On the second day of September in the third year of Yifeng, the first martial arts of the Tang Dynasty officially began.

Although it is said that the imperial court previously said in the proclamation issued to various places that the competition for the selection of good martial artists was called the "Martial Arts Competition," but after listening to Wei Yuanzhong's exposition, the emperor and the empress decided to change the "Martial Arts Competition" to an examination similar to the imperial examination held once a year. The senior brother will be awarded an official, followed by a class promotion! ”

Therefore, the martial arts were held in a hurry, and the participants were also those good martial artists selected by the states and counties near Chang'an, so it could not be said that it was a martial arts imperial examination in the real sense of facing the world, but the Ministry of War had organized personnel to formulate a more detailed selection system for martial arts, and the imperial court had also ordered that the second martial arts of the Tang Dynasty would be held after the autumn harvest of the coming year, and good martial artists from all over the country could come to Chang'an to participate, and the officials of the DPRK and China were also encouraged to recommend brave warriors with good qualifications and strategies.

Because it was the first time that such a martial arts competition was held, all the rules were in the process of being explored, and the competition items set by the Ministry of War were based on the most effective infantry shooting, mounted archery, equestrian, and horse weapon drills that could play the most role on the battlefield.

However, when it comes to the final finals, in addition to the previous items, the winners will also be questioned by the officials of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Officials to assess whether the candidates can be generals, and the appearance of the participants must be comprehensive, and then the final ranking will be determined by the examiner.

That is to say, in addition to outstanding martial arts, those who come to participate in the martial arts competition must also be able to afford the audience, not ugly, nor can they be the kind of reckless men who have no ink on their chests, and those who are good in martial arts, intelligence, and appearance can achieve a good ranking until they finally win the top position.

In the next year's martial arts competition, there will be only one exam, and everyone will also determine the ranking according to the results of one time, and finally produce the top scorer.

There are more than 3,000 samurai selected by the states and counties near Chang'an, but not all 3,000 people can participate in the martial arts, only those who perform well in the selection of various states and counties can participate in the martial arts competition, about 300 people, and most of the others are just recruited into the army.

These 300 people, plus some children of eunuchs in Chang'an City who were not recommended, participated in the preliminary competition together, won the top 50 in the preliminary round, and then participated in the final together with those brave warriors recommended by officials above the fourth grade to determine the final ranking.

After the martial arts began, the preliminary competition in the first few days was held outside the Mingchun Gate in the east of the city, which was a very vast place, and it was open to the people, and the people in Chang'an City could go to watch.

Because it was the first time that the imperial court held such a martial arts competition, the audience was like a cloud for a while, and there was a feeling of thousands of empty alleys in Chang'an City.

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"Pei Shilang, looking at the samurai selected by these states and counties, they are really not very good, it seems that my Tang martial arts are declining!" As one of the chief examiners this time, Cen Changqian, the waiter of the military department, said with some disappointment to Pei Xingjian, the waiter of the other chief examiner.

As the adopted son of Zhenguan famous minister Cen Wenwen, and also the most beloved descendant of Cen Wenwen, Cen Changqian's experience is almost a copy of Cen Wenwen, Cen Changqian, both Wen Tao and Wu Strategy, are extraordinary, and therefore reused, as the left waiter of the Ministry of War, and also the host of the first martial arts competition in the Tang Dynasty, together with Pei Xingjian, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, is responsible for the process of the entire martial arts competition, and as one of the chief examiners, leads the officials of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Officials, scores all the players, and determines their rankings.

The competition has been going on for nearly ten days, and there are still two days left before the preliminary competition is over, the three hundred warriors selected by the states and counties, plus the two hundred or so officials in Chang'an City who are not recommended by officials above the fourth grade, a total of more than 500 people have more than 400 The competition has been completed, they have not found a special outstanding, only a dozen or so warriors, slightly good, in the top of the rating list, but only better than others, far from reaching the point of "outstanding", after the end of the one-day event, Cen Changqian couldn't help but express her disappointment to Pei Xingjian on the side.

"So-and-so feels the same way!" Pei Xingjian nodded slightly, he originally expected to find a few outstanding martial arts and strategies in this martial arts competition, vigorously recommend them to the imperial court, and cultivate them, if possible, he will also teach them the method of using troops created by Su Dingfang and Li Jing, the god of the Tang Dynasty, to create a few good generals, after all, Pei Xingjian is almost sixty years old, and he still hopes to teach the art of war inherited by his master plus some of his own summaries on the use of soldiers to some people with good qualifications. It's a pity that after a few days of competition, no particularly outstanding person was discovered by them, which made Pei Xingjian also deeply disappointed, and it was really as Cen Changqian said, not to become a Tang Dynasty martial arts decline?

Seeing that the two high-ranking officials who presided over the event looked disappointed, Wei Yuanzhong, the new Zhongshu who assisted in the work, put down the pen in his hand and stepped forward and said: "Pei Shilang, Cen Shilang, don't be anxious, there are still two days left in the preliminary round, maybe there are extraordinary people among the remaining people!" Also, this year's participation is only the brave warriors from some states and counties near Chang'an, my Datang population is tens of millions, there must be people with good qualifications, even if you can't select very outstanding people this year, I think, next year, or next year, there will definitely be people with good posture! ”

"Wei Sheren's words are very reasonable, my Tang Dynasty has tens of millions of people, as long as the martial arts can continue, I will definitely be able to select generals with good posture!" Cen Changqian agreed with Wei Yuanzhong's remarks. As long as the imperial court is heavily armed, the folk fashion will definitely flourish again, and there will be more and more brave warriors.

"Okay, let's go, the preliminary round is almost over, let's go back later, let's discuss how the final two days will be conducted!" Pei Xingjian also agreed with Wei Yuanzhong's words, but did not say anything.

Pei Xingjian, who has always been good at getting along with people, also admires the emperor's newly promoted Zhongshushe. After the start of this martial arts, he also handed over a lot of things to him to do, and what made Pei Xingjian happy was that Wei Yuanzhong did all the things delivered, and some things were even handled beyond Pei Xingjian's accident, Pei Xingjian also understood that Wei Yuanzhong's ability was indeed good.

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After about ten days of competition, the game went to the last day, there were only about fifty warriors who did not participate in the competition, early in the morning, Pei Xingjian and Cen Changqian, and Wei Yuanzhong, as well as some other officials of the military department and the Ministry of Officials, came to the martial arts competition outside the gate of Mingchun early, ready to preside over the last day of the competition.

Pei Xingjian, who is already not young, is a little tired, and it is indeed a little hard for a few days, but also because he did not find very outstanding talents, which made Pei Xingjian a little disappointed, and his mood was also affected, Pei Xingjian sat down on the stool, and took the roster of registrations a little bored, and looked at the list of the last fifty or so contestants, and suddenly, the name of a contestant caught his attention...;