Wang Wenzuo called him over, scolded him a few times, and hit his back with a scabbard several times before driving him off, causing everyone to laugh.
The competition was coming to an end. Wang Qu saw a young man walking up to the line leisurely. He took out the horn bow from the bow bag, adjusted it and selected arrows. He recognized that it was the boy who came to his house first. , who calls himself Wang Pu. The onlookers did not make noises and comment on the shooter's posture, bow power, and skills as before, but remained silent.
"Is this young man's name Wang Pu?" Wang Qu asked.
"Not bad!" Wang Wenzuo looked at his "father" who didn't speak much in surprise: "How do you know?"
"He was the first messenger to come home to report that you were back!" Wang Qu said with a smile: "This young man is polite and his surname is Wang, so I remember it!"
"That's it!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "He is a descendant of the Han people from Daifang County. His whole family followed me when they were in Baekje. They all worked as errands in front of the government office, and he was quite diligent in doing things!"
While speaking, Wang Pu was already prepared. After reporting his name and rank as usual, he then aimed at the target in front and shot four arrows in a row. How well he shot! The four arrows are neatly inserted into the small circle drawn in charcoal, all within the same square inch, and arranged neatly. From a distance, they look like a neat little square on the swan.
"Good shot!" Wang Wenzuo raised his hand and shouted loudly. Although he usually prides himself on treating everyone equally, as long as he is a human being, there are naturally differences between closeness and distance. People like Wang Pu, who has followed Wang Wenzuo for a long time in his family, naturally feel in his heart Be closer. Although Wang Pu's archery skills are not bad, there is still a certain gap compared to those Blackwater Mohe boys who practice shooting with a small bow as soon as they can walk. Someone who can hit the target with all four arrows from a distance of 120 steps must be a normal person. It took a lot of hard work.
Hearing the cheers from all around, Wang Pu leaned forward, pulled the bow string behind his ears, and shot the fifth arrow at the target in the distance. This arrow had already reached the target and hit the wooden board. Unfortunately, the remaining power was exhausted, and it fell upon contact, falling softly on the sand dunes. If it were on the battlefield, even if it was shot, it would not hurt anyone.
Everyone in the field let out a sigh of regret. At this time, another young man walked up, and there were shouts from all around: "Acdon, Actun!"
"Is this -?" Wang Qu asked puzzledly.
"Oh? This is a Mohe soldier under my command. His name is Actun. His archery skills are outstanding among the Yaqian capital. Calling his name must make him shoot far away!"
"Isn't that far target not two hundred and twenty thirty steps away?" Wang Qu asked carefully: "Can this one be hit? When I was in the army, I heard that the military mansions in Longyou and Hedong had talents There are archers who can use such powerful bows, but I have never seen them in Kanto, unless they are using crossbows!"
"Oh? The archers in Longyou and Hedong military mansions are better than those in Guandong?" Wang Wenzuo asked with interest.
"I heard this from others!" Wang Qu said with a smile: "But it goes without saying that Longyou has a strong army. Hedong was the location of the six towns of Xianbei earlier, and there were many people who were good at using strong bows, but Guandong can't compare!"
Wang Wenzuo nodded. Although what Wang Qu just said was just a rumor, it was not without reason. After the fall of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the East and the West fought for hegemony. The Longyou San of the Western Wei Dynasty with Guanzhong as the core faced enemies. It has always been known for its elite troops, and although the east side The capital was Yecheng, but its military core was in Jinyang. Gao Huan placed the six towns of Xianbei in the surrounding areas of Jinyang. Later, the world was in chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and Xue Ju and Liu Wuzhou, who posed the greatest threat to the Tang army, mainly came from these two places. Therefore, in the government army system at that time, it was recognized that Longyou and Hedong were the places where elite soldiers were produced. As for Hebei and Shandong, although they have a large population, a wealthy economy, and the economic and political foundation to compete for world hegemony, people at the time did not think that the elite level of the army could be compared with that of Hedong Longyou.
At this time, Acton had opened his bow and shot two arrows at the target one hundred and twenty paces away. Both of them hit the bull's-eye. However, there were only sparse cheers from all around. Apparently everyone thought that with his arm strength and shooting skills, he could hit a target. The target of one hundred and twenty steps is a matter of course. Acton took two breaths, shook his arms twice, selected three light arrows, positioned himself, and fired three arrows in succession toward the target on the sand dune. He also failed to reach the wooden sign with the first arrow. He used all his strength to shoot the second arrow and surpassed the wooden sign by more than ten steps. Unfortunately, it was crooked and flew to the sand pile behind the wooden sign to the left. The third arrow The only one who is successful is nailing it right on the center of the circle.
