Chapter 22

As the banquet dispersed and the night grew deep and quiet, Liu Jun, though he had drunk a considerable amount of alcohol, remained quite sober. Clearly, this body was also well accustomed to drinking. The alcohol he consumed was not as potent as the high-proof spirits of later times, and the few bowls of wine at the banquet only made him more alert and excited.

Since he couldn't sleep, Liu Jun lay in bed and carefully reviewed his experiences since he had traveled through time.

Overall, his luck was not bad. He had come to the Ming Dynasty, and although it was the end of the dynasty, he was young and strong. He was also from a decent family of local gentry and was a martial student, which was a good identity.

Now, he was considering his future path.

He had previously thought about attaching himself to the Liu family, but he had been met with a cold shoulder. Unexpectedly, he had met Li Chunjiang. Now, Li Chunjiang was inviting him to form a cavalry unit. For Li Chunjiang, it might just be a form of training or a pastime during the intervals between the imperial examinations. However, Liu Jun felt that this might be an opportunity for him.

Li Chunjiang might leave the cavalry unit after three to five months to take the imperial examinations. However, Liu Jun did not think he could pass the martial examinations and become a martial scholar. Perhaps this cavalry unit could be a chance for him. He could put his heart into it and use it as capital in this chaotic world.

However, forming a cavalry unit was not easy. Even if it was a local gentry's armed force, it was still a cavalry unit. According to Li Chunjiang's plans, the unit would have fifty regular cavalrymen, but in addition to these, it would also need veterinarians, grooms, blacksmiths, carpenters, leatherworkers, and a group of mounted attendants.

According to his plan, there would be fifty regular cavalrymen, about fifty grooms and craftsmen, and a hundred mounted attendants, making the total size of the cavalry unit two hundred people.

Each regular cavalryman would need two good horses, and each attendant would need one horse. Additionally, there would be twenty draft horses and thirty draft mules, as well as several wagons. This was a rather luxurious configuration.

Li Chunjiang had a big appetite and wanted to do things on a grand scale.

However, to form such a luxurious cavalry unit, the biggest problem would be money. According to Liu Jun's memory, in the eastern Hubei region, the price of good warhorses from the northern regions was not cheap, especially in these chaotic times. In peaceful years, a horse from Liaodong would cost about ten to twenty taels of silver in Zhangjiakou.

But now, in Hubei, a decent warhorse from the north would cost at least fifty taels of silver, and a well-trained warhorse would start at eighty taels. Moreover, it was not easy to obtain such horses; one needed strong connections. These horses were mostly top-quality horses from the northern military towns, fully trained and tamed.

At eighty taels per horse, two hundred horses would cost 16,000 taels of silver. Draft horses and mules would be cheaper, but still cost over a thousand taels.

This was just a one-time expense. The annual maintenance cost for a good warhorse was at least thirty taels of silver. For two hundred warhorses, the annual maintenance cost would be 6,000 taels.

This was just the cost for the horses. There were also the costs for equipment, recruiting cavalrymen and attendants, and their salaries. According to Li Chunjiang's plan, this was not just a local gentry's armed force but a group similar to elite household troops. A cavalryman would need at least two taels of silver per month, and attendants and craftsmen would need at least one tael per month.

For two hundred people, the monthly salary would be about 200 taels of silver.

Then there were the costs for food and equipment.

After doing these calculations, Liu Jun realized that to form the cavalry unit, he would need to invest at least 20,000 taels of silver initially. After that, he would need to spend several hundred taels of silver each month.

Twenty thousand taels was not a small amount.

He now doubted whether Li Chunjiang really had that much money to invest in the cavalry unit. The Li family could certainly afford 20,000 taels of silver, but would they be willing to spend such a large sum on a cavalry unit?

Liu Jun suddenly felt that Li Chunjiang's plan was a bit too grand.

The scale of the cavalry unit was also too large. If they only recruited fifty cavalrymen, each with one horse, the costs would be greatly reduced. Fifty horses at eighty taels each would cost 4,000 taels of silver, and a monthly salary of two taels per person would cost 100 taels. The monthly maintenance for fifty warhorses would also cost 100 taels of silver. Adding in equipment and food, the monthly cost would be about 200 taels of silver.

If they followed this scale, they would need about 5,000 taels of silver initially to form the unit. Liu Jun had 1,000 taels of silver, which he could invest, and Li Chunjiang would need to provide 4,000 taels.

However, even with good warhorses, training cavalrymen was not something that could be done overnight. A regular, qualified cavalryman would need at least two to three years of hard training to achieve any success.

Moreover, finding suitable cavalrymen might not be easy.

Liu Jun looked up at the four-foot-long small composite bow hanging on the wall. It was small and easy to carry, with a yellow body and a silk and hemp string. Although it was not particularly ornate, it had a smooth and elegant beauty.

Liu Jun got up and took the bow down.

He had tried this bow before and easily drew it. He estimated that it had a draw weight of about 120 pounds. When he tested it outside, he found that it could shoot an arrow over 60 feet, or more than 120 steps.

