Chapter 95: Horseshoe

At this moment, the sun was just right, and the azure sky was cloudless.

Because she was small, Liu Li could not see the actual situation on the drill ground from the observation deck, so she had no choice but to stand up and lean against the railing to watch the competition.

The quick reactions of Wei Qing and Chen Fei drew praise from Liu Che. He clapped his hands happily and said, "Good, it seems both the Empress and I have bet on the right treasure."

Liu Li curled her lips and secretly grumbled to herself that General Li Guang's sense of direction and reaction speed were simply too poor; no wonder historical records stated that he always got lost when leading troops to attack the Xiongnu.

In order not to let Liu Che become too smug, Liu Li tilted her head slightly and opened her mouth: "Empress, I want to eat lychees."

Hearing this, Liu Che reached out, took a lychee from the plate, removed the outer peel, and fed it into his daughter's mouth.

The lychees in Shanglin Park ripened relatively late, not reaching full maturity until mid-October, but fortunately, they were quite sweet and cloying, so Liu Li decided to forgive them for ripening so late.

She held the whole lychee in her mouth and used her teeth to slowly gnaw the flesh off. Liu Che watched her puffed-up little cheeks with great interest, feeling that A Li looked extremely cute like this.

Worthy of being my daughter!

For some reason, Liu Che reached out and poked her puffed-up cheek lightly, drawing a dissatisfied side-glance from little Liu Li.

Because there was still a lychee pit in her mouth, she spoke unclearly: "Empress, you ￥％#￥……"

"What?" Liu Che did not hear clearly what she was saying.

Liu Li simply reached out, grabbed his hand, and lowered her head to spit the pit from her mouth into his palm: "I said, Empress, stick out your hand, I need to spit out the pit."

Liu Che: "..." He stared at the lychee pit in his palm, unable to laugh or cry for a moment.

Liu Li pursed her lips, giggled secretly for a while, then turned her head to continue watching the competition.

On the drill ground, the competition between the five men was still ongoing. The randomly appearing straw men tested their reaction speeds, and the competition had entered a white-hot stage.

Perhaps because they were young, Wei Qing and Chen Fei's reaction speeds were excellent. As soon as a straw man popped its head out, the two of them could accurately judge its position and then quickly aim and shoot.

Gongsun Ao and Gongsun He were far inferior to Wei Qing and Chen Fei, but once the two of them got into the rhythm, they could also react very quickly.

As for Li Guang... Liu Li stared intently at his competition rhythm, not knowing for a moment whether to praise him for being clever or for being very good at opportunism.

In terms of reaction speed, Li Guang was certainly no match for the two young men, Wei Qing and Chen Fei. When the first two straw men popped out, he missed them both because he couldn't react in time.

While waiting for the third straw man, Li Guang gave up on predicting the straw men's positions and directly observed the state of Wei Qing and Chen Fei; wherever the two of them aimed, he aimed as well.

It was by relying on this method that he was able to accurately hit the subsequent straw men. But even so, he had already shot two fewer arrows than Wei Qing and Chen Fei from the start.

Next, if Wei Qing and Chen Fei did not make any mistakes, Li Guang would not be able to win this round of the competition. Clearly, Li Guang himself realized this. He felt a bit anxious, and sweat broke out on his palms.

—In this competition, I absolutely cannot lose!

In terms of age, Li Guang was nearly thirty years older than these juniors.

In terms of seniority, Li Guang had already resisted the Xiongnu as a "good family" youth during the reign of Han Wendi, and because he was brave and skilled in battle, he was praised by Wendi. At that time, Emperor Wendi had personally said: "It is a pity that you, Li Guang, were born at the wrong time; if you had been born during the time of Gaozu, being enfeoffed as a Wanhu Marquis would have been no problem."

In terms of horsemanship and archery skills, Li Guang felt even more strongly that these juniors were definitely not his equal.

So, in today's competition, if he lost to these juniors, how could he establish prestige in the army in the future?

Thinking of this, Li Guang pondered and decided to bring out his signature skill. He took two arrows directly from his quiver, intending to shoot them together when the next straw man appeared.

On the observation deck, Liu Che also noticed Li Guang's movements; he couldn't help but sit up straight, staring at Li Guang without blinking.

