Chapter 67 Section five

The race is held in a water area marked by buoy lines in the southwest of Jinming Lake.From the starting point on the west bank of the lake to the end point at the end of the cross island in the middle of the lake, the whole race is exactly seven hundred and twenty feet, four miles. The so-called buoy line is a few thick cables connected in series with many rectangular wooden blocks painted in bright colors. It is tied to the wooden stakes on the shore of the lake and in the lake, fixed at a certain position, and used as a boundary line for competitions.In addition to a horizontal line of buoys at the starting point and end point, there are ten vertical lines of buoys in the middle of the competition area, which are divided into ten waterways.Each tiger head boat participating in the competition is allowed to row in its own channel.The boats and waterways are numbered. The Longxiang team is numbered by the heavenly stem, and the Tiger Wing team is numbered by the earthly branch. The first waterway in the column from the left is Longjia, Huzi, Longyi, Huchou...a waterway With the other one separated, one tiger boat leans against the other, and this is how the match goes on.Although both sides use boats of the same color and style, because the paddlers wear obviously different colors and styles of clothing, coupled with the differences in texture and material, the audience can distinguish the two teams at a glance. Not to be confused.

There are two methods of awarding: group and individual. Individual awards are given to the top five arriving rowers. The first boat to arrive enjoys the highest honor, and each rower can receive a gold medal.The team award will be given to the team with the best overall performance among the first five boats to reach the finish line, and a golden bowl with engraved characters will be awarded. Each ship has a flag head, holding a pennant in his hand, with his vest facing the destination, and standing on the bow. He is the commander of a ship, and his role is equivalent to the flag head of a small team during a war.During the whole race, he waved the colored flags. On the one hand, he cheered up the rowers of his own boat. When he saw a rower who was a little bit discouraged, he pointed the colored flags at him, shouted loudly, and encouraged him to cheer up. On the other hand, flag dancing itself is also an art. As the tip of the boat breaks through the waves and advances rapidly, he also swings his body, adapting to the pitch of the boat, and swishes the flag When the dance was in full swing, he could only see a colorful light wheel covering his whole body, like a windmill spinning rapidly on the bow.According to the rules, the audience should also applaud loudly for the flag dancing performance with prominent flag heads.

There is a standing flag head on the bow, and a sitting helmsman on the stern, facing each other front and back.There were ten oarsmen in each of the remaining boats, who neither sat nor stood, but half stood, half sat, starboard and starboard, so that there were five oars on each side of the boat.They increase their speed and use rhythmic, even movements to keep the boat in balance.Capsizing a boat is common in races. If a boat capsizes, not only will you lose your chance to win the prize, but it will also affect the overall score of the team. It is the most shameful failure in a race. The rowers waited anxiously for the dragon boat's departure just like the audience.With the determination to defeat each other, they waited intently, waiting for the signal to be sent out first.This first oar is almost invisible to the naked eyes of the audience. Although it is only a few feet away, it will seriously affect the progress of the future competition and affect the psychology of the rowers. Therefore, the rowers attach great importance to this first oar. , Be sure to start before others.Before rowing this oar, they had many considerations of gain, loss, honor and disgrace in their minds. After rowing this oar, all abstract concepts were squeezed out of their minds, and all that was left was to rush to the finish line with all their strength. this practical effort.This is the normal state of mind of a normal rower before and during a race.

At this time, the singing girls on Baojin Tower also used the same vigor as the rowers, playing all kinds of wind and string music very hard.On the second floor of the dragon boat, both sides have big drums, and beat out a set of "victory order" in a hurry, which is used to urge the boats on their side to move forward at high speed.Due to the disparity in economic base, the sound of the drums is too different.The Longxiang Team made a crisp and pleasant "Dong Dong" sound from the taut new drum, and the Tiger Wing Team made a dull "Du Tuk" sound from the old defeated drum. This is not only for the rowers, but also for the second, The auditory senses of 300,000 viewers can also distinguish clearly.

