Emperor Apocalypse took the crossbow from Gao Jie's hand, and while looking at it carefully, he praised it and couldn't put it down.

Gao Jie smiled: "Your Majesty, it is said that you are highly skilled, and it is not difficult to make such an arm crossbow!"

Emperor Apocalypse said solemnly: "I can't say that, although I love craftsmanship and have made a lot of furniture and things, but this crossbow is not as simple as it seems, not only the workmanship is exquisite, but also the parts are unique, it is difficult to figure out the trick without spending a month of painstaking research!"

Zhu Youzhen saw that the two brothers had already begun to discuss the production of the crossbow, so he couldn't help but interrupt them: "Okay, I want to discuss how to make this crossbow, can I wait until I return to the palace later, I'm still waiting for Brother Jie to shoot the willow!"

Emperor Apocalypse laughed and said: "Seeing such a wonderful crossbow, I forgot about shooting willows, or what the inspector said, Xiaojie, you can try it on the field, and let us open our eyes!"

Gao Jie turned the Heavenly Apocalypse Emperor back with the crossbow and nodded: "Okay, this crossbow is not only the craftsmanship of the crossbow itself, but also its firing method. Because of the design of the crossbow arrow, the crossbow is much slower than the bow and arrow, and the crossbow is more powerful and has a longer range than the ordinary crossbow arrow, and the force required to pull the string and tie the arrow is much greater than that of the ordinary crossbow arrow, so there must be a matching method of shooting. And to achieve continuous firing, it is necessary to pass on the secret knowledge!"

Zhu You listened to it, and his heart itched even more, and urged: "Brother Jie, don't just say it, go and shoot it for us, I'm in a hurry!"

Gao Jie smiled, flicked it on his head, and then turned over the "hair like snow" that the chamberlain had already brought over, and began to trot in the middle of the field. As the speed became faster and faster, "hair like snow" was like a white light, galloping to his heart's content, and Gao Jie saw that when the time came, his hand flipped over, and the crossbow was already on his left arm, and four short crossbow arrows were already clamped in his right hand at the same time. Gao Jie raised his eyes and looked at the gourds hanging on the willow branches around the field, those gourds were the size of a pigeon cage, hanging on the thin willow branches, swaying slightly up and down and left and right with the autumn wind, it was indeed not a simple matter to shoot.

But who is Gao Jie? Possessing the Nine Lives of the White Lotus, his eyesight, hearing, and perception have already far surpassed ordinary people, plus there is a magical crossbow, as well as the top-secret method of shooting the crossbow taught by Chen Dake and Xie Jun, it is not difficult to hit an arrow.

Because he finally met with Zhu Youzhen smoothly, Gao Jie's heart knot was untied, and he was very happy, and he was suddenly interested, and in the loud cheers, four small crossbow arrows shot out from the crossbow machine almost at the same time, almost in order, like four bright meteors, flashing in the sky above the field, running into the four willow trees, and then, I heard four soft sounds, four gourds fell, and other people shot down the gourds and fell to the earthquake, because the crossbow was too powerful, these gourds had been split by crossbow arrows in mid-air, in the crisp sound of pigeon bells, four pigeons of different colors rose into the sky, spread their wings and flew high。

The cheers erupted, and the Emperor of the Apocalypse and Zhu Youzhen slapped vigorously, not only for Gao Jie's precise archery skills, but also for his unique and fast crossbow firing technique. Zhu Yousong, the prince of King Fu, also had shining-eyed eyes and began to re-examine this handsome young man who was not outstanding in the bowing competition.

Gao Jie dismounted and returned to the Emperor of the Apocalypse, and said with a smile: "Xiao Jie is ugly!"

Zhu Youzhen rushed over and hugged his arm, and said excitedly: "Great, Brother Jie is really getting better and better!"

Emperor Apocalypse also smiled: "It's amazing, the crossbow stone power is very high, and it can be fired at such a fast speed, it's really an eye-opener for me!"

