Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 584 Zong Ze: With such a master, what more could one ask for? [2nd Update]

"Your Majesty is thinking of us..."

Zong Ze received the application form for the re-examination. After reading it, he was deeply moved and only regretted that Cai Fu was not born thirty years earlier.

If Cai Fu were the same age as him, wouldn't that have created a beautiful story of a ruler and his subject?

He's over sixty now, how many more years can he stay with Cai Fu?
Wang Jin was very frustrated: "My injury won't heal anytime soon, so I can't ride and shoot..."

Zong Ze offered a friendly suggestion: "You can try the military strategy track!"

Wang Jin looked miserable: "I'm not familiar with military strategy either..."

Zong Ze: "..."

Just then, a series of wailing and howling came from the next ward, clearly indicating that the patient was also experiencing the same problem.

The four people staying in the next ward were Zhuge Ying, Gongsun Lang, Liu Guoshen, and Chen Junyou. Niu Gao, Dong Xian, and Meng Bangjie also came to visit.

They also received a notice to register for the second round of interviews.

"How to do?"

Dong Xian was almost in tears: "My injuries make it impossible for me to ride and shoot, and I don't know anything about military strategy."

"Wouldn't the second round of interviews mean direct elimination?"

Niu Gao comforted him, "It's alright, your senior brother is not as good as you."

"I am not only ignorant of military strategy, but also of horsemanship and archery!"

Meng Bangjie, Gongsun Lang, Liu Guoshen, and Chen Junyou: "Me too!"

"Shh-"

Everyone instinctively looked at Zhuge Ying, who cautiously raised her hand:
"My ancestor was Zhuge Liang."

"Although I am not skilled in horsemanship and archery, I do have some knowledge of military strategy..."

"Ow—"

The brothers immediately swarmed over and pinned Zhuge Ying to the bed, giving him a brutal beating!
Having gone through life and death together on Qingfeng Mountain, the seven of them had become sworn brothers.

Niu Gao, as the eldest brother, gave them the nickname "Seven Eccentrics of Qingfeng Mountain"!
Therefore, their relationship became much closer, much like the "Eight Heroes of Liangshan" of the previous generation.

"Brother, I'm counting on you!"

Niu Gao, as the eldest brother, solemnly rode on Zhuge Ying's back:

You absolutely must go all the way to the end!

"You'll be the vanguard, and the six of us brothers will be your lieutenants!"
"Let's fight our way all the way to Yanjing!"

The brothers all echoed in unison, putting Zhuge Ying under immense pressure. He just wanted them to get off him as soon as possible...

The release of this interview registration post has brought joy to some and sorrow to others.

Three days later, the re-examination began.

The equestrian archery course starts at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and takes place at the Xiaoxiaochang (small training ground).

Wang Zuo arrived early in the morning with Wu Shangzhi.

Upon arriving at the small drill ground, Wang Zuo walked around and returned excitedly to tell Wu Shangzhi:
This is sure!

Although Wu Shangzhi himself felt confident, he wanted to hear Wang Zuo praise him a bit more, so he deliberately asked him:

“How come you see?”

"I've asked around everywhere. Don't be fooled by the huge crowds at the training ground; most of them are actually there to watch the game."

"Although 210 people made it to the semi-finals, quite a few were injured in the preliminary rounds, and they all chose the strategy track."

"Only about 120 or 130 people chose the horseback archery track."

Wang Zuo patted Wu Shangzhi on the shoulder:

"Brother, I believe you'll win the championship!"

"I'll lend you some good words!"

Wu Shangzhi triumphantly tossed his bangs, and Wang Zuo suddenly sensed something was wrong:

Dude, you're getting a little too cocky!
But it should be fine, right? He's got the strength of ten thousand men...

Just then, a group of teenagers arrived, laughing and playing. Wang Zuo's attention was drawn to them, and he noticed that they shared a common characteristic:

confidence!

That kind of confidence, as if they've never experienced setbacks!

