Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 28

Chapter 28 One In Ten Thousand
The Qin Family had a very lively and warm New Year. The eldest son, Qin Tong, and the second son, Qin Bin, both brought their wives and children home for the New Year. The whole family enjoyed themselves.

Qin Shubao had faded out of the court for many years and rarely walked around with anyone. During the New Year, very few people came to pay New Year greetings, only Cheng Zhijie and a few others. During the time of Zhenguan, the official atmosphere was clean and honest. Officials rarely gave expensive gifts to their relatives and friends. A big shot like Cheng Zhijie came to pay his respects to the New Year by giving him a bag of local specialties from Pu Zhou, and then the Qin Family bought wine to treat him.

Apart from enjoying his family, Qin Mubai was busier than everyone else because the Emperor’s Soldier Selection Day was getting closer and closer on the 15th of the first month. He had to seize the time to cultivate his martial arts. Therefore, even on the thirtieth day of the New Year or the first day of the New Year, he still had to practice for several hours, not daring to neglect it.

Seeing him work so hard, Qin Shubao and Cheng Zhijie were naturally satisfied. Even the two brothers, Qin Tong and Qin Bin, were completely impressed by Qin Mubai.

On the whole, the Qin family was very harmonious and warm, and there was no big gap between the descendants. The two brothers had been in court for a few years, one from the literary world and the other from the martial world. Their experience and knowledge were of great benefit to Qin Mubai. During the New Year, Qin Mubai’s relationship with his two brothers had also improved. The three brothers often gathered together to drink wine and chat, and they talked about everything.

Seeing the Lantern Festival approaching, Qin Mubai’s anxiety grew. It wasn’t because of the nervousness caused by the Emperor’s choice of soldiers, but rather because of the life expectancy of Qin Shubao predicted by Yuan Tiangang … These past few days, Qin Mubai had been paying attention to every move of Qin Shubao and discovered that not only did he not have any signs of running out of oil, but he was getting more and more energetic and his body was getting better. Once, Qin Shubao drank a little wine and became excited. He even let Qin Mubai’s three brothers fight him alone, but he was actually able to fight without losing!

The family sighed in admiration as they secretly rejoiced in their hearts.

On the night of the fourteenth day of the first month, Qin Shubao called Qin Mubai into his room and asked.

“Sanlang, tomorrow is the Emperor’s Soldier Selection Day. I think your martial arts skills should be pretty good. If nothing unexpected happens, there shouldn’t be many people in the younger generation who can defeat you.” Qin Shubao said, “However, Li Ke, what are you going to tell him? Even if leaving King Wu’s Mansion to work for the emperor is justified, you shouldn’t offend him. After all, he only has good intentions towards our Qin Family and has no malicious intentions.”

“Father, this matter has already been resolved” Qin Mubai told Qin Shubao about the conversation he had with Li Ke the other day. Of course, the matter about Fourth Sister Shuang’er was omitted.

“Li Ke, you’re really smart. He looks just like the Emperor!” After Qin Shubao heard this, he shook his head in admiration.

“What do you mean?” Qin Mubai asked.

Qin Shubao stroked his long beard and said leisurely, “Sanlang, although you are smart, you are still young and short-lived. There are some things that you can’t understand when you are in the game. Perhaps being the father of a villain is the father of a gentleman, but don’t you feel that Li Ke is trying to capture him?”

“Is there?” Qin Mubai was slightly stunned and asked.

Qin Shubao smiled and said, “Everyone on the throne has their own subduing technique. The Emperor is like this, as is the Emperor’s son, Li Ke. At the same time, they all used the most powerful weapon-emotion!”

“Father, I understand what you mean.” Qin Mubai frowned slightly and said, “You mean to say that after Li Ke heard that I was going to participate in the selection, he knew that he couldn’t keep me, so he gave me a favor to show his willingness to send me away and let me owe him emotionally, right?”

“That’s right. How similar is this to the Emperor dealing with Wu Meiniang?” Qin Shubao smiled and said, “However, only a superior with a magnificent mind and a sea of breadth of mind would be able to use such a subduing technique.” Back then, when His Majesty was still King Qin, all of his ministers, including his father, were willing to repay him with gratitude. “The reason is that the Emperor is the best at subduing his subordinates emotionally. It’s better to detain him than to execute his heart. What a wonderful method!”

“Father is right.” Qin Mubai sighed and said, “Right now, I feel like I owe Li Ke a little. He offered me a job, told me a matchmaker, promised me a promotion, and treated me like a brother. He never treated me like a subordinate or a slave. But now, I’m going to leave him to climb the ladder. Emotionally, I do owe him.”

