Chapter 2: Become an Official (Part 2) Liu Hongji has already been established in recent years, so naturally he is not willing to do anything with Li Shimin, a child who is only fourteen years old. In desperation, he glanced at Li Xu from the corner of his eye, and he suddenly had a suspicion in his heart.
Patting Li Shimin's shoulder, he smiled and diverted the trouble to the east: "Erlang wants to find someone to teach him martial arts, why not find someone of similar age to himself. In the spring, he beheaded the head of the rope on the fortress to ridicule Khan Qilifu.
"The ancient Qin Wuyang's bravery was nothing more than this..." (Note 1) "Seriously!" Jiancheng, Wan'er, and Shimin brother and sister screamed at the same time. They looked at Li Xu again, only to find that although the other party was wearing scholar's clothes,
On his clothes and on his waist was a decorated sword that could not even kill a hen, but his frame and height were definitely not those of a scholar. The three of them believed Liu Hongji's words, and their eyes immediately revealed some
Come with admiration
"You can ask him if he has this matter!" Liu Hongji smiled slightly and struck while the iron was hot. Li Xu was from a humble background, which was a big shortcoming when he interacted with the children of Jiancheng, Shimin and other aristocratic families. However, after hearing this, he came to the grassland
The person who did what he did will never dare to look at him with ordinary eyes again. Therefore, Liu Hongji believed that instead of letting his good brother owe a favor to beg Tang Gong, it would be better to turn around and let several of Tang Gong's disciples take the initiative to fight with Li Xu.
Such a relationship will be of great benefit to the current situation and future development of the good brothers.
Li Xu had never dealt with anyone in the officialdom, how could he understand Liu Hongji's good intentions? When he saw the Li brothers and sisters looking at him, he immediately blushed and explained hesitantly: "That is, that is between the two armies."
Before the battle, Xi Ren was defeated, and I had determined that I had no intention of using the sword, but I didn't expect to kill him anyway!"
"If you use the knife accidentally, you can chop the Khan's head. If you use the knife intentionally, the whole grassland will be turned over for you!" Li Jiancheng clapped his hands in admiration, his face full of admiration.
"Come here, bring my leather armor to Brother Zhongjian!" Li Shimin shouted happily, wishing he could get off the field and walk around with him for a few times. He has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he has great talent. After he was ten years old, he has already seen the skills and now has great skills.
He was already much taller than his peers, and he could never find an opponent to compete with Tang Gong's guards. Those guards did not dare to hurt the second young master, so they abandoned their weapons and surrendered after three moves. As things went on like this, Li Shimin inevitably felt lonely in his heart.
Today, a ready-made training partner finally came to my door. Of course, there is no reason to let it go easily.
The servant waiting next to him agreed and immediately ran down to get the leather armor. Li Xu couldn't get rid of it again and again, so he had to go behind the tree to take off his coat and hang it on the branch.
Outside the martial arts arena, there was originally a special room for changing clothes. Li Xu had never lived in a wealthy family, so how did he know that the Duke's family was so particular about country children playing fighting? He turned around behind a tree and took off his clothes, turning everything on his body into a bun.
, and then suddenly remembered that there was a wealthy lady standing on the martial arts field.
Immediately, his face turned redder, and he looked like a cooked crab. But Li Waner was not annoyed. She held back a smile and looked at Li Xu's figure.
Do you know how many times it is pleasing to the eye?
"I'm afraid the second young master's leather armor doesn't fit Young Master Li!" Li Shimin's personal companion ran over holding a suit of soft deerskin armor worn during martial arts training. He looked at Li Xu's skeleton and whispered.
"That's right, I was rude today!" Li Shimin looked at Li Xu again and sighed with regret. He had just heard that the other party had killed a khan outside the Great Wall, and he was eager to win. As the son of Duke Tang, at such a young age
Going out to fight is obviously not allowed, but if you can beat Li Xu with one and a half moves in fists and kicks, it means that you can also kill the enemy general. This feeling is much more comfortable than being praised by hundreds of people.
But now that he saw the opponent's figure clearly, Li Shimin immediately knew that he would suffer a big loss in terms of strength. If he gave up his fists and tried swordsmanship, Liu Hongji would not be able to survive if someone was injured. Just when he was hesitating whether to continue the competition, he heard that Liu
Hong Ji suggested from the side: "Why bother to compete with each other? There are ready-made targets here. You two can just shoot a round of arrows!"
