In the embassy, Sun Tu, who was kept by Yelu and never even stepped out of the gate, did not hear about the rumors about him in the city. Of course, he had actually guessed that the other party would spread rumors behind his back to cut off his own way back, but at this time, he was obviously powerless to resist, so he could only be patient for the time being.

Fortunately, the Liao people also took Ya'er into the embassy early in the morning, which saved him from worries, and now the little girl was still a little anxious and followed Sun Tu step by step in the rather empty embassy courtyard, and after a few hesitations, she finally asked: "Third brother, do you really plan to go to Liao?" I heard that it is far away, and the Liao people are very fierce. "Ya'er, who has not experienced the war, has no hatred for the Liao people, but has a natural panic about going to the Liao country.

Sun Tu rubbed her hair and said with a smile: "Ya'er don't worry, even if you really want to leave here, with the third brother here, you will definitely protect you and won't let you suffer a little grievance." ”

"Hmm!" Ya'er nodded vigorously a few times, she naturally had no doubt about this, and it was much more comfortable to live here with the third brother than at home, at least the third brother had been with her for the past two days, unlike before when the two could only talk together in the morning and evening.

Sun Tu took Ya'er along the path for a while, and finally stopped in front of an open field, at this time, this open space the size of a basketball court in later generations was being chased and shouted by ten Liao people, and a leather ball the size of a bowl was flying back and forth under the feet of the crowd, kicking so lively.

"Third brother, they're juju again." Ya'er stood there and said curiously. And Sun Tu also stared at the ten figures running in the field with deep meaning and nodded: "Yes, I didn't expect that the Liao people would also play Keju, and they also ran to my Great Song Dynasty to Keju." ”

Since coming to Tokyo, Sun Tu has seen many spontaneous Keju events organized by local people. This so-called kemari is actually generally speaking, playing football, although they are not playing football in later generations, but a ball smaller than football, filled with feather rags and other things, making the body of the ball slightly elastic.

Compared with the later generations in fact, it is rare to see folk football games, at this time the Great Song Dynasty Tokyo City this sport is extremely popular, whether it is ordinary people or dignitaries, there are many lovers of Keju sports, it is said that even today's official Zhao Ji was deeply pleased with this when he was still the king, and it was also rumored that Gao Yu Gao Taiwei was valued by Zhao Ji because he kicked a good ball, and finally became the captain of the palace marshal's mansion.

Of course, this is just some rumors, just to set off how popular the sport of Keju is in the Great Song Dynasty today. And today's Keju is much simpler than later generations, the venue is not too demanding, and even the number of players on both sides is not hard and fast, as long as there is an open space, prepare a Keju ball, the two teams can play happily, and at the same time attract many people to watch.

Even if the number of people is too small, only three or two people are not afraid, because there is a more important skill competition in the Song people's juju, that is, juggling the ball, using various parts of the body to control the juju to fly in the air without landing, kicking out the flower, which is called "white fighting". Sometimes a white player is even more touted and popular than an ordinary keju master, because it seems that white juggling is more ornamental.

Of course, these Liao people chasing the ball and running in the field in front of them carried out a formal juju, because the field could not set up a dragon gate (that is, a goal) at both ends, so only a dragon gate more than one person high was set up in the north.

At this time, after a scramble, someone finally snatched the ball out of the crowd, and then strode towards the dragon gate, making his opponent follow closely in a hurry, shouting to outflank and stop. However, now this field is too narrow, only run for a while, the man has come to the dragon gate a foot or two away, and then his body stopped, toe pick, the ball has already risen into the air, he then kicked out a hard kick, before the defender flew over, kicked the ball towards the top of the dragon gate.

The goal was not a huge net like in later generations, and there were no goalkeepers. As long as the player can break out of the encirclement and kill in front of the goal, he has a high probability of facing the empty goal. However, this empty door is not easy to enter, because the dragon gate is a whole wooden plank, only the top has a small hole that is only slightly larger than the ball body, and the back is equipped with a net bag, which is also called "Merry Eye". Points can only be scored when the attacker kicks the ball high into the eye of this little merryman.

And this Liaoren's footwork is indeed exquisite, even if he suddenly stopped shooting in the rush, the ball still crossed a beautiful arc and went straight to the merry eye, and shot into it with a bang. Sun Tu and Ya'er, who looked at the side, were stunned, and then they couldn't help but clap their hands and cheer.

