Besides, Xu Zhi, Zhou Yuanzhi, and He Mengjiao followed thousands of angry people to the Duliushu Execution Ground in Chang'an West City. The three of them struggled to squeeze into the crowd, only to see a dozen tall wooden stakes erected in the open space in the middle, a dozen prisoners wearing wooden shackles, handcuffs and leg shackles, tied to the pillars by five flowers, and a dozen knives and axes standing expressionlessly.

At this time, the onlookers kept shouting injustice: "These are good people! What crime have they committed that the Yellow King wants to behead them?"

A strong man shouted: "Folks, let's go to see the Yellow King together, and go to the palace to shout the injustice of the emperor!" After speaking, he led hundreds of people to the palace.

I saw a pot-bellied prison officer sitting behind the desk, facing the bleak north wind, a little uncontrollable, and scolded: "You damned people, you are really tired of life. dared to help the officers and soldiers, and used tiles and bricks to drive our righteous army out of the city. Last time, you secretly communicated with the imperial court and poisoned the soldiers of our army, didn't King Huang already spare you once? You don't even want to repent, that general can only fulfill you and let you go to hell!", Xu Zhi saw that the prison beheader was none other than the cunning and sinister Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen stood up suddenly, looked at the sundial and hourglass used for timekeeping, and shouted, "Three o'clock in the afternoon, execution!"

The dozen or so knife and axe men, who had drunk the execution wine for the prisoners, were about to raise their knives and slash them. Suddenly, five pillars of fire rose in the middle of the execution ground, and five Dongying envoys flashed out of the firelight, and the Dongying people led by them held scimitars, grabbed the frightened Zhu Wen, and sneered: "Let's slow the execution! We are the envoys sent by the Fusang State, and we just heard the people around us shouting for these criminals, may I ask the general what crime these people have committed?

Zhu Wen hurriedly said: "Your envoy listens: these people are capricious, when our army first entered Chang'an, they dared to poison the river and poison our soldiers, and now they are colluding with foreign enemies to murder today, do you say they are guilty?"

Xu Zhi listened to Zhu Wen's slanderous words against the people, and could no longer suppress the anger in his heart, and shouted loudly: "The people of Chang'an are unarmed, how dare they poison the soldiers of the righteous army, this is just the slander of you treacherous villains, and it is just an excuse for you to rob the people's rations and property!"

When the people heard this, they suddenly came to their senses, and they shouted and scolded one after another: "I see! Damn it, it should be you beasts who are secretly walking for tigers and wolves under the banner of "doing the right thing for heaven." Do you think that if you get Chang'an, you will be able to get the world? We, the people of Chang'an, will be buried with you even if we die!"

The Dongying people at the head asked, "My lord, what the people are saying is the truth? You abuse the people and slander them, is it tolerable or unbearable?"

At this time, the Dongying people wearing chrysanthemum kimonos persuaded: "Your Excellency, don't be reckless, we might as well take this prisoner hostage, and let the Yellow King of the Central Plains promise us to set up a ring here, so as to fulfill our wish to make friends with the Central Plains on this trip!"

Dongying people wearing plum blossom costumes also said: "Lord Sugawara, this is a good idea, we can save ourselves from coming to the Central Plains and running for nothing!"

The Dongying people led by him heard this, and said to Zhu Wen: "For the time being, spare your dog's life, you quickly send someone to inform your emperor, and say that our Dongying envoy wants to set up a ring under the single willow tree in this Chang'an West City, and we want to meet the literati and martial arts wizards of the great country for a while!"

When Zhu Wen heard this, he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly asked people to ride a horse to the palace to tell Huang Chao.

Huang Chao was playing with a group of beautiful ladies in the harem at this time, and when he heard that his right-hand man Zhu Wen was being held hostage by five Fusang envoys, he said angrily: "It's the other way around, didn't I let Zhang Zhifang go to deliver the decree and give them gold to return to Dongying? Why didn't they leave, but also kidnapped General Zhu?"

The soldier who sent the message replied: "Your Majesty, this group of Dongying ronins is a very scoundrel, he killed General Zhang with Tu Dun Demon Technique outside the Chunming Gate, took advantage of the chaos to kill into Chang'an City, and now he has taken General Zhu hostage, openly clamoring to set up a competition in Chang'an City to suppress the prestige of our Great Qi!"

