288. Who Is Stronger, the Tang Sword Master Pei Min or the Shushan Sword Master (Please Order the Whole Book)

The stands of the Forbidden Army Campus, under the canopy.

Li Dan, Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty, who was sitting on the throne, could not hide the excitement in his chest. He was the number one scholar in Jinshi and now had such achievements in martial arts. This was regarded as a hero and auspicious omen of the Tang Dynasty. He took a deep breath and said: "Xia Gui" The Bai family deserves to be rewarded for their bravery. I want to reward you with ten thousand gold. I wonder what Taiping thinks?"

He looked at Princess Taiping, who was sitting on the left side of the throne, and asked.

"In the past martial arts examinations, the late emperor often rewarded people with amazing martial arts skills..."

"The new number one scholar has such courage, Your Majesty should reward him."

Princess Taiping, who was wearing a flowing bun, various kinds of pearls in her hair, light pink plum blossoms on her eyebrows, half-covered pink breasts, dressed like a lady, covered her mouth and chuckled, and replied .

In the past, when taking martial arts exams at the school, the emperor would routinely reward candidates who had amazing martial arts skills. What's more, for a person of Xinke Zhuangyuanlang's status, he has shown his talents in martial arts, so it is unreasonable not to reward him.

"What do you think of Saburo?"

Li Dan looked at Prince Li Longji on the right and asked.

"Whenever the prime minister plays an important role, he will always ask: "Do you want to discuss it with Taiping?" He also asks: "Do you want to discuss it with Sanlang?" Then he can do it." - "Zi Zhi Tong Jian"

Li Longji was not the eldest son, but the third among Li Dan's descendants, so he was called Sanlang.

Logically speaking, it is only a reward for a candidate, and Li Dan would not make such a gesture, but whoever allows this candidate to get too close to Princess Jinxian, and getting too close to Princess Jinxian means that he is very close to Prince Li Longji .

But encountering such an amazing scene of martial arts...,

If there is no regular reward.

It is inevitable that the ministers and candidates will slander him and think that the emperor is a miser because of his kindness.

Although it is said that thunder, rain and dew are all the kindness of the king, this is just a sentence. If you really do this, there will definitely be resentment among the ministers.

"My father has made his own decision, and my sons and ministers dare not say anything."

Li Longji replied.

Seeing that the two people in power had no objections, Li Dan nodded and asked the eunuch next to him to step forward and issue an edict.

Immediately, the eunuch came down from the stand, followed by the young eunuch. The eunuch held a wooden case and a wooden saddle filled with thousands of gold.

Ten thousand newly minted, brand new, yellow-orange copper coins.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

"I am wearing armor and it is difficult for me to salute. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

Bai Gui, riding on his horse, cupped his hands and said to the eunuch who was delivering the order.

"This is a trivial matter. The champion doesn't need to be polite."

"Since the No. 1 scholar has received his reward, the Za family will take leave and go to reply to the saint."

The eunuch returned the favor and said politely.

He was issuing an edict on behalf of the emperor, so what Bai Gui just said was to the emperor Li Dan, not to him. Although he had a good status in the palace, the emperor was weak and even the eunuchs were not very honored. Therefore, he did not dare to offend Bai Gui, a popular figure now.

It is impossible for such a person not to be valued by the powerful people in the dynasty.

"Thank you, father-in-law."

Bai Gui nodded and continued to sit on the horse.

It was said that he was receiving a reward, but it was impossible for him to collect the ten thousand gold in person now. It was just a gesture from the emperor to encourage them, the martial arts candidates, to continue to achieve good results in the competition.

After the eunuch left, the examiner of the Yulin Military Academy held an order flag.

Swing hard.

The soldiers blew their horns.

A group of martial arts candidates gallop and shoot arrows.

This is horse shooting!

collapse!

Bai Gui took off the riding bow and the arrows from the quiver from his back, stretched them like a full moon, tightened his legs on the saddle to prevent falling off, charged forward with force, showing off his riding and shooting skills, and fired the bow continuously.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A feathered arrow came out of his hand and hit the target.

"Qingzhou Fan Ziyi, he shot eight arrows in ten breaths, and four of them hit the target, so he failed!"

"Dingzhou Palace, I shot thirteen arrows in ten breaths, and six of them hit the target. Their scores are average and they can enter the next exam."

"..."

