On the third day of the examination, the five-shooter and five-impact tests were conducted, and the examination venue was changed to the Tianwu Army barracks in the inner city.

In the vast military camp in the northeastern part of the inner city, a large area had been set aside as an examination room. A banner with the words "Exam Point for Test Shooting" was hung outside the gate.

The scholars continued to gather in the square outside the camp gate, forming a dark mass. They held their own number plates and were all nervously waiting for the exam time to arrive.

As soon as the hour came, several loud cannon shots were heard in the military camp, the camp gate was immediately opened, and a group of soldiers filed in.

When they entered the military camp, they saw nearly 10,000 armored Tianwu Army soldiers arrayed neatly, each holding a musket, and the atmosphere was solemn.

The soldiers stood solemnly, no one moved a bit. In the silence, the posture of a strong army was displayed to the fullest, and the soldiers were shocked by the momentum of fighting for the rest of their lives.

Looking at this army, Yan Yingyuan and others had an indescribable feeling in their hearts. This was an incomprehensible force. In front of this force, they were as small as ants and could be crushed at any time.

to death.

The Tianwu Army was arrayed like this. It was Zhu Cihong who specifically gave these ignorant scholars a big show of strength. He wanted to tell everyone that in the face of absolute strength, if you want to do something, you must first see if you have the qualifications.

.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"

With a shout, Zhu Cixiang's honor guard slowly entered the military camp, and the surrounding Yongwei camp was even more impressive.

"See His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Generals Li Shaoyou and Zhao Jinglin, who were in charge of the defense of the inner city, were the first to bow down and salute Zhu Cixiang.

The armor leaves moved, and a clang of iron armor sounded. More than ten thousand Tianwu Army soldiers all knelt down on one knee, saluted Zhu Cihong and shouted in unison: "See His Majesty the Crown Prince!"

The sound was like thunder, and tens of thousands of candidates for the examination were obviously frightened. Even the usually calm Yan Yingyuan and others changed their expressions.

A young scholar praised: "Such an earth-shattering momentum is indeed the tiger and wolf army that defeated the bandits and recaptured Liaodong!"

Zhu Cixiang raised his hands in vain and shouted: "Commanders, rise!"

"rise!"

As Xu Sheng shouted loudly, another beetle leaf rustled, and more than ten thousand Tianwu troops stood up in unison, and the whole place fell into silence again.

Zhu Cixi came to the scholars who were referring to it and said: "Confucius said: If a gentleman has nothing to fight for, he must also shoot. If he rises up with his bow and drinks from the ground, he will fight like a gentleman! Five shots is not only a skill to kill the enemy and defend the country.

, it is also a kind of moral character. As the future pillars of the Ming Dynasty, you must master the art of archery!"

After a slight pause, Zhu Cixiang pointed at the Tianwu Army and said: "Our Tianwu Army uses firearms to build an army. We do not expect you to be as skilled in shooting as they do. We only ask that in the face of the invasion of foreign enemies, you can act like a gentleman and take the lead in killing the enemy and setting an example for all the people.

Serve the country’s favor!”

Li Shaoyou raised his arms and shouted: "The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

All the Tianwu troops present shouted loudly: "Wan Sheng!"

Li Shaoyou clenched his fists and shouted at the top of his lungs: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Wonderful victory! Wonderful victory! Wonderful victory!"

All the soldiers had a look of fanaticism on their faces and shouted with all their strength.

Zhu Cixi enjoyed this feeling very much. He opened his arms and shouted: "Tianwu Army!"

"Mighty! Mighty! Mighty!"

The shouts of tens of thousands of soldiers of the Tianwu Army rang out one after another. Along with the powerful rhythm, the scholars who came to take the exam were silent. A powerful force rushed towards them, making them feel fear and fear!

"The archery exam begins!"

As the shouts stopped and the exam order was issued, the scholars all breathed a sigh of relief. The overwhelming momentum displayed by the crown prince made people feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.

No wonder the crown prince dared to kill corrupt officials, nobles, and scholars without restraint, and everyone was thinking deeply about it.

After the exam began, the scholars became nervous again. First there was the archery test, which required using a bow and arrow or a musket to hit a wooden target fifty paces away.