The straw man appeared.

Wei Qing and Chen Fei quickly found the position, aimed, and shot. Relying on observing the two men's movements, Li Guang also aimed at the straw man, and the two arrows in his hands were shot simultaneously, both hitting the straw man at the same time.

Liu Che couldn't help but cheer.

"General Li's archery skills are indeed formidable." A Jiao also offered a compliment.

Liu Li also did not expect that, while trailing by two arrows, Li Guang would choose to make up for the arrows in such a way, and with such high precision.

From this, it could be seen that Li Guang still had a sharp mind.

The first round of the competition ended. The referee eunuch went to collect all the arrows from the straw men. In the end, the one who hit the most arrows was indeed Li Guang, with a total of 11.

Wei Qing and Chen Fei tied for second, both hitting all ten arrows. The two Generals Gongsun hit 9 and 8 arrows respectively.

Even though they were trailing at the bottom, such results were still quite good.

Immediately after, the second round of the competition began.

The referee eunuch explained the rules of the competition to the five generals. Because the distance was too great, the observation deck could not hear them. Liu Che was very curious about what the second round of the competition arranged by Liu Li was.

Liu Li smiled mysteriously, pointed her little finger at the soldiers who were moving things onto the drill ground, and said: "Empress, just watch."

Liu Che's curiosity was piqued. He also craned his neck to look toward the drill ground, only to see soldiers moving many thorny wooden poles onto the field, and two soldiers lighting bonfires on the field.

Looking out, the entire drill ground seemed to be filled with traps and tests everywhere.

The second round of the competition on the drill ground had already begun. The five generals mounted their respective warhorses, ready to challenge all the traps on the field.

Liu Li acted as the commentator: "The name of the second round of the competition is 'Little Horse Go Go Go'. As the name suggests, it is a test for the horses and the riders. Currently, the five generals are at the starting point. They need to ride their horses around the drill ground twice. Whoever can finish without injury is the final winner."

Liu Che laughed after hearing this: "What is difficult about running around the entire drill ground?" Even someone who had just learned to ride a horse could easily do it.

"Empress, are you selectively ignoring the obstacles on the drill ground?" Liu Li puffed out her lips and said: "You have to pass through those successfully to count as clearing the stage."

During their conversation, the five generals had already set off together, their speeds neck and neck at the start. But soon they encountered the first obstacle: the ground was covered with wooden poles with iron thorns at varying intervals. The riders had to guide their horses to jump over these iron thorns.

This level of difficulty was not a problem for those who rode horses frequently, so all five of them passed quickly. The difficulty of the second stage was upgraded: the bonfires ahead could not be avoided; the horses had to jump over them.

When Gongsun He was jumping over on horseback, the horse's tail brushed the flames. It might have been burned, and the horse began to become restless. By the time he finally managed to subdue the horse, he had already fallen far behind the others, and there was basically no possibility of winning.

Visibly, Gongsun He's riding speed slowed down, and finally, he dismounted, which counted as voluntarily admitting defeat.

This action made both Liu Che and Liu Li somewhat dissatisfied. The competition wasn't even over yet, so why did he give up first? Liu Li curled her lips; no wonder in history, when he didn't encounter the Xiongnu, this Gongsun He would choose to return the way he came.

The remaining people continued the competition. In the third stage, six soldiers stood on both sides of the track, each holding a bamboo pole. When Li Guang and the others rode over, they used the poles to disturb the horses. The riders had to control their horses well and pass through the crowd without being disturbed.

Whether it was because Li Guang's warhorse was struck by a bamboo pole or something else, it suddenly let out a painful cry, then raised its hooves high, seemingly showing signs of going mad.

Li Guang, sitting on the horse's back, was caught off guard and fell off to one side, with only one foot remaining in the stirrup. It looked like he was about to be dragged along the ground by the maddened horse.

The situation instantly became extremely perilous. Liu Che was so shocked that he stood up and shouted loudly: "Quick, protect General Li."

Seeing this situation, the soldiers around the drill ground gathered around one after another; some intended to stop the frightened horse, while others chased after the warhorse.