Wang Zuo, who was mature beyond his years, couldn't help but curl his lip upon seeing this:
Youth knows no sorrow!
Gao Chong said confidently, "Brothers, I've got my hands on first place in the archery race!"
"You guys should try your luck on the military strategy track instead!"

Yang Zaixing, Yu Hualong, He Yuanqing, Zhang Kui, Zheng Huai, Di Lei, and Luo Yanqing all said in unison:

"Hit him!"

The seven young heroes surrounded Gao Chong and began to beat him. Gao Chong could only use his arms to block the attacks from the left and right, repeatedly begging for mercy...

"These kids!"

Cai Fu, Lu Junyi, Wu Song, Yang Zhi, and Hu Yanzhuo exchanged smiles and walked onto the stage together.

The second round of interviews has begun, and the five chief examiners made their appearance, immediately drawing cheers from the millions of people in the audience.

After the five examiners sat down, Yan Qing presented the collected application forms for the re-examination.

Cai Fu glanced at the list and saw that there were a total of 132 people participating in the horseback archery track.

Apart from Niu Gao, Dong Xian and their group, most of the familiar names were in the group.

This was also within Cai Fu's expectations, after all, Niu Gao and Dong Xian were both injured by Lian Erxin.

What Cai Fu was curious about was why Wang Jin, who was also injured, had signed up for the horseback archery track.
After the five examiners confirmed the registration post for the re-examination, they asked Yan Qing to read out the rules.

The rules are simple: contestants first ride their own horses around the training ground, and those who do not have their own horses can borrow one from the support team.

Running this lap is the most basic requirement; to get a high score, you can only run faster and ride more steadily.

To get a higher score, you need to add technical moves and fancy tricks.

After the run, you can choose between two shooting methods. The most basic method is to shoot at a fixed target while riding a horse.

Even hitting the bullseye, increasing the distance, and increasing the horse's speed can all earn you extra points.

The second shooting method is shooting at a moving target while mounted on horseback, with the same bonus points as above.

Regardless of the shooting method, hitting the target seven out of ten times is the passing grade.

Even if you hit the target six out of ten times, it won't work, even if you're shooting from a horse.

Five examiners were responsible for scoring on-site, and to ensure fairness, the audience was invited to supervise. The announcement of the rules further heightened the atmosphere; it was incredibly exciting! Just looking at the rules, you knew this was going to be a visual feast!

Hua Pufang was stunned when he saw the rules: "Brother, I can only shoot at stationary targets. Shooting at moving targets is too difficult..."

"What are you afraid of?"

Yang Hu cheered on Hua Pufang:

"These are just the rules; hitting seven out of ten arrows is already quite an achievement!"
"I can't hit the target even if I shoot ten arrows!"

They came from Jiangnan, where horses are scarce. Besides, they were江湖 heroes, and how many江湖 heroes knew how to ride and shoot?

Yang Hu went to Tokyo to take the martial arts exam, but the exam was postponed, and he didn't meet many capable people.

Therefore, Yang Hu was very optimistic, and his optimism infected Hua Pufang, who also became optimistic...

At this point, Yan Qing began calling out names in the order of registration. Whoever's name was called had to go up and verify their identity.

Yan Qing: "Hong Xian—"

Ok?
Cai Fu picked up the teacup, then put it down again.

The name sounds familiar. After thinking about it carefully, could it be him?

In the original novel, when Yue Fei went to Xiangzhou to take the military examination, he went to see Liu Guangshi, who was then the military governor of Xiangzhou.

Because he didn't follow the usual practice of delivering gifts, he was harassed by a middle-ranking officer.

This officer was Hong Xian. Liu Guangshi challenged him to a duel with Yue Fei, but Hong Xian was defeated by Yue Fei in one move.

Liu Guangshi then ordered his men to drag Hong Xian away. Hong Xian then gathered a group of bandits to hunt down Yue Fei, but was killed by Tang Huai's spear.

As Cai Fu was pondering this, Hong Xian arrived, indeed a rough and uncouth man from humble beginnings.

Yan Qing checked his waist tag and confirmed that it was him. Hong first bowed to the chief examiner, mounted his horse, and began his performance.

