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   Chapter 761 758 [Knight Contest]

   Louvre.

  The queen mother and king of France are preparing for a knight tournament.

  There are not many high-level entertainment activities these days, nothing more than banquets, dances, concerts, hunting in the countryside, and knightly competitions.

  Horse racing or something is not very popular yet.

  The prosperity of horse racing has to wait for the restoration of Prince Charles. The British "jolly king" laid the foundation for modern horse racing, and many horse racing rules were formulated by him himself.

  Two grand banquets have been held, and a concert has also been organized. Seeing the Chinese guests seems not very interested, so Prime Minister Mazarin proposed to hold a knight contest.

   "My Lady, Ambassador, please read." Cai Yuncheng took out a booklet.

  Lu Tianxiang glanced at it and said that she couldn't understand French.

  Zhang Ruifeng asked: "What book is this?"

  Cai Yuncheng said: "The Collection of Great Harmony."

  Zhang Ruifeng looked strange: "The Collection of Datong written in French? Where did you get it?"

Cai Yuncheng said: "I will go to the streets of Paris today to appreciate the customs and customs of this place. When I walked into a small alley, I saw someone gathering a crowd to give lectures. I was waiting for the general officer (translator) to listen. The French scholar who was giving lectures on the street, He even took the initiative to talk to me. He asked a lot of weird questions, which were generally related to His Majesty's administration. After chatting for a while, the French scholar was very excited, and forced me to go to the tavern for a drink."

  Lu Tianxiang asked: "French scholars preaching "Da Tong Ji" on the streets of Paris?"

Cai Yuncheng said: "It is the "Datong Collection" after the deletion. The natural imperial power was changed to the divine right of the king, and the way of heaven was changed to the will of Jesus. Tian Zheng was all deleted, and a lot of messy content was added. This French scholar should be a first-class chaotic party. They also formed the Datong Party, declaring that they would launch a riot, expel the prime minister by force, and force the queen mother to return to the king. If the king fails to govern benevolently, the king will be expelled and another royal family will succeed."

   "This is a traitor!" Zhang Ruifeng exclaimed in surprise, "Paris is the capital of France. How dare they preach rebellion on the streets of Paris? Will the French government ignore it?"

Cai Yuncheng also felt that it was outrageous, and said with a smile: "No one cares. When the French scholars gave lectures, there were still a lot of onlookers, estimated to be one or two hundred people. After a closer look, there are also merchants among the onlookers. I Halfway through drinking with the scholar, a merchant came and asked a lot of rebellious questions on the spot."

  Wealthy businessmen and tycoons in France, of course, can buy officials to work, and they can also lend money to the royal family to cover taxes.

   But ordinary businessmen, but belong to oppressed objects. Not only did they have the heart of rebellion, they even belonged to the main force of the Paris uprising.

  The Fronde movement a few years ago built 1,200 barricades in Paris overnight in order to resist officers and soldiers. If there are no businessmen involved, I am afraid that even ghosts will not be believed, and the real bottom will not be so active.

  Cai Yuncheng added: "These French rebels request to see Ambassador Zhang."

Zhang Ruifeng waved his hands again and again: "This is France's internal affairs, we should not get involved in it. Of course, there is no need to report the chaotic party, just pretend that you don't know anything. Let's talk about the Knights Tournament. The French royal family has sincerely invited you many times. If you refuse, it is inevitable. Sweeping away the interest of the master, it also appears that I, Datong China, do not have the spirit of martial arts."

   "Then send a team to participate, four people are enough." Before going to sea, Lu Tianxiang must be positive when encountering martial arts competitions. But after a real battle, he became calm instead, and no longer had the desire to fight bravely.

  Zhang Ruifeng said: "Let's arrange for four bodyguards with excellent riding skills to fight the head of the French guard one-on-one."

   The knights are singled out, and four people are really needed, because the European knights have to bring three followers to assist them.

   Medieval knight contests, brutal and bloody. There are almost no rules, and the real battlefield is fully restored. A group of people with real swords and guns fights with another group of people in the field. There will be a lot of casualties in each competition.

  The most outrageous time, the two sides became angry, and relatives and friends who were spectators also drew their swords to join the battle. Fighting and fighting, each of them threw their fully armed infantry into the battle. Historically known as the Battle of Chalong.

  Due to the heavy casualties, after this contest, the spectators were prohibited from carrying weapons, and the knights were prohibited from carrying weapons.

   Gradually, real knives and guns are banned, and only wooden guns can be used, and it has evolved from group battles to one-on-one, and even referees and scoring systems have appeared.

  No matter how complicated the rules are, casualties will inevitably occur. King Henry II of France was stabbed to death by his captain of the guard during the knightly competition.

   Three days later, the square in Paris was crowded with people.

  The arena is surrounded by wooden fences, surrounded by nobles, wealthy businessmen and scholars. Common people can only stand far away, unable to see the situation inside clearly, and can only feel the atmosphere through cheers and shouts.

  The Chinese guests are very face-saving, and the great French writer Chaplain was invited to be the master of ceremonies in the competition.

  The founder of the French Academy was Richelieu, but the real organizer of the organization was the Chaplain in front of him. This old man is also the founder of classical literary theory, which stimulated the prosperity of European aristocratic salon literature.

   Corneille, the founder of French classical theater, was also invited to watch the contest today.

