Chapter 65 third quarter
The so-called "Tiger Wing Army", like the designations of many troops in the Northern Song Dynasty, has long existed in name only.The one participating in the competition now is a team formed by a group of soldiers drawn from the "Xiang Army" in various places in the south of the Yangtze River many years ago for proper training.
No one is seriously responsible for managing this team, if they can still be a side of the game, mainly rely on the sense of honor and self-consciousness of their soldiers.Most of the rowers among them are over 30 years old, and some are over 40 years old, and they have already reached the limit of having to quit the competition.However, because there were no substitutes and no successors, it was even more important to maintain the honor of the team's frequent victories in the past, especially because they wanted to live up to the enthusiastic support and deep sympathy for them from millions of citizens in Tokyo. Stay for a year and continue to play for the team.
In this toy court, there is no need for a real navy that can fight, nor does it hope that this team that participates in the competition in the name of the army can win.The team was not formally disbanded simply to provide the authorities with an annual visit to the race for fun.They don't have a fixed higher authority, no fixed funds, they often don't get paid, they wear rags on weekdays, and they don't have enough food. It seems that they exist in the minds of the authorities as human entities, and they are only limited to the ten days before and after the Duanyang Festival. Middle—Due to the postponement of the competition this year, it finally survived for an extra month in the eyes of the authorities.Only a few days before the game, someone gave them a set of half-new brocade vests and brocade trousers, and someone sarcastically asked them if they could put together a team for the competition this year like in previous years.
But they are genuine soldiers, and they are not discouraged by discrimination, contempt, or ignorance by the authorities.They come to Jinming Lake every day to practice rowing, strength, skills, and speed. Their skills have reached such a high level that they can pass between the wild goose pillars under the arched bridge without letting the bow of the boat go. , The stern touched the stone pillar a little.
The opponent of the competition is called "Longxiang Team", which is the name given by the officials themselves.
In feudal society, "Dragon" was the emperor's name, and the "Long Xiang" team was stained with a word "Dragon", indicating that it was approved by the officials and was a team representing the court.In fact, the members of this team are not the guards or eunuchs serving in the palace, but the sons of the dignitaries and ministers of the dynasty. Showy boys and buddies.The reason why they are qualified to represent the court is because their father and brother are all close friends of the official family. They take it for granted that they are figures in the court, and the official family is willing to grant them this title.Relying on the power of the imperial court, and taking advantage of the shadow of their father and brother, they have already held official positions at all levels. They are usually in groups, with fresh clothes and angry horses, wandering around the city of Tokyo, doing evil, occasionally happy, and bringing a group of slaves with them Come to Jinming Lake to practice rowing.
Since they are representatives of the court, they certainly have an infinite sense of superiority.Could it be that this group of childlike Tiger Wings players can sit on an equal footing with them and become a side of the game?No!They were born aristocrats, born in the cradle of the princes, and grew up wrapped in the swaddling clothes of wealth.They never took these beggar soldiers seriously.When practicing rowing in Jinmingchi, the two teams met, and they couldn't bear to tease and bully each other.The most polite thing is to let the boat get close to the opponent's boat, and suddenly paddle into the water, causing the waves to splash and splash them all wet.Otherwise, relying on the strength of the number of people, several boats unite to force one or two boats of the opponent to the shore of the lake, and sometimes simply overturn the boat of the opponent, and let these beggars fall into the lake. Take a cold shower.Kaifeng mansion is a shop opened by their fathers. The arresting envoys in Kaifeng mansion are all evil slaves and servants hired by them. When they are happy, killing people is a trivial matter like mustard. What a cold shower.Seeing the sailors swallow their anger and dare not speak out, they really felt a burst of heartfelt happiness.
Among human beings, there is always a small group of people who take other people's suffering as their own happiness.
The citizens of Tokyo also have clear and unambiguous love and dislike for these two teams.The Dragon Wings are only supported by the palace and a small number of related parties, while the Tiger Wings are supported by more than 95% of the people.Ordinary people are also gloating. They are lucky about the misfortune of the powerful family and the Lehao family. They hope that the ones who suffer the disaster are these princes and yamen who only take other people's suffering as their own pleasure. Of course, there are their supporters at the top. And minions.Therefore, it is not difficult to guess which side the majority of the audience's feelings are on in this game.
Only a few days before the game, a few clear-headed people in the Longxiang team began to think that the victory may not necessarily belong to their own side, and they only excluded the strength competition among all the advantages they had.On the field of competition, the governor of Tokyo and his arresting envoys may not be able to help them.In order to win the honor of victory, they considered two countermeasures: one is to find a way to supplement the strength of their own side, and pay a lot of money to hire some real rowers to work for the team; If you stand out, you can get ten times the reward of the prize.Even if the first plan is realized, there is only a 50% chance of winning. It is best to negotiate if it is reliable.Shengzhang, the prefect of Kaifeng, volunteered to act as an intermediary in the negotiations.During the negotiation, he offered both kindness and threat, and after making a wish, he followed up with threats.He said: "All of you must know current affairs to be regarded as heroes. Otherwise, if you offend the officials, what's the matter? Gao Taiwei is not something you can offend casually. The minister in front of the palace wants to find out whether you are right or not. It's a strange thing for everyone to have their faces stabbed and sent to Salmon Island!"
The remuneration ten times the prize and the two roads of Salmon Island are up to them to choose.According to common sense, Shengzhang, the prefect of Kaifeng, can easily make this deal, but unfortunately his negotiating partners are some people who are different from "common sense".In order to live up to the ardent expectations of the people of Tokyo, the members of the Tiger Wings also want to maintain the dignity of "human beings".He rejected Sheng Zhang's intermediary proposal without hesitation.
There are all kinds of people among the one million Tokyoites who live here and there in all directions.
There are working people with weary hands and feet who can't eat all the year round, and there are upper-class figures with fat stomachs who just want to play some new tricks to entertain their excess lives.
There are such a group of dignitaries who can be included in the list of driving to the south of the Yangtze River. Under them, there are a large number of second generals who use both hands and feet, Li Like, Kaifeng Yin, arresting envoys, and so on.However, in the vast world, there are Xiao Guan Suo Li Bao who is not afraid of offending the powerful and dignified, and who must beat him in the corner to make people happy; Father He, who earnestly persuaded his teacher to stay away from the official family.In this race, there are the domineering Longxiang team members, and at the same time, there are also a group of Tiger Wing team members who cannot be promiscuous, mighty, and poor.
No matter what kind of people think they hold the truth in their hands.
The members of the Longxiang team believe that victory must belong to them, and it is true that glory must belong to them.Its proponents, its adherents, admit their truth as truth.It is true that Kaifeng Yin Shengzhang made such a suggestion to protect the victory and glory of the Longxiang team.When people think about their actions, they think that they are the real masters of truth.
But the truth lies in the hearts of the vast majority of people.
Their intuition is the truth.
Maybe they were blinded by certain phenomena at a certain stage, maybe they also missed some things and had incorrect thoughts. Once the obscuration is cleared up, the measure held in their sober hearts is the truth.
The news that Shengzhang came forward to negotiate and was sternly rejected by the Tiger Wings spread so quickly and widely throughout the city of Tokyo that two to three hundred thousand people came out to watch the game today, concerned about the outcome between them, and eagerly hoped that the Tiger Wings would Beat the Longxiang team and beat it to the ground.This is the truth for sober Tokyoites.
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