The Prince's Mansion of the Tang Dynasty in Zhenguan had strict regulations on personnel organization. The largest official below the prince is the third-grade Wang Fu, who is equivalent to the prince's teacher. He is usually held concurrently by court officials and does not usually work in the prince's palace. Next down are Chang Shi and Sima, who are in charge of all the officers and generals in the prince's palace, as well as dozens of civilian officials such as the generals, subordinates, Jishi, Junjun, Zhubo and so on. The private soldiers of the prince's palace usually number nearly a thousand people, led by the chief and deputy officers, followed by the school lieutenants, brigade commanders and other military attachés.
It can be said that although the sparrow is small, it has all five internal organs.
Qin Mubai, the seventh-grade Dongge sacrificial wine, not only has a low-level official position, but also has dispensable functions. He can be regarded as a humble official who is just doing nothing. It's no wonder that even the seventh-grade captain guarding the gate doesn't take him seriously.
The person who was on duty at Guan Chen was Sima Wu from Prince Wu's palace. His surname was Zhou. He was an old man in his fifties, always looking sleepy and indifferent. Watching each palace official draw a circle on the book, he yawned and left. He also didn't greet the new Qin Mubai, arrange ministry or anything else for him.
Qin Mubai found the office of Dongge Jijiu by himself, showed his official credentials, and three of his subordinates came to greet him. There is an official kitchen for banquets and purchases, a kitchen for the musicians, actors and actresses in the palace, and a kitchen for musical instruments, kitchen utensils, tables, chairs and other items.
Dongge offers wine, this is really a boring and superfluous official.
Qin Mubai ordered his men to go about their own affairs and shook his head secretly.
Go to Li Ke.
King Wu was still sleeping soundly, and the guards who were guarding the bed not only refused to inform him, but also beat Qin Mubai away and waited outside the garden.
When he first arrived, Qin Mubai was not in a hurry. After waiting patiently outside the garden for a long time, I saw the door of King Wu's chamber open and two women walking out, accompanied by their maids.
I think it was the child from the palace who slept with Li Ke last night. Judging from the fact that these two women are both pretty and pretty, Li Ke knows how to enjoy themselves.
"Ah... ha!" Li Ke yawned and stretched out of the room. His eyes were good. He caught a glimpse of Qin Mubai outside the garden and laughed loudly: "Haha, Mubai is here today, why don't you come in quickly? Sit down in the hall and talk!”
"You should obey your orders." Qin Mubai smiled and walked over. Li Ke laughed loudly and came forward to hold his hand. Suddenly his face became serious and he shouted to the guard at the door: "Don't be negligent or unreasonable towards Qin Jijiu from now on!"
"General, I will obey your orders." The generals and soldiers clasped their fists in agreement, and their eyes changed when they looked at Qin Mubai.
"Mubai, have you finally been sued? Haha, I am almost suffocated to death after being bored in the palace all day. It would be nice if you came, and now I have someone to talk to." Li Ke seemed really excited, He didn't even give Qin Mubai a chance to speak. He spoke rapidly and clapped his hands, "Come here, serve tea!"
A group of maids filed in and placed several utensils in the hall, some of which Qin Mubai did not recognize. The golden hollow small cauldron, the jade roller like a medicine roller, the golden tortoise as big as a palm, the slender silver chopsticks connected by a thin chain... I only recognize the green porcelain tea set with green patterns.
This is about drinking tea. Why are there so many weird things and not even tea leaves
"Mubai, why didn't you bring the fourth sister?" Before Qin Mubai could say anything, Li Ke got straight to the point.
Qin Mubai smiled: "How dare you drink this tea today?"
"Ahem... Xiao Wang didn't mean that. Well, Fourth Sister has always liked tea the most." Li Ke smiled at himself, rubbed his hands and said, "The bright moon brought by Anzhou is such a good tea. Ah! A first-class tribute. The fourth sister will definitely like it.”
Just as he was talking, two beauties with peach-shaped faces and graceful bodies, Pingting, bowed and knelt down in front of the pile of tea sets. A eunuch used a delicate copper shovel to get a pile of burning charcoal, picked it up piece by piece with silver chopsticks, and put it into the small golden cauldron. The two beauties each raised their hands lightly and put a small porcelain jar filled with water into the stove to stew. The other person opened the top of the beetle, took out a piece of fragrant tea cake, and ground it carefully in a jade roller. .
Everything in her movements is extremely elegant and feminine.
This is the exquisite tea art and high-end tea sets paraded among the nobles of the Tang Dynasty. Not to mention how precious the tea leaves are, even the pair of silver chopsticks used to hold the charcoal fire are exquisite and must be worth a lot of money.
"I'll enjoy it." Qin Mubai smiled.
Li Ke chuckled: "What else can I do now besides enjoy myself? My father ordered me to shut myself up and reflect on myself. I can't do anything."
