Chapter 122: Tang Dynasty! A glorious chapter! (asking for monthly votes)

The day before the sports meeting, Lao Li came to the hunting ground for inspection.

Li Xiang sent people to hold up a banner that read "Welcome His Majesty the Heavenly Khan to inspect and guide our work", which looked very conspicuous.

The first time Li Shimin entered the hunting ground, he saw these eye-catching words.

"Hehe, did you ask someone to do this?" Li Shimin glanced at Li Xiang.

"Yes." Li Xiang nodded and admitted it directly.

Old Li snorted arrogantly: "Don't do that next time."

But everyone understood what Li Shimin meant, which was to continue next time, I like it very much.

Li Xiang curled his lips silently and continued to take Lao Li forward for a tour.

I walked to a towering platform and looked up...

Wow, wow, there are three big words on it, "Weifengtai"?
Li Xiang quickly explained, "My grandfather once wrote an ode to the mighty phoenix, comparing himself to a phoenix. So my grandson took the liberty of naming the platform where my grandfather watched the sports meet 'Weifengtai', which means that all birds are paying homage to the phoenix!"

Li Shimin could not hide the excitement in his eyes. This grandson was always so caring.

What a good child, a caring child, a considerate child!

"I like this Weifengtai very much!" Old Li couldn't stop praising it. He felt that the phoenix embroidered on the chest of his clothes was more vivid.

Wei Feng, isn’t that me you’re talking about?

Seeing Li Shimin looking around and feeling very satisfied, he stepped forward and asked, "Aweng, this sports meeting must be given a name. As the Khan of Heaven who is supported by the whole world, it is natural that the name should be given by Aweng."

"Oh?" Li Shimin stroked his beard and looked down at Li Xiang.

This kid... has steps!

You can tell at first glance that there is potential for improvement!
"Since Xiang'er said that we'll hold it again in the future, why not call it the First National Games?"

Li Shimin originally wanted to say 'ten thousand nations' or 'ten thousand races', but then he changed his mind and thought that Xianger would definitely unify the world in the future, and by then there would be only one Tang Dynasty in the world, so it would not be appropriate to call it 'ten thousand nations' or 'ten thousand races'.

After much thought, it is better to call it the "National Games" so that we don't have to change the name later.

Li Xiang was not surprised by Lao Li's naming skills. After all, Aong's literary skills would be like this for his whole life. If you want to say how high it is... it is definitely not very high, but it is not low either. At least the evaluation of being slightly inferior to Fengshao is quite fair.

So he sent someone to make a few large wooden characters overnight, dyed the surface red, and hung them high above the hunting ground.

Xueyantuo will also participate in this sports meeting. After all, it is still a nominal vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.

We can’t just resort to American-style bullying and say, “Xueyantuo, I held a conference, guess who didn’t get invited?”

As the eldest brother, you can't lose face like this.

This time, Yinan only brought his eldest nephew Dumozhi to participate in the event, as well as warriors carefully selected from the tribe.

Although you can't gain an advantage on the battlefield, you must always save face on the sports field to restore the little dignity you have left.

The mentality is somewhat similar to that of Argentina playing against England back then...

In addition to the Tang Dynasty and the Xueyantuo, the participants of this sports meeting included the Turks, Tuyuhun, Uighurs, Tubo, Khitan, Mohe, Ulohu, Adie, Bayegu, Pugu, Tongluo, the Nine Chile Surnames and several vassals that had not yet separated from the Xueyantuo.

All ethnic groups are very enthusiastic about participating in sports games.

The main thing is that Datang provides meals, which is...

Xueyantuo certainly had this in mind, but what they didn't know was that the food they provided was provided by their own cattle and sheep...

As the saying goes, the wool comes from the sheep, and this is probably the reason.

At three quarters past the hour of Mao, all the tribes officially arrived at the hunting grounds.

At noon, Li Shimin, surrounded by the mighty Tang army, also arrived at the hunting ground.

Seeing the Tang army coming, the leaders of the various tribes did not dare to neglect it. They immediately stepped forward, dismounted, touched their chests and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty, we are here to see the Heavenly Khan! May the glory of the Heavenly Khan shine for generations, and may the Tang Dynasty live forever!"

This auspicious phrase was taught to Tumidu by Li Xiang, and Tumidu taught it to other tribal leaders.

The opening ceremony must always have a sense of ceremony.

After the leaders of the tribes saluted, the warriors of the tribes and the troops they brought with them also shouted enthusiastically: "The glory of the Heavenly Khan will shine for generations, and the Tang Dynasty will live forever!"

The Tang army behind Li Shimin also joined in the chant: "Your Majesty, glory will shine for generations to come, and the Tang Dynasty will live forever!"

