The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 66 Cuju
Several more villages were under actual control, and the population also increased.

Yue Wenxuan was very happy. He knew without trying that his command ability had increased again.

The more command power he has, the more tricks he can perform.

After a tour of the sand table, I found that Dongmiaozi Village was very lively. A large group of new soldiers were reciting military regulations. At a glance, I could see that the rebel army now had more than 400 "full-time" combat soldiers.

If a war breaks out that threatens the village, the peasants will also take up arms and join the fight, and the actual number of people that can be mobilized is more than a thousand.

Although they had a large number of people, their weapons and equipment were in a mess.

The army's expansion was incredibly rapid. In just over two months, from the time he first laid eyes on Madam Gong Er, the rebel army's strength had quadrupled, and their territory had expanded to encompass several villages. The previously assigned "immortal craftsman" and a few apprentices forging weapons were simply no match for this force. Even if they were all destined to be alone, not rest at their sister's house, and worked tirelessly forging iron at night, they still couldn't keep up with this expansion.

The original eight mandarin duck formations now had wolf-whips and halberds, but the newly formed ones were still using bamboo brooms, dung picks, and pitchforks. The soldiers were also lacking armor and were wearing a haphazard array of clothing.

I thought about it for 0.32 seconds!
Although the Mandarin Duck Formation is easy to use, it is usually only suitable for small-scale battles in complex terrain. Once the scale of the war begins to expand and the enemy becomes a Jin soldier mainly composed of cavalry, the Mandarin Duck Formation will not be effective.

After Qi Jiguang dealt with the Japanese pirates, he was transferred to the north by the Ming court to deal with the Mongols. He also knew that the Mandarin Duck Formation was not conducive to fighting against cavalry, so he modified the Mandarin Duck Formation, added musketeers, tiger squat cannons, and also added wagons, evolving it into a "chariot formation" mainly based on firearms.

After Qi Jiguang's death, Qi Jin continued to lead the Qi family army and fought a bloody battle with the Qing Dynasty at Hunhe River.

The chariot formation of Qi's army made the Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing Dynasty cry for their parents, but unfortunately they were defeated by the friendly forces who were too cowardly to dare to send reinforcements.

It is said that during the heyday of the Qi Family Army, the firearm ratio was as high as 48.22%, while the famous Spanish Phalanx had a firearm ratio of only 22.38%.

Yue Wenxuan decided to use all of his newly gained command power to arrange craftsmen.

Increase the number of craftsmen, vigorously forge Ming Dynasty firearms, upgrade equipment, and transform the Mandarin Duck Formation into a Chariot Formation to cope with higher-level wars...

This matter requires Qian Zhuoqun's overall planning, it is not something that can be done by just putting a few blacksmiths in.

Yue Wenxuan placed his life-like figure into the sand table and placed it at the door of the room where the rebels handled logistical matters, then walked into the room.

As soon as he walked in, Yue Wenxuan exclaimed, Qian Zhuoqun was not there.

Usually, there was only one person sitting at his desk: Wang You. This niece of Mr. Wang had now become an important figure in the rebel army. She helped Qian Zhuoqun manage the logistics of the rebel army and registered the immortal grain given by Yue Wenxuan in and out of the warehouse. She was very busy.

She hadn't worn silk for several days, having changed into cotton clothes, deliberately dressing plainly, hoping people would forget she was a member of the Wang family and treat her as an ordinary woman from Dongmiaozi Village. But as an educated woman, in this place dominated by a large group of illiterate people, she still stood out from the crowd, her appearance and temperament far surpassing that of an ordinary village woman.

Seeing Yue Wenxuan coming in, Wang You quickly put down his pen, stood up and saluted.

Yue Wenxuan: "Where's Qian Zhuoqun?"

Wang You quickly said, "Second Uncle Qian took a few soldiers and went to play outside the village."

"Run out of the village to play?" Yue Wenxuan was surprised: "Why run so far?"

Wang You quickly said, "The village is busy, and Uncle Qian is afraid that playing around will disturb everyone's work."

Yue Wenxuan: "Playing?"

Wang You: "I'll take you there to have a look."

