"May I ask who you are?" Chen Dong heard the man's words clearly and said in a deep voice: "Although Liao Xia is strong, it only competes with strength, and the prosperity of this dynasty is not for other reasons, but the prosperity of morality.

Directly following the rule of the Three Generations."

The middle-aged man had a look of disdain on his face and replied: "I am Guo Baoyi, the envoy of the Liao Kingdom. The scholars call me Mr. Guo." He pointed to the Confucian scholar shooting willow next to him and said, "I have spent all my life on this.

The bow, the horse, and the rhetoric are not as good as those of you scholars. But scholars are also good at archery. If you are not convinced, you can try your archery skills with me."

Yelu Dashi, the envoy of the Liao Kingdom standing next to him, had a slight smile on his face. Guo Baoyi was a descendant of a Han general family in Youyan. He was rough and arrogant on the outside, but cunning on the inside.

Horses, people who compete with soldiers. "Since there is a dispute, we can only frustrate the spirit of these Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty, but we must not lose the prestige of the Liao Dynasty." Yelu Dashi secretly thought in his heart that this time he was sent as an envoy.

He requested the Song Dynasty court to ban merchants from trading with the Jurchen Kingdom by sea, but the date of the court meeting was repeatedly postponed by Cai Jing, Zhao Zhifu and others, and he was secretly dissatisfied.

"We have many heroes in the Song Dynasty, are we afraid of you?" There are also some good archers among the Tai students. At this moment, they are provoked by the Liao people. Where can they hold back, they are gearing up.

When he came to the place where the willows were shot and stood still, he heard Guo Baoyi say: "Only women can get so close to the willow shooting scene. You should go back fifty steps." After saying this, he didn't wait for the Taisheng's consent and went to his own business.

He stepped back fifty steps, took out a stiff bow from his waist bag, and looked at everyone proudly.

This place is already a hundred steps away from the hanging willow branches in the distance. Although the soft bow can barely reach this distance by projectile method, it cannot be accurately shot. The only way is to shoot flatly with a hard bow of more than two stones. Just then Guo Baoyi was aside.

Careful observation revealed that although there were some skilled archers among the students, none of them held bows exceeding two stones, so at this distance, he was already invincible.

The scholars agreed to test their archery skills, but they could not go back on their word at this moment. Chen Dong frowned, and suddenly remembered someone, stood up hurriedly, and shouted loudly not far away: "Yuan Zhi, Zhao Xingde!"

Zhao Xingde gradually learned how to beat horses, and won Li Ruoxue's praise several times. He was playing with great interest. Suddenly he heard someone calling him, and he raised his head. Not far away, Chen Dong, Li Rui and others were looking over here.

.

"He's a classmate of Taixue." Zhao Xingde explained. Chao Buzhi nodded. Zhao Xingde only waved to Chen Dong and the others without getting up. Li Ruoxue was concentrating on calculating the chess moves, and she didn't even notice the people next to her.

A scholar.

However, he saw that Chen Dong had already rushed forward and paid the courtesy of teacher and student to Dr. Li. He couldn't help but talk to Zhao Xingde and said as he walked: "Raising an army for a thousand days can be spent in a moment." Zhao Xingde was taken to Sheliu by Zhang Er without knowing what he was doing.

At the venue, Chen Dong had ordered someone to borrow a horse to go back and get the bow used by Zhao Xingde in Taixue. He pointed to the middle of the venue and explained to him the whole story.

The rules of shooting willows in the Song Dynasty are different from those in the Liao Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the willow branches were hung in the air, and the one with the most willow leaves won. The willow branches in the distance have been tied with thin ropes.

, swaying gently in the wind. Since the competition is now within the Song Dynasty, it naturally follows the rules of the Song Dynasty.

The nearby gentry and common people heard that the scholars from Taixue were going to compete with the Liao people in shooting willows, so they all came to watch. Within a short time, tens of thousands of people gathered outside the venue. Not long after, the classmates who went to get bows brought back several hard bows.

After counting several pots of arrows, Zhao Xingde stretched out his hand to pull the bow and tried a few arrows. He felt that he was quite good at it. He looked at the Liao man Guo Baoyi and said in a deep voice: "Can we start?"

Guo Baoyi's thoughts moved slightly. He had just seen Zhao Xingde's arrows shot effortlessly. He thought to himself that he had no chance of winning. He lowered his head and whispered a few words to Yelu Dashi. Yelu Dashi nodded. Guo Baoyi said to Zhao Xingde: "My partner

I also want to compete with you, but we are at a stalemate and neither of us wants to give in, so I invite two of you to compete!"

The Tai students who were watching from all sides were in an uproar. Chen Dong, Deng Su and other Tai students looked at each other a few times. Although there were many excellent archers among the Tai students, only Zhao Xingde could draw a three-stone bow, and barely one more person came out.