"It should be possible to ride a horse and shoot archery in the palace's backyard."
"Of course." Li Ke clapped his hands, "The archery skills of the generals in the mansion are really mediocre. Now that you are here, I have a partner and an opponent. After drinking tea, we can ride and shoot in the backyard!"
"I'm happy to accompany you." Qin Mubai responded, but he was thinking in his heart: I need to find a suitable time to ask him to change my job to me, preferably as a military attache, even if it is a low-level job, it doesn't matter. An idle and boring official like Dongge Jijiu is really boring. Archery is my true calling, and being a general is my label. Only a ghost can be a hostel manager!
After drinking tea for an hour, the tea ceremony of the Tang Dynasty can be said to be profound and profound, and Qin Mubai also experienced it. Not to mention that making tea is a very particular and exquisite skill, even the process of drinking it involves a lot of learning.
A few years later, envoys from Japan and Japan came to the Tang Dynasty to learn a little bit about this skill. From then on, it became their self-proclaimed "Tea Ceremony".
All the officers, generals and officers in the palace were called to the polo shooting range in the backyard by Li Ke. Such archery competitions became popular among the nobles and princes of the Tang Dynasty and became a common practice. Anyone with outstanding archery skills always has a sense of superiority that stands proudly over the crowd.
"Today's competition is to shoot red hearts." Li Ke announced the rules, "One person has ten arrows per target. Whoever hits the most red hearts wins. The three winners will each be rewarded with a piece of silk, and the last three will be fined three glasses of wine. Start. ”
After that, Li Ke stepped forward first, picked up his bow and shot ten arrows in a row, hitting nine red stars. There were cheers all around. His archery skills are indeed good. It seems that the rumors about Li Ke's martial arts skills are true.
A group of royal military officers gathered around, talked, laughed and went to shoot arrows one after another. The level is uneven. The best one only got six red stars. The overall level is indeed mediocre.
Qin Mubai immediately took a look at Captain Fan who had stopped him at the gate of Prince Wu's Mansion. Watch him shoot and hit six red stars, which also attracted a lot of applause. He also had a smug look on his face, thinking that he was always among the best among the generals.
"It's easy to be the captain of the royal palace." Qin Mubai said casually, just in time for Li Ke who was not far away to hear.
"Huh? What do Mu Bai mean by this?" Li Ke smiled knowingly after hearing this, "You don't seem to be happy to be the Dongge sacrificial wine?"
"I don't think so." Qin Mubai smiled and stepped forward with his bow in hand. The generals looked at Qin Mubai suspiciously and discussed privately.
"New here? Very unfamiliar."
"Isn't this the Dongge sacrificial wine player who plays the pipa? Could it be that he can also shoot arrows?"
In the midst of this discussion, Qin Mubai quickly shot all ten arrows.
He won eight red stars, only one less than Li Ke.
Awesome!
"I really can't tell! A pipa player can also be so good at archery!"
"As expected of a general, tsk tsk!"
Li Ke smiled at the side and clapped his hands: "Come here, everyone. I will introduce you to you first. This is the third son of Qin Shubao, Duke of Yi State, and the newly appointed Dongge Jijiu-Qin Mubai."
Li Ke paused: "My dear friend."
The faces of all the generals and commanders changed together, and they neatly clasped their fists and bowed: "I've seen Qin sacrifice wine before."
"Well. I heard your discussion just now. Since he is a general and has such superb archery and martial arts, it is really unworthy of him to be a Dongge sacrificial wine." Li Ke said leisurely to Colonel Fan. He raised his fingers and said, "You, get out of the queue."
"The general is here." Lieutenant Fan stood up in surprise, and bowed with his hands clasped in fear, feeling vaguely uncomfortable in his heart.
"You go to do the Dongge sacrificial wine, and Qin Mubai will take over your position as the captain of the inner account. You two, swap." Li Ke wrote lightly.
"Ah?..." Captain Fan was stunned on the spot.
"Do you have any objections?" Li Ke frowned at him. Colonel Fan's face turned pale, and he hurriedly cupped his fists and prostrated: "General... Oh no, I'm humble, thank you for your grace!"
"Thank you, Your Highness." Qin Mubai thanked him with his hands, and he and Li Ke looked at each other and smiled, and they understood each other tacitly.
This Li Ke is really considerate and very righteous. Leading soldiers is much more interesting than leading a group of cooks and musicians. The Tang Dynasty favored martial arts and valued military achievements. The status of soldiers was not comparable to that of the chief actors and actresses.
With just one word from Li Ke, Captain Fan changed from a majestic captain of the Prince's Mansion to a leisurely Dongge Jijiu, and the aggrievedness in his heart was forgotten. But Li Ke's words were golden rules in this prince's palace, and Qin Mubai was Li Ke's "close friend", so he could only break his teeth and swallow it.
