All the audience at the scene were overjoyed, they were able to snatch the crown from the invincible Mongols, and they won the battle with absolute superiority, as officials and people of the Ming Dynasty, they would naturally feel happy and proud. Even Sun Qianguang and Zhao Yilang applauded Gao Jie and others from the bottom of their hearts. The only ones who were unhappy were the Mongolian envoys, as well as Liu Xuanze and Ye Guyan.

Of course, the most overjoyed were Emperor Tianqi, His Royal Highness King Xin, and Wei Zhongxian.

As the champion team, Gao Jie was guided to the stands by the attendants, and Zhu Youzhen had been waiting there early, and when he saw Gao Jie Shi Ran coming, he cheered, rushed up, and threw himself into Gao Jie's arms.

Holding Zhu Youxiao tightly and spinning around a few times, Gao Jie's previous worries and speculations disappeared, and he was completely relieved, he said with a smile: "Jian'er, I haven't seen you for a few months, don't you think I?!"

Zhu Youzhen chuckled and said, "Of course I want to, I want to think about it very much!"

Gao Jie put him down, looked at him carefully, and said, "En! I've grown taller and more handsome!"

Zhu Youzhen was ashamed and happy, and said with a smile: "Brother Jie is still the most handsome!"

In the distance, Wang Chengen looked at the scene of the two hugging and laughing, his eyes flickered, and his expression was quite complicated.

"The saint has arrived, don't you kneel to greet you?!" Wei Zhongxian's voice sounded in Gao Jie's ears, Wei Liangqing, Gao Jie and the others immediately cleaned up their clothes and prepared to kneel down to greet them, but they heard the Emperor of the Apocalypse laugh and said: "Excuse me, don't be polite, the ball skills and tactics of the four of you make me happy, wait for me to hold a banquet in the palace, celebrate you and the Mongolian envoys, and there will be a heavy reward!"

Wei Liangqing led Gao Jie and the three of them to thank the emperor quickly. Emperor Apocalypse walked up to Gao Jie, looked at this handsome and extraordinary young man, and said with a smile: "You are Gao Jie, who is often talked about by the inspectors, you are indeed a young hero, a leader among them, okay! According to your age, you should be one year younger than me, and that is also my brother, and I will have another reward!"

Gao Jie was neither humble nor arrogant, bowed down and saluted: "The saint praises falsely, Xiaojie is afraid, there is no need for a reward, you can be shouted by the saint brother, hehe, it's worth it!"

Gao Jie's words made the officials on the side stunned, and secretly said that this country boy who jumped out of nowhere was so unruly in front of the emperor.

Who knew that the Emperor of the Apocalypse laughed happily when he heard this: "Xiaojie is really as you said, casual and interesting, unrestrained, after the willow shooting competition is over, I must have a good chat with you!"

Gao Jie had long known that the Emperor of the Apocalypse had not read any books, and he was an emperor who did not like red tape, so he deliberately replied casually, who knew that he was still in the heart of the Apocalypse, which made him laugh happily. Wei Zhongxian secretly wiped his sweat on the side, and said in his heart that this little master is not only bold, but also extremely smart, and he suddenly got closer to the emperor, what an outlier.

The great eunuchs Wang Tiqian and Li Yongzhen stepped forward and said, "Holy Lord, do you want to start the willow shooting competition immediately?"

Seeing that there was still more than an hour before noon, the Emperor of the Apocalypse nodded and said, "Okay! you two will preside!" After speaking, he instructed Wei Zhongxian to set up an additional seat next to Zhu Youzhen, the king of letters, and let Gao Jie sit in the stands together.

In front of everyone's eyes, a young man in cloth clothes actually sat with King Xin and King Fu, ranking above the hundred officials, I don't know how many people are secretly guessing his identity, and there are countless people with red eyes and hot eyes.

Wei Liangqing took Ji Longfeng and Wukong back to his seat, and Wei Liangyue asked in surprise, "Why did Xiaojie sit so high?"

Wei Liangqing smiled and said, "He, it is estimated that he will become a relative of the emperor!"

Wei Liangyue snorted and said in a low voice, "I guess he should get carried away!" In his heart, he was secretly happy that Gao Jie and King Xin could meet smoothly.

