Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 424: Martial Arts Competition

I heard that the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War jointly assisted in organizing this martial arts competition. The Ministry of Rites received applications, sorted them out, and compiled the results after the competition, which were all civil affairs. The Ministry of War arranged the venue and handled various matters related to the competition.

In order to hold this martial arts competition, almost all the personnel from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War were mobilized, as well as the Jingzhao Prefecture in the capital, the Bingmasi, the Wucheng Bingmasi, and the runners from various government offices, large and small, all of whom were mobilized to maintain order in various places. It was like the Olympic Games in the previous life.

Even the Imperial College suspended classes for a few days, and some senior students were sent to help out in various places. Rong Jue and Xiao Yuan were also transferred to various places to work.

The Dasheng Dynasty can be said to be an era that emphasized both civil and military affairs. Although the civil examination still occupied the most important position, the military examination was slightly less valuable than the civil examination.

However, the number of people participating in the military examination was much greater than that in the literary examination. After all, there were still many illiterate people, but they were very strong.

If you can pass the initial stage of this competition, if you are lucky, you might be able to enter some of the lowest-level government offices and do errands or patrolling.

For ordinary people, this is like leaping over the Dragon Gate. Even if they cannot enter the government office and return to their own city to do some patrol work, they can still stand out, so a lot of people sign up.

Many students in the Imperial College also learn archery, so it is indeed necessary to let these students who have never seen the world go to specific venues to help out and broaden their horizons.

Hualei also agreed with Xiaoyuan's participation in such an event. When she saw a steady stream of people arriving in Shangjing City, she was even more delighted. She seemed to see silver flying all over the sky.

It seemed that the number of small food carts they already had was not enough, so Hualei temporarily pulled out a group of people, pulled a number of tables from the warehouse, and started setting up stalls in the place temporarily planned by the court.

The tarpaulin that I had just made at home came in handy. I used a few two-meter-high wooden sticks to drive one or two feet into the ground to make stakes, and covered the tarpaulin on top. The tarpaulin is relatively hard and would not collapse in the middle.

Tie it up with a strip of cloth and you have a simple shop. Put a table and put various items on it, and you can start selling. It can not only block the sun, but also the rain.

There were one or two days when it rained a bit, and the stall owners on both sides were in a hurry to pack up their things and flee.

Tian Xiaofu and his companions handed items to customers and collected money calmly and leisurely, without any sign of panic at all, which made the other stall owners very envious.

As for other temporary places, on a few days when it is not raining, you can just spread the tarpaulin on the ground and put the items you want to buy directly on the tarpaulin, and start collecting coins and silver. It doesn’t matter even if the ground is wet. It is really easy to use.

When business was good, even the guards and servants in the mansion went to help watch over the stall and collect coins.

The main venue for the martial arts competition was set up in the military training ground, which was as big as a football field in the previous life and could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

There were also high platforms around the training grounds, so that the noble families could bring their children to watch the competition. The Zhenbei Marquis Mansion also had a very good stand.

Because Rong Yu, the eldest son of the Zhenbei Marquisate, and several other clan members of the Marquisate were also going to take part in the competition, old Marquis Pei watched the performance of his own children in the stands almost every day.

Madam Pei had been to the battlefield when she was young, so she was very interested in such competitions. In addition, her health had improved recently, and she had nothing to do in the backyard every day, so she went to the stage to watch the competitions almost every day.

When Madam Pei went, the wives from several other families would take turns accompanying her. Ruan was there almost every day because she was Rong Jue's assistant at the competition venue. Madam Feng also went to watch on the days when her son had competitions.

Hua Lei, who had no place to sit, naturally went to the stands of the Zhenbei Marquis's Mansion to watch the competition. There were not many entertainment programs in the Great Sheng Dynasty, and it was not easy to hold such a large-scale event. While Hua Lei was making money, he also did not forget to relax himself.

Zhenzhu, who was six or seven months pregnant, couldn't sit still. The martial arts competition made Jiang Yunqi even busier, so she didn't want to be alone in the backyard all day long. So after consulting the doctor and Jiang Yunqi's consent, she also came to the stands of Zhenbei Marquis Mansion. Hualei accompanied her almost every step of the way.

Because the Ministry of Rites used dark cloth to separate each family's seat on the stands, when Zhenzhu or Madam Pei felt tired, there were small couches in the back where they could take a rest.

Moreover, Hualei felt that it should be okay for Zhenzhu to go out for a walk, as long as she was careful. In her previous life, many pregnant women only rested when they were about to go to the hospital after working.

That day, Hualei went to Pingyang Marquis's Mansion to pick up Zhenzhu, and they went to the stands together. On the field, Rongyu from the Marquis's Mansion was waiting to compete in archery.

The contestants stand about one hundred steps away from the target and shoot arrows with standard bows and arrows provided by the Ministry of War. Each person can shoot twenty arrows, and those who hit the target with more than fifteen arrows are qualified.

There should have been several rounds of competitions before, so there are still more than 40 people waiting to compete on the field, ten people in a round, and ten targets standing there a hundred steps away. There are also referees next to them.

When Hualei and Zhenzhu sat down, Rong Yu was already standing in the archery circle, drawing his bow and aiming. At the command of the starter on the side, the arrows in the hands of the contestants had already left the bow.

With the first arrow, Rong Yu hit the target. Then, with the second arrow, the third arrow, and after all fifteen arrows were shot, Rong Yu hit the target with thirteen arrows. Of the remaining five arrows, two arrows had to hit the target to pass.

Lord Pei frowned as he looked at Rong Yu on the field. Obviously, Lord Pei was not satisfied that Rong Yu could miss the target in such a shooting range.

In the eyes of Lord Pei, this step shooting is the simplest. On the battlefield, which fool would stand there motionless and wait for you to shoot him?

However, Rong Yu missed the target with two arrows. For Rong Yu, who was born in a military family, the result was not optimistic. Madam Feng on the side also had a tense face.

She was actually satisfied with her son's grades, but when she saw the look on the face of her father-in-law, Lord Pei, she didn't dare show any expression, otherwise, Lord Pei's glance would embarrass her.

At this time, Rong Jin, who was standing at the edge of the venue, walked forward and said a few words in Rong Yu's ear.