"Huazhou Baigui, he shot twenty-one arrows in ten breaths, and all of them hit the target. His results are top-notch. His archery skills are excellent. He scored well in both competitions. He can be included in the selection of the martial arts examination."

"..."

"Pei Min from Yanzhou shot twenty-seven arrows in ten breaths, all of them hit the target. His grades are above average. His archery skills are excellent and he can enter the next exam."

"..."

The examiners were thinking about the results of the riding and shooting competition just now.

With ten breaths in mind, shoot arrows while moving on horseback.

If you are not proficient in equestrian skills, let alone archery, it will be good if you don't fall off the horse. In this competition, only those who are proficient in horsemanship and archery can achieve good results.

If you are proficient in horsemanship, you can shoot arrows without interruption within ten breaths.

However, if your equestrian skills are a little poor and you constantly adjust your posture, you will delay the opportunity to shoot and waste time. Even if the arrows you shoot hit a lot of targets, your results will not be excellent.

"Pei Min, the Sword Saint of the Tang Dynasty?"

"I didn't expect that he would also be in this martial arts exam..."

Bai Gui originally trusted the reins and rested his mind after shooting the arrows to prepare for the next exam, but unexpectedly he heard a familiar name, Yanzhou Pei Min.

The surname Pei is not a common surname among the population, but among aristocratic families, it is a well-known one.

Ninety percent of those with the surname Pei and the money to practice martial arts are Wenxi Pei, and Yanzhou is Pei Min's hometown, so Bai Gui can roughly guess it just from "Yanzhou Pei Min".

This is Sword Master Pei Min!

In this era, the noble families all had family trees. The Bai family of Xiagui, Huazhou, would go to Jinyang to compile family trees every once in a while. If they had children, they would be ranked in order in the family.

For example, his... descendants Bai Juyi and Bai Xingjian.

In the Epitaph of Bai Xingjian, the Doctor of the Ministry of Food, there is "The 22nd brother Juyi asked for a drink of common food and offered sacrifices to the spirit of the 23rd doctor Zhitu".

Bai Juyi claimed to be the 22nd brother and Bai Xingjian the 23rd. It does not mean that his father Bai Jigen really gave birth to so many sons, but this is the order of the family members of the Jinyang Bai family. The two of them are ranked 22nd and 23rd in this generation.

"I wonder who is better, the Sword Saint Pei Min or the Sword Saint of Shushan?"

"In "Du Yi Zhi", it is said that Pei Min 'threw his sword into the clouds, which was dozens of feet high, and shot down like lightning. Min held the sheath in his hand to catch it, and the sword penetrated the air, and the thousands of people watching were all shocked.'"

"Shooted 31 tigers in one day..."

"No wonder he is better than me in horseback archery. Although I practice archery all the time, I also spend some time practicing spearmanship. How can I be better at shooting than Pei Min, a native of the Tang Dynasty."

He thought to himself.

But now he is on the same level as Pei Min in the military examination. Although he wants to see this great Tang Sword Saint, unless he is placed on the stands and overlooks the entire Imperial Army training ground, it is really difficult to tell who is Pei Min because everyone is wearing Ming Guang armor.

In the next few exams, Changduo, Qiaoguan, etc., Bai Gui passed them one by one without exception.

In the military examination, there is nothing to hide. The more powerful you are, the more benefits you get, and there is almost no danger. This is different from the Jinshi examination. In the Jinshi examination, it is easy to offend people if you show your sharp words, but there is no such worry in the military examination.

One day of competition ended in a short and hasty manner.

In this military competition, only less than 30 military Jinshi were selected, which is about the same as the number of Jinshi admissions.

As expected, Bai Gui was ranked first in the military Jinshi again.

Although there were people like Pei Min accompanying him in this military examination, although Pei Min was from a noble family like the Wenxi Pei family, he was similar to their Xiagui Bai family. He was not in his ancestral home, but in Yanzhou. He was considered to be down and out, which showed that he had no connections. Bai Gui had the honor of being the top scholar in literature, and Li Dan also wanted to make it a whole. If the top scholar in literature and martial arts appeared when he was emperor, he would also think it would be a pleasure and an elegant event that could be passed down to future generations.

In fact, although Bai Gui was slightly inferior to Pei Min in the archery test, Pei Min was not as strong as him. In the Qiaoguan test, Bai Gui was able to lift the tripod, which won the applause of the whole hall, and his performance was better than Pei Min.

