There are fewer ways for warriors from poor families to enter the officialdom than for scribes from poor families. Some warriors choose to become family members, servants, guardians, and household servants. Some warriors are invited by big businessmen to serve as bodyguards for caravans; but because the Sui Dynasty was a martial artist,

dynasty, and wars have never stopped since the founding of the country, so more warriors joined the army nearby, hoping to use military merit to change the fate of themselves and their families.

Compared with fighting for meritorious service, you can become a member of the Forbidden Army by simply competing. Not only is it safe, but you are serving as an errand beside the emperor, and you will be in contact with dignitaries all over the world. If you become a member of the Forbidden Army, you will have the opportunity to be promoted.

Far more than the ordinary army. So when the imperial court recruited 800 Forbidden Army soldiers from all over the world in the name of left and right guards and left and right warriors, warriors from all over the world gathered in great numbers.

There are tens of thousands of warriors participating in the martial arts competition. Among them, the first rank is for the children of nobles. If someone in the family is a fifth-rank official or above, no matter it is one person or ten people, the entire family can only send three

A number of disciples participate, and those with excellent grades can be officers, while those with poor grades can also join the "Five Houses and Three Guards" as soldiers, and will be promoted based on their qualifications in the future. This is also a shortcut for the sons of aristocratic families to join the officialdom and be promoted safely.

In terms of registration for the B-list, which is for private warriors, there are no other restrictions other than the prohibition of the participation of children of aristocratic families. Therefore, more than 90% of the samurai are taking the B-list exam. Just the two projects of riding and rifle shooting cost a lot of money.

It took five and a half days.

Since obstacles needed to be set up for the subsequent riding skills, the warriors were given a day off and asked to return to camp the next day and take the test on the third day.

With the return of many samurai, the major wine bars in the city began to become lively, and samurai carrying weapons could be seen everywhere. Today, after taking the two major exams that emphasize strength, many samurai with good grades relaxed, thinking that there are still two days left.

During the break, they would drink and have fun in groups.

Pingkangfang's "Never Get Drunk" was favored by samurai because of its exclusive shabu knives, bamboo wine, and various palace delicacies and folk delicacies. In the afternoon, the three restaurants with four floors each were occupied by samurai.

It was full, and in a half-open elegant room by the window on the second floor of the south building, Qin Qiong, Shan Xiongxin and others gathered together to drink and talk.

Yang Ji also took Liu Rumei, Zhang Chuchen, Yuchi Gong, Li Daliang, and Dugu Pingyun to sit at the table. He had resigned from the post of examiner, but due to the heavy snow, the roads were blocked, and there were three million stones of food to be collected one by one.

After the delivery, he couldn't go to Liangzhou for the time being, so Yang Guang simply let him continue to serve as the chief inspector.

He didn't care about the A list, because the three children sent by each family were admitted in the end, so there was nothing to pay attention to, and the candidates were a group of people with good backgrounds and similar family backgrounds, so the Ministry of War officials did not dare to falsify in the A list.

plus now

There was also Chang Sun Sheng and Tu Wanxu in charge, so there was no trouble at all. What he was concerned about was Bibang, who was infiltrated by the family members and officials' children. However, there had been trouble once before, and Long Live Shi and Shi Xiang were in charge, so he walked there every day.

Just go through the motions.

Yu Chigong, Li Daliang, and Dugu Pingyun did well in the exam, but the reason why the three of them signed up was to gain practical experience through martial arts. Unfortunately, there was no sparring session, so whether they did well or not was not a matter for the three of them.

It's not important. The key is that they don't need the quota, so they decide not to participate in the next round of competition. If they occupy the quota, but refuse to be conferred by the imperial court, it would be a bad behavior that provokes the majesty of the imperial court.

As for the results of Qin Qiong and others, Yang Ji did not deliberately pay attention to their results because of the failure of the last recruitment. Sitting down to drink with them today was not only a kind of interpersonal communication, but also meant to say goodbye. He saw

Some of Qin Qiong and others were happy and some were sad, so they asked: "How did everyone do in the exam?"

Shan Xiongxin pointed at the unhappy Zhai Rang and said: "Brother Zhai is not good at archery, and coupled with his poor performance on the spot, the final results were not ideal."

Zhai Rang sighed: "Don't mention it, it's embarrassing to mention it."

Shan Xiongxin patted him on the shoulder and said, "King Wei is not an outsider, so what's the harm in talking about it?"

