Da Song Jiangnan East Road, Jiankang Mansion, Jinling City, Chengxi Ferry.

A passenger ship docked, and the Cao Youwen brothers, who were carrying burdens, mixed in with the crowd of passengers, boarded the shore, and looked curiously at the towering Jinling city wall in front of them.

Lined with shops, busy traffic, bustling people, lively hawkers, and young people coming and going, hurrying, and speaking with accents from all over the world.

I'm afraid that these young people are all candidates who have been admitted to the Lecture Martial Arts Hall.

Jiankang Mansion is an important town in the south of the Yangtze River, the population inside and outside the city reaches five or six hundred thousand, rich businessmen, peddlers and pawns, wandering houses, three religions and nine streams, although it is not as prosperous and lively as Lin'an Mansion, but it is also a big city, it is magnificent.

"Uncle, here are ten buns and a pot of hot tea!"

Cao Youwen took off his baggage and sat down with his younger brother Cao Youwan at a tea stall.

100,000 homes in Jinling. Compared to the three passes and five states in the northwest border, the population here is simply too dense.

"Guest officer, are you here to take the martial arts exam?"

The shopkeeper is an old man over half a hundred years old, and when he looks at his words and looks, he knows that he is a foreigner.

"Uncle, how do you know?"

Cao Youwen's younger brother Cao Youwan took the teapot and poured the tea, and asked curiously.

"Guest officer, just look at your dress and listen to your accent. These days, thousands of young people have come from all over the country, some of them a month ago. Now the inns in the city are full, just waiting for the martial arts hall to open for the exam. ”

The shopkeeper grinned and put the bun on it, nodded and said.

These two young men were tall and heroic, and they came from the northwest as soon as they heard the accent. Looking at the brocade clothes and gorgeous clothes, with a long knife hanging on his waist, he belongs to a family that is not bad for money.

"Thank you, sir!"

Cao Youwen picked up the teacup and continued to ask:

"Uncle, do you know how to get to this martial arts hall?"

"The martial arts hall is in the north of the city, which is the palace of the former Southern Tang Emperor. Later, Emperor Gaozong came south to the south of the Yangtze River and changed the palace into a palace. Now, the new emperor has changed it to a martial arts hall again! ”

After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he smiled and walked away.

"Big brother, it seems that there are not a few people who come to apply for the martial arts hall!"

Cao Youwan said to his eldest brother while eating the buns.

"The emperor's personal decree, the world's young talents are gathered here. Jinling City, I'm afraid it's a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger. ”

Cao Youwen was eating buns, and took out a small book from his arms with his left hand to look at it, and the three words "Tatar Policy" were on the book cover.

The two brothers look alike, generally tall and mighty, but the younger brother Cao Youwan is more stout and strong, and the elder brother Cao Youwen is much more elegant and delicate.

"Big brother, I just don't know, will the emperor come to Jinling City?"

Cao Youwan's young face was full of anticipation.

"Will definitely come. The lecture hall was created by the emperor himself, and the emperor is the principal of the lecture hall, so the emperor will definitely come to such a big event. Don't you want to take the martial arts exam, just talk about martial arts! ”

Cao Youwen looked at his younger brother and smiled slightly.

The younger brother is skilled in archery and horses, and is familiar with military books, so if he takes the martial arts test, it should not be a problem. Now martial arts and martial arts are combined into one, and it is enough to directly take the martial arts hall.

"Big brother, don't you go to Lin'an City to take the Jinshi exam, do you also want to apply for the martial arts hall?"

Cao Youwan asked about his brother.

I thought my brother would travel and prepare for next year's imperial examination. Now it seems that Cao Youwen is afraid that he has changed his mind.

However, the elder brother is a sharpshooter, extremely powerful, both civil and military, and it should be more than enough to take the martial arts test.

"It is better to be a centurion than to be a scholar. From this book "Tatar Policy", from this martial arts hall, and this "so many delicate rivers and mountains, leading countless heroes to bend their waists", we know that the ambition of today's son is to expand the territory and use troops in the sea. ”

Attracted by his brother's words, Cao Youwan raised his head in surprise.

"Big brother, so to speak, does the emperor really want to be a strong soldier and be an emperor on the horse?"

