Chapter 96 Dance and Music
She indeed lived up to Liu Hong's expectations of her. Just look at her attitude when Jian Shuo came to her house.
In order to ensure that Jian Shuo would make it into the top nine, Liu Hong reserved for him the easiest opponent among all the registered players. Fortunately, Jian Shuo was not completely incompetent and could say that he won beautifully.
But Qiao Yan's responsibility was to eliminate the people Liu Hong didn't want to stay, which was not difficult at all.
Perhaps it was because Liu Hong was quite satisfied with her performance that Jian Shuo's expression towards her even had a hint of trying to get close to her.
The implicit meaning of his words was praise for Qiao Yan.
"Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?" Qiao Yan interrupted his chatter and asked. "Now that the two matches are over, there are nine people left on the field. Among the seven people besides you and me, only Zhao Rong and Feng Fang are slightly worse at leading troops. But their next match is against Ji Ling and Brother Meng De, and there is no way they can win."
"The position of Imperial Counselor is vacant this time, but he has experience in suppressing bandits and his performance is acceptable. In my opinion, he may be appointed as the General Du Liao."
"Of course, if Your Majesty feels that there are still people who are not right among them, I will do my best to help them."
After she said this, even if Jian Shuo wanted to express his dissatisfaction with her interrupting his speech, he had to give it up.
This person is still waiting for your majesty's instructions.
But just as Qiao Yan said, after two rounds of fighting, the number of people has been reduced from thirty-six to nine. If Liu Hong's previous idea is true, these nine people are the General Du Liao and the captains of the eight schools of Xiyuan, then the plan is almost completed.
Of course, there is an alternative touchstone, Qiao Yan, who has to be eliminated first, and then another person can be allowed in when the time comes.
But it was just to promote one more person, so it wasn't difficult to ask Liu Hong to give a reason.
Overall, this is a list that meets Liu Hong's expectations.
In addition to Zhao Rong and Feng Fang mentioned by Qiao Yan, Xia Mou, the counselor who was not in office this time, was actually one of the eight captains of the Western Garden. Compared with the original list, Yuan Shao did not choose to take part in the battle himself, and also gave up Chunyu Qiong who was too obvious, so he chose Ji Ling and Han Fu to fight for the interests of the Yuan family group.
These two people did not disappoint the expectations of Yuan Shao and others, and successfully won the first two games.
The remaining two people were Cao Cao and Bao Hong.
Except for Xia Mou who had a bye, the next matches will be Ji Ling vs. Zhao Rong, Feng Fang vs. Cao Cao, Jian Shuo vs. Bao Hong, and Qiao Yan vs. Han Fu.
So Liu Hong did not give Qiao Yan any additional instructions this time.
Jian Shuo came to the house just to establish a relationship, and at most he said vaguely that His Majesty said Marquis Qiao could continue to win.
Qiao Yan even found out in the competition two days later why Jian Shuo was not worried at all that he would lose to Bao Hong.
As Liu Hong intended to make Jian Shuo the head of the eight schools in Xiyuan, he certainly would not let Jian Shuo's ranking be too low.
Bao Hong was probably asked by Liu Hong to have a talk in advance.
Since the number of battles was reduced at this time, and these people were allowed to appear one by one, Qiao Yan could see Bao Hong's performance clearly.
He made several mistakes that could not be explained by errors, giving Jian Shuo an opportunity to take advantage of him.
Not to mention people like Qiao Yan who could see the secret clearly, even those who didn't quite understand wanted to complain about Bao Hong's performance.
Qiao Yan had become quite familiar with the people in his team. At this moment, he heard the centurion of the Tunqi Battalion whisper, "I wanted to beat that guy up, but now I don't have the chance. I think he got too proud of himself."
Because of the morale-boosting drama performed by Bao Hong earlier, the Yueqi Battalion and Tunqi Battalion under Qiao Yan were holding their breath, waiting to teach Bao Hong a profound lesson if they could meet him. Who knew that he would lose right here.
