The golden sunlight shines on the pitch, making people feel a hint of warmth in the cold, there is not a single white cloud in sight in the clear blue sky, and the trees around the pitch sing softly in the autumn breeze. The warm and cheerful music accompanied the pace of the two teams of maiko on the court, so that the waiting audience would not be so anxious; The Maiko smiled like a flower, and her graceful dancing posture made the disciples reluctant to take their eyes off. The stands were crowded with people and lively, but the unique cries of ordinary stadium vendors were missing.

The field in the center of the grass is rectangular in shape, about 1,000 paces long from east to west and about 500 paces wide from north to south. Fifty steps away from the fence is a fence to prevent the horses in the field from getting out of control; Beyond the fence is the auditorium, which is divided into areas, which is not only a difference in rank, but also has the advantage of not being crowded in the entrance and exit.

On both sides of the field, there is a square wooden board wall, a hole in the middle of the wooden board is the goal, and there is a net bag behind the door, and whoever hits the ball into the net bag is the winner. There is a flag stand on the ceremonial platform outside the arena, and six red flags and six green flags are erected in each row, which is the responsibility of the singer, who has to add a flag to a chip, and pull out a flag if he loses a chip, even if the time for the end of the game has not arrived, the six flags are lost; When the end time of the game comes, the number of flags is counted, and the more is the winner.

There is a row of boxes in the center of the viewing platform in the south direction, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty sits in the box in the middle, Empress Xiao and Yang Xuan, the king of Qi, sit on the left and right, and then next to Yu Shiji and Mai Tiezhu and others, the whole box is surrounded by highly nervous attendants and guards; Yang Guang was full of interest, and the dancers walked towards the iron gate of the fence at the end of the song, and they knew that the match between the Shi Guo team and the Longyou team was about to begin. The eunuch Zhang Yuan leaned over slightly and asked Yang Guang if he wanted to say a few words, Yang Guang waved his hand and said with a smile: "I am an audience today." ”

With a long whistle, the big horn whined, flags danced around the stadium, and the sound of hunting and shouting suddenly became one, and the noise was boiling, no less than the football game of later generations. Yang Chong accompanied Tong Ye Hu to sit in the box of the east stand, with a helpless face, he was about to set off, he was racing against time, and he was as busy as a dog, but he was sent by the center to let Yang Gongren pass the word to find out the next plan of the Western Turks from Tong Ye Hu.

The sound of the drums was deafening, and the two teams of knights almost simultaneously lowered the fence and rushed into the field at a gallop, spreading out within a hundred paces of their own goal; In fact, there were only ten people in each team, but in the eyes of the audience, twenty people filled half of the field in the blink of an eye, leaving only the open area in the middle ready to fight. The drums and trumpets stopped, and the singer walked steadily into the center of the field, placed a red ball on top of a stake in the center of the court, and then turned around and walked out of the field; As soon as the singer passed through the small gate of the fence, the colorful flag on the stage immediately waved up and down, indicating the start of the game.

The war horse neighed, the knight roared, and the twenty horsemen suddenly urged the war horse to rush towards the opponent's half, the stick in his hand was like a sword flying, and the dense sound of horse hooves made people's blood run. The knight who took the lead in the Longyou team struck the first blow and passed the wooden ball to the companion who followed closely on the side, and the Turkic knight of the Shi Guo team immediately accelerated to intercept it; In the blink of an eye, the ten horses were staggered, the polo sticks were up and down, and the wooden balls kept jumping in the air, never falling to the ground.

A knight of the Longyou team and a Turkic knight rushed forward side by side, leaned over and waved the stick to compete for the polo, the two horses obviously collided, just when they were about to fall to the ground, the knight stick of the Longyou team struck a lightning blow, the wooden ball flew through a beautiful arc and flew into the air, and the other knight of the Longyou team who galloped in the oblique stab lightly stuck the stick in his hand, and rushed to the goal of the Shi Guo team with the ball. The shouts of the audience resounded in the stands, including Yang Chong, who felt breathless.

The knights who fell to the ground were not paid attention at all, and the nineteen horses were still galloping, and the Longyou team relied on the final blow of a player who went around the sideline to score the first goal of the game, and the whole field was thunderous. When the two sides retreated to their respective halves, someone entered the field to rescue the injured knight from the field, take the horse away, and a substitute Longyou team member quickly entered the field; The singer released the ball again, and the game continued.

Then there were winners and losers against each other, the score was three to three, the scene can only be described as tragic two words, almost every goal, there are players injured, just six goals, the two sides have changed nine people. Yang Xuan, the king of Qi, was pale, and Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of Sui, said very casually: "Understand why the Wei team lost, in the eyes of the Longyou team and the Shi Guo team, this is not a game, this is a war." The attacking side is invincible, and the defending side only has two words to fight to the death. Although the scene is full of blood and fierceness, in order to win, you must not be afraid of being crushed. ”

Empress Xiao and the others all saw that Emperor Yang Guang of Sui did not give up on King Qi, but still wanted to make King Yang of Qi realize his weaknesses through education, but he did not expect King Yang of Qi to reply: "Father, the son thinks that this kind of competition should be banned, it is too unserious to take people seriously, you listen to the screams in the stands." ”

Yu Shiji and Mai Tiezhu were dumbfounded, and they didn't know for a while whether to say that King Qi Yang was charitable, or accuse King Qi of being confused, what is the scream, a real game like today sometimes kills people; Empress Xiao was also panicked, lest Emperor Yang Guang of Sui beat his son, and the reputation and image of King Qi would be ruined. To the surprise of the three of them, Emperor Yang Guang of Sui was not angry at all, it seemed that Yang Yin's words were in his expectation, and as if he hadn't heard it, Yang Guang smiled and set his eyes on the arena.

