The Grand Marshal of Jiangnan, Gongsun Ye, upon receiving Xiao Qing's message, immediately stationed his troops in the southwest to guard against the Sun Moon Army, the Spring Return Sect, and the Peacock Dynasty.
Young men from all over Jiangnan were inspired and eagerly joined the army, hoping to achieve merit and bring honor to their ancestors one day.
In Yunzhou, two hundred and ten thousand soldiers were assembling and training.
In addition to daily parades and speeches, Liang Xiao also dispatched people to select the best archers.
A batch of new crossbows was secretly transported to the military camp.
Lu Yi, accompanying Liang Xiao, personally inspected them and could not help but be surprised.
"Are these the weapons that devastated the barbarians in Yanzhou?"
Lu Yi held a longbow and pulled it casually, his expression changing.
The draw weight was immense!
"This draw weight must be over one dan, right?" Lu Yi examined the longbow in his hand. "Made of yew wood?"
Liang Xiao nodded. "We need to select archers with the most precise shooting and greatest strength. This bow has an effective range of nearly a hundred paces!"
"A hundred paces!" The surrounding Yunzhou generals gasped!
In Da Qian, yew wood was a precious commodity.
Nan Jiyun smiled silently.
The quality of these longbows was already subtly approaching his Heaven-Shaking Bow.
"This bow must cost at least forty taels, right?" Lu Yi exclaimed in amazement.
"Eighty taels, requiring long-term custom orders from craftsmen," Liang Xiao replied without hesitation.
A brief silence fell over the camp.
The Yanzhou garrison possessed ten thousand such longbows, a total of eight hundred thousand taels!
To strengthen the archers of the northern border, Liang Xiao had now brought five thousand more new longbows, totaling two hundred thousand taels for the new additions alone!
But this was not just about money; vast quantities of yew wood from Jiangnan were being transported to the capital to craft longbows!
Liang Xiao's earlier speech in Yanzhou, "the nation's strength to support Yanzhou," was not without reason.
When Lu Yi left Yanzhou, these longbows had not yet arrived.
Liang Xiao did not appear proud; his expression was calm.
The practical utility of weapons would be proven by practice and history.
These longbows were his emulation of the yew longbows developed by England in the 14th-15th centuries, secretly commissioned and manufactured by the Ministry of Military Equipment.
In the Battle of Crécy, numerous English archers, utilizing these longbows, faced French forces at least twice their number and achieved the result of fifteen thousand casualties with fewer than two hundred of their own losses!
For these armaments, Xiao Qing had dispatched most of his Shadow Guards to oversee and prevent any leaks of secrets.
These longbows, approximately 1.5 meters in height, exceeded six chi by Da Qian's measurements!
Without superior yew wood, it would be difficult to support the power of such longbows. For this reason, Xiao Qing accepted Liang Xiao's proposal to strictly prohibit the sale of yew wood from the south and to acquire all yew wood at a high price for the state.
In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken. The military strength of Da Qian urgently needed to be enhanced to counter the threats from surrounding nations, especially the barbarians.
Lu Yi could not resist aiming at a distant target and drawing the longbow to its fullest.
"Whoosh!"
An arrow pierced the air, hitting the bullseye a hundred paces away, drawing a round of applause.
Liang Xiao could not help but admire Lu Yi's archery skills.
This elder gave him the impression of Wei Qing from the Western Han Dynasty, perhaps slightly less capable but thicker-skinned and unafraid of impeachment.
Furthermore, the Lu family had moved their entire household to the capital, with only Lu Yi and his son, Lu Changhe, serving on the northern frontier and voluntarily accepting the supervision of the Shadow Guards, which made it difficult for the aristocratic families to impeach them.
Lu Yi looked at the target and sighed, "This bow is superb! What words can express my current mood... Nephew?"
Liang Xiao pondered for a moment and smiled, "I shall draw the divine bow as a full moon, gaze west, and shoot the celestial wolf."
As soon as he finished speaking, another round of applause erupted. Lu Yi exclaimed on the spot, "Well said, 'gaze west, and shoot the celestial wolf'! The celestial wolf represents war, pointing directly at the barbarian incursions!"
The generals rushed forward to try drawing and shooting the bows, and after doing so, they all praised them highly.
