Chapter 121: The Prince of Hengshan is unfathomable! (asking for monthly tickets)

After hearing Li Xiang's opinion, Li Shimin immediately became interested.

There is no other reason, because Lao Li is also a person who likes to be lively.

The love of being lively is a family tradition from Old Li to Old Li.

Not only Lao Li was interested in the alliance, but so were the leaders of various tribes.

"I think the alliance is okay." Li Shimin stroked his beard, looked at the excited leaders with a smile and said, "Tumidu and Dahe Kuge, I'll have to trouble you two to inform the various tribes to come to Shuozhou to participate in the alliance!"

"Yes!" The two of them responded immediately.

Although this alliance is aimed at Xueyantuo, after all, Xueyantuo is still the nominal younger brother of the Tang Dynasty and must be included.

After people from all ethnic groups left, the only people left in the house were Li Shimin's close ministers.

Of course, this also includes Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er, who are among the most loyal people to Lao Li.

"We should prepare for the meeting properly." Li Shimin pondered for a moment and continued, "Regarding the meeting, if you have any ideas, you can give me some suggestions."

When Li Xiang heard this, he immediately stood up.

The alliance was part of his plan.

"Oh? Xiang'er has any good ideas?" Li Shimin looked at Li Xiang who stood up, his eyes full of expectation.

This great grandson has given him so many surprises. Who knows what kind of surprise this time?
Since it was not a formal occasion, there was no need to mention the position, and Li Xiang's speech was also very casual: "My grandson thought that we could hold a 'sports meeting' during this meeting."

"Sports meet?" Li Shimin thought about it for a moment and didn't understand what this meant.

"Sports are a set of rules involving physical strength and skills, and are constrained by habits. They are usually competitive." Li Xiang felt that this was a bit obscure, so he gave an example to illustrate: "Just like archery competitions in the military, it can also be considered a kind of sport."

"I understand. What the prince means is that we should have an archery competition during the alliance meeting?" Qibi Heli was the first to come out and support the joke.

"Yes, and no." Li Xiang affirmed and denied, "Not only archery competitions, but also horseback archery, wrestling, polo and other sports can be included as competition items - of course, we should also carry out some grassland-specific sports, such as sheep-grabbing."

"Carrying sheep! I know!" Ashina She'er immediately said excitedly: "When we were on the grassland before, there was a saying that goes 'Eagles should spread their wings and fly in the sky, and young men should show their bravery and strength in the sheep-carrying field'. This is exactly what we are good at... How do we do it?"

Having said this, he forgot the words, scratched the back of his head and looked at Qibi Heli.

"Exercise." Qibi Heli added.

"Yes, exercise!" Ashina She'er was still a little excited. It can be seen from his appearance that this guy is definitely a good at catching sheep.

"In fact, the activity of grabbing sheep originated from grabbing wolves." Seeing the confusion of Li Ji and others, Ashina She'er explained: "Wolves are very harmful to livestock, and herdsmen have a special hatred for wolves. Once they hunt wolves, they will carry them on their horses and run. At this time, everyone will rush forward and scramble to grab them for fun. Later, this 'sport' developed into a special form of entertainment, and evolved from 'grabbing wolves' to 'grabbing sheep'."

The word "sports" was still a bit hot to the tongue, but Ashina She'er still blurted it out.

Li Shimin nodded. He could see that the foreign generals in the room were very excited.

It seems that this sports meet will definitely be lively, but... the significance is probably not just for the fun, right?
Li Xiang said again at this time: "Based on the results of the competition, we can divide them into the first place champion, the second place runner-up and the third place winner. After all, this is a military competition, and the first place winner should of course be called the 'champion', which means the bravest among the three armies!"

"And the warriors who get the top three places can have Grandpa personally present them with awards to show their honor." Li Xiang finally revealed his killer move here: "If warriors from vassal states get a place, Grandpa can also give these warriors names, give them Han names, to show their honor!"

hiss……

Damn it?

Li Ji looked at Li Xiang as if he were a monster.

It is obvious how much the grassland people admire Li Shimin.

The people of the grassland worship the strong, and Li Shimin is obviously the strongest humanoid creature on the earth this season.

It is an honor to be awarded by the Heavenly Khan; it is an honor to be given a name by the Heavenly Khan, and a Chinese name...

This has, intentionally or unintentionally, tied the glory of the champion, runner-up and third place to the Tang Dynasty culture!