Huang Chao heard this and said angrily: "This group of Dongying people is too unpopular, pass on the decree, I want to go to the Duliushu execution ground in Xishi, let the left and right dragon and tiger, and the four armies of Shence set up a ring on the spot, surround the five Dongying envoys, and do not let go of a person, and send a decree to Tong, Hua and other states and counties and merchants from all over the world to Chang'an, if they can defeat the Dongying people and raise the prestige of our Chinese country, I will be rewarded!", the messenger did not dare to slack off, drafted the holy decree, and quickly passed it to the states and counties in Guanzhong, and posted the list to the official road passes.

Huang Chao rode the golden chariot, under the escort of a group of feather guard of honor, golden helmets and golden armor soldiers, came to the mouth of the West Market, and the people saw Huang Chao's holy car and gave way one after another.

Pang Xun commanded the Hu Ben soldiers to build a high martial arts arena in the open space near the execution ground, and surrounded the five Dongying envoys, but Zhu Wen was still in the hands of the Dongying people, and Pang Xun did not dare to act rashly for a while.

Just when Pang Xun was at a loss, he saw Huang Chao coming, knelt down and shouted: "Minister Pang Xun takes over, may my emperor live long live, long live, long live!", and the soldiers behind him also knelt on the ground one after another.

Huang Chao, escorted by a group of soldiers wearing gold armor and holding spears and shields, ascended the high platform, waved his hand to the soldiers and people in the audience, and shouted loudly: "Zhong Aiqing, hurry up and excuse yourself, and get even!" The audience resounded with a sound of "Long live Xie".

Huang Chao looked at the five Dongying people in the audience, and saw that they were wearing blue, red, white, black, and yellow kimonos, with spring, summer, autumn, and winter patterns embroidered on their sleeves, and asked: "Since you are envoys sent by the Fusang Kingdom, you should know my Chinese etiquette, even if we have a place where we are not well entertained, you can't be rude and reckless and take General Zhu hostage?"

When the Dongying people led by him saw Huang Chao and knew that he was the Son of Heaven in Chang'an today, he bent down slightly and bowed, and replied: "Your Majesty the Yellow King, here is an envoy sent by His Majesty Emperor Daigo of Fuso Kingdom, let me introduce, the contemptible person is called Sugawara Michizane! This is the deputy envoy of our country, the son of Fujiwara Tsuneji of the last envoy to the Tang Dynasty, named Fujihara Harahara Hiroshi!", after speaking, he pointed to the Dongying man next to him who was wearing a cyan kimono and had pink peach blossoms embroidered on his chest.

Sugawara Michizane pointed to the people behind him who were wearing red embroidered with dark green lotus, white embroidered with rhubarb chrysanthemum, and black embroidered with bright red plum blossoms, and explained: "The three of them are judges, recorders, and painters in our mission, and they are called Yuanzhen, Yuantong, and Yuanhui respectively!"

After Sugawara Michizane's introduction, Fujihara Harahiro, Yuanzhen, Yuantong, and Yuanhui also visited Huangchao.

Huang Chao sneered: "It's rare that your country sent envoys thousands of miles away to come to my Great Qi Country, which should be friendly to each other and learn from each other, but you should also respect the laws and regulations of our country, how can you just arrive at Chang'an City, kill my General Zhang with witchcraft, forcibly break into my Chunming Gate, and kidnap General Zhu, is this the etiquette of your state to treat people and receive guests?"

Sugawara Michizane also ridiculed: "Although our country is a foreign land, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, every ten or twenty years, we will send envoys to China to learn advanced culture, customs, and etiquette. From Taizong to Wenzong, all dynasties and dynasties sent Tang envoys to me, all of them were welcomed and courteous, which is the style of a great country. However, His Majesty the Yellow King was newly enthroned in the Great Treasure, but he said that he could not afford to be ill, and refused to see the envoy, and his generals did not ask about the indiscriminate affairs, but they competed with the contemptible people, and the contemptible people could only sacrifice their lives to accompany the gentleman, and his death could only be blamed for his recklessness and stupidity, and his lack of skill! As for the arrested General Zhu, he bullied men and women, robbed the people of their money, and killed innocents indiscriminately.

Huang Chao was speechless when Sugawara Michizane refuted him, so he had to shout: "This place is not a place for court debates, why waste your tongues, even if we are biased, it is not your turn for outsiders to comment privately! I want to know how you can release General Zhu?"

Fujihara Harahiro interjected: "We, Lord Sugawara, have already said that we, as official envoys of the Fuso Kingdom, promised before His Majesty the Emperor before coming to your country that we have studied the Tang Dynasty culture for nearly 200 years, will we draw tigers and anti-dogs? Or will the green be better than the blue? Only after learning from the literati and samurai of your country will we know the answer! I also ask the Yellow King to remember the hard work of waiting for us to come from thousands of miles away, and fulfill our painstaking efforts!"

