In the midst of drinking and drinking, Yang Wen has become sober. In fact, he drank so much that the little he drank was nothing. As the saying goes, "If you don't drink, you will get drunk." What made him lost was the praise and congratulations from everyone. Ouyang Xuan himself did not like drinking, and drinking was strictly controlled under the rule of the Pili Army. It's just that this Bozhou fine wine is the predecessor of Moutai liquor in later generations, and can be compared with ordinary drinks. Besides, today's banquet guests in Bozhou, it is really unreasonable for him not to drink, so he also drank a lot of wine. Lu Dezhi and Zhu Tiaozi saw him like this Also drink to your heart’s content. Only Dong Hu insisted on not drinking due to professional habits.
Just as the wine was warming up, a loud and rude laughter came from the hall. A middle-aged man with a dark face and a curly beard walked in the center of the hall, cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Yang is a great hero. I want his son-in-law." He is also a great hero, why not show it to everyone today." The master of ceremonies saw that the big man was drunk and his eyes were wet, and his speech was not very sharp, so he ordered the people: "Master Ah Li is drunk, help him down to rest quickly." It turns out that this man is Ah Li from Luo's ghost country in the south of Bozhou. Luo's Ghost Kingdom is not a kingdom, but a loose alliance of Miao tribes. Ah Li is the leader of one of the tribes and a strong competitor for the leadership of the alliance.
Everyone thought that Ah Li was just drunk and going crazy, but unexpectedly he wanted to take the opportunity to stir up trouble. He pushed away the guard who came to help him, held his neck and shouted loudly: "I I'm not drunk, but I want to see the good skills of Mr. Yang's son-in-law." Yang Wen was extremely annoyed by Ah Li's troubles, and almost ordered him to be kicked out of the banquet hall, but this meant starting a war. The folk customs in Miao territory are fierce and worship the strong. It is common to openly question and challenge leaders in a foreign land like Miao territory, especially in banquets and other drinking occasions. In essence, not responding directly to questions and challenges is considered a sign of cowardice and will be looked down upon. The superior's sobriety allowed Yang Wen to suppress the anger in his heart and turned his attention to Ouyang Xuan.
Ouyang Xuan was dizzy after drinking too much wine and didn't know what happened at first. When he realized that the bearded black man was targeting him, he couldn't help but feel a little angry. It's just that under this roar, he became clear-headed and knew that in the Miao territory, everything should not be handled according to common sense. I wanted to ignore it, but when I saw Yang Wen's gaze towards me, which was half questioning and half encouraging, I decided to take a moment of Ah Li's majesty and said immediately: "I am not talented, so I don't dare to show off in front of all the heroes. Ask Ah Li for any advice?"
The first part of Ouyang Xuan's words was actually to be polite in front of everyone in the hall, and the last part was actually to tell Ah Li, if you have the ability, just use it, and I will accompany him to the end. He didn't want this sentence to be a sign of weakness to Ah Li, so he immediately pulled off his shirt, exposing all his tendons, patted his chest covered with black hair, and said loudly: "I want to compete with you. Do you dare?" As soon as Ah Li finished speaking, Dong Hu jumped out and said: "If I want to compete with you, I don't need my master to come forward, I can deal with you."
Although Ah Li is a tall person among the Miao people, compared with Dong Hu, he is still a little short in stature. Seeing Dong Hu's strong figure and bright eyes, he knew that the odds against him would be very bad, so his momentum was weakened by three points. . However, he still insisted: "I will not compete with you, only with Mr. Yang's son-in-law."
