Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Dinglin Temple, Shepu.

"Wang Pu, Wang Pu, it's your turn to enter!" The instructor's voice was hoarse.

"Received!" Wang Pu hurriedly stood up. He picked up his longbow, pressed the antlers at one end of the bow against the ground, bent the smooth and hard four-layer oak bow with bamboo back, and hung the bowstring into the bow. In the groove, he finally plucked the bowstring lightly with his fingers, making a slight buzzing sound.

"Hurry up!" The instructor's voice became more and more impatient: "Procrastinating like a bitch!"

Wang Pu didn't dare to speak back, he hung the leather pouch full of feathered arrows on his belt around his waist, put on the leather gloves for drawing the bow, and rushed into the archery.The instructor pushed him roughly, and shouted: "Stand up straight, a big shot is coming today, if you shoot wrongly, watch your skin carefully!"

Wang Pu shrunk his neck subconsciously. Relying on his good eyesight, he immediately built a temporary pergola on the right side wall of Shepu. There were heavily armed guards standing around the pergola. He lowered his voice: "What big man?" Yeah? People from the Dudu Mansion?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!" The instructor shouted: "Anyway, the shot is accurate, and it's in your interest! Otherwise, even if I forgive you, your elder brother will whip you a few times!"

Wang Pu took out an arrow from the quiver hanging on his belt.Black shafts, gray feathers.When he put the arrow on the string, he remembered what his elder brother Wang Po said after a certain hunting: "Our brothers have actually lived on hoes up to you. I hope that starting from you, I can make a living with bows and arrows." , to work for the king's governor!"

Wang Pu took a deep breath. His bow and arrow skills were far inferior to those of the sling, but he did not spend much time on the bow and arrow. He took a deep breath, raised the longbow, and tightened the bowstring. The first target appeared. The wooden man with the shield is moving from left to right at a fast speed,

The feathered arrow flew out of the string with a soft "hiss", and Wang Pu clearly saw the arrow flying over half a foot to the right of the target, and nailed to the earth wall behind the shooting garden.Wang Pu hurriedly drew the second arrow from the quiver, and when he put the arrow on the bowstring, the target was gone.

"Idiot, don't worry! It's enough to be the same as you usually are. These targets move very fast. You have one chance, and only one chance!"

Hearing the familiar hoarse voice of the instructor, Wang Pu forced himself to calm down, and began to prepare for the next time. With a sharp whistle, two targets appeared, the same as last time, both were wooden figures holding shields, craftsmen There are even bear claws and wolf heads drawn on the shield, which are very common patterns on the shields of the Goguryeo and Baekje people.

Wang Pu pulled the goose feather to his ear, aimed, shot, then nocked the arrow again, drew the bow, and let it go.The first arrow shot into the bear claw shield, and the second arrow hit the wooden man's throat, the referee's announcement and the instructor's applause were mixed together: "Well shot, I know you are a natural archer! "

Wang Pu had completely calmed down. He no longer needed to look for a target. He hit a target that was twice as high, which meant it was a cavalryman. Then he shot at a follower behind him, but this time the shot missed, and the arrow pierced Trembling on the oak shield, but he quickly shot an arrow and hit the target's leg. If it was on the battlefield, that guy should be rolling on the ground, right?Wang Pu thought to himself.

Wang Pu didn't stop until the quiver was empty. Only then did he notice that his arms and shoulders were numb and weak, and his fingers were cut open by the bowstring, and the bowstring was stained red with blood.While smearing Wang Pu's wound with ointment, the instructor applauded loudly: "It's nothing, you are still young, you can only do this when you draw a man's bow. After two years, your muscles and bones will fully grow, and your fingers will grow. It won't be like this if it's full of calluses!"

"Teacher Fan!" Wang Pu asked, "Who is the big shot you're talking about? Why did you come to see us archery?"

At this time, the instructor had already applied the ointment for Wang Pu. He smiled and said, "Use your brain, brat! That thing on your neck can't just be used for eating, right? Have you forgotten who first rebuilt this Dinglin Temple?"

"You mean the governor of the king? Is it him?"

"Yeah!" The instructor nodded: "Wang Dudu is back, I heard that he came this time to select the soldiers around him, brat, I didn't tell you just now because I was afraid that your brat would break the bowstring in a hurry Already!"

