Hsu Fengnian glanced at the three white ash rods of different lengths and suddenly said casually, "Old Mister, of the two juniors, one should have changed his rod half a year ago. It should have been three inches longer, and the other one should have increased his weight by six ounces."
The two youths were confused. The old man's eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed. He honestly said, "I don't have money."
Hsu Fengnian nodded and said, "A single coin stumps a hero. Old Mister, I still have some money left for wine. Would you like to drink another two catties of wine? "
Of course, the woman was happy for the customer to drink a few more bowls of wine, especially the handsome young man in front of her. Without waiting for the old man to answer, she eagerly went to pick up the wine. This gave the old man a way out. He probably believed that his vision, honed from years of wandering, trusted this young stranger. He cupped his fists and smiled, "Then this old man thanks you."
Although the old man had gone through a lot, he still had a forthright temperament. He asked the tall young man to sit on a bench and invited Xu Fengnian to sit on the seat beside him. The lady boss added some wine and meat. The plate was not big, but the amount was not enough. Fortunately, it was free of charge. Otherwise, she would be a spendthrift.
The old man used his sleeve to wipe the wine and smiled, "This young master's vision is accurate, very accurate. Do you also practice the spear? Generally speaking, without ten or twenty years of practice, you can't really see the depth of my two grandsons. "
Hsu Fengnian shook his head and smiled, "I don't practice the spear, but there are some people around me who are experts. After watching for a long time, I can understand a little."
The old man joked, "If that's the case, then young master should be an expert."
Hsu Fengnian also joked, "Probably a little high."
The handsome youth coldly snorted, while the tall youth held back his laughter. He had never seen such a shameless person.
The old man didn't take it to heart. When interacting with people, he wasn't afraid of those who showed their small flaws to others, but he was afraid of those who were scheming. The old man sighed and lamented, "Don't be fooled by how popular pewter spears are in the Li Yang Army nowadays. In fact, this kind of material has always been considered inferior in the spear manual. It has an extremely bad reputation, it's too soft, and its toughness is all fake. When a layman wields it, he might be able to shake out some beautiful spear moves, but those street vendors, with spear tips at the throat and spear bodies that curve in a big arc, which one of them isn't a pewter spear? Give him a Beiliang spear and try it. Do you dare? Speaking of this, our Beiliang really put in a lot of effort. Among the world's most famous wood for making spears, the red and white cowhide wood from the Guangling Road, the red ridge wood and red ridge wood from the old Southern Tang Dynasty, and the slightly inferior Cutiao tea stick. All of them are good materials, but none of them can be found in our Beiliang. In the end, the pewter spear produced in the Eastern Henan Plain was rarely seen in our Beiliang, but it was popular in the other vassal kingdoms. Why? Isn't it because the materials are cheap, the soldiers can learn to use them quickly, and they look good when they practice martial arts? This old man heard that in our border army, not to mention the heavy iron spears used by the elite soldiers, regardless of whether it's the cavalry or the gait, all of them are good wood that is as strong as iron. Just talking about the money spent, who knows how much gold and silver is spent. Especially since we have to ship them from other places to Beiliang to make spears, it's even more expensive. The maintenance of a good spear is even more expensive. After all, with so many spears being made every year, it's estimated that the tung oil used to make them can't escape. Therefore, our Beiliang cavalry is the best in the world, not just because Beiliang's athletes are born with outstanding physical strength. "
Hsu Fengnian deeply agreed. He took a sip of wine and nodded, saying, "That's exactly the reason."
The old man spoke enthusiastically and drank quickly. He didn't have too many misgivings when he spoke. He was slightly distracted and said, "Everyone knows that the impact of a cavalry's spear when they charge is astonishing, but they often overlook the damage that the spear technique does to the cavalry itself. If the charge between the two armies is a one-off deal, then that's fine. But the Beimang barbarians that our Beiliang is facing aren't easy to deal with either. This requires a lot of skill and skill when it comes to wielding a spear to kill. And this level of skill varies from person to person. In Beiliang, there are no lack of cavalry commanders and spear experts who can solve this problem. But in this old man's opinion, although it seems to be good enough, it's not really perfect."
Hsu Fengnian asked, "Old Sir, what do you mean?"
The old man hesitated for a moment, as if he was afraid that he would violate the taboo of speaking too much with a stranger. But then he thought that they were just strangers who met by chance, so why should he be so wary? Moreover, he was drinking wine, wasn't he? He continued, "This old man has seen four or five types of Beiliang spears by chance. There are differences in material, weight, and length. According to the soldier's soldier type, height, arm length, and strength, it's indeed quite detailed. Compared to the army in Liyang, it's much better. But there are still things that can be dug deeper. For example, the Miao bamboo spear nicknamed 'Shu Fei' has been treated, but it's not that easy to crack. In this old man's opinion, its spearhead should be increased by one or two and a half inches. As for the 'Iron Cicada' spear used by the infantry, two inches of the spear body is still not enough. It should be reduced by that length."
