Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 425 It's worth it
There is a surge of people in Xiushanfang, Luoyang.

It was not a festive day, but most of the polo enthusiasts in the city gathered together excitedly.

All kinds of mobile vendors also heard the news and started doing business in the streets and alleys.

Polo is the most popular sport of this era, suitable for royals, nobles, young and old.

Polo was particularly popular in prosperous areas such as Chang'an and Luoyang. There were more than fifty polo teams, both formal and informal, in the city, not including surrounding areas. There were large and small matches almost every day.

With so many teams and such a large scale, it is inevitable that there will be grudges.

Grudge games are the most eye-catching of all football games.

All horse racing fans would not want to miss today's game. Some even traveled hundreds of miles from Chang'an to watch it.

Just like A Luo's regret...

Arohan was the son of Yaddegerd III, the last monarch of the Sassanid Empire. But with the rise of the Arab Empire, after his father Yazdegerd was killed by the Arab Empire, Arohan and his younger brother Peroz, who inherited the throne, fled to Tokharistan and sought help from the Tang Dynasty.

However, the Sassanid Empire was too far away, and neither Li Shimin nor Li Zhi immediately sent troops to support it.

It was not until the seventh year of Xian De that Li Zhi sent a special envoy, Wang Mingyuan, to the Western Regions and Central Asia to establish the Persian Governorate to assist Persian in rebuilding Persia.

Arohan was an extremely outstanding politician. As a member of the Persian royal family, his reputation was no less than that of his younger brother, King Peroz of Persia.

In the Western Regions, he was regarded as the all-powerful Okhlan, and it was he who advocated an alliance with the Tang Dynasty to promote the national restoration movement and fight against the Arabs.

Li Zhi in the Central Plains had heard of A Luohan's reputation, so he specially invited him to Chang'an and appointed him as the Right General of the Tang Dynasty, and temporarily stayed in Chang'an to study the Central Plains culture.

While appreciating the Tang Dynasty culture in Chang'an, A Luohan fell in love with the sport of polo.

Upon learning that the rising Wu family team was going to compete against the old and powerful Lujia team, he immediately took his good friend Li Yiyan, whom he had met in Chang'an, to Luoyang to watch the polo match.

Looking at the surging crowd, A Luohan was amazed and said, "Besides Chang'an, there are so many people in Luoyang."

Persia has a long history and has experienced many glorious times. At the peak of its prosperity, their capital, Ctesiphon, had a population of over 100,000.

In his opinion, it was already a lot...

It was not until he arrived in Chang'an that A Luohan discovered that there was a capital city in the world with a population of over one million and an incredibly powerful dynasty.

A Luohan thought that only Chang'an was like this, but when he came to Luoyang today, he found that Luoyang was no worse than Chang'an.

Li Yiyan was from Changle, Weizhou. He passed the imperial examination and was appointed as the Taiyuan Wei in his early years. At that time, Li Ji was the governor of Taiyuan. The clerks in Taiyuan were afraid of Li Ji's prestige and did not dare to raise objections. Only Li Yiyan argued in court and won Li Ji's respect. Later, he was recommended by Li Ji and promoted to the magistrate of Baishui County. He made outstanding achievements and was promoted to the deputy minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Li Yiyan was a man of great stature, distinguished temperament, and erudite knowledge. He was responsible for receiving important guests.

A Luohan was invited by Li Zhi to come to Chang'an, and Li Yiyan was responsible for receiving and accompanying him.

The two political strongmen came together and developed a deep friendship.

Li Yiyan said with a hint of pride: "Our dynasty is people-oriented and benefits the world, so it is naturally prosperous. This is not only true for Chang'an and Luoyang, but also for Liangzhou, Yangzhou, and Yizhou."

There was a light in A Luohan's eyes, which further confirmed his inner belief.

The Arab Empire had grown into a behemoth, and the remaining Persian remnants were unable to resist and would be in danger of being destroyed sooner or later. Only the Tang Dynasty could save Persia.

The two followed the crowd into the polo field...

The polo field is huge, capable of accommodating 10,000 spectators, and has four VIP seats.

There are two polo players' entrances on each side...

The VIP seats are closest to the player tunnel, allowing guests to watch the players up close and even say hello to them.

In order to take care of A Luohan, Li Yiyan used some connections and they were seated in the first row, closest to Zuo Xicheng's polo team.

A Luo looked around and found that the polo field, which could accommodate thousands of spectators, was almost half full.

They shouted in unison, "The Cheng family must win, the Cheng family must win!"

A Luo said regretfully, "Isn't it said that the Cheng family team is also Changan's team? Why are we all cheering for them?"

Li Yiyan smiled and said, "Only if the Cheng family team wins can they save face."

A Luohan looked puzzled.

Li Yiyan explained in a low voice.