"Whether it is the emperor or not, you will know when you enter the martial arts hall."

Cao You drank tea and smiled slightly.

"Don't look at the eldest brother, go to the martial arts hall, let's take a good look. It's really not good, you take the exam for your martial arts hall, and the eldest brother goes to participate in the imperial examination, and the two are not wrong. ”

"Big brother, you're already excited. You promised your sister-in-law that you would go to the imperial examination to take the imperial examination and glorify your ancestors! ”

Brotherhood, Cao Youwan laughed.

"Four books and five classics, glorious ancestors, but unfortunately the world is different, what the emperor needs is a martial artist, a general who can fight a decisive battle on the battlefield. Let's go to Jinling Lecture Hall first, perhaps, that's where the dream begins. ”

Cao You sighed faintly, drank the hot tea in the cup, looked at his younger brother, and stood up.

"Let's eat, let's go into the city!"

When Cao Youwen heard that his brothers were leaving, the shopkeeper of the tea shop looked at the burly backs of the two brothers and couldn't help but be distracted.

These fierce young people may really be able to do something.

"Shopkeeper, look, there's a guest again!"

A guest reminded the shopkeeper that there was another passenger ship docking, and there were many young people coming down.

A few young men with knives and guns came to the tea stall and sat down one after another.

Although the people of the Song Dynasty restricted standard weapons, such as crossbows, they could generally carry knives, guns and sticks, especially these young people who applied for the martial arts hall, the local government and the local checkpoints along the way, all of which were given the green light.

"Commander Wang, what is the purpose of the imperial court to hold this martial arts hall?"

The tall, thin young man spoke first, seemingly with a Guangxi accent.

"Needless to say, the new emperor Wen Taowu is definitely going to be strong and use troops against the Jin people and Tatars. If you look at this newspaper and the "Tatar Policy" published on it, the emperor must be going to destroy the Jin State and then use troops against the Tatars! ”

The young man called "Commander Wang" was swarthy and strong, his eyebrows fluttered, but he spoke a northern Hubei dialect.

"Commander Wang, your "Loyal Shun Army" are all elite soldiers and strong generals, I heard that in addition to you, your old Linggong's son Meng Heng has also been summoned to Jinling City! ”

Another burly young man asked, also with a Guangxi accent.

The man known as "Wang Commander" is called Wang Jian, a native of Dengzhou, Nanyang, and now serves in the border army on Jingnan Road.

In the twelfth year of Jiading (1219), the commander of the Jin army Wanyan could invade Tangzhou and Zaoyang, and the Song Zaoyang army made Meng Zongzheng recruit more than 20,000 strong men from Tang, Deng and Cai, and called the Zhongshun Army.

This time, the Jinling Lecture Hall recruited students, and the quota of 200 people was given to the generals in the army, and Wang Jian was recommended to enter the Lecture Hall and come to enroll in the school for "further study".

Being recommended by the army also shows his strength. And the strength of the border army officers is convincing with a knife and a gun.

"Although it is recommended to enter the Jinling Lecture Martial Arts Hall, I also want to take the test to see if I have the ability to pass the test?"

Wang Jian seems to be full of confidence in himself.

"Two brothers, you are so young, and you also come to the martial arts?"

Wang Jian smiled slightly and patted the shoulder of the tall thin man next to him.

He was twenty-five years old, and the two brothers, at most, in their early twenties, were perhaps not yet twenty years old.

"It is better to be a centurion than to be a scholar. I think that the new emperor's accession to the throne seems to be to make great efforts to govern and reorganize the armed forces. I just had nothing to do at home, and my brother came! ”

"Yes! The emperor founded Jinling Lecture Hall, and the opportunity for martial artists came. Our brothers, we are going to be admitted to the martial arts hall and want to make contributions on the battlefield! ”

The two brothers spoke one after the other.

The thin and tall man is called Cao Erxiong, and the burly man is called Cao Shixiong, the two are cousins, one is twenty, and the other is just eighteen, both from Guangxi.

Several people met on the boat that came to Jinling, and they went to the martial arts hall together, and they hit it off at first sight, so they quickly became one.

