I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 693 Ming Dynasty Championship Cup
After watching the dragon boat race, Zhu Yijun and Queen Xue Baoqin accompanied Queen Mother Chen, followed by royal nobles, civil and military officials, to the acrobatic performance venue for a tour.

Pan Yinglong and his men cleared the area early. The Guards and the Yongwei Battalion surrounded the walls and did not let any outsiders in.

A large group of people were seen approaching, led by the Queen Mother, the Emperor and the Empress, and followed by hundreds of dignitaries. Each opera troupe put in their utmost effort and displayed all the unique skills passed down for eighteen generations.

"Good! This flagpole is well held!"

"Great! This cartilage skill has been perfected."

"Absolutely! This trick has really become amazing."

Chen stopped in front of every stage.

Those who looked good stayed a little longer and were full of praise. The royal family, nobles, relatives and officials behind them all applauded.

it is good!
The jugglers on the stage were so excited by this that they went crazy, using their hands and feet in all kinds of ways, and sparks flew.

Those who didn’t look good just said a few words, “Not bad, not bad,” then turned around and left, leaving the artists on the stage disheveled in the wind.

At around eleven o'clock, Chen finished visiting the acrobatic performance area, and the empress accompanied her back to the palace first. Zhu Yijun stayed in the newly built Changyi Pavilion in Nanyuan to entertain royal family nobles, relatives and officials.

Changyi Pavilion is a hotel directly under Shuntian Prefecture. It is far away from the stadium and is separated by the two largest lakes in Nanyuan, Lake Biwa and Lake Lushi. It is the largest connected loft-style building in the Ming Dynasty.

Changyi Pavilion occupies the best location for viewing the scenery in Nanyuan. The main building is twelve stories high, square in shape, with flying eaves and pointed corners, and looks very similar to the Chaoyangmen Tower.

Facing Lake Biwa and Lushi Lake, standing on the cleverly designed balcony, you can have a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery of Nanyuan.

There are two auxiliary buildings on the left and right. The left building is Tingtao Pavilion, a "new-style concert hall and lecture hall" with stepped seats from high to low surrounding the stage in the center of the front.

The design of the whispering wall allows all 1,600 seats to clearly hear the sounds coming from the stage, and it is also called the left hall.

There are also six "small concert halls" that can accommodate from sixty to three hundred people.

The right building is Guanyue Hall, which is six stories high. From the second to the fourth floor, there is a three-story hall that can accommodate 1,200 people for dining at the same time. It is also called the Right Hall.

Zhu Yijun hosted a banquet for everyone in Guanyue Hall.

With Pan Yinglong as the guide, Zhu Yijun, Zhang Juzheng, Hu Zongxian, Zhao Zhenji and Tan Lun took a tour around Changyi Pavilion.

"This is a great place, Master Zhang. We can hold our Advisory Council meetings and the Imperial Court meetings here. The scenery here is beautiful and the air is fresh."

Zhang Juzheng smiled and replied, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to open it here."

"I think it's very suitable. There is a wall here, and there is also a wall outside the South Garden. The Yongwei Camp and Fengchensi are easy to secure. I think the biggest advantage of holding a meeting here is relaxation.

Every time a meeting was held in Xiyuan, especially the imperial court, the civil and military officials kept their mouths shut and acted like nodding Buddhas and shaking their heads Bodhisattvas.

Apart from nodding and shaking his head, he can't do anything else.

I know that when you enter the West Garden, you feel depressed and overwhelmed by the majesty of heaven. Isn't that right?"

The five people were all close ministers, and they knew Zhu Yijun's temper and way of speaking. They smiled and replied, "Your Majesty is wise, and you are right. Xiyuan is the heart of the Ming Dynasty, so we must be on high alert."

Zhu Yijun pointed at them and smiled, "I am right. If that is the case, let's change the venue and hold the meeting here. Without the majestic majesty of the emperor, everyone should be able to speak freely.

We hold meetings not to let everyone feel the power of heaven, but to solve problems. Everyone just nodded and shook their heads. How can we solve the problem? "

Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng and the other three looked at each other.

Hu Zongxian smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I have made a bold decision that the future meetings of the Rong government will be held here.

Go to the Tingtao Pavilion on the left for meetings and go to the Guanyue Hall on the right for meals. The main building is a restaurant, and the twelve floors can accommodate hundreds of people.

There is hot water, running water, flush toilets, and escalators pulled by steam engines. Wow, I wish I could hold meetings here every day."

Everyone laughed. Zhang Juzheng said, "Lord Meilin, your Rong government doesn't have so many meetings. We have more meetings in the cabinet. Please give us more time in the future. Thank you in advance."

Zhu Yijun turned around and pointed at Pan Yinglong and said, "Fengwu, I have attracted business for your Shuntianfu Hotel. Remember to treat me to a meal when you make money."

"Remember this, I will invite His Majesty to come for a feast when I make some money."

The six of them raised their heads and burst into laughter.

The surrounding royal family nobles, external relatives and officials formed a large circle with the six of them as the core, standing far and near with smiles on their faces, laughing along, as if they were all infected by the laughter of the six people.

