Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Seeing the crowds of people below, Queen Chen Xianqiao couldn't help exclaiming, "Why are there so many people?"

Zhao Degao, the manager of Fengyi Palace next to him, replied with a smile: "Your Majesty forgot, today is a ten-day rest."

What Zhao Degao said was actually half-spoken. As the rule of the Huaxia Dynasty gradually stabilized, cuju confrontation (football) and horse racing, which were only popular in the military, gradually entered the civilian population, attracting the love of the general public with its fierce confrontation and gaming.As for the Huaxia government, because of their desire to generate a large amount of gambling taxes, and because they believe that horse racing can promote the development of the private horse breeding industry, they have adopted an attitude of fueling the development of the two sports.

By the end of the sixth year of Wucheng, people would be seen playing football wherever there was a market in the whole of China, so that all prefectures and Zhili prefectures had their own city Cuju leagues, and even provincial-level cuju leagues appeared in some economically developed areas. league.Horse riding, horse racing, and horse betting have also become popular in big cities, becoming a landscape that regulates urban life.

It was in view of the extensive development of the two items that Zheng Kezang instructed the manager of the inner court to build a large arena similar to another space-time stadium "Royal Palace" at the end of the fifth year of Wucheng at the half-mile (new system) outside the east gate of Wuchang Fucheng. court".After completion, four Cuju competitions will be held on the first day of the ten-day break, and polo and horse racing competitions will be held on the second day of the ten-day break.

The completion of the "Royal Stadium" attracted a large number of spectators, and even the people of Hanyang and Hankou crossed the river overnight to watch the game (betting).

Seeing that the manager of the inner court was earning a lot of money, Duzhi Yamen and Wuchang Mansion were jealous because of this, so the two hit it off, and the Duzhi Yamen paid for it, and Wuchang Mansion gave the land. A large-scale sports arena --- "Wuchangfu Stadium".

Although the facilities and equipment of the "Wuchangfu Stadium" are updated, there are more boxes for wealthy families, a larger number of viewers can be accommodated, and more complete supporting dining, entertainment and rest facilities, the business of the "Royal Stadium" has not been affected by this.

This is because there are nearly [-] households and millions of people in the Greater Wuchang area where the company is located, and there is enough passenger flow for the two major stadiums to share; in addition, it is also very important that the "Royal Stadium" has the "Wuchang Mansion Stadium". The special confrontational performance "polo" competition that does not exist in the stadium.

Polo is a high-end sport, not everyone can afford it.Because in addition to the superb riding skills of the rider, the quality of the horse is also very important. Not to mention ordinary Mongolian horses, even the main mixed-breed horses in the army may not be able to excel in confrontation, so only the big horses owned by the Imperial Guards The tall and abnormal horses such as food horses and Andalusian horses are the most eye-catching.In addition, people and horses are often injured in the confrontation, so only the rich and powerful royal family can afford it.

Chen Xianqiao was still speechless. At this time, Concubine Zhao Tong Chunniang, who was accompanying her to watch the game, suddenly reminded her: "Empress, look, Guan Sheng and the others have appeared."

Sheng Guan is Chen Xianqiao's second son and Zheng Kezang's third son, Zheng Anlu, who is now a military officer candidate who has not studied martial arts.Just considering the danger of soldiers and wars, it is impossible to really let the prince go to the battlefield, so Zheng Kezang stuffed him into the Imperial Guard to serve in a secret and roundabout way. He joined the cavalry unit of the Imperial Guard, which distracted Chen Xianqiao for no reason.

Chen Xianqiao also wanted Zheng Anzhen to leave the cavalry army, but after all, Zheng Anzhen joined the army incognito, and even Zheng Kezang couldn't directly transfer his position, otherwise he would lose the original intention of letting him practice. Did not leave the cavalry, but mixed into the polo team

Chen Xianqiao, who heard that her son had appeared, hurriedly looked around and saw two teams of knights slowly entering the arena—because the Cuju competition field is shared, each team has only five riders, one of which is wearing red vests, and the other is wearing red vests. The first team is a bright blue vest.

However, because Chen Xianqiao and the others were located at the highest point of the entire court, not only could they not see the rider's face clearly, even the numbers on the back of the rider's vest were unclear, so Chen Xianqiao asked anxiously: "Where is it? Where?"

Zhao Degao hastily handed over a pair of binoculars, which are the latest products of the Ordnance Department. However, because people at the time were still groping for basic optical formulas, binoculars that could not automatically adjust the interpupillary distance would cause dizziness if viewed for a long time, so it was not recommended If it is not adopted by the army, it can only be reduced to a theater viewing mirror for dignitaries and dignitaries.

Watching Chen Xianqiao take over the theater mirror and look around randomly, Zhao Degao hurriedly introduced: "Your Majesty, don't worry, Lord Luyang belongs to the red team. According to the order of appearance, he should not have appeared yet."

"Not playing." Chen Xianqiao breathed a sigh of relief. "Then don't worry." Chen Xianqiao came to see her son and was not interested in other people's performances, but she couldn't bear the bursts of cheers in the arena, so she occasionally raised the theater mirror to look at it, but overall Speaking of lack of interest. "Sister Zhaofei, is this polo really so beautiful?"