"Wang Dudu wants to choose soldiers from us?" Wang Pu's mind was overwhelmed by ecstasy: "Is this true?"

"It's probably true! Captain Shen said it, he's my old boss!" The instructor laughed and said, "But don't get too excited, there are not only you, but also Japanese soldiers around the king. I heard that there are still a group of Mohe people!"

"Japanese people? Mohe people?" Wang Pu asked in surprise, "Why use them?"

"I heard from Lieutenant Shen that these Japanese people are still half-grown children, and they have to practice in Dinglin Temple for two or three years before they can be used, just like you back then!" The instructor pointed to Wang Pu: "Those Japanese people are yours. Juniors, as for the Mohe people! I heard that when they were six or seven years old, they would shoot squirrels and birds on trees with a small bow for food. If they missed their shots, they would starve to death. Marksman!"

"Really! Everyone is a marksman at the age of thirteen or fourteen?" Wang Pu couldn't help feeling a little jealousy in his heart: "Those Mohe people are really so powerful? Then why did they give their lives to the Goguryeo people?" ?”

"Hehe, you don't understand now. If you are not good at archery, you will definitely win a war!" The instructor laughed and said, "But the Mohe people are really good at archery. I fought against them once. If it weren't for the good armor, I’m afraid it’s already been explained there! Don’t be unconvinced, archery is something that the master leads in, and the practice is up to everyone. I have already taught you what I should teach you, and the rest is up to you. Wang Dudu is the most fair person in dealing with things. He doesn't care if you are from Tang Dynasty, Baekje, Japanese or Mohe people, the reward depends on how much you are loyal! Boy, your family followed Wang Dudu much earlier than those Mohe people. If you If you are trampled underfoot in the future, you can only blame yourself!"

Just as the instructor said, not long after the shooting competition that day, more than [-] students were selected from among the students, and distributed green clothes, quiver, bows, short knives and other equipment. They lived in a separate battalion and were divided into four shifts. Yaqian obeys orders.Within two days, hundreds of Japanese came to Dinglin Temple to practice and study like Wang Pu and the others.Wang Pu and the others looked on coldly, and when they found that the bow and arrow skills of these Japanese were far inferior to their own, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.But their relaxation didn't last long. Another ten days later, a group of Mohe people came to Dinglin Temple. They were about the same age as Wang Pu and the others. The first test was just like what the instructor said - everyone endured hardship Hardworking, good at bows and arrows, swept away the original pride of Wang Pu and the others.

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"Let me figure it out, there are a total of 200 people!" Wang Wenzuo clicked on the roster: "Let's call it Yaqiandu! It is divided into left and right compartments, and each compartment is divided into six teams. Every day, one team in the left and right compartments is in Yaqian. Take orders from the front, and the rest will receive education and training in Dinglin Temple!"

"This is a good idea!" Shen Faseng said with a smile: "Sanlang, you have made me miserable during the time you went to the Wa Kingdom. I will tell you that the soldiers sent by the military houses in Shandong are getting worse and worse, except for the old man and the child. , Some even sent the lucky ones, unable to run, unable to pull the bow, why send such waste?"

"What about the original people? Didn't they have land and military pay?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"There are only 700 people who are willing to stay! The rest still have to go back!" Shen Faseng said with a wry smile: "To be honest, the families who come to be soldiers of the government have some property, and here they are divided into fields, unless they are like us. Those who can become landlords, others still think about the ancestral tombs in their hometowns to produce wives and children. As for military pay? To be honest, people with families and businesses do not lack this, but it is not as good as the thousands of people who came from Chang'an later. People, after they get paid, they feel at ease!"

Wang Wenzuo nodded. The selection criteria of the government military system in the Tang Dynasty was ""The one with equal wealth will get the strong, the one with equal power will get richer, and the one with equal financial power will get the most." Although this system had begun to decline at that time, generally speaking The Tang Army basically came from middle and upper-class farmers, which means that generally speaking, the soldiers of the Tang Army lived a good life after returning to their hometowns after retiring.

Although Wang Wenzuo tried his best to compensate the economic losses suffered by the soldiers of the Tang Army in Baekje for their long-term garrison, it was impossible for him to turn tens of thousands of soldiers of the Tang Army into Baekje landlords, exceeding the standard of living in his hometown; The soldiers who followed him were as rich as some of the officers who were close to him.This group of people is willing to stay in Baekje, because they followed Wang Wenzuo in Baekje and gained wealth and status that they would never get in their hometown.But for those two thousand vile youths in Chang'an, they had nothing to lose in Datang, and every point they got in Baekje was pure profit, so naturally they would not waver.