Although she still had many matters to deal with, Zhenjun was the most important, so Zhenjun's affairs had to be put first. She put aside the work in her hands and acted as a guide for Yue Wenxuan.

He led him out of the manor and towards the outside of the village.

Crossing a stretch of farmland, Yue Wenxuan spotted a flat, wasteland stretching out in front of him. From afar, he saw a group of people playing ball. That's right, playing ball. Qian Zhuoqun, stripped off his business suit and donned a suit of athletic gear, was juggling a cuju (a Chinese football) with his feet. He was quite skilled, bouncing the ball back and forth, sometimes with his feet, sometimes with his head, chest, shoulders...

A group of men standing nearby counted loudly: "11, 12, 13, 14..."

"15 down, Brother Qian is really good at fighting."

"16 down, amazing! 16 down and it still hasn't landed."

"17..."

"Ouch, no."

Qian Zhuoqun was not careful when juggling the ball, and the cuju finally fell to the ground.

The people around him made sounds of regret, and then someone else came out to juggle the ball, and the people around him helped count and cheered.

Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Why is he kicking alone? Won't others rush over to grab it?"

Wang You said, "True Lord, they are playing Daju, which is a competition to see who can flip the ball the most times. The kind that people fight for is called 'Yueju'."

Yue Wenxuan: “???”

Well, Yue Wenxuan really didn't understand the rules of Cuju in the Song Dynasty. It was a complete blind spot in his knowledge. But seeing a group of big and strong men just juggling the ball without any confrontation, one couldn't feel the charm of football at all.

Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but say, "Your way of playing Cuju isn't pretty."

"Huh?" The people playing ball in front turned around. Seeing it was the True Lord speaking, they quickly saluted. Qian Zhuoqun said, "True Lord, this is how it's always been played. If you want to see more fun, let's show you a 'white fight'. It'll be even better."

Yue Wenxuan: "What kind of kicking method is Bai Da?"

Qian Zhuoqun, an expert on Cuju, became intrigued by the topic and quickly explained the rules to Yue Wenxuan. It turned out that the so-called "white play" involved two teams each fielding an equal number of players, ranging from one to ten. Players took turns performing on the field, using their heads, shoulders, backs, knees, and feet to touch the ball, but not their hands, and the ball could not touch the ground.

Players need to demonstrate various difficult moves in their performances, such as turning, tiptoeing, stepping, kicking, twisting, etc. The ancients also gave names to these moves, such as turning the universe, swallows returning to their nests, slanting flowers, lotus swaying in the wind, Buddha's crown beads, picking up fish on dry land, golden Buddha pushing a mill, carrying the moon on both shoulders, and shooting stars with crutch.

These movements are equivalent to the "two and a half twists in the air" in modern diving competitions, and each movement has a difficulty coefficient score.

The judges will score each person based on how difficult, beautiful, and standard the movements they perform.

The final score determines the winner.

After hearing the rules, Yue Wenxuan felt terrible.

Damn, this kind of football is not good at all!

Will the audience be excited?
Yue Wenxuan had read information about Cuju on the Internet before. It was said that Cuju had been used as an auxiliary method of military training since the Han Dynasty.

Liu Xiang's "Bielu" states: "Cuju is a symbol of military power. It is used to train warriors and recognize their talents, all through play." Besides symbolizing "military power" and training warriors, Cuju also served to enrich military life, helping soldiers maintain good physical and morale. The phrase "Nowadays, when the army has nothing to do, they use Cuju" reflects this latter aspect. Ban Gu of the Han Dynasty classified ancient football as a military skill, stating, "It is used to establish victory in attack and defense." Yan Shigu of the Tang Dynasty commented, "Cuju demonstrates strength, and therefore it is included in the Art of War."

After reading these materials, Yue Wenxuan always thought that Taju was similar to modern football, full of confrontation and competitiveness, and that people's brains had to be as ferocious as dogs' brains in order to train soldiers.

Who would have thought these guys kicked so gently, it was all for show. What kind of soldiers are training like this? It is totally unqualified as an entertainment program in the army.

No, we have to give this group of people a little shock.

(End of this chapter)