"This... polo? Royal family? Miaolian Temple? Daxiangguo Temple?"
Cui Junwen jumped up.
Yin Chang smiled a little proudly.
Cui Junwen suddenly slapped his forehead.
Cui Junwen had many guesses about the purpose of Yin Chang's trip.
He knows best that he has no friendship with Li Yun, and he also knows that with the growth of trade, today's Koryo Kingdom is becoming more and more like a child holding gold in the busy city. Even the small amount of gold in the hands of a child is insignificant compared to the vast land and resources of the Central Plains.
It is worth mentioning that it is inevitable that some people will get interested in seeing the wealth and reach out to grab it.
He thought that the worst possibility was that Yin Chang, with hundreds of elite swordsmen and axemen, and Han'er merchants in Bilanting, would take over the entire port at once, and then march to the city to intervene in the internal affairs of Goryeo.
Already.
During this meeting, he seemed calm, but in fact he was so nervous that the clothes on his back were soaked through. His mind was full of calculations, whether this tiger would eat people, and who would this tiger eat?
As a result, Tiger didn't show his teeth. Instead, he showed his special skills with a smile and said, "I like to sing and dance. I'm almost sixty years old, so I came here to organize a celebration for your country? So he is really a professional?"
When it comes to the polo competition, it's true.
The polo custom of Goryeo originated from the Tang Dynasty and was introduced together with Go. It flourished for hundreds of years. In addition, in the past few years, Goryeo merchants also had many contacts with Zhou and Song Dynasties. They saw Lin'an
, Kaifeng, Zhongdu and other places are blooming with gorgeous flowers. I learned many routines and used them in my own polo matches.
Since last year, wealthy businessmen from Goryeo have spent huge sums of money to hire teams from the Southern Song Dynasty to stage local polo matches as if they were boiling oil, attracting crowds of spectators.
.
But the reason why polo matches are so valued is not only because of its entertainment and economic benefits. Players participating in polo matches must have excellent riding skills. After the players form a team, they need long-term training before they can do it.
They understand each other and work together skillfully. Such a team of people and horses is not something that ordinary people can come up with.
Ordinary people can only wave flags and cheer as spectators. The polo match itself is often regarded as a channel for competition between powerful figures. If it wins, it shows that one side is superior in strength, the morale of the subordinates will rise, and the appeal will rise accordingly; if
If they lose, it will appear that a certain side lacks confidence and cannot even assemble a team of players. How can it plan for big things?
Since the fall of the Wang family, authority has been transferred to the military ministers. The military ministers compete with each other and are not allowed to fail. Therefore, large-scale polo matches often involve bloodshed and even vicious fights to the death, and the participants range from ordinary players to
Transformed into a warrior who has been favored by the leader for a long time, has outstanding skills and is not afraid of death.
The more so, the more people pay attention to this game.
According to the tradition of the Goryeo Kingdom, the royal family should have held a polo tournament at the beginning of each spring at the beginning of the year, inviting giants from all over the capital to participate. However, King Choi Chung-hyun of Goryeo was seriously ill and was still unsure whether to participate.
Since Cui Zhongxian is not moving, the Crown Prince and Privy Councilor Cui Yu, who is nominally responsible for the operation of the capital, cannot move. Cui Junwen, Chi Yunshen, Liu Songjie and other close officials who surround Cui Zhongxian and control finance and force cannot move either. Recently,
Cui Zhongxian's second son, Baocheng Bo Cui Que, whose status has risen rapidly in the past few years, cannot be touched even more.
Other parties qualified to participate in the polo competition are even more silent.
It wasn't until three months ago that this deadlocked situation changed. The current King of Goryeo, Wang Hao, personally visited the reclusive Cui Zhongxian and obtained the powerful minister's permission to continue the polo match. In the eyes of many people, the polo match At the same time, perhaps Cui Zhongxian's fate was approaching, and his sons and subordinates were vying for power and position.
Perhaps at this time, it is particularly necessary to organize vigorous entertainment activities to whitewash the peace.
News came from Kaesong earlier that in order to ensure that the polo match would not be exploited by any party, the king instructed the famous Buddhist temple in Goryeo to send monks to the Central Plains to invite a team of Central Plains people who had nothing to do with the political situation in Goryeo. Come and run the competition.
In fact, Goryeo's monk power is not a good one. Just a year ago, there were monks in Kaesong who took advantage of the invasion from other places and organized thousands of warrior monks to cause rebellion. As a result, a large number of them were killed by the Cui family. Only Miao Miao Renji Temple is the lower courtyard of the Tiantai Sect. It has never colluded with other monks. Instead, it has always been focused on Buddhism itself.
To practice Buddhism, it is indispensable to study the scriptures, and many of the Tiantai Sect's mantra scriptures are hidden in the Daxiangguo Temple in Bianliang, Central Plains.
As we all know, in recent hundreds of years, the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng has been more of a gold-selling cave than a religious organization. Now that the monks of Miaolian Temple have been entrusted by various parties in Korea, they are going to find a team. To be able to host a polo competition, one must do it to perfection in order to slightly cover up the tense atmosphere in junior high schools these days...