Hong Xian's riding skills were mediocre; he simply rode his horse around in a proper circle, which earned him a few cheers.

Then Hong took a bow and arrow, rode his horse sixty paces away from the fixed target, and shot an arrow:
"Whoosh-"

"What did I tell you? What did I tell you?"

Yang Hu proudly encouraged Hua Pufang:

"To hit seven out of ten arrows is already quite an achievement!"

"Look at that fellow, he's shooting arrow after arrow, but not a single drumbeat has been heard. He's not even as good as me!"

It turns out that, in order to accommodate spectators who couldn't see clearly from a distance, a large drum was prepared next to each target.

As long as the arrow hits the target, the drummer will strike the drum once, so that even if it's hard to see clearly, you can tell how many arrows hit the target.

The drummer mentioned in the story, “Initially studying literature, he failed the imperial examinations for three years; later learning martial arts, he fired an arrow in the training ground, hitting the drummer, who was then driven out,” is the one playing the drum next to him.

Before Yang Hu could finish speaking, the drummer let out a shrill scream.

Yang Hu and Hua Pufang looked over in alarm, only to see the drummer lying in a pool of blood...

The whole room burst into laughter, and even Zong Ze, who had accompanied Wang Jin, couldn't help but chuckle.

"With archery skills like that, you dare to try and take the lead?"

Zong Ze shook his head: "It's just a pity for that drummer..."

Before he could finish speaking, Cai Fu had already gotten up and walked around to the front of the stage, directing the Divine Physician Battalion to hurry over and rescue the people.

To everyone's surprise, Cai Fu also went over and personally inspected the spot where the drummer had been shot.

Fortunately, it only hit his shoulder.

Cai Fu is a time traveler from the 21st century. How could he sit idly by and watch someone fall down on the street?

Although he didn't dare to help personally, he thought it was only natural to at least help fight off the demon 20.

But it surprised everyone. How could the King of Qi lose his composure for an ordinary drummer?
Zong Ze's eyes welled up with tears: all his decades of loyalty had been wasted!

With such a master, what more could one ask for?
Hong Xian slunk away, having shot ten arrows, missing the target completely, and even knocking the drummer to the ground...

He was too ashamed to stay there, and after leaving the training ground, he hurriedly rode away from Qingzhou.

"What a fine King Qi!"

Wu Shangzhi praised it highly: "This is what it means to love your soldiers like your own children!"

"Brother, do you think that if this matter were to fall on our king, he would care whether that drummer lives or dies?"

Wang Zuo fell silent: If you want to praise King Qi, then praise King Qi. Why do you have to praise one and put down the other?

This was just a minor incident; after a drummer was replaced with one fully armored, the competition continued.

"Whoosh whoosh..."

Yang Hu laughed heartily and patted Hua Pufang on the shoulder:

"What did I say? What did I say?"

"Look at all these people, more than a dozen have gone by, and not even one of them hit the target six out of ten times, let alone seven out of ten arrows!"

"Brother, it's up to you now!"

Hua Pufang also gained confidence: It turns out I overestimated all the heroes in the world!

I've already gone to great lengths with the prescription I've been paying, I just didn't know it before...

When it was Hua Pufang's turn, he ran a lap smoothly and hit seven out of ten shots.

As he was the first athlete to hit seven out of ten arrows, he earned loud cheers from the onlookers.

"It's done!"

Yang Hu hugged Hua Pufang tightly:
"Brother, even if you don't win the championship this time, you'll at least be in the top three!"

Hua Pufang smiled smugly: "I didn't perform well today. I usually hit the target eight out of ten times."

Wang Zuo, who was standing nearby, overheard this and exchanged a smile with Wu Shangzhi:

A frog in a well!

On the platform, Huyan Zhuo couldn't help but yawn:
"Your Majesty, why don't you let the children go first?"

Nonsense! If the kids go first, who else will go later?
Cai Fu chuckled but didn't speak directly.

It was Wu Shangzhi's turn, and Cai Fu perked up:

"The capable one has arrived."

[3000 words delivered, but don't worry, more is coming.]

(End of this chapter)