled in horse archery, foot archery, and horizontal archery. With this ability, even if he fails in the later two items of horse spear and Qiaoguan, he is still worthy of making friends.

The most important thing is that although Lu Shang was born into the emperor's mother's family, the Lu family was not a prominent family. They only became prominent because of Yang Jian's mother, Empress Yuanming. The only person they could rely on was the emperor Yang Jian, so they could gain the emperor's trust.

Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, who was a descendant of Yang Jian like Lu Shang, was also an extremely skilled archer. He was once selected from the elite candidates and is still praised today.

It's just that Li Yuan's family background was too high. His grandfather Li Hu was the Taiwei of the Western Wei Dynasty and one of the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty. He was given the surname Daye. His father Li Bing was the Imperial Censor, Governor of Anzhou, and General of the Pillar of the State of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He inherited the title of Duke of Tang. His mother was the sister of the current Queen Dugu Qieluo.

Because of his background, Li Yuan was destined to be valued, but rarely trusted.

Sometimes having a good family background can also be a disadvantage.

The invigilator and his left and right generals saw that the chief examiner and the co-examiners all spoke up for Lu Shang. When they looked at this young man again, they could no longer hide their envy.

At this age and with such a background, he truly has a bright future!

Just as everyone was envious of Lu Shang, another exclamation was heard from the crowd not far away.

"Good archery,"

In the horse archery field, Xin Yongfeng, dressed in a sturdy outfit, sat steadily astride a chestnut horse. His longbow was like a full moon, and his arrow shot out like a meteor, whistling with the wind as it accurately hit the bull's eye.

collapse!collapse!collapse!
Almost at the same moment, he quickly pulled out the second arrow, drew the bow, and released the arrow in one go.

This arrow also hit the center of the target steadily, almost overlapping with the first arrow.

Then, he shot the third and fourth arrows without stopping. The surrounding candidates were stunned by Xin Yongfeng's continuous archery skills, and then burst into loud cheers and applause.

Xin Yongfeng seemed to have heard nothing and continued to concentrate on drawing the bow and arrow, without any distractions.

As the last arrow hit the target, he slowly put down the bow and breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, the cheers from the surroundings reached a crescendo. Yang Lin also looked sideways and asked the invigilator, "Who is this person? How can he have such skills?"

After looking through the candidate's family statement, the invigilator said, "This is Xinyongfeng, Jiangling."

"Jiangling? Southerner?"

Yang Lin narrowed his eyes and said, "This boy's continuous arrows are extraordinary!"

Yang Lin was also impressed by this skilled southerner. He hadn't seen such a beautiful string of arrows in many years.

His eyes were fixed on Xin Yongfeng, his expression full of admiration.

After watching for a moment, Yang Lin nodded slightly and said to the invigilator beside him, "Pay special attention to this person. It's rare to find someone so skilled in riding and shooting among the southerners."

Fellow examiner Yang Su's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and he added, "Your Highness, the Southern Dynasty's horse policy was not well developed, and war horses were in short supply. Xin Yongfeng, a southerner, is surprisingly skilled in riding and shooting, which shows that he has an extraordinary family background!"

Yang Lin murmured, "Yes, that's right. Southerners are good at riding and shooting. Xin Yongfeng, Southern Dynasty, the new surname of the Southern Dynasty is a noble family. Could it be Xin Deqing? If this kid didn't change his name, and Xin Yongfeng is his real name, then he must be a descendant of Xin Deqing."

"If he is really a descendant of Xin Deqing, then we cannot let this kid leave our Great Sui."

Thinking of Xin Deqing, this stubborn and stinking old man, Yang Lin looked at Xin Yongfeng with a different look. If Xin Deqing's descendants entered the Sui Dynasty, it would be a heavy blow to the morale of the Southern Chen people.

If Xin Yongfeng is used well, he can be worth 30,000 soldiers.

The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark. The invigilators of various venues were riding on horseback and loudly announcing the end of today's martial arts test. The preliminary tests such as horse spear and crossbow will continue at 3:15 am tomorrow.

The examinees' expressions varied. Some looked tired but excited, while others frowned, exasperated. In the crowd, Shang Silang was wiping his spear. He glanced at the examinee next to him and shook his head silently.

Unlike Lü Shang and Xin Yongfeng, who had just shown their prowess, Shang Silang and Wei Cheng's horse archery, foot archery, and horizontal archery skills were only average. So, although they had also passed the three levels, they didn't attract the same attention as Lü Shang and the other two.

In fact, among the thousands of candidates in the military examination, there were quite a few who had solid basic skills like Wei Cheng and Shang Silang, who were able to pass the three levels smoothly. The real difficulty was the horse spear, and the most important one was the jump.

Horse lance shooting requires not only superb riding skills but also the ability to accurately strike the target while running, a test of the coordination of hand, eye, body, technique, and footwork. The challenge of archery is strength. For a warrior, horseback archery is a minor skill; strength is the fundamental principle.

After watching the candidates leave the examination hall, Yang Lin turned to the invigilator and said, "Please sort out the family records of the candidates who performed well in the three rounds today. I want to take a closer look."

"These people are all good talents. With a little training, perhaps they can become some real pillars of society."

The invigilator quickly agreed and hurried off to do his work.

Yang Lin and Yang Su strolled toward the training grounds. As they walked, Yang Su said thoughtfully, "Your Highness, tomorrow's cavalry and crossbow competitions are the real highlights of this martial arts test. In your opinion, will this New Yongfeng team come out on top?"

(End of this chapter)

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