I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 92 League
Li Gui was working hard at loading and unloading goods at the carriage and horse shop. He was only wearing a single layer of clothing, with steam coming out of his head. The cold wind of early spring seemed non-existent in his eyes.

A soldier with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks ran over and shouted, "Brother Li, the camp has sent an order for us to gather at the parade grounds. They said there is something good going on."

"What good things can happen? Can good things happen to us?" Li Gui took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off his face with the corner of his clothes.

"Let's go take a look. I heard that it seems like they are going to pay their salaries."

Li Gui thought about it and decided not to miss the opportunity to get his salary. After all, this place was not far from the parade ground and it would not be difficult to make the trip.

So he exchanged the bamboo sticks he used to count the bags for copper coins and walked towards the parade ground.

In fact, most of the soldiers in the regiments and camps lived a worse life than ordinary people.

First of all, military salaries were withheld, and getting half of the salary was a luxury, while getting 20% ​​to 30% of the salary was the norm.

Secondly, they were often assigned to build mausoleums, dredge rivers, and were burdened with various construction tasks. History records that they "worked all year round and were not allowed to exercise." In essence, the government troops became engineering troops.

Thirdly, corruption among officials was rampant. The military fields, private fields, and even the training grounds of the soldiers in the Beijing camp were occupied, and they were often used to do private work for free by civil and military officials or eunuchs.

If soldiers want to survive, they either become peddlers, hangers-on, thieves, or become hooligans.

In short, for most soldiers in the Beijing camp, being idle is equivalent to starving to death.

Guo Xun, Marquis of Wuding, watched as the number of soldiers on the parade ground increased to almost a thousand, and he hurried into the barracks.

The battalion officers of the twelve regiments are all marquises, and the regiment that Zhang Yong convened today happened to be led by Guo Xun.

"Your Highness Prince Jing, Eunuch Zhang, there are already a thousand soldiers on the parade ground. Let's start announcing anything." Guo Xun said respectfully.

Zhang Yong looked at Zhu Houxuan and said, "Your Highness, let's go to the front and take a look. Anyway, we are just trying out the new rules of Cuju. It is enough to choose from these thousand people."

Zhu Houxuan nodded obediently. He was actually a little confused. It had been more than an hour since the troops began to gather, and only a few thousand people had been gathered so far. You know, a regiment has a quota of more than 10,000 people!
They came to the high platform of the parade ground. Zhu Houxun couldn't help but frowning as he looked at the soldiers below who were dressed in rags and looked worse than beggars.

Of course, not all soldiers were like this, but at least 70% of them were like this. There were also many soldiers who were pale and thin, and felt that a strong peasant woman could knock them down.

Zhu Houxuan knew that there must be a lot of tricks involved, but after traveling through time for more than a year, he had learned to turn a blind eye to all the unreasonable things in the Ming Dynasty. Anyway, he couldn't change anything about the Beijing Camp.

"My lord, are you going to pay the salary?" someone shouted.

"What salary? Isn't it time to pay the salary? I called you here today because I have something great for you." Guo Xun shouted loudly.

There was an immediate sigh of disappointment from the soldiers below.

Guo Xun was not moved at all and continued to shout: "There is a nobleman who wants to select 2 brothers who are good at playing football and divide them into two teams to play a Cuju game. Each brother who is selected will receive a reward of 2 taels of silver. If he wins the game, he will receive another taels of silver."

The soldiers under him were suddenly excited. Two taels of silver had a high purchasing power in the capital city where prices were relatively high. It could buy almost four dan of corn, while their monthly military salary was only one dan of corn. Of course, there were other subsidies, but they had never seen these subsidies before.

Then everyone signed up enthusiastically. Guo Xun did not dare to be careless and asked his personal soldiers to select 22 people who looked like they were good enough.

Li Gui was selected because of his relatively strong body. He was extremely excited and moved his body. It was a good thing that he had made this trip today. The two taels of silver were like free gifts.

The two teams were quickly divided, and then Zhu Houxuan went up to explain the rules in detail. There were already many ways to play Cuju in the Ming Dynasty, and the soldiers quickly accepted the new rules.

The remaining soldiers who were not selected did not leave, but surrounded the training ground out of curiosity. Since they were already here, it would be nice to watch a game of Cuju.

After the initial chaos, the two teams on the field finally started to play properly, and the soldiers on both sides tried their best for the two taels of silver.

Zhu Houxun's new rules were basically the same as the football rules of later generations, except that he did not explain the rules to the soldiers in detail, because they would not be able to remember them anyway.

Zhang Yong felt that the game was boring at first because it was not fancy enough, but as he watched more he discovered the beauty of the new rules, especially when he saw Li Gui violently collide with a player. The beauty of this game lies in the fierce competition between the players on both sides.

There were football competitions in the Song Dynasty, with double-goal and multi-goal games. At the beginning, each team had 12 players, and the competition was very fierce. Except that the goal was set high in the air, it was very similar to modern football.

Each team was increased to 16 players, but the rules gradually became more stringent, and the intensity of the competition dropped significantly. The main focus was on showing the individual skills of the players, and teamwork became a supporting role. Sometimes one person could play the ball for several minutes.

During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the intensity of football matches increased, but the rules were generally similar to those of the reformed Song Dynasty.

Zhang Yong had watched football games before, but he had never seen such fierce competition, especially when the players on both sides were so eager for the reward money.

This game was not as fancy and showy as the previous ones, but it was more fierce and passionate.

As the referee, Zhu Houxuan had to blow his whistle again and again, but this did not stop the two sides from making increasingly aggressive moves.

Guo Xun and other soldiers also watched it with great excitement. Human beings’ desire for violence has never stopped.

In the end, Li Gui's team won the victory. Although people on both sides suffered minor injuries, both sides were jubilant.

Zhang Yong's opinion on the Cuju League took a 180-degree turn. He didn't know whether this league could make money, but the emperor would definitely like this style of game.

With Zhang Yong's recognition and support, the relationship between the Shenjiying, Jinyiwei, Dongchang and Xichang was quickly established.

He quickly worked out the rules of the league. The most important part was the prize money. The team that won first place in the league would receive 4000 taels of silver, the second place would receive 2000 taels of silver, and the third place would receive 1000 taels.

The participating players will receive a monthly subsidy of 2 taels of silver, and the league will pay for medicine for those injured during the game.

With this huge reward, sixteen teams were quickly formed.

Zhu Houxun also immediately began to build a simple competition venue in the suburbs of Beijing, cleared the ground, and built simple stands with wood.

Zhu Houzhao, who had been immersed in war games for many days, also noticed something strange. "Has the King of Jing come to the Leopard Room less often recently?"

(End of this chapter)