The martial arts examination was held in the Youwei Great Training Ground, that is, the flat polo field that Li Zhen saw after coming out of the tunnel of Lintoe Temple, which was presided over by the military department.

In fact, the martial arts examination began seven days ago, and some basic exams were conducted first, mainly in foot shooting, weightlifting and taolu marksmanship, and those who passed the three tests took the official martial arts mounted archery test on the fifth day of the second lunar month.

Martial arts examination, riding and archery is the core, more than 3,000 scholars who participated in the martial arts examination basically passed the preliminary examination, but if you want to figure out the strict riding and archery examination, you need a high level of riding and archery, according to the ratio of fifteen people to one person, only two hundred people were admitted in the end, and the competition is also very fierce.

As soon as the morning dawned, thousands of soldiers who participated in the martial arts had already gathered outside the right guard training ground, together with the entourage and grooms, there were as many as five or six thousand, and the candidates for the examination were all wearing the same leather armor and equipped with waist badges, many of them were officers recommended from various armies, and most of them were in their thirties, among which there were many middle-level officers such as Lang General and Zhong Lang General.

Outside the training ground was crowded with candidates and war horses, all kinds of discussions and noises rang out, Li Zhen and Di Yan stood on the side, Li Zhen had already changed into leather armor, and Di Yan was helping him tie the belt behind him.

"You don't have it now, many of them are from the army, they are not young, and the military rank does not look low. Di Yan whispered to Li Zhen on the side.

Li Zhen's eyes looked at a group of officers not far away, about 20 people, officers who don't know where, all of them are powerful, rugged, and not young, at least in their early thirties, it can be seen that they are all high-ranking military officials, and they are discussing something together.

"They are all local soldiers in various places, and they participate in the martial arts to make a name for themselves and lay the foundation for the next step of promotion. ”

Li Zhen didn't despise these officers, because he himself was the same, he obviously became the deputy commander of the internal guard, and he came to join in the fun and occupy the quota, and it is estimated that others will also complain about him.

At this time, Zhang Li walked over from the crowd, followed by a person behind him, "Commander, who do you think I brought here?"

Li Zhen had already seen the person behind Zhang Li, who was Li Pan of the Li clan in Dunhuang, when he was in Dunhuang, Li Pan had followed Li Jin to his house, just to let him withdraw from the martial arts township test, and later Li Pan also got a place to enter Beijing to participate in the martial arts.

Li Pan's face was a little red, all the way to the root of his ears, and he stepped forward to salute and said, "See Commander Li!"

Although Li Zhen didn't want to remember the old grudge against the competition for the quota, he couldn't get intimate with Li Pan, mainly because Li Pan's father Li Ze wanted to plot him on the stone wall of the Mogao Grottoes, which led to the confrontation between him and his family, and Li Zhen has not forgotten it so far.

However, Li Zhen is now a person with status, and he is no longer a flat-headed ordinary person who is angry, now that he has become an official, he has also broadened his mind a lot, at least on the surface, he seems to be a little more generous.

Li Zhen replied with a smile on his face: "It turned out to be Brother Pan, I haven't seen you for a long time, I don't know when Brother Pan came to the capital?"

Li Zhen and Li Pan are clansmen and have a blood relationship with each other, if Li Zhen calls him second brother, it means that he still recognizes this clan brother, but he can call him Brother Pan, they have changed from relatives to friends, and a small title shows his attitude.

Li Pan's heart was gloomy, he and Zhang Li had a good personal relationship, he heard that Zhang Li had entered the internal guard, and he also figured out the relationship between Li Zhen and entered the internal guard, but Li Zhen had not forgotten what his father had done, and it was probably hopeless to enter the internal guard, which made him very depressed.

Zhang Li also heard the coldness hidden in Li Zhen's enthusiasm, of course he knew the old feud between Li Zhen and Li Pan, but he brought Li Pan over for another deep meaning.

He hurriedly pulled Li Zhen aside and whispered to him: "In the past two days, Suo Wen has been wooing Li Pan and wants him to join the black officials who came to Junchen, you know that once Li Pan joins the black officials, I am afraid that there will be changes on the Dunhuang side." ”

This was beyond Li Zhen's expectations, Suo Wen was actually wooing Li Pan, he pondered for a moment and said, "Doesn't he have a third way to go?"