The wooden target is five feet high and two feet wide. Each person shoots three times. Points are scored according to the hit position. If the shot fails, the score is zero.

The daily training of the Tianwu Army is to shoot from a distance of eighty steps, but now the assessment is only based on fifty steps, which has greatly lowered the requirements.

During the five-shooting test, instead of taking turns to shoot one by one, in order to save time, a group of dozens of people shoot at the same time. After the shooting skills are completed, the five-shooting or mounted shooting can be conducted.

Zhu Cihong looked at them one by one and found that many candidates did not dare to use firecrackers and directly chose bows and arrows. However, when they drew the bows, they stood crookedly and staggered. Some even couldn't draw the bow with the lowest bow power.

Li Shaoyou and other Tianwu Army officers grinned and talked non-stop about this group of scholars.

However, there were some scholars who performed well. One young scholar, about twenty years old, hit the target with three consecutive shots, causing everyone around him to exclaim.

Zhu Cihong walked over and said, "What's your name?"

The young scholar saluted and said: "Student Zhang Huangyan, pay homage to His Highness the Crown Prince!".

"Zhang Huangyan?" Zhu Cixiang muttered silently. He always felt that the name was very familiar. He suddenly remembered it and smiled knowingly.

Historically, Zhang Huangyan served as an official in the Southern Ming Dynasty and became the Minister of War. After the fall of Nanjing, he launched an army to resist the Qing Dynasty, contacted the peasant army and cooperated with Zheng Chenggong, and personally led his men to recapture more than 20 cities in Nanzhili, almost regaining the city of Nanjing, and persisted in the struggle against the Qing Dynasty.

nearly twenty years.

Later, Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Li Dingguo, Zheng Chenggong and others died one after another. Seeing that the situation was over, Zhang Huangyan had no choice but to disband the rebel army and live in seclusion.

Later, he was captured by the Qing army and killed in Hangzhou during the Kangxi period. Before his death, Zhang Huangyan composed a poem called "Poetry of Death". Together with Yue Fei and Yu Qian, he was known as one of the "Three Heroes of West Lake".

I heard that when Zhang Huangyan took the county school examination to study riding and archery at the age of sixteen, he shot three arrows and all hit the target. Now it seems to be true.

Zhu Cixi smiled and said: "Can you use a firecracker?"

Zhang Huangyan nodded and said: "I know how to use it, but I'm not very good at it. I'm afraid it won't work well..."

Zhu Cixiang said meaningfully: "Are you afraid of exploding the barrel? Don't worry, all the muskets of the Tianwu Army are regularly maintained and replaced, so there will be no danger of exploding the barrel."

Zhang Huangyan smiled coquettishly and took the self-produced Lumi gun handed by Xu Sheng. He felt a sinking feeling as soon as he took it, and was slightly surprised.

He looked at the heavy fire gun in his hand and was quite pleasantly surprised. He saw that the fire gun was made quite complicated and delicately, and it was much stronger than the bird gun at first glance.

Zhang Huangyan was born in a bureaucratic family. He has been fond of reading military books and playing with firearms since he was a child. He has studied various types of fire blunderbuss. He also knew that this was a Rumi blunderbuss, but he did not expect that the method of making fire was actually fired by flint.

Seeing that he had been playing around for a long time, Zhu Cixiang didn't know if he could do it, so he said, "Let's try shooting at the wooden target eighty steps away!"

"Yes!" Zhang Huangyan agreed without any nervousness or fear.

He first tried pulling the trigger a few times to get familiar with it, and then loaded the medicine skillfully. The Tianwu Army's fixed-loading medicine was very easy to use, and he loaded it quickly.

Zhang Huangyan looked calm, holding the gun body with one hand, looking at the star, aiming at the wooden target eighty steps away, and then pulled the trigger.

There was a "pop" sound, white smoke rose up, and the wooden board in the distance was shattered and splashed.

"Okay!" Zhu Cixi praised, and everyone cheered like thunder.

Zhang Huangyan's face was filled with pride, and he loved the Tianwu Army's muskets endlessly.

Zhu Cixi smiled and said: "If you like it, I will give you this fire gun!"

Zhang Huangyan was delighted, bowed and said: "Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward!"
Chapter completed!