At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 164 Cuju Competition
On the outskirts of Nanjing, Meilin Yayuan.

This house is located in a plum grove, and its owner is Mei Linrong, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry.

It's just that the word Nanjing should be added in front of the right servant of the Ministry of Industry.

Although the two are at the same level and the same product, but once the word Nanjing is added, it basically becomes a semi-retired state. Except for the Ministry of War, it can still be busy, and the other ministries are basically idle jobs.

Mei Linrong was originally a Jinshi in Yongle for 15 years. He was promoted to the right servant of the Ministry of Industry when he was 35 years old because of his meritorious service in controlling rivers in his early years. He can be regarded as a model of youth and promise.

However, in this year, his official career was suddenly interrupted.

In the 21st year of Yongle, Emperor Taizong Zhu Di was seriously ill. The guard commander Meng Xian and others colluded with Qin Tianjian Wang Shecheng and the adopted son of his servant Yang Qing to forge a will, intending to secretly poison Emperor Taizong to death, abolish the prince Zhu Gaochi, and support Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui. emperor.

During this period, a counselor named Gao Yizheng slipped his mouth after drinking, and inadvertently revealed the matter, which was learned by Wang Yu, the chief banner officer of Jinyiwei.

Wang Yu is a princeling. After learning about this, he immediately reported it to Emperor Taizong. Immediately afterwards, Meng Xian and others executed him, and Wang Yu was promoted to Liaohaiwei Qianhu for his meritorious service.

This matter can be big or small, if you say it big, it is treason, at least you have to take off your title and demote you as a commoner.

However, the then prince Zhu Gaochi couldn't bear to see his younger brother in trouble, so he tried his best to defend him. Zhu Gaosui took advantage of the situation to shirk all the blame on the subordinates and clean up his choice.

Zhu Di didn't want to kill all his sons. In this case, the mastermind Meng Xian and other 13 people were all punished by the three clans. Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui was only confined for half a year, and he was ordered to study at home to cultivate his character and not to go out.

This Meng Xian is Mei Linrong's brother-in-law.

The so-called Zhu family, the first family is Meng Xian's wife, brothers, sisters and spouse;

The second family is Meng Xian's parents, uncles and their spouses;
The third family is Meng Xian's children and their spouses.

Mei Linrong's first concubine is Meng Xian's younger sister, and according to the laws of Ming Dynasty, he is also included in the three clans.

For this reason, he almost scattered all his family's wealth, found countless connections, and finally relied on a forged divorce letter to barely escape the crime.

However, things are far from over.

In the officialdom, there will always be one carrot and one pit. If you occupy the position, others will not be able to get up.

If you want to go up, there are only two possibilities, you can either go up or go down and give up your position.

Mei Linrong is implicated in this case, it is impossible to go up, but there is a lot of room to go down!

If you don't say anything else, just revealing that you are Meng Xian's brother-in-law is enough for you.

In the end, Mei Linrong was transferred to Nanjing, away from the center of power, and things gradually faded away.

Life in Nanjing was much more leisurely, so Mei Linrong bought a piece of land in the suburbs, planted plum blossoms, and built a small courtyard. He drank tea and chatted with friends on weekdays, but he was also leisurely.

Today, two important guests came to visit.

The first one is Yang Xiong, the protector of the White Lotus Sect.

The other one is a handsome young man in his 30s, wearing a Confucian shirt.

Even though no one would have guessed that this person is a sea tycoon with three heads.

At this time, the door curtain was lifted, and Wang Qinghai came in a hurry and asked, "Master, are you looking for me?"

Mei Linrong nodded and said, "Tell the two guests what you saw and heard in the capital."

"okay!"

Wang Qinghai looked at the two guests, lowered his head halfway, and said: "The younger one sent the charcoal to Gaoge's old mansion, and when he was about to return, he heard that something happened in the capital, so he stayed for a few more days."

Yang Xiong frowned and asked, "What's the matter?"

"According to rumors, the imperial court is preparing to go to war with An Nanguo!"

"Tell me specifically, what did you find out?"

"It is said that Annan and the Champa Kingdom fought. The envoys of the Champa Kingdom traveled thousands of miles to the capital and asked for assistance from the Ming Dynasty. Then the imperial court sent the king of Jing'an County to Annan as an envoy. I heard that the soldiers and horses of Nanjing You have to follow the King of Jing'an, what is this not a war?"

Yang Xiong and Shen Lang looked at each other, and both of them showed surprise in their eyes at the same time.

Mei Linrong waved his hand and said, "Okay, you can go down."

"Yes!"

As soon as Wang Qinghai left, Yang Xiong couldn't help but said: "The imperial court wants to mobilize the soldiers and horses in Nanjing, God help me!"