Huang Chao said with a smile: "This is simple, since the five noble envoys have come from thousands of miles away, they are to appreciate the heritage and momentum of my magnificent China." Then I will fulfill you, and I will set up a competition ring in the west market of Chang'an.

Seeing that more than a dozen ordinary people were still tied up on the execution ground, Sugawara Michizane persuaded: "Your Majesty the Yellow King, now that you are in the world, you should have great courage! These people who are about to be executed are all obedient people in Chang'an City, and they are all innocent. They have neither the intention of rebellion nor the intention of helping the enemy, and they also asked King Huang to release the people, and we will release General Zhu immediately!"

Li Zhen saw that Huang Chao was a little hesitant, and said to him in a low voice: "Your Majesty Huang Wang, we might as well agree to the conditions of these Dongying people first, and if they fail in the competition, we will get rid of them along with the people!"

Huang Chao asked rhetorically, "What if those envoys of the Fusang Kingdom win against us?"

Li Zhen said with a smile: "Then after they leave Chang'an, we will arrest those people and punish them!"

Huang Chao listened to this, and said in a loud voice: "The request of several noble envoys has been approved!", and after speaking, he asked Yu Linwei to loosen the ties of more than a dozen prisoners and give them freedom. Xu Zhi saw that Doctor Xie was staggering and walked into the crowd, he and Zhou Yuanzhi hurriedly greeted him and helped Doctor Xie to a vacant lot to rest for a while.

Sugawara Michizane saw that Huang Chao had let go of the innocent people, and immediately let go of Zhu Wen in his hand, and apologized: "Huang Wang, General Zhu, please forgive us for our recklessness for a while, we apologize to you!", after speaking, they bowed to Huang Chao and Zhu Wen.

Huang Chao smiled and nodded, showing understanding. Although Zhu Wen was dissatisfied, he still smiled and said: "The envoy does not need to be polite! Those who do not know are not guilty! This matter is excusable, and there is no need to take it to heart!"

Sugawara Michizane discussed with the other four envoys for a while, and then replied: "King Huang, fellow villagers and elders of Chang'an! Although the five of us are from Fusang in the East China Sea, we have learned Chinese culture since childhood, especially have a little experience in martial arts, piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting in the Central Plains, and we have also invited the literati and chivalrous men of the great countries to come to the stage to give guidance and teaching!"

Pang Xun suggested: "The five envoys should learn and communicate with our literati chivalrous, but they must also ask for a judge, otherwise how can they be superior?"

Fujihara Harahara Hiroya also said: "King Huang, Lord Sugawara, what this general said is that the victory or defeat of the competition between you and us needs to be judged by a judge, otherwise how can it be fair? As you can see, this judge must be proficient in Chinese culture and be a friend of the two countries, so that he will not favor you or us!"

Huang Chao sighed: "Don't hide it from you, now that the war is in chaos, how can you find such a judge?"

Yuan Zhen replied: "There is a person in my heart, I don't know the Yellow King, what is the opinion of Lord Sugawara?"

Sugawara Michizane asked, "Wonjin-sama, who is it?"

Yuan Zhen replied: "Yuan Zhen has a senior brother, named Yuan Ren, proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, he once became a monk with the contemptible people in the Great Nara Temple of our country, ten years ago he told the contemptible people that he was going to cross the sea to the Tang Dynasty Chang'an Dacien Temple to continue to study Buddhism. Now as long as King Huang goes to Chang'an Ci'en Temple to invite Senior Brother Yuanren, he can let him judge this grand event!"

Huang Chao thought for a while, and then said, "This is a good idea, let Yuanren be the referee of this grand event, he will definitely not take sides! Come, draw up a holy decree, and go to the Chengnan Ci'en Temple to invite Master Yuanren!", an officer of the Imperial Forest Army heard this, and hurriedly complied with the order, and invited Yuanren to go.

Zhu Wen sneered: "Your Majesty, King Huang, we should also invite someone to be the referee, so that it is fair!"

Huang Chao asked, "General Zhu, according to what you see, who should be the referee?"

Zhu Wen thought for a while and said, "Huang Wang has a Hanlin scholar by his side, Pi Rixiu, who is proficient in calligraphy and calligraphy, and can take on this important task!" Huang Chao nodded when he heard this.

