The fifth day of May is the Dragon Boat Festival.
Today is a special day. The Thousand Sail Dragon Boat Races, the largest dragon boat race in history, is about to be born!
The Yongding River is hundreds of feet wide, and there are crowds of people on both sides of the river!
There are huge crowds of people, and countless people are standing on both sides of the river!
The Dragon Boat Race has been publicized in the Peking Daily. The people have been looking forward to it for a long time and arrived early in the morning to see this rare sight in a thousand years.
Business vendors came early with their carts and set up stalls in designated locations, forming an area similar to a market.
In the area, there are sellers of candied haws, popsicles, grilled skewers, and all kinds of snacks, including the newly-appeared stinky tofu.
"Dad, Mom, there are so many people today."
"Your mother, this is the first time I have seen so many people."
This was an ordinary family of three who came to watch dragon boat racing. To prevent the child from getting lost, the man let his daughter ride on his back.
"Tanghulu, candied haws."
The little girl riding on the man's shoulder pointed at the candied haws and shouted.
"Okay, dad will buy it for you."
The man spent a penny and bought a bunch of candied haws for his daughter. The girl beamed with joy and said, "Thank you, dad."
The woman said: "Man, go to the village area early and get a good seat to watch, otherwise you won't be able to squeeze in later."
The man smiled naively and said, "Okay."
The family walked towards the river bank.
Families like this can be found everywhere.
Smiling and having fun.
Zhu Yuanzhang was holding a cane and walking behind the people. Next to him was Zhu Di, and he was surrounded by soldiers wearing common clothes to protect him.
This time Zhu Yuanzhang took Zhu Di and a group of companions as common people to come for a private visit incognito to experience the people's sentiments.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the happy and harmonious look of the people in the family in front, he always had a smile on his face.
He pointed at the family just now and said: "Fourth, look, they always have smiles on their faces. People's lives are getting better now."
"It's all because of Li Xiao's fault."
Zhu Di pointed with his finger at the people on both sides of the bank and the crowds on the bank, and said with a smile: "Dad, it's true. Look at the number of people here. I'm afraid there are as many as 100,000 people here today. This is Really having fun with the people!”
Zhu Di did not expect that Yao Guangxiao's saying that a person is blessed as much as a mountain would actually bring blessings to everyone in the world, which was surprising.
Zhu Yuanzhang said with emotion: "Yes, it has grown in scale, with a thousand villages participating, and so many people have free time to celebrate the festival. Life has really become better."
Zhu Di nodded, "The scale is indeed large. It is said that the Beiping Prefecture did not spend too much silver to organize this competition."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked strangely: "It's such a large scale and it didn't cost any silver?"
"Dad, look."
Zhu Di pointed to the rows of banner advertisements on the shore. "The competition fees are all sponsored by businessmen. Each village also has village enterprises, and the rowing teams are sponsored by enterprises."
"Hahaha, it turns out there are sponsors."
Zhu Yuanzhang had understood this a long time ago and said with a smile: "Nowadays, business is booming. According to Li Xiao, the sponsoring businessman has gained popularity. Not only the competition is held, it also promotes consumption, and everyone gets what they need!"
"Dad, let me help you find a good viewing spot. The game will start in a while." Zhu Di smiled.
"Okay." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.
Zhu Di supported Zhu Yuanzhang and walked towards an excellent viewing location.
Needless to say, the surrounding Jin Yiwei began to push away the crowd, quickly found a good seat, and then sat on a portable stool.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, officials from the imperial court would naturally come over to participate in this grand event. The competition was hosted by the Beiping Prefecture, so they had a good time.
Of course, there are no privileges, and you can only come and watch as ordinary people.
"Hey, aren't those sitting over there the Holy Emperor and the Supreme Emperor?"
A sharp-eyed official noticed it and whispered to his colleagues.
"It's true. Your Majesty is here for a private visit incognito. We also went over and stood secretly not far away. We can perform well in case it is useful."
"That makes sense. I will go with you. Let's go."
After many officials discovered Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang, the brave ones pretended to be people watching nearby, while the timid ones ran far away and did not dare to approach.
Not long after, another group of Confucian scholars came in groups.
There were almost a few hundred Confucian scholars, and they were dressed in particularly conspicuous clothes. As soon as these people arrived, someone would immediately watch them secretly to prevent them from causing trouble.
Then, the dragon boat teams from each village came one after another.
Every village takes this matter very seriously. Everyone has been training hard in private for more than a month, hoping to win the first place today.
