Because there are too many people taking the test, the riding and archery competition is not conducted alone. On the side of the school field, there were 200 targets lined up in a row, and the candidates showed their shooting skills in groups of 200 according to the order.
Riding and shooting, in fact, there are three items to be assessed. The first is riding, the second is archery, and the third is naturally riding plus archery.
But this year's Yanwu Academy exam is a bit special, Dean Zhou is good at arguing that the riding part should be erased. In his old man's words, the Great Sui put all the power of the whole country into nothing but two pure cavalry troops. These candidates are basically useless compared to riding skills, because the generals of the two cavalry are personally selected by His Majesty to appoint and dismiss. The probability of those two cavalry is almost zero.
Without the competition of riding skills, the last two items will be carried out directly.
Archery and riding.
Each time two hundred people shoot arrows at the same time, each with ten arrows. Five fixed shots, five sports shots.
Fang Jie was the third batch of candidates to enter the arena. He stood quietly and watched while others were shooting arrows. He looked very carefully, as if he wanted to remember every detail. On the other side of the target, soldiers drawn from Youzuowei were responsible for recording the results of the candidates. And Qiu Yu, a professor at the Academy of Martial Arts who was in charge of the exam, stood behind the target. She didn't seem to be worried at all about being accidentally injured by a feathered arrow that shot into the air, and walked back and forth behind the target with her hands behind her back, like walking around the target.
Seeing that he was about to play, Fang Jie squatted down and straightened his boots. Use the straw rope you found to tie the boot shaft to the calf, tuck the hem of the robe into the belt, and then tie the sleeves with the straw rope. After getting ready, I just heard the shout of the invigilator.
"next batch!"
Fang Jie took a few breaths slowly, and looked at the walking bow and the ten feathered arrows in the quiver allotted to him. On the other side of the target, the soldiers of the right guard who were in charge of recording the scores pulled out the arrows from the target and collected them, then retreated to the back of the bunker again. With the sound of a gong, Fang Jie and his group of 200 candidates stood in a straight line at the place where the white line was drawn.
The fixed shooting is divided into five parts. Candidates first walk to the first white line 70 steps away from the target, shoot an arrow, then retreat quickly, and shoot another arrow on the way back. Then retreat to a place eighty steps away from the target, stand up and shoot an arrow, and then quickly retreat and shoot an arrow. and so on. There are five white lines in total, retreating four times, and shooting nine arrows. The last arrow requires candidates to quickly exchange positions at a distance of 120 steps from the target, and shoot the tenth arrow while running.
The time to complete the archery competition, the pace and direction of running, plus the accuracy, the comprehensive score.
Speaking of it, the rules are not complicated, but if you want to shoot these ten arrows well, is it an easy task? The step bows they used were crafted in the Sui weapon workshop, and it was easy to send the feather arrow two hundred steps. But having said that, you must know that when you shoot an arrow at a distance of more than seventy steps, you have to calculate the arc landing point when the arrow flies out. Retreat to a distance of one hundred and ten steps and shoot the bow. The distance the arrow flies in mid-air is so long that even a gust of wind can change the trajectory of the feathered arrow.
Moreover, it is very difficult to complete accurate shooting while running.
Fang Jie tied the quiver to his back, and adjusted it to the position where he could draw out the feathered arrow by raising his hand. First, I pulled the bowstring a few times to get used to the strength of the bow. Before he started, he lowered his head to find a small stone, held it between his fingers and shot it out with a step bow. He kept watching the trajectory of the stone until it hit the ground. Fang Xie remembered the feeling when he shot the stone just now.
The moment the gong sounded for the second time, Fang Jie immediately raised his hand and drew the first feather arrow from the quiver on his back. Without any aiming action, he drew the bow and shot the arrow in one go. The first arrow was seventy paces away from the target, and it was not difficult for Fang Xie to shoot at this distance.
After the first arrow was shot, Fang Xie didn't even check to see if the arrow hit. He didn't turn around and run for a distance like others and then turn around and aim. Instead, he stepped a little bit, and his body floated backward like a kite being carried by the wind. Alternately touching the ground with left and right feet, the body swept up again and again and galloped backwards. When it flew up, Fang Jie had already drawn the feathered arrow out of the quiver. When the body fell to the ground, the bowstring was fully drawn, and he jumped up again, and the feathered arrow shot out.
