Fenghou

Chapter 55 Exam
"Brother, please step aside!"

Chen Qing stepped aside quickly, and a group of people came behind him. The one who asked him to make way was a man who looked like a family servant. He pushed open the side door and stood respectfully aside. Afterwards, four young men got off their horses and threw the reins to respective entourage.

The four young men seem to be in their twenties, all of them are tall and handsome. Although they are all wearing samurai uniforms and samurai hats, they are all made of exquisite materials. The patterns of colorful phoenixes, flowers and birds, etc. are exquisite in workmanship.

The bow on the back and the long sword in the waist are also inlaid with gold and jade, very gorgeous. Obviously, this is the yamen of four wealthy and powerful families.

But Chen Qing thinks about it, even he entered martial arts to obtain the qualifications for conferring officials, why is it not the case for others?
The four yamen looked arrogant, they didn't even look at Chen Qing, they walked into the side door talking and laughing, and a group of servants followed behind them.

"A group of dudes, do you think this is Bianliang?"

Someone muttered dissatisfiedly behind him, Chen Qing turned around, only to find a man standing behind him, about his age, also wearing a fine linen warrior uniform, leading a horse, with a bow and arrow and a long knife.

"Brother also came to the Martial Arts Journal?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

"Exactly!"

The man looked at Chen Qing and asked, "Your Excellency, too!"

Chen Qing smiled and nodded.

The man cheered up, and quickly clasped his fists and said, "My lord, Hu Yantong, is a general under the command of Han Dutong of the Shenwu Army. May I ask your surname?"

It turned out to be Han Shizhong's general, and Chen Qing also cupped his fists: "I am the general of Wang Yan, who controls the capital of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army, and I'm Chen Qing!"

"It turns out that Brother Chen is the Eight-Character Army!"

Hu Yantong quickly looked at Chen Qing's forehead, and Chen Qing smiled faintly, "Some words don't need to be engraved on the face, but the same is true if engraved on the heart."

Hu Yantong laughed, "You're right, I'm short on knowledge."

The two walked into the side door. Chen Qing hesitated and asked, "What's the meaning of the notice posted at the door? Why do you still need to take the exam?"

Hu Yantong sneered and said: "It's funny to say that, as soon as the news of the military department's re-establishment of martial arts came out, it immediately caused an uproar. All kinds of gift-giving and favor-seeking people were looking for various connections to find cracks. The threshold of the military department's Wang Shilang's house They are all going to be crushed, there are only a hundred places in total, but there are at least one or two thousand people who want to come in."

"This is martial arts, not Taixue. Why is it so popular?"

Chen Qing knew that the Song Dynasty had always valued literature over martial arts, but it was beyond his comprehension that martial arts would be so popular.

"Then you don't understand. After studying in Taixue, you can only go to government schools to become professors in various places. The official position is low, the salary is meager, and there is no hope of promotion, but martial arts is different, especially the first batch of martial arts. The army, starting from the eighth rank, this is a fat job, and the rich and powerful are vying for places. I wonder how many places you got in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army?"

"Three!"

"That's right! The mighty Sichuan-Shanxi Army only has three quotas, let alone other places. We all have only two quotas, and the other quotas... Hey! You just saw it too."

"Hurry up, you two, report here!" An official waved to them.

The two walked quickly to the front of the Qingyang Building...
Now it's just a pre-arrival, identity verification, and then an exam. Only after passing the exam can you officially register.

The exam was held in the Martial Arts Field of Taixue, which was shared by Taixue and Wuxue. It took up a small area, only about ten acres.

An official in charge said loudly: "Everyone, please listen carefully. The content of the test is bow and arrow and weightlifting. There is no requirement for bow and arrow. You can use our bow and arrow or your own bow and arrow. It is required to hit the wooden dummy target at a distance of [-] steps. Three arrows hit at least two arrows.