The reason why Ah Li insisted on competing with Ouyang Xuan was not only because he felt that he had a chance of winning, but also because he was resentful about the marriage between Ouyang Xuan and Yang Yan. He was powerful and proficient in the art of swords and arrows. He was a rare opponent in the Miao territory. He became the tribal leader in a duel. Later, with his military exploits against the Mongols, he was elected as the candidate for the leader of the Luo ghost kingdom. The Yang family in Bozhou was powerful, and Yang Yan was beautiful, so she became his target. In order to propose to Yang Yan, he even divorced his original wife. However, Yang Yan looked down upon his rudeness, lack of ambition, and short-sightedness... and rejected his marriage proposals several times. Now that he saw that the two of them were about to get married, the hatred in his heart was hard to calm down, so he vented it out through drunkenness. He wanted to defeat and humiliate Ouyang Xuan and let Yang Wen take a good look at what a bear his son-in-law was.
Ouyang Xuan knew that he would not give up if he did not compete with Ah Li, so he immediately asked: "How to compete?"
"It's a comparison you want," Ah Li hurriedly replied, fearing that Ouyang Xuan would regret it.
"You and I are both generals who lead troops, and we are not as brave as one man. To kill the enemy on the battlefield, long-range shooting is the first priority. How do we compare with long-range shooting?"
What Ouyang Xuan said was reasonable. Yang Wen smiled and everyone in the hall nodded frequently. Whether fighting or hunting in Bozhou and Miao territory, bows and crossbows are the first choice. Moreover, the long-range shooting competition can be regarded as a literary competition in the competition. Dummies can be used as targets, unlike close combat with swords, which often results in casualties and feuds between families and tribes. It is said that Ah Li is strong in this aspect. Although he cannot pierce the enemy with a hundred steps, he can still be called a marksman, so he naturally agreed to Ouyang Xuan's proposal. Because it was getting late, Yang Wen immediately decided to hold a competition in the school field tomorrow morning. When Ah Li agreed to compete in the long-range shooting competition, and when he knew that Ouyang Xuan was certain to win, he immediately felt at ease and announced that after the competition tomorrow, there would be a weapons drill by the Bozhou soldiers.
Early the next morning, Yang Yan sent Cui'er to warn him, saying that A'li was a famous warrior in the Miao territory and that he would never be careless in a martial arts contest with him. Cui'er also secretly told him that after the joke at the pier yesterday, Yang Yan decided not to meet Ouyang Xuan before the wedding. The wedding date has been set for three days, which is a carefully selected auspicious day. Ouyang Xuan felt reassured after hearing Cui'er's words, and smiled and asked her to go back and tell Yang Yan that he would definitely win the competition and would never embarrass the Yang family in Bozhou. The determined expression and smile on his face made Tweety jump back.
When Ouyang Xuan arrived at the school grounds, Ah Li was already there, surrounded by a group of Miao warriors. Some were helping him adjust his bow strings and check his feathers and arrows, while others were squeezing his arms and waist to soothe his muscles and bones. Ah Li, on the other hand, had a face full of arrogance and looked disdainful towards Ouyang Xuan who was passing by him. When Dong Hu saw Ouyang Xuan arriving at the school grounds, he handed over a musket and a shoulder bag of bullets. This musket is a gun used by soldiers from the accompanying special company, and the bullets are new copper-shelled mercury ammunition.
After Yang Wen arrived at the school field, the master of ceremonies announced the start of the competition. At this moment, except for the direction where the school Yang shot the target, dense crowds surrounded the other three sides. In order to be fair, Yang Wente selected a Miao leader from Zhenzhou to be the referee for the competition. Because both sides had experience fighting against the Mongolian army, Mongolians were used as simulated shooting targets in this competition. Before the game, the referee first checked the bow and arrows used by Ah Li, and then walked to Ouyang Xuan. Seeing that he only had an iron rod and no bow and arrows, he was reminded that this was a long-distance shooting competition. Ouyang Xuan smiled and pointed at the musket and said: "This is my long-range weapon." The referee was a little annoyed when he saw his answer. He thought to himself that even Master Yang's son-in-law must abide by the rules of the competition. If you don't bring a bow and arrow, do you have to throw an iron rod? Immediately, the competition was announced to begin.
