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Page 421
Ximenqing didn't dare to procrastinate. After taking a shower and changing clothes for the day, he also brought a gift to the Emperor Wanyan Aguda of the Kingdom of Jin, and asked for marriage.
Emperor Wanyan Aguda and Empress Tang Kuo knew what their daughter Wanyan Wulu wanted, and they had long been waiting for Ximen Qing's arrival.At this time, seeing Ximen Qing preparing a generous gift to propose a marriage, Wanyan Aguda readily accepts it, and agrees that he participate in the martial arts competition to win the chance to marry his daughter by virtue of his strength.
According to the Jurchen tradition, at the time of marriage, the man proposing marriage must give a group of horses to the woman's family as a dowry gift.The woman's father will carefully select the horses sent by the man, keep the good ones, and return the bad ones.
If more horses are returned, it can be said to be a shame to the man.
Although Wanyan Aguda has become the emperor, he still follows this ancient custom.He asked the courting tribes to send fifty fine horses to complete the ceremony.
Ximen Qing knew about Wanyan Aguda's request when he left Huining City and went to Posu Road.So he specially brought "Purple Bearded Uncle" Huangfu Duan northward from Yanggu County, and asked him to carefully select fifty horses.
Wanyan Aguda took the clan's children to inspect the fifty horses Ximen Qing sent, and seeing that none of them were top-grade horses, he immediately praised Ximen Qing.
Of course, Ximen Qing prepared more generous gifts than these fifty horses.It's just that other gifts can't be presented until the suitors of the various tribes have been defeated.
If Ximen Qing loses in the Martial Arts Competition, the fifty horses will all be returned.That also meant that Ximenqing lost the qualification to marry Wanyan Wulu.
This martial arts contest to recruit relatives is still at the venue where the willow shooting conference was held last time.
However, in order to train his nephews and nephews, the two important ministers Wanyan Wu Qimai and Wanyan Sagai will not preside over the meeting this time.
The emperor Wanyan Aguda handed over the preparations for the Martial Arts Competition to recruit relatives, and handed it over to his two favorite clan disciples, Wanyan Zongxiong and Wanyan Zonghan.
In addition, Wanyan Aguda also ordered several of his sons to assist Wanyan Zongxiong and Wanyan Zonghan together with Wanyan Xiyin, who is proficient in languages and etiquettes of various countries.
This is why Prince Wanyan Zongjun personally led the troops to maintain law and order in the city.
At this time, most of the clan and nobles of the Wanyan tribe took Chinese names. Prince Wanyan Shengguo changed his name to Wanyan Zongjun, Wanyan Moulianghu changed his name to Wanyan Zongxiong, Wanyan Nianmeihua changed his name to Wanyan Zonghan, and Wanyan Xiyin was Ximen Qing’s old friend. Wanyan Gushen.
Among the older sons of Emperor Wanyan Aguda, the eldest son Wanyan Woben was renamed Wanyan Zongqian, the second son Wanyan Wulibu was renamed Wanyan Zongwang, the third son Wanyan Eriduo was renamed Wanyan Zongfu, and the fourth son Wanyan Wushu was renamed Wanyan Zongbi.
Although Wanyan Zongjun is Wanyan Aguda's fifth son, he is the eldest son, and he is deeply loved and trusted by Wanyan Aguda.Although Wanyan Zongjun was not as old as his four elder brothers, the emperor Wanyan Aguda handed over all his bodyguards to him and asked him to take up the post of Hezha Mengan.
As for the remaining sons of Emperor Wanyan Aguda, because they were underage, they had no relationship with Ximen Qing.Ximen Qing didn't pay attention to them for the time being.
Ximenqing heard that Wanyan Zongxiong and Wanyan Zonghan, who are close to him, presided over the martial arts recruiting meeting, and Wanyan Zongjun was in charge of assisting. Could it be that the emperor deliberately favored me and made such an arrangement?
