"Hey!"

Gao He is riding a horse and running in the scorching sun.

Although the tutorials in the martial arts hall are a bit cumbersome, they lack systematic things that can really help you learn something.

For a man from an aristocratic family like him, riding lessons are as easy as eating and drinking, and it's easy to get an armor.

"Brother Gao's riding skills are getting better and better."

As soon as he stopped, several people came running over, obviously seeking after him.

It's no wonder that as the son of Duke Jing, he naturally has a huge network of connections, and he has no choice but to fawn over everyone who studies in the martial arts hall.

After all, the treatment of the frontier army, Beijing camp, and bodyguard department is extraordinary.

Anyone who has some pursuits will want to go to the Guards Department.

For Wu Jinshi, the bodyguard department was the literati's concubine.

"It's not worth mentioning." Gao He was also very modest: "My younger brother can only take the lead in riding, but I am not as good as my brothers in liberal arts."

Gao He, who is only twenty years old, is not too young to be in the martial arts hall. After all, many noble disciples often attend school, but compared with the average age of those martial arts scholars who are thirty, he looks very young.

With the dual identity of being a noble and a martial arts scholar, Gao He did very well in the martial arts hall.

"Hey, it's really uncomfortable to have to write and write after entering the school, especially geometry, which is more difficult to write than eight-part essay!"

"A few arithmetic, astronomical calendar, longitude and latitude lines, Africa and America, it's really a headache."

Several people immediately turned on the switch and couldn't help but complain.

The Wu Jinshi who had been Shaowu for 20 years experienced pain and discomfort for the first time.

You must know that at home, they only read Sun Tzu's Art of War and Taigong's Book of War. How have they ever been exposed to these?

A few people chatted and ended the riding lesson.

In fact, those who are poor in literature and rich in martial arts, and who can pass the examination of high school and martial arts, are basically from middle-class families or above. Even if they have never ridden a horse, they have ridden donkeys and mules, and they can get started very quickly.

Many people are ignorant.

A one-hour riding lesson is leisure time for them.

The martial arts hall has its own servants to feed and feed the horses, so it is not their turn to do the dirty work of the martial arts scholars.

Afterwards, a shooting lesson was officially held.

There weren't many people on the shooting range.

There are three hundred people in each section of the Wu Jinshis, plus some junior officers recommended by the nobles and the army, a total of eight hundred people, and they are divided into twenty squads.

There are five shooting ranges and stables with thousands of horses.

Courses are naturally held in rotation.

The instructor took out three muskets, namely a matchlock, a flintlock, and a pistol.

He explained in detail the differences, attention, and power of the three types of guns:

"The shooting range of a matchlock gun is between forty and eighty steps. If it exceeds eighty steps, it will not be able to penetrate the armor, and the bullet will drift away, and it will be inaccurate..."

"The power of a flintlock gun is about a hundred paces. Compared with a matchlock gun, it does not need to ignite a fire, but its success rate is only 70%. In a large-scale war, it is nothing..."

"The gun is actually an enlarged version of a musket. It is very powerful and can reach 100 to 150 steps. Sometimes it can reach 200 steps."

"Even three layers of armor can penetrate at a hundred steps..."

After saying that, three soldiers walked in from the side and started demonstrating in turn.

There was a crackling sound and the smell of sulfur filled the shooting range.

Gao He and the others sat together, their buttocks hurting from the hot sand and stones, but they could only hold back and stretched their heads one by one to explore its power.

Although the imperial court does not prohibit swords and guns, muskets are strictly prohibited, and ordinary nobles may not be able to obtain them.

The smoke cleared, and the three armored scarecrows revealed their true faces.

At a hundred paces, I saw that the scarecrow under the matchlock gun was safe and sound, but the flintlock gun was missing a big hole.

But raising the gun directly scattered the scarecrow.

The seemingly sturdy armor also had a big hole in it.

"Okay, who can tell me the pros and cons of muskets."

The instructor asked casually.

Immediately, he ordered a burly man.

"Teacher, the advantage of firearms lies in their simplicity and feasibility. As the saying goes, there are three months of swords and six months of sticks, but I think this musket can be figured out in ten days as long as you are not an idiot."

"After decades of hard work, I am still no match for a new recruit who has been in the army for half a month..."

These words made everyone stunned.

"That's right." The instructor said seriously: "In the past, the kind of fierce generals who could defeat thousands of enemies are almost invisible in the army. Only generals who plan strategies and command well can seize victory."

"Gao He, what do you think?"

When his name was called, Gao He stood up and said, "Teacher, as you said, the army does not need strong generals, but it puts greater pressure on logistics."

"In the past, if there was no logistics, we would be hungry for two or three days at most, but now if we are short, the muskets are just fire sticks. Facing those fierce generals, we can only sit on the wax."

"You are right." The instructor said happily: "Without the gunpowder, even if the musket is equipped with a bayonet, it is still no match for the elite soldiers who have been trained for many years."

"So, military training is just to let soldiers master the formation and shoot, which is not enough. Bayonet fighting also needs to be practiced, but it is the key."

"Even if there is no gunpowder, we will be able to fight and kill the enemy when the time comes..."

To put it bluntly, it is refuting the theory of the invincibility of guns.

After seeing the power of muskets and artillery, some people in the army praised them so much that they only practiced formation and shooting, and disdained fighting.

But muskets are not omnipotent.

In the southern rain forests, deserts, rainy days, etc., the disadvantages of muskets appear.

Balanced development without delay.

The martial arts hall is to cleanse the brains of these new students, especially since most of them come from the folk and have an inexplicable admiration for muskets.

After some instruction, about fifty people took turns firing guns. The instructor taught step by step how to load gunpowder, clean the gun chamber, aim and shoot, etc.

Two hours flew by.

Everyone was very interested.

What man doesn't like playing with guns?

Everyone is in high spirits.

At dusk, everyone tried firing guns and class officially ended.

During this teaching trip, twenty kilograms of gunpowder and dozens of silver coins were used, which can be said to be a luxury.

But facing this group of elites in the future army, this little money is nothing.

Gao He returned to the dormitory.

This is a four-person room with upper bunk beds and a lower table. It is narrow and smelly.

The training in the martial arts hall is closed, with one day off every half month, even for him, the son of the prince, no exception.

"What class is tomorrow?"

He lay on the bed and lit the spices underneath, but he couldn't get rid of the stench. Instead, it mixed with it, making it especially strange.

"In the morning it's geometry, mathematics, and geography."

These words immediately aroused sighs from several roommates.

Gao He also had a headache.

A few pieces of mathematics are like a bible, which makes people feel uncomfortable from the bottom of their hearts.

The courses in Yanwutang are divided into two categories, liberal arts and martial arts.

The liberal arts include general knowledge courses (military knowledge such as queues and ranks), geography, geometry, astronomy, history, and logistics.

The martial arts subjects are riding, archery, sailing, and artillery.

Among the four subjects of martial arts, everyone must choose two subjects to study, instead of selecting all.

Because the four subjects imply distribution.

There are three types: cavalry, infantry, and navy. Archery, crossbows, and artillery are all infantry.

However, in the army, there is not much difference between cavalry and infantry, and they can be converted at any time, but the navy cannot.

Therefore, there are very few people to choose the navy. There are three hundred people in a class, and only a few dozen people choose.

But the navy also has great advantages. Since there is less competition, promotion is relatively convenient, and you can also bring your family members with you.

The navy had never heard of a rebellion, so the court was very relieved.
To be continued...