   In knightly contests, in addition to nobles, writers and ladies are also very important. At the end of the competition, writers can use this as inspiration to create beautiful literary works. As for the ladies, of course they are here for pleasure, and the winning knight will receive a flood of love letters.

  Lu Tianxiang was sitting next to the Queen Mother Anne, surrounded by noble ladies, and the smell of the soaring perfume was torture.

  A large-scale knightly competition, which may last for several days.

  Contest during the day, banquet at night, the winner will be caught by the ladies.

   In the first competition, there were two young French aristocrats, each with a knight retinue.

  In order to avoid tragic death and injury, there are many obstacles in the arena. The horses made of wood were placed in a mess, and the knights could not charge at high speed.

  The martial arts competition began, and eight people on the field fought against each other.

  Noble knights against noble knights, knightly squires against knightly squires.

  Noble knights use wooden spears, while retinues can only use wooden sticks. There are even two retinues fighting on foot to increase the enjoyment of the game.

  Lu Tianxiang picked up the binoculars and observed the European knights' tactics in detail.

  Unfortunately, there are too many obstacles, and neither side can rush. Run around obstacles on horseback, and fight with guns after approaching. It's not like in the film and television works, they are blocking each other in the first round, and they are rushing to smash the opponent's wooden spear.

   Shoot down or break down the enemy's wooden gun, you can get points.

   "Ah! Kill him, dear, kill him!"

  Screaming came from behind, Lu Tianxiang turned her head to look, but she was a fat woman with white breasts.

  The first round ended quickly, and neither side's armor was stained with lime. Then continue, only if the fatal part is hit, or if you fall off the horse, you will be directly judged as defeated.

  The entourages of both sides fought more lively, and the two guys fighting on foot had already scuffled into a wrestling appearance.

   Until the third round, a knight was stabbed in the chest by a wooden spear, and flew out instantly with too much force, finally ending the first competition.

   "Boom!"

  The audience stood up and applauded, and the ladies screamed again and again.

  The winner took off his helmet, bent down and saluted in all directions, enjoying the highlight moment of his life.

  Louis XIV personally presented him with an award. It was a box of silver coins, which contained 2,000 livres, roughly equivalent to more than 200 taels of silver. This is just an appetizer, and the rewards get heavier as you get closer. There used to be kings who took castles and fiefdoms as prizes.

  The daytime is lively enough, and the evening is a dance party.

Zhang Ruifeng couldn't help feeling emotional: "On this first day, the king rewarded more than 3,000 taels of silver. Looking at it like this, the rewards will be heavier and heavier. When this contest is over, the total reward will probably exceed 100,000 taels. It will be held every night." The banquet, if this goes on like this, two or three hundred thousand taels of silver will be gone. Faint Lord, a real fool!"

  Pan Wei said with a smile: "I'm afraid it's difficult to hold such a grand martial arts competition frequently. It can be held once a year, and it can make the royal family very upset."

  Starting from the second day, the prizes are no longer pure gold and silver, but also include horses, armor, swords, official positions, etc.

   Until the last game on the sixth day, the main event finally took place.

  Zheng Dayong led the three emperor's personal guards and led the horse to the field, looking up at his opponent.

  The great writer Xia Pulan asked: "Dear Mr. Zheng Dayong, Captain of the Chinese Emperor's Guard, would you accept the challenge of Navarre, Captain of the French Guard Company?"

   "Accept." Zheng Dayong said.

  This is the standard procedure. If it is a private duel, a challenge will be sent out in advance, and someone with a reputation must be invited to convey it, and the specific content of the competition must be agreed in advance.

  The six retinues on both sides are actually guest guards from China and France. None of them were on horseback, and they were fighting on foot. Anyway, it was just an addition to increase the fun.

  Zheng Dayong was wearing a full-body plate armor brought from China, and the cavalry shield in his hand was provided by the French royal family.

  The shield is quite large, with a vertical length of about 40 centimeters. There is not only a handle behind the shield, but also a belt that can be hung around the neck.

   "Drive!"

  Zheng Dayong pulled down his helmet and neck helmet, reined in his horse and accelerated slowly, moving around the obstacles in the field.

  The distance between the two sides was about ten meters, and the obstacles became very few, so they could finally charge faster.

  This kind of European-style lance is very difficult for Zheng Dayong to use. Holding the shield in his left hand and the gun in his right, he bent down and began to charge. The opponent's posture is similar, but sits slightly more upright.

"Snapped!"

  Two crisp sounds, the lances of both sides broke and pierced each other's shields.

  Under normal circumstances, each goes to the sidelines to change guns. If there is no KO in the end, it depends on the number of broken lances and the number of hits on non-lethal parts.

  However, Zheng Dayong did not play his cards according to common sense.

  When the two sides passed by on the wrong horse, Zheng Da used his legs to clamp the horse's belly tightly, and reached out to grab the opponent's shield belt.

  The belt of the shield hangs around the opponent's neck. The captain of the French guard company suddenly felt a huge pulling force. He subconsciously let go of the shield, but the belt around his neck was not removed, and he was dragged and fell off his horse.

"it is good!"

  The Chinese envoys applauded.

  The French audience was dead silent, and then there was a lot of discussion.

   Is this a foul?

   It seems that there is no rule that pulling the shield is not allowed.

  (end of this chapter)