Gao Jie said: "Master Cheng Zongyou is indeed a god, Xiao Jie hates not being able to see him with his own eyes!"

Zhu Yousong also walked over and said: "My father's bodyguard Zhou Da is from Sichuan on Tuesday, and he has mentioned Master Cheng Zongyou of the new capital many times, and his words are respectful.

Zhu Youzhen said suddenly: "If my Ming army is equipped with such sharp weapons, how can it make the Jurchens so rampant!"

Emperor Apocalypse sighed, shook his head, and said, "Having said that, do you know how much silver it takes to make such a crossbow?

Gao Jie saw that the topic was getting heavier and heavier the more he talked, and hurriedly said: "After a while, I'll ask my two eldest brothers if they can contribute the production method and shooting skills of the crossbow to the imperial court.

When Emperor Tianqi and Zhu Youzhen heard this, they immediately burst out laughing, and Zhu Yousong also held back for a long time, and couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh.

After the end of the bow shooting conference, the Emperor of the Apocalypse held a banquet in the Taihe Hall in the palace city, one to receive the wind for the emperor's uncle and the blessed king Zhu Changxun and his son and the Mongolian mission, and the other to celebrate the champion team of the bowing competition.

Taihe Palace, commonly known as Jinluan Palace, is the essence of Han palace architecture and one of the three major halls in the East. The largest existing wooden hall in China. Located in the prominent position of the north-south main axis of the Forbidden City (Forbidden City) in Beijing, it was built in the eighteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1420) and was called Fengtian Temple.

Many people think that the Taihe Hall is usually used for the upper court, but it is not. The Taihe Palace is actually used to hold various ceremonies, the actual number of times is very small, the place where the emperor of the Ming Dynasty went to court is mainly in the Taihe Gate, the Qianqing Gate (for the imperial gate to listen to the government), the Qianqing Palace (there is a major event or important event when the emperor summons the minister's location), not the usual Taihe Palace.

The 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties held grand ceremonies in the Taihe Palace, such as the emperor's ascension to the throne, the emperor's wedding, the canonization of the queen, and the order of the generals, in addition to the annual longevity festival, New Year's Day, and the winter solstice, the emperor accepted the congratulations of civil and military officials here, and gave a banquet to the princes and ministers. In addition, every year, the three major festivals of Wanshou, New Year's Day and Winter Solstice, the emperor receives the congratulations of civil and military officials here, and gives banquets to the princes and ministers. Because this banquet was related to the Mongolian alliance, in order to show solemnity, it was arranged in the Taihe Palace, which is rarely used on weekdays.

Gao Jie originally wanted to sit in the last row of seats at the bottom with Wei Liangqing, Ji Longfeng and Wukong, Zhu Youzhen was willing to do it, so he pulled him to sit with him, under the Emperor of the Apocalypse.

First of all, Liu Yijing, the first assistant, on behalf of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, made a speech to express his welcome to the Mongolian mission, and then the Emperor of the Apocalypse personally held the wine cup to toast to show his attention, and the Emperor also presented a generous gift on behalf of Lin Dan Khan, and thanked the Ming Emperor for his hospitality.

Subsequently, there was another set of ceremonies to welcome the emperor's uncle, King Zhu Changxun.

In Gao Jie's eyes, the diplomatic etiquette of the Ming Dynasty is also the same as that of later generations, cumbersome and boring, but it is impossible not to do it, as a person who has nothing to do with this incident, Gao Jie also has to sit upright, pretending to listen carefully. By the time the ceremony was over, Gao Jie was not only starving to death, but also had a sore back and faint skull. I can't help but feel a little sorry for these people who are emperors and officials, it's really not easy to deal with so many state affairs and all kinds of dignitaries!

Just thinking about it, he heard the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian shouting: "In view of the fact that Wei Liangqing, the thrifty affairs of the brocade guard, led the team to win the crown of today's bow competition, the emperor gave Wei Liangqin, Gao Jie, Ji Longfeng and Wukong four gold ingots each, ten brocade horses, and a bowing stick!"

