Chapter 65 Ma Shizhou

Chapter 65 Ma Shizhou

Chapter 65 Ma Shizhou

Wang Rong's yard.

In the early morning, the figures of Zhu Shenzhui and Wang Jinwu flashed in the yard, and the fight between them was very lively.

Both of them were unarmed and did not use any weapons. Wang Jinwu relied on his height and strong physique to punch and kick with great force, while Zhu Shenzhui was not as strong as Wang Jinwu, but his movements were agile and fast.

They had been fighting for several rounds, but their fists and feet had hardly crossed each other. Wang Jinwu became more and more energetic as the fight went on. Suddenly he shouted loudly, and punched out with his left hand to block Zhu Shenzhui's side, and his right fist struck out like lightning. If this punch was solid, it would be enough to beat Zhu Shenzhui to death.

Seeing Wang Jinwu's punch coming, Zhu Shenzhui could only step back and raise his hand to block it. But Zhu Shenzhui knew how heavy Wang Jinwu's punch could be. If he raised his hand to block it, let alone whether he could block it, even if he could, Wang Jinwu's next move would probably be like a storm.

The same is true if you retreat backwards. Although Wang Jinwu is tall and strong, his body is not bulky. On the contrary, he is very flexible.

He has been competing with Zhu Shenzhui in boxing and kicking since he was a child. Both of them are very clear about each other's level and understand each other's back-up plans.

Once he gave in, Wang Jinwu would certainly take advantage of the situation and advance, and then he would have the upper hand. By then, it would not be so easy for Zhu Shenzhui to reverse the situation.

It happened in a flash. Zhu Shenzhui shouted "Come on!" Instead of retreating, he stepped forward, raised his right arm and leaned forward at the moment when Wang Jinwu's punch had not yet been thrown with full force.

This move was really beyond Wang Jinwu's expectations. Although Wang Jinwu was stronger than Zhu Shencui and his fist was heavier than his, before he could use all his strength, Zhu Shencui unexpectedly rushed back at him.

When the punch came out, Zhu Shenzhui blocked it with his right arm, and using the force, he twisted his body and moved sideways.

Wang Jinwu's punch did not land effectively, and just when he was feeling uncomfortable, he saw Zhu Shenzui's left hand move instantly. The fist that had been clenched for a long time flew out like lightning and hit Wang Jinwu's chest heavily, before he had time to defend himself.

With a dull thud, Wang Jinwu felt a huge force hit his chest directly. His breath was held and his feet couldn't help but step back. He took several steps back before he stopped. His face turned red and he covered his chest with one hand. He couldn't speak for a while.

"Master!" Li You, who was watching the fight on the side, was suddenly shocked and hurried forward to support.

"Don't touch him! He's out of breath, let him recover on his own." Zhu Shenzhui hurriedly stopped Li You and said, seeing that Li You looked nervous about Wang Jinwu, he explained.

Wang Jinwu's expression was full of pain. He covered his chest with one hand and gasped. After a while, he finally breathed slowly and his complexion gradually returned to normal.

"Master, are you okay?"

"It's okay, I just got a stitch in the side..." Wang Jinwu smiled bitterly. He rubbed his chest which was still a little painful and looked at Zhu Shenzhui who was looking at him with a smile: "Sixth brother, it's just a competition. Is it necessary to be so cruel? That punch just now almost took my life."

"Bah!" Zhu Shenzhui laughed and cursed, "You are Zhu Bajie's counterattack. If you didn't look like you were going to beat me to death, would I have used this move? Besides, I was holding back and didn't use any strength. If I really used strength, would you still be able to stand and talk to me?"

Wang Jinwu laughed. Zhu Shenzhui was right. He had the opportunity to teach Zhu Shenzhui a lesson. After all, he had never won a competition between the two of them since he was a child. In the past two years, as he had grown up, he was much stronger than Zhu Shenzhui in both height and strength. It was a rare opportunity for the two brothers to compete, so he had to get back the face he had lost before, right?

But he didn't expect that this sure-fire plan was turned around by Zhu Shencui at the critical moment. This was the first time he saw Zhu Shencui use this trick.

Zhu Shenzhui's punch just now was not light, and it directly disrupted his breath. Fortunately, he didn't really use his strength. Just as Zhu Shenzhui said, if he really used his strength, with that punch, Wang Jinwu would have fallen down today.

"Sixth brother, what is the name of that move you just used? Why haven't I seen you use it before?" After recovering his breath, Wang Jinwu eagerly asked Zhu Shenzhui about the move he just used.

"You kid, how many times have I told you that I never practice moves when I practice boxing. The simpler and more direct the boxing technique, the better. Don't bother with those fancy moves. Things like splitting Huashan Mountain with force and tiger descending from the mountain just sound good, but they are useless in actual effect. Can people still stand and let you hit them?"

"As long as the punches can hurt people and win, then that's the real good boxing. Forget about all those messy things, and simply practice the stances over and over again. When you really fight, an ordinary stance can be used in any way according to the situation. This is the true meaning of martial arts!"