After tapping his feet alternately several times, Fang Jie retreated to the second white line eighty steps away from the target. Draw the arrow, shoot it, then retreat quickly, draw the arrow, shoot it, the movements are smooth and flowing.
When Fang Jie retreated to the third white line ninety steps away from the target, there were not many candidates keeping a distance from him. Zhang Kuang, who was about ten meters away from Fang Jie, had suffered some injuries before, but he still showed amazing qualities in this purely military test. When Fang Jie shot the third arrow and retreated, he took the time to glance at both sides of him. He found that Zhang Kuang was actually slightly faster than himself, about half a step ahead.
On the other side, Yu Xiao, the son of Zuo Wuwei General Yu Manlou, is almost parallel to Fang Jie. Obviously, General Yu Manlou had very strict requirements on his son. Yu Xiao's posture of drawing the bow, archery and running is very standard, even the instructor who trains the recruits can't do better than him.
Unlike Fang Jie's point-and-shoot, Yu Xiao's shooting skills seemed to be more solid than Fang Jie's. He turned around to shoot arrows while running, and almost every arrow was sent out with just a little aim.
Even farther away, there were a few extremely skilled people whose speed was comparable to Fang Jie's. Six or seven of the ten people were candidates with military backgrounds.
In this kind of competition, the advantages of soldiers are vividly displayed.
From shooting the first arrow to the fifth white line which is 110 steps away from the target, Fang Jie shot nine arrows, and it took no more than two minutes at most. There were only one or two people who were faster than him, six or seven people who reached the same distance as him, and four or five people who were slightly slower.
But at this moment, a problem arose.
For example, Zhang Kuang, who had arrived a moment earlier, and another soldier were stunned for a moment, as if they didn't know how to shoot the tenth arrow.
…
…
When Fang Jie ran to his position, he finally understood why Zhang Kuang, who was one step ahead of him, hesitated. The tenth arrow requires the candidates to switch positions, but if the leading ones run to the positions of the candidates next to them and shoot arrows, their sight will be blocked by the candidates who have not yet come back. That is to say, those who moved slowly became the obstacles for them to shoot the tenth arrow. But if they waited for them to retreat before shooting the tenth arrow, the advantage they had won before would be gone.
When Fang Jie thought of this, he found that Zhang Kuang was looking at him. In an instant he understood Zhang Kuang's meaning, but he shook his head immediately. The distance between the two of them was more than ten meters away, with at least six people in between. If the two of them switched positions, the running distance would be too far, and the candidates in the middle would still be hindered by their retreat. The lead in time that was obtained with great difficulty before cannot withstand a little squandering.
No time to hesitate, Fang Jie immediately jumped to the side. While landing, he squatted down as much as possible, and then concentrated all his strength on his legs. For a moment, he himself could feel the muscles in his legs tense rapidly. This swollen feeling was good, and it boosted his self-confidence again.
After squatting down, his feet immediately showed a strong explosive force. Stepping on the ground with two feet, Fang Jie's body suddenly pulled up. While jumping up, Fang Jie pulled out the last feathered arrow from behind, and shot it towards the distant target in front of him without hesitation.
And at this moment, the examinee who was facing the target happened to retreat to less than one meter in front of Fang Jie. The tenth arrow shot by Fang Jie almost flew past his scalp, and the examinee screamed in fright, and subconsciously bent forward to dodge.
Fang Jie smiled at him apologetically, and the tense muscles on his body relaxed slowly. He turned around and walked back, untying the quiver tied to his back as he walked. The right Zuowei soldier in charge of supervision ran over and took back the step bow and quiver in his hand.
Fang Jie sat down on a rock, plucked a piece of grass and held it in his mouth, and watched those who hadn't finished the exam try their best to run and shoot. This feeling of withdrawing from the game and being a bystander was amazing.
Zhang Kuang returned the step bow and quiver to the soldiers of Youzuowei, walked up to Fang Jie, sat down and smiled and said: "I thought I could win you in this test, but I was defeated by you because of my indecision." Overtake. Sigh... If I had known that you were one of the military candidates this year, I should not have come."
Fang Jie smiled: "Actually, you can go faster."
Zhang Kuang froze for a moment, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "It's reached the limit."