In order to make up for the declining combat effectiveness of the Tang army stationed in Baekje, Shen Faseng could only "localize" the army of the Xiongjin Dudufu as much as possible—that is, Baekje people should be the main body of the Xiongjin Dudufu's army. A new problem——In the original Baekje Restoration Movement, almost all the local tyrants in Baekje—that is, the heroes were almost all participants. Although they later bowed their knees and surrendered, they were the main body of the army of the Ungjin Governor’s Mansion. This might be a little too big.Therefore, in Shen Faseng's view, it is very necessary to establish a completely independent new army.

"I also know that you have worked hard during this time!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "In the spring of the coming year, I will transfer four thousand steps from the country of Japan, so you can feel more at ease!"

"If that's the case, that's fine!" Shen Faseng said with a smile: "To be honest, it's better for us to have people from different countries, so that they have different ideas and can't be the only family, so I can sleep well!"

Shen Faseng inadvertently expressed the aspirations of an imperialist. In fact, the Tang Empire may be the most "universal" one among the ancient Chinese dynasties, especially before the Anshi Rebellion. Deep in my heart, I believe that Datang is not only the Datang of the Han people, but also the Datang of the whole world.For example, many of the foreign students studying in Chang'an took up official positions in the Tang Dynasty, and some even served as the commander of the Imperial Guard of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

这种普世帝国的心态和后世中原王朝的心态是截然不同的，以唐代折冲府的分布为例：唐朝有名称和位置可考的折冲府共627个，其分布大致如下：关内道共置289府；河南道有府73；河东道有府166；河北道有府51；山南道有府15；陇右道有府33；淮南道有府9；江南道有府7；剑南道有府11；岭南道有府6。

The most of them is Guannei Road, accounting for almost half, followed by Hedong Road, then Henan Road, Hebei Road, Longyou Road, Huainan Jiangnan, Lingnan and Jiannan. These places have very few zhechong houses, which can be ignored.The reason why Guannei Road has the most military residences is very simple. The Great Tang Dynasty followed the example of the Western Wei, Northern Zhou and Sui Dynasties, established the country with Guanzhong egoism, and gathered all the people in Guanzhong to face the four directions. It is not surprising that Hedong Road is next. The plateau, from the perspective of military geography, is at the ridge of the world, facing Hu Rong, and Taiyuan, the capital of Hedong Road, is the land of Longxing in the Tang Dynasty, so it is normal to have a large number of troops.

However, it is strange that Henan Province has more Zhechong Prefectures than Hebei Province. Henan is the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty, and there is no external threat at ordinary times; while Hebei Province directly faces the threats of foreign regimes such as Turks, Khitan, and Goguryeo. At that time, it was No. [-] in the world, far surpassing the first three. Why are there so few Zhechong mansions in Hebei Road?

This again involves a well-known concept in ancient China, "the dispute between East and West". For modern Chinese, China is generally divided into South China and North China, but before the Tang and Song Dynasties, China was generally divided into Kanto and Kansai are two large geographical units, these two geographical units often form independent regimes, and extremely fierce wars break out.

More than a hundred years before the establishment of the Tang Empire, extremely fierce wars broke out between the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty, Li Tang and Dou Jiande and their successors.So the capital was established in Chang'an, and the rulers of the Tang Empire based in Guanzhong would naturally try to weaken the military potential of the Hebei region, reduce the military-trained soldiers and grass-roots officers from Hebei. Righteous.

And this brought up a new problem - Hebei's military power has weakened, but the foreign military power facing Hebei has not weakened. The Tang Empire can't let its richest province be plundered by foreigners, right?However, judging from the historical facts, it seems to be the case. After the Wuzhou Yingzhou Rebellion, when the Khitans Li Jinzhong, Sun Wanrong and the Turks invaded Hebei on a large scale, the Hebei area, which has always been famous for its toughness and combat skills, hardly made any progress. Any effective resistance made Wu Zhou very embarrassed, and some people even proposed to kill hundreds of thousands of Hebei people who were dependent on the Turks. At this time, no one thought of who deliberately disarmed the Hebei people.