This time, although not all of Acton hit the target, he still aroused cheers. The audience here are all knowledgeable. They know very well how much arm strength, eyesight and hand skills are required to hit such a distant target. Even if they miss the target, it is far better than those who hit the five-arrow target in a row. Wang Wenzuo summoned Actun and Wang Pu. He first took off the gold-handled knife from his waist and said to Wang Pu: "Your archery skills have reached this point, which shows that you have worked hard on daily basis. Come, I will reward you with this knife. I will continue to do so in the future." We must keep up our efforts!”
"Thank you Minggong for the reward!" Wang Pu bowed and took the gold-handled knife and stepped aside. Wang Wenzuo's eyes turned to Actun: "Your shooting skills are no better than those of Yang Youji in ancient times. I will reward you with this gold belt. From now on, you will kill thieves with all your heart and serve the court!"
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The banquet on the threshing floor was over, and Wang Qu returned home with the support of his son Wang Ence. Both of them drank a lot of wine, and when they were sixty or seventy percent drunk, their family members brought soup to them. They both drank two bowls before their minds became clearer. Wang Qu coughed twice: "Ence! You saw it just now. Those young men who shoot arrows are Wen Zuo's government office. How can you stay in a place like that?"
"What can't you go to?" Wang Ence's heart was already a little weak, but his mouth was still tough: "Rogues like Hou Er can go, why can't I?"
"You also said that Hou Er is a scoundrel. Are you also a scoundrel in the village?" Wang Qu sighed: "I just said that you are willing to pull stirrups, pull horses, cut grass and dump dung. Are you willing? ? If you want to do this, you might as well stay in the village!"
"Aye, don't worry too much. In the eyes of outsiders, I am Wen Zuo's brother after all, and I can take care of him to some extent! I went to Yaqiandu, and I can be the capital after all. The boss, the yamen, etc., won’t let me be a soldier, right?”
"Hey! You are so confused!" Wang Qu sighed: "It would be better if you started as a soldier. You can learn little by little. After all, no one will think you are bad when you first join the army. In the beginning, as you said, are those tiger and wolf soldiers easy to deal with? They may stumble somewhere. This army is no better than those in the state and county, but they will lose their heads!"
The more Wang Ence listened to his father's nagging, the more he listened to it. He stood up and said, "Aye, if you say that, my child is a useless waste. Back then, Wang Wenzuo was able to bring such wealth and splendor from Baekje, but I even lost my life." I can't keep it. Is he your child or am I your child? Why do you always speak for him!" After that, he slammed the door and rushed out.
Wang Qu didn't expect that his usually docile and honest son would become so rebellious at this time. He was so angry that he couldn't speak. After a while, he cursed: "If I hadn't given birth to a waste like you, why would I bother to talk like this?" !”
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Wang Wenzuo stayed in the village for another two days, visiting old acquaintances in the village, and giving some money and rice to the widowed, old, weak and helpless people. Then he set off to Qingzhou to propose marriage to Mr. Cui. Not to mention on the way, after arriving in Qingzhou, the governor personally greeted him. After greeting him, he went to Cui's house.
The Qingzhou Cui family is one of the many branches of the Qinghe Cui family. The ancestor of this branch is Cui Ji, the prefect of Taishan in the Liu Song Dynasty. He has lived here for generations since then. Although it cannot be compared with the big and small houses in Qinghe, But it was also one of the six houses reserved for the Cui family in Qinghe, and it was also within the scope of the prohibition of marriage issued by Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty in the fourth year of Xianqing (659). In other words, if it weren't for the edict issued by Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Wenzuo's proposal to the Cui family of Qingzhou would probably have been rejected.
"This is Wang Changshi!" Cui Hongdu introduced to Cui Bian who was standing in the hall.
Cui Bian looked Wang Wenzuo up and down and smiled: "I originally thought Wang Changshi was a soldier, but I didn't want to look at him. Very good, very good!"
Wang Wenzuo was stunned when he heard this. The soldier Cui Bian said was not a good word at that time. It should probably correspond to the scholar. Cui Hongdu on the side quickly smiled and said: "Uncle, have you forgotten? Wang Changshi is the son of the Langya Wang family. How can a person be said to be a soldier?"
"That's right, that's right!" Cui Bian also reacted immediately, knowing that he had said the wrong thing, and smiled: "I forgot, please, please!"
Although Wang Wenzuo was a little unhappy, he didn't want to get angry, so he had to follow Cui Bian to the hall. The guests and hosts sat down and served tea. Cui Bian took a sip, put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "In the past, I heard Hongdu speak about Wang Changshi. In the past, he was truly an unparalleled talent, and now that we have seen him, it turns out that despite his great reputation, there is no real talent!"