“A great man knows how to repay kindness. You just have to repay kindness when you have the chance in the future.” Qin Shubao said, “Successful people don’t stick to small details, especially those who are kind and kind to their sons and daughters.” Isn’t Siya’er the reason why Li Ke has done so much kindness to you? So, he has his own plans, and you don’t have to carry any emotional baggage. Tomorrow, put on your light clothes and take part in the Emperor’s selection-you must win, or you won’t have to go home! ”

“Yes, father!”

Zhenguan eleven years of spring, the fifteenth day of the first month, sunny, breeze.

The early spring in the pass was still as cold as winter. There were still unthawed ice on the green tiles on the vermillion walls of the Imperial City. Under the sunlight, multicolored rays of light refracted. Strands of fine droplets of water slowly flowed down, splitting small craters in the snow below, converging into fine streams of water.

This was the first time Qin Mubai had entered the Imperial City. He had a good look. The grand aura of the palaces in the Great Tang was more than ten times stronger than the Violet Gold City of Manchuria he had seen in his previous life.

The location of the Emperor’s selection was located in the north of the Imperial City’s Taiji Palace, a famous place-the Black Tortoise Gate, the Left Supervisory Gatekeeper’s Colonel Field. At this time, it was already overcrowded. Thousands of imperial guards were strictly controlling the order on the spot. In a place with nearly ten thousand people, the order faction was completely free of chaos.

Last year, Li Shimin carried out an “epoch-making” reform of the Great Tang’s military system. In other words, the imperial capital and the Imperial City Guards Legion Corps were established in the north and south government offices.

Actually, to put it bluntly, the military power was more concentrated in the hands of the Emperor and the Imperial Court.

Beiya was the general name of the Imperial Palace’s Imperial Guards. Li Shimin, who had personally directed the Black Warrior Sect’s change, understood the power of the Imperial Palace Guards better than anyone else. In the past, the Guards Legion Corps of the Great Tang Imperial Palace, like other palace soldiers, had adopted the previous system. They often changed generals and palace soldiers to take turns on duty. Right now, the imperial guards were fixed. Basically, they were all chosen from among the official clan disciples. The generals among them were relatively fixed. The Emperor personally appointed confidant generals to lead them.

Nanya, on the other hand, was the name given to all the troops that had been to the imperial capital last time, including the field army that had been guarding the imperial city more than ten miles away, and the army that had been guarding the nine gates of Chang’an.

This time, Li Shimin once again carried out a creative reform of the military system-creating an imperial guard unit that belonged to the emperor, did not belong to any organization of the twelve guards of the Great Tang, and only obeyed the emperor’s orders. It was known as Baiji!

In fact, Baiji was the personal bodyguard of the emperor, possessing a unique identity and status. As it was something new, everyone was interested in it, but they were also eager to join such a new army and work beside the Emperor. Being able to appear in front of the emperor frequently meant that the chances of ascending were much greater than in any army. This was obvious.

However, the Emperor’s criteria for selecting a hundred cavalry were extremely harsh. The five conditions that he laid out first caused most people to sigh in admiration and could only refrain from moving forward.

First, those who came to run for Baiji must first be the descendants of the official clans of the Great Tang Dynasty. The descendants of the military and martial aristocratic families had priority, and they were between the ages of 18 and 40. Don’t be a commoner, even if you are an officer in the army. The Tang Empire valued family background, so there was nothing they could do about it.

Article 2. Among the direct relatives of the candidates, one must be an official of the capital at or above the seventh rank, or he himself must be an official of the capital at or above the seventh rank. In other words, if you want to run for Baiji, you have to have someone as collateral, which is a bit like the mortgage you’re applying for now.

Article 3. Conduct checks, and the candidates themselves and their direct relatives do not have any criminal records. The emperor must not have a man who commits an offence, otherwise, the emperor would definitely not be at ease with the safety of his concubines, children, and property in the harem. This seems easy to understand.

Fourth, his appearance was outstanding. Great Tang always paid attention to appearance, so naturally, it was needless to say that a woman was good-looking. If a man was tall and mighty, he would also be an invisible asset. This time, the criteria for choosing soldiers were clearly listed. Firstly, they were six feet tall (1.8 meters) and had straight and well-proportioned facial features. If it’s a hunchback, a disability, or a crooked mouth, even if you’re the prime minister or the son of a general, it’s best not to come. It won’t look good if you hit it with a stick.

Article 5. Nengwen. As a disciple of the Shi Clan, if he was illiterate, it would be hard to explain. It is said that the emperor will personally test the educational level of each candidate in the end. If you dare to cheat privately, it will be a tragic outcome.