Shen Lang smiled lightly, and said: "That's not enough, the Huai'an Prefecture has recruited more than [-] civil servants to control the river."

"Okay, okay! If 10 people are rebellious, it will be enough for them to drink a pot!"

Yang Xiong stood up excitedly, and continued: "At that time, the soldiers and horses in Shandong will be busy going to Huai'an Mansion to put down the rebellion, and I will wait for the main force to surprise Nanjing, and then the big event will be accomplished!"

Shen Lang remained calm and said, "Guardian Yang, I don't know when your lord will show up. It's time to talk about business!"

Yang Xiong nodded and said: "Brother Shen, don't worry, brother will go back and report to the leader!"

"Okay, I'm looking forward to the good news anytime!"

But it was said that after Wang Qinghai left the courtyard, he walked around and came to a tea shed outside the city.

There are often business travelers passing by here. The stall owner is an honest middle-aged man, always smiling.

Wang Qinghai ordered a bowl of herbal tea, and the stall owner brought it over and said, "Do you want anything else?"

"no need……"

Immediately afterwards, he said in a very low voice: "Mei Linrong entertained two people in the suburban courtyard. They seem to be very interested in the King of Jing'an's mission to Annan."

The stall owner asked with a smile: "What are the names of these two people, have you been here before?"

Wang Qinghai picked up the tea bowl, glanced around, saw that no one was paying attention, and continued, "I've seen it a few times before, but I don't know what my name is. I work in the Mei family, so I shouldn't ask too many questions. .”

"Okay, take it easy!"

That night, a piece of information was sent to the Jinyiwei in Nanjing City, and then it was sent non-stop to Huai'an Mansion.

…………

Huai'an Mansion, the embankment of the Yellow River.

The Yellow River, the mother river of the land of China, has flown thousands of miles from the Huai'an Prefecture area, seized the Huaihe River and flowed into the Yellow Sea.

Because the Yellow River carried a large amount of sediment when it flowed through the Loess Plateau, the downstream water flow gradually slowed down, and the sediment was deposited, resulting in silting of the river channel. In the rainy season, continuous large-scale collapse occurred.

According to the memorabilia of the Huai'an Mansion, the Yellow River is vast and surging, with a water surface ranging from tens or even hundreds of miles across. Wherever it floods, there is a vast ocean, villages far and near, half-exposed treetops and roof ridges, and those that gradually dry up are all there. People and horses cannot stop on the muddy and tender beach.

After Wang Yonghe, the left servant of the Ministry of Industry, came to Huai'an Mansion, he immediately recruited more than [-] farmers to control the floods.

He was worried at first that it would cost too much money and food, but he didn't expect that the emperor issued an imperial decree saying that 6 people would not be enough, at least one hundred thousand. As for money and food, there is no need to worry, as long as the river can be managed well How much money does not matter!
Along with the imperial decree, there is Yu Qian, a cabinet scholar who has just returned from the Northern Expedition.

Wang Yonghe was not worried about Yu Qian's taking credit for it. After all, river management has been done since ancient times.

If it is cured well, it will naturally be credited with credit, but if it is not cured, it will cost a lot of money and food, even if the emperor does not issue an order to blame you, he will not give you a good face.

However, when Yu Qian came, he was stunned by a series of operations.

First of all, a new edict was promulgated, corvée became recruitment, originally it was unpaid labor, but now not only wages are paid, but also meals are taken care of every day, and all wages owed in the past are repaid.

Regarding this measure, Wang Yonghe has no opinion except that he feels sorry for Qian Liang.

After all, the river control funds are paid by the imperial court, and the money can't be spent on yourself, so you can spend it if you want.

However, the next one made him very puzzled.

From among the civilian husbands of each team, select hard-covered ones to form a Cuju team, and play a game every ten days.

Moreover, a silver reward has also been set up. No.1 rewards 200 taels of silver, No.2 rewards 100 taels of silver, and No.3 rewards 50 taels of silver.

Wang Yonghe was at a loss, what does this mean?
Do you think the construction period is too long for the cuju competition?

How much time is this wasting?How much money wasted?
He once tried to talk to Yu Qian about this matter, but Yu Qian was very decisive, roughly meaning that you just do as I say, and you don't need to ask so many questions.

Wang Yonghe is also helpless, whoever makes someone else's official bigger than himself has to follow what he said.

However, he quietly wrote a memorandum, describing Yuqian's waste of money and food in a Cuju competition at the Zhihe site, and sent someone back to the capital.

In this way, when the emperor later pursued it, it was you Yu Qian who insisted on going your own way. I persuaded you anyway, and it is up to you whether you listen or not.

Therefore, when Zhu Qizhen and his group came to Huai'an Mansion, they were stunned by the scene before them.

