Chapter 2 (Mikami)

At this moment, Liu Hongji also saw the old man, and immediately stepped forward quickly, stood upright, attached his hands to his heart, took a step forward, raised his fists and eyebrows, bowed twice, and then withdrew his outstretched eyebrows and hands to touch his forehead, bowed a third time, and said: "Junior Hongji meets Shibo!" Finally, he attached his hand to his heart, took a step back, and met the other face. (Note 1)

The person who came was upright, straightened, first accepted his big blow, and then attached his hands to his heart, hugged his chest, bowed down slightly, and replied with a smile: "Since the old man was ordered to take the grain, he has been looking forward to you every day, taking care of your safe return home, and also giving an explanation to Ling Zun." Unexpectedly, you are late! ”

The little nephew thought about this crusade, and there would be a shortage of good horses in the army, so he specially went to the outside of the fortress! After a delay on the road, I hope that Shibo will forgive my sins! Liu Hongji smiled and added in a low voice.

"It's good that you can come, why take that risk in the bitter cold land outside the plug!" Li Yuan stretched out his hand and patted Liu Hongji on the shoulder, and sighed: "When we were separated, you only reached the old man's forehead, but now you are much higher than the old man." There is a way to send new branches next to the old tree, and the rotation of the old and the new is the way of heaven, so you can't be convinced. Who is the strong man who came with you, and can you introduce me to the old man? ”

"It's a friend that my nephew made on the road, surnamed Li Mingxu, and the word Zhongjian." Liu Hongji replied with a smile, turned around and beckoned to Li Xu, and ordered in a low voice: "Zhong Jian, hurry up and see Tang Gong." ”

Li Xu had already deduced from the process of Liu Hongji and the old man greeting each other that this person must be Tang Gong. Only those who are a generation higher will Liu Hongji worship each other with a big bow, and the other party is qualified to return the favor with a level lower than the big one. However, since he was a child, he had never seen an official with such a prominent status, so he couldn't help but panic for a while, and he didn't know how to meet him to be rude, so he had to stand by in a daze.

Hearing Liu Hongji's summoning at this moment, Li Xu knew that he couldn't dodge, so he walked forward and said, "Shanggu Li Zhongjian has seen Tang Gong, I wish Tang Gong good health!" ”

Tang Gong Li Yuan turned sideways and returned with his fists. Then he looked Li Xu up and down a few times, and asked with a smile: "You are from the Li family in Shanggu?" Can you have any relationship with General Han Fei? ”

"Back to Tang Gong, according to the genealogy, the younger generation should be the twenty-fourth generation great-grandson of General Fei." Li Xu thought for a while and replied in a low voice. His voice sounded hoarse and sweaty from his forehead.

"Wrong, wrong!" Tang Gong Li Yuan shook his head with a smile.

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other. I didn't know what was wrong, but I heard Li Yuan laugh and add: "Boy, you shouldn't come to see me with regular etiquette." You and I are originally of the same clan, according to generations, you and Jiancheng, the people of the world should be brothers! ”

"Don't meet Shibo yet!" Liu Hongji pushed Li Xu's back and ordered.

At this time, even a fool could hear the intimacy in Li Yuan's words. Li Xu smiled awkwardly, stepped forward, and saw Li Yuan again with the gift of a junior like Liu Hongji, and apologized in his mouth: "The junior is confused, I don't know that the elders of the same sect are standing in front of me, I hope Shibo will forgive me!" ”

Li Yuan didn't avoid it this time, stood up straight and accepted his big gift, bowed down and gave a flat bow, and ordered with a smile: "You don't know that we are of the same clan as each other, what is the crime." Since you are a nephew in your later life, if you need anything in the future, just tell me bluntly! ”

"Shibo has a saying, the younger generation dares to disrespect his life!" Li Xu bowed down again and thanked his seniors for taking care of him. The two laughed and recounted a few genealogies, and quickly explained each other's generations. According to the genealogy, Tang Duke Li Yuan is the seventh grandson of the former Liang Emperor Li Hui, and the Liang Emperor Li Wei is the sixteenth generation of Li Guang's descendants. Therefore, Li Yuan is the twenty-second generation descendant of Li Guang, and the twenty-third generation of Jiancheng and Shimin are the same generation as Li Xu.

