Tibet

The Polo Federation only recruits fifty members every year. In fact, it only recruits free polo players, that is, black players. The white players are all selected from the black players. It is unlikely to directly recruit new players because of their lack of experience on the court. A very strong excuse.

However, the Polo Federation also withdraws from the membership at a rate of fifty or sixty people every year, because they have to pay a membership fee of five thousand yuan every year. If they do not pay, they will be expelled from the Polo Federation.

Many black golfers have not been able to make any money for several years, so they no longer want to continue to pay membership fees, so they naturally quit the profession.

The social status of professional polo players is very high. It is completely different from the dancers or musicians who please the rich and powerful, because the rich and powerful also have to go out to play in person. Many polo players are the children of officials and powerful people.

Being able to earn money, have social status, and have the opportunity to be a star. Such a career is certainly highly regarded by young people and is also desired by many middle-class families. Therefore, many wealthy families feel that their sons have no hope of taking the imperial examination, so they change their minds and spend money to send them to Learn to play polo in the gym.

The Polo Federation's entrance exam in early March every year is probably the second most important exam in Chang'an after the imperial examination. If you pass the exam, you will be a professional golfer.

Every year, thousands of people compete for the precious 30 places. The other 20 places are recommended places. They are recommended by letters from people with high prestige in the polo circle. They may not necessarily be powerful people, but may also be team coaches or Advanced polo player.

The examination for thousands of people will of course be divided into three rounds: preliminary examination, re-examination and final examination, also called qualification examination, advanced examination and admission examination.

Today is the first day of March, the day of the preliminary test. Thousands of polo players will take the preliminary test at ten polo fields at the same time, that is, the qualification test. Of course, it is not a written test, but a very simple thirty-step batting test. Three for two will count. Passed the qualifying exam.

Li Ye and several friends were all registered by Du Wang with acquaintances, so they all took the preliminary test at the Zuowei Polo Ground. Starting from the morning, a total of 400 people took the test at the Zuowei Polo Ground.

Li Ye held an old jujube polo club in his hand, wore a warrior uniform, and rode his old skinny horse to the reporting point. The reporting point was at the left and right side doors. Two officials stood above the door. Li Ye handed over the registration card. .

"Brother Li, I'm with you. We'll see you later!" Qiao Bin shouted from a distance.

"Good luck!"

Li Ye smiled and waved. Qiao Bin's skills were average and he really needed luck.

At this time, an official inspected his second-hand polo club, took a meaningful look at his old thin horse, shook his head and said: "Young man, change your horse as soon as possible! You old man will die of exhaustion on the court. .”

Li Ye smiled lightly and said, "We'll think about it after passing the exam!"

The official smiled, found his nickname in the registration book, and said loudly: "Flying Shark, the twenty-first appearance of the Five Horse Courses."

There has always been a chain of contempt among polo players. White players look down on black players, old players look down on new players, those at the top look down on those at the bottom, those who ride good horses look down on bad horses, and those who use high-end harnesses look down on useless ones. Low-end harness.

Li Ye is at the bottom of the contempt chain. His bad horses are despised. His first-generation Zhenguan model clubs are already antiques. The most popular one now is the seventh-generation Tianbao model.

So when other people in the fifth examination room saw his horse and club, they couldn't help covering their mouths and snickering.

There was no way, a better horse would cost hundreds of guan, and the black satin BMW that Xiao Feilong rode would cost thousands of guan. His family couldn't afford it, but Pei Sanniang had promised that if Li Ye was admitted as a black ball player, he would Buy him a mid-range horse worth two hundred pounds.

As for the clubs, Li Ye's real clubs are iron-wood clubs, but no one can use such heavy clubs. He doesn't want to shock the world, and he doesn't care about the style.

The exam started, and there were a total of forty people on their fifth track. Li Ye was right in the middle, and there were twenty people in front of him.

Everyone stood in a large shed with their horses to watch the start, and everyone took turns to hit the ball.

"The third one is eliminated, the fourth one is on the field, and the fifth one is ready!"

Most of the golfers will be eliminated in the initial test, and only about a thousand people can enter the retest.

Those who passed the exam went to register with joy, while those who were eliminated led their horses away with a depressed look on their faces.

The fifth exam went very quickly, and it was Li Ye's turn in just half an hour.

"The 19th is eliminated, the 20th is on the field, the 21st is ready!"

The feng shui of their fifth track is not very good. So far, they have all been eliminated, none of them have passed the exam, and they have not even scored a goal.

In fact, not only Li Ye, but also the two examiners from the fifth lane also saw the reason. The hole was slanted and one side was concave, which meant that the hole became half smaller, making it difficult to score.

But now that half of the game has been played, it is impossible to change the bat. Changing it would mean that the officials admit that they are not serious about their work, and it is unfair to the previous candidates.

Anyway, only thirty people are admitted out of thousands of people, so what the heck!

I have no choice but to say that the candidates in the fifth track are out of luck. I wish them good results next year.

The twentieth candidate is a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old. He seems to be called Black Panther. This nickname is too common and must have been taken by someone. He will have to change his nickname after passing the exam.

The Black Panther came from Luoyang. The polo club's entrance examination is not only available in Chang'an, but also in Zhangye, Luoyang, Taiyuan, Fanyang, Chengdu, and Yangzhou, but the number of places is relatively small.

As for the recommended quota, don’t think about other places, it is only available in Chang’an.

For example, there were only five places in Luoyang, so this candidate went to Chang'an to take the exam, but was assigned to the fifth track.

The Black Panther's first ball obviously hit the ball, but it bounced out of the depression again, and everyone sighed with regret.

The Black Panther was extremely frustrated. When he hit the second ball, he was extremely nervous and his hands were shaking. The second ball actually flew away without even touching the board.

"The twentieth is eliminated, the twenty-first comes on, the twenty-second is ready!" The examiner's voice sounded like a tape recorder from the sidelines.

Li Ye urged his horse to play. There were already three balls placed on the thirty-step line. The distance between the balls was one foot. No matter how you play, you must score two of the three balls to be considered qualified.

Li Ye galloped forward and hit the golf club without hesitation. "Bang!" The ball flew straight out, brushed against the edge of the hole and flew into the hole.

This is the only way to get in. You have to go in by the edge, there is no other way.

Finally a goal was scored, and the examiner in lane five suddenly became happy. Who said there was something wrong with the ball board? Wasn't this a goal?

Li Ye rode his horse in a small circle and sprinted again. The trajectory of the second ball was exactly the same as the first ball. It was in the same position and shot into the hole with the same edge.

The examiner immediately shouted: "There is no need to play the third ball, the twenty-first player passes!"

There was no applause. All the candidates looked at Li Ye in despair. Li Ye demonstrated to them how to hit the hole. The answer was there, but who could do it?