I only regret that this morning, why did I neglect Qin Mubai for no reason? damn it…
Captain Fan glanced at Qin Mubai secretly, his eyes filled with resentment like a resentful woman. The other generals and commanders instantly looked at Qin Mubai with admiration - although he is still a seventh-grade official and his rank has not changed at all, but in the minds of everyone, his status has suddenly risen thousands of feet, where are they still ordinary people? Officials can compare.
After the arrow contest ended, the generals dispersed one after another. Qin Mubai smiled and held his hands to Li Ke: "Thank you very much."
"It's such a big deal, what's there to thank you for?" Li Ke smiled easily, "It was just a temporary measure to invite you to do this Dongge wine ceremony. How could I not know that such an official position is not suitable for you at all? As for the subordinate officers in this palace, I have the final say for those who are not above the fifth rank. You will be the seventh rank captain first. After a while, you will be promoted to the rank of fifth rank military officer. All the eight hundred soldiers in the palace will be promoted to you. You will lead me. If Qin Shubao's son comes and doesn't lead the army, even outsiders will laugh at me because I am jealous of my ability to employ people."
"Then I can only thank you very much. However, I'd better wait until I make some achievements, otherwise it will be difficult to convince the public." Qin Mubai said with a smile. He also knew in his heart that Li Ke might be doing this because he was nostalgic for his old relationship, but more of it was to show his kindness to Qin Shubao, and his main purpose was to target Qin Shuang'er.
If you rely on such nepotism to climb to the top, although it is easy, it is obviously not a glorious thing. Moreover, if Qin Shubao still refused to agree to the marriage, he would be even more embarrassed.
Li Ke's excessive enthusiasm and special care made Qin Mubai feel a little uncomfortable. It seems that being an official in Prince Wu's Mansion is not a long-term solution, and it is difficult to escape the embarrassing suspicion of relying on nepotism.
"There's no need to be so polite between you and me!" Li Ke smiled nonchalantly, patted Qin Mubai on the shoulder and walked forward. The servants brought two horses. He got on the horse neatly and neatly, and said with a smile on the horse: "Come on, let's ride and shoot."
"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders." Qin Mubai jumped on the saddle and sat down. The two of them each picked up a horn bow used by cavalry and galloped away.
Compared with the longbow used by infantry, the horn bow is slightly shorter, but the bow body is harder and stronger, requiring more physical strength to shoot. Mounted archery has always been the most difficult art of archery. In the army of the Tang Dynasty, those who excelled in cavalry and archery were incorporated into the Yueqi team. They were the most valuable and toughest team, and they were the vanguard and sharp blade that urged the city to break through the enemy's fortress in battle.
It's like in modern society, although there are many people who can play basketball, there are only a few who can dunk.
Qin Mubai and Li Ke are competing now for slam dunks.
Although his archery skills were more than a little better than Li Ke's, Qin Mubai's riding and archery training didn't last long. Combined with his riding skills, he is really not much better than Li Ke. Even if he tried his best, he would still be on par with Li Ke.
"Happy! Only someone like Mu Bai is worthy of being my opponent!" Li Ke laughed loudly while riding on his horse. Qin Mubai sat down next to him and was about to speak when he suddenly noticed a colorful object flashing by the wall and falling to the ground with a thud.
The two of them took a closer look and saw that it was a colorful ball with lace and silk.
"I came here from next door. Someone is playing Cuju?" Li Ke patted his horse and picked up the Cuju. He put it to his nose and smelled it. "It smells good. A woman played Cuju."
The style of playing Cuju in the Tang Dynasty was quite unique, and the game was based on who could kick high and far. No, a colored ball was kicked over from the next yard.
At this time, a female voice sounded from next door.
"Oh, I kicked him, what should I do? That's Prince Wu's Mansion!"
"Who's going to pick it up? Who's going to pick it up?"
"I still picked it up. I'm lucky if I don't get blamed by King Wu. I hope there's no one in the backyard of the palace at this time!"
Li Ke smiled mysteriously and said: "Mubai, do you think I should blame them, or kick them back, or should we just go over and compete with them on our football skills?"
"There's no need to choose, you said 'either or' so kindly." Qin Mubai couldn't help but laugh. This Li Ke is obviously a romantic seed.
"Good advice. Let's go." Li Ke turned over and got on his horse to leave without saying a word.
"Fortunately, you don't have the option '*past' in your options. Which house is next door?"
"It doesn't matter which family it is, I just remember that there were a few beautiful sisters who lived there, and their beauty spread far and wide." Li Ke patted the horse and moved forward nonchalantly, "Let's go quickly, it will ruin the scenery if we keep the beauty waiting for a long time."
"It sounds like someone has made an appointment with you... A talented person. Like me, he is destined to be in trouble." Qin Mubai raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, and happily followed him.
The flowers are in full bloom.
Qin Mubai has always been interested in actively creating romantic encounters. This time, it was good to meet a like-minded and powerful guy like Li Ke.