Poor Family

  Chapter 72 Retesting Martial Skills

The county examination originally did not have a martial arts test, but only one interview, mainly to screen out disabled students, but since Jiang Dadao took office in Xinzhi County, the interview has been changed to a martial arts test. This year is the third year, which is also in line with the imperial court's military requirements Request, understandable.

   There are three main items in the martial arts test, running, weightlifting and archery. Among them, weightlifting is the simplest. You can pass a 50-jin stone lock three times.

  The most difficult thing is archery. The minimum requirement is 5 out of 10 shots from a distance of 50 paces. Last year, less than 30 people were admitted to the county school based on their knowledge, and most of them fell into archery.

   This aroused public outrage, and the students filed a lawsuit against the state government. Finally, under the pressure of the state government, Jiang Dadao was forced to change the rules, and he was considered qualified if he passed two of the three martial arts exams.

But Jiang Dadao was annoyed that the students reported their status to the state government, so he made a small move. This year the county examination extended the running distance, requiring students to run around the county within half an hour. The circumference of Tangyin County is 20. In the middle of the year, he actually asked to finish the run in half an hour. This is simply forcing the students to work hard.

  However, running is not like archery. You can do it with a little effort, but archery requires skill, and you can't do it even with your life.

  There are not as many students taking the martial arts test today as there were yesterday. This is because many students failed the test yesterday. Knowing that there is no hope of going to the county school, they are too lazy to suffer.

  In addition, those who spend money to go to school do not need to take the martial arts test. This is also Jiang Dadao's consistent style. He will never have trouble with money.

  Going east and west like this, in the end, less than 300 people participated in the martial arts test.

  The first test is the weightlifting test, which is also the easiest. Almost every student can pass the 50-pound lift three times, but running is cruel, running 20 miles in half an hour.

Many candidates complained angrily. They didn't go to take the martial arts exam in the future. Why should they take the martial arts exam? But they complained. Under the magistrate's authority, they had no choice. go down.

Just a bell rang, and three hundred candidates rushed out of the gate of the county school and ran towards the north gate. The chief examiner of martial arts, Jiang Zhixian, was afraid that the candidates would cheat, so he ordered the south gate to be closed, so that the candidates could only go out through the north gate. Enter through the north gate.

Jiang Zhixian calmly drank a cup of tea and ate a plate of snacks in the county school, and then got on his horse and led a dozen soldiers to the north gate. Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the gate of the county school, he saw two The famous students rushed towards the gate one after the other, their heads were steaming, Jiang Zhixian was furious, pointed at his horsewhip and shouted: "Half of the martial arts test has been passed, what do you come here now?"

  A few yamen servants in the back panted and shouted: "Mr. County, they are candidates who came back from running!"

  Jiang Zhixian was taken aback. Is there anyone coming back from running now? He hurriedly asked the left and right, "How long have you been running?"

   "About a quarter of an hour!"

  Jiang Zhixian's eyes widened, and he ran twenty miles in just a quarter of an hour. Is there any cheating in this?

Jiang Zhixian didn't go to the north gate anymore, turned his horse's head and followed the two candidates into the county school. He followed behind and saw the two candidates walking vigorously and running with strong legs, just like two antelopes running on the grass. In just a moment, the two candidates rushed into the school field and ran across the finish line.

Jiang Zhixian urged the horse to go forward, and saw that the two candidates had run for twenty miles without panting violently, let alone collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, and the two were still talking and laughing. Which school are you candidates for?"

  The first examinee to cross the finish line stepped forward and said, "The student is Li Yanqing from Lushan Academy!"

  A candidate behind also stepped forward to salute, "The student is also from Lushan Academy, named Yue Fei!"

"Not bad!"

  Jiang Zhixian was very appreciative, and asked again: "It seems that you have been running all the time! How much do you run every day?"

   "Reporting to the county lord, we get up and run every day before dawn, at least forty miles a day, and have never stopped for five years."

  Jiang Zhixian gave a thumbs up, "This is the real scholar. He can go to the court and go to the battlefield. He is also the pillar of the country!"

   "The county lord has given too much credit, and the students are ashamed!"

  Jiang Zhixian was very happy. Finally, this year, there was a candidate who satisfied him. He asked again: "How about you two archery?"

  Li Yanqing and Yue Fei looked at each other, Li Yanqing smiled and said: "It should be possible to pass!"

   "Okay! I'll test you in person later."

