Chapter 47 Training Ground Competition
Before they knew it, the day of the martial arts competition at the South Training Ground arrived.
Xiao Qing eventually took Zhao Youchen's words to heart.
She originally planned to only bring Mingxiu with her, but on this day, she also brought Meishu and Ma Hong.
Whether it was her imagination or not, Mei Shu, who had seemed a little nervous these past two days, seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief.
Thinking back on the many things Mei Shu had said to her before, she knew that she had actually admired her at first, but later... probably deep down, she still felt that someone like Mei Shu might be liked and valued by a real, professional emperor, but she wasn't.
Overthinking it won't help.
She was carried to the South Training Ground in a spacious imperial carriage, with a veil of yin and yang hanging in front of her. She felt a little regretful.
This is only because her physical body has turned to ashes in that world. Otherwise, given the way she lives now, if she went back and told her parents and brother, they might think she had sleepwalked back.
Thinking of those distant, dreamlike worlds, Xiao Qing gently clenched her fist and placed it on her heart, her nose tingling slightly.
Zhao Youchen then led a squad of imperial guards to escort him.
Upon arriving at the South Training Ground, over a hundred Imperial Guards stood on the perimeter, while Zhao Youchen stood beside Xiao Qing, directing and coordinating the operation.
On the South Training Ground, gongs and drums sounded in unison, swords and bows stood in rows, and there were also long barricades and horse riding arenas. Hundreds of contestants nominated for military positions stood in the morning light, some full of enthusiasm with bright eyes, while others had serious expressions and stood silently.
And then there are... why don't they look like they could lead troops into battle?
Wang Xiang bowed behind the veil and said, "Your Majesty, those present are all those who were nominated and were able to come. Others are from far away, and even at full speed, it will still take several days. Therefore, we have decided to participate in the competition in batches. There will be two more competitions later."
Xiao Qing nodded; this situation did exist. Transportation wasn't as developed then, and the main mode of transport relied on horses. Therefore, traveling from one state to another could sometimes take a very long time.
However, she didn't expect everyone to come. Her target was always the few people Fu Mingyi had nominated.
Wang Xiang presented the signatures of the attendees, which Ma Hong then took and slipped into the other side of the gauze.
Xiao Qing quickly flipped through the pages and found that only three of the five people were present.
Wang Xiang then said, "According to the examination system of the military examinations over the years, this year's competition has seven categories: appearance, speech, archery, horsemanship, martial arts, weight-bearing, and military strategy. Among them, the military strategy category has been changed according to Your Majesty's wishes, replacing the original examination of military strategy with sand table combat. This is truly Your Majesty's wisdom and a blessing to the world."
Xiao Qing had briefly mentioned the sand table battle before, but her inspiration came from simulated military exercises she had seen on television. So when she talked to Wang Xiang and others about the details of the competition, she asked about the practice battles.
She only asked one question. Xiao Qing felt that if she said too much that was out of step with the times or her profession, her identity would be exposed before the Grand Tutor returned.
Unexpectedly, Wang Xiang actually listened to her advice and arranged a sand table battle project for her, while also flattering her.
Xiao found it amusing and said, "These are all your brilliant ideas, and I am unworthy of them. Prime Minister, there is no need for such formality."
Yu Zaiting remained standing silently to the side. He glanced furtively at Sun Jinyi, who stood ramrod straight beside Wang Xiang, and lightly touched the inside of his sleeve with his fingertips.
"Let's begin." Xiao Qing waited for a while, and seeing that there was no movement and Wang Xiang was still facing her, she quickly said.
Wang Xiang accepted the order, turned around, and nodded to Sun Jinyi and Yu Zaiting.
Sun Jinyi said, "Today, only a few of those nominated are military officers of the sixth rank or above; most are military officers below the sixth rank. Let Lord Yu preside over this matter."
Yu Zaiting glanced at Wang Xiang and Sun Jinyi, and seeing that they did not object, he agreed and stepped forward.
Sun Jinyi leaned closer to Wang Xiang and whispered, "You said before that you wanted to see what His Majesty's arrangements were. This is His Majesty's arrangement. An on-the-spot competition to select military officers. This is what you call a military examination. But to call it a military examination, it's so rushed, so limited, and the competition items have been changed. What good can the result be? In the end, let alone boosting morale and prestige, if we can't select enough suitable people, will all those vacancies have to be left for next year?"
Wang Xiang smiled and said, "Don't be impatient."
"Still trying to calm down? You've been saying 'calm down' the last few times. His Majesty is ignorant of military affairs, Prime Minister, you know that. So...so..." Sun Jinyi was practically ready to explode. The word "nonsense" lingered in his throat for a long time before he finally sighed, turned his sleeves, and simply stopped talking.
Wang Xiang said, "Look at you, you're even sighing. We're both in front of the Emperor, so we should be careful. What His Majesty said makes sense. Although the competition is a bit rushed, it can indeed pick out talented people. It's not good for the soldiers sent to the battlefield to easily lose their lives, is it?"
Sun Jinyi gave a soft hum and fell silent. He thought to himself, "Wang Xiang, you've said both the good and the bad. You haven't offended either side. You're really good at playing the game."
The South Training Ground was spacious, and Yu Zaiting arranged four examination rooms on it, divided into east, west, south, and north. Each examination room had one or two items set up according to the situation. The participants were grouped according to their nominated positions and ranks, and they needed to compete in each examination room to obtain the evaluation results for the corresponding competition items. Each examination room would not start a new item until everyone had competed.
Yu Zaiting quickly presided over the first competition: archery. This was a fundamental skill for military officers, divided into shooting at long crossbows, horse archery, foot archery, level shooting, and tube shooting. Each person received the same number of arrows in each event, and their performance was judged as superior, average, or inferior based on their accuracy.
The officers raised their tokens, then lowered their arms in unison after a whistle, shouting, "Fire!"
Then, at the same time, about ten arrows were shot out from the four examination rooms, all flying toward the target on the opposite side with a "whoosh".
Xiao Qing glanced around and saw that the horse farm next door also had many long stacks and other items set up, which were prepared for horse archery.
Seeing such a scene for the first time, she felt a surge of excitement. She thought that although this was not the ancient world of hers, the background felt similar, and the realistic scene of cold weapons fighting was quite impressive.
She saw one of the men shoot at the target ten times, hitting the bullseye every time. What was even more remarkable was how calmly he raised his hand to draw the arrow. His appearance, posture, and composed demeanor were all quite impressive, which piqued her curiosity.
"Prime Minister," Xiao Qing said in a low voice.
Wang Xiang leaned closer. "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"
"I noticed that the fourth archer from the left in the third examination hall has excellent archery skills. I wonder where he is from."
Wang Xiang saw this and laughed.
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