Yuju Island, Suseong Port.

In the afternoon, the weather in Haizhou Bay suddenly changed, and a strong wind blew on the sea, and the drizzle came down. In the midst of the wind and rain, a ferry boat with a rocking oar staggered to the pier of Sucheng Port.

It is already winter, and almost all the merchant ships that set sail from Haizhou Bay have sailed away. As a result, the entire bay was empty, and the overnight towns on Yuju Island were deserted. There was only a bleak winter scene on the pier. Inside and outside the dock warehouse, there are few people walking. Only a few fishermen who returned from fishing carried their catch off small fishing boats. There were still a few fishmongers from the town who had come from the town to look at the goods without looking at them, and they did not show any desire to buy.

The cyclamen house, which looked like it was three or four feet tall and stood by the sea, was not very popular, and all the windows were closed. Only the recognition flag on the flagpole at the entrance of the restaurant flutters with the sea breeze and hunting.

Even the sea water in Haizhou Bay was also tinged with a killing blue-black color at this time.

However, the ferry boat that is now on the pier is surprisingly full of passengers, and it is not the most common merchant here in Haizhou, but a scholar wearing Confucian clothes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, be careful, the ship is docking!"

With the shout of the boat boss, the small ferry boat hit the pier with a "bang".

Fan Zhiwen, who was a little dizzy in the boat, didn't stand firmly, his whole body rushed forward, and he hurriedly used the long sword in his hand to prop up the bottom of the cabin, but he was still staggering and almost fell.

A middle-aged Confucian student in his thirties beside him reached out to help him, so that Fan Zhiwen could avoid falling into the cabin.

"Thank you, brother." After Fan Zhiwen stood firm, he hurriedly thanked him, and then saw the brother who was supporting him.

This man is also a Confucian student, in his thirties, slightly obese, with a gentle smile on the corner of his mouth, and looks very elegant. He was accompanied by a servant in his twenties, carrying a cage and baggage, and a wooden stick.

Seeing these two, Fan Zhiwen already had a little bit in his heart, this benevolent brother must be the same as himself, he came to Yuzhou Island to study. Moreover, most of this person has some status and family property, maybe he is still from an official household.

Thinking of this, Fan Zhiwen saluted again: "In Xia Yunzhou, Fan Zhiwen, I don't know the name of Brother Ren's surname." ”

"Lu Hao asked in Xiashou Prefecture." The middle-aged fat man replied with a smile, "Brother Fan also wants to worship Sumen when he comes to Yuntai Mountain, right?" ”

Of course, Fan Zhiwen came to Yuntai Mountain to worship under Su Dongpo's door! Nowadays, among the schools of the Great Song Dynasty, in addition to being regarded as a new school of Confucianism, the biggest mountain is undoubtedly Sumen Shuxue. Su Zhe has been the second prime minister in the end, and Su Shi is a great talent with countless fans, and of course his popularity will overshadow the old-fashioned Cheng Yi.

And now that the government is used between the old and the new, I think the position of Confucianism will not always be dominated by the new school. Suman's Learning...... But the market is bullish!

Therefore, after the news of Su Dongpo's brothers settling on Yuzhou Island spread, many Confucian students wanted to come to study and apprentice, including Fan Zhiwen, who landed in the last imperial examination.

He originally had the idea of abandoning the martial arts to take the martial arts exam, but the cost and difficulty of practicing martial arts made Fan Zhiwen a little daunted.

At present, in addition to the "Seven Books of the Art of War" and the "Art of War Strategy", which are not much difficult for the scholars, there are also two subjects of mounted archery and foot archery. Originally, it was not much difficult to ride and shoot on foot, because it was not required to hit the target, only the foot bow that could pull eight or nine buckets and the riding bow of seven buckets - in fact, it was to train arm strength, as long as it was a young and strong Confucian student, and followed the head of the village bow and arrow club to practice well for a year or two, how could it.

However, since the fourth year of Shaosheng, the difficulty has suddenly increased, and he actually requires the archery to hit the target - not the bull's-eye, but the target!

Well, the "martial arts test" of the Song Dynasty is really not difficult at all! The three women in the Wuhao Ancient Family, Ximen Qing, Luo Han Wan and Olga can live casually.

But for Fan Zhiwen, it is very difficult to hit the target, especially shooting an arrow on a horse. Because you can't find someone to help lead the horse in the martial arts exam, right?

Theoretically, Wu Jinshi is going to lead troops to fight against the Khitans and Xixia people, and they should be skilled in bowing and horses. Oh, and still with the horse standing still.

Therefore, this one riding on horseback with both hands off the reins to shoot a bow and arrows is still a test of the ability of the legs to control the horse - even if the horse does not need to run, the difficulty is not low! Because when archery, the waist and legs will inevitably follow the force, and the war horse (maybe the walking horse) under the crotch will feel the movement of the person on the back, and they will inevitably move together a few times. Take a few steps, or shake a few times.

There will be no other big moves, and the horses that are ridden by the martial artists are very well-behaved, and the grumpy stallions will never appear. Otherwise, a martial artist exam will have to kill several people......

As far as Fan Zhiwen is concerned, once the horse under his crotch moves a few times, the arrows he shoots will not be accurate, and he may fall down.