Zhai Rang smiled bitterly and said: "Mounted archery is better. All the arrows hit the target, and I got 63 points. This result is not enough, but more than enough. Affected by this result, when shooting on foot,

I was inevitably a little nervous, but the ten arrows actually shot

Four arrows were missed, and in the end I only had 42 points; that is to say, of the 200 points in archery, I scored 105 points, which was in the middle and lower reaches. That's it. The shameful thing was when I shot the last arrow,

He actually slipped and fell to the ground, oh! It’s so embarrassing.”

As a former examiner, Yang Ji knew that the assessment method of archery was actually relatively simple. Mounted archery was to run two miles on horseback, and then shoot an arrow at a target a hundred steps away on horseback; foot archery was to run one mile on foot.

, there is no difference in the rest. And archery is a real achievement, which can best shorten the distance between front and rear, but there are at least 8,000 people who have surpassed Zhai Rang, so Zhai Rang has absolutely no hope this time.

Although there are still a few events, they are all performance subjects and cannot reflect a person's true combat effectiveness. Even if Zhai Rang is the best in the world, he can't even think of using his performance to gain points.

He said to Zhai Rang: "The martial arts competition is an unprecedented event, and it was held in a hurry. There are indeed many things that the court did not consider thoroughly!"

Zhai Rang also knew that he had no hope, but he was an open-minded man and said with a hearty smile: "The martial arts examination has been improved by the king, and it is actually very fair. It is my own skill that is inferior to others. I can't blame the court and others."

Yang Ji raised his glass and gestured to him: "If you think so, it's not in vain for me to run around and offend a lot of corrupt officials. Next time, I suggest that the saint join the sparring course, so that it will be more fair to those with strong martial arts skills."

Some."

Zhai Rang picked up the wine glass and drank it down in one gulp, and said with a smile: "If we add a duel subject next time, I will definitely get high scores from here to make up for my shortcomings in archery."

"It was cold yesterday and today. There was ice on the ground at the beginning. Many people fell down, and Brother Zhai was the first person in line. In addition, the wind was strong these two days, so many people with good archery skills took the exam.

I didn't get good results. Although I hit all the targets, in the subject of rifle shooting, only one arrow hit the bull's-eye." When Shan Xiongxin said this, he added very reasonably: "But the conditions we face are not very different.

Great, nothing to complain about.”

In fact, this is also the benefit brought by the performances of Yang Ji and Shi Wansui. The amazing archery skills they displayed completely broke the "weak opinion" that they can't shoot well in strong wind and snow. It is precisely because of their example.

, so even if candidates do not do well in the exam, they think it is because they are not good at studying.

Shan Xiongxin drank a glass of wine and said: "But there are also people who perform very well, such as Shu Bao. Whether he shoots on horseback or on foot, he always hits the bullseye with his arrows. Even General Shi applauded him.

.”

Qin Qiong said with some embarrassment: "Actually, I didn't perform very well. When I was riding and shooting, my horse slipped, which made me reach the finish line a little late. I should have been deducted points."

"No!" Yang Ji shook his head: "The archery test is about real scores. As long as you hit the bull's-eye on horseback, it will be 100 points. As for whether your riding posture is good or not, it has nothing to do with it.

It's important." After a pause, he asked again: "Shu Bao, apart from you, Jingde, and Daliang, is there anyone who got full marks in the exam?"

Qin Qiong nodded and said, "There are quite a few."

Yang Ji became interested: "Who?"

"Wang Yong, Wang Bodang, Xie Ke and Xie Yingdeng are the most powerful people in archery. Not only did they get full marks, but they also took the shortest time and made no mistakes." Qin Qiong said, "In addition, there are Yang Yuanhong, Zong Luohu, and Qiu Xinggong.

, Song Laosheng, Wei Wentong, Gao Shida."

Yang Ji nodded when he heard this. The people Qin Qiong mentioned seemed to be all influential figures. And Wang Bodang also came to take the martial arts exam. Is it possible that he doesn't know Li Mi? Otherwise, why hasn't Yang Zhao met yet?

News is coming?

At this time, Liu Rumei touched Yang Ji with her arm and winked downward. Yang Ji couldn't help but laugh.

He had long noticed that the talkative Cheng Yaojin was silent today, just sitting there drinking one cup after another. It seemed that this guy couldn't do well in the exam, otherwise, he would have jumped out and talked.

"Old Cheng, how did you do in the exam?" Yang Jixiao asked with a smile.

After a long while, Cheng Yao Jincai said angrily: "It's so embarrassing! It's okay not to mention it."

"Your Majesty, Yaojin and I are in the same boat." Zhai Rang first said to Yang Ji, then patted Cheng Yaojin on the shoulder, and said half teasingly, half comfortingly: "Actually, you have already performed beyond normal, at least in each case.

