Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 721 Isoguan’s son
"Pretending to rebel against the Tang Dynasty?" Dating Huai'en was a little confused by Wang Wenzuo's words. Wang Wenzuo smiled and explained: "Have you forgotten your identity? As an envoy to the Tang Dynasty, the biggest danger is to be begged for help. Use it as a bargaining chip to express your determination to everyone, and kill you without saying a word. And you are the son of the leader of the Khitan Grand Court Division. Considering this, the possibility of Qi Si Biyu killing you is much smaller. And you must You can change your stance to save your own life, do you understand?"

"General, do you want to use the room? I understand!" Da Tinghuaien suddenly realized,
"Well, that's what I mean!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "You remember, everything comes first to save your own life. As long as you can survive among the rebels, you will drive a wedge into them and drive a wedge between them. Everyone. I have forgiven you for everything you have said and done!" At this point, Wang Wenzuo took off a silver medal and handed it to Da Ting Huaien and said: "You accept this silver medal as a proof!"

Da Tinghuaien did not dare to look at the silver medal carefully, so he quickly took it with both hands and bowed: "Thank you, General, for the medal. I don't know when we will set off!"

"You go back and pack up, and we'll leave tomorrow!"

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Namba Kyo, the square in front of the Buddha statue.

It was already afternoon, and the sunlight passed over the huge Buddha statue, casting a huge shadow on the square. Craftsmen were still busy finishing the project - stands, awnings, horse paths, and various targets.The stands were already full of people, most of whom were nobles, monks and wealthy businessmen from Namba Kyo. They sat on the steps, pointing at the crowd waiting for the competition in the distance, laughing loudly, and the whole stand was like a huge giant. Beehive, buzzing.

In the center of the stand, and in the most distinguished position, is a purple domed umbrella. This color umbrella can be used by only one person in Namba Kyo, no, in the entire Japanese country, but there is still no one under the umbrella. Only the surrounding guards were still standing as tall as pine trees, and it was still some time before the competition started.People in the stands drank various drinks and chatted happily.

"Do you know?" A red-faced fat man laughed in the stands. He is the largest wine merchant in Namba Kyo, and he is also a happy fat man with a big appetite. While eating honey pie, he loudly said: "Today's competition is your Majesty's. Will be there too!”

"Anyone who is not blind can see such a big umbrella cover!" The answer was a middle-aged man with a dead look on his face. He is a loan shark businessman: "Yuji, what are your plans today? Did you drag me here specially?"

"He Zheng, you should know, right? I adopted an adopted son a few days ago!" The red-faced fat man replied with a smile: "It cost a full fifty guan, which is a big price!"

"Fifty guan?" The middle-aged man frowned: "Have you changed your gender? Spending such a large sum of money to adopt an adopted son? Have you recently changed your preference for men?"

"Bah!" the red-faced fat man spat: "Don't think nonsense, do you see those boys below? Changgoro is also in there! His Majesty will be there in person to watch their competition later!"

"Oh, Chogoro is your newly adopted son? But even so, you won't spend such a large sum of money, right? Just to show your face in front of His Majesty? You must be hiding something from me? Tell me quickly! "

"Hehe!" The red-faced fat man laughed: "This is news worth a thousand pieces of gold! Forget it, I'll tell you! All the people participating in this competition are selected from martial arts masters from various countries who have superb bows and horses and outstanding martial arts. Young men, no more than 16 years old, the winner will be selected into the palace, as His Majesty's servant, and will be awarded an official position when he reaches adulthood. So as long as Chogoro can stand out today, from now on my family It will also be a home for becoming an official!”

"A young man with excellent archery and horse skills and excellent martial arts? The age cannot exceed 16 years old?" The gray-faced man showed a suspicious look: "Since he is an aide, he is protecting the king? Why is there an age limit? 16 years old The body hasn’t grown yet! In terms of martial arts, bowing and horsemanship, how can it compare with those in the prime of life? Your news can’t be false, right?”

"If it's true or not, you'll know soon after looking at the crowd below? This is the news I got in exchange for twenty pieces of Shu brocade! Twenty pieces of Shu brocade!" The red-faced fat man stretched out two fingers, and the fat on his cheeks couldn't help but Tremble.

