Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 23

"May I ask who is your lord?" Chen Dong heard the man's words clearly, and said in a deep voice: "Although Liaoxia is strong, it only competes for strength, and the prosperity of this dynasty is not for other reasons, but the prosperity of morality. Go straight to the rule of the Three Dynasties."

The middle-aged man replied with disdain on his face, "I am Guo Baoyi, the envoy of the Great Liao Kingdom, and the scholar calls me Mr. Guo." He pointed to the Confucian scholar next to him and said, "I have worked hard all my life. They are all on bow and horse, and their smooth talk is not as good as you scholars. But scholars are also good at 'shooting' arrows, if you are not convinced, you can compete with me."

Standing beside him was Liao Guozheng Shi Yelu Dashi with a slight smile on his face. Guo Baoyi was a descendant of the Youyan Han general family. He was rough on the outside but cunning on the inside. A horse, a man who compares his tongue with a soldier. "Since there is a dispute, we can only frustrate the spirit of these Confucian scholars in the Song Dynasty, and we must not fall into the prestige of the Daliao Kingdom." Yelu Dashi thought to himself, this time the envoy asked the Song Dynasty court to prohibit merchants from traveling by sea He was also secretly dissatisfied that the Jurchen country was engaged in trade, but Cai Jing, Zhao Zhifu and others repeatedly postponed the date of the court meeting.

"There are so many heroes in my Song Dynasty, I'm afraid you won't succeed?" Among the Tai students, there are also quite good shooters. At this moment, being provoked by the Liao people, they can't hold it back, and they are all gearing up.

Came to the venue of 'Shooting' Liu and stood still, but heard Guo Baoyi say: "Only women can get so close to the 'Shooting' Liu's play, you should go back fifty steps." After finishing speaking, he did not wait for the student Agreeing, he took fifty steps back, took out a hard bow in his waist pocket, and looked at everyone proudly.

This place is already a hundred steps away from the willow branches hanging in the distance. Although the soft bow can barely reach this distance by throwing it, it is impossible to get the accuracy. 'Just do it.Just then Guo Baoyi observed carefully, although there were some students who were proficient in archery, none of them could hold a bow of more than two stones, so at this distance, he was already invincible.

All the scholars promised to compete in shooting skills, but they couldn't go back on their word at this moment. Chen Dong frowned, and suddenly remembered someone, stood up hurriedly, and shouted loudly not far away: "Yuan Zhi, Zhao Xingde!"

Zhao Xingde gradually learned how to play horses, and got Li Ruoxue's approval a few times, and he was playing with great interest.He suddenly heard someone calling himself, and raised his head, not far away, Chen Dong, Li Rui and others were looking at him.

"A classmate of Taixue." Zhao Xingde explained.Chao Buzhi nodded, Zhao Xingde only waved to Chen Dong and the others, but did not get up.Li Ruoxue was concentrating on calculating the chess moves, but she didn't notice the grand scholar next to her.

Seeing that Chen Dong had already rushed to the front and greeted Dr. Li as a teacher-student gift, he couldn't help but pull Zhao Xingde up, and said as he walked, "You can raise a soldier for a thousand days, and use it for a while." At the place where the willows were shot, Chen Dong had ordered someone to borrow a horse to go back to fetch the bow that Zhao Xingde used to in Taixue. He pointed to the middle of the field and explained the whole story to him.

The rules of "shooting" willows are different between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty. The "shooting" of willows in the Song Dynasty is to hang the willow branches in the air, and the winner is the one with the most fallen willow leaves.The willow branches in the distance have been tied with thin ropes and are gently swaying in the wind. Now that the competition is in the Song Dynasty, it is naturally in accordance with the rules of the Song Dynasty.

The nearby gentry and people heard that the scholars of Taixue were going to shoot willows with the Liao people, and they all made an appointment to watch. In a short time, tens of thousands of people surrounded the venue.Not long after, the classmate who went to get the bow brought back several hard bows and several pots of arrows. Zhao Xingde stretched out his hand to draw the bow, tried a few arrows, and felt that it was still in his hand. Looking at Guo Baoyi from Liao Dynasty, he said in a deep voice: " Can we start now?"

Guo Baoyi's thoughts moved slightly, he just saw Zhao Xingde's arrows were shot effortlessly, he thought to himself that he had no chance of winning, he lowered his head and whispered to Yelu Dashi, Yelu Dashi nodded, Guo Baoyi said to Zhao Xingde: "I This partner also wants to compete with you, we are at a stalemate, neither will give in, so please send two of you to compete!"