"This technology, it shouldn't be leaked, should it?" Lu Yi couldn't help but lament.
Liang Xiao shook his head. "The barbarians do not have yew wood. Da Qian is now strengthening its border defenses, and with the barbarians' defeat, I believe no one will dare collude with them now. However, the Great Liang might emulate us. After all, Great Liang has a Marquis of State who prioritizes national interests above all else."
"That is, for the sake of national interests, they have no shame and copy everything from you!" Lu Yi couldn't help but sigh regretfully.
In their view, the Marquis of State of Great Liang, by emulating Liang Xiao and implementing too many of Liang Xiao's national policies, had caused displeasure among the people of Da Qian.
Liang Xiao smiled. "Such a person is a true hero, with the demeanor of Chancellor Zhuo Mingfeng of the founding dynasty, unconcerned with posthumous fame. To embrace the best of what the nation offers is the mark of a true gentleman. If it were me, I would do the same to enhance national strength; face and reputation are insignificant."
The crowd was enlightened, and their view of Qin Feng also changed, with no further dissatisfaction.
Lu Yi laughed heartily. "I am a soldier and do not understand these intricacies, but I grasp the essence. Such a person is whom Da Qian should most respect and be wary of!"
"His Majesty has already acquired a considerable amount of yew wood from Great Liang. Later, at the suggestion of the Marquis of State, the export of yew wood was restricted and retained for our own use. Therefore, the yew wood imported from Great Liang is only enough to make five thousand longbows," Liang Xiao sighed.
However, Liang Xiao did not add that this was the result of the Shadow Guards secretly bribing those aristocratic families.
The generals' hearts tightened, and their apprehension towards the Marquis of State of Great Liang grew.
The ability to quickly discern the root of the problem showed his profound understanding of military and political affairs.
However, Da Qian was not at a loss for obtaining materials for five thousand longbows.
The value of this yew wood would skyrocket with the widespread adoption of the longbows.
After all, yew wood has a long maturation period and is scarce. The available yew wood at present, for Da Qian urgently in need of military materials, meant that every piece used was one less.
Lu Yi looked at the longbow in his hand, unwilling to let it go, and raised an eyebrow. "Can Yunzhou truly be allocated five thousand?"
"The three northern regions are all of critical importance and cannot solely benefit Yanzhou," Liang Xiao smiled.
The generals' faces lit up with joy, and their admiration for Liang Xiao deepened.
This indicated that this Chariot General was fair and had no intention of hoarding troops for himself, especially since the Yanzhou garrison was nominally his direct force and would be most effective under his command.
Some of the officers and soldiers present were both scholarly and martial, having read military texts and possessing some knowledge of military history.
Liang Xiao's decisive defeat of the barbarians bore some resemblance to the annihilation of the Xiongnu by Li Mu, one of the four great generals of the Warring States period.
Li Mu feigned weakness, consolidated his strength for over a decade, and then, in coordination with multiple branches of the military, launched a devastating annihilation battle that deterred the Xiongnu from invading again.
Liang Xiao also had a large cavalry force poised for action, and General Tian leading charges to inflict even greater casualties.
Undoubtedly, upon Liang Xiao's arrival in Yunzhou, he had won the hearts and minds of the generals, dispelling any doubts they might have had about this Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, who had not yet reached the age of twenty, being promoted to Chariot General.
A Yunzhou general couldn't help but ask, "Vice Marshal, in this battle, can General Tian still manifest his divine power..."
All the Yunzhou generals turned their gaze towards Liang Xiao.
Before Liang Xiao could respond, Lu Yi said with displeasure, "General Tian has already ascended to divinity. While it is good if he manifests his divine power, can our army always rely on divine intervention? Each should perform their duties diligently, ensuring that even without General Tian's intervention, we can decisively defeat the barbarians!"
The generals all assented, feeling slightly ashamed.
Lu Yi then breathed a sigh of relief.
As Xiao Qing's husband, Lu Yi actually did not wish for Liang Xiao to frequently transform into General Tian and lead charges. After all, swords and arrows are merciless, and if any misfortune were to befall him, the consequences would be unimaginable!
It was not bad for Liang Xiao to act as a commander and direct battles from the rear.
After a moment, Yue Qingtian ran over from a distance to report, "Marshal! Marquis! Those weapons have also arrived!"