Five days later, the last issue of the Xianyang Metropolis Daily in May was published in the center of the front page, with this huge headline in extra-large font.

"Daqin's first Hercules Cup Keju Competition!"

Below the title, the teams and times of the tournament are listed, and a full page is devoted to detailing the various rules and betting processes of the new Keju tournament.

Looking at this inexplicable news in the newspaper, almost everyone who read the newspaper was confused, so many people gathered in the Quyuan Cottage to discuss this strange and strange competition.

And what is most interesting to the public is the names of these Keju teams, tigers, bulls, and wild asses, all of which are crude and savage.

The influence of Xianyang Metropolis Daily can no longer be described extensively, but has become an indispensable life adjustment for the people of Xianyang.

"Hurry up, don't discuss it, I just saw the Academy of Sciences Tigers go out of the city!" A young man in a half-used robe rushed into a cool house on the side of the road and shouted.

And a group of people who were drinking a large pot of herbal tea inside all stood up at the same time.

"The Tiger Team of the Academy of Sciences must be the Keju team organized by the Qinghe Marquis just mentioned, where did they go?" One couldn't help but ask out loud.

"I went to the east gate, and I heard that they went to the competition field to familiarize themselves with the venue!" The young man said excitedly.

"Playing field? Could it be the site being renovated one mile east of the Weihe Bridge? ”

"It should be, I heard a friend from the Inner History Mansion talk about it a few days ago, it was specially requested by the Marquis of Qinghe, it seems that it is for this Keju Conference, but why do you want to name it Hercules Cup, I can't ......figure it out."

"What do you want to do so much, now I'm bored at the moment, let's go and take a look and then inquire!"

"What I'm saying is, let's go~"

A group of people in the cool house sorted out their clothes and tiaras, and then went out together.

And this situation soon played out in many places in Xianyang City at the same time, and some boring people went to the east gate of the city in groups, following the Tigers of the Academy of Sciences to see what was new about this upcoming Keju tournament.

And when the people of Xianyang were discussing this matter, in addition to the Tiger team, several other teams also set off from the city to the competition venue one after another, because today is the scheduled rehearsal time, and a short opening ceremony performance will be held on the first day of the official start.

Outside the east gate of Xianyang City, there is an endless flow of people on weekdays, and there are countless business travelers and people coming and going on both sides of the Wei River, and it is convenient to travel because of the Wei River Bridge, which has become a huge passage.

Qiaotou is a huge logistics market, now has formed an area of thousands of acres of scale, the warehouse shed is planned only in order, in and out of the carriage and horses like flowing water, the goods in the mountain are like mountains, almost the entire Xianyang goods will be traded here, completely changed the previous business pattern.

And not far below the logistics market, there is a large flat field.

It turned out to be a river beach full of thorns and weeds, and it could not be reclaimed into a grain field, when the Weihe River Bridge was repaired, it was used to pile up sand and gravel, and this place has been in an abandoned state after the bridge was repaired, and it has been barren and overgrown after half a year, so Chen Xu took this place as the venue for the competition, and after getting the handwritten letter sent by Chen Xu, he did not hesitate to plan this river beach with hundreds of acres as the venue for the Keju competition, and also arranged for the people to clean up the pebbles on the river beach. The potholes and uneven places have been trimmed, and the wild grasses that originally grew lush have also been cut by people, so when Chen Xu came to check two days ago, he found that it was very smooth.

Under the command of Chen Xu, a group of gentlemen who came to inspect rushed to personally hold the measuring rope, push the two-wheeled funnel trolley, and draw a standard football field with a length of 50 zhang and a width of 30 zhang on the leveled river beach, with a complete center line and a restricted area, and also planted a net made of goals and hemp rope and a huge score record board on both sides.

Of course, everything is very simple, there is no players' lounge, no coach's bench and spectator stand, and it is completely incomparable to the professional football field of later generations.

But in any case, this is the first formal standard football field in the history of mankind, and it already has all the important elements of a regular game.

After a few days of preparation, Today's Metropolis Daily published the detailed process of the competition, and several formed teams can also be officially pulled out to adapt to the venue for a warm-up and rehearsal.