The rewards for this dragon boat race are very generous. The top ten will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver from the village.
The fifth place will be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver, and the first place will be rewarded with three thousand taels of silver!
Funds are allocated directly to the cottage area and can be used for village development.
But it is not an easy task to get the top ten from a thousand teams.
Which village doesn’t pay attention?
They are all treated as top priority.
Each village selects the strongest man in the village, and it will be a very fierce competition.
Men from each village carried dragon boats one after another, with flags of each village on the dragon boats.
One after another, they entered the waiting position at the source of the competition and lined up neatly. It seemed that the competition was about to begin.
More and more people came to watch the game, which was hard to count. Zhu Yuanzhang found that there were already as many as 200,000 people.
Looking around, there are more and more people on both sides of the river, densely packed.
What is the concept of more than 200,000 people gathering in a river in ancient times?
That's very easy to cause trouble.
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but worry: "Look, Fourth, there are too many people. I'm afraid there are 200,000 people. Will there be trouble?"
"probably not."
As the emperor, Zhu Di was in charge of all major events. He had never been involved in this game, so naturally he didn't know the arrangements. However, he took a closer look and analyzed: "You see, each village has someone to manage the people in their own village. This White lines were drawn on both sides of the bank, and people from each village stood and watched the game within the limits of the white lines."
"Hey, that seems to be true."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked down and found that he was also within a white line, about ten miles wide, and there were words written on the ground with white powder: "Royal viewing area."
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "Speaking of which, we bumped into each other by mistake and walked in the right direction. This is our viewing venue."
Zhu Di didn't take a closer look, but at first glance, he said: "Dad, if you really say this, wouldn't our private visit incognito be exposed?"
As soon as the words fell, all the princes, grandsons, princesses, princesses, Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaoxu and others in the palace and their families came towards this side.
"See Imperial Grandfather, Imperial Father."
At this time, everyone came over to pay their respects.
There were price guards nearby who also came over and surrounded the area for protection.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Ningyun, you are here too, come and sit next to the emperor's grandfather."
"Okay, Grandfather." Zhu Ningyun immediately walked to Zhu Yuanzhang. A servant brought a stool next to her, so she accompanied Zhu Yuanzhang obediently.
"Father, Your Majesty, aren't you two unable to say it?"
Queen Xu smiled slightly and walked over.
"This" Zhu Di smiled awkwardly: "Originally, I took my father to see it secretly, but I didn't expect that you all came and saw it. In that case, let's watch it together."
It turned out that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di planned to come and watch as civilians.
Unexpectedly, the position occupied is exactly the position where the royal family can watch. No wonder no one comes to this best viewing position.
It's good this time, it's still a bit of a stir.
However, no one dared to say anything. After all, it was the Emperor's idea. They all stood behind and watched quietly.
"There are so many people!"
Prince Zhu Gaochi sighed with emotion. He also put down all government affairs and came here today, and he was in a good mood.
After being busy all night, I finally took a break today to watch the dragon boat race.
Seeing such a huge scene, I couldn't help but sigh: "I'm afraid there are 200,000 people here. Beiping Prefecture has really managed to hold such a major event with its own strength, and it seems to be tight and organized. It's amazing!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "This is the power of dormitory areas, Gao Chi, take a closer look, each dormitory area can exert its management capabilities."
Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi looked around and found that each village had someone in charge of its own people. There were not many people in charge of each person in a thousand villages, so it was orderly.
Not only in the dormitory area, Zhu Gaochi found that the officials of Beiping Prefecture also had very strong organizational skills.
"Grandpa Huang is indeed like this!"
Zhu Gaochi nodded: "Beiping Mansion is really good. It would be a great thing if it were like this everywhere in the world."
Zhu Di nodded, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said with a smile: "Dad, if we push forward the district, we are bound to win."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Yes, with just one glance, we agreed. There should be no problem in this match."
"Look, isn't that Gao Xu?"
Suddenly, Zhu Gaochi pointed in a direction excitedly.
Everyone looked around and found Zhu Gaoxu.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang is old, he can see very clearly with the glasses Li Xiao gave him.
"Second brother, it's really great that I still have time to participate in the competition. Unlike me, who is exhausted all day long. I might as well give this emperor position to my second brother."
Zhu Gaochi said with envy in his heart.
Soon, everyone also discovered that Li Xiao was among them, and there was another call.
crackling
The sound of firecrackers means that the game is about to begin.