Zhang Li sighed, "It's your patriarch who wants him to work in the capital, he has no backers in the capital, and it's hard to mix in Dunhuang!"

If it involves the dispute between the major families in Dunhuang, it's another matter, no matter how much Li Zhen hates the Li family in Dunhuang, but after all, it is his family, and he never wants the Li family in Dunhuang to join the camp of Lai Junchen.

Compared to Lai Junchen's threat, Li Zhen's personal grievances were insignificant, Li Zhen nodded, "Let me think about this matter, let him concentrate on participating in the imperial examination first, and strive to be admitted." ”

Zhang Li was secretly happy in his heart, Li Zhen's tone eased up, and there was room for negotiation in the matter, he hurriedly turned around and whispered a few words to Li Pan, and the two saluted Li Zhen again and left together.

Di Yan didn't speak until they left, and then Di Yan asked, "Is he from your clan?"

"How do you know?" asked Li Zhen in surprise.

"I feel like you guys look a little alike!"

"Is it like?" Li Zhen touched his chin, his face was long, while Li Pan had a square face, and the difference between his eyebrows and eyes was greater, where did they look alike?

Di Yan laughed, "I'm kidding you, I've heard the fat man say before that there is also a Dunhuang scholar who participated in the martial arts is your brother, so I guess it's him." ”

"Well, that's him, he wants to join the inner guard, I'm a little hesitant. ”

"Hesitation?"

Di Yan's face showed a consistent sarcastic smile again, which was a unique expression for Li Zhen's ignorance of the rules of officialdom, "Others are trying in every possible way to pull the clansmen in, you are good, you actually hesitate, you are different from everything!"

Li Zhen had long been accustomed to the change in Di Yan's expression, and his eyebrows raised slightly, offsetting the blow from her sarcastic smile, "Things are not what you think, and I will tell you slowly in the future." ”

At this time, there was a sound of drumming in the distance, which was a signal that the martial arts cavalry was starting to prepare to start, Li Zhen looked at his number plate, he was the last to sign up, so the ranking was also behind, that is, he would take the exam later.

"Let's go! I'll take you to the stands first. ”

The martial arts examination is different from the imperial examination, its examination is almost open, the huge examination venue is not surrounded by a veil, the martial arts warriors in the training ground of the cavalry and shooting, can be clearly seen outside, which determines that the martial arts cavalry and archery is won by real skills, it is difficult to speculate and cheat, the reason why the military department does this, is also forced by the pressure of the army helplessly.

The cavalry archery test of the military department is the same as the Wuju township test in Shazhou, and three arrows are shot within 150 steps to evaluate the candidate's riding and archery level.

Of course, there are other factors to consider at the beginning of the military department, such as strength, the results of candidates who open a stone bow and eight bucket bows will definitely not be the same, and then such as the preliminary test results such as foot archery and marksmanship, and finally get a comprehensive score, ranking the top two hundred admissions.

The first place is the martial arts champion, which is the highest honor of the martial arts every year, and the martial champion will be received by the saint and specially rewarded, which is also the dream of every martial arts candidate.

With the sound of drums, a large number of palace guards slipped to the right guard training ground in Dongcheng, all wanting to watch the annual mounted archery competition, the number of spectators on both sides of the right guard training ground increased rapidly, and Li Zhen wanted to find a corner with fewer people to place Di Yan.

At this moment, a familiar voice came from a distance, "Lao Li, this way!"

As soon as he turned around, he saw Jiuzhi standing not far away waving to him, and he was not surprised at all that Jiuzhi appeared here, on the contrary, it would be strange if this extremely lively guy was not here today.

Of course, the leader's shelf still has to be put on a swing, Li Zhen urged him to step forward, and said with a sinking face: "Do you have nothing to do today?"

Jiu Zhi then remembered that he was Li Zhen's subordinate, he showed embarrassment on his face, glanced at Di Yan next to him, rolled his eyes, and immediately salivated and smiled: "I know that Sister Di is coming, so come and help you take care of her, besides, how can the commander participate in the competition, how can you not come to shout and cheer as a subordinate?