On the field, the Turks dribbled and hit the ball, and the wooden ball did not bounce after falling to the ground, but miraculously rolled over two horses and was hooked by another Turkic knight in the distance; The two knights of the Longyou team tried their best to intercept it, but they missed the wooden ball by a fraction of a millimeter, so they could only turn the horse's head and turn back to chase again. The Turkic knight shouted, and the stick swept the wooden ball, and the direction of the wooden ball was extremely strange, and it actually fell to the side of a Turkic knight who was disturbing the formation of Longyou's team.

Yang Chong looked extremely nervous, only felt that his heartbeat was speeding up with the unconsciously speeding up drumming, fortunately, just on the field, the Longyou player who was guarding the back shot quickly, and the war horse was incredibly ahead of half a horse's head, the top of the stick caught the wooden ball, adjusted the angle in the state of the wooden ball rotation, hit the opponent's half of the court with a stick, and passed a long pass to an unattended companion, and the situation on the field reversed in an instant.

Tong Ye Hu slapped the table, but said regretfully: "One wrong step, losing the whole game, I knew it would be like this." ”

Yang Chong felt a burst of joy and said with a smile: "The ball game is a small matter, and the survival of the country is a big matter." ”

Tong Ye Hu glanced at Yang Chong, the excited look in his eyes had not yet receded, and he said calmly: "Don't worry, our brother has no idea of turning his face with Da Sui." Although I heard that after you became the county guard of Gaochang, you had an urge to learn the Mo family's defensive skills, but I understand that the few rainbows you made the countries of the Western Regions completely die of resistance. ”

Yang Chong said with a straight face: "God bless the Great Sui, the rainbow is an omen of the heavens. ”

Tong Yehu picked up the teacup and said angrily: "The Chijin Turks are still waiting for revenge, be careful when you arrive in Gaochang, I don't want to be said, there is no hero to make the erector famous." ”

Yang Chong said indifferently: "People in the Western Regions, except for you, only Xue Yantuo's Yi Nan is still a person. ”

Tong Ye Hu's hand froze, Yang Chong's statement was the same as his opinion, and it could really be said that the hero saw the same thing.

As soon as the first ball game ended, the audience was still cheering for the victory of the Longyou team, Yang Chong left the court and went to Fengle Building to meet Yang Gongren. Yang Gongren knew that the Xiao family was ugly this time, so he persuaded a few words, and saw that Yang Chong was really not emotional, so he took the craftsman back; Yang Chong asked Wei Chili to bring back the craftsman he had just exchanged for first, and he went to another compartment to invite Zhu Kuan, who had been waiting for a long time, to eat.

Zhu Kuan was actually very busy, but he knew that Yang Chong's schedule was too tight, so he had an appointment with Yang Chong for a noon party, and he came in the morning. Zhu Kuan handed over Zhuge Quan's letter, and Yang Chong knew that the situation in Liuqiu was not optimistic, and although Zhang Zhenzhou had gained a firm foothold in the southern part of Liuqiu Island, according to the reconnaissance of the sea ships around the island, the area occupied was less than half of Liuqiu Island. And Chen Ling is bent on returning to the mainland, Zhang Zhenzhou is now in a dilemma, the most lacking is materials, and what Zhuge Quan is asking about is the long-term persistence.

Yang Chong could only put forward three suggestions based on the experience of later generations, one is to set up a liaison office on the mainland to be responsible for the transfer of materials; The second is to propose immigration to the imperial court, increase the population of Liuqiu County, and consolidate the two counties; The second is to use materials and troops to advance from south to north in Liuqiu by means of encroachment, to recover the Tu people who are willing to surrender, and to annihilate the stubborn resistance of the stockades.

Yang Chong proposed that he could buy sugarcane and rice in large quantities and deliver them in Yangzhou, Luoyang or Chang'an; Zhu Kuan told Yang Chong that Zhuge Quan also thought the same way, and had asked He Man to form a fleet to specialize in transportation. It's just that Zhuge Quan thinks that the grain transported to Chang'an is too shocking and vulgar, and he can transport sugarcane and porcelain, lacquerware, and paint from South Vietnam; Yang Chong agreed, saying that he would send a boat to beg for food when he needed it. When they broke up, Yang Chong asked Zhu Kuo to give Zhuge Quan his information about Fuzhou Shoushan Stone, and as for whether he could use it, it depended on Zhuge Quan's creation.

(End of chapter)