At this time, the teaching field was surrounded by people, and most of the village soldiers came to watch the excitement.
The Ma brothers were on one side of the field, pressing their legs and bending over, relaxing their muscles and activating blood circulation, and doing various warm-up movements. Several disciples who usually flattered the two teachers were surrounding them, squeezing their shoulders and backs, and helping them move.
Body.
Shang Yi and Tang Zhen were in the middle of the field, pacing back and forth, pointing and looking around, as if they were digesting after a meal, not like a competition at all.
After a while, Zhou Shiqi, accompanied by his two sons, came to the sidelines, coughed dryly and said, "Are you all ready?"
Shang Yi stood still in the field and said, "Uncle Zhou, I have nothing to prepare. I can start at any time."
Zhou Shiqi asked the Ma brothers again, "Well, of the two teachers Ma, which one of you will appear?"
Ma Baashi took a step forward and said, "Brother, I'll come first."
Ma Baiqi stopped him and said, "Brother, let me go first."
Shang Yi also laughed and said: "You two are welcome, let's come together! I don't want to waste time."
The villagers watching the battle immediately burst into laughter. Ma Baishi couldn't help it anymore, took off his coat, threw it to the ground, revealing his body and hairy chest, and rushed towards Shang Yi in the field. The onlookers villagers
There was another burst of exclamation, and the few close disciples cheered and cheered him desperately.
Although Zhou Shiqi just said what he said about his son, he was actually not absolutely sure in his heart. The Ma brothers were not freeloaders. They were hired because they defeated five other martial arts masters. Moreover, Zhou Shiqi
I have also seen the two brothers lift a sixty-pound stone pier above their heads with one hand, but it is not a small effort. After all, Shang Yi is still young, and although he is tall, he looks much thinner than the Ma brothers.
Can you withstand it? I turned around and looked at Tang Zhen again. Seeing his disdainful look, I felt a little more at ease.
At this moment, Ma Bashiji rushed in front of Shang Yi, and struck Shang Yi head-on. Shang Yi leaned to one side to avoid the punch, stretched out his right hand, and grabbed his wrist.
, his leg tripped, and Ma Baishi immediately made a "plop" and fell hard on his face.
Tang Zhen immediately shouted: "Okay!" After hearing this, the crowd of onlookers also cheered, and Zhou Shiqi finally calmed down completely. It seemed that Shang Yi really had his wits about him.
Ma Baishi got up from the ground, feeling that he could not keep his face. He turned around suddenly and punched Shang Yi again. Shang Yi did not retreat but moved forward. He turned slightly to avoid his punch and rushed towards him instead.
In his arms, he bumped Ma Baishi's chest with his shoulder, immediately knocking Ma Baishi back seven or eight steps, and fell to the ground with his butt backwards like a wild goose falling on the sand.
This time there was no need for Tang Zhen to take the lead, the audience took the initiative to drink, and several of their close disciples were dejected. Ma Baiqi couldn't hold back his anger anymore, roared, and rushed forward. He flew up.
He kicked Shang Yi in the back. The audience immediately let out a burst of exclamation.
Shang Yi didn't even look back, and roared suddenly, with a "Huo" sound, he kicked around and put his foot back to the original place, as if it hadn't been moved. Ma Baiqi, on the other hand, had been kicked backwards, and
Fell to the ground.
Shang Yi smiled and said: "Didn't I ask you two brothers to come together earlier? Come on, come again if you don't accept it."
The two brothers got up from the ground, moved their muscles and bones, glanced at each other, and suddenly rushed towards Shang Yi. One punched and the other kicked, all of them hit Shang Yi.
Shang Yi was not afraid and immediately sank Maqiao hands, blocking the left and right.
Bridge hand is a title in later generations of Nanquan or Hongquan. It refers to the general term for attacking and defending techniques with the forearm part of the hand. It is also the main boxing technique that Shang Yi practiced in the army before crossing over. It is said that he was a martial arts master in the late Qing Dynasty. The five-piece master's bridge hand can be used to an airtight level and can withstand the attacks of eight opponents at the same time.
Although the bridge hand trained by Shang Yi did not reach such a high level, it was more than enough to deal with the Ma brothers. No matter how they punched or kicked, they could be blocked.
The Ma brothers didn't know how many punches and kicks they threw. They felt their fists and feet were sore from being hit, but they didn't hit Shang Yi at all. They had to stop, step back and take a deep breath.
At this time, the crowd of onlookers could not tell that the Ma brothers were no match for Shang Yi. The villagers were fair and cheered for Shang Yi. Even many village soldiers were also applauding. And there were close disciples there. They also clapped their hands a few times, and then put them down awkwardly.
But this is exactly what Shang Yi hopes to achieve. Since he has decided to start from this village, he must first establish his own prestige and convince the villagers of him, and then he can be more capable of commanding and dispatching. The best way is naturally That is, defeating these two teachers openly and openly in front of everyone.
The Ma brothers breathed for a while, and when they saw the villagers shouting for Shang Yi, they couldn't help but feel a little angry. Ma Baiqi turned around and picked up a spear from the weapon rack, and stabbed Shang Yi in the chest, while Ma Ba Ten also picked up a stick and followed closely.
The villagers immediately exclaimed and were very dissatisfied with the Ma brothers. Even Zhou Shiqi's face turned ugly. It was obvious that what the Ma brothers had done was beyond the scope of ordinary martial arts competitions, and at the same time they were worried about Shang Yi.
