xymnovel Chapter 14 Selection of Soldiers for the Capital Garrison, Xuanyuan Tianshang
Chapter 14 Selection of Soldiers for the Capital Garrison, Xuanyuan Tianshang
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
According to the ancestral system of the Great Xia Dynasty, princes are given half a month to prepare for their enfeoffment. Since the day Ji Dan was appointed as the chief secretary, Tian Heng has been recruiting talents from all sides. The fact that the three Zhanlong Emperor brothers joined the Qin Prince's Mansion is just the beginning.
Seeing that things were gradually getting back on track, Tian Heng was finally able to leave and go to the Imperial Guard to select personal guards.
Although he knew that the commander of the Imperial Guards would not dare to openly allocate old, weak, and disabled soldiers to him, Tian Heng knew very well that among those "elite" soldiers, there were countless spies from all sides. What he wanted was a real sword that he could hold in his hand.
Apart from the Wuying Guard and Jinwu Guard, which were stationed in the Imperial City, the main force of the Imperial Guard, numbering 200,000, was stationed in the northern and southern camps on the outskirts of Beijing.
As was customary, the personal guards of the princes were all drawn from the Northern Army, so at the crack of dawn that day, Tian Heng mounted his horse and left the city, heading straight for the Northern Army's camp.
Before the morning mist had dissipated, the Beijing garrison's drill ground was already bustling with activity.
Tian Heng was dressed in a black, narrow-sleeved, close-fitting outfit, covered by a rhinoceros-hide soft armor. At his waist hung the "Dragon Sparrow" sword, one of the five peerless divine weapons forged along with the Qi Xia sword, the sword he used during the Great Xia Emperor's conquests.
Standing atop the command platform, Tian Heng watched as the autumn wind whipped the banners, making them flutter and rustle. His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept over the vast army below, and his brows gradually furrowed.
This Beijing garrison was once the sharp blade that Emperor Taizu used to cut through the chaos of the world. At the founding of the country, the soldiers here were all selected from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. They would advance at the sound of the drum and were invincible. The world called them a strong army.
But now, after hundreds of years of peace, the former sharpness has long been dulled by the passage of time.
As they were watching, a commotion suddenly arose from the audience.
A fair-skinned, overweight young man, wearing a bright armor that was clearly a size too large, staggered out of the ranks, carrying a sword.
He had just gotten into position when his foot slipped and he fell backward with a thud, his helmet rolling far away and his armor plates scattering all over the ground.
Laughter erupted from the surrounding area.
The boy, his face flushed, got up, still stubbornly insisting, "The ground is slippery! That doesn't count!"
A middle-aged captain who appeared to be a commander standing beside Tian Heng gave a low, bitter laugh:
"Your Highness, please forgive me. This young man is the third son of the Vice Minister of Rites. He came to the camp through connections to register and gain seniority."
Before he finished speaking, another man stepped forward with a gun. He was well-proportioned, but his spear was wielded weakly and haphazardly, the tip pointing wildly. It didn't look like he was killing an enemy; it looked more like a theatrical performance.
Tian Heng raised his hand to stop him, and asked in a deep voice, "Where did you learn your marksmanship?"
The man stammered, his neck hunched, "Your Majesty... it was... it was taught by a martial arts performer from the Qingxi Troupe in the south of the city. They said it would look... good."
Tian Heng was so angry that he laughed instead.
Before he could react, he caught a glimpse of seven or eight soldiers squatting in a circle under the shade of a tree in the corner of the training ground, secretly gambling with dice.
The chips were a few strings of copper coins and two greasy roast chickens. Noticing the prince's gaze sweeping over them, the men hurriedly stuffed the dice and copper coins into their pockets and pretended to straighten their armor.
Even more extreme, a short, stocky soldier stuffed his chest with cotton to appear more imposing.
When the captain checked the cotton ball, he pressed it with his hand, and it fell out with a "plop," rolling all over the floor in white fluff. The whole place was silent for a moment, then burst into even louder laughter.
Tian Heng watched these absurd scenes unfold quietly, a chill creeping into his heart.
He recalled the procession of Yunzhou border troops presenting prisoners of war that he had seen on Zhuque Street during the winter sacrifice last year.
Those soldiers had dark, chapped faces and wolf-like glints in their eyes. Their armor was covered with marks from swords and arrows. Compared to the well-fed, delicate soldiers of the Beijing garrison who lived a life of debauchery, they were worlds apart.
"The Beijing Garrison is rotten," he sighed inwardly.
But soon, he took a deep breath, suppressed his disappointment, and looked around again. The noisy and laughing people were ultimately a minority.
Many more soldiers stood silently in the autumn wind. Though they lacked imposing presence, they stood ramrod straight, and a trace of undiminished sharpness remained in their eyes.
"Going to Youzhou is like entering a tiger's den. These three thousand men must be the real deal." Tian Heng's mind raced, and he had already made up his mind.
He suddenly took three steps forward, standing on the edge of the platform, his voice as cold as iron:
"quiet!"
The moment those two words were uttered, the entire hall fell silent. All eyes were fixed on the seventeen-year-old King of Qin, who possessed an astonishing aura.