Due to the suspension of the race last year, this year's race was postponed for another month, and it was not held until today.The long-term gap has increased the intensity of today's game.After the "peace proposal" put forward by the Longxiang team to their opponents was rejected, they made up their minds and strengthened the first measure, which was to hire a group of really young and strong rowers to replace them at all costs.Almost every boat has three, four, or even six or seven novices on board.They were afraid that they would not be able to win, so they gathered the best and first-rate rowers on the Long Bing boat.If they didn't get the team championship, they hoped that at least the "C" ship could take the top spot and win individual championships.If they didn't have such assurance, how could they pay the price of 500 guan, and for a period of time, allow these masters to be guests in their mansion?

In order to win this glory, the sons of the powerful and powerful gave up to their employers the patent rights they stole to represent the government and the great opportunity to make them shine.They themselves changed the "flaghead" and other deacons who could make an appearance in today's game.Of course, it is not easy to be the head of the flag. Their flag-waving skills are as poor as their rowing skills. When the tiger-head boat is rushing forward, they stand on the bow, and if their rhythm is out of tune, they will fall off the Jinming Pond The danger of going for a cold shower.But this vanity is great enough to make them forget all dangers.If they can't stand to the finish line, they would rather squat, sit, kneel, lie down, crawl, be an incompetent flag leader, and become the laughing stock of Tokyo people than lose this last chance to show off. The hard work of the rowers is enough to make up for their shortcomings in flag-waving technology.A contract has already been established between the employer and the employed, and more than half of the remuneration—the so-called "happy money" can only be obtained after the rowers win the winning position. The employer is not afraid that they will not work hard.

During the first 30 to 40 feet of the voyage, the situation was chaotic, and no obvious advantages or disadvantages could be seen.The rowers of the "Long Bing Brand" who had been eager to try for a long time violated the rules and set off first before the team leader Gao Shen Gao stretched out his noble hand to wave the pennant.It took advantage of this, and the Korean couple at the head of the flag——Cai Tao's brother-in-law flushed with joy and yelled loudly, as if he had won the championship.But the "Tiger Chou Brand" posted next to it followed it closely, and the distance between the two boats was no more than Xunzhang.The six or seven boats behind seem to be advancing in parallel lines, and the audience can hardly tell their order.Only Cai Xing, the son of Cai You, the flag leader of the "Longwu", was unable to stand when the boat started to rush forward at the beginning of its departure, and staggered and slipped into the cabin.Cai Xing was a noble man, the oarsmen were anxious to rescue him, they lost their hands and feet, and the boat was obviously thrown seven or eight zhang away.

The likes and dislikes of the audience were obvious from the start of the match. The foul of the "C-size" was only a few micrometers away, and it slipped past it, but Cai Xing's slip caused everyone to laugh for a long time. When "C Zihao" took the lead temporarily, everyone remained silent, and there were only a few sparse applause in the audience, and even these few sparse applause stopped after feeling "difficult to sing with one hand".At the place marking the end of the first voyage, that is, the first hundred feet, the oarsmen of the "Ugly" brand shouted and suddenly advanced, surpassing the "C" brand.The cheers were like the roar of thousands of cannons, shocking the audience, and lasted for a long time.At the beginning of the third voyage, Han Lu screamed hoarsely, screaming and cheering for the oarsmen. A hired oarsman who was close to him moved a little slower, and Han Lu flew away with his kick, causing his mouth to bleed.This kick worked, and the rowers all worked hard to make the rower take the lead again.The audience fell silent again, and seemed to be asking with squinting eyes: "How long will you be running?" At this time, the "Longyizihao" regatta drifted off the channel and crossed the buoy line, hindering the speed of the "Yinzihao" .For such an obvious foul, the notary standing on the dragon boat pretended not to see it and took no measures to stop it.The angry audience immediately protested to this unjust notary Wang Fu's son, Wang Hongfu, nicknamed the Hozen Tailing System, with "boo boo", "chi chi" and strange noises. A bad breath came out of his head.