The gray-faced man stretched out his head and looked at the audience. Although he could not see his face clearly from a distance, he was sure that they were all young. He was about to say something when he suddenly heard a burst of drum music and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is here, hurry up. Kneel down to welcome us!”

Yanliang came to the shadow under the purple umbrella of the Golden Dome and sat in his seat. On his left was Fujiwara Fubi, on his right was Moriyo, and the other three half-brothers were sitting behind him. , Cao Wenzong stood behind him, with a brown cloak tied around his broad shoulders, and his right hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist: "Your position is a little too close to Chidao. Bows and arrows can reach here!" he whispered.

"As a king, I place my life on the loyalty of my subjects!" Yan Liang smiled: "And you, Master Cao, I don't believe anyone can hurt me in front of you!"

"I hope so!" Hearing Yan Liang's compliment, Cao Wenzong showed a smile: "But I am better at taking people's lives than protecting others!"

"The time is almost up!" Fubi Fujiwara whispered. He pointed at the tall Buddha statue opposite: "If we delay any longer, the sunlight will be completely blocked by the Buddha statue!"

"That's right, let's start!" Yanliang waved his hand, and soon the horn sounded. The contestants who were about to participate in the competition mounted their mounts and began to enter the venue, which aroused cheers from the stands.

"Koichiro Azumi from Mikawa Country!" The emcee's loud voice resounded throughout the venue.

A young man entered the venue riding a gray mare, wearing a tight-fitting short robe, with uncut mane flying, holding a horn bow, and on both sides of the saddle were Hulu for feather arrows and short spears for throwing.

"Start!" the master of ceremonies shouted. Following the order, Koichiro kicked the horse's belly. The horse, urged by the spurs, began to rush forward along the gallop. The audience in the stands suddenly cheered and cheered. There was a sound, and when the horse's speed passed through the front straight road, it began to become bumpy, and straw men began to appear on both sides of the road. The straw men all had helmets and leather breastplates. Koichiro bent his bow and nocked an arrow, and the horse Without slowing down, he shot at the straw men on both sides of the road one by one. When the arrows were shot, he threw them with short spears.

It should be said that the riding skills of this Kimoto Koichiro from Mikawa Kingdom are pretty good. The horse under his crotch ran through the entire process without slowing down much, including curves, small bridges, trenches, and wet mud. Of course, compared to his riding skills, his bow skills were inferior. With a total of twelve arrows and three spears, he only hit five targets in total, most of which hit the armor. On the target, only one arrow is actually considered to have hit the vital point (the face and sides that are not covered by armor).When the ceremonial official loudly sang his results, Tsukimoto Koichiro threw his horn bow on the ground with some annoyance.

"This Koichiro only hit one arrow?" Yan Liang sighed in disappointment: "Twelve arrows and three spears. Is this the level of martial arts disciples from all over the world?" "Yes!" Hu Liang laughed: "The one among our brothers who is as old as him can at least shoot three or four arrows!"

"Your Majesty, you and your brothers have been taught by the best teachers since childhood!" Fujiwara Fubi whispered: "And you don't need to think about your livelihood. You can focus on studying knowledge and martial arts, while these martial arts disciples still have to make a living. Running!"

"Working for a living? Aren't they all blessed with land?" Yanliang asked.

"The land will not grow crops on its own. Even if they have servants to serve them, they still have countless things to take care of. The time they can really devote to practicing martial arts is limited. It cannot be compared with you and your brothers!" Fujiwara! Bubi whispered: "You were born to be a king and inherited the bloodline of the gods. There are few people in the world who can compare with you. But since you are a king, you must be able to understand those who are weaker than you, otherwise you will not be able to be king. !”

Yan Liang pondered for a moment after hearing the words, and finally nodded: "I understand!"

As the emcee called the roll, the second contestant started, and the audience in the stands began to cheer loudly.It should be said that this kind of competition tests the warrior's "bow and horse skills", which has strong practical significance.Under the tactical system of Wang Wenzuo's military group at that time, the role of cavalry, especially armored cavalry, was to attack enemy formations from the side and rear, and the cavalry bow was their main weapon.That is, approach the enemy infantry square formation in multiple batches and from multiple directions, and then within a range of about 20 to 5 steps, quickly aim at the face, ribs and other unarmored key positions of the enemy infantry and shoot to open a gap in the formation. , and then launched an attack, causing the enemy's entire formation to collapse.