Many people were muttering in their hearts that the emperor's style was really very different from Emperor Sejong.

What about Emperor Shenzong?

Um, who is it?

Oh, Emperor Longqing?

This gentleman is really unfamiliar.

Zhu Yijun treated everyone to a sumptuous lunch with eight people at each table. After a short rest, at 1:15 pm, everyone headed to the stadium on the other side of the lake.

The stadium was already packed at this time.

Thousands of officers and soldiers dressed in field gray and sea blue uniforms occupied the left side of the west seats. The flags they waved were colorful, and on each flag was a wolf howling at the blue moon.

The West Hill Wolves of the West Hill Military Academy

On the right are thousands of Luanzhou factory and miner workers wearing dark blue work clothes. On the flags they are waving, there is a huge iron hammer smashing towards the sky and the earth.

The Hammer Team of Luanzhou Iron and Steel Plant.

Zhu Yijun and the others walked into the passage at the bottom of the stadium from the side door. After walking for a few minutes, they walked along the steps to the VIP seats in the center of the east side.

As soon as you walk out of the passage, the light suddenly becomes brighter, and a heat wave rushes towards you, lifting you into the air, and then your whole body is wrapped in it.

The rhythmic cheers vibrated the air, making it extremely hot. Hundreds of waving flags were like fans, waving back and forth over the stadium, and the heat waves followed, one after another.

Standing on the steps, you feel like there’s only one sound left in the world, the heartfelt cheers of countless fans.

Yes, this is the taste!
Zhu Yijun and others walked to their seats in the heat and sat down one by one.

After a while, ten minutes before two o'clock, the two teams walked out from the north and south exit passages under the east stand respectively. The stadium immediately erupted in cheers, which were so sudden that they almost deafened people's eardrums.

The Wolves wore red uniforms, the Hammers wore blue uniforms, short-sleeved shirts and shorts, and wore special sheepskin and ox-horn rubber-soled football shoes. They walked towards each other along the sideline of the field, stood at the center line, and stood side by side on the sideline of the field.

The referee was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and the two sideline referees were wearing white short-sleeved shirts and shorts, and both were wearing running shoes.

A round football was placed in front of the three referees. It was made of cowhide on the outside and sheepskin balloons on the inside.

Beep-!
The trumpet sounded, and the entire stadium became extremely quiet in an instant. All the spectators, coaches and substitutes from both teams stood up and faced Zhu Yijun together with the players from both teams and the referee.

Zhang Juzheng, Hu Zongxian and others, including royal nobles, external relatives and officials, all stood up.

Cross your arms and bow.

Zhu Yijun was the only one sitting in the stadium, and he calmly accepted the salute from tens of thousands of people. After the ceremony, Zhu Yijun stood up, took the triangular flag handed over by Pan Yinglong, and waved it in the air a few times. In a corner of the stadium, nine three-barreled guns that were only loaded with powder but no lead were ignited, and nine bangs were heard, announcing the official start of the game.

The thunderous cheers rang out one after another.

The black referee called the captains of both teams out and asked them to guess the heads or tails of a coin. The Wolves guessed correctly and chose the south stadium as their home court.

The two teams, led by their captains, passed each other and bowed to each other.

"Please advise!"

After the greetings, the goalkeepers, defenders, centers and forwards of both teams took their positions one by one.

The referee kicked the football to the center of the center circle, stepped on the football with his right foot, turned his head and looked at the referee's seat, where there was a table clock as tall as a person and a scoreboard in front of it, which was five meters high. The score was now zero to zero.

The hour hand of the table clock points to two and the minute hand points to twelve.

Bang! The chief referee struck the gong, and the clear sound echoed throughout the stadium.

The referee took a few steps back and then blew the whistle suddenly.

The Wolves and Warhammers forwards, who were ready for battle, sprinted in from the midfield circle. A Wolves forward with long legs touched the ball first, and with a kick of his left toe, the ball rolled to the feet of his teammate on the left.

Amid the attention and cheers of the crowd, the final of the Gyeonggi Football League Championship Cup in the second year of Wanli officially began.

Zhu Yijun watched all this with satisfaction.

From now on, I will be the father of football reform, no doubt about it.

However, in future history books, I will be the father of many new things. There is nothing I can do about it. It is just my good luck that I got into trouble.

Wolves are good at cooperation, small cooperation of three or four people. With the football under their feet, they can penetrate into the front of the Warhammer team's penalty area in three or four moves, like mercury poured on the ground, penetrating every hole.

The Warhammer team's defenders combined defense to block the attack, and even used their bodies to block the loopholes, quickly resolving the Wolves' attack and starting a counterattack.

The Warhammer team is good at long passes. With a bang, the football flies from the backcourt across the center line and reaches the frontcourt in the blink of an eye.

Bang! Another kick, moving from the left to the right, opening and closing, going straight back and forth.

The three tall and strong forwards of the Warhammer team, like armored cavalry, followed the racket horses and used their strong bodies to attack the Wolves' defense line in turns.

