Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The holding of the dragon boat race completely heated up the atmosphere of the martial arts conference.

It’s not like the capital had not held dragon boat races before, but never at such a high standard.

Not to mention the rewards for champions and contestants, which are directly official positions and land.

Although the land and official positions are all overseas, it is also an opportunity for many people.

Some people who are good at rowing are already regretting not actively participating in the competition before.

If they don't show their skills in competitions, who will know even if they have the ability?
If they had known that the emperor and the feudal lords attached so much importance to the martial arts tournament, they would have definitely participated actively.

But it's too late to say anything now. Even if they sign up now, they can only participate in the next martial arts conference.

As for when the next one will be held, only God knows!
The rest of the contestants who participated in the martial arts tournament and reached the finals were even more excited and full of anticipation.

A lively dragon boat race has such high rewards, so those participating in martial arts events must be no worse.

They were eager to show their talents and let the emperor and the princes see their abilities.

After the dragon boat race, the next event should be the swimming competition. However, because the water area is still being prepared, an event is inserted:

Sumo wrestling is a martial arts competition.

This is one of the oldest sports in China, also known as Chiyou Opera and Jiaodi Opera. It was very popular during the Song Dynasty and even developed into female sumo wrestling.

During the Ming Dynasty, sumo wrestling was often used as a form of entertainment during military training. During the Zhengde period, when Jiang Bin was training his troops, "every regiment would occasionally perform sumo wrestling in the palace."

Therefore, the martial arts events of the martial arts tournament start with sumo.

The people of the capital were also very curious to see who would win the first place in sumo wrestling.

Some people who gathered together even gambled with them to see who could guess correctly.

One of the two contestants in the final was a sumo wrestler from the capital, who was quite famous among the people. As soon as he appeared on the stage, he attracted a round of cheers.

His opponent was Liu Zongmin from Shaanxi, a blacksmith from Lantian who had developed great strength.

After the training at the Shaanxi Martial Arts Conference, his talent for martial arts was awakened, and his fighting skills also improved rapidly.

Of course, the sumo wrestler from the capital city is more popular. And judging from the size, there is a huge difference between Liu Zongmin and his opponent.

Liu Zongmin, who was considered to be big and strong compared to ordinary people, was no match for the sumo wrestler, who probably weighed as much as 300 kilograms.

Zhu Youjian, who was watching the game from a distance, couldn't help but frown slightly after seeing this scene through a telescope.

The sumo wrestler's body shape reminded him of the sumo wrestling in later generations in Japan. Because there is no upper limit, the weight of Japanese sumo wrestlers is mostly over 300 kilograms, making it a sport for fat people.

If sumo wrestling is not graded, the future sumo wrestling in Ming Dynasty will probably be like this. After all, people with a large body weight have a huge advantage.

"I want to select military commanders, not a bunch of fat guys."

"Besides, if a person is fat, he or she may eat more food, which does not necessarily mean he or she is healthy."

"We need to classify sumo wrestling into different weight categories."

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian said to Li Shunzu, the commander of the Jinyiwei who was accompanying him:
"Write this down. Use 125kg and 200kg as the dividing line, and divide sumo and other competitions into three weight categories."

"Those under 125 jin are lightweight, those between 125 jin and 200 jin are heavyweight, and those over 200 jin are super heavyweight."

“The focus is on rewarding heavyweights and discovering talents in this range.”

According to the standard measurement system established previously, one jin in the Ming Dynasty was 125 grams, 75 jin was 200 kilograms, and 120 jin was kilograms.

Athletes in this range have both strength and flexibility, making them the most suitable for charging into battle. If they are heavier, they may not be able to find a suitable warhorse and will have to go into battle on foot.

Li Shunzu took note and planned to hold competitions by weight category in the future.

The sumo match on the field is about to begin.

As the drums sounded, the first round began. Liu Zongmin was the first to rush forward to test the opponent's strength.

He was a blacksmith and was very strong, but the weight difference was so huge that he could not compare to the man opposite him in terms of strength.

Just a moment of carelessness and he was defeated by the opponent.

This made him a little discouraged and he didn't know how to defeat the opponent.

Li Zicheng, who was watching the game from the sidelines, said:
"Jiexuan, don't worry."

"Use his energy first!"

He also encouraged Liu Zongmin to play well in the competition and strive to win first place.

Liu Zongmin looked at the emperor and the princes on the stage, and then thought of the reward the rowers had just received. He encouraged himself in his heart and made up his mind to win first place even if it cost him his life.

He knew that this was the best opportunity for him to change his fate!

So he followed Li Zicheng's advice and was careful to circle around the opponent in the second round. Although he was still defeated, he consumed the opponent's strength.

This sumo match was a best-of-five match. After Liu Zongmin lost two rounds in a row, he was in great danger.

If he can't win in the next round, he can only watch his opponent become number one.

But Liu Zongmin was now completely confident. He knew that his opponent had consumed more energy than himself, and he was already breathing heavily in the second round.

As a blacksmith for many years, he has much more endurance than his opponent. If the number of rounds increases, he will be more confident of winning.

Now that he has reached the match point, he can only take a risk and try to defeat the enemy.

The other sumo wrestler thought the same as him, knowing that if he couldn't win in the third round, he would probably run out of energy for the rest of the match. So he complained in his heart that there were too many rounds in the best-of-five format, but he could only muster up his strength and compete with Liu Zongmin again.

This round of competition was more intense than ever before. Many people in Beijing were cheering, wanting to congratulate the locals for winning first place.

But what they didn't expect was Liu Zongmin's unprecedented tenacity. He turned the situation around several times when they were almost defeated.

In the end, he even took advantage of his opponent's lack of strength and knocked him down, winning the third round.

After this round, the situation on the field had completely shifted towards Liu Zongmin.

Seeing how tenacious he was, Zhu Youjian was quite impressed with Liu Zongmin and said to those around him:

"This man is a fierce general who is good at charging into battle, and he is also a great general."

"Huang Degong, go recruit him into the camp and train him well."

He looked at the nobles around him again, and this time he did not choose a prince to present the award, but said to Zhang Tongchang:
"Duke Jiangling is about to establish a fiefdom, and he needs powerful generals under his command."

"After Liu Zongmin is trained, I will lend him to you."

"First, train yourself when you open a fiefdom, and then you can use it for great purposes later."

Let Zhang Tongchang and Huang Degong prepare to present the award to Liu Zongmin.

Liu Zongmin lived up to expectations and won the next two rounds without any danger. (End of this chapter)