Tibet

Before dawn the next day, the old horse's body was dragged away by an ox cart. Li Ye persuaded his mother to spend five guans to bury the old horse outside the city to prevent it from being eaten by others.

Li Ye put on a blue warrior uniform and wore black leather boots. This warrior uniform is actually a kind of gown, but it is slightly waisted and more close-fitting. It has slits on both sides and a leather belt to look energetic. Wearing a sword is very He has the temperament of a martial artist.

Li Ye hung a dagger on his waist and held an iron-wood club in his hand. Pei Sanniang and Aunt Mu walked him to the door. Zhang Xiaopang had been waiting for a long time holding Pei Min's white horse.

"Little Fatty, ride on the donkey!"

Pei Sanniang quickly led the big green donkey out, "It's in Tai Chi Palace! It's too far to walk there."

Li Ye also smiled and said: "There should be a place to store donkeys over there!"

Zhang Xiaopang agreed, got on the donkey, and the two of them walked towards the Tai Chi Palace one after the other.

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The Zuowei Polo Ground is located in the Imperial City of Taiji Palace. Taiji Palace was a royal palace in the early Tang Dynasty and was built during the Sui Dynasty. Since the emperor Li Longji moved to Daming Palace, Taiji Palace has been neglected.

Taiji Palace is populated by elderly palace maids, eunuchs and concubines. The imperial city was originally the imperial government office, but now the important imperial government offices have been moved to the Daming Palace.

There are only some external administrative offices left in Taiji Palace Imperial City, such as Honglu Temple, Imperial College, etc., as well as functional departments such as Guanglu Temple and Shaofu Temple.

Most of the military offices are concentrated in the Imperial City, including the famous Twelve Guards offices, etc. There are also some garrison camps in the Imperial City.

There are many people coming in and out of Taiji Palace, and the guards are not so strict. They only need to look at the access sign and let them go.

Many people came to watch the final test of the polo match today. Because it was a knockout match, it was highly competitive and interesting. In addition, you could gamble money, so it attracted many polo fans to watch the match, and you could enter the Imperial City with your ticket.

Li Ye arrived neither too early nor too late. Many polo players participating in the final test came one after another outside the palace gate, and almost everyone brought a caddy.

"Old Li, there is a shed over there for storing livestock!"

Zhang Xiaopang noticed that there was a large shed on the far side, which seemed to be a place specially designed to store leg strength. Many people riding horses and donkeys passed by.

"I'll go save the donkey!"

Li Ye took out his money bag and gave it to him. Zhang Xiaopang was not polite and took the money bag and urged the donkey to go over.

At this time, there was a golfer next to Zuoye Gate. He saw Li Ye from a distance, turned around and ran into the imperial city.

"Leader!"

The golfer was panting and found Yang Hui and said: "I saw that flying shark, he is here, riding a white horse!"

"What?"

Yang Hui's eyes widened and he asked again: "Is it his old horse? Did you get the club?"

"It's not that old yellow horse, it's a nice white horse, and he has a club!"

Xiao Feilong next to him said: "He has a good relationship with the chief steward of Prince Ning's Mansion, so he should be able to borrow a horse."

Yang Hui snorted heavily, "Okay! I'll find someone."

Yang Hui turned around and went to the temporary official office located in the polo field.

Yang Hui blocked Polo Department Chief Chen Tai at the door of the tent, "Chen Shucheng, there should be no problem with what I told you last time!"

Chen Tai sighed and said, "How do you do this in front of everyone?"

“Isn’t it okay to do a final qualification review?”

"I have carefully read his qualifications and there are no problems. There is also King Si Ning who guarantees him. Leader Yang, how about you go talk to Prince Si Ning and ask him to withdraw his guarantee?"

Yang Hui's face suddenly turned ugly. He understood what Chen Tai meant. It was obvious that King Si Ning was more generous than him.

Yang Hui sneered and said: "Chen Shucheng, please clarify one question. I personally have no enmity with Fei Shark. Why am I causing trouble for him? I'm actually just an errand boy. Do you understand?"

Yang Hui's implication was that the Yang family was looking for trouble for Fei Shark. He snorted, "I've said everything that needs to be said. It's up to you to figure it out!"

Yang Hui left in a hurry, and Chen Tai was trapped. On one side was Yang Guozhong, and on the other was King Si Ning. What should he do?

He found a confidant to discuss countermeasures. The confidant smiled and said: "Actually, the Yang family carries more weight. After all, that young man is not a member of King Si Ning, so I suggest that I favor the Yang family, but not to offend him too much." Prince Ning."

"Nonsense! Of course I know. The key is how to control this speed?"

The confidants whispered: "We can use reasonable rules to eliminate that boy, and so on!"

The method he used was good. It was within the rules and King Si Ning had nothing to say. At the same time, he could give an explanation to the Yang family.

