God Weird Fairy

Chapter 394: Reopening the Martial Arts Examination
On the first day of August, a court meeting was in full swing in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Imperial Palace in Lijing.

Emperor Li sat high on the throne, looking down at the ministers, and spoke calmly: "The Qigong martial arts pioneered by Nan Qing has received a very good response in the folk martial arts recently. I heard that it has helped many martial artists break through the bottleneck of martial arts, and he can be called a martial arts master."

"This is a move to strengthen the country, and we should celebrate it. As it happens to be the National Day month, I want to reopen the martial arts examination to add fuel to the fire of the true qi martial arts, spread martial arts and preach the truth to strengthen its momentum; by the way, I will also test the quality of the true qi martial artists and reward the best ones."

"I wonder what you think of this, gentlemen?"

Emperor Li raised the topic and started a new round of court discussion.

Military officers in the military department and those who were qualified to speak out expressed their support and spoke highly of it.

Sima Qianyuan, the Minister of Rites, said, "Three hundred years ago, after Emperor Renshou conquered Yuanzhou in the north, he said that the military examination selected ordinary warriors, who were not up to the task and would not be helpful in the national war, so he issued an edict to abolish the military examination."

"Your Majesty now wants to reopen the military examination, but do you have any other opinions?"

Sima Qianyuan's question seemed to be an inquiry, but in fact it was intended to pave the way for Emperor Li to express his views.

As an ancient dynasty that lasted for thousands of years, it is natural that there is no precedent for military examinations in Dali's history.

However, unlike the imperial examination, according to the Dali law, the martial arts examination is limited to ordinary people and does not accept monks.

Such things that cannot benefit most monks are really unpleasant.

When the military department is strong, it may be able to hold several military examinations. However, when the military department is weak, it will stop holding the military examinations under the tacit suppression of the other departments.

Therefore, the military examinations in Dali's history were sometimes held and sometimes abolished. The most recent military examination can be traced back to three hundred years ago.

Sima Qianyuan's question was actually to make Emperor Li say something more convincing so as to provide legal support for his plan to reopen the military examination.

It seems that Emperor Li had already prepared a plan. Without hesitation, he said, "Emperor Renshou abolished the military examination in the past because ordinary warriors were not capable of great use and would not be helpful in the national war. However, the true qi martial arts pioneered by Nan Qing has opened up a new path for martial arts, which can significantly increase the combat effectiveness of soldiers and is expected to break the bottleneck of martial arts and move from the ordinary to the mysterious."

"As the saying goes, the way of life changes with time. From my perspective, the times are different now, so maybe we can try to hold a martial arts exam to see the results."

Sima Qianyuan repeatedly expressed his approval.

It is quite reasonable to use the newly emerged Qigong to resolve the argument of Emperor Renshou for abolishing the martial arts examination three hundred years ago.

Being reasonable means that there is no obstruction to etiquette and laws.

In other words, the Ministry of Rites cast a vote in support of Emperor Li's proposal to reopen the military examination.

At the same time, a military examination will be launched, and several corresponding military officer positions will be added.

For the Ministry of Personnel, an increase in the number of staff is always a good thing.

Although there are only a few staff members and the benefits are not great, it cannot be said that there is an active response, but they still take the initiative to express their support.

Next is the Ministry of Commerce.

Li Huang said: "It happens to be the National Day in August, and the whole world should celebrate together. However, the people lack entertainment, and it is rare to have a good time, which is my regret."

"During this National Day and the military examination period, I wish to allow gambling to be enjoyed by the people. I will allow legal gambling houses to open and set up casinos for the people to gamble for fun."

Emperor Li combined the military examination and gambling into one event and relaxed the gambling restrictions during the military examination, just like Nan Yi's previous life, Tianxia relaxed the restrictions on sports lottery during the World Cup.

Faced with such conditions, Su Guang, as the director of the Department of Finance, could not say a word and could only express his support.

