Chapter 29: The Longbow

Yang Dingrui had come specifically to see the weapons.

He had never trained in boxing, staves, or spears, but he had a fine physique and a remarkably skilled hand with the bow — nearly all of it changes that reading had brought to his life.

His good health came from being nearsighted from study; people generally considered nearsightedness an illness, and by extension thought Yang Dingrui was frail and sickly, so they made him practice the Eight Brocades, climb mountains, and hunt.

The Eight Brocades is not a martial arts mental method, merely an ancient exercise routine akin to modern broadcast calisthenics — to put it plainly, it uses a set of movements to get every part of the body moving a little.

Moving a little beats not moving at all.

Later, after Yang Dingrui passed the provincial exam, his living conditions improved and he had both money and leisure; these all became hobbies, and he grew even fonder of reading — ancient archery manuals, military texts, agricultural treatises, he read everything.

In the end, it still comes down to the economic base determining everything else. After passing the exam he became a stipend student supported by the court, able to find ways to read even more books, and could even travel about for two or three months in search of a single volume. With his scholarly rank, he did not even need a travel pass to go out — utterly free and at ease.

"What suits you best here is the longbow. The Great Tang recruited infantry largely with longbows; the Song dynasty's local militia used them too. A fifty-catty sinew-horn bow can match a seventy-catty longbow, and a seventy-catty longbow can match a hundred-catty bamboo self-bow."

Yang Dingrui's face lit up with animation.

He was a presented scholar and a prefectural official who had just resigned; when he spoke, he naturally carried the authority of a superior, so that the carpenter Liu Xiangliang, accustomed to following orders, fetched pencil and ink-line without even knowing who he was and set them carefully to one side.

Yang Dingrui picked up the wooden tray holding the tools, searched about on the ground by himself, found a six-foot length of timber, and began drawing on his own.

Liu Chengzong knew of the longbow he spoke of but had never seen one — it was a type of self-wood bow prevalent during the Tang and Song dynasties. By the Ming, it appeared only occasionally among commoners, for the court's war bows all used the more efficient sinew-horn composite bow.

The choice of weaponry depends on one's own technology on the one hand, and on the enemy one faces on the other.

The sinew-horn bow is the finest bow. By Yang Dingrui's account, Liu Chengzong's bow with a seventy-catty draw weight could match a hundred-catty longbow, and as for a bamboo bow, it could match one of a hundred and thirty catties.

A hundred and thirty catties — that already surpassed Superior Strength.

In the early Ming, during the Yongle reign, the court established four grades of war bow, from forty to seventy catties; at the time, seventy catties was Superior Strength.

By the Wanli and Tianqi reigns, warfare was frequent. In the north, first came Altan Khan's fully armored cavalry, then the double-armored mounted heavy infantry of Nurhaci, the Dragon-Tiger General of Jianzhou Garrison — both demanded higher draw weights.

Nowadays, the frontier army's Superior Strength is one hundred and twenty catties, and Inferior Strength is seventy. The bow Liu Chengzong currently used was precisely a seventy-catty bow.

Before, he could loose four arrows in rapid succession with a hundred-catty war bow, but now, even with a seventy-catty bow, accidents sometimes happened when he tried a rapid shot.

Suitability is simply finding the balance point between lethality, accuracy, and continuous release.

For any lighter bow, one would have to search the guard battalions.

The longbow's advantages are ease of manufacture, a single material, shorter working hours, and resistance to damp.

That last point was useless in the now utterly arid and frigid climate of northern Shaanxi, but its advantages of a single material and shorter working hours were indeed very well suited to Xingping Village... in a climate of economic collapse, materials were no longer as easy to obtain as before.

Watching Yang Dingrui wield the brush and draw lines, Liu Chengzong, standing to one side, nodded slowly.

Without enough sinew-horn bows, the longbow counted as a clear path forward — a clear path that fit Liu Chengzong's plans.

"Make it according to this. I will be staying here a few days. If you have any questions making the bow, old sir, you may ask me."