"It's wonderful. If so, please give me some advice from Brother Zhongjian!" Li Shimin clasped his fists and said loudly. At this point, his contempt for Li Xu disappeared and he truly regarded this person as a competitive opponent.
"I don't dare, please give me some advice, Second Young Master!" Li Xu clasped his fists in return and said in a low voice that the bow and arrow competition was just what he wanted. If the fists and kicks compete, even if he loses intentionally, it will be easy for others to see his flaws.
As for bows and arrows, it was not a matter of raising a hand to miss or hit the mark. Let Li Shimin win once, just to please his father. He went to the weapons rack and picked up a rifle bow.
The thing used by the Li siblings to adjust the bow string slowly cannot be defective. Although it is not as stiff as the riding bow he is used to, the stability and comfort when shooting the bow are better than that riding bow. The bow is in hand.
, his panicked mood immediately calmed down, and his breathing and steps immediately became even.
"What a spirit!" Li Waner secretly praised the young man in front of her just now, who still looked like a country boy who had never seen much of the world. With the bow in hand, his temperament changed drastically, and he vaguely looked like a veteran of many battles.
The Li family has less than fifty veterans who have served under the family, and all of them are regarded as the family's treasures. If this person can reach such a state in his youth, how can his future future be limited?
Thinking of this, Li Waner's eyes quietly moved to her eldest brother and second brother, and saw looks of surprise on their faces. Obviously, the two brothers were surprised by Li Xu's performance.
"Brother Zhongjian is a guest, so you should be invited first!" Li Shimin also picked a bow, adjusted the bowstring, and invited him in a serious manner.
Naturally, the seventy-step target could not be difficult for Li Xu, who had worked hard on the grassland for several months and had experienced the guidance of Sun Jiu, Aslan and the coppersmith.
He pulled it full and then loosened his fingers, the feather arrow left the string and followed closely. The target in the distance made a loud "bang" sound, and an eagle feather fell steadily from the red heart.
"Okay!" Everyone cheered, followed by the sound of a drum. Li Xu looked back, but it was Wan'er waving a pair of drum hammers and playing a piece of music in the distance.
"Wait until I shoot!" Li Shimin said with a smile. He could compete with such masters of archery. Even if he lost, he was willing to take a closer look. He also let go of the arrow and steadily hit another target seventy steps away.
target red heart
"Okay!" Li Xu took the lead in cheering for Shimin. The other party was nearly two years younger than him and came from a wealthy family. It was indeed admirable to have such attainments in bow and arrow.
After the drums sounded, a servant ran up and carried the two targets back. Both of their arrows were in the red heart, so this round can only be regarded as a draw. Li Shimin looked at the target, then looked at Li Xu, and asked loudly
: "Brother Zhongjian, can you shoot farther!"
"I'm willing to give it a try!" Li Xu nodded and answered with a smile.
"Put the target at ninety paces!" Li Shimin ordered loudly.
After several servants pulled the arrows from the target, they ran out quickly. After a moment, the target was placed ninety steps away. This time, it was Li Shimin's turn to shoot first. After the arrow was shot, the wind happened to blow by.
The arrow couldn't help but tilted and hit half an inch away from the red heart.
Even so, such a long distance is considered accurate. Everyone looked at it and cheered together. When the drums stopped, Li Xu also shot his second arrow. This arrow went very fast, but the accuracy was a little off, and it missed the target.
Finally, it was a few inches away from the red heart.
"No one hit the red heart, it's a draw again!" Before the servant could carry the target back, Li Shimin was the first to determine the result.
"I lost!" Li Xu put down his bow and admitted in a low voice that he didn't want to defeat the master here, so he deliberately missed the arrow.
"A draw, a draw, not a hit, but it's the same!" Li Shimin, however, was not satisfied and shouted loudly. After carefully looking at the target carried back by the servant, he smiled again and asked, "Brother Zhong Jian, can you shoot farther?"
Huh?"
Before Li Xu could refuse, Liu Hongji "betrayed" him again, "We encountered a bandit on the way back, and Zhong Jian shot the bandit leader's throat a hundred steps away!"
"Oh?" Li Shi gave Li Xu a meaningful look, as if he could instantly see through what the other person was thinking.
"Well, it was a cover-up. We were outnumbered at the time, so we had to take the risk!" Li Xu quickly explained loudly that Liu Hongji's words were confusing the truth. The situation at that time was that he and he were the bandits, and the pursuers behind him were clearly Turkic officials.
Jun was on this level, and he couldn't explain it to others. His face suddenly turned red again, as if he was embarrassed by someone's compliments.