In the martial arts arena, Shang Yi also dodged several blows from the Ma brothers' guns and sticks, but the two brothers were like crazy and kept fighting. He was also a little annoyed in his heart. These two guys were too ungrateful. I don’t know, but I have been merciful in the past. In this case, I’ll show them some experience.
Thinking of this, seeing Ma Baiqi stabbing him with a spear, Shang Yi turned around, grabbed the head of the gun with one hand, and used the finger of the other hand as a knife. With a "clack", he split the gun barrel into two pieces. Ma Baiqi was startled. , Shang Yi had already kicked him in the belly, knocking Ma Baiqi out and causing him to fall to the ground on his back.
On the other side, Ma Ba Shi came up with a stick. Shang Yiyang dropped half of the spear, passed the head of the stick, grabbed the stick, and suddenly hit Ma Ba Shi with his elbow with his left hand, hitting Ma Ba Shi on the chest. Shi was immediately knocked back seven or eight feet, unable to stand firmly, and fell to the ground. Shang Yi only exerted some strength after these few blows, so the Ma brothers fell to the ground and could not get up for a while.
At this time Zhou Shiqi said: "Okay, the competition is over. Now I announce that Shang Yi is the militia teacher of our Qingshui Village, and he will fight on behalf of our Qingshui Village."
The crowd of onlookers immediately burst into warm applause, and the village soldiers also came out to meet their new teacher. Although many of them were much older than Shang Yi, they were convinced by Shang Yi. .
And Shang Yi also breathed a sigh of relief. He finally took the first step in this era.
After this competition, Zhou Shiqi was very satisfied with Shang Yi and believed that this was the person he needed. Although Zhou Shaoqing still had a hint of the nobility of a scholar, his attitude towards Shang Yi had also changed greatly. His words were also much more polite. .
That afternoon, Zhou Shaoqing went back to the county. Zhou Shiqi also formally negotiated terms with Shang Yi. Zhou Shiqi offered Shang Yi a remuneration of sixteen taels of silver per month, and also gave Shang Yi two hundred acres of land. Although the remuneration was It is much less than the Ma brothers combined, but two hundred acres of land is not a small amount. The total value can exceed one hundred taels of silver, and if it is farmed normally, it can produce about two hundred stones of food every year. It is almost worth it. It is the level of a well-off family. Although the price paid is not small, Zhou Shiqi feels it is worth it, because he can use the land to firmly bind Shang Yi to Qingshui Village.
At the same time, Zhou Shiqi also expressed his full support for Shang Yi's proposal to train village soldiers with the goal of fighting large-scale bandits and the Qing army as long as conditions allowed. However, the collective affairs still had to wait until the four villages jointly negotiated and elected After the general group practice, we will discuss the plan in detail.
After receiving Zhou Shiqi's assurance, Shang Yi felt relieved, and then asked what happened to the four-village alliance.
Only then did Zhou Shiqi give a detailed introduction to Shang Yi. It was also after the Qing army entered the Pass in the twelfth year of Chongzhen (1639) that some large families in Shandong also established new villages, recruited refugees, and resumed production. It turned out that more than a dozen villages were built around Yishui County.
However, after the Qing army retreated, bandits proliferated. Within the boundaries of Qingzhou Prefecture, there were no less than ten large-scale bandit groups. Near Yishui County, there were three large-scale bandit groups, each with its own Thousands of party members. Although every village has organized militia groups to protect the village and the people, compared with the bandits, after all, the power gap is too big. Although several villages resisted, they were defeated by the bandits and were massacred. destiny.
Qingshui Village is considered a relatively large village in the local area. The bandits attacked twice but failed to defeat them, so they retreated. But Zhou Shiqi was a man with some foresight and knew that the bandits did not attack the village these two times. Because there are other villages to attack, if the thieves attack with all their strength after the other villages have been looted by bandits, Qingshui Village may not escape bad luck. Therefore, it is better to make preventive preparations in advance. If all the villages are united If we stand up and fight against the robbers together, we will naturally be stronger.
So Zhou Shiqi expressed his thoughts to the six or seven surrounding villages. Especially in some small villages, the leaders of the villages were not only afraid of revenge from the bandits, but also afraid that Qingshui Village would make excuses to annex their own villages, and even some other villages. Jie planned to pay protection fees to the bandits in order to seek peace. Therefore, the village chiefs of most villages rejected Zhou Shiqi's suggestion. However, after Zhou Shiqi lobbied in many ways and stated his interests, he finally persuaded Wangjiadatun, Shilitun, and Bajiaotai. These three villages are willing to unite to form a militia to fight against the bandits.
Because these three villages are larger in size, stronger in strength, and have a tougher attitude towards bandits. Moreover, the leader has some friendship with Zhou Shiqi, so they all think this suggestion is good and are willing to join forces.
However, when the four villages jointly formed a militia group, it was natural for them to select a general regiment trainer to lead these village soldiers. Naturally, the four villages wanted to seize this general regiment trainer for their own villages. Zhao Tianhai, the village chief of Shilitun, suggested that the four village regiment trainees should
Teachers took turns taking responsibility, but this proposal was opposed by Wang Yongfu from Wangjia Datun. He suggested that teachers from four villages should have a group training to compete in martial arts, and the stronger one would win.
At that time, Zhou Shiqi believed that he had a good card in Tang Town, so he responded to Wang Yongsheng's proposal. Zhao Tianhai and Wan Jiquan, the village chief of Bajiaotai, had no better suggestions and could only agree.