The host at the source shouted: "Welcome to the first Dragon Boat Race in Beiping. Today, dragon boat racers from thousands of villages gather here to compete fiercely for honor and victory. We have two hundred thousand Witness the audience, they will be witnesses and witnesses of the game, please use applause and shouts to inject the greatest strength and passion into this game."
Most people couldn't hear what the host was shouting. As the people in front started to applaud and shout, the whole scene was boiling.
More than 200,000 people shouted together, and the trees on both sides of the bank were shaken and fell down.
The river is rippling, inspiring and pushing the passion to a climax.
The host explained the rules of the competition in public again. After Luo Liba hesitated for a while, he shouted loudly: "The competition is about to begin! We invite the participating teams from the first division to enter!"
There is a line of floats on the river, which represents the starting point of the competition.
At this time, hundreds of boats fell into the water and rowed to the starting point.
In the first round of the competition, hundreds of boats compete together to determine the top ten.
The top ten are the rankings of the sub-divisions, and there are rewards, but not many.
The top ten in each division will continue to participate in the finals.
Taking out the top ten is the overall ranking.
The dormitory area mentioned by Li Xiao and Zhu Gaoxu is in Beiping City. It belongs to the first competition area and they are the first to participate.
"Brother-in-law, I will definitely defeat you today."
At the starting line, Zhu Gaoxu's boat was next to Li Xiaochuan. One of them was wearing a red team uniform and the other was wearing a blue team uniform. They did not belong to the same team.
However, both of them are at the helm, so they are bound to compete.
"Come on, if you don't like it, give it a try."
Li Xiao laughed and said.
He put his hands on his hips and looked around. On the shore, he found Zhu Yuanzhang smiling and waving to him, and Li Xiao immediately waved in response.
Li Xiao said: "Second brother, our family members are all watching us from the shore."
Zhu Gaoxu took a look and said, "It's true. Then you have to show off."
After finishing speaking, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the team members on his boat and shouted: "Brothers, if we can win the first place today, I will pay out of my own pocket and reward each person with another hundred taels of silver!"
hiss.
The people on Zhu Gaoxu's boat couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
You don't have to risk your life to row a boat. You have to earn that one hundred taels no matter what.
Li Xiao smiled and shook his head, thinking that this younger brother is really competitive.
However, Li Xiao didn't say such a thing. It didn't matter to him whether he won or lost. Just try your best. The important thing is participation. Friendship comes first, competition comes second.
"preparation!!!!"
the referee shouted.
Everyone became nervous and clenched the oars in their hands, ready to use force at any time.
Even the audience couldn't help but hold their breath and watch quietly.
"Bang!"
The gunshot sounded and the game officially began.
Dong dong dong——
The drummer on the dragon boat began to play the drum regularly, and the sound of the drum was loud.
This drum sound is very important, allowing the crew to find the rhythm and exert force at the same time in a rhythmic manner.
According to the rhythm of the drum, the crew started rowing, and Li Xiao also shouted: "One or two!"
"Hi!"
Everyone in his crew shouted together and then exerted their strength.
The boat breaks through the waves, water splashes everywhere, and the dragon boat seems to be transformed into a thousand-year-old dragon, shuttling in the rapids, and the air is filled with a tense atmosphere.
"One or two!"
"Hi!"
"One or two!"
"Hi!"
Only shouts were heard.
The team members from each village mustered up their energy, waved their oars, and fought hard.
Teams compete to surpass each other, chasing each other.
The dragon boat is like a bow shooting an arrow on the water, passing through layers of waves.
Countless paddle shadows intersect, cut through the waves, and stir up spectacular water splashes.
The faces of the men on board were filled with firm belief and passion, and their eyes shone with the desire for victory.
"come on! Come on!"
The shouts of the people on the river bank continued to ring out, and they all shouted for their fleet.
Li Xiao also sank into it and rowed hard, feeling the constant shouting in his ears.
The starting speeds were almost the same, but after five minutes, they widened the gap.
Obviously, Li Xiao's team is currently in first place.
"Our grandson-in-law's team is ahead."
Zhu Yuanzhang, who paid great attention to the game, his eyes lit up and he said with a smile.
After finishing speaking, he pointed at Gao Xu and said: "Gao Xu is not bad. If you stick to him, you may surpass him."
As he was talking, Zhu Yuanzhang saw something out of the corner of his eye and felt something was wrong. He pointed at the Confucian scholar not far away and frowned: "What are those people doing?"
As soon as the words fell, the group of Confucian scholars jumped into the water one by one.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di stood up angrily.
This group of people is really crazy. For such a grand event, some people are so disappointed.
You don’t have to choose a good time to jump into the river, you have to choose this time to jump into the river.
