Chapter 3 There is a boy in the Yue family who has just grown up

Yue Fei was born in Tangyin, Xiangzhou (now Tangyin County, Anyang City, Henan Province). The ancestors have been farming for generations.His father, Yue He, was a generous and honest farmer, who was known for his kindness and enthusiasm.Born with chivalrous feelings, history said that he "can diet to feed the hungry".He lived a life of frugality, but whenever he saw the poor and famine fleeing, he would do his best to help these people.When someone else encroached on their cultivated land, they didn't care too much, and even formally distributed the land to them for cultivation.Some neighbors borrowed from him, and he never took the initiative to collect debts.

On February 15th, the second year of Chongning in the Northern Song Dynasty (1103), Yue Fei was born in this harmonious family. That day, there was a "big bird like a swan" on the branch outside the house, flying and singing, and the name "Yue Fei" was derived from it.Yue He didn't know that this name would frighten the intruders in the future. Yue Fei was not yet full moon, and his hometown Yonghe Township, Tangyin County suffered a flood: a small gap appeared in the embankment of the Yellow River in the west of Neihuang, and the river rushed into the village aggressively.

At that time, Yue He was out and heard that his home was flooded, he felt a little bit in his heart, thinking, it's over, his wife and children must be gone.When he ran back in a panic, he unexpectedly saw Yue Fei and his wife on the high ground outside the village. He was pleasantly surprised and burst into tears. How did Yue Fei's mother and son escape this catastrophe? Mrs. Yue Yao, who was in confinement, suddenly heard the noise of people outside. She got up from the bed and saw the "water storm coming" outside the door. In desperation, she hugged Yue Fei and sat on the side of the bed. The big urn of rice, at this time, the rice in the urn was almost exhausted, and the mother and child were able to shelter. Then the flood rushed into the house, the big urn floated up, and drifted out of the house, "it was impossible to avoid hitting the shore by the waves."

The adventure of Yue Fei's mother and son amazed the villagers. Survive a catastrophe, there must be blessings in the future. As Yue Fei grew up, everyone was surprised to find that the little guy was indeed different from ordinary people. Although he was young, he was endowed with extraordinary talents and supernatural powers. According to historical records, he was "not crowned, with a bow of three hundred catties and a crossbow with eight stones". In the Song Dynasty, men usually hold crown ceremonies at the age of fifteen or sixteen. After holding the crown ceremony, it means that the man has grown up and can marry and start a family.Yue Fei was "not crowned", that is, he was less than fifteen years old, but he was able to draw a bow of 300 catties and open a crossbow with eight stones, which is really amazing!

What is the concept of "drawing a bow with three hundred catties and opening a crossbow with eight stones"? In the era of cold weapons, spears, knives, and bows and crossbows were the most important weapons. It is said that "there are six out of thirty weapons, and the bow is the first; eight out of ten martial arts, and the bow is the first."In the Song Dynasty, compared with the nomadic peoples in the north, horses in the Central Plains were scarce. Therefore, the Song Dynasty mainly relied on infantry. To use infantry to counteract cavalry, bows and crossbows became the first choice for defeating the enemy.

Therefore, the rulers of the Song Dynasty paid more attention to the construction of infantry than previous dynasties, and both bows and crossbows were greatly developed. Especially crossbows, on the basis of learning from the wind crossbows of the Qin Dynasty, the Zhuge crossbows of the Three Kingdoms period, and the bed crossbows of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the stepping crossbows and waist crossbows were developed, and the tension provided by the feet or the waist was used to a greater extent. Potential energy of crossbow arrows.Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, Chinese crossbow technology developed to a peak.

The Divine Arm Bow of the Song Dynasty is the most classic crossbow in history, with an effective range of up to 370 meters. The Defeat Bow of the Southern Song Dynasty is an upgraded version of the Divine Arm Bow, with an effective range of 400 to 500 meters. , even armor is hard to resist.You must know that the effective range of modern military combat pistols is only 50 meters, while the effective range of small pistols for self-defense is no more than 30 meters. From this we can see that the lethality of Song Dynasty crossbows is quite amazing. When looking at the level of a person's martial arts, one must first look at how strong a bow the person can draw. This is a basic standard.

According to the military system of the Song Dynasty, "bow and shoot one stone and five buckets" belonged to first-class warriors, and were eligible to be selected as the imperial "banzhi" to be the emperor's personal bodyguard.Wang Zengyu, a great historian of the Song Dynasty, pointed out that a stone in the Song Dynasty was one hundred and ten catties today.Then, "one stone and five buckets" is now one hundred and sixty-five catties.According to this standard, at such a young age, Yue Fei draws a bow of 300 catties and draws a crossbow with eight stones. The force of his arms to open the bow is already twice that of a first-class warrior, and his waist force is also close to what it is now. It is about a thousand catties, what an astonishing statistic!At the same time, this is also the highest record recorded in history books. (Although it is recorded in the "History of Jin" that the golden general Han Chang also had a record of opening a bow of 300 catties, but considering that he was an adult in his thirties at that time, he could not be compared with Yue Fei.) Yue Fei's supernatural power shocked a quite Legendary figure - Zhou Tong.

