After a while, the gongs and drums rang again.
Everyone stopped talking in unison and turned to look towards the water.
For a time, only the guys from various casinos were left on the long river embankment, holding flags and sweating profusely running back and forth.
"A horse will not be fat without night grass, and a man will not be rich without windfall. xx is a century-old village with a reliable reputation."
"The dragon boat race is about to start, and there is not much time left. If you don't hurry up and place your bets, your windfall will fall into the hands of others."
"Madam," Ji Xiang felt itchy after hearing this, "I want to make some small money and bet that our general will win."
Yingpan glared at her and took out a banknote and gave it to her, "Don't put too much pressure on me. It's business to go back and work honestly to make money."
Ji Xiang nodded and walked away with Miao Dong like a little tail.
At this time, the eyes of more than 20 dragon boats were finally finished.
Ren Yi breathed a sigh of relief and came back with a smile on his face.
On the dotting stage, a waiter shouted in a high-pitched voice: "The captains of each team come here to draw lots, and the remaining contestants board the dragon boats!"
The contestants obeyed the order, and the captain turned and walked towards the dotting stage.
Not long after,
thump!
A captain wearing a pink uniform slipped and fell heavily.
Maybe he fell hard, and he struggled a few times, but he couldn't get up immediately.
quiet!
silence!
The whole audience was stunned, even the atmosphere team who was beating gongs and drums almost stopped.
Ha ha!
After a while, the dense crowd of people reacted and burst into laughter.
As the saying goes, the pinker you dress, the harsher you curse.
After a while, Yu Tao, dressed in pink and tender clothes, got up with a red face and yelled: "Which bastard is this who gave birth to a son without an asshole? Stand up for me! How dare you wipe it on the ground..."
He immediately realized what the occasion was and quickly shut up.
But the anger in his stomach had no place to vent, and it was so suffocated that Yu Tao's eyes turned red.
When they heard the noise, Ren Ning and others had stopped and turned around to look for the sound out of curiosity.
Seeing the movement in the audience, everyone including Ren Rong looked at Ren Ning in admiration.
"Look," one of the team members said proudly, "Old Ren's eyes have always been sharp. Whatever he says is there, it will definitely be there."
Ren Ning ignored these, but looked at Xiao Gang who was holding back a smile, "He is Yu Tao from Uncle Zhongqin's Mansion, your eldest brother's cousin?"
"It's him!" The current situation was obviously not suitable for criticizing each other. Xiao Gang could only suppress the pleasure in his heart and nodded.
It was Yu Tao who tricked Xiao Gang into buying the Zuixian Restaurant in Yonghefang before, and even made a plan so that the new restaurant that Xiao Gang spent a lot of money to renovate was empty.
Not only did he lose a lot of money, but he also became a joke among the princes of the imperial capital.
The others reacted and suddenly felt happy: "It turned out to be this bastard. That was a good fall."
Huo Qing went to draw lots, and Ren Rong was the person most familiar with the situation in Xingji City.
He said seriously: "Although Yu Tao and Xiao Gang have a feud, it is not a cause for concern at this time. His team is here to escort, and he should not take the initiative to provoke us. Don't focus on him, everyone."
Everyone nodded.
Escort is to protect the master's dragon boat from being interfered by other teams. If necessary, these escort teams may also secretly attack the dragon boats of other teams.
It is said that some ambitious princes formed several dragon boat teams to escort them, just in case, in order to ensure that they would be among the first or even win the crown.
Therefore, more than 20 teams participated in this dragon boat race.
Bang bang bang!
The sound of hurried footsteps sounded.
Something went wrong at the dotting stage, and the Imperial Guard rushed over to check on the situation.
Not long after, Zuo Fu, the commander of the imperial army, saluted in the direction of Emperor Changxing.
"Your Majesty," he said loudly, "everything is normal at the dotting stage. Mr. Yu just stepped on a small pebble and accidentally fell. His body is not seriously injured."
Emperor Changxing's eyes were dark.
He glanced at Ren Yi, who was standing calmly next to him, and then waved.
Since Yu Tao is fine, the dragon boat lottery will continue.
