jdhmnovel Chapter 1295 Cross Sword
Chapter 1295 Cross Sword
Before Su Yan returned with the blackboard and chalk, the female soldiers asked Shen Zheng a question.
"My lord, has the deputy commander sent a message? We all miss her very much."
Shen Zheng paused.
The female soldiers should have kept quiet until they asked, because then she couldn't help but think about Yu Zhengqing and his group.
I wonder where they are now, and whether they encountered any danger along the way.
"We haven't received any letters yet." Shen Zheng sighed inwardly and said, "They and Lord Yu are escorting corrupt officials back to the capital, so they shouldn't be traveling fast. Right now... they're probably near Jingzhou."
Jingzhou?
The female soldiers secretly estimated the timeframe.
"Then the deputy commander and the others might be able to get back before the New Year!" A smile appeared on one person's face, but worry was hidden in his eyes.
The premise is... that no one gets in the way.
"Sir, is it alright to put the blackboard stand here?" Su Yan's voice came from over.
Shen Zheng composed herself and turned to look. The blackboard stand was placed directly in front of the training ground.
She nodded, clapped her hands, and asked, "Has everyone rested well?"
"Yes, sir!"
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone assembled instantly without any hesitation or even a command from Shen Zheng.
Shen Zheng walked towards the blackboard stand.
At the rest area, Fang Ziyan and the others stood up and walked curiously toward the training ground.
Cui Jinyin looked at the female soldiers in the arena with envy in her eyes and asked Yu Nanshu, "Yu Nanshu, your archery skills are quite good. Have you ever thought about becoming a female soldier?"
Although she didn't want to admit it, she had to admit that even now, she still remembered how dashing Yu Nanshu's bow-drawing posture was on the day she tested her bow at Huihe Dam.
To say something that might make me a little embarrassed.
Yu Nanshu's arrows seemed to have pierced her heart.
Yu Nanshu actually thought about it for a moment.
But it only lasted a short while.
She shook her head: "No, I want to be a civil servant."
"Oh..." Cui Jinyin didn't ask why, but looked at the figure in front of the training ground: "I also want to become someone like the teacher, but I seem to..."
She swallowed the rest of her sentence.
She didn't want to expose her vulnerability to others.
Xin Ji glanced at her, and unusually refrained from arguing with her. Instead, he said, "The fact that you can become Master Shen's apprentice shows that you are not without merits. However, like me, you just haven't been discovered yet."
In the second half of his sentence, he didn't forget to praise himself.
Upon hearing his voice, Cui Jinyin shuddered and immediately suppressed her sentimental tone: "Of course! Don't you know who I am! If I didn't have some real skills, how could I have caught your eye, teacher!"
“…” Xin Ji twitched the corner of his mouth.
As expected, the young lady doesn't need to be comforted.
"Da da--"
In front of the training ground, Shen Zheng tapped the blackboard with a small stick.
"There's something I entrusted to your deputy commander before, but shortly after she returned, I sent her out again, so the matter was temporarily put on hold. I had some free time today, so I wanted to ask for your opinions." As she spoke, she drew a few simple sketches on the blackboard.
The county soldiers immediately recognized the weapons in the painting: "A horizontal sword, a ring-pommel sword, and... a long sword?"
Shen Zheng stepped aside from the blackboard and looked at everyone: "Choose a knife as your standard weapon."
"Universal weapon?"
The soldiers were stunned: "Sir, you mean... each of us has one?"
Shen Zheng nodded and added, "It's made of steel."
"hiss--"
"hiss--"
"Hiss-"
The sound of gasps echoed across the training ground.
Steel knife?
Everyone gets one?!
This kind of treatment is something even the Imperial Guards don't receive today!
Amidst their excitement, a slight sense of unworthiness arose in their hearts: "Sir, our current weapons are actually sufficient to protect you and the people..."
Shen Zheng had heard Su Yan say this before, when they were on the boat.
She shook her head: "Whether it's enough or not is one thing, but I want you to have steel weapons is another."
These magnanimous words left the county soldiers stunned in place.
She added, “Now that you have parted from your families and come back to Tongan County with me, I cannot let you down. Please ask for anything that is within my power and do not hesitate to ask. Please do not refuse any gifts I give you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the county soldiers pursed their lips.
They've been in Tongan County for over a month. Aside from helping the villagers harvest rice, they haven't really done anything productive. Instead, they've been eating and sleeping in the county's facilities, and even received three months' worth of stipends from the officials...
With things like that, how could they possibly accept gifts from adults?
"Do you feel embarrassed to accept the money because you didn't do anything?" Shen Zheng saw through their thoughts.
Everyone nodded slowly.
"Then you should be happy." Shen Zheng, taking a different perspective, quickly convinced everyone: "Peace in the county is a good thing, isn't it? I brought you back not so you could fight and kill all the time, but because I feel at ease with you here, and the people feel at ease too. That's enough. Alright, don't think about anything else. Come on, tell me, which of these three swords would you choose?"
The soldiers were secretly pleased by her words, "As long as you are here, I feel at ease," while they looked at the blackboard and carefully compared the information.
The Mo Dao was the first one they ruled out.
This knife has a long handle, a wide blade, and is heavy, requiring most people to use it with both hands. Not only is it difficult to master, but its use is also limited.
As they pondered this, the soldiers' gazes shifted between the ring-pommel sword and the horizontal sword.
The ring-pommel sword is a commonly used weapon among soldiers; it is portable and easy to learn.
But its opponent... is the horizontal sword.
The horizontal sword has become one of the most popular weapons in the military in recent years, but because it is difficult to forge, very few soldiers have the opportunity to use it.
Seeing this, Shen Zheng tapped the horizontal sword with a small wooden stick: "Choose this one?"
The county soldiers shook their heads.
The cost of forging a horizontal sword is really too high; they should choose a ring-pommel sword instead.
Shen Zheng nodded and put away the small wooden stick: "Alright, let's use the horizontal sword then."
The county soldiers were taken aback.
Didn't they shake their heads?
Why choose the horizontal sword?
Shen Zheng laughed: "I can see that some people are practically drooling."
The county soldiers immediately turned around and looked around, trying to find the traitor.
"Alright, let's tentatively use the horizontal sword." Before the county soldiers could react, Shen Zheng added, "In addition to the standard weapon, each of you should choose another steel weapon based on your strengths and your role in the team, whether it's a spear or a dagger. Just report to your leader when you get off."
The soldiers from the county looked dazed.
One person, two weapons...
They're all made of steel.
In any other military camp, this would be the standard configuration for a general, but now, with just a casual remark from the magistrate, this enormous windfall has been dumped on them.
They stared at Shen Zheng, speechless for a long time.
Shen Zheng turned around, picked up a handkerchief to wipe the writing on the blackboard, picked up the chalk again, and wrote two words on it.
—A letter home.
"This is the last thing I wanted to tell you today," she said. "You've been away from home for three months. Write down what you want to say to your family in a letter, pack what you want to bring them in a package, and give it to Su Yan within three days. I will send someone to help you send it home."