After another stick of incense, Wang Gui and Tang Huai also appeared. Although the two of them fished for three days and posted nets for two days, they ran with Li Yanqing and Yue Fei every day for half a month, running more than forty miles a day. It's soaring, and it's no problem to run twenty miles. Although it's still far behind Li Yanqing and Yue Fei, it's much better than other candidates.

   And they used the breathing method taught by Li Yanqing to run, and they only panted a little, but they didn't get tired and fell down.

Knowing that the two of them are also students of Lushan Academy, Jiang Zhixian couldn't help but praise Li Daguang for his academic excellence, which deserves to be commended. ,record on file.

It was not until the limited time was almost over that a large number of students finally came back. There were about two hundred of them. They tried their best and ran back to the county school before the time ended. Everyone was so tired that they collapsed and lay on the ground saying a word Can't tell, there are still many candidates who vomit violently, Jiang Zhixian frowns, and asks people to wash with water.

Although they were exhausted to death, the two hundred or so students were considered lucky. They passed the martial arts test, and nearly a hundred of them exceeded the time limit and were blocked from the gate of the county school. disuse.

  The third item is archery. In order to cope with the martial arts test, each school has arranged archery courses. Almost every student can archery, but the level is different.

The three martial arts examination subjects set up by Jiangzhi County are very targeted. He thought that once the Liao army came, he could directly conscript these students into the army. It's clear, go directly to the city to fight.

Therefore, Jiangzhi County attaches the most importance to archery. Archery is also held in the school grounds. There are ten targets in total. Ten candidates can take the test at the same time. Shoot ten arrows in fifty steps. Five out of ten arrows is qualified, and six out of ten arrows is the best. Well, eight out of ten arrows are excellent.

  If you pass the test, you can enter the county school to study, but if you want to enjoy the subsidy of one liter and two hemi per day, you must at least have a good score in martial arts, that is, you must hit six out of ten arrows.

As for eight out of ten arrows, that is the request of Zhou Tong, the new martial arts teacher. If you want to become Zhou Tong's disciple, you must have a solid foundation before you can be selected. However, Zhou Tong is not here today. The genius came back, so he entrusted Jiang Zhixian to check and select talents for him.

  On the eve of archery, Wang Gui and Tang Huai found Li Yanqing. Wang Gui laughed in a low voice and said, "Old Li, drinking deer blood yesterday really helped. I pulled the eight-dou bow just now, and it was pulled away very easily."

  Tang Huai also smiled and said, "Me too. Although I didn't sleep well last night, I'm still full of energy and in excellent condition today. I have to say that deer blood is really a good thing."

  Li Yanqing blinked and said: "Next time Lao Tang goes on a blind date, I suggest drinking a cup of deer blood first, and the blind date will be less picky, Lao Tang, don't you think so?"

  Li Yanqing laughed and left, Tang Huai and Wang Gui were confused, what did Lao Li mean by this, for a moment, Tang Huai blushed, he understood a little bit.

   "Lao Li! This way."

  Yue Fei waved to them from a distance, and the three of them walked over. Yue Fei said to them: "Just now, a yamen servant came to me and said that the magistrate arranged for us to be the tenth target, let us go there now."

The archery test has already begun. Each candidate has his own target number. There is a long queue in front of each target. For a while, arrows are flying in the air, and most of them are missing. Soon, the first one The examinee left crying, he failed in running, and hit zero in ten arrows in archery. In this way, no matter how good he was in the examination, he would not be able to enter the county school.

  Jiang Zhixian has a long face. He has no pity in his heart. Looking at him, he is useless as a scholar. He can't carry it on his shoulders or lift his hands.

  There are 20 candidates shooting arrows at the tenth target. Except for Li Yanqing and Yue Fei, the other 18 candidates are all candidates who have personally approved the notes by Jiang Zhixian, including Tang Huai and Wang Gui.

In fact, none of these eighteen people need to take the martial arts test, they can enter the school as long as they pass the most basic academic test. County learned.

Li Yanqing and several partners sat on the grass and waited for the examiner to call. Li Yanqing rested his head on his hands, chewed a juicy grass stalk in his mouth, and squinted at the blue sky and white clouds in the sky. After passing the test, where should I go next? Whether to come back to continue learning martial arts with Zhou Tong, or to go out of the snow-capped mountains and enter the vast plains as the master said, he has been thinking about this question, but it is really hard to decide.

   "Li Yanqing!"

  An examiner shouted, Yue Fei quickly pushed Li Yanqing, Li Yanqing woke up from his contemplation, and immediately raised his hand, "Here!"

   "Get ready, you'll be next."

  (end of this chapter)