Di Yan in the back couldn't help but chuckle, this wine fat man was more flamboyant than before, at this time, the drum beat in the distance again, this is urging the candidates to enter, and they are about to start the roll call, Li Zhen is no longer embarrassed by the wine zhi, and said to him: "Ah Yan will be handed over to you, find a place with fewer people." ”

"No problem, I promise to take good care of Sister Di, one...... That head won't be less. ”

Li Zhen glared at him, and then instructed Di Yan to turn around and leave.

Not long after, all the candidates are concentrated in the northeast corner, more than 3,000 candidates lead horses to take the test, quite a bit of cavalry assembly of the spectacle, candidates in a group of 100 people, respectively through guò five riding and archery tracks for the test, after the completion of riding and shooting, go out directly from the west, do not have to wait for the results, so although the number is large, in fact, it is not slow.

With the beating of the third drum, the cavalry and archery test finally began, and after the five candidates had finished testing their bows and arrows, they turned over their horses and urged their horses to gallop out, running towards the target with bows and arrows in their hands, and the thousands of guards watching the battle on both sides suddenly became excited, shouting loudly, and applauding like thunder.

In the corner of the training ground, Jiu Zhi was also very excited, he pointed to the arrow target in the distance, and explained to Di Yan: "You see that there is no straw man arrow target over there, the shot above the neck is superior, the body is medium, and the limbs are inferior, and there is no point if you miss the target." ”

"What if you hit the center of your eyebrows?" Di Yan asked curiously.

For example, a shot at the center of the eyebrows, the middle of the forehead and the throat is upper, a shot at the mouth, nose and eyes is an upper-middle, a shot at the cheeks and neck is upper-middle, but a shot at the heart is also upper-middle, which is the same as the mouth, nose and eyes. ”

"Why are you so strict?"

"Not only this!For example, there is also a distinction between bows and arrows, a stone bow is the standard, add one bucket plus one, light one bucket minus one, and the scores of the preliminary examination, all of which are counted as additional scores, if you can get three upper, the additional score behind is very high, basically it's no problem to enter the top twenty, but if you want to take the martial arts test, you must shoot at least three upper, Datang Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger!"

At this time, a group of guards behind Di Yanxian were taking out money to bet, and she couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Fat man, this martial arts still has gambling money?"

Jiu Zhi glanced at it and smiled, "It's normal! Most of the guards are good at gambling, how can they let go of this kind of martial arts competition, I won't tell you, I also bet on twenty yuan, and I bet on Lao Li to win the championship." ”

Di Yan suddenly became interested, she took out a silver ingot, "I also bet on Brother Li to win the championship." ”

Jiu Zhi took her silver and weighed it, at least twenty taels, and said with a smile: "You wait, I'll help you bet!"

Jiu Zhi ran over, registered and bet on the silver, and soon came back and said with a smile: "Okay, bet on twenty yuan, but there are more bets on Lao Li to win the championship, if you win, you won't make much, you can earn a maximum of twenty yuan." ”

When Di Yan heard that it could be doubled, she immediately smiled and said, "Twenty yuan is good! If he wins the championship, I will treat him to a drink." ”

At this time, there was a burst of cheers in the distance, and there were three high scores in the examination room, and a candidate was hit by three arrows eighty steps away, Di Yan was also infected by the atmosphere of the scene, and shouted loudly with excitement.

With the passage of time, batches of candidates shot arrows, more and more 'three up' high scores began to emerge, this year's results are significantly higher than last year's, at this time, the additional score value behind is the key to whether you can get a good ranking in the end.

Perhaps because of the betting, Di Yan was particularly concerned about whether Li Zhen could win the championship, and she asked, "How many competitors does Brother Li have?"

Jiu Zhi stretched out a slap and said with a smile: "In fact, there are only five people, these five people ride and shoot the group, their additional points are about the same, two forty points, three thirty-nine points, the final champion will inevitably be produced among them, all bets are on the five of them, Lao Li is one of the best, two stone bows, tied for first place in the preliminary examination, and his additional score is forty points." ”

"Who else is there?" Di Yan asked, "The person who is the same as Brother Li." ”

"It is a royal clan, the great-grandson of Emperor Taizong, called Li Yi, about thirty years old, very good at riding and shooting, and playing polo very exquisitely. ”

Di Yan suddenly became a little worried, "What if he gets extra care because he is a royal family?"

At this moment, the noisy guards suddenly fell silent, and only someone whispered and shouted

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