This was probably the most difficult soldier selection in the world. Fortunately, Qin Mubai was able to meet these five criteria.

On the first day, in the eyes of most people, the most difficult first “political examination” and “physical examination”, he could be considered to have passed easily. In this round alone, thousands of people had been eliminated, and countless people dared not run.

Then the Emperor said that he would personally guard the final hundred cavalry. The number of soldiers was strictly controlled at 600. In addition, the most noticeable person was the senior officer of the Hundred Cavalry. There were a total of four of them. “Hundred cavalry messenger” for the long, official rank is five, and state secretariat, twelve Wei Yi manor corps corps commander level, equivalent to a regular cadre. Moreover, the treatment of the Hundred Cavalry Envoys was higher than that of ordinary officials of the fifth rank. Hundred cavalry make the following three “hundred cavalry deputy” as deputy, official position from the fifth grade; Next, there were six brigade commanders and twelve teams.

All twenty-two of them had to be selected in this selection. Moreover, the conditions for candidates to be elected as officers were even harsher-the candidates for the Hundred Cavalry Messengers and Deputy Messengers had to be at least Third Grade Imperial Court officials or the nephews of the distinguished families of the Xun Clan in the Shanhai Pass. Other officers at all levels must also be backed by officials from the capital.

To put it bluntly, he was an officer from Baiji, as long as Li Shimin was the nephew of a trusted minister beside him. Those sons and nephews of the distant prefecture officials or generals, don’t even dream about it. Moreover, the candidates for the election of officers had to go through the preliminary examination first, just like other ordinary candidates. They didn’t have any privileges.

After a day of selection, nearly 10,000 people were eliminated, leaving less than 3,000 people. Tomorrow, these people were going to have a martial arts competition, selecting 600 soldiers and 22 military officers from among them.

Those who dared to run for the election were not lacking in talent. Even among those who had been eliminated under harsh conditions, there was no lack of high-ranking officers in the army. Anyone who was selected into the Baiji could be called “one in a thousand”. If he could stand out and become an officer in the end, it would undoubtedly be one in ten thousand.

Qin Shubao’s only requirement for Qin Mubai was to win the championship-to become the only Hundred Cavalry Envoy!

On the first day of the election, Qin Mubai saw the ten thousand strong team and countless talented youths. For a moment, he felt a lot of pressure. Someone else has a heaven beyond the heavens, it seems like I have to do my best!

From the second day onwards, it was a formal test of martial arts, and the “split-soldier test” was implemented. In other words, those who were qualified to be counsellors were separated from the ordinary soldiers and held elimination matches on another field.

The martial arts exams include: crossing, archery, and horse warfare.

Clearance is weightlifting. Qin Mubai, whose soul had passed through, was equivalent to having the strength of two people. His strength was boundless, and he could easily overcome this obstacle. It was easy to lift the stone lock, much easier than the bulls and horses, causing a huge commotion.

Not to mention the archery test. Regardless of whether it was a fixed-point “step shot”, “long stack” long shot, or a fairly difficult riding shot, Qin Mubai was able to make it to the finish line with first place!

After two rounds of tests, Qin Mubai’s results were the highest, which was very eye-catching.

The third round of the horse battle test was a bit more complicated. Participants rode their horses into the wooden puppets and had to stab the small piece of wood placed on the puppet’s body on the galloping horse. Whoever stabbed more, used less time, and knocked down the puppet without any mistakes would win. This time, Qin Mubai’s test results were still excellent. Of all the contestants.

The qualifying knockout round ended the next day. More than half of the officers had been eliminated, leaving less than 40. As for the six hundred soldiers, they were naturally happy and worried. Next, there was the most eye-catching selection of officers-the Emperor would personally test them!

Qin Mubai had already entered the final round of the officer selection competition. Logically speaking, he should be very happy, but there was a faint shadow lingering in his heart that made it difficult for him to be happy.

Because today is the sixteenth day of the first month. By midnight, it was the end of his life that Yuan Tiangang had calculated for Qin Shubao.

When Qin Mubai returned home, he saw that his father was no different from usual. He was quite happy after hearing about his performance on the school field, and he drank more wine in the evening.

In the evening, Qin Mubai ran into his father’s room and pestered him, but Qin Shubao couldn’t even chase him out. Only when Qin Shubao had already fallen asleep after enduring the child did Qin Mubai withdraw with some relief.

“It’s actually alright!”

When Qin Mubai heard his father’s uniform snoring outside the room until the horizon turned white, he heaved a sigh of relief and thought to himself, “Could it be that my crossing brought about the butterfly effect? It changed some of the destinies in the dark and prolonged his father’s lifespan?”