After Bao Hong's death, Qiao Yan's guess was confirmed.
He gave Qiao Yan a grateful look.
Of course, there was some unspeakable entanglement in this gratitude. Bao Hong originally thought that his promotion would be to General Du Liao, but he ended up becoming a captain in the army directly under the emperor.
But after all, this is considered a promotion, right?
Qiao Yan withdrew his gaze from Bao Hong and turned to his next opponent, Han Fu, and replied to the centurion of the Tunqi Battalion, "If you have any extra strength, use it on our opponents. If you can continue to win, I'm afraid you will also be famous in His Majesty's eyes."
"I will follow what Lord Qiao said."
How could the centurion of the Tunqi Battalion not see at this moment that although Qiao Yan was not nominally involved in this selection, His Majesty had never lost interest in her.
The centurion of the Yueqi Battalion who shot Wang Kuang with an arrow in the first match was specially rewarded by His Majesty. In the previous match, His Majesty also asked his name for his outstanding performance in following Qiao Yan to defeat the enemy.
So what about the third and fourth games?
He might even be able to get a promotion!
This is much more cost-effective than other people just supporting the generals assigned to them and getting incidental rewards!
Even though none of the opponents that Qiao Hou faced seemed easy to deal with, it did not dampen his ambitions at the moment.
However, Qiao Yan did not dare to underestimate Han Fu.
Although Han Fu was not as difficult to deal with as Dong Min, Qu Yi, who came with him, was no worse general than Xu Rong.
With the lesson of Dong Min in mind, Qu Yi obviously would not be fooled by Qiao Yan's strategy of dividing the troops.
This somewhat increased the difficulty for Qiao Yan's side to defeat the enemy.
But Han Fu was a general even worse than Dong Min.
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that if he relied solely on Qu Yi's ability to win the battle, then he would be no different from a decoration who ate for free.
So when he saw that the cavalry led by Qu Yi had successfully broken through the flank, he decisively pushed forward his rear soldiers.
But this time, Qiao Yan didn't even let Guo Jia take the field, but instead asked the centurion of the infantry battalion to impersonate Guo Jia's position.
Qu Yi thought that by cutting off an arm first he would only send a centurion away, but the person Qiao Yan hooked was the enemy commander.
As for the central army that Qu Yi broke into, the infantrymen who saw that the cavalry had already made meritorious contributions were unwilling to give up the credit. When they formed the encirclement, they showed an exceptionally amazing aura and delayed until Qiao Yan captured Han Fu and then turned back to support him.
After Han Fu left the court, Qu Yi was unable to stay on the field for long.
However, winning another game, still facing an unusual enemy, did not make Qiao Yan slack off, because she guessed that her next game might still be difficult.
As expected, she immediately saw that the next battle was——
Jian Shuo faced Xia Mou, she faced Ji Ling, and Cao Cao had a bye.
Qiao Yan once again welcomed Cao Cao as a visitor in the main tent of the military camp.
But this time, he asked a particularly real question right away: "According to Ye Shu's opinion, has His Majesty already selected Jian Changshi as the General Du Liao?"
Ordering eunuchs to be sent as officials to other places is indeed an incredible thing, but a man of Liu Hong's temperament is capable of doing such a thing.
Judging from the current situation, it is difficult for Cao Cao not to come to such a conclusion.
When there were nine people left, a new rule was added: any one person could only have one bye, so the later the bye appeared, the more cost-effective it was.
It was not so much good luck that the Imperial Counselor Xia Mou was given a bye, but rather that he was a tool for Jian Shuo to complete the five-to-three selection.
Qu Yi and Xu Rong were defeated by Qiao Yan one after another, and Ji Ling would obviously be no exception.
Then the remaining three people in the next round will be Qiao Yan, Jian Shuo and Cao Cao.