According to his memory, this type of small composite bow had been passed down from the Tang and Song dynasties and had been improved over time. Although small, it had a long range and was easy to draw, with a fast shooting speed. While not as powerful or accurate as a long composite bow, it was still a very good bow.

If they formed a cavalry unit, this type of small composite bow would be suitable for the cavalrymen.

According to Liu Jun's knowledge, during the early Zhengde period, the court issued a set of regulations for the martial examinations, which included three stages. The first and second stages were archery tests, and the third stage was a written exam. The first stage was horseback archery, with a distance of 25 steps, and the second stage was foot archery, with a distance of 80 steps.

In the court's martial examinations, the most important skills were horseback riding and archery. The horseback archery test was at 25 steps, and the foot archery test was at 80 steps.

In the Ming Dynasty, one step was about 1.6 meters, so 25 steps on horseback was about 40 meters, and 80 steps on foot was about 128 meters. Shooting at such distances was indeed impressive.

Liu Jun had tested this small composite bow and found that he could hit the target at 80 steps on foot almost every time, and his accuracy on horseback was also very high. It seemed that his admission to the martial academy was indeed based on his real skills.

Looking down at his large, calloused hands, Liu Jun felt that the cavalry unit should focus on horseback archery. As for firearms, they did not seem to be a suitable choice.

If he could train a group of cavalrymen to his level of horseback archery, even if only half as skilled, the unit would be considered elite. However, if he could equip the cavalrymen with two short firearms, it might also significantly increase their combat effectiveness. However, while Liu Jun was well-versed in the history of the Ming Dynasty and skilled in horseback archery, he had little knowledge of firearms.

He decided to focus on horseback archery first. After all, the Manchu Tartars were also known for their horseback archery.

Liu Jun and Liu Jun were not familiar with firearms, but Liu Jun was very knowledgeable about archery.

During the Ming Dynasty, archery had reached a new height, surpassing the achievements of the Tang and Song dynasties. For example, the relationship between arrow weight and bow strength was carefully considered, and the strength of the bow was no longer measured in traditional units of "shi" (stone) but in a dedicated unit of force.

Liu Jun's family had a book called "The Art of Archery" by Li Chengfen, which stated that the strength of a bow and arrow should be well-matched. In ancient times, the strength of a bow was measured in "shi," but in the Ming Dynasty, it was measured in "li" (force). One "li" was equivalent to 9.4 catties (about 5.95 kg), and ten "li" was equivalent to one "shi."

For a bow with five "li" of strength, an arrow weighing four qian (about 14.88 grams) would be unstable when shot. For a bow with three "li" of strength, an arrow weighing seven qian (about 26.04 grams) would be slow and inaccurate. Why? Because the strength was not well-matched.

Therefore, for a bow with three "li" of strength, the arrow should be ten fists long. One fist is called a "ba" (hand). An arrow ten fists long weighs 4.5 qian (about 16.74 grams). For a bow with four "li" of strength, the arrow should be nine and a half fists long, or ten fists, and weigh 5.5 qian (about 20.46 grams). For a bow with five or six "li" of strength, the arrow should be nine and a half fists long. For a bow with seven or eight "li" of strength, the arrow should be nine fists long, or nine and a half fists.

Therefore, the length of the arrow should be adjusted according to the strength of the bow, and the thickness of the string should also be adjusted according to the strength of the bow.

In the Ming Dynasty, one catty was sixteen taels, or about 595 grams. One tael was ten qian, and one qian was about 3.72 grams.

Based on this, Liu Jun calculated that a bow with three "li" of strength would correspond to an arrow weighing 16.7 grams, and a bow with four "li" of strength would correspond to an arrow weighing 20.5 grams.

In modern terms, a "shi" bow in the Ming Dynasty would have a draw weight of about 121.1 to 126.1 pounds. One "li" would be about 12.11 to 12.61 pounds, and one "shi" would be about 121.1 to 126.1 pounds.

A bow with nine catties and four taels (9.4 catties) of strength, or ten "li," would be about 120 pounds, or about 110 catties.

After this calculation, Liu Jun realized that a "shi" bow was not as exaggerated as some people thought. Many people mistakenly believed that a "shi" bow in the Ming Dynasty had a draw weight of 94.4 kilograms, which was indeed exaggerated. A "shi" of 94.4 kilograms was the weight of ten dou of rice and not a unit of bow strength.

Liu Jun's bow was actually a ten "li" bow, or a "shi" bow. According to his memory, there were not many martial students in Huangzhou who could draw a "shi" bow. Ordinary Ming soldiers could draw a bow with six to seven "li" of strength, and small officers could draw a bow with seven to eight "li" of strength. Those who were particularly skilled could draw a bow with eight to nine "li" of strength, and those who could draw a bow with ten "li" of strength were already very impressive.

Only the most valiant and powerful generals could draw a bow with more than ten "li" of strength, such as a bow with twelve to fifteen "li" of strength.

While many traditional bows produced in later times had a draw weight of fifty to sixty pounds, many people could easily draw a bow with a draw weight of one hundred pounds after training, and some English Welsh longbowmen could even draw a longbow with a draw weight of over two hundred pounds. This required not only training but also natural talent.