As the race heats up, people's emotions run high when it becomes clear that the Tigerwings boat is half a body or a full length ahead of the Dragonwing boats to the left and right of it. When the "Ugly" font size surpassed the "C" font size for the second time and pulled the distance to more than one foot, people's emotions peaked again. This force is added to the rower, allowing them to firmly maintain the advantage. This is the most obvious touchstone to test people's favor and dislike. What people love and hate is obvious, without the slightest cover-up.If at this critical moment, the government issues a stern order, threatening to dispatch all of them to Salmonella Island, asking the audience to change their support points, the result he can get is nothing more than being drowned in a burst of laughter from the crowd. .The power of a feudal ruler also has its limits on certain occasions. He can choose officials based on his own likes and dislikes, but he cannot change the likes and dislikes of the masses.And in most cases, the more he likes the minister, the more he is hated by the masses.

But at this time, the official does not care about the likes and dislikes of thousands of people, he only cares about the likes and dislikes of one person.His eyes never left Shishi. Rather than saying that he also sat on the square hall to observe the game, it is better to say that he just saw the situation of the game reflected in Shishi's expression, demeanor, and movements.Now that his final illusions were shattered, the answer was clearly written on her drunken face.Her excitement, her shortness of breath, her ecstasy, her astonishment, her restlessness, she sat down and stood up again, causing the cicada wings on her temples to flutter up and down like a butterfly. Knocking the knuckles of the other hand without knowing the pain, all of these unusual actions have a close relationship with each Tigerwings boat ahead or behind.Thanks to the officials for arranging such a superior position for her, so that she can see every detail of the game without any hindrance, so the officials can also see the whole picture of the game from these actions, see the Tiger Wings The advantage is being established, more clearly than he himself appears.