Zhou Tong, an old man who is good at shooting. According to what was written above, Zhou Tong was a master of the outside world, and even Liangshan heroes Lin Chong and Lu Junyi were his disciples.And everyone knows that both Lin Chong and Lu Junyi are fictional literary characters, so the halo that covered Zhou Tong's head can be removed. The real version of Zhou Tong is just an honest farmer, who spends his days facing the loess and back to the sky, and works hard to cultivate his one-acre three-point land.The reason why he is different from other farmers is that he is good at shooting.

Hearing about Yue Fei's miraculous deeds, he came to the door in person and expressed his willingness to teach his archery skills to others. Yue Fei "learned archery from Zhou Tong".Once, Zhou Tong fired three arrows in a row, and all the arrows hit the bull's-eye.Yue Fei then bent his bow to lead the arrow, and the arrow flew with the string, and it actually hit Zhou Tong's most central arrow shaft, "breaking the arrow", breaking from the tail of the arrow to the arrowhead, not only that, but then "hitting again". . It can be said that the waves behind the Yangtze River push forward the waves ahead!

Zhou Tong was very pleasantly surprised and sighed.And Yue Fei lived up to expectations, he practiced hard day and night, "doing his best, he can shoot left and right", he can shoot from both sides, and hit every shot!Do the best of Zhou Tong's true biography.Zhou Tong probably never expected that this would be used by Yue Fei on the battlefield to kill the enemy and intimidate the fierce enemy. If he knew it, he would surely smile at Jiuquan.There are disciples like this, what can the husband ask for? When Zhou Tong died of illness, Yue Fei was very grateful for his teacher's kindness and was very sad.Every month on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, people will go to Zhou Tong's grave to pay homage.By the way, Yue Fei was only in his teens at the time, and his family conditions were average, so he probably didn't have much "pocket money".If you are going to worship, you must bring some joss sticks.What should I do if I have no money to buy? Yue Fei didn't ask his family for it, but secretly pawned his clothes, purchased the sacrificial supplies, and quietly went up the mountain alone. His way of offering sacrifices is very special: first offer wine and meat, and cry bitterly in front of the grave. After crying bitterly, he shoots three arrows at the sky with the big bow left by Zhou Tong, and then falls to the ground and weeps bitterly. Qian Zhongshu once joked that many people are paying homage to the dead in name, but the wine and meat used for the sacrifice end up in their own stomachs.Yue Fei didn't, after he was sad, he wiped away his tears, poured the wine on the tomb, buried all the meat beside the tomb, lingered sadly, and didn't return for a long time. Over time, Yue Fei's mother found that Yue Fei's clothes were much less.Oops, found out. Yue He asked him: "What happened to the clothes? Where did they go?" Yue Fei bowed his head and remained silent. Yue He beat him with a whip, but he accepted it silently, without any sign of resentment.Yue He had no choice but to give up. "This is so strange." Yue He began to follow secretly. After going back and forth, they finally discovered Yue Fei's secret. Yue He was very surprised that Yue Fei would do this: "There are many teachers who taught you how to learn archery and martial arts. Why do you pay homage to Zhou Tong?" In the tomb of Zhou Tong, why?") Yue Fei replied truthfully: "Zhou Tong loved me very much and taught me all his skills. My child is grateful for his kindness and can't repay him. I can only go to the grave to worship on the first and fifteenth day of the new year." I learned archery from Zhou Jun, and Te and Fei Hou, within a few days, I did my best to return home. Thinking of his death, there is nothing to repay, so chat with Shuo Wang to be a gift.”) "But why shoot three arrows into the sky? And leave all the wine and meat on the grave?" Yue Fei explained: "Shooting three arrows is to let him know that my archery skills have improved a lot under Jiuquan; I leave all the wine and meat on the grave because I want to honor his old man, so I can bear it." (" Those who shoot three arrows, knowledge is the essence of art. Those who drink wine and lose their flesh are enjoyed by Zhou Jun, and they can't bear to eat.") Hearing this, Yue He patted him on the shoulder and said with emotion: "If you can be used at the right time, you will be able to sacrifice your country and die for righteousness!" ) Yue Fei replied immediately: "If the father allows the child to serve the country with his body, why not do it!" Actions are silent language.The combined ages of Yue He and his wife, Yao, are already over a hundred years old. Although they feel precious when they are old, they do not spoil and indulge their children.Yue He and his wife may not have much education and can't read a few words, but their chivalrous feelings of integrity, kindness, enthusiasm and generosity, and compassion have subtly affected Yue Fei's growth.Traditional beliefs such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith also gradually permeated into Yue Fei's concept when he was young, and became the motto that Yue Fei pursued throughout his life. Misfortunes and blessings", the reason for uncompromising and unyielding. It is precisely because of this that he is the man in our hearts who stands upright and dares to act——Yue Fei!