If you accept the challenge, you can only bring humiliation to yourself. Although there are soldiers from the Forbidden Army among the crowd watching the battle, on the one hand, these tattooed soldiers cannot be put on the stage, and on the other hand, the training of the Forbidden Army is poor. If the martial arts skills are not good and spread, it will be very embarrassing.

Song Taixue.

Everyone was still undecided, but Guo Baoyi was very proud and said loudly: "The Southern Dynasty claims to have a lot of talents, and the handsome face claims to be China. Does it mean that they can't even get together two people who shoot willows?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard someone in the crowd shout loudly: "He is just a slave of the Khitan, and he dares to act unbridled in China and talk nonsense!" Guo Baoyi's face suddenly turned pale. Since the Han Chang Rebellion, the Liao Kingdom, in order to prevent the Han people,

After regaining power, there were strong restrictions and discrimination against Han generals and ministers. No matter how high they were, they were always inferior to Khitan and Xi officials.

Guo Baoyi raised his eyes and looked into the crowd, and saw someone walking out slowly. He reached for a hard bow beside the venue, pulled it twice, and said: "I, a descendant of Kangde, are just a common man in Bianliang City. Today I see

I'm not used to your arrogance and arrogance, so I'll play with you." After saying that, he put down his bow, picked up the hem of his robe and tied it around his waist, and bowed his hands to Zhao Xingde as a gift.

Zhao Xingde hurriedly returned the gift and looked at the man carefully. He was only about thirty years old, with a tall and straight body, sharp eyebrows and sharp eyes, and a calm demeanor.

Yelu Dashi saw the Kangde native take out a dark ring and put it on his right thumb. He knew that this man must be a master of archery. He secretly blamed Guo Baoyi for causing trouble, but at this time, it was already riding a tiger, which was related to the prestige of the Liao Kingdom.

, then calmed down, took a stiff bow, and stood on the white line. Both sides were limited to thirty arrows, and the one who shot down the most willow leaves was the winner.

It was the first time that an arrow hit a willow branch swaying gently in the breeze. Zhao Xingde felt a concerned gaze from the crowd in the distance looking at him, so he raised his head and nodded in that direction with a smile. A trace of blush appeared on Li Ruoxue's face.

.Zhao Xingde imitated the style of the Kangde descendants, tying the hem of his robe around his waist, and tightening all the loose sleeves and trouser legs. His movements became much more agile, and his figure became agile and straight.

Guo Baoyi snorted coldly, bent his bow and nocked an arrow, took the lead, and shot out with one arrow. Unfortunately, it only missed a willow leaf and passed by. A huge roar of applause broke out from the crowd, but his face was calm and showed no sign of emotion at all.

Zhao Xingde was moved. Next, Zhao Xingde and Yelu Dashi's first arrow also missed. Kang Deyi walked to the place where he stood to shoot. He didn't see how calmly he prepared, so he put on the long arrow and slowly opened the bow. Before everyone could

After seeing it clearly, he shot out an arrow. The arrow seemed to have touched the edge of a willow leaf and flew past. A huge sigh broke out in the crowd.

In the second round of archery, Guo Baoyi was much more cautious. He fully opened the bow several times and put it down again. His eyes were fixed on the willow branches not far away that were constantly swaying in the wind. The crowd was dissatisfied with his dawdling and kept drinking from him.

There were boos, and there were people who shouted sarcastically, but they all ignored them, and their faces became even calmer. Finally, when the willow branches stopped swinging for a while, they raised their bows and let out an arrow, which was carrying a strong wind.

It passed straight through the tiny willow leaves, and the huge momentum tore the petiole off the soft willow branch, and nailed it to the tree trunk behind with a snap.

The whole audience fell silent. Zhao Xingde came on the stage with huge expectations. He carefully adjusted his breathing and heartbeat, and slowly drew the big bow. Among the four people present, only he used a three-stone hard bow, and the other three all used

He used a bow between two stones or two and a half stones. This was not because he relied on his own strength, but because he was only accustomed to using a three-stone bow. He calmly opened the bow to full capacity, and when his arms were stable, he released his right hand and the arrow flew out.

, but because of a sudden breeze blowing by, the willow leaves turned slightly, and the leaf surface was cut open by the sharp arrow, and the arrow pierced into the trunk behind with a snap. According to the rules, such an arrow is not allowed.

It was considered a hit. The crowd once again burst into loud sighs, but there were also people cheering loudly. When Zhao Xingde came on the field just now, Li Ruoxue was watching the battle with all his attention, and only then did he exhale.

Yelu Dashi had a serious look on his face. Like Guo Baoyi, he raised and lowered his big bow several times. Finally, taking advantage of the calm wind, he shot an arrow into a willow leaf. After Kang Deyi came on the stage, he stood still for a long time, waiting for the wind direction to be right, and then he finished in one go.