In fact, this is not really beneficial to Ximen Qing.For example, Wanyan Xiyin's wife is Ugulun Horoyan from the Ugulun tribe, and Wanyan Zongbi's mother is also from the Ugulun tribe. It is hard to guarantee that they will not secretly support the Wugu theory of the Ugulun tribe.
The Tudan tribe, the Pucha tribe and the Wanyan tribe have been in-laws for generations, and they are intertwined with each other.The Jiagu tribe and the Wanyan tribe live together and press out the tiger water, and they are the most loyal allies.As far as Tudan Dingge, Pucha Shijianu and Jiagu Xienu were concerned, there was no inside information they didn't know.
In any case, a good cause will help a lot. After meeting his future old father-in-law Wanyan Aguda, Ximen Qing frequently visited old friends and acquaintances in the city with generous gifts, and had banquets with them to reminisce about the old days.
Ximenqing believes that the situation at the Martial Arts Competition is complicated, and it is inevitable that there will be some unexpected bumps and bumps.At that time, more people will speak for themselves, and unnecessary troubles will be saved for themselves.
The one Ximen Qing placed his high hopes on was naturally the important minister of the Dajin Kingdom, the No. [-] figure in name, but actually the No. [-] military and political figure, and the prime minister Wanyan Sagai.
If it wasn't for Ximen Qing's rescue, Wanyan Sagai's illness would have passed away by now.Ximen Qing did not hesitate to invite the "miracle doctor" An Daoquan from Yanggu County to Ningcheng here, and saved Wanyan Sagai's life. How could Wanyan Sagai not reciprocate Ximenqing?
Ximenqing believes that at critical moments, the Prime Minister Wanyan Sagai is still reliable.
When visiting the officials of the Kingdom of Jin, Ximenqing was also paying attention to whether there were any new tribes joining the competition for the Martial Arts Recruitment Conference.
For two days in a row, no one from more than a dozen major tribes, including Peiman, Heshilie, Wendihan, Tuoman, and Pusan, proposed marriage to Emperor Wanyan Aguda, and they seemed to have withdrawn from the battle.
The purpose of these tribes coming to the capital may be mainly to participate in the aristocratic meeting that went to the Liao Kingdom, and take a look at the excitement of the martial arts competition.
On the last day before the Martial Arts Competition, when Ximenqing thought that no one would come forward to propose marriage, the head of Tang Kuo's department suddenly brought his son Tang Kuota into the emperor's village to propose marriage to Emperor Wanyan Aguda.
Tang Kuo said that he would like to participate in the martial arts contest to recruit relatives.
6 Chapter Ninety
Ximenqing was still a little surprised when he learned that Tang Kuo Talan from Tang Kuo's tribe was also joining the competition and wanted to marry his cousin Wanyan Wulu.
When Wanyan Wulu pretended to be Tang Kuo Talan and tricked Ximen Qing to Songpong Mountain alone, Ximen Qing knew that Wanyan Wulu had a good relationship with her cousin Tang Kuo Talan.
It is common for Jurchens, cousins, and cousins to marry each other. Not long ago, Wanyan Zongxiong married his cousin, another daughter of Wanyan Aguda.
When he came to Huining City this time, Wanyan Zongjun placed himself under the protection of the wings of Tang Kuo's tribe. Under his leadership, Ximen Qing also met the ministers of Tang Kuo's tribe and Tang Kuo's taran.
In the past few days, Tang Kuo's department has been very enthusiastic about Ximen Qing and his party. Ximen Qing really never expected that Tang Kuo Tarlan, who was still drinking from a wooden spoon with him last night, suddenly participated in the grand princess Wanyan Wulu's martial arts competition at the last moment.
However, surprise was nothing but surprise, Ximen Qing didn't have the slightest intention of fear.No matter who it is, even if the perverted Wanyan Wu begging for money and Wanyan Yinshu who are said to be able to fight with bears stands in front of him, he will never want to snatch Wanyan Wulu away from him.