The sound was so loud that it stopped the moving clouds and echoed throughout the wilderness!
Li Shimin looked at the troops in front of him with excitement and shouted, "Everyone, stand up!"

Everyone immediately stood up and got back on their horses.

Li Xiang stood aside and winked at Wang De.

Wang De took the loud speaker in his hand, put it to his mouth and started shouting.

"The auspicious time has arrived, please invite the saint to the stage!"

Unlike the impression of a feminine voice, Wang De's voice is actually very resonant and loud. During the grand court meetings, he was the one who announced the start and end of the court, and he had already trained his voice to be iron-clad.

Now, with the addition of the simple homemade horn that Li Xiang gave him and the wisdom of the craftsmen, the sound is really loud, and it feels like 1+1+1 is greater than 3.

Li Xiang did a lot of fancy things at this opening ceremony.

After Li Shimin came on stage, Wang De shouted again: "Please leaders of each tribe follow the instructions and take the stage in order!"

Of course, Li Shimin was not the only one in the Weifengtai. After all, it symbolizes a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix. Below him (note, not beside him), are the seats of the leaders in order.

There is a science to choosing a seat. Who dares to be on the same level as the emperor?
Li Shimin is the king of birds, the phoenix that all birds pay homage to; and the leaders of other tribes are, of course, the hundreds of birds that come to pay homage to the phoenix.

After everyone was seated, Wang De shouted again: "Everyone! Play! The Qin King's Battle Music!"

After the voice died down, Lao Li's dedicated musician walked out from the side and walked towards the hunting ground.

Li Shimin only knew that Li Xiang came to him to borrow musicians, and that they were even urgently transferred from Chang'an a while ago, but he did not expect that they were brought here to play "The Qin King's Battle Music".

But... it's great that the King of Qin broke through the formation!

One hundred and twenty-eight musicians, wearing armor and holding spears, walked to the center of the hunting ground.

The Qin Wang Po Zhen Yue was originally used for banquets and later for sacrifices. It is a martial dance. It is reasonable to use it in the opening ceremony of a sports meeting to show martial virtues in peacetime.

Seeing the musicians walk to the center, the warriors of various tribes, the people of Shuozhou, and the craftsmen all stretched their necks, intending to appreciate this large-scale music and dance that they had only heard of but never seen.

According to the records in "Tongdian" and "Tang Huiyao", the dance of Qin Wang's breaking formation music was designed by Li Shimin himself. It has a circle on the left, a square on the right, and is followed by a biased dance, a back five, a fish-like dance, an goose-like dance, a wide open dance, and a wing-like dance. It alternates between flexing and stretching, with the head and tail turning back and forth, and stabbing back and forth, resembling the shape of a battle formation.

The dance has three changes, each change consists of four formations, totaling twelve formations, corresponding to the rhythm of the song.

First there was the sound of dull drums, one after another.

Then came the passionate sound of trumpets, vigorous and majestic.

Along with the sound of blowing, the musicians holding halberds in the center began to dance, singing hymns while dancing.

"According to the law, I resigned from the head of state and went to fight against the traitors. We all sang "Pozhen Music" and appreciated the peaceful people."

At the same time, two thousand elite cavalrymen galloped in from outside the hunting ground, surrounded the musicians, and galloped back and forth, bringing the atmosphere in the venue to a climax. Whether it was the onlookers or the soldiers of the Tang army, they all looked excited and watched the performance in fascination.

The foreign chiefs and warriors could no longer contain their excitement at this time, and began to dance along with the music and dance, with their hands and feet waving in great excitement.

The roar of the drums was deafening and the sound could be heard hundreds of miles away. It was so powerful that it shook the heavens and the earth.

The two thousand cavalrymen in the field raised their ceremonial spears high in the air and joined in the singing.

"The imperial wind covers the four seas, and the waters are clear for a thousand years; I no longer need to wear military uniforms, and today I declare my success!"

"The Lord is holy and has opened up a prosperous era. I am loyal to his great plan. You see, after the reform, there will be a peaceful autumn!"

The flags fluttered in the strong north wind.

At this point in the song, the atmosphere in the venue reached its peak.

Everyone could no longer hold back and stood up, following the musicians and cavalry in the arena and shouting loudly.

"You see, after the revolution, there will be a peaceful autumn!"

Li Xiang squeezed the railing in front of him, making a creaking sound. Only in this way could he resist the urge to join in the shouting.

He looked back and saw Aung sitting upright on the stage, his face as steady as a phoenix, but the excitement hidden in his eyes was clearly visible.

Of course he knew that Lao Li was a person who showed his emotions openly, and now it looked like he was probably holding it in very hard.