Wei Liangqing hurriedly pulled Ji Longfeng, Wukong, and Gao Jie to kneel down and bow down to thank him.

Wei Zhongxian continued: "In addition, give Ji Longfeng and Wukong Jinyi the position of one hundred households!"

It is not a strange thing in history that he was given an official because of his superb bowing skills, and eleven of the nineteen emperors of the Tang Dynasty loved to bow and even two died because of playing. The most out-of-the-ordinary is Tang Xizong, he used the victory or defeat of the bow game to decide the appointment of officials, another year the position of Xichuan Jiedu envoy was vacant, the favored eunuch Tian Lingzi saw the opportunity to recommend Chen Jingxuan and Yang Shili to Xizong at the same time, Tang Xizong did not know who to choose, so he decided to come to a bowing competition, to "ball skills" to decide, as a result, Chen Jingxuan's ball skills were the best, and finally won the position of Xichuan Jiedu envoy. In the "New Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Zhou Bao", it is recorded that although the soldier Zhou Bao has repeatedly made military exploits, he has never been promoted. He found out that Tang Wuzong liked to bow down, so he began to practice hard to beat the bow ball until he blinded one eye, and finally won a chance to bow in front of Emperor Wuzong, the so-called "kung fu pays off", he finally won the emperor's appreciation with his superb ball skills, and was named "General Jinwu".

But the Ming Emperor doesn't like to bow much, Wanli and Guangzong are not good at this, so it has not happened for a long time to get an official by means of bowing.

How could the officials let go of this opportunity, and Yang Lian, the pioneer of the urgency, was the first to step forward and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that this move is very inappropriate! Although these two teenagers have superb ball skills, after all, they have not made an inch of merit, and they are white, how can they gain fame for this?!" As soon as Yang Lian opened fire, three more speech officials followed him to second.

Emperor Tianqi was young, and the city was not deep, so he was suddenly a little annoyed, and he said coldly: "White body?

Seeing that the Emperor of the Apocalypse was a little displeased, the other three officials pulled Yang Lian, who still wanted to argue again, and retreated.

Wei Zhongxian's face did not change, and after waiting for a while, he continued to announce: "Gao Jie, a native of Mizhi, Shaanxi, is honest and resolute, affectionate and righteous, and is a young man in the world, outstanding, and is specially awarded the title of Loyal and Brave Marquis, Jinyi Wei and Thrifty, and Qin!"

As soon as Wei Zhongxian's words fell, the civil and military officials immediately exploded.

To say that Ji Longfeng and Wukong were made petty officials, it is not a big deal, Yang Lian and others came out to oppose it, just to show off and live up to the name of the official, but now Gao Jie, who is also a white body, was inexplicably named Hou, that is a big deal. The first assistant Liu Yijing, the second assistant Ye Xianggao, and all the cabinet officials in power of the Donglin Party all stepped forward and knelt down and opposed it in unison.

Gao Jie never thought about what official he wanted to be, what to be a marquis, he traveled to the end of the Ming Dynasty, all he wanted was to take care of and protect his family and friends with his own ability, who would have thought that the Emperor of the Apocalypse would suddenly seal him a "loyal and brave marquis", and he was a little overwhelmed after hearing the announcement. What he didn't expect was that before he could react, so many civil and military officials knelt down behind him, and they objected in unison to him being the marquis and the brocade guard, which made him feel that his back was cold, as if a gust of wind suddenly blew in the Taihe Palace.

In fact, Gao Jie came from the later generations, he was casual by nature, how could he be an official in the court, subject to others, after the initial shock, he would definitely refrain from being a marquis, but after he leaned over Xiao Gaojie, he was no longer as rational as in his previous life, but became a rather emotional person, seeing so many ministers opposing his marquis, he immediately became rebellious, so he knelt motionlessly, without saying a word, and let the Emperor of the Apocalypse deal with the situation.