Three arrows hit the target. Although the score is not high, it is much better than before."

Yang Ji also didn't expect that Cheng Yaojin's archery skills were so poor. The word "poor" is no longer enough to describe his performance. It was simply miserable. Any of the palace guards could be better than him, no matter how high the score was.

, at least the target hit rate is higher than him.

Cheng Yaojin was very embarrassed and depressed, and said listlessly: "Forget it, I have no hope. I am too lazy to take the exams for the following subjects. I will go back and practice hard for a few years and try my luck again. If there is a one-on-one challenge,

I will definitely win a good spot."

Yang Ji nodded secretly, talent is very important in archery, and young Cheng Yaojin is obviously good at it. If he practices more diligently after returning home, he may not be able to catch up from behind.

At this moment, there was a sound of thumping footsteps in the stairwell, and several followers left by Shan Xiongxin and others at the inn rushed over. One of them saluted Shan Xiongxin nervously: "Alang, someone is looking for you."

Shan Xiongxin was stunned, stopped his chopsticks and asked: "Who is looking for us?"

"I'm looking for you!" Another young man, about thirty years old, walked up. This man was handsome, wearing a golden crown on his head, a white brocade robe, a jade belt around his waist, and a gorgeously decorated sword.

It was Yuwen Zhiji, the third son of Yu Wenshu. Although Yuwen Zhiji was good-looking, his pale face was full of fatigue, and his steps were a little wandering, giving people the impression of being drunk and debauched.

Among Yu Wenshu's three sons, if Yu Wenhua is romantic, greedy and does not have many other evil deeds, then the third son Yu Wen Zhiji is a notorious bully who does all kinds of evil. When it comes to numerous evil deeds, Cheng can be said to be "exhausted"

Bamboo in the southern mountains can be used to write endless sins; it can break the waves of the East China Sea; it is difficult to end the evil flow."

Yu Wen Zhiji walked in front with a sword in his hand. Behind him were a dozen strong men with swords hanging on their waists. He stepped forward and glanced at everyone arrogantly. He only glanced at Liu Rumei. His eyes were as if they were being caught.

It's like a magnet and can't be moved away.

He and Yang Ji were different in age, played different styles, and had not yet joined the officialdom, so he did not know Yang Ji. At this time, all his mind seemed to be sucked away by Liu Rumei. Although he was used to seeing beautiful people,

But he rarely has the opportunity to see such a strong and beautiful woman who combines the heroic demeanor of a warrior with the charm of a young woman. His eyes were suddenly full of surprise, and gradually revealed a bit of greed.

"I'm Shan Xiongxin from Jiyin in Caozhou. May I ask who the young master is...?" At this moment, Shan Xiongxin stood up and approached him, blocking both Yuwen Zhiji's and Yang Ji's sight.

Yuwen Zhiji glared at Shan Xiongxin with dissatisfaction. Just when he was about to get angry, he thought of his father's explanation and said very unhappily: "Are you Shan Xiongxin?"

"That's right!" Shan Xiongxin bowed his hand. They suffered a loss from Yang Ji in Fengming Tower last time, and they had to be warned by Yang Ji afterwards. They knew that Daxing was a city full of powerful people, and outsiders like them couldn't take it easy in the capital.

You should not provoke local snakes, let alone dignitaries, to avoid unnecessary trouble. So when he saw Yuwen Zhiji and his entourage dressed in gorgeous clothes, he knew that the person coming was not an ordinary person.

"Are Qin Qiong from Licheng in Qizhou and Huang Junhan from Xucheng in Huazhou here?" Yuwen Zhiji asked again.

"This is Qin Qiong from Licheng, Qizhou!"

"I am none other than Huang Junhan of Xucheng, Huazhou!"

Qin Qiong and Huang Junhan were confused when they heard this, but they still stood up and saluted.

"You guys come with me!" Yuwen Zhiji waved his hand and said domineeringly: "Take them all away! Take those two little ladies to my villa."

Before Shan Xiongxin and others could ask questions, Cheng Yaojin got angry. He said angrily: "Even if the government arrests people, they still have to give an explanation. What do you mean?"

Yuwen Zhiji was furious: "Hit me!"

All the followers rushed up to fight Cheng Yaojin, but Shan Xiongxin quickly stopped him: "Everyone, although my brother's words may not be pleasant to listen to, this is the fact. You are talking nonsense, how can we go with you?"

?Besides, during the martial arts competition, fighting is prohibited in the city. If something happens, it must be bad for the young master, right?"
To be continued...