February 13th, the eighth year of the Zhenghe reign of the Song Dynasty, was Xin Chou, an auspicious day in the zodiac, and everything was suitable.
Genius Meng Meng Liang, Sun Tu has arrived at the third class courtyard accompanied by a slave from the Tong Mansion to participate in today's shooting test. This will be a key test that will change his life and destiny.
Different from the rule set by the Ming and Qing Dynasties that civil servants were under the control of the Ministry of Personnel and military officers were under the control of the Ministry of War, the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty were actually under the jurisdiction of the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council. Although the six ministries were still there, the powers of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War were obvious. It was cut in half.
However, as the central agencies, the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council are busy with all kinds of official affairs and cannot even manage some small matters and minor officials. Therefore, they have set up Ryunaiquan and Sanbanyuan respectively to handle civil and military officials of sixth rank and below. selection and appointment. It can be seen from this that the power of the Third Class Court in the entire court is also considerable. After all, among the hundreds of military officers in the world, the vast majority are below the sixth rank.
At this time, the selection of military attaches is divided into aspects such as attack, military merit, recommendation, etc. After these people get a chance to get an officer, they will rush to Tokyo from all over the place to conduct shooting tests and make decisions. Final selection.
The so-called imperial shooting test, as the name suggests, is to demonstrate one's martial arts skills, especially bow and arrow archery, in front of the emperor (using the imperial court to refer to the emperor is a common practice in the officialdom). Because of the inherent deficiencies of the Song Dynasty since the founding of the country, not only a large amount of land north of the Yellow River was occupied by the Liao Kingdom, but also the Hetao area was seized by the Xixia. As a result, the Song army was seriously short of horses. In such a battle, defense could only be used as an offense, which was the most serious. In terms of bow and crossbow tactics, when selecting soldiers, those who are good at shooting are often selected. Over time, shooting skills are the most important thing in selecting military attaches.
However, today's shooting test palace is different from the past. The word "shooting test" is still there, but the palace court has long disappeared. Since Renzong, the officials of the Song Dynasty have not paid much attention to the selection of these low-level military attachés, let alone come to the Third Class Courtyard to watch this competition. After all, this is an era where martial arts is valued over literature. No matter how good your martial arts are, No matter how good your archery skills are, can you compare to the pillars of the country who read poetry and books
It's just that even though the emperor didn't come, the rules of the imperial examination were still quite strict. When Sun Tu came to the door and revealed his identity, he was searched again as usual, and then compared with the business records he submitted to ensure that he was undoubtedly himself. . They didn't let Sun Tu in until all inspections showed no problems. At this time, the servant saluted and congratulated: "My young official, I wish you a triumphant return." Then he turned and walked away.
Although today's officials can only address people who have achieved official status, instead of being able to address women as their husbands like later, calling them like this at this time can be regarded as a compliment, and Sun Tu fisted his fist. , after thanking him, he just walked into the gate of the third class courtyard with his head held high.
Although this Sanbanyuan Yamen is not of high quality, it occupies a large area. It is more than three times larger than the Liu Neiquan not far away. And why there is such an arrangement, after entering the door, turning around a screen wall, and passing through a portal, the answer comes - in the place where the second hall should be, in addition to an official announcement pavilion, it is a school grounds that occupies a large area.
This is the examination place where today's shooting test will be held. At this time, there are hundreds of people waiting for the martial arts test waiting on the edge of the school field. They are all observing the surroundings with solemn expressions and considering the next competition.
After adjusting his clothes, Sun Tu also walked over. Unexpectedly, these competitors came earlier than him. However, there were few people saying hello to each other. At most, they looked at each other and guessed each other's strength. After all, this was a major event related to their own future, and no one wanted to lose their reputation.
After waiting here for a while, until it got light, a small official in green robe belatedly arrived. After looking at everyone, he took out a roster and called the names one by one. On the one hand, you have to observe the other person's appearance and do a final inspection.
It wasn't until everything was confirmed that the little official left. After a while, several officials gathered around a familiar figure and appeared in front of Sun Tu. It turned out to be the same figure he had met at Tong Guan's house that day. Wang Fangnian, the director of the Third Class Hospital who is Yuan, but when he came to Sun Tu, he didn't react at all, and didn't even glance at him, as if he didn't know him at all.
