Two hundred paces away, the arrow pierced the five armors.
All the monarchs, ministers and soldiers in the school field were shocked, and Li Qinzai was also shocked.
He made the Divine Arm Bow. No one knew better than him how far it could shoot and how much damage it could produce at what distance.
Xue Rengui's arrow obviously exceeded his creator's expectations.
While the audience cheered, Li Qinzai squinted at Xue Rengui in the center of the school field, especially the divine arm bow in Xue Rengui's hand.
After looking at it carefully, Li Qinzai finally understood.
The Divine Arm Bow is an improvement on the basis of today's bows and arrows, and the Divine Arm Bow in Xue Rengui's hand has been improved again. Its arms are longer and the bow string is thicker. Although it is not known what material the bow arms are made of, it is certain that it is , it must be harder and tougher than the original God's Arm Bow material.
In other words, this is an enhanced divine arm bow that Xue Rengui specially built for himself.
No wonder it can penetrate five layers of armor and still have little power left.
However, this is only a special case and cannot be replicated. After all, there are only a few people in the world who can control this enhanced divine arm bow. This kind of strength and accuracy are not something ordinary generals can achieve.
There is only one Xue Rengui in the world.
On the command platform, Li Zhi was overjoyed and praised with rare excitement: "General Xue is so majestic!"
The veterans nearby also laughed and praised.
After Taizong, the famous generals of the Tang Dynasty were gradually withering away, and all the famous generals were getting old. Among the new generation of famous generals, only Xue Rengui was more outstanding. Today, Xue Rengui showed his skills in front of the emperor, which made the monarchs, ministers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty become more and more passionate. Datang's future is full of confidence.
"Pass an edict to grant Xue Rengui twelve taels of gold and increase the number of households in the city by a hundred." Li Zhi said with a hearty laugh.
The person from Zhongshushe next to him hurriedly drafted an edict.
Li Zhi rewarded Xue Rengui face to face, not only for Xue Rengui's personal force, but also for Xue Rengui's actions, which instantly stimulated the morale of the army.
One arrow penetrated the five armors, and the morale of the army soared. It had a very important motivating effect on the upcoming Northern Expedition to Tiele. This move is worth a lot of money.
Soon, Li Zhi's decree spread throughout the army, and the soldiers were envious and shouted excitedly.
Xue Rengui was also very excited. After having enough limelight, he galloped towards the command podium, obviously intending to thank the emperor in person.
But at this moment, an accident happened.
After galloping for a hundred steps, the horse under Xue Rengui suddenly staggered and fell to one side involuntarily.
Xue Rengui's expression changed while he was riding on the horse. Despite his superb riding skills, he did not panic. He suddenly clamped the horse's belly and pulled the reins hard on the other side, trying to save the horse from losing control.
However, after several efforts, the war horse was still unable to control its body. After letting out a mournful cry, it suddenly fell to one side.
Suddenly, Xue Rengui jumped into the air. The moment the horse fell to the ground, Xue Rengui had already landed on his feet, rolled on the spot with inertia, and stood up without any injuries.
This scene shocked the emperor, ministers and soldiers. Seeing that Xue Rengui was unharmed in the end, everyone cheered.
In a sudden change of opportunity, Xue Rengui's unintentional move won applause again.
Xue Rengui looked back at the war horse, with a look of distress in his eyes.
This horse has followed him in many battles, and it is his most beloved war horse. Unexpectedly, it still ends up on the school field.
The war horse still fell in the dust, its eyes filled with painful tears, one front hoof kept spasming and twitching, and blood oozed from the end of the hoof.
There were discerning people on the school grounds, and everyone could tell that the horse was probably dead.
On the command platform, all the veterans also sighed.
"It should be that the horse's hoofs are worn out. Lao Xue's horse has been with him for more than ten years. It is too old to fight anymore." Su Dingfang shook his head and sighed.
Liang Jianfang said regretfully: "It is a good horse. It is said that it was bought from the Western Regions with a lot of money. Old Xue liked this horse very much. I wanted to exchange it for a thousand gold coins, but Old Xue Jian refused."
Everyone felt very sorry.
The meaning of a war horse to a general is no different than the closest comrade-in-arms and the most trusted relative. People who have never been in the military will not understand this deep feeling.
Xue Rengui looked a little embarrassed due to the sudden accident, but he didn't care about it. He leaned over and kept rubbing the body of the war horse, whispering something in its ear from time to time, as if comforting and regretting.
After a long time, the war horse was lifted up by several members of the Xue family. Xue Rengui came to the command post listlessly and saluted Li Zhi to apologize.
Li Zhi also felt very sorry for him. He comforted Xue Rengui while feeling distressed. He also ordered his ministers to select a good horse for the palace and give it to Xue Rengui.
The injured war horse was carried by the troops to the command platform. Soon the doctor accompanying the army came forward to check and treat it. After checking for a long time, the doctor shook his head with regret.
