Zhuojun martial arts performance venue.

The sun is shining brightly, the leaves are not swaying, and the weather is particularly stuffy.

After the three-way drums in the martial arts arena, a row of county soldiers wearing headscarves and leather chest protections are raised and stood behind a white line.

The faces of the county soldiers were all solemn, and they stared at the pile of arrows made of grass after seventy steps away.

Another drum sound, the county soldiers and archers pulled out arrows from their leather bags and used their fingers to hold the arrows on the bowstrings. Everyone was breathing slowly, deep and shallow, and the sweat on many people's foreheads had already slid across their faces, but no one dared to reach out to wipe them.

After the drum sounded again, the county soldiers began to shoot with arrows, and only the sound of arrow feathers breaking through the air were heard, and arrowheads were pierced on the stacks.

"I've won! I've won!" Someone was overjoyed.

"It's almost." Some people's face froze.

But no matter what, everyone's expression was extremely concerned.

After the six arrows passed, the drum sounded again, and the archers all put down their bows. Only then did they dare to reach out to wipe their sweat.

Then, an official on the side came forward with a man on his left and right, holding a documentary and ink in his hands, and went to the pile of arrows one by one to record the achievements of each person's archery.

The archers whispered and talked, but although everyone's face was solemn at this time, there was no sign of relaxation.

In the awning in the distance, Yuchi Gong and Xu Wu were wearing armor, drinking butterfly with Lu Chengqing to cool off, while also waiting for the archer's achievements.

Soon after, the statistics officer stepped forward and said, "Report to the two generals, the county magistrate Lu. The thirty archers of the county military and armor regiment, and the results have been released."

"Remember!" Xu Wu put the butter sauce aside and kept his body.

"I hope that if you use a bow and five dou of bows, a distance of seventy steps, three of the six arrows are the upper arrows, and two of the six arrows are the middle arrows, and one of the six arrows is the lower arrows. Those who fail to hit one arrow are dismissed. There are two people with the upper arrows, six people with the middle arrows, ten people with the lower arrows, and twelve people with the one arrows."

"Yes." Xu Wu took the list and looked at it, signed his name, and handed it over to Yuchi Gong.

Yuchi Gong glanced at him and signed his name. He nodded to Lu Chengqing. After reading it, Lu Chengqing said, "Eighteen people who are in the arrow will be pulled into the palace army. If you fail to hit the arrow, try again."

"promise!"

"Switch to the second batch!"

Then the drums rang again, and when they learned that they had been selected for the government army, they couldn't help but be ecstatic. The people who failed to be elected could not help but be depressed, but for them, there was a second chance.

Outside the martial arts field, thousands of county soldiers who had not tried were gathered. Yizheng each made a chat.

"Her Laodao, it's too difficult to say that this bow that can be used to open one stone and five dou, please tell me, tell me."

"Who told you that you are too lazy to work hard on weekdays? You will think of the girl in the reporter's kiln all day long. Your second brother said that's right. Sooner or later, you will die on the girl's belly."

"At this time, Brother He, you still say these sarcastic words. What are the tricks? Teach me brothers."

"Nothing, the trick is just the word "heart"."

"On Wednesday and Saturday, you said that I heard from my brother yesterday that this five-dove bow was too difficult. In order to conquer Liaodong, the emperor recruited Xiaoguo Army in Zhuojun. He had to drive one stone and two dou, and he could shoot two hundred steps. How could he shoot five dou of stone?"

"Then you are wrong, have you heard that? Our General Yuchi broke three three-stone strong bows in the martial arts field that day, and finally got six-stone strong bows. He is a fierce man."

"Hey, why don't I know this? General Yuchi is the Wuqu Star in the sky, and it is also comparable to us mortals. When I was in the county army, I used to drive only a stone bow. Now it's really difficult to use this stone and a half stone."

"Just try your luck."

"Brother Xu, I heard that this time I was divided into three levels of upper arrow, middle arrow, and lower arrow. With your archery skills, it is only easy to get a top arrow."

"Hehe, it's so good on weekdays, but you have to try it before you know that you can't say it all at first."

"Brother Xu, you are still like this. As the lieutenant told us, those who can be evaluated as high as the arrow will be the superior soldiers when they enter the palace army. You can get two dou of rice for your family every month. Those who are the middle arrow will be the middle soldiers, and one dou of rice for five dou of rice per month. If you hear that the upper soldiers are, you can be given priority to being the deputy team, the commander of the team, Brother Xu, you will have to protect me in the future."

"Haha, two brothers in the world, what are you talking about? If you have a meal with me, Xu, you will have your brother."

At the same time, in another martial arts stadium in Zhuo County, there were nearly a thousand crossbowmen who were conducting assessments.

The assessment is roughly equivalent to the archer, and the three of the six arrows are the upper crossbow. The second crossbow is relayed. The standard for crossbow drivers is that they must open three stones of crossbows and shoot outside of one hundred steps.

Inside the governor's mansion of Youzhou.

Wen Yanbo, Wei Zheng, Lu Chengqing, Yuchi Gong, Xu Wu and others came together to report to Li Chongjiu about the screening of the government army.

After reading the reports submitted by everyone, Li Chongjiu was quite satisfied. This time, the selection of the prefecture army was selected by the original county soldiers, and the county government sent people to supervise it and took a two-pronged approach. The assessment of Youzhou county soldiers was completed in just three days, and the efficiency was still very high.

Li Chongjiu said, "There are more than 3,000 soldiers in Zhuo County, and there are more than 3,000 people who failed. How did you arrange these people?"