It’s so tiring to maintain the image of Tian Khan as an idol!
After the song "The Qin King's Battle Music" was played, everyone was unable to come back to their senses for a long time, still immersed in the grand song and dance, unable to extricate themselves.

The same was true for Li Xiang. He even couldn't understand why such grand singing and dancing were stopped after his uncle Li Zhi came to power.

After everyone came to their senses, Wang De walked to the center.

Fortunately, the ancient craftsmen were wise enough, and Wang De did not need to use much effort to make everyone hear his voice.

"Next, please allow His Majesty the Khan to speak!"

After Wang De's voice fell, Li Shimin slowly stood up from the Weifeng Terrace.

As for speaking, of course I used to do it often.

But the ancients generally spoke briefly, and this fine tradition has not been passed down at all.

Of course, Li Xiang also arranged a sound amplification equipment for Li Shimin. Several homemade loudspeakers surrounded him. Of course, the effect was not big, but it was not small either.

Coupled with the design that the craftsmen racked their brains on, it does make sense.

"On this grand occasion, I am very pleased to see all races gathered together!"

The voice was as loud as a bell, and it made everyone in the audience think, "He is worthy of being the Khan of Heaven."

"In this sports meet, I will generously reward the top three winners in each event!"

"I declare that the first Tang Dynasty National Games has officially begun!"

Li Xiang always felt that something was missing after Lao Li finished speaking.

Yes, that’s the athletes’ march with the sound of “dangdangdangdangdangdang”!
As a sports event jointly held with the grassland, the first event is naturally horseback archery.

Each tribe can only select three people to participate in the competition, after all, it would be difficult to deal with too many people.

Ashina She'er and Qibi Heli were both eager to try and want to participate in the competition, but were stopped by Lao Li.

"What are you two doing up there?" Li Shimin was puzzled. You two are generals, and you want to compete with them for this title.

Who would have thought that the two of them looked at each other and said in unison: "Your Majesty, we all want a Chinese name..."

Good boy, I wonder what you are going to do...

Li Shimin also laughed and said, "Why are you two doing this?"

"In that case, I will give you two the surname Li." Li Shimin said with a smile, immediately stopping the two generals' desire to participate in the competition.

The two generals looked at each other and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I, Li She'er (Li Heli), thank you for the name you bestowed upon me!"

This time, the given name has been confirmed.

The leaders of the various tribes below the stage looked at the two generals with a bit of envy.

Off the field, a horseback archery competition was going on.

Each tribe selected the warrior who was most proficient in archery. The first was the Khitan contestant, who fired three arrows in succession from a distance of one hundred steps.

Two of the three arrows hit the center of the bull's eye, and the other arrow was slightly off the edge, hitting above the outer ring.

Someone immediately came forward to check, and turned back and shouted: "Competitor No. 2201 from Khitan, first arrow - points! Second arrow, points! Third arrow, points!"

"it is good!"

The onlookers cheered generously, even to warriors who were not from their team.

Contestant No. 2201 was in high spirits, galloping on his horse and waving his hands to everyone around him.

The one used was the most authentic crossed-arm salute of the Tang Dynasty.

The next contestant to appear was contestant No. 1201 Turkic, riding a dark horse.

Contestant No. 1201 urged his horse to run a hundred steps away, and also galloped back and forth, shooting three arrows.

Of the three arrows, two hit the center of the bull's eye, and the other arrow was shot outside the edge of the bull's eye, almost hitting the bull's eye.

"Contestant No. 1201 from Turkic, first arrow - points! Second arrow, points! Third arrow, points!"

1201 was a little annoyed. He was a little hasty when shooting the last arrow. Otherwise, he would have hit the target with all three shots.

However, despite his annoyance, he still rode his horse around the field in response to the cheers from the audience, waving his hands to greet the crowd.

"Good job!" The people of Shuozhou waved the bright silk cloth in their hands and praised the Turkic warrior.

After him is contestant No. 1202 from Turkic.

This player was obviously more mentally stable than the previous two. He shot three arrows in a row, all hitting the bull's eye!
"Contestant No. 1202 from Turkic, first arrow - ten points! Second arrow, ten points! Third arrow, also ten points!"

There was a silence in the venue, followed by a deafening cheer.

"1202! Good job!" The audience shouted loudly, their faces turned red and their necks became thick, and the silk cloth in their hands almost left afterimages.

Player No. 1202 is far ahead and is clearly in high spirits.

He even stood on horseback, walked around the arena, and patted his chest to greet the audience.

They are truly a nation on horseback, as they have this kind of talent.

(There will be another chapter later~)

(End of this chapter)