The next day, Ma Teng ordered Pound to lead a thousand infantrymen outside the city to maintain the order of the tournament. The heroes inside and outside Anding arrived at the designated place early and were waiting eagerly.
Chen Cheng put on a full set of gorgeous armor and ordered Lu Fang to lead a hundred Yue riders to clear the way. He himself was riding on the back of a tall war horse. In front of him was Zhao Yun holding a battle flag, and behind him was Liu Qian, the Princess of Ten Thousand Years.
Cart. When leaving Luoyang, Chen Cheng brought out a lot of cloth and silk, as well as a lot of palace clothes. At this time, Liu Qian naturally put on the most gorgeous clothes and sat quietly.
On the carriage.
Behind them, there were another hundred cavalrymen lined up neatly. The armor and weapons of all the soldiers were polished, and the horses were well fed. The whole army looked strong. Although there were only two hundred cavalry, they were well displayed.
The momentum of thousands of troops.
The team passed through the city gate in a mighty manner and appeared on the viewing platform of the competition venue. Chen Cheng first helped Liu Qian to sit on the platform, then took a few steps forward, pressed his sword and looked around. There was a dense crowd around him. He could appear
Those present at the martial arts tournament were all powerful men from the county. There were always many conflicts between these people. In the two or three days of practice, many fights had occurred and several lives had been lost.
Even at the venue of the martial arts competition, many people were still glaring at each other. Chen Cheng looked around and took in the surrounding situation, then he gathered enough energy and said in a calm voice: "Because as we all know,
The reason why Princess Wannian and I are standing here is that I won’t say much nonsense. There are six events today, namely horse riding, archery, running, weightlifting, throwing and unlimited fighting. The winner of each event can
Get a suit of armor!"
Six large boxes were carried to the stage, then opened, and six sets of shiny armor were displayed in front of everyone.
In this era, a set of iron armor is very valuable no matter where it is. Even Ma Teng, even if he knew it in advance, was a little surprised when he saw Chen Cheng actually taking out six sets of iron armor. Six sets of iron armor,
This is worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
This is true for Ma Teng, let alone others.
He turned around and said to Ma Chao: "Do you want to go up and try?"
Ma Chao said proudly: "Of course I want it! I want to see what Chen Cheng's face would be like if I took all six sets of armor by myself!"
Chen Cheng kicked one of the boxes with his foot and said loudly: "Everyone present can participate, and the strongest person can take away one set!"
His voice was so loud that he alone suppressed the voices of everyone present. Chen Cheng didn't care what the people around him were saying and announced directly: "The first event is horse riding!"
Those who can come here are either those with some wealth or those who are brave in arts. Moreover, Xiliang is rich in martial arts, and hundreds of people have been selected and asked to participate in the competition. The rules of the competition have long been drawn up, and this
At that time, Chen Cheng only conducted the specific steps and pushed everything to Yan Zhong. He himself took a few steps back and knelt down next to Liu Qian.
Liu Qian whispered: "Ma Chao said some unpleasant things just now."
Ma Teng is the local owner, so he naturally has a seat on the viewing platform. When Ma Chao spoke just now, he didn't even think about avoiding others, and many people heard it. Chen Cheng smiled and said: "Oh, he said
What?"
Liu Qian repeated Ma Chao's words in a low voice, and said a little worriedly: "The Ma family has many soldiers and horses. If they are in trouble with us, will we have to flee elsewhere?"
Chen Cheng thought for a while and said, "Probably not."
"Why?"
Chen Cheng looked at Liu Qian's little face with worry written all over it, and said with a smile: "Because they don't dare."
"real?"
"real."
Liu Qian felt relieved and started to watch the competition. Because of the prizes and the title of "the strongest", there were so many people participating that Yan Zhong had to divide them into several groups.
One person will compete together again, and then the winner will be chosen.
Equestrian competitions require firstly good horses, and secondly excellent riding skills. Horses come first, and human factors come second. Liangzhou cavalry was used in the Han Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Five Dynasties, and even to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
They are all world-famous elites. The reputation of "Liangzhou's horses dominate the world" has been resounding for a thousand or two thousand years.
This is mainly due to geographical reasons. Liangzhou connects China and the Western Regions, and there is endless grassland to the north, which is an excellent place for cavalry to gallop. Eastern and Western cultures blended here, and horses continued to crossbreed, until
Before the industrial revolution, it was one of the best horse-producing areas in the world.
Anyone who can come to watch the competition has at least one good horse, but there is still a difference between a good horse and a good horse. Although there are many excellent horses for those with a shoulder height of less than four feet and five, there is no need for Yan Zhong to speak out, just
I was so reprimanded by others that I didn't dare to come out.
Among those who ended up were not only Ma Chao, but also Ma Tie, Ma Xiu, Jiang Xu, Yang Fu and others who were so enthused that they all participated in the competition because of their excellent riding skills. In addition, there were some Qiang people,
Huns and other barbarians also participated.
Chen Cheng talked to Liu Qian in the stands, and then walked to the side and chatted with Ma Teng. He didn't care about the outcome of the game. It was just a few sets of iron armor. Now the cavalry under his command at least equipped
Hundreds of sets.