At this point, the old man stretched out two fingers and gently gestured.
Hsu Fengnian, who originally only wanted to chat casually, fell into deep thought and did not immediately jump to a conclusion. It was hard for Hsu Fengnian to say how heavy the tip of the Miaozhu Spear should be, but Xu Yanbing did mention it once. In the past, this kind of heavy spear was used to deal with the West Chu Iron Cavalry in the Spring and Autumn War, especially in the battle against the Great Halberd Warriors. Almost every old Beiliang soldier who participated in the Battle of Jinghe River had deep feelings for this spear. In that battle, which was second only to the Battle of West Wall, the Xu family army could directly use the Iron Cicada Spear as a hammer. Xu Yanbing said this because although the Beimang army also had heavy armor, it was still inferior to the Da Chu Dynasty even after more than 20 years of prosperity. Beimang also had light cavalry, so the Iron Cicada Spear did not need to be so heavy. However, the reform involved not only the countless interests of the border army, but also the most troublesome feelings. Many old cavalry generals objected fiercely when Wutongin implemented the reform that involved a series of specific matters. One of them was the Iron Cicada Spear. An old general directly refuted with such a vulgar reason, "I am used to hugging a plump wife, I would rather not have a light woman. Whoever likes it can have it. After all, none of my soldiers are willing to accept it." At that time, Wutongin had sent a large pile of documents to Hsu Fengnian to read. When Hsu Fengnian saw this, Hsu Fengnian took it as a rather refreshing joke. He thought that it would be better to let nature take its course and did not have the intention to force it to be implemented. As the old man continued to speak, he said, "I am used to hugging a plump wife, I would rather not have a light woman. Whoever likes it can have it. After all, none of my soldiers are willing to accept it." At that time, Wutongin had sent a large pile of documents to Hsu Fengnian to read. When Hsu Fengnian saw this, Hsu Fengnian took it as a rather refreshing joke. He thought that it would be better to let nature take its course and did not have the intention to force it to be implemented.
It is not expensive, only six taels of silver. It is just that I cannot afford it, so I can only shamelessly look at it and not buy it. There are more than ten thousand words, really haggling over every penny. Looking at it is amazing. I have never been on the battlefield, but when I look at it, I feel like I am fighting against a martial arts expert. My whole body is cold. The White-clothed Immortal Soldier, who is loved by His Majesty, even has the rules of where the toilets in the barracks should be built in the book. The soldiers he brought out only need to follow the rules. No wonder Ye Baikui, the Military Saint of West Chu, said that if you fight against this person, once you lose your power, you will not be able to recover. "
The tall youth blinked and asked, "Grandpa, what do you mean?"
The old man sighed and said, "It means that if you fight with this person, as long as he takes the initiative, you can only wait to lose, regardless of whether you have the advantage in numbers or not. This principle is actually the same as us martial artists competing in martial arts. It's just that you haven't reached that level yet, so you won't understand. "
The old man fiercely gulped down a mouthful of wine and said sullenly, "How can such a magnificent military book fall into the hands of the common people? Aren't you afraid that the northern barbarians will take it? How many more of our Beiliang will die then? "
The old man sighed and didn't even want to drink anymore. He muttered to himself, "Chen Zhibao indeed lost to the current King of Beiliang and didn't become the ruler of Beiliang. But this isn't a reason for the Beiliang army to ruin his hard work. Our new King Liang, isn't he going to do something about it? Or is he doing this on purpose because he has a personal grudge? If that's really the case, then this old man will really look down on him. "
Hsu Fengnian's expression changed slightly. The Beiliang army had never purposely banned the "Essentials of Military Preparation". Back then, Xu Xiao and Chen Zhibao didn't have any objections to it. This was probably the conceit of the higher-ups of Beiliang. Hsu Fengnian also didn't have the intention to slander Chen Zhibao's military book just because Chen Zhibao left Liang and entered the capital and became the King of Shu. In reality, even Chen Zhibao's old subordinates still treated him well. He personally and severely dealt with a few cases where he deliberately suppressed Chen Zhibao's old subordinates and promoted them. However, in the past six months, Hsu Fengnian had personally written and carefully read through at least eight thousand copies of official documents. Not a single one had mentioned the "Essentials of Military Preparation" in the marketplace. But this still made Hsu Fengnian feel very guilty. At this time, he subconsciously picked up his wine bowl and drank a mouthful of wine. Then he said softly, "The King of Beiliang has indeed made a great mistake in this matter."
The old man dismissed it with a smile. How dare they, the common people, point fingers at the vassal king? Were they tired of living? Besides, who was the publicly recognized number one person in the world after Wang Xianzhi in Martial Emperor City? Even the most ignorant rural women and children in the Northern Liang Region probably knew about it.
Hsu Fengnian raised his head and asked, "Sir, with your knowledge of the spear, why didn't you join the border army?"
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