From what he saw, under such circumstances, the only person who could be given a bye was Jian Shuo, not Qiao Yan!
Then the winner between him and Qiao Yan will compete with Jian Shuo.
But what if Jian Shuo lost?
The position of General Du Liao is more likely to be given to Jian Shuo than to Qiao Yan.
If Cao Cao could draw this inference about the battle situation, then naturally Qiao Yan could too.
She asked jokingly, "How about I let Meng De win? Or as we talked over a glass of wine, I can make you the General of Du Liao?"
Although she said that, Cao Cao could tell that she was more of a joke.
Although this was a battle between 500 people and 500 people, it could also be considered a serious battle, and there was no question of giving in or not.
He immediately laughed and said, "If that's the case, Ye Shu still underestimates me, Cao Cao. Success or failure is just a matter of luck, so it doesn't matter if I lose. Everyone has their favorite generals to help them in this battle, and I also have my disciple Lian to help me, so I don't necessarily need to give in."
That's quite true.
Cao Cao had a group of outstanding generals within his family, and Cao Zilian, who came with him this time, was one of them.
Although Cao Hong, who followed Cao Cao in his campaigns, was stingy and a bit impatient, he was a real military commander.
Even though he has no military achievements yet, he still has this potential.
Qiao Yan felt a headache when he thought that after defeating Ji Ling, his own army would have to face the combination of Cao Cao and Cao Hong.
But she must win this time!
She should even thank Liu Hong, because it was because he thought so highly of her that he set up her opponent into what he is now.
Wang Kuang, Dong Min, Han Fu, Ji Ling, Cao Cao!
Never mind whether the two sides have the same configuration at this moment, and never mind whether the current battle of 500 people will produce completely different results when put into a fight of a larger number of people.
At least, if Liu Hong intends to make a decision that is surprising or even completely different from the previous state of affairs, she will have a sufficiently confident record.
It's not the record compared with those Black Mountain bandits, White Wave bandits, and Xiu Tugehu, but the record compared with these "elite troops in the court"!
After fooling Jian Shuo with the statement "If Meng De can really perform like this, it will definitely attract the attention of His Majesty", and sending Cao Cao away, she called Guo Jia over.
"There is no such situation in ordinary battles. We have to fight every two days, and the team is almost as strong as ours..." Qiao Yan couldn't help but show some worry on his face, "Does Fengxiao have any solution?"
At the beginning, the three cavalry battalions were encouraged to form a sense of competition with each other in order to boost morale, but this could only last for a short time. The centurions of the Yueqi Battalion and the Tunqi Battalion were rewarded and appreciated, which gave them the motivation to make progress, but it was not a method that could be spread to the entire battalion.
Especially the battle every two days mentioned by Qiao Yan...
Although the scale of 500 people controlled the consumption in this kind of combat within a certain range, it was obviously a very physically demanding and tiring combat state.
After a siege in ancient times, why would the commander allow his soldiers to vent their anger by looting the city’s property or even massacring the entire city?
This is done firstly to win the hearts of the soldiers, and secondly it is also a theoretical way to strike a balance between relaxation and tension.
Of course, this method of venting one's anger only points the butcher knife at the victim. Qiao Yan does not think it is advisable.
Putting aside this large-scale battle, the situation Qiao Yan was facing at this moment was somewhat similar to this one.
Having fought against Wang Kuang, Dong Min and Xu Rong, Han Fu and Qu Yi successively, the team under her control was in an extremely tense state.
Either after or before the challenge with Ji Ling, she had to ease the team's emotions.
Guo Jia thought for a moment and replied, "I am not worried about Marquis Qiao's confrontation with Ji Ling. I don't think I need to assist in the command. Could you please give Marquis Qiao two days to prepare some things?"
Qiao Yan looked at Guo Jia and confirmed that he had a plan in mind, so he let him do it.
As Guo Jia said, Ji Ling, the opponent, was not a troublesome person.