So, the title of both civil and military champions fell on Bai Gui. Originally, there was no such title as the martial champion in the Tang Dynasty, but Bai Gui ranked first in both the Jinshi and martial arts, so this martial champion was born out of thin air.

"Qiaoguan lifts the tripod, fights in shooting pots and bo." - Zuo Si's "Wudu Fu"

Qiaoguan is the weightlifting event in the martial arts in the Tang Dynasty.

...

In the evening, the palace dinner.

It was held in Penglai Palace, Linde Hall.

(That is, Daming Palace, which was changed to Penglai Palace during the reign of Emperor Gaozong.)

There were three major palaces in Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, also known as the three major inner palaces, namely Daming Palace, Taiji Palace, and Xingqing Palace.

The name of Daming Palace comes from the "Daming Chapter" in the "Book of Songs·Da Ya", "King Wen has a bright virtue, so the heaven gave the order to King Wu. King Wen and King Wu succeeded each other, and their bright virtue became more and more extensive, so it is called Daming."

Penglai Palace means the palace where immortals live.

Bai Gui, as the double champion of civil and military, was specially rewarded by Li Dan to attend the banquet.

The other Jinshi and Wu Jinshi did not have such a good treatment, and could only pool their own money to have a meal in the restaurant.

Qujiang Banquet was established during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, and was specially given to the new Jinshi. Therefore, there is no such thing as Qujiang Banquet, Qionglin Banquet, and Luming Banquet now.

Bai Gui was led by the female official into the layers of pavilions.

He looked straight ahead, walked calmly, and looked leisurely.

Did not dare to look around, because the costumes of the palace maids in the early Tang Dynasty were all chest-length skirts, with their chests outside, which was a bit too dazzling.

Walking to the end of the banquet, the female official paused.

"Top Scholar, this is your seat."

The female official bowed and smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Liu."

Bai Gui retracted his gaze, bowed slightly, and performed the etiquette.

Then he lifted the front swing.

He sat on the Hu stool behind the dining table.

There were six bureaus and twelve departments in the harem of the Tang Dynasty. The six bureaus were all of the fifth rank, namely Shang Gong, Shang Yi, Shang Fu, Shang Shi, Shang Qin, and Shang Gong.

He has not passed the Ministry of Personnel test yet. Only after passing the Ministry of Personnel test can the new Jinshi be granted an official position. In the past, there were many people who passed the Jinshi exam and wasted their time in the Ministry of Personnel test. Even if they were granted an official position, the highest Jinshi would not exceed the fifth rank.

Not to mention...the female officials in the palace may not become the emperor's concubines at any time. Shangguan Wan'er was the imperial concubine of Li Xian, the Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty.

"It is indeed a special banquet, so remote..."

After Bai Gui sat down, he took a leisurely look at the layout of the Linde Hall.

Linde Hall was a place for banquets and watching music and drama in the Tang Dynasty.

He was almost one of the first five to arrive at the banquet this time. After all, the more powerful people are, the later they are. And those who were invited to the banquet, except for him, were all powerful people in the court, at least not lower than the fifth rank, and there was not a single green-robed official.

There were seasonal vegetables and dried fruits on the table.

The Tang Dynasty had a separate dining system.

He ate while waiting, and after about a quarter of an hour, officials began to enter the hall from outside.

The last to enter were Li Dan and the prime minister of the Political Affairs Hall.

"How can the newly crowned champion be placed at the bottom?"

"Come here, give the banquet in front of the hall."

Just as Bai Gui thought the banquet was about to start, a voice came from the depths of the Linde Hall, and then he was led by a group of female officials and eunuchs to the dining table of the royal dignitaries on the left side of the hall.

A separate table was set up for him to sit.

"I am the newly crowned champion. In order to show his reputation of being generous to virtuous people, the emperor often treats the newly crowned champion generously..."

"Well, on the right side of the hall are the prime ministers of the Political Affairs Hall. It is impossible for a junior like me to be in front of so many high-ranking officials. If I do so, it would be flattery. Therefore... it seems reasonable to sit next to this group of princesses and princes..."

Bai Gui frowned slightly. He looked to the left and saw the cold and beautiful Princess Yuzhen, and to the right and saw the petite and lovely Princess Jinxian. They were all dressed in female crowns, making others envious.