The people I met recently were really, how should I put it? They were really more pessimistic than the last.
Liu Chengzong thought like this as he walked with Xiao Zhuanfeng on the path on the outskirts of the village.
Dad sent Xiao Liu to call him and his brother over to meet Yang Dingrui, and he also wanted them to accompany him to dinner. However, when the conversation came to important matters in the court, he changed the subject and kicked them out.
He sent Liu Chengzu to train his troops, and asked Liu Chengzong to send the bow string to the carpenter in the eastern suburbs of the village, and then go to the blacksmith at Beishan Pass to see if there was anything else he needed.
Liu Chengzong heard Yang Dingrui say that the imperial court could not succeed in Shaanxi, but he did not have time to listen to him explain in detail why it could not succeed.
He only knew that this Jinshi in the Tianqi year and the second assistant official in the imperial court actually resigned from his post, which made him feel very itchy and eager to know more news from the city.
Xiao Zhuanfeng had a small cloth bag hanging on his back, containing a bunch of bowstrings and crossbow strings, all of which he had made in his spare time during these days.
Bow strings and crossbow strings are made of different materials and methods. Crossbow strings are made of hemp thread, while bow strings are made of cotton thread. First, use cotton thread to make bones, and then wrap them horizontally. Once they are strong enough, you can make a suitable string.
This is not the best string. It is not as good as the bone made of mulberry silk, but it is more suitable and durable than the animal sinew fiber string outside the mouth.
He carries dozens of strings, but not dozens of crossbows. Strings and arrow shafts are both consumables. A crossbow must be equipped with at least three strings for backup, so that it can be used without making mistakes and without injuring the shooter.
bow.
Contrary to strings and arrow shafts, arrows are not consumables.
At least in the border army sequence, all arrows are forged, well-made, and basically durable.
Several years ago, he bought twelve forged arrowheads.
I served in the army for one year, participated in two small-scale encounters in foreign land burning, hunted more than 20 times, and practiced target every day. I broke not only 100 but also 80 arrow shafts, and more and more arrows were left in my hand.
Now he has forty-two arrowheads, except for the two that were shot in the river last year and could not be recovered. After nearly ten years of archery, Liu Chengzong estimated that the arrowheads he bought would have the honor of being buried with him.
The carpenter's family is not far from the village, avoiding the fields and guarding the mountains and forests. It is not that it is convenient to go into the mountains to collect wood. In these days, we have to buy wood. There are some businesses that specialize in wood, but their family has not caught up with the clan to allocate houses.
The land was divided and all the good places were gone, so we had to live outside the village.
The old craftsman was Chengzong's uncle, named Xiangliang. Because he was born in a craftsman's family, he was drafted to Yunnan with his father in his early years. He then traveled with the army for more than ten years before returning to his hometown with his three children and his Liaodong wife.
When they came back, their two sons didn't even have proper names, so they were called Liu San and Liu Wu.
When Liu Chengzong came, Xiao Zhuanfeng, a thin dog, ran faster than him. He stretched out his four long legs and walked into the yard without hesitation. He started scolding the carpenter's guard dog on a leash.
The master came later, belatedly, drank away Xiao Zuanfeng, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Uncle Liang, I'm here to deliver the bow string to see if I can help."
The yard was very lively, and a large amount of bamboo and wood were piled beside the fence. These were all the things Liu Chengzu went to the Northern Paper Factory to get some time ago.
Among the bamboo chips and sawdust all over the floor, Liu Xiangliang's family of five went into battle and were busy. Several bow embryos were slowly taking shape under the planes in their hands. Two pairs of oiled crossbows and eight bows hung on the wall not far away.
The crossbow is nothing more than a tool. If it is made well, the wood will be dried in the shade for a year, soaked in oil at intervals, and the bow arms will be glued to the tendons. After a series of processes, a batch of good bows will be produced in two years.
But if speed is required, it is not impossible. The quality will definitely be inferior.
You get what you ask for.
"The lion is coming."
