At the end of the New Year of the second year of the founding of the Yasukuni Dynasty, the Jiehe Commercial Market, an important commercial town in the newly emerging north, was a prosperous and lively time.

Unlike the crowded and noisy prosperity of Kaifeng Mansion, where fire and oil are everywhere, the prosperity of Jiehe Commercial Market is far from it, but it seems to have a solid foundation and cannot be shaken.

Although the walls of the Jiehe Merchant Market are somewhat low, they are made of red masonry and stone, giving people a solemn and inviolable feeling. It is not at all the same thing as the rammed earth walls around Kaifeng Mansion, which are tall but have collapsed everywhere. If the height of the walls can be raised in the future, I am afraid it will become a nightmare for all attackers!

The roads in the city are also mostly good and wide, with a hard gravel pavement that is very smooth and free of potholes. It is in disrepair with Kaifeng Mansion, and the road surface is full of water.

On both sides of the road, there are many buildings that have been built or are under construction, and many of them use red bricks, but the owners have painted a layer of white lime on the outside of the red bricks, and only a few walls that have not had time to paint are red. But these white or red masonry buildings also give people a sense of solidity and durability.

Unlike all the other Great Song Dynasty cities, Jiehe Shang Market is not a boxy city, but a semi-circular city, and the indoor road is either straight to the center of the semicircle, or it is arc-shaped, like the annual rings of trees, arranged in half circles and half circles, intersecting with the straight road leading to the center of the circle.

At the center of the semicircular city is an open square, adjacent to the banks of the Boundary River and the wharf. The square is surrounded by tall buildings, at least three-storey, and there are even "high-rise buildings" that are as high as the Republic Building, which is four stories high.

The "Yuanxin Square" and the nearby pier and riverbank are probably the busiest places in the whole city. Two or three tiles had already opened, and an archery range had been set up at the gate, where a large group of men in different costumes were gathered, most of them carrying bows and arrows, and were trying to shoot on the shooting range one by one. Occasionally, a man with excellent archery skills shoots a handful of arrows, which will also attract bursts of applause. It was as if archery was the most popular sport in this merchant city.

What is even more surprising than Kaifeng Mansion is that there are many people here dressed as Confucian scholars with long swords. The Song Dynasty did not prohibit the people from owning swords, but Confucian scholars still did not like swords, and few Confucian scholars were willing to go out with swords if they did not have to. But the men in Confucian clothes here in Jiehe are seven or eight times out of ten carrying swords!

A group of carriages and horses entered the south gate of Jiehe Commercial City, and this team of carriages and horses attracted the attention of many people. Because there were many men dressed as Confucian scholars in the group, and none of these Confucian scholars carried swords and bows and arrows, they looked a little weak, and they were obviously not the "doctoral students" in the Jiehe Branch of the Yuntai Academy outside the city.

Inside the car, from time to time, there was a man with a beard and a strong face, his head poked out, and he looked at everything around him with eyes like brass bells.

This man, with a weak and rough appearance, is Wu Haowen's teacher, Hou Zhongliang.

That's right, this is the convoy that Hou Zhongliang went north to invite Wu Haogu to discuss the Tao. He didn't come alone, and he also brought a lot of Kaifeng scholars who were interested in Jiehe Business City and Yuntai Academy.

The miraculously developed Jiehe Commercial Market also has a great reputation in Kaifeng Prefecture, which is not only in the business world, but also in the academic world. In particular, after the book "Practical Enlightenment and Taoism" was stolen and printed in Kaifeng Mansion, many scholars who could not look at Wuhao Gu and Jiehe Shang City also became interested, so they walked with Hou Zhongliang and came north to open their eyes.

A nephew of the Hou family from Huayin County rode a horse beside Hou Zhongliang's carriage and saw several Confucian scholars with long swords shooting arrows outside a huge tile gate, and shook his head again and again: "How can the Confucian scholars here be so good at martial arts? Do they not usually read the books of the saints, but dance and play with swords all day long? ”

Hou Zhongliang said with a smile: "There is no contradiction between dancing and playing with a sword and reading the book of a sage, even the sage himself is also good at fencing and archery." It's just that the saint knows that he can't act by courage alone, but must be subdued by virtue, so the saint doesn't use force even though he has it. ”

The nephew of the Hou family pondered for a while, and when he was thinking about Hou Zi's words, there was a sound of cheering, it turned out to be a Confucian who shot arrows and performed the stunt of continuous bead shooting, and the arrows shot one after another hit the bull's-eye, attracting bursts of applause.

"Sir, the Confucian scholars here seem to be so brave and ruthless, and they don't seem to have understood the true meaning of the saint to convince people with virtue."

Hou Zhongliang touched his beard and ordered with a smile: "Stop, let's go and have a look." ”

The carriage stopped on the side of the road, Hou Zhongliang lifted the curtain, got out of the carriage with the help of a disciple, and then strode towards an archery range located in front of the gate of Wan Da Wazi.

The person who took care of this shooting range was a man from Kaifeng Mansion, who was originally a splash under Liu Ergou. After Liu Ergou arrived at Jiehe Commercial Market, he became the shopkeeper of Wanda Wazi, and he jumped from his brothers to help watch the field.

