Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Wang Wenzuo called him over, reprimanded him severely, and hit his back with a scabbard a few times before driving him off, causing everyone to laugh.

The competition was coming to an end. Wang Qu saw a young man walk to the front of the line unhurriedly, took out the horn bow from the bow bag, adjusted it, and selected the arrow. He recognized that it was the one who came to his home first , claiming to be Wang Pu's.The teenagers watching did not clamor like before, commenting on the shooter's posture, bow strength, and skills, but remained silent.

"Is this boy Wang Pu?" Wang Qu asked.

"Not bad!" Wang Wenzuo looked at the "father" who didn't talk much in surprise: "How do you know?"

"He was the first messenger who came 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!"

"So that's it!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile, "He is a descendant of the Han people in Daifang County. The whole family followed me when we were in Baekje. He worked in the yamen, and he was diligent in his work!"

While speaking, Wang Pu was already ready. After reporting his name and rank as usual, he aimed at the target in front of him and shot four arrows in a row. How well he shot!The four arrows are neatly inserted into the small circle of the charcoal drawing, not far apart, neatly arranged, and look like a neat small square on the arrow swan from a distance.

"Good shot!" Wang Wenzuo clapped his hands and shouted loudly. Although he always 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 have followed Wang Wenzuo for a long time. Get closer.Although Wang Pu's bow skills are not bad, there is still a certain gap compared to those Heishui Mohe teenagers who just learned how to walk and practice shooting with small bows. He can hit the target with four arrows from 120 steps away. Hard work.

Hearing the applause from all around, Wang Pu bowed his body to all around, pulled the bowstring behind his ears, but the fifth arrow shot towards the distant target, this arrow had already reached the target, hit the wooden board, It's a pity that the rest of the power is exhausted, and it will fall at the touch of a touch, falling softly on the sand dunes. If it is on the battlefield, even if it is shot, it will not hurt anyone.

Everyone in the field sighed with regret, and at this time another boy came up, and there were shouts all around: "Akton, Akton!"

"This is—?" Wang Qu asked puzzled.

"Oh? This is one of my Mohe soldiers named Acton. His bow skills are outstanding in Yaqiandu. Calling him by his name must be to make him shoot a long target!"

"Is that distant target not 220 or [-] paces away?" Wang Qu asked cautiously, "I can hit it too? Kanto has never seen such a strong bow shooter, unless they use a crossbow!"

"Oh? Are the archers in Longyou and Hedong Army Mansions better than those in Kanto?" Wang Wenzuo asked with great interest.

"I've heard people say that too!" Wang Qu said with a smile, "However, it goes without saying that Longyou's soldiers are strong. Hedong used to be the location of Xianbei in Six Towns, and there are many people who are good at using strong bows, but Guandong is incomparable!"

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 West fought for supremacy. Yecheng was established as the capital, but its military core was in Jinyang. Gao Huan placed the six towns of Xianbei in the surrounding areas of Jinyang.Later, when the world was in chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Xue Ju and Liu Wuzhou, who posed the greatest threat to the Tang army, mainly came from these two places.Therefore, in the Fubing system at that time, it was recognized that Longyou and Hedong were places where elite soldiers were produced.As for Hebei and Shandong, although the population is large, the economy is rich, and there is an economic and political foundation for contending for world hegemony, the elite level of the army is not considered to be comparable to that of Hedong and Longyou.

At this time, Acton had already opened his bow and shot two arrows at a 120-step target, both of which hit the bull's-eye, but there were only sparse applause from around. Obviously, everyone thought that with his arm strength and shooting skills, he hit the 120-step target. It is a matter of course.Acton took a breath, shook his arms twice, selected three light arrows, put himself in a good position, and swished three arrows towards the archery target on the sand dune.With the first arrow, he failed to reach the wooden sign. The second arrow used all his strength 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 It is successful, just nailed to the center of the circle.