After a while, a middle-aged Toutuo and a young bachelor wearing a brocade robe and jade belt slowly stepped into the ring, saluted Huang Wang, Sugawara Michizane and others one by one, and introduced themselves to everyone. Xu Zhi and the three of them knew that they were the referees of this Sino-Japanese competition, Yuan Ren and Pi Rixiu.

Yuanren first announced the schedule of the competition: the first day of the competition of Go and calligraphy, the second day of the competition of music and painting, the third day of the competition of martial arts, the Chinese side regardless of the official and civilian pawns, can go to the stage and compete with the 5 Dongying envoys, the victory or defeat is decided by the poor monk and the leather bachelor!

After Master Yuanren announced the arrangement of the competition, Pi Rixiu immediately read out the rules of the competition: this Chinese and foreign competition focuses on meeting friends with literature and enhancing friendship, only about victory and defeat, not about life and death.

As soon as Pi Rixiu finished speaking, Yuan Zhen stood in the center of the ring, clasped his fists with both hands and said: "In Xia Yuanzhen has liked Go since he was a child, and today he can talk about a game with a Chinese master, which is more delicious than delicacies, and this trip to Chang'an is in vain." ”

Zhu Wen saw that Yuan Zhen had been on the stage for a long time, and no one in the audience dared to fight, he saw Huang Chao's brows tightened, and his heart was displeased, so he suggested: "Your Majesty, why don't you let the chess in the palace wait for the edict, and talk a few games with this Yuan Zhen hand, so as to suppress the arrogance of the Dongying people and promote the national prestige of our Great Qi Kingdom!"

Huang Chao was overjoyed when he heard this, and called Gu Shiyan, the first national player in the palace, to let him play a game with Yuanzhen.

Yuan Zhen and Gu Shiyan gave in politely before taking their seats. Yuan Zhen took out a piece of a Go board made of pale blue jade from his arms, cold and warm jade chess pieces, and asked Gu Shiyan: "Gu Zhizhao, do you know the origin of this chessboard and chess pieces?"

Gu Shiyan said modestly: "Forgive me for being lonely, and please ask the master to give advice!"

Yuan Zhen replied: "Thirty thousand miles east of the country, there is Jizhen Island, on which there is Ningxia Terrace, and there is a hand talk pool on the platform. The jade chess pieces in the pond are not separated by the system, the black and white colors are naturally separated, the winter is warm and the summer is cold, so it is called the cold and warm jade chess pieces; That's why this chessboard is also called the Catalpa game!"

After listening to this, Gu Shiyan said with a smile: "This chessboard can be called a catalpa jade game, and the chess pieces are cold and warm jade chess pieces, and I have been taught!"

Yuan Zhen took the lead and said with a smile: "Although the Go chessboard is small, it can carry the sun and the moon!"

Gu Shiyan put the sunspot into the chessboard and replied: "Although the chess pieces are small, they can also attack cities and seize land!"

The two smiled sympathetically and began to set up a game, and the two met opponents, and they played thirty-three hands without winning or losing. Gu Shiyan was afraid of insulting the king's life and living up to the expectations of the people, so he pondered for a long time before he dared to fall, and finally played the chess game of "Zhenshentou", a wonderful move of "one son to solve two signs".

Yuan Zhen's eyes widened, and he wanted to drop the chessboard several times, but he hesitated, so he had to admit defeat to Gu Shiyan. Yuan Zhen asked Pi Rixiu beside him: "How many countries is Gu Zhizhao in your country?"

Pi Rixiu said in a trick manner: "Gu Zhizhao is only a third country hand of our country!"

Yuan Zhen couldn't believe it: "Contemptible people want to see China's first national player!"

Pi Rixiu said with a smile: "The master doesn't know that there is a rule in our country, only if you win the edict, you can see the second national player, and if you win the second, you can see the first national player!"

Director Yuan Zhenbao sighed: "The first national player of a small country is inferior to the third national player of a large country, alas! The Chinese game of Go is really unfathomable, and the contemptible words are really ridiculous and generous!"

Seeing that Yuanren really admitted defeat, Yuanren announced a chess competition, and Gu Shiyan won.

Huang Chao saw that Gu Zhizhao won the first game of the Sino-Japanese competition, his heart was settled, and he saw that the emotions of the people in the audience were also much calmer, so he called Pang Xun and asked him to serve as the Qin Cha of the competition, deal with all matters on the spot, and report the results of the following games in time. After Huang Chao finished giving the order, he and Zhu Wen left the competition ring in Chang'an West City.