My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 372 Small Bow

"But Mr. Liu, don't underestimate these Jurchen Hu'er..."

Young Master Zhao motioned to the twelve or thirteen-year-old Jurchen boy who was staying outside to come in.

And ordered him to draw the bow to show his skills to Liu Zhen.

I saw this Jurchen young man raising his bow, pointing it at the courtyard, and hesitated for a moment.

But in an instant, he raised his arrow and shot at the giant pine in front of the door.

Accompanied by the sound of birds flapping their wings in panic to escape.

His body looked like a cheetah, and when he came back, he had a copper-headed arrow with two sparrows stuck in it.

"Good archery skills!"

Liu Zhen applauded and praised.

This kind of archery skills is enough to be called a marksman in the mainland.

However, at this moment, it was only the hand of a Jurchen child.

And Liu Zhen also observed the young man in front of him.

I saw that his eyebrows were high, and although his face was not long, the heroic spirit in his face was vaguely visible.

He also moved forward and retreat in a measured manner, obviously very familiar with the tricks of Ming court etiquette.

There is a high probability that he is not from a family of ordinary Jurchen people.

"Ta Shi! Tell Mr. Liu where you learned your archery skills!"

Prince Zhao saw that Liu Zhen was very interested in him, so he said.

When the young man heard this, he took a step forward, knelt down on one knee, and held up the long bow with both hands.

whispered.

"My father was a subordinate of Wang Gao, the former commander of the right guard of Jianzhou. Wang Gao was so audacious that he actually raised an army against the Celestial Empire, plundered the border cities, and invited the imperial army to conquer. It was really his own fault, and it was not a pity to die - it was a pity that I, Jianzhou, was implicated. The tribesmen have become slaves of the Haixi people and have been bullied. I hope you will tell the emperor that our Jurchen tribes are loyal to the Ming Dynasty. The plundering south is just Wang Gao's wolfish ambition. I hope the court will take a closer look!"

The Jurchen boy in front of him spoke sincerely and almost shed tears.

"Heroes come from young men!"

Liu Zhen looked at the handsome Jurchen boy in front of him, couldn't help feeling his love for talents, and sighed.

He took the short bow from the young man in front of him and played with it.

Liu Zhen has been serving on the border for many years, so he can naturally tell the difference between this bow and the ordinary Jurchen bow at a glance.

Not only is its body short, it is only one arm long.

The recurvature on both sides of the bow body is more obvious, and it has more distinctive characteristics of the Bei people's bow system.

The military technology of the Jurchens is in addition to the legacy of the Liao and Jin Dynasties on this land.

The technology of the Mongols and Ming people was also continuously transported here along the trade routes.

And saw Liu Zhen taking over his little bow.

The young man's face couldn't help but reveal a bit of joy.

The Jurchens started out as fishermen and hunters. With the collapse of the Tang Empire, the surrounding tribes that were originally subordinate to the central dynasty broke away from the imperial system. After the collapse of the empire, the surrounding forces began to attack each other more brutally. They began to continuously establish themselves in the war. mobilization system.

Starting from the Liao and Jin Dynasties, after receiving technical input mainly from the Central Plains, the Jurchens officially began to improve their military traditions.

From the age of eight, Jurchen children can draw small bows, hunt birds and play with each other.

But even though it is a small bow, it can actually shoot someone to death.

And when they reach adulthood, they wear strong armor and hold powerful bows.

After obtaining the resources of the Liao Kingdom, the Jurchens can liberate more warriors and acquire more sophisticated weapons and armor.

During the Song-Jin war, dozens of Jurchen envoys were able to defeat the ambush of the Song army led by thousands of warring factions in the capital of the Song people.

Then he went all the way north, breaking through the Song army's blockades like entering an uninhabited land.

Returned to the Kingdom of Jin without any casualties. The combat effectiveness of the Jurchens has been evident since then.

But except for famous Southern Song generals such as Yue Fei and Han Shizhong.

Just like the opinions of many scholar-bureaucrats in the Ming Dynasty who have no knowledge of military affairs, until the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, few people really understood the power of these Hu'er soldiers.

History is reincarnated.

After a hundred years, after feeling the fierce force of these northern Jurchens from top to bottom.

Liu Zhen, just like Shizong of the Liao Dynasty hundreds of years ago, instinctively felt a potential threat when faced with these Jurchen children who had been holding bows and shooting arrows since childhood.

It's not that the professional army that the imperial court spent a lot of money to build is inferior to these Jurchen children.

Since the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the martial spirit of the people at the bottom of the Ming Dynasty has not been as high as in the founding of the country.

The empire's elite requires the court to spend a lot of money to maintain, and it takes decades to train a qualified soldier.

The Jurchens only need enough weapons and armor to pull out a strong army.

As for training and tactics, the Liao/Song/Ming Dynasty will one day be corrupted by their corrupt political aristocracy and provide a steady stream of professional talents for the Jurchens to help them establish a force with strict discipline, skilled tactics, and cruelty. Professional military.

If the military household system of the Ming Dynasty, the Meng'an Mouke system of the Jin Dynasty, and the Xiang army system of the Song Dynasty could still be maintained, they would not have completely deteriorated.

The Imperial professional army can also be replenished after major battles.

Before the collapse of the empire's military system, the Jurchens generally had little advantage.

But when the imperial army became a rootless tree, the Jurchens became stronger as they raided south again and again.

The losses of the Central Empire's truly combat-effective armies will be less.

Then they will soon realize that they have actually been surrounded by Jurchens, and then they will be quickly eliminated after several battles.

The Jurchens then faced the disarmed central court.

Then you can go all the way south and drive straight in.

The local mob was equipped to the teeth, and the well-trained foreign army was completely vulnerable.

There is often a strange situation where dozens of Jurchens can defeat hundreds of militia armed by local officials and powerful men who have been hurriedly pulled up from the farmland with just one volley in front of the formation.

It's as if the Jurchens are really like gods descending to earth.

Liu Zhen is naturally familiar with the history of the Jin people's destruction of the Liao Dynasty.

After all, Liu Zhen's ancestors were Chinese aristocrats from the Liao Kingdom.

The Jurchens' bravery and endless army left a deep impression on his ancestors.

The letters and diaries he left behind described in detail the bravery of the northern Jurchens more than once.

Liu Zhen looked at the young man in front of him.

After the Jurchen nobles——

To be honest, although the Ming Dynasty divided the Jurchen tribe in the north into what they thought was a detailed way.

But in fact, whether it is Jianzhou Jurchen or Haixi Jurchen.

They are just general terms for a collection of many tribes.

In fact, the integration of Haixi and Jianzhou was officially completed only after the Ming court conferred local chiefs with official positions.

"Now the imperial court wants to establish a vassal state in the north. If you are interested, you can wait for the opportunity. When the imperial court orders the vassal king to raise his own troops, it may be a way forward."

Liu Zhen replied.

Looking at the young man in front of him, he seemed to see his former self.

They are also unwilling to live a poor life, and will pay any price in order to be able to go further.

(End of this chapter)