Liu San and Liu Wu said hello and continued working. The old carpenter stopped what he was doing and wiped his sweat, then stepped forward and said, "I have nothing to help. Everything we make is easy."
Ever since Liu Xiangyu and Liu Chengzu organized all the young men into three teams, they had a huge gap in weapons and were unable to conduct normal training. They had little choice but to run around the mountain in the morning and dig ditches every day.
So we can only trouble the blacksmiths and carpenters to make more weapons for people.
Weapons, keep everything simple.
Liu Chengzong responded with a smile. As he walked, he pointed at the bow hanging on the wall and asked casually: "Uncle Xiang Liang, is that a ready bow?"
After the old craftsman nodded, Liu Chengzong picked up one and held it in his hand, calling Xiao Zuanfeng to wind it.
The bow has a simple structure and simple materials. It is made of double-layer bamboo strips glued together. The handle and bow tip are reinforced with wood and wrapped with twine. It feels good to hold.
After winding the string, Liu Chengzong carefully opened it to full capacity, nodded and said: "Uncle Ti Liang's skills are good, the bow power is very light, and the draw is very soft."
The requirement for these bows in Xingpingli is to be as light as possible, preferably twenty kilograms, and the heaviest should not exceed thirty kilograms.
In the future, all those who use bows will be farmers, and there will be many people who can shoot a fifty or sixty-pound war bow.
But Liu Chengzong, who was good at archery, knew that bowing and archery was not a skill that could defeat ten skills with one skill. On the contrary, it was a skill that could defeat ten skills with one skill.
No matter how strong you are, it will be useless if you can't shoot accurately; but if you shoot accurately, even a twenty-pound bow can still be used to kill people.
Movement and technique are more important. For those who are new to archery, the lighter the bow, the easier it will be for them to fix their movements with better habits.
What's more, even if the first batch of archers are trained, these light bows can still be used by the women and children in the third team of rural soldiers.
Appreciation of hard work can make anyone happy, and Liu Xiangliang is no exception. He walked away and said with a smile: "Look at what you are saying, lion boy. Your uncle made bows for North Korea in Liaodong - I will go and set them for you."
It’s a target for you to try.”
"Uncle has been to Korea. When was the Battle of Korea?"
Liu Xiangliang smiled and hung a wooden sign on the old elm tree in the courtyard. Then he shook his head and said with a smile: "The Korean War was already over when I went to Yunnan. Let me think about it, it must have been the 41st year of Wanli."
"When their old king died of illness, I don't know who the new king was called Guanghai Jun. Anyway, the general asked military craftsmen to make bows in Liaodong and sell them to the vassal countries... Let's try to see if this bow works."
Liu Chengzong didn't bring a bow and arrow. He only hung a knife on his waist when he went out to walk his dog. He had to look for a new barrel of wooden arrows in the yard. The arrow ends were treated to make them very straight, and the arrowheads were made of bamboo cut into three sides.
He looked at the bamboo arrow, then at the wooden target not far away, and cast a questioning look at Liu Xiangliang.
The old carpenter understood the idea and said cheerfully: "Yangmu, don't worry about shooting."
Liu Chengzong was worried that shooting the wooden target would damage the bamboo arrowhead, but he was relieved when he heard that the target was poplar.
The poplar tree grows thicker every year, and the wood is also very soft.
He did not dare to retreat further. He first fired an arrow ten steps away from the target, then retreated fifteen steps after seeing the target. Finally, he fired an arrow at a distance of about twenty steps, and then he stopped shooting.
No matter how far away you are, it will be difficult to hit the target even if you hit it.
Just as he imagined, this bamboo bow shoots arrows very slowly.
Slow down until you are confident that you can stand at the target and let someone shoot at it. If you let him move, you can get out of the way. If you let him draw his sword, he can push the arrow away.
But before he could tell Liu Xiangliang how he felt about shooting with a bamboo bow, someone not far away clapped and shouted: "That's a good shot. The lion's archery action is very good!"
Turning his head, it was Jinshi Yang Dingrui. He stepped forward, took the bamboo bow, looked at it, and said, "Why not make a long bow? Tang Long Bow."