The Tai students who were watching from all sides were in an uproar. Chen Dong, Deng Su and other Tai students glanced at each other. Although there are many Tai students who are outstanding in archery, Zhao Xingde is the only one who can hold a three-stone strong bow. , Reluctantly send another person to fight, it can only be self-defeating.Although there were soldiers from the Forbidden Army among the crowd watching the battle, on the one hand, these tattooed pawns were not able to get on the stage, and on the other hand, the training of the Forbidden Army was sloppy.

Everyone was undecided, but Guo Baoyi was complacent, and said loudly: "The Southern Dynasty claimed to be full of talents, and Xi Yan claimed to be China. Could it be that there are not even two people who 'shoot' willows?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone in the crowd shouting: "It's just a Khitan slave, and he dares to be presumptuous in China, full of nonsense!" Guo Baoyi's face turned livid. After the "chaos", in order to prevent the Han people from regaining power, there were extremely strong restrictions and discrimination against Han generals and officials. No matter how high they were, they always had to be lower than Khitan and Xi officials.

Guo Baoyi raised his eyes to look into the crowd, and saw someone walking out slowly in the middle, reached out to pick up a hard bow beside the field, pulled it twice, and said: "I am a Kangde descendant, just a common man in Bianliang City. I am not used to your arrogant arrogance, so I will play with you." After saying that, he put down his bow, lifted the hem of his robe and tied it around his waist, bowing his hands to Zhao Xingde in salute.

Zhao Xingde hastily bowed his hand to return the salute, and looked at this person carefully, he was only about thirty years old, he was tall and straight, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and he had a calm demeanor.

Yelu Dashi saw that Kangde descendant took out a dark wrench and put it on his right thumb. He knew that this person must be a master of "shooting", secretly blamed Guo Baoyi for causing trouble, but at this time he was already riding a tiger, and it was related to Daliao The prestige of the country, so he stabilized his mind, took a hard bow, and stood above the white line. The two sides were limited to thirty arrows, and the one who shot more willow leaves was the winner.

It was the first time for the arrow to shoot at the willow branch swaying gently in the breeze. Zhao Xingde felt a concerned gaze from the crowd watching him, so he raised his head and nodded in that direction with a smile.A blush appeared on Li Ruoxue's face.Zhao Xingde imitated the way of Kande descendants, tied the hem of the robe around his waist, and tied all the loose sleeves and trouser legs tightly.

Guo Baoyi snorted coldly, bent his bow and set up an arrow, and shot out first, but unfortunately only brushed against a willow leaf, and there was a huge booing sound from the crowd, but his expression turned pale. 'Quiet, unmoved at all.Next, the first arrows of Zhao Xingde and Yelu Dashi also missed. Kang Deyi went to the place where he was standing to shoot the arrow, but he did not see how calmly he prepared, so he set up the long arrow and opened the bow slowly. When everyone saw it clearly, they swished an arrow out. The arrow seemed to be attached to the edge of a willow leaf, and it flew past. There was a huge sigh from the crowd.

In the second round of 'shooting' arrows, Guo Baoyi was much more cautious. He fully opened the bow several times and lowered it again. He was booed, and some people sneered and sneered loudly, but he ignored them all, and his face became more serene. Finally, when the willow branches stopped moving for a while, he raised his bow and let out an arrow. The arrow passed straight through the tiny willow leaves with a strong wind, and the huge momentum tore the leaf handles off the soft willow branches, and nailed them to the trunk behind with a snap.

The audience fell silent. Zhao Xingde entered the stage amidst great anticipation. He carefully adjusted his breathing and heartbeat, and slowly drew his bow. Among the four people present, only he used a three-stone hard bow, and the other three used bows. A bow between two stones or two stone halves.This is not because he thinks he is strong, but because he is only used to using the three-stone bow.He calmly drew his bow fully, and after his arms were stabilized, he released his right hand, and the arrow flew out, but because of a sudden gust of wind, the willow leaf turned slightly, and the leaf surface was cut by the sharp arrow, and the arrow flew out. The arrow slammed into the trunk of the tree behind.According to the rules, such an arrow does not count as a hit.There was another loud sigh from the crowd, but there were also loud cheers.Just now when Zhao Xingde came on the field, Li Ruoxue was watching the battle with all her attention, and only now did she breathe out.

Yelu Dashi's expression was stern, and like Guo Baoyi, he raised and lowered his bow several times, and finally shot the willow leaf with an arrow when the wind was calm.After Kang Deyi entered the field, he stood in silence for a while, and when the wind direction was right, he opened his bow and released his arrows in one go, and also 'shot' the willow leaves.Suddenly, huge cheers erupted from the crowd.