"Cao Shixiong, I see that you read well, why don't you go to the imperial examination to get scholars, but instead report to this Jinling martial arts hall?"

Hearing Wang Jian's question, Cao Shixiong smiled, a little embarrassed.

"Commander Wang, is it so easy to take the imperial examination? Like my second brother, I like to dance with guns and sticks, and I don't want to be poor for the rest of my life. The lecture hall was founded by the emperor himself, and I felt that this was an opportunity. What is lacking in life is opportunity, don't you say? ”

Cao Shixiong was in high spirits and made no secret of his ambitions.

"Well said! However, you have to be admitted to the martial arts hall first. Horseback archery, knives, guns and clubs, do you all know? ”

Wang Jian laughed and appreciated Cao Shixiong's words.

"That's not a problem! Brother, I have been working hard since I was a child, and I can ride horses and shoot arrows. A martial arts hall can't help it! ”

Cao Shixiong is full of confidence and is as arrogant as Wang Jian.

"Good! Be ambitious! ”

Wang Jian said loudly appreciatively.

This guy is unruly, tall and strong, and is born to fight on the battlefield.

"Commander Wang, you are all the commanders, you have fought so many battles, crawled out of the pile of dead people, you know everything, and the emperor also summoned you to tell you what to learn in Wutang, isn't it useless?"

Cao Erxiong asked curiously.

Wang Jian is a veteran general on the battlefield, and he fought with a knife and a gun, and it seems that it is not necessary for the court to let them go to the martial arts hall again.

"Brother Cao, brother, I was also puzzled at first, after so many battles, why did you come to come to Wutang? Later, I heard that the martial arts hall had newly added an artillery department, and the artillery could kill and injure the opponent at hundreds of paces, especially against cavalry. I think this is probably one of the reasons why the emperor founded the lecture hall. ”

Wang Jian is old in the army, and the rumors of firearms are boiling, and he naturally knows a lot more than the Cao brothers from the people.

"Gunner? Artillery? ”

Sure enough, the Cao brothers' interest was suddenly raised.

"Not bad! I heard that the artillery was made by the emperor himself, and even the teaching materials used in the artillery were written by the emperor himself. The emperor served as the headmaster of the martial arts hall, and to be honest, I couldn't wait to see the artillery! ”

Wang Jian's eyes lit up.

Since last year, rumors of the emperor building artillery have been endless. If the artillery is really as powerful as rumored to be able to deal with the powerful cavalry, then it will be enough to change the way and direction of war.

"Kill traitors, make artillery, or poetry. The Emperor is truly remarkable! ”

Cao Erxiong shook his head and said enviously.

The emperor got rid of the traitor Shi Miyuan, implemented a new policy on Jiangnan East Road, founded Jinling Lecture Hall and Jinling University Hall, and organized and trained a new army, giving people inexplicable hope.

"It's amazing! Emperor Qin and Han Wu, slightly lost literary talent, Tang Dynasty and Song ancestors, slightly less coquettish. The newspaper said that the emperor founded the lecture hall and personally served as the principal of the lecture hall. If we are admitted to the martial arts hall, we are protégés of the Son of Heaven, and we can meet the emperor. If you want to make a career and order troops on the battlefield, it will be much easier! ”

Cao Shixiong's saliva flew sideways, and his eyes lit up.

The emperor himself served as the principal of the lecture hall, and the students of the lecture hall were not the emperor's students?

Just thinking about it, Cao Shixiong is already enthusiastic.

"Brother Cao, have ambition! If the emperor is really Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, let's be Wei Qinghuo under his command and get sick! Come, let's replace wine with tea and drink it! ”

Wang Jian raised the tea bowl and was impassioned.

"Well, it's a deal! The emperor is the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty, let's be Wei Qinghuo to get sick! ”

The Cao brothers raised the bowl together, and the three of them bumped into each other with a "bangdang".

Looking at the high-spirited appearance of several young people, the tea shopkeeper shook his head enviously.

These young people who came to Jinling to pursue their dreams are either from the civilian sector or from the military, all of them have dreams, and they don't know what their future prospects are.

However, from their vigorous bodies, it seems that they can feel the difference, a hopeful hope.