Although Acton didn't hit all the targets this time, it still aroused cheers.The spectators here are all knowledgeable, they are well aware of the arm strength, eyesight and handwork needed to hit such a distant target, even if they miss it, it is far better than the previous ones that hit five arrows in a row and are close to the target.Wang Wenzuo recruited Acton and Wang Pu, first untied the small golden-handled knife on his waist, and said to Wang Pu: "Your bow skills can reach this level, which shows that you have worked hard on weekdays. Come, this knife will be rewarded to you. We have to make persistent efforts!"

"Xie Minggong's reward!" Wang Pu bowed and took the golden-handled knife, and stepped aside.Wang Wenzuo's eyes turned to Acton: "Your archery skills are no different than that of the ancient Yang Youji. I will reward you with this gold belt. From now on, I will work hard to kill thieves 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 six or seven points drunk, the family brought up soup, and they both drank two bowls, and their minds became clearer.Wang Qu coughed twice: "Ence! You saw it just now. Those young men who shoot arrows are Wenzuo's Yaqiandu. How can you stay in such a place?"

"Is there anything that can't go?" Wang Ence's heart was a little empty, but his mouth was still very hard: "Hou Er and other rascals can go, why can't I?"

"You also said that Hou Er is a rascal, are you also a rascal in the village?" Wang Qu sighed: "They also said just now that you are willing to lead the stirrup and pull the horse, cut grass and dump dung, are you willing? ? If you 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 anyway, and I will take care of it! I went to the Yaqian capital, and I can be a capital in any case. Heads, yamen, etc., you can't let me be a soldier, right?"

"Hey! You are so confused!" Wang Qu sighed: "It would be fine if you started as a soldier, you can still learn a little bit, after all, no one will think you are wrong when you just arrived in the army. At first, it was just like what you said, how could those tiger and wolf soldiers be easy to deal with? Maybe they stumbled somewhere. This army is no better than the prefectures and counties, but they will lose their heads!"

The more Wang Ence listened to his father's nagging, the more he didn't listen to it. He stood up and said, "Aye, don't you say that the child is a worthless waste? Back then, Wang Wenzuo was able to bring such wealth and glory from Baekje, but I sacrificed my own life." I can't even keep it, is he your child or am I your child? Why do you speak for him everywhere!" After finishing speaking, he slammed the door and rushed out.

Wang Qu didn't expect that his normally docile and honest son would become so rebellious at this time, he couldn't help being so angry that he couldn't speak, and then cursed after a while: "If I didn't give birth to such a waste like you, why would I waste my tongue like this !"

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Wang Wenzuo stayed in the village for another two days, visiting old acquaintances in the village, and gave some money and rice to the widows, lonely, old and helpless people.Only then did he set off for Qingzhou to propose marriage to the Cui family.Not to mention on the way, after arriving in Qingzhou, the governor had already greeted him in person, and after exchanging greetings, he left for Cui's house.

The Qingzhou Cui family is one of the many branches of the Qinghe Cui family. The ancestor of this branch was Cui Ji, the prefect of Taishan in the Liu Song Dynasty. After that, he lived here for generations. Although it cannot be compared with the big and small houses in Qinghe, But it was also one of the six households established by the Cui family of Qinghe, and it was also within the scope of Tang Gaozong's prohibition of marriage in the fourth year of Xianqing (659) (that is, it is forbidden to marry within the scope of seven surnames and ten families).In other words, if it weren't for Tang Gaozong's imperial edict back then, Wang Wenzuo's marriage proposal to the Cui family in 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 thought Wang Changshi was a son of a military strategist, but I didn't want to be tolerant, very good!"

Wang Wenzuo was taken aback when he heard the words. Cui Bian's Bingjiazi was not a good word at the time, and it probably should have corresponded to Shijiazi. Cui Hongdu on the side hurriedly laughed and said, "Uncle, have you forgotten? Wang Changshi is the son of the Langya Wang family." How can a man be called a son of a soldier?"

"Not bad, not bad!" Cui Bian also reacted immediately, knowing that he had said something wrong, he said with a smile: "I forgot, please, please!"