One after another, the teams came by carriage, and the people of Xianyang, who heard the news and came to see the excitement, also came.

By the time the last team arrived, the entire arena was already crowded, with at least tens of thousands of people gathered.

Eight teams stood on the court in a neat line, and they were all wearing uniform uniforms of different colors, shorts, short sleeves, thick-soled bast shoes, and the names and numbers of their teams were written on the front and back of the clothes.

As the leader of each team, Meng Yun Ma Teng and a group of gentlemen are also excited to stand at the front of their own team, and each holds a flag in his hand, there is no name on the flag, only the totem designed by their respective teams, a tiger, a bull or a wild donkey.

Behind Chen Xu, there was also a row of referees, uniformly wearing black shorts and short sleeves, with a bamboo whistle around his neck, and two penalty cards, one red and one yellow, in the pocket on his chest.

There was a rattan frame on the ground with seven or eight inflatable balls made in it.

All the rules and circumstances look not much different from the matches of the amateur football teams in later generations.

Chen Xu looked at the players of the eight football teams in front of him and nodded slightly to express his satisfaction.

These players include officials, craftsmen, rich second generations, second and third generations of officials, alchemists, samurai, and famous idlers in Xianyang, but without exception, these people represent the highest level of Keju in Xianyang City today, and everyone is a skilled Keju enthusiast.

"The Hercules Cup Keju Competition starts today, even if it is officially established, three days later, we will play the first official game here, the opponents of the first round of the group stage are already known, the team leaders are now leading their respective teams around the field for a week, to the surrounding people to temporarily take a look at your demeanor, after the end, draw lots to select two teams for a warm-up game, the referee of the first game will be personally served by me, the two linesmen and the fourth referee are served by the three on my left, the rehearsal begins, Out~"

With a wave of Chen Xu's big hand, Ma Teng, who was holding the tiger totem flag, excitedly shook a black flag in his hand, and more than 20 team members with blue shirts and white shorts from the Academy of Sciences began to jog around the field, and the remaining teams also followed with waving the flags.

More than ten minutes later, the eight teams returned to the field after patrolling and stood up, Chen Xu had prepared something to draw lots, that is, a small stick of different lengths, held in his hand to draw one for each team leader, and finally drew two of the same length is the team of this warm-up game.

Soon the draw was completed, the two teams in the first game of the warm-up were Qi Laoer's Chengnan Wild Donkey Team and another Flowing Fire Team, the other teams withdrew, and soon there were only two teams left on the field, each team leader After some arrangements, confirmed the eleven people on the field, Chen Xu took out a new version of the first emperor Tongbao, the two team leaders chose sides to confirm that the two teams began to disperse to prepare for the game, and the goalkeepers also arrived in front of the goals of each team.

"Master Hou, you can start!"

The two gentlemen can't wait to hold a football in the midline tee-off area to get ready, this kind of formal and exciting game, the two keen juju gentlemen will naturally not give up the opportunity to show off.

Chen Xu was also a little excited and nervous.

Football was still played when he was in school, and he had never been a referee, but in order to implement this more regular and ornamental game, he felt that he needed to give on-site guidance to all participating teams and referees through a demonstration game, so as to implement the rules of the game as soon as possible and completely change Daqin's current habit of playing wild football.

Today's Keju activities are very popular and are enjoyed by both the people and the military, but the rules are relatively chaotic, and they are very different from the rules of football in later generations.

Chen Xu doesn't need to let these people change their habitual way of jujuing, but to accept the rules of the game, such as malicious kicking, brutal collision, spitting and fighting, etc., must be eliminated.

"Di~~"

Chen Xu blew the bamboo whistle hanging around his neck.

Qi Laoer, who was in charge of kick-off, threw the ball high with his hand, and when he saw that the ball was about to fall on the top of his head, he jumped high and turned around and kicked sideways, and kicked the ball to one of his team members with a very handsome action.

"Good~~" The tens of thousands of onlookers applauded the second child's action.

