Back at the Wei family in the imperial city, everyone sat in the main hall and listened to Wei Liangqing introduce the details of the bow.

Gao Jie held Wei Liangqing's special staff in his hand, and looked carefully while listening to the explanation. The stick is about four feet long, wooden, and curved back like a glaive at the top, blocking the rapidly rolling polo. Goku, on the other hand, is playing with a ball the size of a fist, the middle of the ball is hollowed out, and the raw material for making the ball is a light and flexible wood, and the outside of the ball is also carved with delicate patterns, so the polo made is not only a tool for competitive sports, but also a very exquisite handicraft.

From Wei Liangqing's introduction, Gao Jie probably figured out that the bow is actually similar to the polo sport of later generations.

There is controversy about the origin of polo in China. It is said that from Cao Zhi's "Mingdu Fu", "Lian Pian hits the bow soil, and the ingenuity is only ten thousand ends", it can be known that it appeared as early as the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but whether the "beating the bow soil" here is the bow of later generations remains to be verified. It is also believed that it was introduced to China from the Tang Dynasty by Persia (present-day Iran) or Tibet (present-day Tibet). Considering that the development of the sport of bowing was closely linked to the progress of horsemanship and the revolution of riding equipment, and that the stirrup, which brought great changes to horsemanship, was not invented until the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it seems that the latter view makes more sense.

It flourished in the Tang Dynasty, prevailed in the Liao, Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and flourished in the royal family and the army. The aristocrats played very extravagantly, and the "Zizhi Tongjian" volume 271 recorded: Yang Wu "drank and had fun day and night, and lit a candle around the ten circles to cost tens of thousands of dollars to hit a candle." Playing ball has formed a custom among the ancient royal family and civil and military officials, and competition activities are very common.

After Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, set up the system of "batting and shooting willows" after setting up the capital of Beijing, he followed the old customs of Liao, Jin and Yuan, and held batting and willow shooting activities during the Dragon Boat Festival and the Double Ninth Festival every year. "History of the Ming Dynasty, Lizhi" said: Yongle "On May 5 of the 11th year, Xingdongyuan hit the ball and shot willows, listened to the history of the civil and military ministers, the Siyi Dynasty, and gathered in Beijing to watch. ...... From the emperor's grandson to the king's ministers, they shot second." This polo-playing ritual system continued for a long time in the Ming Dynasty, and there was a detailed record in the "Old News Examination under the Sun", and there was a scene of Xuanzong watching polo in the "Xuanzong Xingle Tu".

Today, Emperor Zhu You of the Apocalypse does not have any other strengths, but he has unique features in craftsmanship, bowing and willow shooting. Zhu Youxiao was nicknamed the "Emperor of Carpentry" by later generations, and the reason why he liked carpentry work was because he had almost no education. For a person who is close to illiteracy, not spending time on alcohol and lasciviousness can be regarded as a blessing in misfortune. Why didn't Zhu Youxiao, the king of a country, not receive an education? When it comes to investigation, his grandfather Emperor Wanli and his father Emperor Guangzong Zhu Changluo are to blame.

Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo was born to the queen of the palace in the Cining Palace of his biological mother Empress Dowager Li, although he was the eldest son of the Wanli Emperor, but Wanli wanted to canonize the third son of the emperor Zhu Changxun, who was born to his favorite Zheng Guifei, but because it did not conform to the ancestral system of "establishing a successor and standing long", it was generally opposed by the courtiers, and the two sides were deadlocked for many years, and the emperor and the ministers could not change each other's position. Later, Wanli made a compromise, so the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo was canonized as the crown prince. But Wanli was indifferent to Zhu Changluo for many years, including Zhu Changluo's son Zhu Youxiao, and Wanli was also indifferent, so Zhu Youxiao's education was delayed - until the age of sixteen, he did not receive the royal education he should have received a long time ago.