"When you shot the arrow just now, how many times did you look at me?" Fang Jie asked.
"Four times." Zhang Kuang answered truthfully.
"You want to win me too much."
Fang Jie sighed, stretched his body and said in a flat tone: "It is because you want to win me so much, so you are distracted. You keep checking to see if I have surpassed you, although the time it takes to look at me is very little, But it still has some influence on your shot. If you focus on shooting arrows, at least you are two steps faster than me. But in the end you were only one step faster than me, and at the last moment because of hesitation, the time of this step was wasted."
Zhang Kuang nodded, and said after a moment of silence: "I really want to win you, really want to."
He also plucked a fluffy grass from the weeds on the ground, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed like Fang Jie and said, "As I said just now, this is the only test item that has a chance to win you once. After this test, I’m afraid there will be no chance.”
"Why do you want to win me so much?" Fang Jie asked.
Zhang Kuang hesitated for a long time, then turned his head to look at Fang Jie and replied seriously: "Because of jealousy."
Fang Jie stretched out his hand and patted Zhang Kuang's shoulder, but said nothing.
Zhang Kuang smiled and said: "People are always like this. They are always jealous of people who are stronger than themselves. Sorry, you treat me as a friend, but I treat you as an opponent."
Fang Jie shook his head slowly, and said in a soft tone: "If I didn't treat everyone as my opponent, how could I win against most of them?"
Zhang Kuang was taken aback, then nodded thoughtfully.
At this moment, a fat figure floated over from a distance. While floating towards Fang Jie, he said with a smile: "Xiao Fang Jie, haven't seen you for a few days, do you miss me? Let me see if you failed the exam. If so, I plan to have something good to celebrate today. one time."
Fang Jie looked at the fat figure and first smiled. But when he saw the dirty appearance of that guy, Fang Xie's face darkened again.
"What's wrong?"
When Xiang Qingniu came to his side, Fang Jie asked with a frown as he looked at the damaged taoist robes on Xiang Qingniu's body.
"I didn't wipe your butt for you. I didn't wipe my butt properly. What the hell, it stinks all over!"
Xiang Qingniu sat down next to Fang Jie, panting and said, "I found that day... who is this?"
He pointed at Zhang Kuang.
Zhang Kuang recognized the Taoist robe on Xiang Qingniu's body, and knew what the Taoist robe represented. So he stood up, cupped his fists and saluted, "I've met a real person, my name is Zhang Kuang, this year's candidate for the Academy of Martial Arts, the leader of the Anyuan City Frontier Army."
Xiang Qingniu laughed and said: "Xiao Fangjie's comrade, haha, he's a good-looking talent and a good-looking talent... Can you go to the side and rest for a while, I have something to explain to Xiao Fang."
"good."
Zhang Kuang smiled and said, "You talk, I'll go over there to see the other brothers."
After saying this, he turned and walked away. When he turned around, the humble and sincere smile disappeared from his face. I don't know what he thought of, and the sad and sad look in his eyes flashed away.
Zhang Kuang, who walked slowly towards the other candidates, gradually turned cold.
Hearing Fang Jie talking and laughing happily with the fat man in the black Taoist robe, Zhang Kuang's face became more and more ugly.
I actually want to win you once like an idiot... You are a person valued by His Majesty, you have friendship with the people in the Ouchi Guard Office, you have friendship with Sanjin Hou Wuyi, you have friendship with the boss of Hongxiu Zhao, you I have friendship with several great scholars in the imperial court, and even you have a good relationship with that beautiful female professor... Now there is another real person who comes out to chat with you and looks so familiar, how can I compare with you
Fang Jie... What is your identity
Crazy... How idiot are you? You are just a little brigade with no future, you don’t know the people from the Ouchi Guard Office, you don’t know San Jinhou, you don’t know the University Scholars, you haven’t entered the Red Sleeve Recruitment, and you can’t be compared with the professors of the Academy of Martial Arts In other words, there will not be a big man from the Taoist sect coming to chat with you, and you will not be appreciated by His Majesty... You are just a northern barbarian tribe who had to marry the daughter of the tribe leader and kill the daughter of the tribe leader in order to survive and make meritorious service. It's nothing more than her little person.
Zhang Kuang, the gap between you and Fang Jie is too great.
He smiled wryly as he walked.
You are people from two worlds.