Chen Tai nodded repeatedly, "This is the only way!"

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The Zuowei Polo Ground, also known as the Grand Polo Ground, is the largest polo ground in Chang'an and even in the world. The finals of the Polo League are held here every year. Even the emperor Li Longji and his concubine will attend the game.

The surrounding stands are built with wood and stone slabs, which can accommodate up to 20,000 spectators. Today is the final test match for the Polo Club. Although it is not as exciting as the polo match, it is the off season and there is really no ball to watch. , and the ticket price is not expensive, you can buy a ticket for 20 cents. In the end, many polo fans came to watch the game, and the stadium was almost full.

In fact, there is another interesting and attractive thing here, which is betting on football.

People in the Tang Dynasty were fond of gambling. From the emperor and the dignitaries to the common people, they were all very keen on gambling. However, small gambling was a pleasure, but big gambling would lead to the loss of the family and the country. The imperial court regulated gambling in the "Tang Laws and Regulations" and regulated gambling. There is a certain level of gambling. Small gambling is allowed, but excessive gambling is illegal.

With legal regulations, small gambling bureaus will be set up in various places and activities. Polo is closely connected with gambling, and it is an official gambling bureau.

Today's final exam also has a betting game. There are two types of betting. The first is the whole game. For example, if three hundred polo players participate in the final exam, and only thirty people are admitted in the end, you can bet on who will be admitted.

But this kind of bet is a small bet and not interesting. It is stipulated that each person can only spend the same amount of money to buy ten gambling tickets. If you happen to bet on a long shot, you may be able to make a small profit.

Another kind of bet is to bet on the first place in the group. For example, I bet on who is in the first group. I am optimistic about this person. He will definitely win the first place in the group. I bet him 50 coins, but he loses. Then I bet The fifty guans are gone, and the one who was imprisoned gets them.

This is exciting gambling. After the draw, the names of each group will be listed, and then everyone will place their bets.

This time Li Ye was number 174. He and Xiaopang each spent a certain amount of money to buy the flying shark number 174 to pass the exam.

Li Ye gave Qiao Bin fifty taels of silver, which was used to bet on the top spot in the group stage, and of course on himself.

Zhang Xiaopang sat in the greenhouse and looked at the horses and clubs for Li Ye, while Li Ye went to draw lots.

Ten tents were set up next to the stadium. Find the corresponding tent according to your own number. Li Ye is the sixth tent. There is a long queue outside, and only one person can enter to draw lots at a time.

It was Li Ye's turn. He opened the curtain and walked into the tent. There was a table in the tent, and two expressionless examiners sat in front of the table.

An examiner took his number, looked at it, and pointed to a black can next to him, "You can only draw one!"

Li Ye reached in and took out a piece of folded card paper. He opened it and saw the third group written on it.

Another examiner registered his examination number and group, and Li Ye turned around and went out. Unknown to Li Ye, as soon as he went out, the two examiners quickly changed to a black jar.

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What follows is a long wait, because we have to make statistics and then accept the bets. The bets are still in the ten big tents just now. There is a long queue outside, all of them are spectators. Everyone comes to place their bets with copper coins or silver. Note.

A large sign was erected above with the candidates for each group written on it.

Li Ye and Ma Jinsong sat on the bench in front of the greenhouse and received painting, that is, their faces were painted with oil paint, and a painter painted exquisite patterns on their faces.

Ma Jinsong smiled and said: "Two young masters are also taking the exam today. One is Feilong's apprentice Falcon, and the other is Liefeng's apprentice Suzaku."

Feilong and Liefeng were the super masters who played with the emperor in the palace. Of course they had their own apprentices.

Li Ye smiled and said: "The two of them should recommend it directly! Do you still need to take a test?"

"Maybe their master is too proud and disdains recommendation!"

Li Ye asked again: "Which group did they draw?"

"I don't know, Suzaku, I only know that the Falcons are in the third group!"

Li Ye was startled, "He is also in the third group?"

Ma Jinsong was surprised, "Could it be that Brother Xian is also in the third group?"

Li Ye nodded, "What a coincidence!"

Li Ye had a bad feeling in his heart. With the bet with Yang Hui, all the bad luck he encountered today would have the shadow of conspiracy.

"Isn't it possible that Suzaku is also in the third group?"

The black pot method is like this. Because he knows his exam number in advance, he knows which big account he will draw. Only one person can enter the big tent at a time to prevent people nearby from discovering it.

There are two black jars, one black jar contains all the third group, and the other black jar contains normal draws.

One of the examiners knew Li Ye, and when Li Ye was next, they changed the jars when Li Ye came in, so Li Ye would definitely be drawn into the third group.

The other two people, Falcon and Zhuque Ye, also used the same method, so that they were both drawn into the third group.

In this way, Li Ye can be eliminated within the rules.