"His appearance is also handsome. He looks like a person who can write a poem like 'This thing is the most lovesick.' However, looking at his appearance, it seems that it is really as Mother said. His martial arts are not bad either. I'll wait and see…"
Yang Ruyi murmured softly and drew the beaded curtain.
Lai Hu 'er came to the side of the general platform and looked down at the crowd. He shouted," Great Sui Martial Science, let's begin the examination."
Everyone cheered and the Drill Ground was in an uproar.
The high-ranking officials and nobles who had been waiting for a long time could finally see the young heroes of the various provinces and counties of the Great Sui display their martial arts under the feet of the emperor and compete for the title of Martial Chief.
Next, Qin Qiong announced the rules.
According to the rules set by Tian Ziqin, the first round would be a competition of archery and horse, the second round would be a competition of military strategy and formation, and the third round would be a competition of martial arts in the Golden Hall to compete for the final martial chief.
The first round began with drawing lots. The 200 participants would be divided into 10 groups according to the drawing lots. Each group would have about 20 people for the archery assessment. The winner would advance to the next round, and the loser would be eliminated.
The archery assessment was divided into two parts: shooting on foot and shooting on horseback. The first half of the archers would be eliminated from the shooting on foot and enter the shooting on horseback segment. Only the top five archers on horseback could advance to the second round.
In other words, after the first round of archery assessment, nearly two-thirds of the participants had been eliminated.
The Great Sui Dynasty advocated martial arts. Not to mention pure generals, even scholars had some knowledge of archery.
In military battles, the crossbow was an extremely important method of attack, especially when dealing with Turkic cavalry.
Therefore, in this combat examination, the results of archery held a huge weight.
The drawing of lots began. Lai Hu 'er randomly picked up the wax pills in the sealed box and announced the names inside one by one.
"Group five, Yang Zhao, Chai Shao, Wang Bodang…"
When the audience heard that Yang Zhao and Chai Shao were in the same group, they couldn't help but discuss.
"Those Chai gongzi were actually placed in the same group as Yang Zhao.”
"Didn't Young Master Chai lose to Jade-faced Rakshasa because he lost to Yang Zhao in archery? Now he's going to lose face again.”
"That might not be the case. I heard that only one arrow was shot. Perhaps Yang Zhao was just lucky.”
Waves of discussions echoed in the Drill Ground. The nobles of Luoyang City were naturally happy to watch this show.
However, most of the fishing boats were on Chai Shao's side.
There was no other reason than his background.
There were only so many official positions in the combat examination, and there was only one Wu Kui. The pie was only so big. If the Humble Class got more, the aristocratic families would naturally get less.
Most of the people present were dukes, marquises, nobles, and aristocratic families. They naturally didn't want to see Yang Zhao, this poor family, share their cake.
Chai Shao's gaze turned towards Yang Zhao, his heart calculating how to wash away the shame of his past.
Because, in his heart, he had always believed that Yang Zhao's marriage contest was just luck.
And this time, he had to shoot ten arrows in a row to see who had the highest number of rings. Chai Shao didn't believe that Yang Zhao could still be lucky with ten arrows in a row.
"The stone count of this bow is a little low. I have to control my strength. Otherwise, if I use too much strength, it won't be good if it breaks…"
Yang Zhao didn't pay attention to Chai Shao at all, only concentrating on adjusting the bow and arrow that was distributed to him.
Bang ~~
A gong sounded.
The twenty participants stood in front of the red line and stared at the target fifty steps away.
The second gong sounded.
Everyone took out an arrow from the quiver, slowly nocked the bowstring, drew the bow, and aimed at the target.
The school grounds fell silent, and everyone held their breaths.
Bang ~~
The third gong sounded.
Twenty sharp arrows whistled through the air.
All hit the target.
Cheers immediately rang out in the school grounds.
"As expected of the best of the various provinces and counties. My Great Sui is indeed full of heroes and hidden dragons!”
Lai Hu 'er stroked his beard and nodded in approval. His face was filled with pride for the Great Sui Dynasty.
Although all twenty people had hit the target, the number of rings was different and had to be counted.
"Li Shunen, eight rings!"
"Zhang Tingwu, seven rings!"
"Chai Shao, nine rings!"
"Wang Bodang, ten rings!"
"Yang Zhao, ten rings!"
Cheers rang out again. In the two groups, there were actually two people who hit the bullseye ten rings. It was really not easy.
"This son-in-law of Duke Tang is indeed capable. It seems that he is not just a scholar who only knows how to read.”
Lai Hu 'er looked at Yang Zhao and nodded slightly. The negative impression he had of Yang Zhao being late had quietly disappeared.
Chai Shao secretly gritted his teeth and fiercely shook his hand, comforting himself that his hand was not warm yet and that the next arrow would definitely hit the bullseye.
Unfortunately, the next nine arrows made Chai Shao even more disappointed.
Fifteen minutes later, all ten arrows were shot.
In the end, Yang Zhao had hit the bullseye with all ten arrows, Wang Bodang had hit the bullseye with nine arrows, and Chai Shao had only hit the bullseye with four arrows, so he was only third.
When the results were announced, the entire stadium was in an uproar again.
"Ten arrows all hit the bullseye, that Yang Zhao is indeed a god!”
"This archery skill is really Li Guang's rebirth. It's amazing!”
"It seems that Chai Shao's loss wasn't unjust. His archery skills are far inferior to Yang Zhao's. No wonder Jade-faced Rakshasa chose Yang Zhao as her husband.”
The discussions in the drill ground gradually began to lean towards Yang Zhao's side. Even those nobles and relatives had to be convinced by Yang Zhao's archery skills at this moment.
In the corner of the auditorium, Li Xiu Ning listened to the people praising her husband. Her originally gloomy and cold face quietly raised a proud smile.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。