After describing the genealogy, Li Yuan was relieved, took Li Xu's hand, and asked with a smile: "I didn't expect that since the two Han Dynasty, my descendants of the Li family can reproduce such a divine shot." Which hero did you learn from, can you tell the old man? ”

"The younger generation is a random archery artist, and has been taught by three or four people!" Li Xu smiled wryly and replied in a low voice. In an instant, he changed from the identity of a grass man to the junior of Tang Gong Li Yuan, which made him feel very uncomfortable. From head to toe, every pore on my body felt numb, and my legs were as heavy as lead.

"The first person to teach the younger generation of archery is surnamed Sun, Anzu!" Thinking of Sun Jiu, who treated him like his own son and nephew, Li Xu felt a burst of warmth in his heart. In a hurry, he didn't notice that Li Yuan and Jiancheng's brows were quietly wrinkled, obviously this name had given them a great shock.

"The second person who instructs the younger generation in archery is a good man of the Xia tribe, named A Silan, and the third teacher is a coppersmith who wandered from the south of the Yangtze River to outside the Saiwai, his surname is Wang, and he has always refused to tell the juniors his name, and the juniors are not easy to ask!" Li Xu looked at Tang Gong's inquiring gaze and added curtly. The coppersmith master who pointed out him the most in martial arts, but he didn't know his name, and anyone who heard this topic would think it was a big joke.

"If the surname is Wang, it must be from the Jiangnan Wang family. Your mentorship is also famous, no wonder you can reproduce your ancestors' magic skills! Li Yuan smiled and summarized for the other party, frowning just now because he heard Sun Anzu's three words, and quietly calmed down.

"Tang Gong has won the award, and it has only been the second round of the arrow competition, and the juniors have already lost to the second son!" Li Xu shook his head and replied modestly.

This sentence provoked Li Yuan to shake his head again and again, "You are not too modest, the old man came first, and he has been watching you from a distance." After the first round of shooting, Shimin had already lost. If he is self-aware, where would he dare to compete with you in the second round! ”

Although it is the family style of the Li Mansion to suppress oneself and promote others, this sentence is too modest. Not only did Li Xu not even dare to say it, but Jiancheng, Shimin and Wan'er all raised their heads and were unconvinced. Especially Li Shimin, who is young and competitive, his eyes are angry. If the person who made this judgment was not his father, it is estimated that the little guy would have rushed to reason with him.

"You're not convinced, aren't you?" Li Yuan looked at Shimin's face and asked with a smile.

"In the third round, my son was convinced, and this jade should belong to Brother Zhong Jian." Li Shimin ran to Jiancheng's side, picked up the jade as a bet, and replied loudly. "In the second round, Brother Zhong Jian deliberately gave in, and his son also knew that he had lost. But in the first round, he and I both hit the bull's-eye......"

"We each have a draw and a win, and we deserve a draw!" Li Xu hurriedly waved his hand, saying that he did not dare to accept the jade that Li Shimin lost to him. Before the words fell, Tang Gong was heard to say: "But on the surface, it is true. Go and get the target and let the Father tell you why you lost in the first round! ”

Before Li Shimin could do anything, a servant had already run up to carry the target back for him. Li Yuan touched his son's forehead lovingly, bowed down, pointed to the arrow hole on the target, and asked in a low voice: "In the first round, you aimed for about three breaths before releasing the arrow, and Zhong Jian raised his hand to shoot, I don't know if what my father said is right or not?" ”

"That's true!" Li Shimin thought about it and replied in a low voice.

"If the two armies meet, and the two of you are adversaries, what will be the result of this shot?" Li Yuan smiled and asked Shimin.

Li Shimin's little face turned red immediately, and he twisted for a moment, and finally admitted that his father was right, nodded, and his voice was as thin as a gnat: "My arrow hasn't been shot yet, Brother Zhong Jian has already taken my life with an arrow!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Li Xu was also taken aback. When he learned to shoot, he was taught by others, how he shot himself, and he practiced hard if he couldn't do it. After listening to Li Yuan's teachings to his son, he realized that there were so many doorways among them. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but peek at Tang Gong a few times, and the more I looked at it, the more I felt that this person had a ravine.

"The second arrow, your feather arrow was blown away by the wind after it was shot, and Zhong Jian looked up at the branch before raising the bow!" Li Yuan smiled and continued to summarize.