When the predecessor saw that Hou Zhongliang was fierce, he thought he was here to shoot arrows, so he took a few steps forward and sang a fat song: "Is this good man here to sign up for the archery competition?" ”

Hero?

Hou Zhongliang is a great Confucian, and people generally call him "Master" or "Sir", which is the first time that people have been called a hero. And he is dressed in a Confucian shirt and wears a Yichuan hat (a hat designed by Cheng Yi), where does he look like a hero?

And what is an archery competition?

"Dare to ask the little brother," Hou Zhongliang arched his hand and asked, "What do you mean by archery competition?" ”

"Oh," the man heard Hou Zi's Guanzhong accent, listened to his question again, and knew that he had just arrived at the Jiehe, so he changed his title: "Sir has just arrived at the Jiehe, right?" ”

"My husband did just enter the city." A disciple of Hou Zi replied.

"Then it's no wonder," the man said with a smile, "things on this side of the Jiehe are indeed very different from those in the south, not only the Chamber of Commerce is in charge, but the morale is also more martial. This Raushzi archery competition was funded by the Jiehe Chamber of Commerce, and a reward was opened, and the top ten in the competition had high rewards to take. At present, the shooting ranges set up in front of the tiles are only for test firing.

At first glance, Mr. is a moral gentleman, and he doesn't think he can look down on archery skills. ”

In fact, Hou Zhongliang can shoot arrows, and his father Hou Ke is also a master of Yunwen and Yunwu, so naturally he will not educate his son to become a Confucian who is powerless.

However, when Hou Zi grew up, he realized that Confucianism should focus on seeking morality and virtue, and should not pursue force, so he no longer practiced archery and fencing.

"My husband naturally disdains the art of martial arts," said one of Hou Zi's disciples, "but how come there are so many people here dressed as Confucian scholars who are trying to shoot?" ”

"Hey, most of these Confucian students are from the Yuntai Academy...... Most of them were Confucian scholars who came to study in the Northern Dynasties, and they were all Yunwen and Yunwu. ”

Hou Zhongliang glanced at the Confucian who had just shot a series of arrows, a young man who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, and at this time he had already put away the laminated bow with the horns of the stubborn sheep as the main material, and was carefully removing the three uneven arrows from the grass target.

After all, the Confucian scholars in the north can't calm down and do their studies! Hou Zhongliang looked at the young man, felt a little regretful in his heart, sighed, retracted his gaze and asked, "Little brother, ask again, how to go to Yuntai Academy?" ”

"Mr. was going to Yuntai Academy...... It's not close, and I haven't been there much, so I might as well find someone to take you there. ”

"Then there will be labor."

"Don't work, don't work, I'll come when I go."

After speaking, Wan Dawazi's man, who presided over the archery competition, turned around and left, and after a while, he led the young Confucian who had just finished cleaning up the three uneven arrows to Hou Zi.

"In the Xiayuntai School Palace, disciple Yelu Dashi, I have seen Mr."

The young man reported his name, and it turned out to be Yelu Dashi, a disciple of Wu Haogu. He did not stay in Jiehe after worshipping under the Wuhao Ancient Gate, but returned to Xijin Province before the arrival of Chinese New Year's Eve last year, and his parents and a pair of younger siblings are now in Xijin Province, and he went back to spend the New Year with them, and only after the Shangyuan Festival did he return south to Yuntai Xuegong again, waiting for the start of school.

During this period, I heard about the "Bow and Arrow Competition", so I signed up with a few classmates, and by the way, I showed a hand of arrows during the test shooting.

"Jerodashi?" Hou Zhongliang frowned slightly, how could there be disciples of the Liao royal family in the Yuntai Academy? Although Confucius once said that there is no class, but the Khitans are the enemies of the Great Song Dynasty after all! If this matter is known to the Xining traitorous party, most of them will have to make a fuss, and Wu Haogu is afraid that he will get into big trouble.

"Dare to ask Brother Yelu," Hou Zi didn't want to turn around and leave, so he asked, "How should I go to Yuntai Academy?" ”

"Mr. is going to the Academy?" Yelu Dashi looked at the mighty-looking Confucian in front of him, and he didn't dare to be small, so he asked respectfully, "Did Mr. come to the Academy Palace to be a professor?" ”

"No," Hou Zi said, "I came here to find the province of martial artists at the behest of Mr. Yi Chuan. ”

"Oh," said Yelu Dashi with a smile, "the family teacher is not here, he went to Haizhou a year ago, and it will be about ten days before he can come back with Mr. Dongpo." ”

"Mr. Dongpo is also coming to the Boundary River?" Hou Zhongliang was stunned, "Also, you call Wuke Province a teacher?" ”

"Yes," Yelu Dashi nodded with a smile and said proudly, "The late student was admitted to the Jiehe Branch of the Yuntai Academy with the first place, so he won the favor of the guest province and was admitted to the door." ”

Hou Zhongliang frowned, this martial artist not only accepted the Khitan people as the disciples of the Yuntai Academy, but also accepted a disciple of the Khitan royal family as a disciple...... What a carelessness!