Soon, Yang Dingrui's drawing was finished, and he had even sketched a bow-training stand beside it. He turned his head, found Liu Chengzong staring blankly, and asked: "What are you thinking about?"

"Hm?"

Liu Chengzong came back to himself, smiled apologetically, and said: "Xingping Village needs a hundred and fifty bamboo bows, forty repeating crossbows, thirty longbows... ah, we'll just make as many as we can."

Having said this, he turned his head to look at Yang Dingrui.

In truth, he very much wanted to ask: even if Yang Dingrui had resigned from office, what was he doing running off to their remote wilderness, and why did he want to stay at their home for several days?

It was not that he was unwelcome — it was simply odd.

With a great disaster looming, even doing nothing made one feel panicked; this was absolutely not the time for sightseeing or visiting friends and relatives, let alone the fact that their families had not been in contact with Yang Dingrui for many years.

But to ask so directly would be too abrupt and seem rude, so he merely asked: "Sir, you formerly held office in the prefectural seat and know many things. I heard that Wang Zuogua struck Yaozhou. In your opinion, how much time does my family still have?"

No look of surprise crossed Yang Dingrui's face. He mused for a moment, took a few steps out of the courtyard, then turned his head, narrowed his eyes, and wore a puzzled expression. "How much time — why do you say that?"

Liu Chengzong naturally followed step for step, also walking out of the carpenter's courtyard. He said: "Yaozhou is a prosperous place west of the river, with porcelain kilns and many mines. When bandits rise in swarms, the authorities are sure to send relief. Once the government troops arrive, the roving bandits will scatter. There is not much time left."

He spread both hands before him, the meaning utterly clear.

Once the roving bandits scattered, the great mountains of northern Shaanxi would never know peace again. Whether or not these small bands of thieves found Black Dragon Mountain at Coiling Dragon Creek, they would only add frost to the snow of the surrounding villages' already fragile economies. The situation could only grow more chaotic.

"Government troops arrive and the roving bandits scatter? Little Lion, I fear you think too well of the authorities."

Yang Dingrui gave a cold laugh and shook his head. "From the prefectural seat back to Ansai, and then from Ansai city to here — of all the places I passed through, only Black Dragon Mountain was orderly."

"The authorities searched every household, yet no one knew whether it was Wang Zuogua or Wang Jiayin who struck Yaozhou, nor did anyone know whether Guyuan's frontier troops were among them, or how many men and horses there were."

"Everywhere is starving and poor, people's hearts are panicked. At the shortest, one or two months; at the longest, two or three. I think it may not be the authorities defeating the Yaozhou bandits. Perhaps the refugees of Qingjian and Ansai will turn to banditry and come raiding this way. The Doughty King over there has great momentum. Your family, holding out here, must prepare early."

Though Yang Dingrui spoke thus, his tone carried much uncertainty about the situation. No one could speak with certainty about such matters.

The possibility of the roving bandits coming in great force was almost nonexistent — at most, they would merely pass through. But the possibility of a small band encroaching was something no one could be sure of.

As they spoke, Yang Dingrui seemed to make some resolution. Abruptly and without preamble, he turned around and said with a solemn expression: "Lion, escort me on a trip to Ansai."

Ansai County was Yang Dingrui's hometown.

Ansai County was also Gao Yingxiang's hometown.

Before Liu Chengzong could ask, Yang Dingrui paused a moment, then continued: "I killed a man in Ansai. I fled in haste the whole way; my family is still in Ansai. I wish to ask you to escort me back, to bring out my wife and children and find another place to settle them."

Liu Chengzong turned his head and saw the deep wariness in Yang Dingrui's eyes.

As if — as if this matter were some earth-shattering affair in Yang Dingrui's heart.

Perhaps, for a presented scholar, it truly was earth-shattering.

But for a frontier soldier, in this world people kill one another — is that not simply how the world works?

So he did not ask further, only thought for a moment and said: "Bringing out one's family should be done sooner rather than later. I will go borrow a few horses and find a friend. We can set out in one shichen."