In order for the horse to stand still, it is necessary to have some riding skills, and it is possible to control the horse with both legs without relying on the reins. You have to be taught, and you have to practice hard.

But for a "big landowner" like Fan Zhiwen, it is not easy to train riding. If you want to practice riding, you have to at least have a good horse, right? If you don't have a horse, how can you practice? And the horses can't be too bad, after all, the horses provided by the forbidden army were ridden during the exam, not the rabbit horses of the Jiangnan and Huai.

A good horse (of course, not a first-class war horse with a height of four feet and seven inches at the shoulder), why does it have to be seventy or eighty? Old man Fan's half-year income is gone.

And if you buy a horse, you have to be able to raise it, so you have to hire a horseman, right? You have to have good horse feed, right? One horse eats more than a few mouthfuls! Ma Ling, plus the cost of feeding the horses, has to be dozens of dollars a year.

Then, I have to ask Mr. to teach horseback riding and archery - this ordinary horse can not teach at all, I have to go to Yanggu Ximen's house to invite a famous teacher to teach, can I do it without dozens of shackles a year?

After having a horse, a horseman, and a horse master, you must also have a bow. A good bow isn't cheap! And you can't just have one, you have to have a set, from the soft bow that children play with, to the five-bucket bow, seven-bucket bow, and nine-bucket bow, add it little by little.

In addition, there must be a place for equestrian training! Today's Jingdong East Road is a densely populated place, where to find vacant land? can only circle dozens of acres of fertile land for Fan Zhiwen to practice, and the income from these dozens of acres of land will be gone.

In the end, Fan Zhiwen and his martial arts teacher's food also have to keep up. Tofu and vegetables every day, the nutrition can't keep up, how can you train your strength? That's another expense.

After all, if Fan Zhiwen wants to master the skill of "riding and shooting" within three years, he can't save a few hundred yuan of investment.

Moreover, it's not that if you take out these hundreds of dollars, Wu Jinshi will definitely be able to get them! Because recently it was reported that the newly appointed official, that is, Song Huizong, thought that when riding a horse and shooting arrows, the horse should run. Why don't you get off your horse and shoot while the horse is standing? Dismount and change to a bow and shoot far!

If you want to run a horse and shoot an archery, you have to hit the target...... With Fan Zhiwen's foundation, how can he practice it without six years? This cost will increase a lot, and horses are also born, old, sick and die, and it is very likely that they will have to change horses in six years, which is a lot of money.

How could the Fan family bear such an expense?

By the way, the difficulties encountered by Fan Zhiwen in practicing cavalry archery were actually the dead knot encountered by the Han people, which was based on the small-scale peasant economy, in maintaining the cavalry armament.

When the economic foundation of the Han nation was still in the era of manor economy, the scholars who owned large estates could always afford to raise "knights". Not only because the gentry were wealthier, but also because the large estates were more self-sufficient than the small farmers and landlords, and were able to maintain their own horse farms and herds, so that horses were assets rather than consumer goods.

For example, Wu Haogu now has the ability to establish his own horse farm and horse herd, and can also gradually improve the horse breed. And a "big landlord" of Fan Zhiwen's level is impossible to maintain a horse farm and a herd of horses, so he must buy horses through the market to maintain his training. And this expense is beyond the reach of the vast majority of Song people.

Although Fan Zhiwen was able to pay for this expense, he was reluctant to do so. At that time, he heard the news that Su Dongpo was running a school in Yuntai Mountain to accept apprentices, so he had the idea of worshipping Sumen.

In fact, he doesn't expect to worship Su Dongpo as a teacher, as long as he can worship a Sumen gentleman or a Sumen bachelor, he will be satisfied.

Su Dongpo was born under the family, even if he can't pass the Jinshi exam in the future, it is easy to mix with a staff member, and maybe he can get an official body to be promoted.

So he said goodbye to his father and took his ancestral Black Cloud Sword to Haizhou. But as soon as he arrived in Haizhou, he found that there were still many people who had the same idea as him!

No, those who crossed the same boat with Fan Zhiwen were all scholars who admired Su Dongpo.

So many contenders...... If you want to worship Sumen, I'm afraid it's not easy!

"Brother Shun, have you ever been to Yuntai Mountain?"

When he followed the fat Confucian to the town, Fan Zhiwen was already familiar with others. I know that the person's name is Lu Haowen, the word Shun disciple, a person from Shouzhou, and a son of an official eunuch. I accompanied my father back from Hezhou to the north, and when I passed through Xuzhou, I heard that Su Dongpo was accepting apprentices in Yuntai Mountain, so I came to see it.

"I've been here," Lu Hao replied with a smile, "just follow me." Let's go to the inn in the town and settle down...... It doesn't matter if the inn is full, just go to the Faqi Temple in the mountain and rent a monk's room. Once you've settled down, let's go to Sumen for a class. ”

"Can I attend a lecture?" Fan Zhiwen asked with some humility. It is true that he is a Confucian, but the real Confucian has no chance to see it at all, so he doesn't know the rules.

"Why can't you listen? Just follow me. "Lu Hao asked is a child of the family, his great-grandfather is Lu Mengzheng, his great-grandfather is Lu Yijian, and his grandfather is Lu Gong, and he has been the prime minister for three consecutive generations, what kind of Confucian lecture he can't listen to?