Ximenqing has met Wanyan Zongxiong and Wanyan Zonghan in the past few days, and confirmed the competition items in the martial arts competition from them, which is almost the same as what Wanyan Zongjun told him back then.Ximen Qing was prepared long ago and was not afraid of any opponent.
In general, the martial arts competition that all tribes participated in to marry Princess Jin was just to show the bravery of each tribe and express their sincerity to the emperor and princess.Because it's not a life-and-death battle between enemies, it won't be too bloody.
Several suitors were candidates for the next ministers of various ministries, and among them was someone who was deeply loved by Emperor Wanyan Aguda.Wanyan Aguda will not allow the suitors to be in a situation where there is no end to death, and requires that the martial arts competition be divided into winners and losers before the point is reached.
In the words of the emperor Wanyan Aguda, the children of the nobles who dared to propose to the eldest princess Wanyan Wulu were the elites of the younger generation of the Dajin Kingdom.They had to die in battle, and they had to die on the battlefield with the Khitan enemies, in order to reflect the value of the Jurchen warriors.
For this reason, Wanyan Zongxiong and Wanyan Zonghan, who were in charge of the martial arts competition, decided to provide weapons for the competition uniformly, and those who participated in the competition were not allowed to bring sharp weapons into the arena.
This martial arts competition is to reflect the comprehensive combat power of each department, so there are four competitions that simulate actual combat. They are riding and archery, infantry, wrestling and horse spear competition.
These four items are exactly the martial arts that a general must be proficient in.Mounted shooting, dismounted infantry, and horse jousting are all easy to understand, corresponding to the skills of mounted combat and infantry combat.So, why is the fourth competition a wrestling instead of a horse-armed contest?
If you have never been on the battlefield, or you are just a small soldier without armor, you may not be able to understand this, but the nobles and generals of all ministries know the importance of wrestling in actual combat.
Because as the commander of the army, who is not fully clothed in battle, wearing heavy armor weighing tens of catties?Some powerful generals even wear two or three layers of heavy armor, which cannot be pierced by knives or guns.
Facing such an opponent, ordinary bows and arrows cannot penetrate armor, and even swords can hardly cause damage to the opponent.In the confrontation, whoever can fall and subdue the opponent will often win the final victory.
Therefore, for heavy armored warriors, wrestling skills are much more useful in actual combat than ordinary boxing skills.
In order to demonstrate the strength of each tribe, each tribe participating in the competition can send four warriors to participate in the competition, and compete with other tribes in the four competition items.
If the two sides of the competition are evenly divided in the four events, the winner will be decided through an immediate four-on-four fight.
Wanyan Zongxiong and Wanyan Zonghan also had their reasons for such an arrangement.
Except for Ximen Qing, a native of the Song Dynasty, who wanted to marry the Emperor Wanyan Aguda of the Kingdom of Jin this time, the others were all ministers of Jurchen's major ministries.And the one who wants to marry Wanyan Wulu is also the son of the ministers.
However, not all of these noble children of various tribes are the number one warriors in the tribe, so their one-on-one duels cannot show the true strength of each tribe.
The Wanyan family wants to marry is the tribe with the most warriors.Let the tribes compete in four-on-four, so that the number one warrior in the tribe will have a chance to fight, so that they can better demonstrate their strength.
Ximenqing had Wanyan Zongjun, Wanyan Zongxiong and others inform the competition method in advance, and made corresponding preparations for it.
Ximen Qing decided to form a team with Shi Jin, Jiao Ting, and Yue Fei to participate in tomorrow's martial arts competition.
Before leaving Yanggu County, Ximen Qing asked Luan Tingyu and Wang Jin what their evaluation of Shi Jin's brothers was.
Wang Jin swore to Ximen Qing that Shi Jin had already learned his own skills, and that he was brave enough to ride a horse.Luan Tingyu also spoke highly of Shi Jin's martial arts.
With the affirmation of Wang Jin and Luan Tingyu, two super masters, Ximen Qing boldly brought Shi Jin by his side.At the martial arts competition, Ximen Qing decided to let Shi Jin participate in the jousting contest.