Wei Qing and Chen Fei, who had already run to the front, saw this situation and flanked Li Guang from the left and right. Chen Fei drew his ring-pommel saber, intending to cut off the stirrup on Li Guang's foot when he got close to him, so that he wouldn't have to be dragged.

However, at the critical moment, Li Guang propped his elbow on the ground and actually managed to return to the horse's back. That instantaneous movement looked as if he had flown up.

Finally, with everyone's joint efforts, the warhorse was finally stopped.

At this time, the Emperor and Empress, as well as the Jianling Princess who had been on the observation deck, all rushed over to check the situation on the scene.

"Is General Li alright?" A Jiao asked with concern.

The crowd cleared a path for the Emperor. Li Guang stood up from the ground: "Your Majesty, your subject is unharmed, but my horse..."

The maddened warhorse had already been subdued by everyone's joint efforts. At this time, it was lying on the ground, moaning and panting, looking very painful. Seeing his beloved horse in such a state, Li Guang felt extremely heartbroken: "Lei Ting has been with me through battles for nearly ten years; it is absolutely impossible for it to suddenly go mad. Someone must be trying to plot against your subject!"

Li Guang said decisively, his tiger-like eyes wide as he glared at everyone around him, attempting to find this person.

This competition event was arranged by the Jianling Princess. Li Guang saying this seemed to imply that the person attempting to plot against him was the Jianling Princess.

Liu Li naturally did not want to take the blame. She wrinkled her little face and quietly walked to the warhorse, wanting to see what was wrong with this horse.

Just as she was about to approach, she was stopped by a horse slave nearby. The horse slave carefully protected the little princess: "Princess, be careful. The warhorse is fierce; if it goes mad again, it will hurt you."

"It doesn't matter," Liu Li said, summoning her courage: "If there is danger, I will run."

Li Guang's warhorse was very sturdy; probably only someone as tall and strong as Li Guang could control such a warhorse. Liu Li approached cautiously and found that there was no problem with the horse's legs.

The bamboo pole interference just now was not the reason the warhorse was frightened and went mad.

Soon, Liu Li noticed that the four hooves of this warhorse seemed to have some problems, especially the front hooves, which were completely cracked, and blood had already flowed out.

The horse slave also noticed it. He signaled Liu Li to stay away first, and then approached the horse to check what was going on with the injury on the horse's hooves.

On the other side, A Jiao and Liu Che also looked over. Seeing the cracked and bleeding hooves, Liu Che's expression changed abruptly, and he asked coldly: "What is going on? Why is the warhorse injured?"

In the Great Han, warhorses were even more precious than people. Now that Li Guang's warhorse was injured like this, Liu Che felt a pang of heartache.

Li Guang was also shocked: "How did Lei Ting's feet become like this?"

The horse slave who finished checking the warhorse turned his head and reported to the Emperor and Empress: "Your Majesty, your slave just checked the warhorse's hooves and did not find any foreign objects. The hooves seem to have cracked on their own."

Li Guang did not believe it: "The hooves are so hard, how could they crack on their own? Are you, a horse slave, trying to deceive me?"

The horse slave hurriedly said: "Your slave would not dare."

Liu Li walked to the horse slave, looked up at the very tall Li Guang, and said loudly: "He is not talking nonsense. No matter how hard a horse's hoof is, it will crack."

Li Guang looked down at the exquisitely carved, soft-looking little person in front of him, and he put on a stern face: "Princess, why do you say that?"

Liu Li paused, not knowing how to explain this principle to everyone for a moment. She thought about it seriously, then walked to the warhorse, squatted down, and pointed to the horse's hooves: "Look, this black piece is the hardest part of the horse's hoof, but it has been rubbing against the ground for a long time. Over time, it will become thinner and thinner, and eventually even fall off. Once there is no such hard hoof, the horse's feet will be very painful, just like this warhorse."

The soldiers in front of her had not been enlisted for very long, and they had not spent much time with warhorses. They had basically never encountered a horse with worn-out hooves, so naturally, they did not know about this.

However, the horse slave who managed all the horses here had some knowledge. Some old horses' hooves would be like what the Princess said, very thin and easy to bleed.

Li Guang frowned and looked at his beloved horse, not knowing whether to believe what the Jianling Princess said.