Tong Chunniang was watching with gusto, but the queen's question was not easy to answer, so she could only put down the theater mirror in her hand and replied: "It's fun for a few people and a few horses to grab a ball, but more importantly, you can bet on it." It doesn't matter if you win or lose, but if you see that the side you bet on will win, you will jump up for joy, and if you see the side you bet on will lose, you will shout out nervously."

It sounds like a resentful woman Huaichun, but Chen Xianqiao is the mother of the world, so naturally she can't say such vulgar words.

While he was speechless, Zhao Degao knew: "Ma'am, Lord Luyang has appeared."

Chen Xianqiao quickly raised the theater mirror. Although the magnification of the lens was not high and the vision was still blurry, she could finally see clearly the white characters "Ding Yi" on Zheng An's back.Seeing her son shuttle in the court, Chen Xianqiao's heart couldn't help but lift up.

"Damn it, that man in blue dared to swing his club at the prince. He must be severely punished later." Zhao Degao looked at Chen Xianqiao bluffing there, dumbfounded. One team scored. "Zhao Degao." Chen Xianqiao asked. "What's going on, why are you throwing pieces of paper into the arena?"

Before Zhao Degao could answer, Tong Chunniang answered first: "The bettors are venting their anger."

"Losing?" Chen Xianqiao asked in confusion. "Isn't this polo still going on? How come the winners and losers are divided."

Tong Chunniang explained happily: "There are many ways to win or lose. Just now they bet on which team will score first."

Chen Xianqiao frowned, "Gambling is harmful, so it's probably not a good thing to be so crazy."

"Your Majesty is right." Zhao Degao agreed. "That's why the Holy One limited each person to buy ten bets on the same item each time, and each bet is at most ten coins." Zhao Degao said half of it again. In fact, it is not that there are no large or even huge bets, but the bets invested The more it is, the higher the rake in the stadium, and the more gambling taxes will be paid to the government. Therefore, intentionally or unintentionally, ordinary people are restricted from participating in high-end gambling. "It can be regarded as a small gamble."

"Look, empress," the imperial concubine Fang Yuniang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly exclaimed. "It seems that Guan Sheng scored a goal."

Chen Xianqiao hurriedly raised the theater mirror, but she didn't see the scene where her son scored a goal, but found that he suddenly fell off the horse, and she was shocked like something: "What's going on, hurry up, send someone to ask, What happened to Sheng Guan?"

"No one is allowed to ask!" A male voice suddenly sounded behind the crowd. Hearing this familiar voice, everyone stood up and saluted in the direction of the voice. "You don't have to be restrained." Zheng Kezang said to the wives and concubines with his figure exposed, and then waved his hand at Chen Xianqiao. "Officer Sheng was just knocked down. There is nothing serious about it. If you send someone to inquire about it, it will attract people's attention and reveal the identity of Officer Sheng. It is not in line with my original intention."

Zheng Kezang is also Chen Xianqiao who is not interested. In fact, it is not very abrupt for a wealthy lady in the box to send someone to greet the athletes on the field, but Chen Xianqiao didn't know it, so she lost her temper and said: "How can you be such a father?" Yes, isn't Guan Sheng your son, and you don't care when you see him injured."

Zheng Kezang walked up to Chen Xianqiao, dragged her to sit down, and then held up the theater mirror in front of Chen Xianqiao's eyes: "The queen looked carefully, is Guan Sheng alive and kicking now?"

Chen Xianqiao snatched the theater mirror from Zheng Kezang's hands, searched carefully, and found that Sheng Guan was back on the horse, but before she put down the theater mirror, the scene stopped, and then Sheng Guan And his horse was replaced: "Why is it missing, is it seriously injured?"

Zheng Kezang shook his head at Chen Xianqiao, who was concerned about it, and Zheng Kezang explained: "This is just a normal substitution. No one can play the whole game. Everyone will have to take a breath."

Chen Xianqiao was skeptical, but Zheng Kezang didn't seem to be lying, so she had no choice but to hold back and wait for Zheng Anming to appear again.It’s just that when the competition was over and Zheng Anzhen didn’t show up, she became anxious again and was about to speak again, but Zheng Kezang secretly grabbed her hand. She didn’t want to be disrespectful in front of the harem sisters, so she had to calm down and wait. The start of the next race.

But what was waiting was the second horse race today, and after the horse race was another equestrian show.After the low and high equestrianism, there was another horse race. After most of the day passed, the polo players re-entered the field.

"Look, isn't that Sheng Guan?" Zheng Kezang pointed to a figure in the red team and said, Chen Xianqiao then tried to capture the image with the theater mirror, and finally confirmed the number on the back this time with a relieved smile. "But what the hell are they up to?"

Chen Xianqiao was relieved, but Zheng Kezang frowned. He saw the five riders of the red team in a tight formation, driving side by side, and all the members of the blue team who came to intercept scatteredly rushed to the side together.

"Why is this formation so familiar?" Zheng Kezang was thinking hard, and cheers like a tsunami came from his ears. "Isn't this the formation of the French cavalry at the National Day military parade? French cavalry, Napoleon, and Mamluk cavalry." Zheng Kezang stood up all of a sudden. "Send your car back to the palace, and quickly recruit Huo Yun, the cavalry commander of the imperial guards, to have an audience with him."