At the same time, gambling houses that set up games for the martial arts examination must use designated chips produced by the Ministry of Industry and are not allowed to privately make chips.

The Ministry of Industry also cast a vote of support.

Furthermore, in arena competitions, weapons are allowed, and injuries are common.

Medical officers were also arranged beside the ring to stop bleeding and heal wounds for injured warriors. The arrangement of these medical officers was coordinated by the Herbal Medicine Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture also expressed its support, praising Your Majesty as wise and enlightened.

In this way, the Ministry of War, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of Agriculture, a total of six votes in support, the court discussion was passed smoothly, and only the emperor had to draft an edict.

But at this time, Emperor Li looked at Nan Yi, who was standing silently in the back row according to his official status.

"According to Dali law, the martial arts exam restricts the participation of cultivators. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind Nanqing participating in the martial arts exam and winning the title of martial arts champion."

"But in order to prevent the top martial arts candidate from becoming arrogant and looking down on others, I want to let him learn from Nan Qing and broaden his horizons."

"I wonder if Nanqing has any objections?"

At this moment, Nan Yi had a lot of complaints in his heart that he couldn't help but express.

He was named by Emperor Li and had to attend today's grand court meeting.

Getting up early in the morning would not be a big deal, but the grand court meeting had more than one agenda item, and Nan Yi was forced to listen to a lot of things that had nothing to do with him - especially some things, on which no consensus had been reached in advance, and it was basically just two parties arguing with each other in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a lot of nonsense.

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Then, the matter of the military examination was finally discussed in court.

Nan Yi was only an eighth-rank official in the Ministry of Culture. He had no right to take the initiative to speak in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. He could only watch Emperor Li and the officials from the six ministries discuss various arrangements in tacit understanding.

In other words, as to whether or not to reopen the martial arts examination in the name of Qigong, Nan Yi, as the leader of Yiwu, can only watch and do nothing, just like her husband is currently doing.

As a result, at the last minute, Emperor Li actually threw a topic to Nan Yi and asked him if he had any objections.

Even with Nan Yi's good self-control, he wouldn't get angry easily, but he couldn't help but feel resentful in his heart.

Normally, if someone else were asked this question, they would just respond with "no objection" and be done with it.

However, "Dongzhen" has the precept of only telling the truth, and "no objection" involves concealing dissatisfaction, and is not simply a humble rhetoric.

So when the Emperor Li asked him a question, Nan Yi's heart sank, so he acted humbly and answered, "Your Majesty, I will obey your orders."

Li Huang felt something strange and awkward when he heard this, but he didn't see what was wrong with Nan Yi's answer for a moment. He just thought that Nan Yi was suppressing his dissatisfaction, which made him seem a little weird.

Li Huang suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and said with a smile as he had expected:

"The final competition will be held on the top of Junshan Mountain. Nanqing can go to Junshan Mountain with me in ten days. When the martial arts examination is over and the champion is chosen, Nanqing will compete with him and then participate in the ceremony of offering sacrifice to the heaven."

The grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven is scheduled for August 15th.

However, with Dali's conventional transportation, it is impossible to leave early in the morning and arrive in the morning, so you must set off early.

Therefore, after the court meeting on August 11, Emperor Li will go to Junshan with his concubines and ministers.

As for the martial arts examination, the preliminary round will begin tomorrow. Thirty-two arenas will be set up outside the capital for quick competition. Within five days, each side will select a champion who can convince the crowd, and the top thirty-two will be formed.

On the 7th and 8th, there will be a re-selection for the martial arts examination to determine the top eight.

Then they will take a day off and draw lots on August 10 to decide the top four and the rankings from fifth to eighth.

Then, the final competition was set up on the top of Junshan Mountain and was no longer held in the capital.

The top four contestants can follow the imperial army to Junshan, where they will compete against each other in pairs on August 14 to determine the winners and losers groups and the final ranking.

(End of this chapter)