Moreover, those who can win a place in this sports meeting will definitely be sought after by their clan members when they return, which will undoubtedly raise the status of Han Ming.

It may even trigger a frenzy of pursuit of Chinese names among the tribe. What does this mean? It means that the Tang culture will penetrate into the hearts of all ethnic groups in this way!
This Prince of Hengshan is truly unfathomable...

"Such sports games can be held regularly in Chang'an in the future." Li Xiang said again with great enthusiasm: "The Tang Dynasty can build a large sports stadium in Chang'an and make it a rule to hold a sports game every two or three years. On the one hand, it can unite people, and on the other hand, it can declare to the world that the people under the rule of the Heavenly Khan are like a family, and they are all brothers! Brothers cannot fight each other, but they can compete with each other through this kind of sports!"

"Okay!" Li Shimin's eyes lit up. Li Xiang's words undoubtedly touched his heart.

Moreover, he understood the part that Li Xiang didn't say almost instantly.

Xiang'er's method really doesn't require any knife!
Another thought that I don’t want to reveal is – how lively it would be!
"In that case, let's hold the sports meeting that Xiang'er mentioned in the hunting ground outside Shuozhou City!" Li Shimin looked at Li Xiang and said, "Since Xiang'er proposed this, you will be in charge of this matter and make sure it is perfect!"

"Yes, old man!" Li Xiang responded immediately.

The reason why the task was given to Li Xiang was, firstly, to take this opportunity to train Li Xiang, and secondly, after all, it was Li Xiang who proposed this matter, and no one was more suitable than him, so Li Shimin assigned him to do this job.

After receiving the order, Li Xiang immediately began to prepare for the first sports meeting.

The first thing to solve is the venue problem. There is a hunting ground in Shuozhou. His great-grandfather, that is, Lao Lao Li... Li Yuan had hunted here before.

As for how many lynx were hunted, it is unknown.

Although the venue was ready, it could not be used directly. Li Xiang recruited a group of craftsmen from Shuozhou City and the army to build several stands in the hunting ground.

He even paid out of his own pocket to recruit a group of people from the people of Shuozhou City to help him build the venue.

Not only did they give money, they even gave them a few tickets so that they could participate as well. As the saying goes, happiness is shared with others, and real happiness comes when everyone has fun together.

Of course, Li Xiang certainly didn't dare to have fun randomly. In history, only Zhu Di could master the word "fun". It is definitely not something that can be learned, such as the Wo Le Gong Anbei who was so happy that his heart blossomed, and the Mei Le Zong who was so happy that his imagination was opened.

After hearing that Li Xiang was recruiting civilians to work at his own expense, Li Ji told him that he could let the soldiers in the palace help him, but was sternly rejected by Li Xiang.

The corruption of the status of the palace soldiers started with Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, and one of the reasons was that the nobles would drag the palace soldiers to do free work whenever they had nothing to do.

This was something that could not be done, even if it was a national-level project. Li Xiang was going to offer advice to Li Shimin afterwards, saying that the status of soldiers must be guaranteed, and the army must be supported and protected, so that people would be willing to join the army.

If the imperial court does not love the government soldiers, how can the government soldiers love the imperial court?
Li Ji expressed his sincere admiration for Li Xiang's impartiality.

The prince knows the importance of distinguishing between public and private affairs at such a young age, which really makes the older generation like him feel ashamed.

Li Xiang thought, you will get used to feeling ashamed...

Under Li Xiang's leadership, two tall stands and a dedicated stand were built in the hunting ground in just a few days. He also sent people to inspect the quality. Ancient craftsmen who worked for the royal family would never do shoddy work, which was very trustworthy.

Come to think of it, if it's shoddy work, then it's a game where all nine clans are playing together to eliminate the enemies. Under such high pressure, who the hell would dare to cut corners?

It's twisted, right?

During these five days, Li Xiang was not idle. In his spare time, he began to consider which sports should be included as events for the competition.

As a country that is passionate about polo, polo is a must, so Li Xiang added the word "polo" on the paper.

He dipped the brush into the inkstone and wrote the words "shooting on foot" and "shooting on horseback".

After writing it, I still thought that horseback archery must have an advantage in the grasslands, after all, people there have been...

Hey, that’s not right. Who said that horseback archery is exclusive to the grasslands?

He suddenly thought of a person who was far away in the sky and yet right in front of him.

So he looked up and shouted, "Old Xue!"