Li Qinzai stood in the corner without making a sound for a long time. The emperor was present, but he didn't know the etiquette of meeting the emperor, so he didn't dare to speak nonsense.
Seeing the injured war horse's front hoofs spasming and bleeding, Li Qinzai's brows furrowed as he looked carefully at the end of the hoof.
On the command platform, when everyone was feeling sorry, a very unconventional voice suddenly came out from the crowd.
"Are you stupid? Why don't you put shoes on your war horse?"
The sound was so quiet that almost no one heard it.
"Almost" no one heard it, but eventually someone with sharp ears heard it.
Although the veterans are old, they are all people with sharp ears and eyes.
Others didn't hear it, but Liang Jianfang, who was closest to Li Qinzai, heard it clearly.
"Huh? What do you mean, kid? What fallacy are you talking about?" Liang Jianfang gently hooked Li Qinzai's shoulder.
Li Qinzai was startled and said hurriedly: "It's nothing. The kid has a bad mind and talks nonsense all the time. Don't blame Grandpa Liang."
Unexpectedly, Liang Jianfang was a very serious person. He shook his head and said, "No, you were not talking nonsense just now. Please tell me carefully, what is it about putting shoes on a war horse? Can a war horse wear shoes?"
Li Qinzai was confused for a moment.
Because of ignorance, I show my timidity, so I dare not speak nonsense.
Because he was not sure whether horseshoes had been invented in this era. After all, he clearly saw that the horses on the school field already had saddles and stirrups. There was no reason that horseshoes had not been invented yet.
If horseshoes were introduced, Li Qinzai would make a fool of himself in front of the emperor, and Li Ji would really beat him to death if he turned around.
"Speak, you are stunned. What do you want to say? If you have a good idea, don't hide it. This is a major matter for the country and the people." Liang Jianfang urged impatiently.
The voice of the words was a little louder, and the eyes of Empress Li Zhiwu and the generals on the command platform suddenly focused on the two of them, looking at them curiously.
Li Qinzai's face suddenly turned red after receiving the attention of so many people, including the emperor and queen, as well as a group of veteran killers who killed without blinking an eye.
"Well, I'm ignorant, so I take the liberty to ask..." Li Qinzai said with a smile.
Liang Jianfang snorted: "You can ask, but if you don't give me an explanation later, I will beat you to death on your behalf."
"It's not necessary, it's not necessary... I just want to ask, do the elders know about horseshoes?"
"What?" Liang Jianfang was stunned, and so were all the generals.
"Horseshoe, semicircle or U-shaped. You don't know what U is, do you? I'll draw a picture for you..."
Liang Jianfang became impatient, widened his eyes and said angrily: "Young man, I'm done with my pretense! Let's be clear, what are you talking about!"
His expression of ignorance and arrogance made Li Qinzai suddenly want to give up, as if he was like the heroine in Grandma Qiong's drama, covering her ears and shouting, "I won't say, I won't say, I won't say..."
Then he ran away all the way, it was so pretentious.
It is a pity that Li Qinzai is not brave enough. In front of the emperor and the old killers, Li Qinzai does not have the courage to challenge the limit of survival.
So I had to explain patiently: "Uncle Xue's war horse has hoof wear, which means the cuticle of the nerve endings is lost, which damages the muscles and blood vessels, resulting in disability..."
The more the explanation becomes, the more complicated it becomes, and I can’t understand it at all. Seeing that the faces of the old killers present were getting more and more impatient, Li Ji's hands sometimes turned into fists, sometimes into palms, and he was about to attack him.
Li Qinzai's eyelids twitched and he continued hurriedly: "It's like us ordinary people scratching the wall with our fingers. As we scratch, our nails are worn away, but we still have to continue scratching, and naturally our hands will be bloody."
Only then did the veterans understand. Thinking about the wear and tear of horse hooves, this is probably the truth.
Li Zhi and Empress Wu looked at each other with thoughtful eyes, and nodded slowly unconsciously.
"What Li Qing said makes sense. Keep talking. Does Li Qing have any countermeasures for the horse's hoofs to wear out?" Li Zhi asked with a smile.
Li Qinzai licked his dry lips and whispered: "Has no one ever thought about putting an iron plate on the horse's hoof? Nails and muscles are easy to wear, but the iron plate is very wear-resistant. It will not be a problem after two or three years. , after the iron plate is polished and replaced, it will last another two or three years..."
"There are no nerves at the end of the horse's hoof, and it feels no pain like human nails. Using nails to nail the iron pieces to the horse's hoof will not cause harm to the war horse, and it can also extend the service life of the war horse. You... have never thought of it. ?"
The autumn wind blew through the school grounds. On the dusty command platform, the expressions of the monarch and his ministers were dull, and the surroundings were silent.