The origin of the custom of "shooting willows" can be traced back to the ancient "Kicking Forest" sacrificial activities of the northern nomads such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei. After overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty regime, at the beginning of the founding of the country, in order to unite the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty and make them lay down their arms and no longer resist, Ming Taizu also put forward the policy of "no distinction between Huayi and no one else." But in the final analysis, at the practical level, with the tacit consent of Emperor Zhu, local officials at all levels in the Ming Dynasty still took it as their responsibility to eradicate Hu customs and customs. It was only after Ming Chengzu Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing that nonsense such as willow shooting began to become popular again.

Willow shooting is generally scheduled around the Dragon Boat Festival, but there are also those who love to shoot and do not follow the temperament. Willow shooting is an activity of the children of the nobility, with the nature of a game and a performance, and willow shooting is generally bundled with bowing.

In the Jin Dynasty, on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the emperor had to have fun with the officials and shoot willow branches together. "Jin Shi Lizhi (VIII)" records: "After the five-day worship is completed, the willow court is two rows, and when the shooter is in the order of respect and humility, each with a pin to recognize its branches, go to the ground about a few inches, and peel its skin and white." First, a man galloped forward, and then galloped a horse with a featherless arrow. Those who break the willow and gallop away with their hands are the first, and those who are broken and cannot be taken are second, or those who are cut off and cannot be broken and cannot be broken, are negative. Every time you shoot, you will cut the drum to help it. ”

In the process of shooting willows, there are strict requirements: one is to shoot the willow branches, and the arrow must be shot at the white part of the willow branches to scrape off the skin, which is the requirement of archery; the other is to be able to pick up the broken willow branches on the horse, which is the requirement of riding. When shooting willows, there will be people next to them beating drums and cheering to create a tense atmosphere, enhance the sense of actual combat, and achieve the goal of training troops in addition to entertainment.

Different from the peeled willow branches that were inserted into the ground by arrows in the Jin Yuan Dynasty, due to the prevalence of willow shooting, the form and content of willow shooting in the Ming Dynasty were also greatly enriched, and some new rules were added. According to the Ming Zhou Binsuo's "Zhi Xiaobian" record: "Yongle time, there is a scene of cutting willows in the palace, cutting willows, that is, shooting willows. Chen Mei Gongyun: 'The palace people store the pigeon in the gourd, hang it on the willow, bend the bow to shoot it, the arrow in the gourd, the pigeon flies out, and the flight is the victory or defeat. It is often on the Qingming Dragon Boat Festival. The name is Shooting Willow. ’”

When judging the results of willow shooting, the people of the Ming Dynasty actually took the gourd hanging on the willow branch as the standard, and the height of the pigeon flying out of the gourd after the earthquake opened, rather than the quality of the archery skills to judge the victory or loss, which is much less difficult than the Jin Yuan period to cut out the white wood cut out of the wicker as the goal, to shoot and gallop the horse to decide the winner or not. In the case of all shooting the gourd, who wins and who loses depends on the pigeon, rather than the shooter's shooting skills and riding skills, the chance is undoubtedly greater, and the entertainment of shooting willow is stronger and the competitiveness is weaker. Gao Shiqi in the early Qing Dynasty mentioned in "Tianlu Zhiyu": the pigeon system in the gourd has a pigeon bell, when the pigeon flies out, the sky above the willow shooting field suddenly rings a string of crisp pigeon bells, if you shoot in a row, the sound of the pigeon bell is endless, very interesting.

After the attendants hung the gourd on the willow branches around the Dongyuan Bow Field, the willow shooting show began.

This time to shoot willows, there is no need to sign up, and those who are confident in their own shooting skills can go on the field to challenge, just because they are present today, many housekeepers who love to shoot willows on weekdays are a little timid, and there are not many people who really dare to appear.

As the pigeon bell continued to ring, Sun Qianguang, Zhao Yilang, the Zhou brothers of the Fuwang Guard, and the Mongolian Mission's Jintu, Gonchuk and Guiyingcha all appeared on the stage one after another, and won the applause of the audience.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse had itchy hands, on a whim, and he also went down in person, rode his horse and opened his bow, and shot an arrow, not to mention, this Zhu Youxiao, who has no culture, has a really good hands-on ability, the arrow is in the middle, the gourd is cracked after landing, the pigeon flies out of the sky, the bell rings crisply and pleasantly in mid-air, and everyone shouts "Long live the arrow"!