When he was the Administrator of Shanggu Commandery, he had already heard of the name of this Eldest Princess. The common people all spread that this Princess was a disciple of the Heavenly God, bringing many blessings to the Great Han.

For example, solving the river floods, for example, potatoes and chairs, for example, Jianling paper and down jackets; these were all brought to the Great Han by this Jianling Princess. So, was his beloved horse becoming like this really just because of excessive hoof wear?

"So, every horse's hooves will be worn down like this?" Liu Che spoke.

Liu Li nodded: "That's right."

"Is there a solution?" If the cavalry's warhorses encountered such a situation during a battle, then there would be no point in fighting!

"Horseshoes," Liu Li said.

Liu Che looked puzzled: "What is this?"

Horseshoes originated in Rome and were invented in the first century BC. They were only introduced to China around the Yuan Dynasty, so it was normal for the people of the Great Han at this time not to know about this thing.

Liu Li explained: "This thing is a shoe for a horse. As long as you put this on the horse, you don't have to worry about the hooves being worn down."

Hearing this, Liu Che's eyes lit up: "There is such a shoe? Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and arrange it for all the warhorses."

Although Liu Li knew about horseshoes, she had never seen them herself. She still had to use the 【Encyclopedia】 to check how to make them.

However, with so many people watching here, it was not convenient for her to check the information in front of everyone, so she said: "Empress, do not be anxious. Wait for your daughter to draw the horse shoes, and then find a blacksmith to forge them."

Liu Che nodded: "That would be excellent."

The warhorse with damaged hooves could only be taken away to recover from its injuries first, and the competition between the five generals came to a temporary halt. Liu Che raised his eyes and scanned the five of them, then said coldly: "Gongsun He, if you find yourself unable to defeat the Xiongnu on the battlefield, will you also surrender by dismounting like you did today?"

This question made Gongsun He's scalp tingle. Seeing the Emperor staring at him expressionlessly, he knelt down abruptly: "Your subject..." He was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead, but he couldn't find an excuse to defend himself.

It was truly anxiety-inducing.

Liu Che snorted coldly, already considering whether to adjust the lineup and remove Gongsun He as a general.

Gongsun He was also afraid that the Emperor would remove his general position, so he hurriedly said: "Please, Your Majesty, give your subject one more chance. Your subject will definitely not fail your expectations."

Liu Che snorted coldly again.

Gongsun He lowered his head, but felt some suspicion in his heart: why did it feel like the one dissatisfied with him was the Empress, not the Emperor? But why would the Empress be dissatisfied with him? He didn't seem to have done anything to offend the Empress.

A Jiao raised her eyebrows: "Get up first, General Gongsun. Your horsemanship and archery skills still need more practice."

Gongsun He responded humbly.

Liu Che looked at Wei Qing and Chen Fei again, a satisfied smile appearing on his face: "Wei Qing and Chen Fei, you two truly did not disappoint me."

Liu Che was very satisfied with the performance of these two people today, especially Chen Fei. He was not even as old as Wei Qing, yet he could be as brilliant as Wei Qing, which made Liu Che look at him with new eyes.

Chen Fei lowered his head: "It is because General Wei leads well." He had followed Wei Qing for two years, and half of his skills were taught by Wei Qing, so his words were sincere.

Liu Che nodded and looked at Gongsun Ao, who was standing on the other side of Wei Qing. Thinking of this person's performance just now, he could only describe it as standard—neither brilliant nor too bad. So he simply skipped commenting on Gongsun Ao and looked at Li Guang, who was still worried about his beloved horse.

Liu Che remembered the perilous scene just now and thought of Li Guang's reaction. He said: "General Li's final movement of flying onto the horse was truly spectacular."

Li Guang raised his hand to salute the Empress, but did not expect a sharp pain to come from his elbow. It turned out that he had scraped it when he propped his elbow on the ground just now.

"Someone, take General Li down to treat his wounds." Seeing this, Liu Che turned and ordered the eunuchs to take Li Guang to the temporary palace for treatment.

This competition of the five generals ended temporarily, and the third round of the competition prepared by Liu Li had not even had a chance to begin. While feeling regretful, she closed her eyes and began to 【Encyclopedia】 the appearance of horseshoes and how to put shoes on horse hooves.