"General Ma," Chen Cheng said, "I heard that your army is about to start a war with Han Sui. Although there are not many soldiers under my command, they are extremely powerful. They are all warriors who can fight one against ten. I am willing to lead troops to garrison Gaoping.
Let me share the general's worries."
Ma Teng still didn't want to answer this question head-on. It was because he hadn't figured out how to deal with the current chaotic situation. He was so anxious that he just hesitated and talked about it.
Seeing this, Chen Cheng chuckled twice and said, "Then I know what General Ma means. Don't worry, after tonight's banquet, I will leave with my troops tomorrow."
"That's not what I meant," Ma Teng was startled and said quickly, "I didn't mean to let Marquis Julu leave."
Chen Cheng raised his eyebrows and said coldly: "Oh, you won't let us leave. Could it be that General Ma wants to keep us here?"
He was so easily angered, even though Ma Teng was used to fighting, he couldn't help but the hairs on his back stood up. He was frightened in his heart, his face changed color slightly, he straightened his body, and put his hand on the short knife at his waist.
Then he laughed twice and said: "I don't dare, how could I do that? Marquis Julu misunderstood me."
"It's not this, it's not that, what is it?" Chen Cheng said coldly, "We have been waiting here for ten days. Does General Ma want us to wait here until the end of time?"
Facing Chen Cheng's aggressive posture, Ma Teng looked around, but there was no one who could save the situation. After hesitating for a while, he finally said: "How about I give Marquis Julu an answer tonight, which will surely satisfy you?"
The expression on Chen Cheng's face softened and he smiled again. "Then we'll wait for the general's reply!"
On the field below, the preliminary round has ended, and a total of six people have been selected to participate in the second round, including Ma Chao and Yang Fu. Others, such as Ma Tie, Ma Xiu, Jiang Xu and others, have all been eliminated.
Ma Tie held the riding whip unhappily and said: "Oh, I'm just a little bit behind. If I had known better, I would have brought out Ah Da's good horse."
Ma Yunlu shaved his face and said coquettishly: "I'm so shameless. Are you a little bit worse? You are much worse than my eldest brother."
Matthew also smiled and said: "You are not even close to me, how can you compare with my elder brother?"
They were all in the same group as Ma Chao and were easily crushed. Ma Tie swung his whip fiercely and hit the fence, shouting: "That's because the eldest brother's horse is good. If only I had a better horse."
The horse will definitely win!"
Under the control of Yan Zhong, the semi-finals began soon. Six war horses with a shoulder height of about five feet started rushing towards the finish line after the sound of the drum. Chen Cheng and Ma Teng finished talking and watched with interest.
In the following competition, he pointed at Ma Chao’s vigorous figure and said with a smile: “Meng Qi is so majestic and heroic, he really deserves the name of Jin Ma Chao!”
Ma Teng was forced to give his confession. At this time, his face was a little ugly. Seeing his son performing vigorously on the field, his face became slightly better. He squeezed a smile on his face and said: "Meng Qi is still the best."
Too impatient."
Seeing that the thin line of the finish line was right in front of him, Ma Chao had already thrown Yang Fu, who was following the closest, one step behind. If nothing unexpected happened, victory was right in front of him. A satisfied smile appeared on Ma Chao's face, and he thought: It's really
It’s as easy as picking something out from a bag!
While he was enjoying himself, the horse under his crotch suddenly staggered with its front legs, almost throwing him off the horse. This situation is also very common. The horse's hooves will crack if they step on the hard ground too much, and then
The situation just now will occur, and there are other reasons for this situation.
Ma Chao stabilized his body, and the hidden path was very dangerous. When he looked up, he suddenly found that Yang Fu had taken advantage of his horse's stumble to jump ahead and crossed the finish line. Yang Fu laughed and reined in the horse and said loudly:
: "Bo Yi, did you see that? I told you I can win!"
Jiang Xu laughed loudly and ran over, hammered Yang Fu hard on the chest, and said loudly: "You Yang Yishan, you actually beat Ma Chao!"
On the viewing platform, Chen Cheng was stunned for a moment and said, "What a pity, Meng Qi would have won."
He faced Ma Teng, who looked surprised, and said, "Let's do this, even if Meng Qi and that Ren are tied for first place..."
Before he finished speaking, the people below suddenly shouted in surprise. Chen Cheng quickly turned his head and saw Ma Chao snatching the spear from a soldier's hand and running towards Yang Fu angrily.
"Major General, Major General!" A commander and several soldiers quickly stopped Ma Chao and shouted: "Major General, calm down, calm down!"
Yang Fu also came with his entourage, and several people stood in front of him with swords. Jiang Xu shouted: "Ma Mengqi, in full view of everyone, do you want to kill someone to vent your anger after losing?"
Ma Chao yelled, "Fuck you, you've lost. I'm sure to win, uncle. If the horse's hoof hadn't stuck out, how could he have lost to this bastard?"
Yang Fu was furious, pushed away the followers in front of him, snatched the ring-head knife from one of them, and said angrily: "Keep your mouth clean, others are afraid of you Ma Mengqi, but I am not afraid!"
