Back to Tang Dynasty to be Emperor

Li Shimin's imperial edict came on time. Early the next morning, Li Ke had just finished his breakfast and was chatting with Ma Zhou, Su Dingfang, and Liu Rengui when he saw Wang De, the servant, walking in with the imperial edict. Before everyone could react, Wang De Yizhan shouted: "The king of Han accepts the decree."

Li Ke and the others quickly knelt down, and Wang De read aloud: "By God, the emperor's edict said: Today, the King of Han has created a new method of Cuju, which is beneficial to the country and the people. He specially authorized the King of Han to set up a Cuju Division to be in charge of the Cuju competitions in the Tang Dynasty. Bo Mazhou, head of the palace, is quick-witted and can be put to great use, and he is appointed as the censor, supervising the Cuju division, and can correct the favoritism and malpractice of the officials in the competition. Appreciate it!"

After Wang De finished reading the imperial decree, Li Ke felt at ease. He thanked Wang De for accepting the decree, and then politely said to Wang De: "Please sit down, my lord." He ordered his servants to serve tea.

Wang De bluntly said: "The old slave thanked His Highness for your kindness, but the old slave has to go back to the palace to serve the emperor, and drink tea at another time."

Li Ke knew that Wang De didn't want to have anything to do with any prince, so he stopped forcing him to stay and asked Yang En to send him out of the Han Palace.As soon as Wang De left, Ma Zhou and the three of them bowed their hands to Li Ke and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness has fulfilled his wish, and the competition is held according to the order."

Li Ke smiled lightly and said to Ma Zhou: "King Bin, it's you who should congratulate this time. After reading the memorial you wrote, the emperor immediately appointed you as the censor to supervise the Cuju division. It can be seen that he treats you well." The affirmation and trust of his talents, you must not let him down."

Ma Zhou was also quite happy with Li Shimin's arrangement, so he didn't put on a show in front of everyone, and said, "Thank you for the trust of the emperor and His Highness, I will try my best to manage Cuju Division well."

Next, Li Ke changed the subject and brought up the matter of forming a new army. He first asked Ma Zhou, "Prince Bin, do you think this king will submit a letter to the emperor to serve as a military training envoy?"

Seeing the question, Ma Zhou pondered for a moment and said, "Your Highness, the matter of military training is of great importance, and it should be handled carefully. You should think twice before acting."

Li Ke heard what Ma Zhou said, and said worriedly: "This king has two generals, Ding Fang and Zheng Ze, and I believe that it is not a problem to train elite soldiers. Therefore, this king is not afraid of failing to train soldiers, but is afraid that the emperor will not allow me to come." Forming a new army, you also know that the current imperial court has a large number of talented people, and the emperor has gathered around his father who are capable of recruiting and fighting, and the errands of military training will most likely fall to them."

When Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui heard Li Ke mentioning them, they praised them greatly. They were grateful in their hearts, and thanked them together: "Your Highness, I appreciate the award."

Ma Zhou tentatively said: "If I guessed correctly, what His Highness is worried about is not someone from the imperial court who is ordered to train soldiers, but someone who supports the East Palace or Prince Wei's Mansion to serve as military training envoys?"

Li Ke nodded and looked at Ma Zhou, as if waiting for him to express his opinion.

Ma Zhou said bluntly: "This matter is very serious, I thought that we should wait and see what happened for the time being, and wait for the matter of Cuju to come to an end, Your Highness will not be too late to think about it."

Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui also said: "Your Highness, it's better to finish the Cuju competition first, then the emperor will recognize His Highness's ability, and it is very likely that His Highness will be considered as a military training envoy.

Hearing this, Li Ke felt that he was indeed a little impatient. The proposal to form a new army had just been discussed in the court, and the army had not yet been formally established. He was worried about this in advance, and put the Cuju in front of him aside.Hehe smiled and said: "What you are saying is that this king is too anxious."

After a pause, Li Ke said again: "About the main matters of the Cuju competition, you and Zhengzheng will be the two of King Bin to do it, and decide the square. During the competition, I will ask my father to adjust the left and right Jin Wuwei and the Wangfu wolf led by you." The guards will maintain order in the venue together, your responsibility is heavy."

Seeing that he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, Su Dingfang hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will ensure the smooth progress of the competition."

Li Ke believes in the abilities of the three of them, as long as they are given full rights, they will not let themselves down.Therefore, he said to the three people: "Yesterday, the king found some Cuju talents in Changlefang, and today he will report to the Fuzhong. At that time, he will select a few good Cuju players from the Wolf Guards to form the Fuzhong Cuju Team. As for the team name, This king hasn't made up his mind yet, so what suggestions do the three of you have?"

Among the three, Su Dingfang has the talent of a general, Liu Rengui and Ma Zhou are great talents, but they are very cautious about the name of the Wangfu Cuju team and dare not make a definite conclusion.Ma Zhou thought for a while, and said: "Your Highness, I want to set up the imperial gift of the competition as a tripod. The tripod is the inheritance of the country and has a profound culture. So, how about calling the Cuju team in the mansion Ding Han?"

Li Ke's heart brightened, and he felt that the two "Ding Han" were very important. He turned his attention to Su and Liu, and they also agreed. ’” Suddenly he asked Ma Zhou again, “Why do you want to set the imperial reward as a tripod?”

Ma Zhou explained: "This is just an idea of ​​my minister, and it has yet to be approved by the emperor. The tripod has been regarded as an important weapon for establishing a country since ancient times, and it means grandeur. In addition, the tripod is also a ritual vessel for recording achievements. The kings or princes and ministers of the ancient times had to cast tripods to record the grand occasions when they were celebrating or receiving rewards. Therefore, using tripods as rewards shows that the emperor attaches great importance to the competition, and it is also a great incentive for the contestants."

