Polo is known as the national sport of the Tang Dynasty and has been popular for more than two hundred years. The horses are fast and highly confrontational. It was deeply loved by the nobles and people of the Tang Dynasty. Even women and children rode donkeys to play polo.
The polo club is very similar to a golf club. The ball is played with a curved racket at the top. The ball is about the size of a fist and is sewn with leather. It is stuffed with tendons and has very good elasticity, allowing the rider to chase the ball at high speeds.
Hit the ball.
Especially among the cavalry of the army, polo is more popular, and many armies even use polo as a cavalry training subject.
The size of the polo field is twice that of the football field. There is a wooden board two feet high and one foot wide erected on both sides. A hole as big as a volleyball is dug on the board. There is a net bag behind it. This is the goal. Hit the ball.
If you hit the opponent's goal, you will get one point. A polo match is divided into three games: upper, middle and lower. Each game has one stick of incense time. A total of five people take the field.
On the school field, Guo Song tightened his grip on the club for the first time. Li Ji pointed out to him, "There are no rules for holding the club to play. Follow your own habits and hit it as you like. Guo Song, do you see the stationary ball in front of you?
Give it a try!"
Twenty steps away from Guo Song stood a two-foot-high wooden stake, with a ball quietly placed on the wooden stake.
Guo Song nodded, spurred his horse, and the horse galloped away with rolling hooves. The moment it passed the wooden stake, Guo Song found the feeling, swung out, and hit the polo accurately with a bent beat. The polo flew.
He came out, drew an arc, and shot straight to the wooden board thirty steps away. The polo hit the upper edge of the hole, bounced up and down twice, and rolled into the net.
Li Ji was stunned and asked after a long while: "Is this really your first time playing golf, Mr. Guo?"
"Isn't it similar?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
Li Ji's eyes were full of wonder, "You are a natural genius. It is indeed your first time to hold a club, but you can actually hit the hole on your first time. It is simply unbelievable."
"It's just a fixed ball. It's no different from shooting a walking bow?"
"What you said is so heartbreaking. I practiced hard for half a year before I hit the hole for the first time, and you...if I guess correctly, you must have practiced throwing knives."
Guo Song nodded, "My senior brother is a master of throwing knives, I have learned from him."
"No wonder, only by practicing flying knives can you find the feel so quickly. Let's do it again!"
Li Ji still put the ball on the wooden stake and stepped back twenty steps. At this time, the other four players gathered around. They heard that Guo Song hit the ball into the hole with his first touch of the stick, which was so shocking to them.
Incredible.
Guo Song gently swung the club, looking for a feeling. In fact, the club was a bit light for him. It only weighed ten pounds, which made it difficult for him to hit it smoothly.
"Is there a heavier club?"
Li Ji was a little confused: "Iron poles are not allowed in polo matches. They are all wooden poles, usually made of ash. The heavier wood is either jujube, sandalwood, or black ironwood."
Next to him, Guo Chongqing smiled and said, "My old man has a ebony club in his collection. It weighs twenty kilograms. I'll get it for you later."
Guo Song was overjoyed, “Then I’ll leave it to Chongqing!”
"Brother Guo Xian, let's hit another shot!" Lin Tai next to him said with a smile: "Let's see what we can see."
"Then please give me some advice."
Guo Song lightly swung the pole, spurring the horse to gallop. The moment they collided with each other, he swung the pole and struck the ball. With a sound of 'pop!', the polo flew out of a beautiful arc and accurately hit the hole.
There was an exclamation of exclamation all around, and Lin Tai gave a thumbs up, "Brother Guo Xian, I am really convinced."
Li Ji also became excited, "Stop talking so much nonsense, let's practice running and hitting. Let's help Mr. Guo together!"
.........
At noon, the logistics delivered lunch, and the little fat man Shi Tong also came. He was wearing a Shuofang Army uniform. He is now a captain of the Shuofang Huotou Army, with more than 20 people under his command. The sauced mutton he made
Burrito is the most popular dry food for Shuofang's army. I don't know how it was made. It was still soft and delicious after marching for three to five days. The soldiers named this dry food Shibing.
Because of this, Shi Tong was very famous in Shuofang's army and was very popular wherever he went.
When Shi Tong saw Guo Song, he was so excited that he waved his hand. Guo Song rushed forward and said with a smile: "Little Fatty has joined the army?"
Shi Tong quickly clasped his fists and said: "Report to Brother Guo, Shi Tong is now the leader of the seventh battalion of Shuofang Army."
"Not bad! You are still the leader of the team. How many subordinates do you have?"
Shi Tong scratched his head and said sheepishly: "There are twenty-five people, and they are all fat. I am still the thinnest."
Everyone laughed, and Li Ji waved his hand, "Let's eat first, then rest for a while before continuing to practice."
Everyone came forward to get cakes, ladles of soup, and sat on the floor to eat.
Shi Tong sat next to Guo Song and said, "Brother Guo, my mother is extremely grateful to you. She asked me to express her gratitude on her behalf."
"Forget about the past, people should look forward."
"yes!"
Shi Tong hesitated and then said: "My mother asked me to ask you for advice, how should I go in the future?"
"It's your mother's idea again, what's your idea?"