"Put the target at 120 steps, and I will compete with Brother Zhongjian again!" Li Shimin ordered loudly.
The servant quickly ran forward and set the target with the missing arrows 120 steps away. This was already close to the corner of the martial arts arena. No one among the Li family's children had ever tried such a long distance. Everyone stopped being wordy.
, holding his breath and watching the shooting, fearing that he would be out of breath and affect the result of the game between the two.
After carefully examining the target, Li Shimin put down his bow and raised his hand to pick out a thumb-sized piece of jadeite from the boy's crown above his head, and handed it to his brother. He looked back at Li Xu and said loudly: "It's boring to shoot like this.
Why not make a bet, if you win, this jade will be yours!"
"No, no!" Li Xu was so panicked that he waved his hands repeatedly. He was told by Du Erpu at Su Chuanbu about the common sense of identifying gems. He could tell that the jade that Li Shimin put in Liu Hongji's hands was a top-grade jade with such quality. When he got it to the grassland
The value of at least a dozen horses in the Central Plains, and the net worth is even more unknown.
Li Shimin waved his hand and refused to tell him more. He drew the bow with full horns and fired an arrow first. The arrow shot as fast as a meteor with a "bang" sound and hit an inch below the red heart. The tail of the arrow swayed back and forth for a few times and then stopped moving.
At such a long distance, it was difficult for Li Xu to calmly give in. Just as he was hesitating whether to deliberately shoot an empty arrow that missed the target, he heard Li Shimin shouting, "Brother Zhongjian, don't worry, I
If you lose, this piece of jade belongs to you and your winnings are yours. Could it be that you think you can beat me?"
"Me?" Li Xu asked with his eyes widened. When he came, his package was hidden behind the saddle. At this moment, the mount was placed somewhere by the Li family's servant. He wanted to take out a package with Li Shimin.
The piece of jade that came out was quite valuable, but there was not a single valuable item on it.
"How about we bet on the two swords on your and Brother Hongji's waists?" Li Shimin smiled and pressed.
"How can this sword be compared with the second young master's beautiful jade!" Li Xu hesitated and answered frankly that the swords on his and Liu Hongji's waists were all fakes bought on the road, and the two together were only three hundred.
Not to mention the piece of jade that Li Shimin took out, I can't even buy the jade seat on the boy's crown.
"The value of this sword is not in itself, but in its owner. If you lose, it will be like losing Brother Hongji and your own weapons to me. From now on, you will have to obey me and be driven by me." Li Shimin smiled again and explained seriously.
Hearing this, Li Xu knew that Li Shimin had seen through his trick of deliberately admitting defeat in the second round. He secretly admired the sharp eyesight of the young man in front of him. He was in a dilemma. He turned his eyes to Liu Hongji, hoping that this thoughtful brother would make up his mind, but he saw
Liu Hongji was looking at him, his eyes full of encouragement.
"Brother Hongji, you want me to win?" Li Xu's eyes widened a bit, and he asked in his heart with surprise that he was a guest but he upset the host. In Yixian County where he grew up, there was no such rule about being a guest but deliberately losing.
He and Liu Hongji became private soldiers of the Li family, and the price was extremely high.
"Just what Erlang said!" Liu Hongji replied loudly, as if he had seen through what Li Xu was thinking, stepped forward and took off the sword from his waist, then picked up the sword that Li Xu had placed behind the tree, and held it in Li Jiancheng's hand.
superior
There was silence everywhere, and even the flowing clouds in the sky slowed down. Li Xu did not dare to hide his secret anymore. He looked carefully at the target position and placed the arrow on the bowstring. However, he saw that the bow opened like a full moon and then rebounded quickly.
, the feather arrow flew out with a whoosh, and there were thunderous cheers everywhere. Li Wan'er danced with her hands and beat the drum hammer with a thunderous sound.
"Okay!" Suddenly, an old voice came from the distance, suppressing all the noise in the venue.
Li Xu turned his head when he heard the sound, and saw an old man with many wrinkles on his face, but a kind and kind-hearted man walking towards him quickly from a distance.
Note 1: Qin Wuyang, a famous warrior at the end of the Warring States Period, killed people in a busy city at the age of thirteen and then joined the Qin Dynasty to assassinate Yingzheng as Jing Ke's deputy. He failed and died.
Drunkard's Note: The "Girls' Commandments" mentioned in the previous section was written by Ban Zhao of the Han Dynasty and is the earliest lady training textbook in China.
Recommendation vote, I even updated twice without a break during the National Day holiday, should I encourage it?