Zhu Shenzhui then gave instructions to Li You who was listening attentively, "You too, don't learn the wrong things from your master. Your master has a high level of understanding, but he just likes to dwell on these crappy things. Martial arts are all about the basics. If you use those useless moves, you will end up losing sight of the main point. In the end, you will be the one who suffers."

Li You nodded thoughtfully. Although he didn't fully understand all this, it was a fact that Zhu Shenzhui defeated his master without much effort. You have to know that his master is very capable. It is said that he did not lose to his father in a fight. Li You knew very well what his father was capable of. But who would have thought that there are always people better than you. He had always heard from his master that Liu Ye's martial arts were very strong, and he often nagged that he had to find time to defeat Liu Ye. After hearing these words many times, Li You also became curious about Zhu Shenzhui's ability. After all, compared with his father and master, Zhu Shenzhui looked much weaker. Why did Wang Jinwu worry so much about him?

The competition just now lasted very short time from start to finish, but it opened Li You's eyes. He never thought that Wang Jinwu, who seemed to have the upper hand at the beginning, was defeated by Zhu Shenzhui after a few rounds, and Zhu Shenzhui got a stitch in the side before he could even use his last punch. If he really hit him, what would the result be?

After the competition, Zhu Shenzui ignored Master Wang Jinwu and his apprentice and continued his morning exercises.

He took out his jujube wood stick and started practicing on his own.

Watching Zhu Shenzhui repeatedly using the five postures of poking, pressing, blocking, picking and chopping, but the direction and angle of each of these five postures were different, and each move was fast and fierce, which made Li You stare at it.

"This kid, I am his master...!" Wang Jinwu, who was standing aside, couldn't help but complain in his heart. Is this his apprentice or his cousin's apprentice? However, he couldn't help but admit that Zhu Shenzhui was really good at using the jujube wood stick. Although Wang Jinwu's weapon skills were not bad, compared with the bigger fists and kicks, he had no confidence at all if he fought with Zhu Shenzhui's jujube wood stick.

After practicing on his own, Zhu Shenzhui was sweating all over and then he stopped.

He took the towel handed to him by Li You, wiped it, and gave him a few more instructions. After he finished speaking, seeing that it was almost time, Zhu Shenzhui went back to the house, changed into clean clothes, and then had breakfast with Wang Jinwu and others.

After finishing breakfast, Zhu Shenzhui was just about to go out. As soon as he stood up, he saw his uncle Wang Rong and a middle-aged man walking in from outside.

"Let's go! To your room." Wang Rong said this, and Zhu Shenzhui didn't ask anything and took them to his room.

After entering the house and closing the door, Wang Rong introduced Zhu Shenzhui.

"Ma Shizhou, just call me Uncle Ma, my old brother." Pointing at the middle-aged man, Wang Rong said to Zhu Shenzhui.

"Uncle Ma..." Zhu Shenzhu hurriedly bowed and greeted Ma Shizhou.

"No, no, just call me Old Ma. Hello, Sixth Master..." Ma Shizhou looked a little older than Wang Rong. He was wearing a sheepskin coat and had a weather-beaten face. There was a scar on his face, which made him look a little scary. When he returned the greeting, it was noticed that he was missing two fingers on his left hand.

He offered him a seat, made some tea, and after they sat down, Wang Rong carefully introduced Ma Shizhou to Zhu Shenzhui.

Ma Shizhou was a frontier soldier in Datong Town before, and his highest military rank was Zhaoxin Xiaowei. This position was not low, belonging to the sixth-rank military officer rank of Qianzong. You should know that Wang Rong was only a centurion. Compared with military rank, Ma Shizhou and Wang Rong were roughly equal, but in fact they were different.

The military position system of the Ming Dynasty was very complicated, and the military positions of military households and border troops were also different. To put it simply, it is the difference between active service and reserve service.

Comparing with modern military positions, Wang Rong was roughly a militia company commander, and although Ma Shizhou's Zhaoxin captain had the same rank, he actually led more people.

According to the Ming army organization, the governor, governor-general, and commander-in-chief could lead 200 soldiers. However, ordinary commanders could only lead soldiers at most. In addition, it was common for soldiers to eat empty salaries. Border troops were better off, but commanders in other places were considered good if they could lead more than half of the troops.

By this calculation, Ma Shizhou's military rank is roughly at the level of a reinforced company commander or deputy battalion commander in the field army, so his status is naturally higher than that of Wang Rong, a reserve officer.

However, Ma Shizhou is no longer in the army. More than ten years ago, when Mongolia invaded the border, Ma Shizhou led his army to meet the enemy but was unfortunately defeated and captured. The injury on his left hand was the result of that battle.

After being captured, Ma Shizhou was taken to the grassland by the Mongols and stayed there for several years. Later, he finally found an opportunity to escape back from the grassland.

When he returned to the Ming Dynasty, his military position was long gone and he was disabled. As a low-level officer, he had no connections and could never return to the army. Fortunately, his old superior made arrangements for him out of their past friendship and re-registered Ma Shizhou as an ordinary military household in the Qianhu Office.

Just like that, he went from being a border army officer to an ordinary military household. Ma Shizhou has lived an ordinary and uneventful life these years. The wars and battles of the past have become a memory, and now he looks no different from other military households.

(End of this chapter)