Shi Tong lowered his head and said, "Actually, that's what I thought too."
"Since it is your idea, put it forward openly. Don't always say what your mother wants. It sounds like a child who has not grown up. You are a dignified Shuofang army!"
Shi Tong's face was full of shame, "Brother Guo is right to criticize, I know I was wrong!"
Guo Song also knew that what he said was a bit excessive. He softened his tone and said: "I told you that martial arts training is not your talent. Your way out lies in logistics, but what kind of logistics you want to be is debatable.
, the key is whether you can read and write, my advice to you is to read more books while you are young, so that you can become a general who manages logistics in the future, instead of being a big soldier forever."
Shi Tong nodded silently. Guo Song's words deeply inspired him. He had attended a private school for a year and knew some words. He decided to pick up the books again and work hard to become a general in charge of logistics.
.........
After everyone finished lunch, Li Ji took Guo Song aside and explained tactics to him.
"In polo, five people play. They usually line up in front, middle and rear. If the rear is strong, then there are two fronts and two center. If the center is strong and the rear is weak, then there are
With two front armies and two rear armies in line, a polo match is actually the same as a battle. It requires timely response, luring the enemy deep, and being able to break through with force..."
Guo Song listened quietly. He discovered that polo is actually the same as football. Many football tactics are suitable for polo. As for formations, there are only a few types of polo, which are nothing more than two-two-one, one-two-two, two-one-two, and three-one-one.
Combinations of one, three, one, etc. are arranged according to the characteristics of each player, and are no different from football.
"It's started!" Lin Tai shouted from a distance.
"Let's go!"
Li Ji patted Guo Song on the arm and said with a smile: "Teach them a lesson!"
In the afternoon, there was a simulated competition. Six people were divided into two teams to compete. The referee was Liang Linger, who had just delivered the meal.
Liang Ling'er lit a stick of incense, put her hands to her mouth and shouted: "Brother Guo will win!"
Everyone laughed immediately, and Guo Song turned around and waved to her.
Liang Ling'er blew the horn and the game started. Li Ji swung the ball and passed it to Guo Song, who was thirty steps away...
When Guo Song returned to his home, it was almost dark. He was a little tired today, so he declined the invitation to go to the memorial hall for dinner and wanted to go back to his home to rest.
As soon as he sat down and took a breath, he heard a knock on the door outside. Guo Song sighed and hurried to the front yard. "Who is it?" he asked loudly.
"Lao Wu, it's me!" Third senior brother Zhang Lei's voice came from outside.
Guo Song quickly opened the door, and Zhang Lei quickly came in and closed the door, saying angrily: "His grandma is really bullying me!"
"Brother, what's going on?"
"Force us to transfer the store! Your sister-in-law is still asking who is forcing us behind the scenes, but just now the head butler of the Dou family came to the door in person and took out a Wang Baoji counter note worth 10,000 taels of silver, giving us three days to get out.
I was so angry that I wanted to beat him to death, but your sister-in-law stopped me and asked me to come and discuss it with you."
Guo Song asked coldly: "Which Dou family?"
"It's Prince Shaobao Dou Yuanzhu!"
Dou Yuanzhu was the brother of Dou Yi, the head of the Dou family, General Youwei, and an important figure in the Dou family.
"How much do you know about this Dou Yuanzhu?" Guo Song asked again.
"I just heard that he has a lot of businesses, with a total of eight stores in the East City and West City. He has always been relatively strong."
"Where is his mansion?"
"It's at Yanshoufang next to the West Market. Lao Wu, your sister-in-law and I want to ask Uncle An for help and ask him to say hello to the Dou family. Dou Yuanzhu should give Uncle An face."
"You think too highly of Uncle An's ability. He is just the chief steward of Huangshang. The Dou family will not take advantage of him, but don't worry, I will find someone else to help with this matter."
"Who do you ask for help?"
Zhang Lei is no longer the Gan Lei he was back then. After living in Xinfeng County and the capital for so many years, his sharp edges and outlines have long since been smoothed away. He has completely become a normal businessman. Whenever something goes wrong, he has to find connections and find a way out.
But he really understands his junior brother and worships fists to solve problems. He has only been in the capital for a long time, so what kind of relationship can he find?
"Junior brother, you don't want to use force, do you?"
Guo Song smiled and said, "I can run away from the monk, but I can't run away from the temple. I won't use force for this kind of thing. Didn't I tell you that we have a aunt? She is the master of the Hidden Sword Pavilion, and the fourth brother is under her
When she does something, she will ask me for help if she has someone she can't deal with, and I will ask her to help say hello to the Dou family."
Zhang Lei was greatly surprised, "Are you talking about Aunt Gongsun? Will she be our senior sister?"
"She is Master's junior sister, but don't go looking for her. If you do, she will force you to enter the Hidden Sword Pavilion, just like the fourth brother."
"I understand! I won't look for her. Please let me, junior brother, worry about the Dou family's affairs."
Guo Song nodded, "I will solve the problem as soon as possible."
Guo Song sent Zhang Lei away. He quickly put on his bow and arrows and wore a black sword on his waist. His face was full of sneers. Since the Dou family must provoke him, he had no choice but to accompany him.