unclear

Chapter 965 Xiaoliuqiu Base 2
"Long live the Grand Marshal!"

The soldiers did not know that the emperor was going out, but they knew the yellow dragon flag on the mast, so they ran over when they heard the call, and were only allowed to approach after being searched by the flat-headed brothers. When they saw the golden sun and moon emblem on the shoulder straps, they immediately realized that the man standing in front of them was the emperor, and they quickly saluted with their right hands on their chests.

"Oh, a cavalry captain, not bad. How many years have you been a soldier?" Hong Tao also raised his right hand and touched his chest. Looking at the other party's green epaulettes and octagonal bronze star, he immediately knew his title.

"Eight years!" The arm was put down, but the soldier still stood very straight. His excessive excitement made his black face a little purple, and his voice was a little trembling.

"Eight years? It took you eight years to become a cavalry lieutenant. You didn't work hard on your day to day!" He was praising you just now, but frowned as soon as he heard about the number of years of service.

According to the Navy's practice, after three years of normal service, whether sailors or soldiers, as long as they pass various assessments, they can be promoted to the lowest honorary rank of Wuqiwei. Even if they fail the assessment, they will at least be given an honorary rank after five years.

This guy has been in service for eight years. If he could catch up with one or two combat operations without any mistakes, he should have been a cloud cavalry captain or a flying cavalry captain. It would not be surprising to get a sixth-rank lieutenant. He is still a military cavalry captain. There is only one possibility: his performance in each assessment is not satisfactory, and he is just barely not good enough to be expelled.

"Reporting to the Marshal, my marksmanship is too poor and I have failed every test." Seeing that the emperor's attitude had not changed, the soldiers felt a little more at ease and spoke more fluently.

"...Are you from Fujian?" Hong Tao turned his head and glanced at Xiao Si, still maintaining his usual smile on his face.

"Reporting to the Marshal, I am from Sha County, Yanping Prefecture." The soldier did not notice anything unusual and wanted to report the name of the village. This time, we will be so proud to have talked with the emperor face to face!
"Shaxian... Is there any other name for Niaobuta in your hometown?" Hong Tao had no impression of Yanping Prefecture, but he must be very familiar with Shaxian. Shaxian, Fujian, the Shaxian snacks that filled the streets in the future should be this place.

"We call it prickly onion, and people in Jiangxi call it Yuejiao. Blanch it in hot water, chop it up and mix it with tofu. It's delicious." The soldier is worthy of being from Shaxian County. He is not afraid of eating it. He not only gave the name but also the method of eating it.

"It's Cornus officinalis! Your Majesty, this thing is produced in Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Sichuan. It is not rare."

The emperor and a soldier were chatting animatedly, and the ministers who had just stepped off the gangplank also came over. Yang Sichang, the Minister of Rites, had the sharpest ears, and when he heard the soldier's introduction, he couldn't help but interrupt.

"Dogwood? I know my brothers are climbing the mountain, and there are dogwoods everywhere, but there is one less dogwood? Can I eat it?"

Hong Tao has never heard of prickly onion, but he must know about dogwood. In the Song Dynasty, people had the habit of wearing flowers on their heads and sachets, among which dogwood flowers and dogwood sachets were the more common ones. Not only for beauty, but also said to be able to ward off evil spirits, but I have never heard of anyone eating dogwood.

"Your Majesty is a man of talent, just as Wang Wei wrote in his poem. But this dogwood is not the same as that dogwood. The young buds of the thorny dogwood are edible and have a unique fragrance."

Yang Sichang highly praised the emperor for being able to recite ancient poems. Then he changed the subject and explained the reason. There are two kinds of dogwood, one with thorns and one without, one edible and one inedible.

"Well, I have to try it...Xiao Si, what's wrong with him?"

Now that his doubts were answered, Hong Tao really wanted to taste the flavor of the dogwood here. However, he still had another question in his mind. This soldier obviously did not meet the requirements of the Lu Zhanwei. Why did he stay when he could not even shoot accurately after being a soldier for eight years? Could it be that someone was openly corrupting the army?
"…Your Majesty, he's just not good at shooting, but he's very accurate at everything else." Now it was Xiao Si's turn to lose his composure. He hesitated and didn't explain the whole story, but he was still trying to argue. "Pingtou, go get a musket. I want to see how accurate it is!" These words made Hong Tao furious. This was too much of a lie. He dared to lie in front of him, so he must not let him off easily.

"Come, let me see your shooting skills." The musket was taken from other Marine Guards soldiers on the dock. It was difficult to find a target for the time being, but it was not difficult for the Flathead Brother.

He went to the cabin and found a piece of wood, and drew a human figure with ink, standing about 200 meters away. This distance was the minimum assessment standard for army soldiers, and if five out of ten shots hit the human figure, they would be considered qualified.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The soldier's gun handling movements were very skillful, and he loaded the bullets very quickly, which was obviously the result of long-term training. After a few minutes, he finished firing ten shots, and two of them hit the target, which was indeed a failure.

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, I can hit the seabird!"

At first, the soldiers didn't know why the emperor wanted to test their marksmanship, but after seeing Xiao Si's expression, they roughly guessed it. In order not to cause trouble for their superiors, they bravely asked to try again, and increased the difficulty.

"How dare you! You broke the sail and you are responsible for it! Why don't you leave? Your Majesty, you should go and try the dogwood. This is the first time I have heard of it. If it tastes good, dig up a few seedlings and take them back to plant and try."

Wang Chengen roughly guessed why the emperor did this, and immediately reprimanded him, not wanting to make the scene too ugly, mainly because he didn't want to anger the emperor. The emperor was not very happy all the way, always thinking about the war in the north. Today, he finally had a smile on his face, and he must not let a little soldier ruin it.

"Are you sure you can hit it?"

Hong Tao ignored Wang Chengen's nonsense and looked up at the seabird landing on the mast. Although it was only a few dozen meters high, it was much smaller than the target, so it was not easy to hit it with one shot.

"Reporting to the Marshal, I don't hit the ones on the mast, I hit the ones that are flying." The soldier did not look at the mast, but pointed to the top of his head.

"... Go ahead and shoot. I'll give you three chances. If you hit the target, you'll be promoted to Flying Cavalry Captain. If you miss, there won't be any punishment." Hong Tao's own shooting skills weren't very good, so he couldn't stand such boasting. Fortunately, the other party was just a small soldier, so there was no need to be serious.

"Bang...Fuck..." Following a crisp gunshot, the emperor's unique colloquialisms rang out on the dock. A seagull flying overhead was hit in mid-air, its feathers flying and its body falling rapidly, landing not far away.

"Then why didn't you hit the target?" That's unscientific. When the soldier was shooting, Hong Tao carefully observed and was definitely not careless. He aimed very seriously. How come he couldn't hit the half-body target, but could hit the flying seagull?
"…Your Majesty, he has seen double images of distant objects since he was a child, but nothing is wrong with nearby objects, and nothing is wrong with moving objects. I thought that most of the time, you have to hit moving targets on the battlefield, so I didn't cancel his military status. It's just that the military regulations are strict, and he can't be promoted if he fails the assessment."

Xiao Si answered the emperor's question on behalf of the soldier. In fact, he was not the initiator. It had been eight years. He had only taken over the Crocodile Dragon Guard for a few years, and the previous commander had not fired the soldier.

(End of this chapter)