After understanding it, she started to draw the model of the horseshoe, and then handed it to Liu Che, asking him to arrange for a blacksmith to make the horseshoe according to the size of the horse's hooves.

Liu Che stared at the drawing for a while and asked in confusion: "How does one put this thing on a horse's hoof?" Horse hooves were different from human feet.

Liu Li curled her lips: "I will tell you after the horseshoes are made."

Seeing that Liu Che still seemed to have a look of disdain, Liu Li walked out of the hall angrily, secretly complaining that Liu Che was truly blessed but didn't know it. If he, Liu Wild Boar, weren't her father, would she provide him with so many things that benefited the people of the Great Han for free?

She had to fleece him hard to be worthy of the professional knowledge she learned in her previous life.

Why didn't she transmigrate into the daughter of Sang Hongyang? Sigh. jpg

"Princess." Chen Fei's voice called Liu Li back from her fantasies. Liu Li looked at him and smiled: "You're here."

"Yes." He deliberately lowered his voice: "Does the Princess have any instructions?"

During the day, Liu Li had specifically and quietly asked Chen Fei to come find her at night. Chen Fei waited until his companions around him were asleep before quietly searching for her.

"It's nothing major." Liu Li pulled Chen Fei to sit on a tower of the temporary palace. She looked up at the bright moon in the sky and said: "Actually, it was I who recommended you to the Emperor to be a general. Will you... blame me?"

Chen Fei hurriedly said: "How could your subordinate blame the Princess?" He turned his head to look at the little princess sitting beside him and said sincerely: "Your subordinate is grateful to the Princess and the Emperor for giving me such an opportunity to achieve merit." He clenched his fists and said: "Your subordinate will definitely not fail the Princess's expectations."

Hearing Chen Fei's answer, Liu Li knew she had overthought it. She actually didn't need to use the values of a modern person to think about ancient people. Leading an army to fight the Xiongnu was a very glorious thing in the eyes of the Han people.

"Alright." Liu Li felt relieved: "Since that's the case, let me give you one last test question."

Chen Fei held his breath and listened: "Princess, please speak."

Liu Li took a piece of paper from her bosom and opened it in front of Chen Fei. It was a map of the border between the Han and the Xiongnu.

Liu Li pointed to the troop deployment on the map: "The Emperor arranged for you to set off from Yunzhong Commandery and head to this area to look for traces of the Xiongnu. If you don't find the Xiongnu, what do you plan to do?"

Chen Fei looked at it seriously, suddenly thinking of how General Wei always liked to take them to simulate the activity trajectories of the Xiongnu when he was free, and then how the Han army would counterattack. He thought for a moment and said: "I will continue to head north along here, until the Yinshan area."

"This is the headquarters of the Xiongnu. You only have ten thousand cavalry; do you dare to come here?" Liu Li was satisfied with Chen Fei's answer and continued to leak the test questions to him.

Chen Fei said: "If I don't encounter the Xiongnu on this road, it means the Xiongnu are active in the Great Wall area, then the other four generals will definitely encounter the Xiongnu. I can lead people to block here, cut off the connection between the Xiongnu headquarters and the Xiongnu south of the Great Wall, so that the Xiongnu headquarters cannot go to support them."

"Then what if the armies of the Xiongnu headquarters and the Left Worthy King are concentrated here?"

According to Liu Che's deployment, he naturally hoped that the generals would support each other. Chen Fei said: "If so, I will lead the troops to strike directly at Yinshan and kill the Xiongnu headquarters!"

This was the classic tactic of "Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao"!

Liu Li said excitedly: "Chen Fei, you will definitely become an outstanding general of the Great Han!" He didn't need her to leak historical test questions at all; he could have his own judgment.

Liu Li thought that she had indeed not misjudged him. Whether it was Chen Fei's talent or what he learned from following Wei Qing, Chen Fei had the potential to be a general.

Chen Fei was also quite excited, and then he said in a deep voice: "But your subordinate will always be the Princess's subordinate."

Liu Li thought that she had indeed not misjudged him. Whether it was Chen Fei's natural talent or what he had learned from following Wei Qing, Chen Fei had the potential to be a general.

Chen Fei listened and was quite moved, but then he said in a deep voice, "But this subordinate will always be the Princess's subordinate."