It will be Huo Qing's turn.
He strode up, put his hand into a large box covered with red cloth, and quickly took out a number.
five!
The waiter on the dotting stage picked it up and showed it to all directions, and screamed: "Zhenguo Duke's Dragon Boat Team, track five."
Huo Qing nodded, turned around, rowed his dragon boat to the fifth track with Ren Ning and others and waited.
Not long after, the drawing of lots or track was over.
The gongs and drums sounded again.
Each dragon boat sailed to its own track one after another and took its place.
Huo Qingxiao: "The year before last, two teams were too close. In the end, the teammates of both sides fought directly, and someone almost drowned. So this time the Ministry of Rites sent someone to mark the track."
Ren Ning looked forward.
The dragon boat track is about two feet wide and consists of two colorful ropes floating on the water, stretching from the starting point to the midpoint ten miles away.
With such a wide track, in theory, as long as participating dragon boats follow the track in a disciplined manner, there will be no interference with the teams on both sides.
"The track is ten miles, and one round trip is twenty miles." Li Hebai was curious, "The race schedule in previous years was also this long?"
"It's not that long." Xiao Gang, who was familiar with the situation, shook his head with a strange look on his face.
In order to facilitate spectators along the coast, the race schedule in previous years was usually only five miles, and participating dragon boats had to go back and forth once, with a total length of ten miles.
This year, I don’t know why it suddenly changed to twenty miles.
This distance is not close, and the dragon boat goes upstream first, which requires a lot of physical strength.
The most important thing is that they have never practiced paddling such a long distance during training. Because it's not necessary.
Huo Qing and Ren Rong looked at each other.
"This is your Majesty's wish."
In previous years, Emperor Changxing would occasionally go out of the palace to enjoy the dragon boat racing during the Dragon Boat Festival, but for safety reasons, he would mostly not come to the crowded and slippery moat.
He specially came to host this year's dragon boat race because he wanted to do something different.
"Yun Chuixiong lives in the Central Plains. Compared with the surrounding barbarians, the empire is vast, with countless soldiers and wealth..."
Emperor Changxing spoke loudly and confidently.
Actually just one sentence.
Yunchui has a profound foundation, its territory is deep and wide, its soldiers have sufficient stamina, and there is no need to be afraid no matter how many enemies are around. Because only the one who laughs to the end is the ultimate winner.
The emperor's golden words are destined to come out of his mouth.
So Emperor Changxing doubled the schedule of the dragon boat race with a stroke of his pen. It corresponds to what he said about soldiers who have sufficient stamina and are the victors who laugh in the end.
Naturally, the Ministry of Rites would not object to the emperor's small change, so the schedule became what it is now.
Ren Rong glanced at Huo Qing: "The incident happened suddenly. By the time the prince and I learned the news, it was already too late. This dragon boat race will be ten miles against the current and ten miles along the current. Can everyone persevere?"
hey-hey!
Ren Ninglei, Xiao Gang and other Xingluo soldiers who came back from the south smiled lightly: "It's only twelve miles, and half of it is along the water. It's a trivial matter for us."
When they first arrived in Guangxin County, the Xingluo Legion forced their soldiers to climb the steep Yingshan Mountain with heavy loads every day. That mountain is more than ten miles high.
"We have no problem either." Li Hebai replied on behalf of the soldiers at Zhennanguan.
They have not received the rigorous weight-bearing mountaineering training of the Starfall Legion, but the soldiers of Zhennanguan have received strict water training and can be called the water tyrants of the south.
The 20,000 navy troops in Nanfeng were killed by them. A mere twenty miles of waterway is nothing to them.
"On the other hand, you young masters from Xingji City," the people who came back from the south asked Huo Qing and the others, "can you withstand it?"
Huo Qing smiled and nodded, "Of course I have no problem."
He was born in the Duke of Zhenguo's palace, and he also had a grandmother like Princess Yiguang watching over him. Huo Qing's training since he was a child was no easier than that of a soldier from the Starfall Legion.
However, everyone else looked at each other, including Ren Rong, all of them looked embarrassed, "We'll try our best."