Yuchi Gong clasped his fists and said, "I report to the county magistrate, more than 3,000 people who are not ranked are expected. We are planning to take another exam on a date. Even if the soldiers selected for the government army are selected, we will take another exam. With two results, the best candidates will be admitted."

Li Chongjiu nodded and said, "It's great. But what about those who fail to get a chance at both times? If so, wouldn't our army only use bows and crossbows to evaluate the soldiers? And missed other good talents."

Yuchi Gong said: "The cavalry is screened in another way, and then the job is to be repaid."

Li Chongjiu still felt that such a method of selecting soldiers was quite imperfect. He handed over the selection of soldiers to Yuchi Gong and Xu Wu to do it because he wanted them to try and make the results first. And it was indeed understandable that they used the two ways of arches and crossbows to evaluate the soldiers. After all, the county soldiers always fought with strong bows and hard crossbows.

But this made Li Chongjiu think of the Song army in history. The army of the Song Dynasty used bows and crossbows to screen soldiers.

The combat philosophy of the Song army was that the sermons were good at horses, the sermons were good at crossbows, and the cavalry was built with crossbows.

The selection of Song army was also mainly based on bows and crossbows. The bows were divided into three levels, and the number of nine dou (Song Jin and Sui Jin was not equal). The bows were first, eight dou second, seven dou third, crossbow soldiers were first, two stones and seven dou, second level was second stones and four dou, and third level was second stones and one dou. For example, the Tianwu Army of the Supreme Four Army of the Imperial Army in the Song Dynasty, the officers and soldiers must draw the bows of nine dou, and the number of crossbows must be two stones and seven dou.

Under such a trend, the Song army was topped by the top. In the words of historical books, they were skilled in bows and crossbows and skilled in swords and spears. This was not only the Song army, but also the Ming army in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Qing army in the late Qing Dynasty.

Li Chongjiu said, "Although our army is stronger than arches and crossbows, we must be accustomed to infantry fighting at the same time. The battle makes all soldiers dare to fight for the first place, and swords and guns should not be ignored. If everyone is more serious than arches and crossbows, no one dares to fight to the death with blood and death, and in the long run, they will become a weak army."

When Yuchi Gong and Xu Wu heard Li Chongjiu's words, they all came forward to apologize, saying that they were indeed inappropriate.

Wei Zheng said on the side: "Although General Yuchi has some shortcomings in his thoughts, this assessment is just a way to eliminate the weak and retain the strong. As for swords, guns, sticks, it is difficult for anyone to evaluate, which is a disadvantage."

Li Chongjiu knew that this was the truth. Knives, guns, sticks and sticks have their strengths. Without a specific standard, they are easy to cheat. They are not like bows and crossbows. Three out of six arrows are all visible to everyone and weigh the trade-offs. There is no way. This is the disadvantage of the system.

However, Li Chongjiu still said: "The military soldiers in the palace are the elite of my Youzhou. We should not lose any talent, nor do we lack any talent. Anyone who is good at knives, swords and guns, and who has good physical strength, after you have recognized it, I can remove them into the military."

After hearing what Li Chongjiu said, Yuchi Gong and Xu Wu all took the order and retreated.

Finally, after this screening, Li Chongjiu selected 25,000 people from more than 35,000 county soldiers, as well as Gao and Luo surrendered troops to join the prefecture army.

Among the government troops, they are naturally treated well.

The upper hand may have two stones of rice per month. If there is no family of a young man, the rice and grain will be enough for the family to have three or four food and clothing. As for the middle hand, one stone and five dou can be considered a day, but at least the family can have enough food. As for the lower hand, one stone is very difficult, and the family must find some other livelihood.

Although this system sounds not ideal now, it is already in heaven and earth compared to the Great Sui army at that time. You should know that the treatment of the Youzhou army is equivalent to a semi-mercenary. At that time, the Sui army only enjoyed the benefits of exemption from military service and had no other income except for winning the battle.

This is also one of the reasons why the military households of the government gradually went bankrupt during the Tang Dynasty, which led to the collapse of the government system.

As for the rest, they were all eliminated as rural troops, while more than 10,000 surrendered soldiers from Goguryeo and Khitan were all incorporated into rural troops. In addition, they recruited certain rural troops from the local area, and the rural troops also reached 25,000.

The advantages of the village soldiers are to give two places, and the tax is halved in two years and the tax is levied for two years. Li Chongjiu adopted a conscript system for the village soldiers, which stipulated that after men in Youzhou became a vocation, they must be replaced by the village soldiers.

The township soldiers are different from the county soldiers. They are naturalized nearby in each county and cultivate local areas. The township soldiers choose one day of training every five days, and they can go home to visit their relatives five days of each month. Moreover, the township soldiers do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Youzhou Governor's Office, but are under the command of the six counties and the deputy commander.

As for the government army, Li Chongjiu ordered Wang Mahan to be the general of the Yigu, the Wansheng Army, the Cavalry Corps, and the 3,000 Han cavalry, and a total of 9,000 soldiers were all organized into the Yigu army and stationed in Yuyi Town.

Xue Wanche and Xue Wanshu were the generals of Yingyanglang respectively.

Yuchi Gong was the general of the Wu Guard Army, leading 10,000 Wu Guard Army, and was in charge of Ji County, Zhuo County.

Tanzong was the Huben General of the Guards, and led three thousand Guards to station in Yi County, Shanggu County.

Wugu was the Huben General of the Fierce Guards, and led three thousand Fierce Guards to station in Miyun County, Anle County.
Chapter completed!