"No wonder Brother Zhong Jian's arrows are not affected by the wind!" Li Shimin suddenly realized and happily added. The expression of frustration on his face because of the defeat dissipated in an instant, replaced by surprise after hearing the sermon.

"The situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, and any slight mistake is enough to kill!" Li Yuan is a very qualified father, and he is kind to his studious son. Pointing to the arrows that were still on the target, he ordered with a smile: "If you pull out both arrows, you will know how far apart you are from Zhong Jian's archery!" ”

Li Shimin obeyed his father's order to reach out and pull out the arrow, and he missed the arrow and pulled it away from the target with a slight pull. Li Xu finally hit the bull's-eye arrow, but he pulled and pulled, shook and shook, until the arrow edge was broken, and then he reluctantly pulled it out.

"If they are a hundred and twenty paces away, they are each clothed in heavy armor. Your arrow can only tickle Zhong Jian. And Zhong Jian's arrow is enough to make you fall off your horse! ”

"My son is taught!" Li Shimin stood up and respectfully bowed to his father. Then he held the jade in both hands and held it up in front of Li Xu: "Brother Zhongjian's archery skills are much higher than mine, and the younger brother is convinced!" ”

"I'm older than you, and the forces of nature are older than you. I don't understand the rest. So, let's still draw! Li Xu replied with a smile, still refusing to accept the lottery head sent by the other party.

The two sides were pushing and thanking each other, and Liu Hongji, who was standing next to watch the excitement, suddenly clapped his hands and interjected loudly. "In my opinion, it should be Tang Gong who really deserves this emerald!"

When everyone heard this, they listened to Liu Hongji and added with a smile: "The people of the world don't know the reason and can't do it, so they will naturally lose." Zhong Jian can do it without knowing the reason, and he can't be regarded as winning the game. But it was Shibo's words, which benefited the younger generations a lot. So, of course, this emerald should belong to Shibo. In the future, I will surpass Shibo in archery, and it will not be too late to win it and come back! ”

Everyone listened and applauded together. Li Shimin immediately held the jade and dedicated it to his father. Tang Gong was still about to resign, and heard Liu Hongji say with a smile: "When my father mentioned the matter of Shibo's arrow shooting a peacock's eye, the younger generation thought it was a false rumor, but today I heard Shibo talk about arrows, and it must be true!" “

In a word, it attracted everyone's attention again. Li Wan'er was the most anxious, and immediately pulled Liu Hongji's sleeve and asked him to tell his father's story. Liu Hongji swept Li Yuan with his gaze, saw that he had no displeased expression, smiled, and said, "That was the story of Shibo going to his aunt's house to propose marriage twenty-eight years ago......

At that time, the Dou Yi family of the Great Sui Wang clan chose a son-in-law, and there were hundreds of young people, and each of them was born in a noble family, and their family background and character belonged to the best choice. In order to show his fairness, Dou Yi ordered two peacock screens to be carried to the courtyard, and asked the young men to shoot arrows at the peacocks, and agreed that the one with the highest archery skills would be his son-in-law. As soon as the words fell, Li Yuan came out of the crowd and fired two arrows in succession, each arrow hitting a peacock. The teenagers didn't think they could do it anymore, and they didn't dare to shoot again. As a result, the Li Dou family became good friends of Qin and Jin.

"It was many years ago!" Tang Gong Li Yuan listened to his own youthful past as if listening to other people's legends. The cunning Dou seniors, colorful screens, and young men who are as prosperous as the nephews in front of them. Was he sixteen or seventeen? As if I don't remember, when I vaguely raised my bow, there was a ray of concern behind the window screen in the distance......

That glimpse is enough to let yourself step on the world's turmoil.

Note 1: This action is the whole process of the Han Rite Festival. The following is Li Yuan's behavior in the Han rites. Liu Hongji is Li Yuan's junior, so he paid a big visit to Shibo, and Li Yuan returned it with a flat bow. The Han rites are basically divided into four categories: kneeling, bowing, flattening, and holding fists, and the severity decreases in turn. Kneeling is usually only for ancestors.

Note 2: Historically, Li Yuan and Li Shimin were both very brave people. When Li Yuan was guarding Shanxi, he used 2,000 soldiers and horses to make the Turks dare not go south. In the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Shimin was even more likely to go forward in every battle and directly capture the enemy's core. At that time, the minds of the Chinese people had not been castrated, and in addition to the feminine power, many people had masculinity.