"The Beijing Garrison is the shield of the nation. When Emperor Taizu established the garrison, he gave the instruction: 'An arrogant and lazy army is worse than no army at all!'" Tian Heng spoke each word clearly, his voice resounding throughout the hall.
"Today's selection of warriors will be based solely on archery and horsemanship skills, courage, and willpower! Anyone lacking in martial arts, strength, or resolve will be eliminated! No matter if you are the descendant of a duke or the son of a high-ranking official, there will be no exceptions!"
The audience immediately stirred.
The spoiled young men turned ashen-faced, while some calm-looking men slowly straightened their backs.
Tian Heng said no more, and waved his hand to order: "The examinations will be divided into four categories: archery, swordsmanship, spear, and cavalry. I will personally oversee them!"
Archery range.
One after another, the bows were drawn, and the sound of arrows piercing the air filled the air. Most of the arrows barely hit the target, a rather sparse and ordinary result.
Until a young man with a face as dark as iron stepped forward.
He half-squatted into a horse stance, his left hand firmly supporting the mulberry wood longbow, his right hand drawing the string, the muscles on his arm bulging like iron. "Squeak," the bow was drawn to its full length, the string vibrating like a buzzing bee.
"call out!"
The arrow flew like a shooting star, hitting the bullseye perfectly from a hundred paces away.
Moreover, the force was extraordinary; the arrowhead pierced through the target, and the three-edged arrowhead protruded more than half an inch from behind the target, while the shaft still vibrated and hummed.
"Great!" Tian Heng couldn't help but exclaim in praise, and at the same time, a thought flashed through his mind: "System, detect this person."
Zhao Hu, 26 years old
Strength: 104, Command: 88, Intelligence: 76, Politics: 73
Tian Heng stepped forward: "Name? Place of origin?"
The young man turned around, clasped his hands in a clean and crisp motion, and said with a resounding thud: "Your Majesty, I am Zhao Hu, a native of Yanmen in Yunzhou. I have been hunting with my father in the border mountains since I was a child. At the age of fifteen, I joined the border army and guarded Yanmen Pass for five years, experiencing eleven battles, large and small."
His voice was hoarse and rough, a result of shouting in the face of the wind and sand of the borderlands for many years.
"Yanmen Pass..." Tian Heng nodded. "Last winter, the Xianbei attacked the pass. Was it the beacon tower at the west gate that you were guarding?"
A glint flashed in Zhao Hu's eyes: "Exactly! That night the snow was heavy, and the Xianbei barbarians sneaked up. I fired seventeen arrows in quick succession, killing twelve of them."
"Good." Tian Heng looked directly into his eyes. "I will soon be enfeoffed in Youzhou. The clouds of Youzhou meet there, and the scenery is similar to that of Yanmen Pass. Would you be willing to accompany me north to guard the border once more?"
Without hesitation, Zhao Hu knelt on one knee and declared, "This humble general is willing to follow Your Majesty! Even if it means facing mountains of knives and seas of fire, I will not hesitate!"
"Get up." Tian Heng helped him up. "From this day forward, you will join my personal guard and be in charge of teaching archery."
"promise!"
…………
Swordplay arena.
A tall, slender figure moved nimbly across the arena. His ring-pommel sword slashed like a torrent of snow, each move simple and ruthless, devoid of any flourish. The whistling wind from the blade even stirred up small swirls of dust in the arena.
After completing a set of sword techniques, he stood still, his breath only slightly short.
Tian Heng approached and examined the man closely. He was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a shallow scar on his brow bone and a calm gaze like an ancient well.
"Your swordsmanship bears the mark of the Northern Frontier Army," Tian Heng said slowly.
The young man bowed: "Your Highness has discerning eyes. I am Li Rui, a son of a good family in Shuozhou. My father once served as a garrison commander in Shuozhou and died in battle at Bailang Mountain five years ago. I have been learning the family's swordsmanship since childhood, and I only hope that one day I can carry on my father's will and defend the frontier."
Li Rui
Strength: 102, Command: 91, Intelligence: 83, Politics: 81
Tian Heng was silent for a moment, then reached out and patted his shoulder armor:
"The descendants of the loyal and valiant should not be forgotten. The northern border of Youzhou is frequently invaded by the Eastern Barbarians. If you are willing to go, I will grant you the position of Commandant, leading a battalion of infantry. If you encounter the barbarian invaders in the future, you can drink the blood of your enemies and achieve unparalleled feats."
Li Rui's body trembled violently, and his eyes suddenly flashed with fire. He knelt heavily on the ground, his armor clanging against the earth with a loud thud.
"This humble general, Li Rui, is willing to serve as Your Highness's vanguard! I offer my body and this sword to Your Majesty!"
.........
The spear and halberd arena.
Discipline was most rigorous here. Three hundred soldiers were lined up for drills, their long halberds rising and falling like a forest, the sound of their footsteps echoing in perfect unison.
At the front of the battle, a silver-armored captain was demonstrating with a halberd.
This man was no more than twenty years old, with a tall and straight figure like a pine tree in the snow. His halberd flew like a dragon, its cold light concealing the power of wind and thunder. With each move, he would shout for his soldiers to follow, his voice like metal.
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