This tactic was very effective when Wang Wenzuo defeated the prince of Zhongda brother and conquered Japan. In several battles, Wang Wenzuo's troops were at a disadvantage, but with his superiority in cavalry and archers, he achieved complete victory several times. victory.The victory of the war also made the Japanese ruling class see the fragility of the traditional infantry phalanx under the attack of the more flexible, highly mobile and impactful cavalry group. The emerging warrior class all regarded the art of bow and horse as the basis for their livelihood, as long as they were If conditions permit, all the children of the Wu family have practiced riding and archery since childhood and are proud of it.

"Nara Sake House's Ono Chogoro!" the master of ceremonies sang loudly.

"Changgoro, it's your turn!" Gao Yannian jumped up quickly.

"But what is Nara Sake House? Besides, I am an orphan adopted by the master, and my surname is not Ono?" Chogoro replied somewhat inexplicably.

"Have you forgotten that dad has sold you to that tavern owner as his adopted son? His surname seems to be Xiaoye!" Gao Yannian quickly helped his companion onto the horse and rechecked the saddle and bow bag: "No problem , go up and show that fat man with a red face! Let him know that the fifty dollars were not wasted!"

"Oh!" Chogoro patted his head: "I remembered, okay, let them see how powerful I am, Chogoro Musashi!"

The red-faced fat man in the stands is already a little bored. The difficulty of the competition is still a bit too high for children under 16 years old. Among the more than [-] people so far, not to mention being able to shoot the target, they can even run smoothly. Only about two-thirds of the journey was completed, and some people simply fell off their horses in wet mud, ditches, bridges, jungles and other places.The adopted son he had just accepted never showed up, so it was no wonder that he yawned out of boredom.

"Nara Sake House? Ono Nagagoro?" The gray-faced man's reaction was much sharper. He patted his friend's arm and pointed at the boy who had just appeared: "Is this the boy who appeared?"

"Yes, that's it!" The red-faced fat man suddenly became energetic: "How about it, you still look very energetic, right? I'm sure to impress His Majesty!"

"You are quite spirited, but whether Your Majesty likes you or not depends on your ability!" The gray-faced man said with a smile: "At least you can't fall off the horse!"

"How could it be possible? This boy is from Musashi Country. He has been rolling on horses since he was a child!" The red-faced fat man glared at his friend and shouted loudly: "Changgoro, show your hands to everyone!"

Chogoro kicked the horse's belly, and the horse took small steps and started running. He glanced at the ceremony not far away and found that the other party had waved a flag. Knowing that this was a signal to start, he slapped it with his back. He hit the horse's butt twice, and the horse immediately started running quickly. He took out three feather arrows from the quiver, two of them between his fingers, one on the string, and the bow was only half drawn. Full.Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him on the right side. He filled the bow almost subconsciously, and shot the standard humanoid. There was only a soft sound, and the arrow shot through the straw man's head, and the huge impact immediately hit him. The belt fell.

"One book!" The servant squatting in the grass next to him confirmed that he had been shot in the face. He waved a red flag and shouted loudly. Cheers suddenly erupted in the stands. It turned out that according to the rules at the time, a shot in the face of the straw man must be a book. , if the shot hits the parts of the straw man's body that are not covered with armor, such as the ribs, thighs, etc., then it will be two. If it hits the straw man, but only on the armor-covered part, it will be three.One book is the top, two books are the middle, and three books are the bottom.There are very few candidates who can hit a book with the first arrow. No wonder everyone is so excited.

"My son, this is my son on the field!" The red-faced fat man almost jumped up from the stands. He pointed one finger at Changgoro who was riding his horse and bending his bow, and patted his chest with the other hand. At this moment, he wanted to jump to the center of the field. , letting everyone know that he is the father of the boy in the field.

"He's an adopted son, not his biological son!" the gray-faced man reminded angrily.

"He who is not my biological son is still my son! If you don't believe me, go check the family tree! It's clearly written on it!" the red-faced fat man replied triumphantly.

"Isoguan's son! You might as well change your surname to Isoguan!" the gray-faced man muttered in a low voice.

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(End of this chapter)