He opened his bow and fired an arrow, which also hit the willow leaf. Suddenly, huge cheers broke out from the crowd.

Among the first twenty arrows, Guo Baoyi shot down eight willow leaves, Zhao Xingde shot down six, Yelv Dashi shot down nine, and Kang Deyi shot down nine. At this time, the wind suddenly stopped and the willow branches fell quietly.

Without moving, the hit rate of the four shot willows improved, but until the last two rounds, Zhao Xingde and Kang Deyi were still one arrow behind.

Guo Baoyi came on stage again and shot down a willow leaf. Zhao Xingde shot out an arrow, but it barely missed the edge of the willow branch and flew away, still far away from the willow leaf. The crowd once again burst into loud sighs, and Li Ruoxue's eyes were filled with tears.

Although he was worried, Zhao Xingde had no expression on his face and walked down with his bow and arrow. Next, Yelu Dashi and Kang Deyi's arrows were all fired.

For the last arrow, Guo Baoyi waited for a long time as usual, and then shot out, stably nailing a willow leaf to the trunk. He passed by Zhao Xingde with a sneer on his face.

Zhao Xingde seemed to have disappeared. He picked up his bow, nocked the arrow, and did not fire. If he could hit the center of the willow branch, with the power of the three-stone bow, he could severely break the willow branch into two pieces, even if

At the slightest deviation, the soft willow branches will slide sideways, just like what happened just now.

Zhao Xingde took a deep breath and felt that everything in the world had turned into a willow branch swinging slightly in front of him. His whole body was tense, as if he was integrated with the curved bow, and the tense bow string seemed to be straightening at any time.

The arrow bounced out. Finally, when the wind slowed down a little and his breathing changed, Zhao Xingde felt that his aiming energy had reached the limit. I wonder if it was an illusion. The willow branch hanging quietly not far away seemed to be not thin.

Instead, it was as thick as a corridor pillar. Due to his concentration, he could hardly hear the sound of the bowstring, and his eyes followed the arrow as it flew forward at lightning speed.

Everyone held their breath, and Li Ruoxue's heart almost stopped beating. The arrow carried the strong wind and almost unceremoniously plunged into the middle of the willow branch. Before the crowd could even sigh, they saw the willow branch.

The branch was pulled by the arrow and was actually cut into two sections in the middle. The lower section, with seven or eight leaves, fell softly to the ground, while the only one still hanging in the air was a bare willow branch.

.

Zhao Xingde breathed a sigh of relief and put down his bow and arrow expressionlessly. In an instant, everyone forgot how to react. Li Ruoxue covered her mouth and almost shouted excitedly. Guo Baoyi and Yelu Dashi looked at it with disbelief.

Zhao Xingde, the Liao Dynasty's willow-shooting play involves shooting willow branches, but the willow branches are soft and tough, so they are not so easy to shoot. Otherwise, they would have done this long ago. Kang Deyi looked at Zhao Xingde, his face

Show a smile.

"Long live the Great Song Dynasty!" "The Great Song Dynasty!" "The Great Song Dynasty!"

Finally, the crowd who had been silent for a moment suddenly burst out with cheers like thunder. It was as lively as the Lantern Festival instead of the Qingming Festival. Many people tried their best to tell the people around them how they had predicted just now.

, more people crowded towards the middle, wanting to see clearly the Taixue scholar who was showing off his power for the Song Dynasty. Prince Zhao Ke stood far away from the crowd, looking at Zhao Xingde who was being thrown up by the Taixue scholar with appreciative expressions.

He smiled and said: "With both civil and military talents, I will definitely get such a hero." However, Guo Baoyi and Yelu Dashi asked for trouble and left quietly.

After a long time, Zhao Xingde finally squeezed out from the cheering crowd and returned to the Li family's camp, only to find that only Master Chao Buzhi was still there. The Li family had several female relatives and the situation was chaotic now, so they went ahead.

After leaving. Looking at Zhao Xingde with a look of disappointment on his face, Chao Buzhi asked warmly with a smile on his face: "Yuanzhi, Uncle Wen values ​​your character and talents and intends to betroth his beloved daughter to you.

, what do you think?"

When Zhao Xingde heard this, he was dumbfounded. After a while, he came back to his senses. He was so happy that he fell to the ground and said loudly: "I can't ask for it. The student thanked the teacher for the grant." Chao Buzhi laughed loudly, stroking his beard, and fulfilled the request.

Beautiful things are extremely satisfying.

In a bullock cart returning to the city, Li Ruoxue was talking happily about the shooting of the willow. Li Ruoxue seemed to be too nervous and excited just now, and her heartbeat was so strong that it even hurt now. She pressed her chest gently,
Chapter completed!