Xue Rengui immediately responded, "Yes."

"How about horseback archery?" Li Xiang knew that this man was the one who conquered Tianshan with three arrows, and he must be very famous in archery.

However, using this kind of character in sports events is a bit like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, isn't it?

Xue Rengui replied without hesitation: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty! I will definitely come back with the first place this time!"

"Boy, are you trying to win first place?" Li Xiang laughed. "If you can win the championship in horseback archery, which is an event that the grasslands have an advantage in, think about what my grandfather will think of you."

Xue Rengui opened his mouth, his mind suddenly filled with the image of His Majesty the Heavenly Khan presenting the awards.

Ignoring Xue Rengui who was daydreaming, Li Xiang wrote down several sports on the paper again, such as wrestling, javelin, equestrianism, weightlifting, long jump, tug of war, and thirty-zhang, half-li and six-li running races.

Of course, we cannot ignore the grassland people. The goal of this competition is not to let Datang win all the events, but to give out as many awards as possible without losing face. So Li Xiang wrote a few more events that the grassland people are strong in, such as traditional grassland sports such as grabbing sheep and lassoing horses.

This kind of sport is not played by people in the Central Plains, but is often played by people in the grasslands. Even if you lose, it is not considered a loss of face.

As for the medals for the champion, runner-up and third place, they were traditional gold, silver and bronze medals. Li Xiang designed a simpler style in a hurry. The round medals had the word "Tang" engraved on the front and the words "Granted by the Heavenly Khan" engraved on the back. There was a small hole on the top for the silk thread to pass through.

The medal is not big, and its value is not that high - but the meaning contained in it is incomparable to any amount of money.

The gold medal weighs three taels, three cents, and three cents, the silver medal weighs three taels, and the bronze medal weighs two taels, six cents, and seven cents... As for anti-counterfeiting stuff, he hasn't gotten it yet. First, there's no need, and second, there's no time...

Besides, the winners of this sports meeting must be recorded in the history books, so whether the medals are real or fake...you can tell by comparing them with the history books.

After planning the sports events, Li Xiang took the detailed explanation and three medals, gold, silver and bronze, to find Li Shimin and gave him a report.

Old Li was very satisfied with Li Xiang's plan. He praised Li Xiang repeatedly and said he had no objection, telling him to go for it with confidence.

Now that Grandad said so, Li Xiang swung his arms even wider.

He ordered people to carefully measure the hunting ground and form a circle of one mile, with six circles making up six miles, as the track and field venue.

He didn't need to worry about the polo field, as there was a ready-made one in the hunting ground. It was built by his husband, Mr. Li, on a whim, and he had never played on it many times.

Old Li had a good temper and knew that he didn't play much, so he ordered others to come in and play polo when they had nothing to do. Therefore, on weekdays, people from Shuozhou would come to play when they had nothing to do, so it wasn't considered a waste.

After Li Xiang planned all the venues for the competition, the leaders of all tribes came to Shuozhou.

After all, it was a meeting, so we didn't bring all the soldiers with us, only a part of them.

Fortunately, Li Shimin sent people to inform all tribes that a sports meeting would be held during this alliance, so each tribe also carefully selected a number of warriors, all of whom were well-known players in the tribe, to participate in the sports meeting.

Li Xiang didn't care about these. Apart from taking time out of his busy schedule to reply to Li Mingda, Li Chengqian and Li Tai, he wished he could eat and live in the hunting ground.

Although Old Li felt sorry for his grandson, seeing how hard he worked to run the sports meet, and knowing that his grandson valued this, he did not try to persuade him much. He just wrote two letters a day or asked Wang De to convey a verbal message, telling Li Xiang not to work too hard.

Li Xiang truly felt the old man's deep love for him and was really touched in his heart.

Under his intensive preparations, the first Tang Dynasty Sports Games was basically ready.

What is needed now is an opening ceremony...

Oh no, the name hasn’t been chosen yet.

After the final finishing work was completed, Li Xiang jumped up and rushed to Shuozhou City with Xue Rengui and the guards assigned to him by Lao Li.

As for the sports meet, he had already made a thorough plan in his mind, and it would be a rule that must be passed down a thousand years later!
At least I have to leave something for future generations to be proud of, so that this journey through time will not be in vain!
(Regarding the name of the sports meeting, if you have any suggestions, please leave a message. I’m so sleepy…)
(End of this chapter)