Among the first twenty arrows, Guo Baoyi 'shot' eight willow leaves, Zhao Xingde 'shot' six, Yelu Dashi 'shot' nine, and Kande's descendants 'shot' nine.At this time, the wind stopped suddenly, the willow branches drooped quietly, and the hit rate of the four people's willow shooting increased, but until the last two rounds, Zhao Xingde and Kang Deyi were still one arrow behind.

Guo Baoyi went on stage again, and 'shot' a willow leaf, Zhao Xingde shot out, but flew out, barely touching the edge of the willow branch, still far away from the willow leaf, the crowd burst out with loud sighs again, Li Ruoxue's His eyes were full of worry, but Zhao Xingde remained expressionless, and walked down with his bow and arrows in hand. Next, Yelu Dashi and Kang Deyi shot their arrows in vain.

For the last arrow, Guo Baoyi waited for a long time as usual, before he shot out, firmly nailing a willow leaf to the tree trunk, he passed by Zhao Xingde's side with a trace of sneer on his face.

But Zhao Xingde didn't seem to see him, he raised his bow, put on the arrow, but he didn't shoot it.If you can 'shoot' the most central part of the willow branch, with the strength of the three-stone bow, you can ruthlessly break the willow branch in two, and even if there is a slight deviation, the soft willow branch will slide away. Just like that.

Zhao Xingde took a deep breath, and felt that everything in the world turned into a willow branch that swayed slightly in front of him, and his whole body was tense, as if it was integrated with the curved bow, and the tensed bowstring seemed to be straightened at any time. Finally, when the wind slowed slightly and his breathing changed, Zhao Xingde felt that his aiming energy had reached its limit, and he didn't know if it was an illusion. The willow branch hanging down quietly not far away seemed like the Not a thin line, but as thick as a pillar.Because he was too concentrated, he could barely hear the sound of the bowstring, and his eyes followed the arrow as it flew forward.

Everyone held their breath, and Li Ruoxue's heart almost stopped beating. With a strong wind, the arrow pierced the middle of the willow branch almost unceremoniously. Before the crowd could sigh, they saw the willow The branch was torn by the arrow, and it was cut into two parts from the middle. The lower part, with seven or eight leaves, fell limply to the ground, and what was still hanging in the air was only a bare willow branch. .

Zhao Xingde breathed a sigh of relief, and put down the bow and arrow expressionlessly.In an instant, everyone forgot how to react, Li Ruoxue covered her mouth, and almost shouted excitedly.Guo Baoyi and Yelu Dashi looked at Zhao Xingde with unbelievable eyes. The Liao Kingdom's "shooting" willow drama is "shooting" willow branches, but willow branches are soft and tough, so they are not so easy to be "shot" off. Otherwise, they would have done it long ago.Kang Deyan looked at Zhao Xingde with a smile on his face.

"Long live the Great Song!" "The Great Song!" "The Great Song!"

Finally, the crowd who had been silent for a moment broke out suddenly, cheering one after another like thunder. At this moment, it seemed that it was not the Qingming Festival, but the lively night of the Lantern Festival. Many people desperately told the people around them how he predicted just now , more people squeezed towards the middle, trying to see clearly the grand scholar who is the grandson of Song Dynasty.Prince Zhao Ke stood far away from the crowd, looking at Zhao Xingde who was being thrown up by the constant cheers of the imperial scholars, and said with an appreciative smile: "Both civil and military capital, such a hero, I will have it." Guo Baoyi and Yelu Dashi, Then he made fun of himself and left quietly.

After a long time, Zhao Xingde managed to squeeze out from the cheering crowd, and returned to the Li family's camp, only to find that only Master Chao Buzhi was still there, and because the Li family had several female relatives, the scene was chaotic again , and left first.Looking at Zhao Xingde whose face was full of disappointment, Chao Buzhi smiled and asked gently: "Yuanzhi, Uncle Wen values ​​your character and talent, and intends to betroth his beloved daughter to you. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Zhao Xingde was stunned for a moment, and after a while he recalled it, his heart was ecstatic, he fell to the ground with a bow, and said loudly: "I can't ask for it, the student thanked the teacher for fulfilling it." Chao Buzhi laughed loudly, stroked his beard, and fulfilled the matter The beauty is very proud.

In a bullock cart going back to the city, Li Ruoxu talked about the matter of "shooting" the willow just now, Li Ruoxue seemed to be too nervous and excited just now, her heart was beating so hard that she felt a little pain now, she lightly Pressing his chest lightly, recalling just now, a hint of sweetness appeared in his heart.