During the three days he stayed in the embassy, Sun Tu didn't have much to do, except for practicing martial arts, he just accompanied Ya'er to wander around here. As a result, the day before yesterday, I saw that so many Liao people gathered here to practice Keju. Seeing that the other party had no intention of driving the two of them, Sun Tu and Ya'er ran to watch the game for several days in a row.

In Sun Tu's view, now these Liao people's ability to juju is better than the ordinary people they saw on the street before, of course, they are still too far from the level of those professional players in later generations, which is not only reflected in various ball control and passing skills, but also in their tactics. The only thing that made him feel bright was this guy who could stand out in a ball, obviously this guy was the most skilled one among the Liao people.

As Keju landed, they stepped forward again to press, trying to snatch the ball from the opponent's feet. Even if they were playing football with their comrades, these people were going all out, their movements were fierce, and they were merciless at their feet.

At this time, Yelu's voice came from behind him: "Brother Sun is really interested, he actually came here to see Keju, but it made me easy to find." ”

Sun Tu turned around in response, and saw this Liao man coming over with a red face, so he smiled and hugged his fists and said, "I don't know what Brother Yelu has to teach?" ”

After getting along for a few days, Sun Tu and Yelu Jian have developed some friendship, and even the titles are a lot closer, and they are no longer called generals and dutou. However, Sun Tu was still wary in his heart, after all, the other party was calculating himself.

Yelu Jian smiled and said: "It's still that matter, I don't know how you think about it in the next few days, Brother Sun?" I'm really thirsty for talent, just waiting for Brother Sun's nod. ”

"What, is Brother Yelu about to leave Tokyo?"

"That's not the time yet, although the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty is finally willing to summon Chen Shumi's today, but we still have something to do here, so we have to stay for another ten days and a half months. But you and I are both happy people, so why always put things off? ”

"After all, it's about my life for the next few decades, so it's not okay if you're not careful." Sun Tu didn't mean to give an answer, but looked back at the Liao people behind him who were still playing football with some curiosity, and changed the topic: "I'm really curious about what you still want to do in Tokyo, and also, as far as I know, Keju is not so popular in Liao, why are they practicing so hard these days?" ”

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you, but it didn't hurt to tell you, the delay I mentioned was related to Keju. This time, in addition to making some negotiations, the Liao delegation came to the Song Dynasty to make some negotiations, but also wanted to have a good game with the Keju team of the Great Song Dynasty, so that the people of the world could know who was stronger between the Liao and Song Dynasty. As you said, the Song people were prevalent in Keju, but I, the Liao State, didn't care too much about this. ”

Sun Tu raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and the meaning of the other party's words was to use the juju to suppress Da Song's head. The saying that sports were wars in the era of peace, as later generations said, is obviously also applicable to the Song and Liao dynasties today. Since the alliance between the two countries, although there have been frictions and secret fights between the two countries, after all, there has been no real major war for more than a hundred years.

"The Song court has not cherished the rare peace between the two countries over the years, and actually wanted to collude with my Da Liao's subordinates to stab him in the back. Brother Sun, do you think this is still reasonable? Yelu Jian looked at Sun Tu with a smile and asked.

Sun Tu had actually guessed the reason why the Liao State had specially sent an envoy this time, but after hearing him say it so directly, he was still a little surprised. Then he understood: "So, today Chen Shumi is going to mention these two things when he comes to the Son of Heaven?" ”

"Not bad. However, I think the Song court will try their best to deny any connection with the Jurchens. But it doesn't matter, as long as you can beat the Song people in Keju and suppress the arrogance of the Song people, I think the two countries will be able to live peacefully for a few years. Yelu Jian said with a relaxed face, as if in his opinion, they had won this time.

Sun Tu looked at the players who were still running desperately in the field, and unconsciously took a deep breath: "It seems that you came prepared this time, these people should have practiced juju for a long time, right?" ”

"Not bad." Yelu nodded honestly in acknowledgement.

At this time, Chen Xiangnan also hurried over accompanied by several guards, his face was also obviously flushed, and as soon as he saw Yelu Arrow, he arched his hand and said: "Xia Guan is fortunate not to be dishonored, Song Ting has already accepted the challenge of my Da Liao, and will have a Keju competition with us on the seventh day of the first month of winter." ”

"Good!" Yelu Jian said and glanced at Sun Tu: "Brother Sun, can you come in when you want to?" I hope you'll make the right decision. ”

Sun Tu's expression changed several times, and finally nodded with a smile: "I naturally hope to experience it for myself." I think I'll be able to tell Brother Jerod my answer then. ”