The Emperor of the Apocalypse was in high spirits, rode his horse to the stands, and shouted, "Uncle Huang is also coming to play!"

Fu Wang Zhu Changxun held his big belly, waved his hand again and again, and said: "The minister can't play this, please forgive the saint!"

Emperor Apocalypse laughed and continued to shout: "Then You Song, You Zhen, and Xiaojie, you guys also come down to do activities!"

Gao Jie was about to resign, but was pulled by Zhu Youzhen, and then dragged Zhu Yousong, the son of King Fu, and ran down the stands.

Zhu Youzhen asked Wang Chengen, who was waiting on the side, to present his bow and arrows, turned his head and asked Gao Jie, "Brother Jie, have you brought a bow and arrows?" Do you want me to find a pair for you?"

Gao Jie smiled bitterly: "I don't know the art of bows and arrows, I can only use crossbow arrows." ”

Emperor Apocalypse's eyes lit up, and he said happily: "The crossbow arrow shoots the willow, it's also interesting, Xiaojie, let's shoot it!"

Gao Jie had no choice but to walk back to Wei Liangqing and the others, and took out the arm crossbow from the package he brought.

Gao Jie brought a crossbow with him, which was given by Chen Dake and Xie Jun, a total of three, divided into arm crossbow, knee crossbow and foot crossbow, the arm crossbow is the smallest of them.

Wei Liangqing and Wei Liangyue, brother and sister, had never seen a crossbow before, and when they saw the delicate crossbow arrow in Gao Jie's hand, they asked curiously, praised him, and blamed him for not taking out the treasure to share earlier. Gao Jie shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I'll show you enough when I go back, can it?!"

When he returned to the field, Zhu Yousong, the prince of King Fu, also took his bow and arrow from the guards, and had already ridden his horse to the field. Zhu Yousong's body is long, although he is white but not weak, he is very disciplined in riding horses, opening bows, and taking arrows, obviously after the masters, the arrows are shot, and they are also hit with one blow, winning the applause of everyone.

Zhu Youzhen was young and competitive, smiled at Gao Jie, and then stepped on. Because he was still young and his arms were not long, the bow and arrows in his hand were custom-made low stone short bows. However, from his posture of riding horses and shooting, there are rules and methods, which are comparable to Zhu Yousong.

Zhu Youzhen easily shot the gourd on the willow branch, released the pigeon, and happily rode his horse to Emperor Tianqi and Gao Jie, proudly raised the short bow in Yang's hand, and shouted: "I'm amazing, right?!"

Zhu Youxiao patted his little head dotingly, and praised: "My younger brother is naturally a master!"

Gao Jie also smiled and said: "The emperor is right, Zhen'er has such martial arts and courage at a young age, and in the future, he will be a handsome general, personally lead the troops, and charge into battle!"

Zhu Youzhen was praised so much that he smiled on his face, and said: "This is all taught by Venerable Zongqing, I must become a martial arts master in the future!"

"Venerable Zongqing?" Gao Jie couldn't help but glance back at the yellow-robed old monk sitting by the stand, secretly thinking that Zhu Youzhen's master seemed to be this hardcover warrior monk from Shaolin Temple who had studied under Yu Dayou.

Just thinking about it, I suddenly heard Zhu Youzhen ask in surprise: "Brother Jie, this crossbow in your hand doesn't look like an ordinary one, it looks a little strange!"

Emperor Apocalypse also said: "Yes, it is more sturdy and delicate than ordinary crossbow and bow production, and the crossbow arm material is tough and thick, and the power and range are probably amazing!"

Gao Jie said with a smile: "Shengshang and Jian'er's eyesight is really good, this crossbow is a gift from the two good brothers that Xiaojie met in the rivers and lakes, called the Kick Zhang Crossbow, there are three of them, this one is the smallest one, called the Arm Zhang Crossbow!"

"The Apocalypse Emperor's eyes lit up, and he said in surprise: "I have always liked to study the Karakuri mechanism and craftsmanship, and I have long heard that there is a martial arts master named Cheng Zongyou in the rivers and lakes, and the crossbow was created by him, could it be the one in front of me?!"

When Gao Jie heard this, he couldn't help but praise: "The saint is well-informed, well-read, and even knows the crossbow and its provenance clearly, Xiaojie really admires it! Yes, this crossbow was given to me by Master Cheng Zongyou's personal disciples, Chen Dake and Xie Jun, two generals!"