It's a good game, with more than 200,000 people watching, but when the time comes there are a bunch of dead bodies floating on the river, can the game still go on?
"Come on, come on, come on, pick up these stupid pigs for me."
Zhu Di gave instructions hurriedly, but he soon became confused. He only brought some Jin Yiwei with him today. These Jin Yiwei looked at each other and didn't know how to deal with it.
At this moment.
Li Xiao is directing the boat. His boat is on the far right, leaning against the river bank.
Suddenly, the Confucian scholars, like Shi Lezhi, jumped into the river one after another.
In the blink of an eye, seven or eight people jumped down.
After these people entered the water, they began to choke on the water, struggled uncomfortably, and floated on the water.
Li Xiao had to adjust his direction to avoid killing these people.
With this adjustment, the speed slowed down, and Zhu Gaoxu next to him seized the opportunity to overtake.
"The sky is unfair, the sky is unfair! Today I will die to make my determination clear!"
Another Confucian scholar shouted loudly, with the intention of dying generously, and jumped with all his strength.
It turns out that this group of Confucian scholars were just here by the river, constantly promoting their ideas.
However, no one around them paid attention to them.
These people mourned the Spring and Autumn. They also said that the imperial examinations were cancelled, Confucianism was attacked, and the world would be in chaos. They also said that businesswomen did not know the hatred of the country's subjugation, and they still sang the songs of Houtinghua across the river.
As one person got extremely excited, he shouted, "Today, like Qu Yuan, I will die to clarify my will. After awakening this group of ignorant people, I jumped directly."
This jump was the beginning, and others followed suit.
"Look, that's the Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty!"
A Confucian scholar on the shore shouted: "Today we will die in front of the great master of the Ming Dynasty to see whether he will save us or not. If he doesn't save us, then he will be a beast."
As he said this, the man also jumped hard.
Several other people also shouted and jumped down.
However, after falling into the water, this group of people regretted it after choking on the water. The feeling after choking on the water was very uncomfortable, and death would also arouse the desire to survive.
Then he shouted at Li Xiao: "National Preceptor, save me!"
"You must be sick. I am not King Huai of Chu. Why are you trying to imitate Qu Yuan?"
Li Xiao cursed, directly commanded the fleet, and flew away.
However, after such a delay, the fleet was already lagging behind.
"The Imperial Preceptor is so cold and cold-blooded, and refuses to save anyone even in the face of death. How can such a person become the Imperial Preceptor!!!!"
The Confucian scholars on the shore were even more sad when they saw this.
In anger, a dozen more people jumped down.
However, there were only a few people who dared to jump into the river. The remaining Confucian scholars on the bank saw that the diving people were in so much pain that some of them had already sunk to the bottom.
This is real death, no joke!
They suddenly woke up and shouted: "Come on, someone has fallen into the water!"
The person who fell into the water was also shouting: "Help me, save me, I suddenly don't want to die anymore."
In normal times, the people now are very enthusiastic and will rescue people when they see them falling into the water. What's more, there are so many people at the scene, and there are not only a few people who know how to swim.
But no one came to rescue.
The Confucian scholars looked at the common people and shouted: "You are so cold-hearted, are you going to die without saving me?"
The common people still had no one to save them and said:
"Why did you fall into the water? Didn't you jump into the river voluntarily?"
"Yes, yes, I clearly saw that you jumped down voluntarily."
"You are seeking death, why should you save me?"
The Confucian scholars were speechless and could only be anxious.
However, at this time, dozens of lifeguards came to rescue with lifeboats.
Fortunately, the prefect was well prepared. As expected, someone jumped into the river. Soon, the twenty or so scholars who jumped into the river were all rescued by lifeguards. Even the few people who sank to the bottom were dived into the river and fished out by lifeguards. .
The situation was reversed, and the Confucian scholars breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but become even more angry with Li Xiao.
Obviously, the scene where Li Xiao refused to save him and left directly made them very uncomfortable.
"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, you died so miserably."
"Pity that Imperial Master, he refused to save you. Your death will be in vain."
"It's so sad for us, so sad"
Several Confucian scholars knelt on the ground and shouted at the unconscious Confucian scholar who was fished out from the bottom.
Those Confucian scholars were obviously out of breath and looked like they were about to die.
"Get out of the way!"
Several lifeguards dispersed them and began artificial respiration.
"What are you doing? They are already dead. Do you want to insult the corpses?"
A Confucian scholar cursed.
"Shut up and say less!" the lifeguard said.
With mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration, these people were miraculously saved.
There was a burst of exclamations from the people around, this is amazing!
"This is called artificial respiration, do you understand?"
After rescuing several people, the lifeguard captain shouted to the Confucian scholar: "You are not allowed to insult the Imperial Master. The Imperial Master passed down this method of artificial respiration. Every year, I wait by the river and treat hundreds of people who accidentally fell into the water." His life! How could the Imperial Preceptor be the one who refuses to save his life? The Imperial Preceptor has already arranged for me and other lifeguards to be here to prevent people from drowning. It is really a villain’s heart to judge a gentleman’s belly!”
The lifeguard captain cursed several times, making these scholars feel ashamed.
The people around him kept booing.
"Let's go"
The Confucian scholars didn't have the shame to continue causing trouble here, so they supported the drowning man and fled.
As soon as they left, the people applauded.
"Great, finally gone."
"If it weren't for the law set by the National Master, I would have wanted to beat them long ago."
"The people who worry about the world being in chaos every day must be these rotten scholars."
The people talked one after another.
Hearing the remarks behind them, the group of Confucian scholars walked faster, and in a blink of an eye no one could be seen, leaving the Yongding River where they were watching the dragon boat.
A farce ended here.
distance.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Gaochi clapped his hands and applauded: "I was originally worried that my brother-in-law would not save him until he died, but it turns out that life-saving personnel were already prepared. The preparations for this event are really sufficient and comprehensive."
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and said, "These Confucian scholars are really annoying."
Zhu Di smiled and said: "You can watch the competition with peace of mind from now on, but because of such a delay, Li Xiao fell from first to sixth. It is a pity that he lost the ranking."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "We have made it into the top ten, isn't there a finals later?"
Everyone nodded and continued to watch the game.
At the same time, I have already recognized Li Xiao's reforms in my heart. With an audience of 200,000 and a year-on-year event in 1,000 villages, with the participation of the dormitory area, the event is in order!
What Li Xiao did was indeed right!
It’s not just Zhu Di, Zhu Yuanzhang and others.
When the officials of the imperial court saw today's game and what happened just now, their views on Li Xiao gradually changed.
If they were asked to organize this important competition, I'm afraid one of them would not be able to organize it so well.
Li Xiao, on the other hand, didn't have to manage these things at all. Instead, he had time to participate in the dragon boat racing competition. The competition still went very smoothly. It can be seen that his appointment of officials and reform system were both remarkable and extremely effective!
Li Xiao is not a mediocre person, but he is really capable.
It seems that the Supreme Emperor is really wise. He saw Li Xiao's extraordinary ability eleven years ago and dared to entrust him with an important task. It was really a pearl that met Bole!
Next, the game is still in full swing.
He was not affected at all by the episode of jumping into the river just now.
It was almost noon, after the competition in the ten divisions, the finals were held.
In this finals, Li Xiao naturally came out on top and won the first place.
Under the crazy shouts of countless people, the winner was determined.
"Master National Preceptor is amazing!"
"Li Qingtian, Li Qingtian, Li Qingtian!!"
"Our great master Qingtian has won!"
Although Li Xiao hid his identity, he was quickly recognized. When the people discovered that the champion was Li Xiao, everyone shouted loudly.
Even if my own village loses, it doesn't matter, Lord Qingtian has won!
"Ashamed, ashamed, I accepted it easily."
Li Xiao stood on the bow of the boat, laughed and waved to the people, enjoying the feeling of being watched by thousands of people.
Li Xiao has perfect dragon boat rowing skills, so winning the first place is almost a sure thing.
"Brother-in-law, my brother is not as good as you."
Zhu Gaoxu said with a helpless smile, he was first in the division and second in the finals, but he felt a little regretful that he still lost to his brother-in-law.
After the game, a sensational award ceremony was held, and cheers echoed throughout the world.
Li Xiao held up the golden dragon boat trophy he designed and shouted: "We are the champions!"
Afterwards, the whole place went crazy!
That's it.
The first dragon boat racing competition ended successfully.
And Zhu Yuanzhang also saw the power of the dormitory area, and made up his mind to let Zhu Di make the next reform, and began to develop in this direction!
However, this matter definitely did not fall on Zhu Di, but on Zhu Gaochi. It seems that he has a lot of work to do again.
On the other side, the Confucian scholars were completely defeated. They were completely defeated and became clowns. They were soon in the newspapers.
Helpless, the great scholar Kong Maoxue began to plan a last-ditch effort!
Do or die!
(End of chapter)