Then the weightlifting requirement is to lift [-] catties over the head, so it is considered qualified. If you fail the exam, I am sorry!You can only go back and forth from where. "

A total of [-] warriors took the exam today, and Chen Qing drew lots to be the ninth one to appear.

"Be the first to appear, Wang Bo!"

A person walked out from the team, it should be the leader of the four powerful yamen, Hu Yantong lowered his voice and said to Chen Qing: "This person was originally a guard of the palace, the son of Wang Jue who commanded the deputy envoy in front of the palace."

"Looking at how well-dressed he is, Jingkang's disaster has not been affected?"

Hu Yantong sneered and said, "After the Jin soldiers besieged Tokyo for the first time, do you know how many rich and powerful families escaped from Tokyo? Many families have already transferred their money to Yangzhou, Suzhou and other places, and their families did the same."

Chen Qing was somewhat interested. Although this Wang Bo was well dressed, he had strong arms and a vigorous posture. The bow he used was at least a stone bow, and he was from a family of generals, so he should have some real talents.

Wang Bo walked quickly to the shooting line. With his quiver on his back, he drew out an arrow and shot it with his bow. The arrow hit the wooden dummy's throat and immediately won applause.

Chen Qing nodded secretly, his arrow skills were not bad, and his hands were relatively steady. He was not the kind of yamen who only played with birds and flirted with women.

Wang Bo shot two more arrows, both of which hit the wooden man's throat. As for lifting sixty catties, ordinary people can lift it, let alone these warriors.

Wang Bo was the first to pass the exam and came back triumphantly.

Immediately after that, all the warriors passed one by one, and Hu Yantong was the eighth to appear, and all three arrows hit the wooden dummy's face, winning applause.

Hu Yantong bowed to a general in the distance, and walked back to the team.

Chen Qing looked curiously at the general in the distance. He was about forty years old, with a Chinese character face, sword eyebrows and tiger eyes, and a blue beard under his jaw. He was majestic. Although he was sitting with a group of officials, But it can be seen that he has nothing to do with this exam, he just came to watch.

This person should be Hu Yantong's elder!
Chen Qing originally wanted to ask, but the referee was already calling him, "Chen Qing is the ninth player!"

The middle-aged general's eyes lit up when he heard Chen Qing's name, and his eyes were fixed on Chen Qing's every move.

Chen Qing walked forward holding the bow. He had no arrows, so he borrowed a pot of arrows from the table. The magistrate glanced at his bow, "Why don't you use a step bow?"

Of course, Chen Qing used his Dingyuan bow for riding and shooting. It was only used for infantry shooting, and he would suffer a little.

Chen Qing saw that he had no intention of stopping, so he smiled and walked to the shooting line, and there was a murmur of discussion among the warriors.

"This guy actually uses a bow, what do you mean? Does he appear to be superior?"

"He thought that no one else could ride and shoot, so he deliberately showed off himself!"

"Old Wang, what do you think?"

Several yamen looked at Wang Bo, and Wang Bo curled his lips, "I guess I just came from a small place and haven't seen much of the world. If we want to show off, let's just watch a monkey show."

Everyone laughed together, "That's right, this monkey show is quite interesting."

Having said that, Wang Bo kept his eyes on Chen Qing. It said that today's exam was just a formality, but he got the news that this exam is actually very important, and the results will be placed directly on the official desk. The importance is self-evident.

They are the last batch of exams. The previous batches of exams were mediocre. He hit the throat with three arrows, which is considered the best result so far. Although Hu Yantong hit the door with three arrows, but one arrow is not critical, let's be more serious , he is not as good as himself.

Wang Bo is determined to win the first place in this entrance examination.

He knew all the warriors who took the exam today, but he knew nothing about this one, and Wang Bo felt a little wary.

Chen Qing drew out a white-feathered arrow, he glanced at the wooden dummy target, barely aiming, Zhang Gong just shot the arrow, the arrow was like lightning, 'Ka! 'It hit the left shoulder of the wooden man's target, causing a knowing laugh.