With the sea route open, it is only natural to go directly to Daxiangguo Temple for help.
Yin Chang laughed again: "Nanjing is facing the Song Dynasty, and many trade relations are of great importance, and they have to be handled by the central ministers of the emperor. But I have not been the deputy guard in Nanjing in vain in the past few years, nor have I had to tolerate those people. Opera troupes and artists gathered in Kaifeng. They have used the site of Daxiangguo Temple to organize various celebrations in recent years, restoring it to its glorious scene a hundred years ago. People who are famous all over the world..."
He pointed to the bridge of his nose with his thumb: "That's Yin!"
Cui Junwen laughed twice: "I admire you, I admire you."
From his point of view, there is a high probability that it was not arranged by Yin Chang himself, but by a trading firm or guild organization under him. But a high-ranking general would actually pay attention to such things in his spare time. The lowly industry is unbelievable enough. The military ministers who came to power in the Zhou Dynasty were all born into thieves. They were not as noble as the descendants of the Goryeo Kingdom. They could not be expected to behave gracefully.
Sure enough, Yin Changgang puffed out his chest and said this with great aura, and then slumped his shoulders slightly, showing a bit of age: "General Cui, I was very unlucky at the beginning of the year, and many of my old subordinates also lost their income. .But even though I have the ability to make money by squeezing the bottom of the box, I can't use it easily. You have to know..."
Cui Junwen also experienced several political struggle trainings in Goryeo, and he nodded immediately: "What about Kaifeng? After all, you have lost your official position and lost face. If you want to continue to hold the treasure of Daxiangguo Temple, I am afraid you will have to face endless threats. Although Zhongdu and Tianjin are not as prosperous as Kaifeng, they are too close to His Majesty the Emperor above. I am afraid that His Majesty the Emperor may not be willing to see Duke Yin at various celebrations."
It's harsh to say it, but the truth is this, it's not wrong.
Yin Chang nodded and continued: "I thought about going back to Shandong again. But there are many old brothers in the Red Coat Army in Shandong. Hey, I, Mr. Yin, was the first one in the Red Coat Army to serve His Majesty.
Back then, he was regarded as the bones of a rich horse. Now he has ended up like this. He has lost his face and is not easy to see. I am also afraid that someone has ulterior motives and adds insult to injury!"
"Then the only way is to go to sea...I think, if the wealth and splendor of the above country were placed in a humble place like ours, it would be very popular. If the polo competition is well held, my king will definitely..."
Cui Junwen relaxed a lot. He raised his body slightly and pushed the plate with fruits in front of Yin Chang: "Mr. Yin, please try it. These are honey-soaked apricots specially bought from Hebei. They are very delicious."
Yin Chang twisted it casually, took a bite, put it in his mouth and chewed it.
While chewing, he casually replied: "I don't care what happens to the king. I'm here, and I don't rely on that little kid king. The old monk Yi Xuan over there at the Daxiangguo Temple is your country's Miaolian
The abbot of the temple, Zen Master Haiyuan's senior brother, Monk Yi Xuan, has arrived in Kaicheng first to be my go-between for collecting money... This greedy monk, just because of this trip, he wants to part with the benefits of two thousand guan.
two hundred!"
The current king of Goryeo, Wang Hao, is thirty years old. Although he is a puppet, it would be disrespectful for Yin Chang to call him a brat.
But Cui Junwen suddenly became more relaxed after hearing this.
When Yin Chang kept saying that his trip was not easy and that the two thousand guan was just hard-earned money, he also tried to comfort him, saying that according to the usual practice, there would be other rewards, plus the income from betting on the outcome, how could it be so?
More than two thousand strings.
After listening to Cui Junwen's words, Yin Chang's interest suddenly rose:
"Really? Do those high-ranking families in your country have such skills? Ahem, General Cui, it's not that I look down on you Koreans. In the past few years, you have been selling porcelain and ginseng and mink skins, so you are rich.
! But my trip here is really expensive. I will show you in a moment. In order to prevent too many deaths at the polo match, there were more than a dozen famous doctors specially hired from the Song Dynasty. They made a single trip
, I have to give out dozens of strings!"
Not only those doctors? Most of the accountants, clerks, etc. you brought here were hired from the Song Dynasty. They were also specially trained to make us mistakenly think that they are all your old troops who have been with you for a long time. In order to serve me in Korea
The country kept up the dignity of the predecessor who stayed behind and earned this money... You, a down-and-out old man, have worked very hard!
Thinking of this, Cui Junwen was a little scornful. But he then thought that when he was running under Cui Zhongxian, wasn't it the same as accompanying him like a tiger? Wasn't it the same that he didn't know what would happen tomorrow? Cui Xiang's suspicion and rage in recent years,
Isn't it just as unbearable?
This discovery made him feel a sense of sincerity and understanding between him and Yin Chang.
After half an hour, Yin Chang said goodbye after drinking and eating, and slowly returned to the port with a few guards.
The subordinate stepped out from behind Cui Junwen and asked, "Do you want to continue staring?"
Cui Junwen sneered: "What time is it now? There are too many people worth noting, and there are people with evil intentions everywhere. Where do we get so many eyes! Whoever likes to stare at them, just stare until they come in