There are a total of ten events in the competition among the twenty-six guards in the capital, such as running, climbing, archery, hand-to-hand combat, horse fighting, battle formation, etc., but only three of them are competed every year, and the Emperor Jingshun personally draws the candidates on the day of the competition. This is done to prevent the competition events from being leaked in advance, which would require some guards to prepare and hinder fairness.
Eunuch Ma held a tube containing ten bamboo sticks and walked past the civil and military ministers, concubines and other female relatives in turn, so that everyone could see clearly that there were no marks on the exposed parts of the bamboo sticks.
Then, Eunuch Ma stood in front of Emperor Jingshun.
Emperor Jingshun glanced at the sky.
He clearly wanted to take care of his son-in-law, but ended up taking care of a tall, strong man. Apparently, in this competition, his luck conflicted with that of his son-in-law.
Among those ten events, some focus more on skills. If these are selected, Gao Dazhuang's disadvantage will not be so obvious.
"I draw the lottery every year. Let's ask the prince to come this year." Emperor Jingshun still wants to take care of his son-in-law. He has bad luck, but maybe the prince will be better.
The prince's eyes lit up.
Eunuch Ma came over with a smile on his face.
The prince thanked his father and then pulled it out.
This year's three events were quickly announced: running, archery, and combat!
The three items have different scoring methods, and the final ranking is based on the total score of the three items of each health station.
Emperor Jingshun sighed secretly, forget it, after all, archery relies more on eyesight, the other two items can be left to fate.
Eunuch Ma loudly announced the first competition: a foot race!
The so-called race refers to a ten-person relay race. Each soldier has to run around the martial arts field from east to west and then back. The soldiers are ranked according to the results of the last soldier who finishes the race in each garrison.
Running is the most basic ability of a soldier. It does not require any complicated skills and the scoring is also simple. The first-place guard station will receive "twenty-six points" and the last-place guard station will receive "one point".
The twenty-six commanders quickly brought their respective ten-man teams to the starting point.
After standing still, the commander has half a quarter of an hour to boost morale or formulate tactics.
But what tactics are needed for a relay race? Everyone just needs to give their best!
Because the other commanders didn't move much, when Chen Jingzong called Gao Dazhuang out alone, the audience noticed it immediately.
Princess Nankang shook her head regretfully and said in a voice that Emperor Jingshun could not hear: "This tall and strong man is so thin and weak. Even if my brother-in-law has a brilliant plan, I am afraid it will be difficult for him to use it."
Wanyi sat upright, did not look at Princess Nankang, just pursed her lips.
Huayang held the exquisite little hand warmer in his hands, his expression calm.
When Gao Dazhuang returned to the team, he stood at the front of their team.
The palace attendant waving the flag chose the right time, and when half a quarter of an hour was up, he suddenly waved the flag down, and the drums from the guard of honor sounded like thunder.
The front twenty-six soldiers have already set off!
Almost everyone stared at Gao Dazhuang.
One needs to be strong and powerful to run fast. Gao Dazhuang was so thin that even though he cleverly tied his loose cloth clothes around his waist to reduce the wind resistance, he was still left behind by others at the start of the race. The distance between them became farther and farther, so far that some soft-hearted spectators felt sorry for him.
Most of the other soldiers who stayed behind laughed at Gao Dazhuang.
Qin Wei and others gritted their teeth and clenched their hands, wishing they could rush forward to help Gao Dazhuang run, but they could only watch.
The road was fifty meters long. When Gao Dazhuang ran about thirty meters, the soldiers of the Jinyiwei and Jinwu Vanguard had already run to the other side and started running back.
On the return journey, Gao Dazhuang ran obviously slower due to lack of physical strength. When he finally ran back and fell to the ground in embarrassment, the second person who was ahead by several guards was almost finished.
The moment Gao Dazhuang fell to the ground, and the moment the gloating laughter broke out, Qin Wei gritted his teeth and rushed out.
He rushed forward like a gust of wind, oblivious to the people around him. If he could see anything, all he saw was Gao Dazhuang's thin figure and the blood spurting out before he fell to the ground.
Figures were intertwined, and the emperor, empress and others on the viewing stand could still tell which garrison each soldier was from based on the patches on his chest and back, but the soldiers who were actually running had no time to distinguish this. They only knew that there were people behind them running forward and people in front of them running back. They only remembered which person they were in the garrison, and based on the results of their previous teammates, they judged what ranking their garrison would probably get.
Among the twenty-six guards, except for a few commanders, most of the commanders were not very motivated. What was there to compete for? The emperor valued the Jinyiwei the most. The first place was always the Jinyiwei, and the last place was either the Daxing Zuowei or the last few who were always last. They just had to maintain their previous ranking and not drop too much. Anyway, the generals who were really valued were all at the border, and the cabinet did not take the commanders seriously at all.
These commanders have no ambition to compete for the top three, and they are perfunctory in training the soldiers. How can the soldiers under them possibly give their best
You cannot be lazy when fighting alone. If ten people run together, even if you lose, the loss will be carried by ten people together. There is nothing to be afraid of. At most you will get a few scoldings.
The several garrisons that were far ahead were still fighting very hard, but the Daxing Zuowei garrison that was ranked last was fighting even harder than them!
Just because each of them heard the laughter of other guards when Gao Dazhuang ran away, and because each of them saw Gao Dazhuang sitting on the ground wiping his tears.
They may not have understood Gao Dazhuang before, but after three nights of getting along with him, they all knew how simple Gao Dazhuang was and how guilty he felt!
If they can catch up on the points, Gao Dazhuang will feel much better!