Although Wang Wenzuo felt a little unhappy, it was not easy to have a fit, so he went to the hall with Cui Bian, sat down with the guests and hosts, and served tea. Cui Bian took a sip, put down the teacup and said with a smile: "I used to hear Hongdu say that Wang Changshi In the past, he was indeed a world-class genius, and today he can see him, and he is indeed worthy of his reputation!"

"Don't dare!" Wang Wenzuo cupped his hands: "Wang's affairs in Baekje depend on the emperor's blessings, and the soldiers do their best. Wang himself does 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 one it is, which one is it?"

Faced with Cui Bian's question, Wang Wenzuo remained calm and composed. At that time, when the gentry married, the first thing to do was to check the genealogy of each other and check the family background.He had already memorized the family tree in Jitai Village, so he said in a deep voice: "The ancestor Wang Ji once advised Xiao Yi, the king of eastern Hunan, to join the army. , Zu Zeng was robbed by the Qi army and went north and settled in Jitai Village, Shouguang, Qingzhou. It has been twelve generations!"

"Wang Ji? But Wang Wenhai who wrote "Entering the Ruoye River"?" Cui Bian asked after thinking for a moment.

"That's right! It's what our ancestors did!" Wang Wenzuo was secretly taken aback. Although his cheap ancestor became famous at a young age, his official career was bumpy all his life, and he didn't make much achievements in the political arena. The soldiers of the Northern Qi Dynasty went south and declined.However, Wang Ji's status in the literary world at that time was not low, and he was considered by later generations to be the most outstanding successor of Xie Lingyun's landscape poems. It was also mentioned that he was considered to be the first-rate poet at that time.Since Wang Wenzuo wanted to memorize the family tree, of course he memorized the characters' lives by heart, but he didn't expect Cui Bian to know it too.

"So it's Wang Wenhai's descendant, okay, okay!" Cui Bian's originally rigid face suddenly came alive: "Hongdu, why didn't you say it earlier?"

"I don't know about that either!" Cui Hongdu smiled wryly.

"Don't blame Cui Gong, don't talk about Hongdu, even I only found out when I went back this time!" Wang Wenzuo smiled wryly.

"This shouldn't be, this shouldn't be!" Cui Bian shook his head again and again, and sighed: "If it wasn't for Hou Jing's rebellion and Jiangdong Gaomen's chaos, why would it be today?" Speaking of this, he sighed again and again, but he didn't know that he was sighing for the Langya Wang family. The decline of the family is still lamenting the decline of the noble family as a whole.

"Actually, uncle doesn't have to sigh!" Cui Hongdu said with a smile: "Why can't Wen Zuo re-establish the family?"

"That's true!" Cui Bian looked at Wang Wenzuo, and said with a smile: "Wang Changshi has martial arts, but martial arts can't last long, and it can't be passed down from generation to generation unless it is a matter of literature!"

"What Cui Gong said is true!" This time, Wang Wenzuo spoke from his heart. The most powerful thing about Qinghe Cui and Fan Yanglu's aristocratic families is not how powerful they are. It has been said that if you only look at official positions, most of the time you are just a governor, general, or something, and you are not even as good as a strong tribal chief.

What makes them powerful is that they lasted for hundreds of years, and even lasted for nearly the year before last. It should be noted that during the hundreds of years from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, dynasties changed frequently. There are too many, it's nothing to win once, but it's very difficult not to lose all the time.This involves a series of means such as cultural traditions, education, and long-term political layout, and it cannot be done in one or two days.Wang Wenzuo asked himself that using troops to fight wars, farming and mining is unmatched in the world, but this kind of long-term layout needs time to settle, so it is not as good as these old families.There are too many examples in this world of hard work planting fruit trees, and it is the turn of others to eat the fruit in the end. Wang Wenzuo does not want to end up like this himself.

"Come, come!" Cui Bian seemed to be in a good mood, he called someone to bring tea, 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. Is it true or false?"

"Cui Gong is joking!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Actually, money can drive people away. Sun Tzu said: Every movement of an army costs thousands of dollars a day. If you don't know how to manage money, how can you use your troops?"

"That's right, that's right!" Cui Bian said with a smile, "Wang Changshi's words are good, and Cui has seen it today!"