When Emperor Wanli died, Zhu Youxiao was canonized as the emperor's grandson, and at this time his father Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo remembered that his son should be educated, so he asked Sun Chengzong, the editor of the Hanlin Academy at that time, to be Zhu Youxiao's teacher. But who would have thought that Guangzong Zhu Changluo died after only a month as emperor, and the sixteen-year-old Zhu Youxiao, who had not yet been canonized as the crown prince, had to be hurriedly enthroned as emperor.

After Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne and became the emperor of the Ming Xizong Tianqi, he asked Sun Chengzong to serve as a Japanese lecturer with his left concubine, enter the Shaozhan affairs, and continue to be his teacher, and at the same time, he also invited erudite cabinet ministers to teach and lecture for him, but after all, he has long passed the golden age of receiving primary education, and all kinds of political affairs are enough for him to worry about, not to mention that he is a very playful person.

Everyone's talent is different, even very different. Zhu Youxiao is probably because of his talent and strong hands-on ability, so his playfulness is also reflected in his preference for carpenter work. In the late Ming Dynasty, the furniture was exquisite and gorgeous, and the wealthy families were fashionable to purchase and make high-end furniture, and it is speculated that the folk craftsmen (including porcelain craftsmen) who did good carpentry work at that time were roughly equivalent to today's IT elites. Young people inevitably like to chase fashion and popular things, so it is no wonder that Zhu Youxiao will be addicted to it. At the same time, he was also very fond of sports, especially bowing and willow shooting, and from time to time, he would gather members of the royal family, civil and military officials, national eunuchs or foreign envoys to organize a competition.

Since even the emperor loves this, in order to do what he likes, it is all the rage to shoot bows and willows between the government and the opposition, and even Wei Liangqing, who has only been in Beijing for more than a year, not only purchased a complete set of equipment for bowing, but also practiced a good ability to shoot a bow.

"The Juju Court in the East Garden of the Imperial City is very large, and it can not only hold four-person competitions, but also large-scale competitions with more than 10 people. Wei Liangqing said dryly, drank the tea in the teacup in one go, and continued: "The goal is also divided into two types: single goal and double goal, the single goal is a small hole of one foot in the lower part of a wooden wall, and there is a net bag behind the hole, and the winner is determined by the number of hits into the net bag, and the double goal is won by hitting the opponent's goal. ”

Gao Jie nodded and said, "I understand, there are only four of us, and it seems that we can only participate in the four-person competition!"

Wei Liangqing shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily, if someone has superb skills, he can also challenge ten or more people with four people, it is said that the first master of bowing since ancient times is Tang Xuanzong, according to legend, he once led three people to fight against ten people in Tubo, Xuanzong is skilled, and he is unstoppable, so Tubo is defeated and lost." ”

After speaking, Wei Liangqing raised his head and looked into the distance leisurely, as if he was remembering the invincible demeanor of Tang Xuanzong when he bowed.

When Ji Longfeng heard that there was such a fun activity, he couldn't sit still for a long time, so he got up from his chair and asked, "Brother Wei, then what else do we have to prepare?"

Wei Liangqing was wandering outside the world, and suddenly woke up at this moment, remembering that he seemed to have neglected something important, and hurriedly said: "Long Feng, Xiaojie, don't be in a hurry to ask these questions first,

Are you really sure you're going to team up with me for tomorrow's bowing competition?"

Gao Jie and Ji Longfeng said loudly in unison: "Of course!"

Wei Liangqing smiled bitterly: "Two brothers, two big brothers, this bow is a technical job, it's not simple, you guys haven't even played before you go to the game, it's really a bit of that!"

Ji Longfeng raised his arm and waved his fist in mid-air, shouting: "Riding a horse and playing a ball, can it be more difficult than my martial arts cultivation?!"

Gao Jie was confident, and said with a smile: "Brother Wei, don't worry, the three of us will play, and you will be satisfied!"