"Don't dare!" Wang Wenzuo cupped his hands: "For what Wang did in Baekje, he relied on the emperor's fortune and the soldiers' lives. Wang himself did very little!"
"Too modest, too modest!" Cui Bian smiled: "Wang Changshi claims to be the Wang family of Langya, but he doesn't know which branch or clan he belongs to?"
Faced with Cui Bian's question, Wang Wenzuo was calm and composed. At that time, when noble families got married, the first thing they did was to compare genealogies and investigate family backgrounds. He had already memorized the genealogy in Jitai Village, and said in a deep voice: "The ancestor of the ancestor was Xiao Yi, the king of eastern Hunan, who consulted to join the army. Later, he was addicted to alcohol and died early. He had a son, Wang Zeng, and Hou Jing went south. Jiangdong was in chaos, and the Qi army went south. , Zu Zeng was robbed by the Qi army and went north, settling in Jitai Village, Shouguang, Qingzhou, for twelve generations!"
"Wang Ji? Is he Wang Wenhai who wrote "Enter the Ruoye River"?" Cui Biansi asked after thinking for a moment.
"Yes! It was the work of our ancestors!" Wang Wenzuo was secretly surprised. Although his cheap ancestor became famous at a young age, his official career was bumpy and he had no achievements in the political arena. He also died early because of his addiction to alcohol, and his descendants encountered Hou Jingzhi's chaos and The Northern Qi soldiers went south and declined. However, Wang Ji's status in the literary world at that time was not low. He was considered by later generations to be the most outstanding successor of Xie Lingyun's landscape poems. His poem "Entering Ruoye Stream" was passed down to later generations, as well as the "Yan Family Instructions" of the era. He was also mentioned as the first-class poet at that time. Since Wang Wenzuo wanted to memorize the family tree, of course he knew the life stories of the characters thoroughly, but he didn't expect Cui Bian to know it too.
"It turns out he is a descendant of Wang Wenhai, okay, okay!" Cui Bian's originally somewhat rigid face suddenly became alive: "Hongdu, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I don't know this either!" Cui Hongdu said with a bitter smile.
"Don't blame Mr. Cui, let alone Hongdu. Even I didn't know until I returned this time!" Wang Wenzuo said with a wry smile.
"This shouldn't be done, this shouldn't be done!" Cui Bian shook his head repeatedly and sighed: "If it weren't for Hou Jing's rebellion and Jiangdong Gaomen's rebellion, why would we be here today?" At this point, he sighed repeatedly, and he didn't know that he was sighing at the Langya Wang family. The decline is still lamenting the decline of the noble clan as a whole.
"Actually, uncle, there is no need to sigh!" Cui Hongdu said with a smile: "Why can't Wen Zuo revive the family?"
"That's true!" Cui Bian looked at Wang Wenzuo and said with a smile: "Wang Changshi has martial arts, but martial arts cannot last forever, and non-literary affairs cannot be passed down from generation to generation!"
"What Cui Gong said is true!" Wang Wenzuo said what he meant this time. The most powerful thing about Qinghe Cui and Fan Yanglu is actually not how powerful they are. After all, not to mention the emperor, these families don't even have kings. If you only look at official positions, most of the time they are just governors, generals, or something like that. They are not even as good as a stronger tribal chief.
What's great about them is that they have been prosperous for hundreds of years, even as recently as the last year. It should be noted that in the hundreds of years from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the founding of the Tang Dynasty, dynasties changed frequently. Today he is the emperor, but tomorrow the whole family will be destroyed. There are too many. Winning once is nothing. It is very difficult to not lose all the time. This involves a series of means such as cultural traditions, education, and long-term political layout. It cannot be accomplished by one or two geniuses. Wang Wenzuo asked himself that he was unparalleled in fighting wars, farming and mining, but this kind of long-term layout required time to settle, so it was not as good as these old aristocratic families. There are too many examples in this world of people who work hard to plant fruit trees, but in the end it is someone else’s turn to eat the fruit. Wang Wenzuo doesn’t want to end up like this himself.
"Come, come!" Cui Bian seemed to be in a good mood. He asked someone to bring some refreshments, took a piece himself, and said with a smile: "Wang Changshi, I heard from Hongdu that you are not only good at using soldiers, but also good at managing money. I don't know. Is it true or false?”
"Cui Gong is joking!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "In fact, only wealth can drive the crowd. Sun Tzu said: when the army moves, it costs thousands of gold every day. If you don't know how to manage money, how can you use the army?"
"That's right, that's right!" Cui Bian held up his hands and said with a smile: "Wang Changshi is right, Cui has learned a lot today!"