It was ten days on this day, but the huge river treatment site did not start work, but they were all watching the Cuju competition.

The scene was unprecedentedly grand, comparable to the scene of the World Cup in later generations.

Zhu Qizhen mixed in the crowd, watched it for a while, but didn't see what it meant.

Cuju is somewhat similar to football in later generations. It is also a group of people kicking a ball, but the rules of the game are different.

The "Ju Chengming" written by Li You in the Eastern Han Dynasty explained: "The round Ju square wall is like Yin and Yang. The law and the moon are opposite, and the two and six are equal. There are regular examples of Jianchang Liping: not based on closeness, not private; Peace of mind, don't complain about it. Ju Zheng is still the same, and it's more like holding a plane!"

The general rule is to erect a three-foot-high club in the center of the court, and the upper goal is about one foot in diameter, which is called Merry Eye.There are 16 or [-] people in each team, which are called ball head, Xiaoqiu, Zhengxie, Touxie, left pole net, right pole net, Sanli and so on.During the game, the horns and drums are played as a signal. The players on the left kick off the ball first, bounce the ball to each other several times and then pass it to the vice captain. Kicks count as points.

Then the right army serves, and the whole process is the same. At the end, the winner is determined by the number of balls passed.

At this time, the captain of the left army made a beautiful volley and sent the ball firmly into Merry Eye, and the crowd immediately burst into applause.

"it is good!"

Among the crowd, Fan Zhong couldn't help cheering.

Yuan Bin gave him an interesting look and asked, "Old Fan, do you usually play?"

Fan Zhong nodded and said, "Occasionally practice with the soldiers!"

In fact, since its inception, Cuju has not only been a pastime for literati and refined scholars, but has also been widely spread in the army.

It is recorded in Liu Xiang's "Bie Lu" that if you step on the bow, you will have the power of the army.Therefore, when you practice warriors, you know that you are talented, and you practice them because of playing.

In other words, in addition to symbolizing military strength, Cuju can keep soldiers in good physical strength and mood through daily practice.

Therefore, Fan Zhong and Yuan Bin immediately had a common language when they saw cuju, especially the beautiful ones.

Zhu Qizhen didn't feel anything. In his eyes, this level of sports was really unremarkable.

However, Yuan Bin and Fan Zhong chatted enthusiastically. If they were not on official business, they would be very interested in discussing each other.

"You two adults..."

At this time, Beilen only heard behind him say: "The emperor is gone!"

Only then did the two react and hurriedly followed.

Zhu Qizhen didn't go directly to find Yu Qian, but found a restaurant to live in, because Yu Qian's temporary public house was located in the magistrate's yamen, so it was very inconvenient to get in and out.

Jin Yiwei had already figured out the situation in Huai'an Mansion, and arranged spies around, so there was no need to worry about safety.

Everyone has been on the road for several days, and they can't eat well. Now that they are free, they ordered a table full of food and wine, and asked the waiter to deliver them to the guest room.

Several people were eating when Yu Qian arrived.

"The minister kowtows to the emperor!"

Zhu Qizhen chewed on the vegetables and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"Er...not yet, not yet..."

"Sit down and eat something together!"

Yu Qian also carried a gun with Zhu Qizhen, so he was not polite at the moment, added a pair of bowls and chopsticks, and started building directly.

While eating, Zhu Qizhen said, "How are you doing these days?"

Yu Qian held the bowl and replied: "Thanks to the emperor's kindness, everything is fine."

Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Do you like Cuju?"

Yu Qian shook his head and said, "I don't like it."

Zhu Qizhen couldn't help but put down the bowls and chopsticks, and said bluntly: "Then what kind of Cuju competition are you doing? Isn't it a waste of money? Even if you don't need money, you are not afraid of delaying the construction period? It's going to be winter, and the water can't be cured anymore , In the coming spring, it will be a problem for the common people to cultivate.”

Yu Qian seemed to be fine, and said: "Your Majesty, do you still remember what I said to the Emperor before I left Beijing?"

Zhu Qizhen thought for a while and said, "You mean, water control and leading troops are the same thing?"

"Exactly!"

Yu Qian explained: "The minister asked the teams to select the Cuju team. The original intention is to let the teams use Cuju confrontation to disperse their complaints about Shangguan and give them a place to vent their energy."

Zhu Qizhen looked confused, as if it was difficult to understand for a while.

Yu Qian continued: "In addition to this, it can also create a sense of competition among them. In this way, they will work hard to strive for the Cuju team they support to win every ten days. , not only will there be a lot of rewards, but also the joy and satisfaction of victory."

"You mean, find something for everyone to do, so that no one will wait for the opportunity to cause trouble?"

Zhu Qizhen somewhat understood that the art of war was actually hidden in this little Cuju.

(End of this chapter)