Wei Liangqing scratched his head vigorously, and was embarrassed: "Hitting the bow requires agility and superb ball skills, and secondly, it requires superb riding skills and handsome mounts, if it is a game between friends, it doesn't hurt for the three brothers to practice their hands, but tomorrow is a competition organized by the saint himself, not a joke, I'm afraid"

Gao Jie danced the cane in his hand and said with a smile: "Brother Wei has no confidence in us, which is understandable. The requirement you just mentioned, I thought about it, and there should be no problem. Agile, the three of us are all martial arts practitioners, needless to say, riding skills and mounts are more certain, the only thing to worry about is just ball skills, Brother Wei, right?"

Wei Liangqing thought about it carefully, but it was reasonable, the current Shengshang bowing technique is also good, but he is not a person who practices martial arts, he is just active by nature, and his skills are more agile than ordinary people.

Thinking of this, he looked at Gao Jie and the three of them, and said with some hesitation: "Yesterday at the farm, I patronized and discussed those crops with Xiaojie, and when Long Feng, Wukong and Yue'er were practicing martial arts, I couldn't see it with my own eyes, hehe, I really don't know how the martial arts of the three of you are." ”

Gao Jie laughed and said, "In other words, as long as the three of us are qualified in martial arts, you will have the confidence to compete?"

Wei Liangqing nodded awkwardly.

Without waiting for Gao Jie to speak, Ji Longfeng quickly pulled out the Liuhe gun he was carrying, the short handle suddenly became longer in the click, and the silver light flashed, and the sharp tip of the spear had already shattered the small teacup he put on the coffee table.

From the time Ji Longfeng pulled out the gun to the time the teacup shattered, it was just an instant, Wei Liangqing didn't even see it clearly, Ji Longfeng was already standing with a gun, and his whole body exuded an incomparably majestic momentum.

Wei Liangqing's mouth opened wide, looked at the broken teacup, and then looked at Ji Longfeng, who was completely different, and after looking back and forth a few times in a daze, he seemed to have just woken up from a big dream, and exclaimed in surprise: "Yue'er told me yesterday that she couldn't even touch the placket of the clothes of the Longfeng and Wukong brothers, and I was still suspicious, this time I can be regarded as understanding!"

Gao Jie laughed and said: "Although my martial arts are not as good as Long Feng and Wukong, they are not too far behind, and it is estimated that there should not be much problem in dealing with a bow competition!"

Hearing Gao Jie say this, Ji Longfeng blinked, as if he wanted to say something but held back, he secretly said in his heart: "What is your kid's martial arts, I don't know the bottom, who knows how many unique skills you still have hidden and haven't used." If you want to say that martial arts are better than you, I can't even convince myself. However, since you say so, there must be a reason for you, and it is inconvenient to say it at this moment. ”

Wei Liangqing was already overjoyed, with the help of the three martial arts masters, he suddenly burst with confidence, he turned around and ran back to his room, and after a while, he brought three sets of bowing sticks and other equipment, and distributed them to Gao Jie and the others, and said excitedly: "I have ready-made equipment, and there is nothing else to prepare, I will talk to you about the rules of bowing in a while." ”

Although Wukong couldn't fully understand what they were saying, Gao Jie used his telekinesis to communicate with him from time to time, and he basically understood that he was going to play a game of playing ball tomorrow, after all, he was only eleven years old, although he had gone through hardships and was a little precocious, but the child's playful heart was still not lost, he took the stick, played lightly, and then put the wooden ball in his hand on the top of the stick, and the wooden ball dripped, and spun rapidly, which was very beautiful.

Wei Liangqing was surprised and delighted to see that Wukong, who had never played with a bow at all, could play the wooden ball with a stick so delicately, and he was completely relieved, and he couldn't close his mouth with a smile.

"Yo, what are you doing?!," asked a man who came in through the door.

Everyone took a look, it turned out to be Wei Liangqing's uncle, the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian, who came.