It turns out that Chang'an and Luoyang have always been competing with each other over cultural issues.

Chang'an was the base camp of the Guanlong families, while Luoyang gathered a large number of Guandong gentry and served as the stronghold of Guandong scholars.

As the eastern and western capitals of the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang has always been dissatisfied with Chang'an, and the people of Luoyang have always been thinking about competing with the people of Chang'an.

The cultures of both sides have their own merits, strengths and weaknesses, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

But in the event of polo, Luoyang pressed Changan to the ground and kneaded him repeatedly.

Luoyang is dominated by Guandong culture, while Chang'an is dominated by Guanlong culture.

Guanlong was a military group, and Guanzhong Prefecture had the best military force in the world.

The most important thing in polo is riding skills. How could the people from Guandong be a match for the people from Guanlong?

For some reason, the Cheng family followed Li Zhi to Luoyang. The Cheng family polo team swept all the local polo teams in Luoyang and won a great reputation.

In view of the strength of the Cheng family polo team, most people in Luoyang regard it as the strongest team in Chang'an and the strongest team in the world for the sake of their own face.

Now the Wu family polo team is coming with a grudge. If the Wu family team wins against the Cheng family, doesn't it mean that Chang'an can just come and play with a team and pin them to the ground?
Don’t people in Luoyang have any respect?

Therefore, when it comes to major issues, most Luoyang fans have become fans of the Cheng team.

"I see!"

After hearing this, A Luohan suddenly realized the truth and nodded continuously.

Of course there is more to it than that.

Empress Wu was of humble origin, and now she and Li Zhi jointly managed state affairs as empress and empress. All of this was intolerable to the scholars in Guandong, and they made many false accusations against Empress Wu.

Although the people of Luoyang had nothing to do with the government, for a long time their after-dinner talk was mostly about bad things about Empress Wu, and naturally they had no good feelings towards the Wu family.

Li Yiyan naturally would not tell A Luohan about these. Even the conflict between the Guanlong aristocratic families and the Guandong gentry, he deliberately concealed it and only said that the people in Chang'an and Luoyang were competing fiercely.

A Luohan could understand this statement, as such things often happened in the West.

Amid the cheers of the crowd, the players from both teams began to enter the field. Li Yiyan and A Luohan were near the entrance of the Cheng family polo team, looking at the majestic and powerful polo players.

A Luohan exclaimed: "What a warrior!"

"Hey!" He suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "Who is that person?"

Near a group of polo players, there were actually two people, one big and one small.

A young man in blue scholar's clothes and a child were riding on the young man, clapping their hands.

There were no coaches or anything like that in polo matches of this era, so Chen Qingsi's appearance at the entrance made A Luohan feel strange.

Li Yiyan recognized the man at a glance and said respectfully, "This man is Mr. Chen, the Minister of War. The child on his neck must be his child."

Chen Qingsi was a big shot in the temple and a recognized hidden minister. Although Li Yiyan had never had the opportunity to get to know and talk with him, he had met him many times on various occasions.

Ah Luohan stared at the Minister of War, Mr. Chen, and said, "That is the Minister of War, Chen Qingsi, who pacified Baekje and suppressed Japan. Minister Chen? Isn't he a warrior? I heard that when he was suppressing the Baekje rebels, he rode into the battle alone and killed the famous Baekje general, Jiebaek."

Li Yiyan smiled and said, "You are wrong. Mr. Chen is a real scholar, the leader of our dynasty's literati. His poems are insightful and fascinating. The one you like, 'Thousands of miles of yellow clouds, the sun is dim, the north wind blows the geese and the snow falls; don't worry about having no friends on the road ahead, everyone in the world knows you', is Mr. Chen's masterpiece."

A Luohan was surprised and said, "This Mr. Chen is that Mr. Chen? Are they the same person?"

He could hardly imagine that someone who could write such a poem could fight such a battle.

The key is still so young...

Li Yiyan also admired him and said, "He is indeed one person. Our dynasty has never lacked people who can become generals and ministers, and Mr. Chen is one of them. He can stabilize the country with his literary skills and stabilize the country with his military skills. It is no exaggeration. However, it is a lie that he rode into the battle alone and killed the famous Baekje general Jiebaek. I also heard that Mr. Chen is a god who has descended from heaven. The sword in his hand can shoot out dazzling flames. When he chops down with his sword, the sword energy will spray out... How is it possible..."

A Luohan found this very mysterious and he did not believe it, but his eyes showed a bit of yearning. He thought, "It would be great if His Majesty the Emperor could send such a person to lead troops to help Persia."

At this moment, Chen Qingsi was also a little amused and helpless.

He asked Cheng Boxian to arrange a good seat for him so that Jingjing could watch the game safely.

After all, the little guy had just gotten a BMW and was in high spirits.

But I didn't want to spoil his fun.