Taking a riding bow in a serious manner to take the exam, he only shot the left shoulder, not even the vitals.

"Huyan, where is he from?" a yamen named Qi Yun asked.

This group of yamen all knew Hu Yantong and grew up together, but they were not the same kind of people, and they couldn't play together.

Hu Yantong originally didn't want to pay attention to this person, but thinking that their father and grandfather are family friends, he responded vaguely: "I don't know the details, it should be sent by the Western Army!"

Everyone suddenly realized that it was the Western Army, and they really came from the countryside.

The low status of the Western Army has always been a tradition in the Song Dynasty, as can be seen from the experience of Di Qing and Zhong Shidao.

This is also because the region is far away and communication is inconvenient. For example, any major victory of the Western Army is just a number. Except for the emperor, other people don't care too much. After all, they live too far away from them.

The most typical are the four famous generals of the Southern Song Dynasty against the Jin Dynasty, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Zhang Jun, and Liu Guangshi. There is no general of the Western Army among them.

People in the Kingdom of Jin changed their colors when they heard about Jie. Wu Jie’s reputation was no less than that of Yue Fei, but he was ignored by the court. There were also famous generals of the Western Army, such as Wu Ji, Wang Yan, Liu Ziyu, Liu Kai, Li Yanxian, etc., who were finally lost in history. in the dust.

Even Wang Yan and Liu Ziyu are unknown, let alone a small commander of the Western Army like Chen Qing.

Wang Bo also heaved a sigh of relief in his heart, this person only shot in the shoulder, far inferior to himself, and he was the first one in this exam.

At this time, Chen Qing drew out a second arrow, and shot again. The second arrow still hit the left shoulder, and then the third arrow still hit the left shoulder. There was laughter all around. This person likes the left shoulder so much, could it be the left shoulder? king?
The general outside the city saw a clue, and his expression became dignified
At the end of the exam, all [-] people passed the exam and went to go through the official registration procedures.

More than a dozen examiners in the martial arts arena are still arguing about who can win the first place in today's results.

"Although Wang Bo hit the throat with three arrows, the throat is not as good as the face. This is recognized. Today's No. [-] Huyantong should be number one."

"Nonsense! The arrow in the face is not necessarily dead. Hu Yantong missed the second arrow slightly, but you can try the arrow in the throat? He hit the throat with three arrows. Wang Bo must be ranked first, and Huyantong can be ranked first." second."

At this time, Wang Hao, the servant of the Ministry of War, came over, smiled and said to the general next to him: "Han Dutong, your general performed very well today! He actually hit the front door with three arrows."

The middle-aged man is none other than the famous general Han Shizhong. He happens to be reporting his duties in Lin'an. Today is his confidant general Hu Yantong taking the exam. He is quite interested and came here to have a look.

Han Shizhong shook his head, "Hu Yantong's archery skills are average! Even Wang Bo can't rank first, and No. [-] Chen Qing is much better than them."

All the officials looked at each other in blank dismay, and an official asked in amazement: "But Chen Qing's three arrows only hit his left shoulder, why is he the strongest?"

"Everyone, just look at the wooden target."

After a while, a soldier brought the wooden target and put it on the table.

Han Shizhong pointed to his left shoulder and said, "He was the only one who shot the left shoulder today. He hit three arrows in a row. There should be three arrow holes, but in reality? How many do you see?"

Everyone gathered around and observed carefully, there was actually only one arrow hole on the left shoulder.

"It's strange. Three arrows hit the left shoulder, but there is only one arrow hole. What's going on?"

Han Shizhong said indifferently: "Have you still not thought of it? All three of his arrows were shot in one arrow hole."

The surrounding soldiers and officials were in an uproar, and they were all shocked.

Wang Hao gasped. Who is this Chen Qing, who is so powerful in archery?
Han Shizhong became more interested. If he guessed correctly, this Chen Qing was the one who beheaded Wanyan Loushi.

Yes, he is very low-key, but he is unambiguous in his work.

(End of this chapter)