And Chen Xu's face twitched slightly, and then he began to run in the direction of football with a bamboo whistle in his mouth, and the two linesmen each held small flags and began to observe the run.

This kick-off method is different from the football of later generations, it is the tradition of Keju, so Chen Xu also accepted the advice of a group of gentlemen and stipulated the kick-off method as this, in fact, there are many rules in the game that are not the same as the football of later generations, which is also in line with the traditional habits of Keju in the current era, such as corner kicks can also be thrown by hand and then sent out.

Later standard football was invented by Westerners, although it is said that the origin of football is the Chinese Keju, but in fact there is not much direct evidence, but in any case, since it is the football invented by the Chinese, it must conform to the habits and traditions of the Chinese, except for the passing and receiving of the ball is not allowed to touch the ball with the arm, most of the other actions still inherit the way of Keju, so that the audience and players are more acceptable and easy to appreciate.

"Di~~"

As a member of the Drift Fire team was violently kicked to the ground by a member of the Bulls, Chen Xu did not hesitate to blow the bamboo whistle and rush up, and then took out a yellow card, and the referee in charge of the scoreboard quickly wrote the number of the yellow card player on the big blackboard with chalk.

"I just kissed and touched it!" The penalized team member did not understand the loud underestimation.

"If you don't respect the referee, you will be punished with a red card if you talk more!" Chen Xu's face was a serious threat.

This guy suddenly wilted.

"Melon peel!" Qi Lao Er viciously gave his team member a kick in the ass, but he was immediately punished with a yellow card by Chen Xu.

Qi Lao Er was so depressed that he almost vomited blood.

The game continued, this time both teams learned their lessons, and the kicking became more regular, but the wild ball was used to kicking, and the rules lasted less than three minutes, and soon someone fouled again, and was knocked to the ground by someone from behind, Chen Xu did not hesitate to take out the yellow card again.

The inflatable soccer ball is much more elastic than the ball filled with fur and reeds, so it flies farther, and the football field is large enough that more than 20 people run back and forth in it, and the scene is also very intense.

The most important thing is that the traditional Keju is more beautiful, and there are many onlookers, these players are also more conspicuous, every time there will be a variety of fancy performances to catch and pass the ball, all kinds of side kicks and barbs are constant, and the football will basically not land when it flies around, so it also attracts the applause of the surrounding audience.

Chen Xu's face darkened a little, but he didn't stop it.

After all, this is an entertainment game, and scoring goals is important, but it is also important to watch, and it is better to watch than standing on the field and waiting for the ball, and the scramble is more intense.

Ten minutes later, the Drifters finally smashed the ball into the Bulls' goal with a beautiful sideways barb in front of the goal, and the score was 1-0.

After the goal, Chen Xu quickly blew the whistle for the end of the game.

"Master Hou, if you give us another half a moment, our team will definitely be able to equalize!" Qi Lao Er depressedly wiped the sweat that was rolling down and shouted loudly.

"Hehe, what if you give it another day, I'm afraid it will soon become two to zero and three to zero." The Drifting Fire sneered.

"Melon coward, dare to fight me alone!" Qi Lao Er jumped up and pointed at the other party's nose.

"I'm afraid you won't make it, and you'll be single-handed......" The other party also jumped up with his arms.

"That's enough, if you have the ability to win him in the next official game, if you provoke each other again, I'll expel you two teams!" Chen Xu gave the two guys with a black line, and one of them flashed a red card.

The two gentlemen coaxed at the same time, not cowardly, their own father and grandfather saw Qinghe Hou nodding and saluting, if he was really expelled, this Keju League would not have his own share, and the prize money of 100,000 yuan and the grand trophy of Huang Chengcheng of nine catties and nine taels would be completely out of his own.

"I will definitely win you in the next official competition!"

"I'm afraid I'll lose all my pants by then!"

The two gentlemen glared at each other and led the team off the field, and Chen Xu also handed over the position of referee to another referee, and the remaining teams re-drew lots for the warm-up match.

An hour later, all the warm-up matches were over, the eight teams left in the car, and the spectators dispersed, spreading the word about this unique and unusual game.