In the future, he would be known for his bravery under Yuan Shu, but in the final analysis, he was famous for his bravery, not his wisdom.
But he has brute strength, so is Dian Wei worse than him?
Even when Qiao Yan was holding on to her formation and advancing slowly in battle, Ji Ling was disrupted in the rhythm of the confrontation and chose to take the initiative to attack her, and was finally successfully sent off the field.
Liu Hong was a little tired of saying any more words of praise to Qiao Yan. After all, he now saw what he wanted to see most.
Jian Shuo was guaranteed a place in the top two by cheating through a bye, and the next match is between Qiao Yan and Cao Cao. No matter which of the two wins, he has an explanation to deal with it.
This also gave him more hope of achieving his goal.
With this in mind, Liu Hong did not stop Qiao Yan from sending some things into the military camp. After all, according to Qiao Yan, these things were not going to be used in the competition, but were just meant to provide the soldiers with some entertainment activities.
This is really a pastime.
The soldiers in the camp followed Qiao Yan's instructions and came to the open space in the camp before going to sleep. What surprised them was that a small stage was set up there.
However, this stage was somewhat different from the dance and music stages they had seen on the streets in the past.
The stage in front of them was smaller and higher, with a curtain on top. When the candlelight in the back was turned on, it lit up in front of their eyes.
Before they could see the situation on the curtain clearly, the silhouette of a man riding a horse and waving a whip appeared on the curtain, followed by a whole row of little figures.
I heard someone singing behind the curtain, "The capital city is selecting generals. Le Ping Hou came and led the five hundred soldiers away. Suddenly, someone came to the camp gate and wanted to exchange them for a hundred and eighty soldiers."
Before the song was finished, a general appeared from the other side, pointing his hand towards us.
"Oh, this is Captain Bao!" Someone immediately confirmed the situation from the lyrics.
They were actually brought to the stage to perform.
Even though shadow play is not mainstream nowadays, it’s not that no one has seen it, but I am also one of the people in their situation, they have never really seen it!
How fresh this is.
The soldiers, who were originally a little tired, suddenly perked up.
Sure enough, they later saw that the little shadow puppet representing Qiao Yan picked up a whip and beat Bao Hong out.
Upon seeing this scene, cheerful laughter suddenly broke out in the camp.
Even though the shadow puppet props were cut into people strung together to represent a number of people, it was a real pleasant surprise for these soldiers who had little entertainment life.
The most proud one was the centurion of the Yue Cavalry Battalion. He had a separate image and performed a scene of shooting Wang Kuang with an arrow, and even sang a line of lyrics.
"They say that Yue rode up mountains and down hills, in and out of streams, and rode with a swift horse and an arrow. He was so good that he just shot the prince off his horse, which won the applause of your majesty."
But the centurion was so proud that he memorized the lyrics.
This will be something he can tell his descendants about in the future!
Then came the battle against Dong Min. I don't know what was thrown behind the screen, but the scene of two hundred long sticks being fired at the same time was also performed.
Everyone stared at the scene in front of them intently, and saw again——
Han Fu, who came in a hurry to seize military merit, fell into a trap.
That Ji Ling who only has the strength of bravery.
And that...
And the screen suddenly went dark, all the lyrics and drums disappeared, and the entire camp was suddenly plunged into a quiet and dark environment.
No...no more?
The soldiers who had just been watching with great interest suddenly realized that there was really nothing else to perform afterwards.
Because they only fought up to here.
Guo Jia waved to the performing masters and asked them to pack up and leave. As Qiao Yan's deputy commander, he had already gained some reputation among the 500 people. Seeing that he had something to say, the others also looked at him.
Guo Jia said slowly, "If you want to see the dance continue, I'm afraid you have to win the next one. Of course, it doesn't matter if you lose, there are other ways to perform it."
“…”
What other ways to perform it?
These soldiers almost jumped up.
Naturally, they want to see how majestic they look on this stage.
win! Must win!
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