After listening, Li Ke said with satisfaction: "Then follow what King Bin said." As soon as the words fell, Yang En walked into the hall and said: "Your Highness, the kickers you selected yesterday have come to the mansion , the old slave took them to the new Cuju field."

Li Ke was overjoyed, knowing that Ye Xi and others had come, he said to Yang En, "Old Yang, let Sun Fu come to the court." Then, he led everyone to the new Cuju court in the palace.

The newly-built Cuju field is completely a replica of the later generations' field, but the solar term is already in mid-October, and the transplanted lawn is not as bright green as in summer, and in the bleak autumn wind, it presents a dark yellow color.When Ye Xi and others saw such a large, luxurious and peculiar Cuju field for the first time, they were a little confused by the shock, but more excited.Seeing Li Ke walking towards the stadium accompanied by several people, Ye Xi hurriedly walked over with others to salute, "I've seen Your Highness."

Li Ke helped Ye Xi up with a smile, and said to the people behind him: "Everyone get up."

Ye Xi thanked Li Ke, followed Li Ke to the seat on the side of the court and sat down, Li Ke first asked Ma Zhou to explain the new cuju kicking method to him, and then asked Chen Qi and the eagle guards who had played before to practice for Ye Xi and others look.Several of them are masters in this way, and they can understand everything. Now that Ma Zhou explained it and Chen Qi and others practiced it, it didn't take long for them to understand the new Cuju by heart.Seeing the new cuju played by the Eagle Guards, he couldn't help but be eager to try. Li Ke saw their intentions, so he asked them to go to the court to play a few rounds with Chen Qi and the others as a way to learn from each other.

Ye Xi answered "Yes!", and walked into the arena with his men in good spirits. Chen Qi intended to compete with Ye Xi and the others, so he chose players who were usually good players.Chen Qi took the lead in kicking the ball to Ye Xi's feet, and said: "Brother Ye, please kick the ball." Ye Xi was not polite, and said: "Accept!" As he said, his feet were walking like flying, and the players on Chen Qi's side were a little stunned. , Ye Xi had already dribbled the ball for five or six meters, then raised his foot and made a shovel shot, the ball flew up like an eagle, and swooped down towards the goal.The hearts of Li Ke and others outside the court also followed the ball. Chen Qi's goalkeeper didn't expect Ye Xi to shoot directly. He hurriedly blocked it, but the ball seemed to have eyes. Wuzhiguan turned into the goal.The people watching from the outside couldn't help admiring.The people watching from the outside couldn't help admiring.Ye Xi smiled shyly, and rushed outside the arena to express his gratitude.

The game continued. Due to Ye Xi's superb performance, Chen Qi was also full of pride. When the goalkeeper served, Chen Qi made a block at his feet, intercepted the ball, and immediately dribbled the ball towards Ye Xi's goal. Ye Xi and others hurriedly chased him. However, Chen Qi has practiced martial arts, and his kung fu is natural, but seeing him dribbling the ball like flying, lightly flashing past the defense of Ye Xi and others, he quickly reached the goal, kicked with his foot, bowed The ball shot towards the goal like an arrow. The goalkeeper on Ye Xi’s side was Liu Chao, who had been on guard against Chen Qi for a long time. The moment he kicked, Liu Chao had already judged the direction the ball was coming from, so he jumped up and stretched out his hand to block the ball. Out of the goal crossbar, Chen Qi saw the ball being saved, he was startled, he didn't have time to think about it, he jumped up, met the ball with his head, swung it hard, and bounced the ball into the goal.Li Ke and the others were so absorbed in watching that they forgot to applaud because of the wonderful scene just now, and it took a long time to realize it.

The two sides played for more than a quarter of an hour, and it was hard to tell the winner.Both Chen Qi and Ye Xi couldn't help but secretly praised each other in their hearts.Because Li Ke still had to explain about Ye Xi's Cuju team, he rushed into the arena and shouted: "Come here first, and everyone will have plenty of time to compete in the future." After hearing this, Chen Qi and Ye Xi stopped the game and led the players Come to Li Ke.Li Ke was very happy to see Ye Xi and others comprehending so quickly, so he ordered Su Dingfang to select enough remaining players from the wolf guards and hand them over to Ye Xi, and let him be the captain and be in charge.Ye Xi didn't expect to be awarded a heavy duty just after arriving at the palace. He was so moved that he knelt on the ground and said, "His Highness Ye Xi deserves such great love, and he will be smashed to pieces to thank His Highness for his great kindness."

What Li Ke wanted was Ye Xi's loyalty, so he quickly helped him up and said, "Ye Xi, in a few days, I will have a few exhibition games in Chang'an City, and then I will hold the Chang'an City Competition. I hope you will not let me down." Trust me, train my Dinghan team well."

Ye Xi assured: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will definitely not disappoint Your Highness."

Li Ke said with a smile: "In this case, the king can rest assured." Then, pointing to Sun Fu who was waiting on the side, he introduced to Ye Xi: "He is an attendant in the mansion, and he is in charge of the Cuju team. If you need anything in the future, just follow up with him." He said."

Seeing Li Ke talking about himself, Sun Fu hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, this old slave will definitely manage the Cuju team well."

Li Ke smiled with satisfaction, leaving Ye Xi and Sun Fu on the field, and asked them to train the team as soon as possible. He had something to do, so he regrettably missed Ye Xi's first training session.

In fact, Li Ke arranged for Sun Fu to manage the Cuju team, not because he didn't trust Ye Xi, but because he wanted to make his Dinghan team stronger.Just imagine that Ye Xi is a poor kid, it's okay to train his brother, he can command