The Wolves adopted wolf pack tactics, moving quickly, setting traps, cutting off routes, and when they were less than ten meters away from the goal, they kicked the ball out while the Warhammer striker was adjusting his steps and preparing to shoot.

The Wolves defender who was assisting in the defense kicked the ball to the midline, and the Wolves center back immediately organized a quick penetration attack and rushed towards the Warhammers penalty area.
The two sides fought back and forth, sparks flying everywhere.

The transition between offense and defense was extremely fast. Before you had time to feel sorry for Wolves' shot being blocked, the Warhammers kicked the ball to the diagonal corner of Wolves' penalty area with two kicks, and three forwards began to launch a heart-to-heart attack.

The audience was dazzled and overwhelmed, their hearts hanging in their throats, unable to let go. They had just sat down for a few dozen seconds, then suddenly jumped up again, cheering or lamenting the thrilling scene.

Many people's faces turned red and their voices were hoarse, but they were still trying their best to cheer for their respective teams.

Today's fans are so happy, much happier than when I was a fan of the Sea Cucumber team.

"Ugh——!"

The long and powerful trumpet sound shocked Zhu Yijun and everyone in the field.

Who blew the horn for the cavalry charge?

Everyone looked sideways and saw a group of Wolves fans holding horns. There were six rows of them, more than a hundred of them. With such a scene, it would not be worthy of a charge without 10,000 cavalrymen!
"Woo-!"

More than one hundred and fifty horns were blown, and the powerful sound swept over like the heavy sound of horse hooves, and countless cavalry rushed over from the distant grassland.

After the whistle was blown three times, thousands of Wolves fans stood up in unison, raised their hands high, and shouted: "West Mountain Wolves! Invincible!"

The sound was so loud that the entire stadium shook.

More than twenty minutes into the game, the Wolves and the Warhammers were fighting fiercely, attacking fiercely and defending tenaciously. They were evenly matched and the battle was in a stalemate.

Whoever breaks through first will win, so fans of both sides started to cheer.

Wolves fans blew the horns, and the pressure was put on the Warhammers fans.

Under the gaze of the audience, Warhammer fans carried out more than twenty wooden racks from the aisle, and then one cowhide drum after another was carried out and placed on the wooden racks.

These were real war drums, each as tall as a person. Now, in front of each of the twenty-six drums stood a man, wearing a red turban, shirtless, revealing his bronze skin and muscles as strong as iron.

Each man held a thick drumstick in both hands.

The man in the middle raised his drumstick and started hitting the edge of the war drum. The other men followed suit and raised their drumsticks and started hitting the edge of the drum.

The bang bang sounded for half a minute, and twenty-six drummers unified the rhythm. The next second, twenty-six war drums were beaten. The heavy drum sound made your blood rush to your head and the sky and the earth changed color.

The real drum for going to war and killing the enemy!
For two hundred years, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty rushed towards the enemy to the sound of drums, risking their lives, just for the Ming territory and people behind them.

The noble generals who were familiar with the drumbeats began to feel their eyes blurry.

Thousands of Warhammer fans shouted in unison: "Luanzhou Warhammer, indestructible!"

Wolves fans did not dare to show weakness and blew more than a hundred horns again.

The sound of trumpets and drums burned the stadium like the steelmaking furnace of Luanzhou Iron and Steel Plant. The blood of everyone in the stadium was boiling, and they couldn't wait to rush into the field, grab the ball and kick it themselves.

The Wolves' two forwards and one center back cooperated and advanced to the left front side of the Warhammer team's penalty area. Suddenly, the center back made a tricky pass, tearing open the defense line of the three Warhammer team defenders.

A striker of the Wolves rushed out of the crowd silently like a lone wolf, appeared behind the football, kicked his right foot, swayed his body, dodged the last Warhammer player, and went straight to the Warhammer goalkeeper.

Go to the meeting alone.

The Warhammer goalkeeper glared like a tiger and roared at the Wolves striker, with an oppressive aura covering the entire penalty area.

The Wolves striker was not afraid and continued to advance with the ball.

The Warhammer goalkeeper seized the opportunity, rushed forward and blocked the Wolves striker's shooting route.

Two Warhammer defenders rushed up from behind, and the closest one was less than two meters away from the Wolves forward and started to make a sideways tackle.

The big foot flew directly towards the Wolves forward. If he was lucky, he would tackle the ball first. If he was unlucky, he would tackle both the forward and the ball.

Seeing that the Warhammer defender's right shoe was about to kick the football and the Wolves striker's right ankle, he pushed the ball away, jumped to the right with his legs, dodged the flying tackle with the ball, and created a gap when he landed.

The forward swung his right foot and kicked the football hard.

With a bang, the football flew towards the Warhammer team's goal like a cannonball, and the Warhammer team's goalkeeper reacted by flying sideways with his limbs fully spread out, like a net, blocking the way of the football.

At this moment, the stadium was magically silent. Everyone, including Zhu Yijun, Zhang Juzheng, Hu Zongxian and others, held their breath and stared at the football nervously.

The football spun in the air and flew towards the goalkeeper and the goal like lightning.
(End of this chapter)