But Sun Tu knew very well what this appearance meant. Obviously, Tong Guan has already arranged everything. He will definitely get a good result in this shooting test and win a military attache position.
While he was thinking about it, a person suddenly came up to him and whispered: "Are you Sun Tu from Yuncheng County?"
"Exactly, your Excellency?" Sun Tu glanced at this strong young man in surprise. He didn't remember having any interactions with him.
The other party chuckled: "I heard about you from my master. It is said that your martial arts skills are really good. Today I want to see and learn from you."
"Who is your respected master?" Sun Tu was still confused. He couldn't even remember his name.
"My master is Suo Tiha of Daming Mansion, and my name is Zhou Jin." As he was speaking, the officials there finally spoke again, lecturing the crowd, although what he said was to make them loyal to the emperor in the future. It was a patriotic cliché, but Sun Tu and the other two no longer dared to speak out.
It wasn't until he finished speaking that Wang Fangnian made the point: "Today's shooting test will focus on horse shooting. Those who are outstanding can take another test. Next is the order of everyone's test. Wang Qiang, first One, sealing the year, the second..." Just like that, he went on all the way. To Sun Tu's surprise, he was placed very far in the queue, and it wasn't his turn until he was fifty-three.
This made him a little surprised. Logically speaking, in this kind of exam, people at the front tend to have the most advantage, and as you go to the back, the examiners will also feel tired and impatient. Although there are standards for judging superiority in archery, in the I shouldn't be so far behind when someone is taking care of me.
But everything had been settled, and he didn't dare to raise any objections as a candidate. He could only enter the school grounds with others full of doubts, and lined up on both sides to watch Wang Qiang, who was ranked first, show off his ejaculation in front of the wall. technique.
This time the shooting test was first about foot shooting. Each person had seven arrows and shot at a target 80 steps away. They used the eight-bow bow provided by the Sanbanyuan. This is now one of the elite selections for the imperial army in the Song Dynasty. It's standard.
In fact, when the Song Dynasty was first established, the standards were higher. If you wanted to be selected as a member of the imperial army, you had to shoot a hard bow and be able to hit a target a hundred paces away with seven arrows. However, after a hundred years of wasted changes, the Song Army's combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced, and even this rigid standard has been reduced by 20%.
But even so, there were still some people who failed to pass the shooting test. Although some people's foot shooting results were okay, they completely lost their accuracy as soon as they got on the horse. This is also the result of the widespread shortage of horses among the people today. Many people have never even ridden a horse a few times. How can they have superb riding skills and horse shooting skills
On the other hand, Zhou Jin was obviously higher than many others. He was only one of more than a dozen people, but he was also very good at shooting arrows in a row. In just a short time, all seven arrows were shot out, and all of them hit the red heart of the target. After that, they were also galloping back and forth on the horse, without any hindrance. Seven arrows were shot, and the arrows all hit the target. He was the one with the best score among the top ten people.
Wang Fangnian and other invigilators then showed satisfied smiles, and called Zhou Jin to him and said, "How is your strength? How about trying the bow with one stone?"
Zhou Jin was not polite, he immediately took a stone bow and pulled it effortlessly, and then hit it again with seven arrows. Then he fired a two-stone hard crossbow, and only missed a three-stone strong crossbow, but this performance was already eye-catching enough to make everyone look at him with admiration.
When Sun Tu saw this, he admired him in his heart. No wonder this man was so arrogant. It turned out that he really had extraordinary abilities. There was still a big gap between him and himself in terms of shooting skills.
But Zhou Jin's performance put more pressure on the candidates behind him. The next few people actually failed one after another and failed to even pass the rifle shot. Several examiners kept shaking their heads. It seemed that they might not get the official position. .
Just like this, they performed one by one. By the time it was close to noon, the fifty candidates in front had all taken the test, and it was Sun Tu's turn to take the stage.
And just as he was doing warm-up exercises regardless of other people's strange looks, a specially prolonged shout came from outside: "Your Majesty has arrived..."