As it turned out, Cheng Boxian took him directly to the inner court, where he could watch the game at a very close distance in a unique VIP seat.

Cheng Boxian patted his chest and said, "Sir, don't worry, I will make sure those bastards from the Wu family know why the azalea is red."

As soon as he finished speaking, another voice came: "I really want to know why the azalea is red? Is it stained with your blood?"

Chen Qingsi shook his head slightly. He had already recognized the voice of the person coming. It was Wu Minzhi.

Wu Minzhi is a man of both talent and love to play. He has a special liking for polo. After entering the officialdom, he formed a strong polo team with his connections in the Eastern Palace and his generous spending.

Li Zhi and Empress Wu both left Chang'an.

Wu Minzhi was even more unrestrained, and led his own team to challenge famous polo teams one by one. Even the Cheng family's polo team was defeated by them many times.

This time the two sides had a conflict and wanted to have a grudge match.

As the helmsman of the Wu family polo team, he naturally has to take charge in person.

I wanted to end the battle quickly, but I found Chen Qingsi on the opposite side. I didn't care about anything else and went up to say hello.

When Wu Minzhi heard what Cheng Boxian said, he couldn't bear it anymore and directly retorted.

Then he walked quickly to Chen Qingsi and bowed, saying hello: "Hello, Mr. Chen..." Then he looked at Jingjing who had already come down from his neck and said: "I guess this is my junior brother. He is really smart. I have a jade pendant here as a gift for my junior brother."

As he spoke, he pulled out a white jade pendant the size of an adult's palm from his waist.

Apart from other things, Wu Minzhi was really generous. As long as he thought it was worth it, he would give it away no matter what it was.

Just like the one around his waist, which was given to him by Grandma Yang, it was a family heirloom jade pendant that Wu Shigui found by chance while doing business.

Jingjing looked at her father and saw him shaking his head slightly. She bowed tenderly and said, "Thank you for your kindness, brother. The gift is too expensive. I can't afford it."

Chen Qingsi said: "How can there be such an expensive gift for meeting someone? If you really want to give a gift, choose the right one carefully, don't just pick the most expensive one."

Wu Minzhi hurriedly said, "What you have taught me is correct, sir!"

Chen Qingsi asked: "What's the situation with Wu Yian? Is it related to you?"

Wu Minzhi immediately said, "Sir, it has nothing to do with me. I only found out about it afterwards... Wu Yian is the son of Wu Weiliang, the Queen's cousin, and I can't control him. He also likes polo. I am now serving under the Crown Prince, and I don't have much time to take care of the team's affairs. I thought the polo team needed to be managed, so I handed it over to Wu Yian, and he is responsible for everything. I didn't know that he bullied Zhai Chengxiu. He did everything on his own..."

Cheng Boxian said with disdain: "You are fooling around!"

Wu Minzhi was afraid that Chen Qingsi would not believe him, so he ignored Cheng Boxian and continued to explain: "Wu Yian went to Nanzhong for some reason, and when he came back, he said he wanted to make up for the wasted time, which led to a conflict with Zhai Chengxiu."

Chen Qingsi said calmly, "Okay, no need to explain. Since we have this match, let's have a good match and then settle the grudges. It's such a big deal, but it's causing a big uproar in the city. How shameful."

"Yes!" Wu Minzhi was immediately delighted and said with a smile: "Sir, why don't you go to the students and see how the team formed by the students wins this game."

Wu Minzhi has always been arrogant and does not take the elite members of the Cheng family polo team beside him seriously at all.

Cheng Boxian laughed angrily and said, "You are just bragging. It is true that when the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king."

Cheng Boxian looked disdainful. When the Wu family team rose to prominence, he was still in Baije with Chen Qingsi. Several main players of the Cheng family also came to Luoyang with Li Zhi.

So the Wu family polo team played against the Cheng family's second team.

Wu Minzhi snorted lightly, not wanting to bother with this reckless man, and instead looked at Chen Qingsi expectantly.

Chen Qingsi said: "No, I didn't know you were coming here before, so I promised Bo Xian and I'm going to go back on my word. Let's have a good game and show you how strong the team you have put together is!"

Wu Minzhi looked regretful at first, but then he said confidently: "Don't worry, sir. I will never let you down."

He said, bowed, and left.

The Cheng family members were all so angry that their eyes were wide open.

Cheng Boxian said, "Sir, please watch carefully and see how I crush them."

Chen Qingsi had already seen Han Sizhong on the opposite side and said, "Don't be careless. There are still capable people in the other team, especially Han Sizhong."

Chen Qingsi couldn't help but remind him.

Cheng Boxian said nonchalantly: "The students know, let's see how we win."

Chen Qingsi didn't say anything either. No matter who wins or loses in the end, it was worth coming to this game.

(End of this chapter)