Lei Qiang was the last one to set off from the Daxing Guard Station. At this time, the last members of ten guard stations were still waiting for the previous teammate to return, and the last members of nine guard stations had also just set off.
Gao Dazhuang has already stood up, and is shouting along with Qin Wei and the others to cheer for Lei Qiang!
Lei Qiang is the most impatient one among the ten people, and he holds his breath the longest. He was anxious when Wei Suo was destined to lose. Now that Wei Suo has a chance to compete for the top ten, he is even more anxious!
With a loud shout, Lei Qiang rushed out like a wild horse!
Emperor Jingshun secretly clenched his fists. At this moment, he looked at every soldier in Daxing Garrison as if he were looking at his own son-in-law!
There were two people ahead of him on the return journey. As long as he surpassed these two, Daxing Wei Suo would be able to get the seventh place in the race and win "twenty points" for the Wei Suo!
Wanyi was so nervous that her whole body was shaking.
Huayang smiled and held the little girl's hand.
Amid the sound of drums, when there was only about ten feet left to the finish line, Lei Qiang overtook the person in front of him with difficulty, ran over shouting, and threw himself into the encirclement of Qin Wei and others!
Ten people hugged each other, shouting and jumping!
Emperor Jingshun looked at them with a smile for a long time. When the ten people were no longer so excited, he stroked his beard and looked past the crown prince and said to Chen Tingjian, "The prince consort is very good. The elder is also a role model for fathers in the world. The sons he taught are both civil and military!"
Chen Tingjian stood up and said ashamedly, "Your Majesty, you are too kind to praise me. I may have given some advice to my eldest and third sons, but as for my son-in-law, I have been apart from him for a long time, so I am ashamed to take credit for him. In the past three years, it was all thanks to the princess's encouragement and guidance that he made some achievements in military training."
Although he knew it was just flattery, Emperor Jingshun still felt it was useful and went to see his daughter again.
Hua Yang smiled and said, "Father, please don't listen to the old man. Your daughter doesn't know how to train soldiers. This is all your own credit. Besides, this is only the first battle. Who knows what will happen next."
Emperor Jingshun: "Based on this first performance, the Prince Consort and the Left Guard of Daxing both deserve my commendation."
In the martial arts arena, after Qin Wei, Lei Qiang and others were happy, they all came to care about Gao Dazhuang's injuries.
Gao Dazhuang smiled and said, "I'm fine. I just got tired after running."
Qin Wei: "You vomited blood, and you still say you're fine?"
Gao Dazhuang glanced at the Prince Consort who was talking to other commanders not far away, and laughed softly, "My Lord said that the army of mourning will win, and he deliberately asked me to show weakness. The blood was also the chicken blood he prepared in advance."
Qin Wei and others: …
In front of the emperor, the prince consort dared to give him chicken blood, and Gao Dazhuang really dared to vomit!
However, even if they knew that they were all deceived by the Prince Consort and Gao Dazhuang, winning was a good result!
On the commanders' side, Jinyiwei commander Liu Shou and Jinwu vanguard commander Qi Jin walked towards Chen Jingzong together.
One of these two was Chen Jingzong's former superior, and the other was a relative.
"Your Highness is very capable. Daxing's left defender is expected to be among the top five this year." Liu Shou said with a smile. He was over 40 years old and looked very capable.
Qi Jin smiled and said, "Not just the top five, if it weren't for Gao Dazhuang, the second place in Daxing's left guard would have a chance too."
Chen Jingzong said cheerfully: "You two adults are joking. I don't dare to think about the top five. As long as you are not the last, I will treat everyone to a drink!"
The second-to-last commander of the Yanshan rear guard was also standing nearby. When he heard this, he shuddered in his heart.
It's over, they won't be ranked last this year, right? .
After the scoring of the first round was completed, all soldiers had two quarters of an hour to rest.
The dignitaries and ministers on the viewing stand can also walk around, otherwise it would be tiring to sit all the time.
Wanyi wants to talk to her fourth uncle.
Huayang then took Wanyi to the east side of the viewing platform.
She was wearing a gorgeous red dress, the hem of which was embroidered with peony flowers and fluttered in the wind. It was not noticeable when she was sitting among the crowd before, but when she appeared on the side of a platform more than one person high, holding Wanyi's hand, almost all the soldiers who were resting saw her, and they all looked at the graceful figure standing against the wind.
As they were far away, they couldn't actually see the princess' facial features clearly. They could only see a face as white as jade. However, the more hazy it was, the more the beauty looked like a fairy from heaven.
Qi Jin was originally talking to Liu Shou, but his eyes suddenly fixed in that direction.
Liu Shou looked over in confusion, and when he looked at Qi Jin again, Qi Jin had returned to normal.
At the same time, a figure ran out from here.
A low, booing laugh came from the soldiers, a group of hot-blooded men. If it weren't for the princess and the emperor and empress being there, they would have dared to lift the sky up with their laughter.
Chen Jingzong didn't care and walked to the bottom of the platform with a nimble and calm posture.
He looked up.
Huayang smiled and pushed Wanyi forward.
Only then did Chen Jingzong look at his niece.
Wanyi sincerely admired him and said, "Fourth Uncle, you are amazing! You are even better than my father and Third Uncle!"
Chen Jingzong smiled and moved his gaze to Huayang's face again.
The wind was cold, his eyes were burning, Huayang said to the martial arts arena: "There are still two rounds to go, don't be too proud yet."
Chen Jingzong: "I dare not. I am not sure about those two games. Don't expect me to win."
There was no time for seriousness. Huayang glared at him and walked away with Wanyi.
(End of this chapter)