After halfway through the game, the situation of winning and losing has become clear. The "C" brand rowers who don't understand strategy fought hard with the "Ugly" brand in the first half of the voyage, and exhausted their strength. Although they still barely maintain the second place, their stamina is insufficient and it is difficult to continue. trend.Regardless of Han Lu's kicking and cursing, the oarsmen stole a hand to wipe away the sweat flowing from their foreheads to their eyes every chance they had, and took advantage of the opportunity to catch their breath.The Korean couple who headed the flag also simply stopped dancing the flag, crumpled the pennant into a ball, and wiped it on their faces indiscriminately. The rowers of the "Ugly" brand were still teasing them, deliberately slowing down a little to make them catch up, so that the two boats kept the distance between the two boats.The strategic thinking of the Tiger Wings is to spare this "ugly" brand name and fight with the "C" brand name to lose both sides. As long as it is dragged down, the rest of the ships can secure victory. When entering the sixth section of the channel, the superiority of the Tiger Wings' strategic thinking was clearly demonstrated.At this time, the epidemic situation of the "C" brand was exposed, not only lagging behind the "Ugly" brand, but also being overtaken by the "Chen" brand that was immediately behind it, obviously losing hope of winning the bid. The "Zi" font size and the "Mao" font size are still following at a steady pace.Only the "Yin" brand name was constantly disturbed by neighboring boats - this was the strategic thinking of the Longxiang team. They thought that the "Yin" brand name might win the bid in advance, and deliberately let the "Yi" brand name use improper means to disturb it. This strategy was also successful, making the "Yin" name mixed with the next few regattas and unable to stand out.The last one is the "E" font size, which was left behind at the beginning.Unable to catch up, and not allowed to quit halfway, he simply walked in the car, willing to swim downstream, so that from a distance, it looked like a long tail dragged by a big water turtle floating on the lake. Chaos ensued on the final leg of the voyage.The "B" name, which hurt others and itself, capsized in an excessive foul action, and all the players, including the flag head and the helm, became drowned.The "卧" brand, which had been steadily occupying the fourth or fifth place, suddenly overtook the four previous racing boats with amazing speed and sustained stamina, and rushed to the front.Like the whole audience, Shishi was so excited that she forgot everything and the existence of officials. She opened the thin curtain with flat bones, stretched her body out of the canopy, and skillfully used the fan bones as if she were using a sandalwood board. The "Mao" font size is rewarded for the sudden attack.It seems that she is not only satisfied with seeing the victory of the Tiger Wings, but also hopes to see the complete destruction of the Long Xiang team.This is also the feeling of the audience.When the competition was coming to an end, and the "Mao" brand was approaching the finish line with an excellent result of more than 1 foot ahead of the "Chen" brand and no less than 20 feet above the "C" font size, she yelled loudly.Even though separated by a considerable distance from the water surface, even mixed in with the roaring voices of the crowd, Guan Jia still realized the applause from her mouth and the movement of her whole body, which was an awl suddenly piercing into his chest. shouted hello. In fact, the game lasted less than half an hour, but it seemed that the officials had endured ten years of unbearable pain. The final result was revealed: the group award of course belongs to the Tiger Wings, and the order of the individual awards is "Humao", "Huchen", "Huyin", and "Huchou".Only the "C" brand name of the Longxiang team managed to get a fourth place. It turned over a "B brand name", and another flag head fell into the water.It is not too much to call it "the whole army is in ink". He has visited 20 or 30 competitions in his life, and after he ascended the throne, he basically presided over the award ceremony of each competition. He has become an official who is a veteran in this field. In the process, he forgot what he was supposed to do. The winner has already lined up, waiting to be awarded, but he still sits blankly in the square hall, not knowing what to do.Luanyi envoy Yao Youzhong, who knew the old rules, reminded the officials in time to come out of the hall to preside over the award ceremony.The prize has been brought down from the pole with a tackle.Yao Youzhong handed the prizes to the officials one by one, and the officials took the prizes in a daze, and followed Yao Youzhong's prompts to vote for the winners in a daze. I couldn't see the face clearly either.At that time, not only the recipients and the deacons who stood by, but also the eunuchs, and even the spectators sitting far away could see that the official's face was pale and his hands were trembling. The official's gaffe, which can be interpreted as the failure of the party competing in his name, disappoints him and makes him a little irritated.But the actual situation is much more serious. What he lost at a loss was not only the victory of the Longxiang team, which he had hoped for, which was related to his personal honor, but more importantly, he lost the teacher who thought he had obtained the patent right. teacher's heart.There was no other blow that could have been so fatal to this opponent. The scale of the congratulatory ceremony was originally expected to be much grander.After the race, there will be after-event events such as "water puppets" and "water swings" to enjoy with the people.Then turn around and hold a regular official ceremony in addition to the "Yu" show. The Dazai Wang Fu in the court and the Taishi Cai Jing in the field will lead a hundred officials to the Shangshui Hall to congratulate the officials. After a while, the officials also had a few words of humility as usual: "Yanshan was recovered, and the old hatred of Yanxue was caused by the spirit of the ancestors and the masterful paintings of the princes. What is my contribution?" This is the real drama of the officials in today's celebration.All the conversations between monarchs and ministers should be drafted in advance, and both parties should read the scripts to their ears, so that the historian can record them in the "Daily Notes" and "Silun Book", so that they can be added to the history of the country. It will be worshiped for thousands of years.The official invited Shishi here wholeheartedly today, in his heart, rather than letting her visit the race, he hoped that she would come to see the victory ceremony and listen to his natural voice.Then the next time you visit her in Zuixinglou, you can pretend to be casual and ask her: "Is the answer I gave in the Water Palace that day, did Master sound appropriate?" If he can win a compliment from his teacher, he will be very satisfied. All of this was very well thought out, but things took a sudden change.The decree officer Huang Xuan walked up to the officials and declared: "The official family is in violation of harmony, and all celebration ceremonies will be avoided." The officials temporarily changed the plan and stopped the celebration. He didn't set off in a special way, but he took his family members and drove back to the palace on a jade boat.Hundreds of thousands of viewers also quickly dispersed amidst the discussions.A grand ceremony started in full swing and ended hastily, which can be regarded as a tragic ceremony.