"I, Zhang Dingguo, attend Your Majesty!
Because I am wearing armor, I can't be polite. I hope Your Majesty can forgive me!”
With the eunuch leading the way, Zhang Dingguo quickly ascended to the high platform where the Emperor was. He personally saw the only female Emperor in the history of the Celestial Empire, Wu Zetian!
Although Wu Zetian was already seventy years old, she still did not look old.
Perhaps it was because she had taken care of herself too well, but not only did she look graceful and luxurious, but she also gave people a feeling that she was the only one in the world and that she was not angry at all. Even Zhang Dingguo, who was standing below, felt a lingering fear.
There was nothing she could do. Wu Zetian had killed too many people. Even if she didn't kill them herself, her killing intent was still a little heavy!
Zhang Dingguo did not choose to kneel and salute during this meeting. However, this was not because he had a backbone, but because he was wearing heavy armor. It was really inconvenient for him to kneel!
Moreover, this was barely a formal occasion, and it was his first time meeting the Emperor, so there were some things that he had to make clear. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if Wu Zetian thought he was arrogant.
As for the question of calling himself a minister, he was already the emperor's hand-picked martial arts scholar, so he was still qualified to call himself a minister.
"There's no need to be so polite, dear minister.”
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
However, Wu Zetian seemed to be in a good mood and didn't care much about etiquette.
"Dear minister, step forward and let zhen take a good look.”
Wu Zetian asked Zhang Dingguo to take a step forward. Of course, it was not because she had presbyopic and could not see clearly. It was to show her favor and let everyone know that she liked Zhang Dingguo, and to signal that she would put him in an important position.
Zhang Dingguo would definitely not say much about this. He took a big step forward and held his head high and chest out for Wu Zetian to take a good look. Anyway, he would not lose a piece of flesh if he was looked at a few more times. As for the question of whether she would be taken in, Zhang Dingguo thought to himself that with Wu Zetian's political intelligence, she would not do such a thing that would ignore the fishing wheel of society, right?
"Dingguo, not only are you skilled in archery and riding, but you are also brave in the army. You are truly a fierce general!
I wonder if you still dare to compete again?”
Because Zhang Dingguo's previous three matches had ended too quickly, not only could he not see his full strength, but Wu Zetian was also not satisfied with watching him. Therefore, he wanted to pick a good opponent for him so that he could have a good fight.
"Your Majesty has ordered, why wouldn't I dare?”
Zhang Dingguo did not know what Wu Zetian was up to, but he could not lose face on the scene, so he agreed to this additional match without hesitation.
"Good! Where is Hu Jinghui?"
"I'm here!"
"Why don't you spar with my top scholar?”
"I accept your orders!"
In Wu Zetian's opinion, Hu Jinghui was the person with the best martial arts skills by her side. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let Hu Jinghui be responsible for her safety for a long time.
"Dingguo, do you need to rest for a while?”
Zhang Dingguo had fought more or less three battles before, so Wu Zetian wanted him to rest out of concern.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I don't need to rest. The previous three small battles were just warm-ups.”
However, Zhang Dingguo really did not need to rest. To put it bluntly, he had only used three moves previously and did not consume much physical strength at all.
"Haha, my dear minister is really a strong man!
Don't worry, my two beloved ministers. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, I will reward you handsomely. You can go down and prepare!”
"This lowly general (lowly subject) accepts your orders!"
Perhaps it was because she was in high spirits after such a joyous occasion. Anyway, Wu Zetian was in a particularly good mood today, so the reward she mentioned would definitely not be light…
Since it would be an infantry battle later, Zhang Dingguo had to quickly take off his heavy armor with the help of others before the battle. At the same time, someone asked,"Scholar, what weapon do you want to use later? Can I get it for you?"”
"Then I'll have a long sword!"
As the saying goes, an inch long is an inch strong, and an inch short is an inch dangerous. This was indeed a wise saying for Bu Zhan.
Perhaps in a world without internal energy, this sentence was a little difficult to achieve, but in this world where internal energy existed, the so-called one inch of danger was definitely achievable. In order to take the slightest risk, the most important thing was speed. He had to make use of the little bit of weight when using the long weapon to seize the opportunity and attack the opponent's blind spot.
However, to achieve this, everyone still had to understand the theory, and there were various practical problems.
For ordinary people of the same level and with a certain amount of training, it was impossible for them to seize that fleeting opportunity with their little athletic ability. Basically, out of ten battles, the long-weapon user could win at least nine, and the remaining one was also defeated by the method of exchanging injuries.
In actual combat, one should not think about dodging the opponent's first attack and then taking advantage of the inconvenience of the long weapon to engage in close combat.
For martial artists, they often pursued a one-hit kill. Unless they were sure that they could stab him to death, they would definitely be able to withdraw their long weapons in time to defend or even attack again. If he rashly chose to get close, there was a high chance that he would take the initiative to run into the muzzle of the gun. This was because the reaction speed of ordinary people was really not fast enough. It was possible that the moment they discovered the other party's defensive loophole, the other party would patch it up in time before they could take action.
However, it was a different story for experts with internal strength!
In a battle between true experts, even a moment of carelessness was often fatal. Moreover, the more skilled a person was, the more they would have the ability to expand their momentary negligence. Therefore, who had ever seen a true internal energy expert choose to use a long weapon?
Other than the non-mainstream ones, most people used knives or swords. Even if it wasn't, it was at least as long as a sword.
This was because most swords were about one meter long. For experts, this length was just enough to balance one inch of strength and one inch of danger. If it was longer, it would be too cumbersome, and if it was shorter, it would be too disadvantageous in a fight. About one meter was just right. It could really be said that it would ensure flexibility without sacrificing power.
Horse battles were a different matter. Because there was not much room for maneuvering on a horse, they basically used long weapons. The key was to attack the enemy first. Perhaps only Liu Bei, who had long arms, would dare to use short weapons in horse battles.
That was why Zhang Dingguo had asked someone to take the longsword and not just because he knew the Quanzhen Sword Style...
In order to please Zhang Dingguo, the new favorite of the Emperor, the person who went to get the weapons actually brought five long swords of different lengths so that Zhang Dingguo could choose the one with the most suitable length.
Zhang Dingguo was impressed by such a considerate service attitude.
However, it was better not to disappoint the good intentions of others. After casually playing dozens of moves, Zhang Dingguo chose a three-foot-long blade that he was most familiar with as his sword.
After that, he put on his light armor and once again stepped onto the martial arts arena. He saw Hu Jinghui, who was holding a long saber and had long been prepared…
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