Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 124 Polo Match at Hibiscus Garden

In the seventh year of Yonghui, mid-April was the day when Tang officials received their salaries for the first time that year.

There were four types of salaries for officials in the Tang Dynasty: monthly salary, rice allowance, official land, and labor tax.

Gao Youdao was a ninth-rank proofreader, with a monthly salary of 57 coins, dan of rice, and mu of official land.

Li Ke was a servant in the palace, and Gao Youdao couldn't afford to support him, so he didn't want him.

Gao Youdao handed over all 200 acres of official land to his family to manage.

The Gao family rented out these official fields, and the rent collected every year was enough to support the entire family.

Monthly salaries were paid every three months. The Ministry of Finance, under the Ministry of Revenue, would deliver wooden deeds engraved with the official's name and position to the Taifu Temple in advance.

Officials went to the Taifu Temple to collect their salaries with fish tokens and certificates.

It was just past noon, and many officials gathered outside the Taifu Temple to collect their salaries.

Gao Youdao, Lu Zhaolin and Du Yijian lined up among the officials. After waiting for a long time, the three finally received their monthly salary.

They only started working in March, so they only received monthly salary for more than one month.

The total amount is one string and eight small strings, each string is one thousand coins, and each small string is one hundred coins.

The stipend is distributed once every six months, so I can’t get it this time.

The three of them left Taifu Temple. Lu Zhaolin put the money into the purse on his waist, shook his head and said with a smile:

"I've waited in line for so long, and I only get so few copper coins. I wonder when I can get promoted to the fifth rank and get some mutton."

Du Yijian glanced at him and smiled, "It's nothing to you, but for me and Brother Gao, it's money for drinks and meals."

Lu Zhaolin smiled and said, "Well, I'll treat you to a meal at the restaurant. Afterwards, we can go to Furong Garden to watch the polo match."

Furong Garden is located in the southeast corner of Chang'an City.

Although it is a royal garden, part of it is open to the people of Chang'an City, making it the most popular garden in Chang'an City.

Du Yijian gave a thumbs-up and praised, "As expected of the Fanyang Lu family, I would be honored to receive your kind invitation!"

Gao Youdao asked, "Do you want to bring Brother Di along as well?"

Lu Zhaolin smiled and said, "Of course we invited them together." He glanced sideways and said, "It's just that he seems to be even busier than us. He hasn't shown up yet."

Gao Youdao said, "Wait a moment."

The three of them waited near Taifu Temple, and not long after, Di Renjie finally arrived.

He was also leading a horse with a large sack on top.

Di Renjie was different from the other three. He was a fourth-rank official with a monthly salary of more than 10,000 coins. Moreover, he had been in office for three months, and his monthly salary was more than 30,000 coins, which required camels and horses to transport.

After Di Renjie received his salary, Du Yijian said with envy, "Brother Di, if you work for a few more years, you can buy a small house in the south of Chang'an, right?"

Di Renjie smiled and said, "It's still early."

Lu Zhaolin smiled and said, "You should be able to lead more than a dozen sheep now. Wherever you want to lead them, we will go with you."

Di Renjie said, "The officials from the Imperial Household Department will deliver it directly to my home tonight."

Lu Zhaolin smiled and said, "That's quite convenient. Today I'll treat you to a drink and a polo match, and some other day you have to treat me to roasted lamb."

Di Renjie smiled and said, "Of course."

The group walked towards the southeast. When they were walking on Qixiamen Street, Di Renjie suddenly stopped and looked back.

Lu Zhaolin asked, "Brother Di, what's wrong?"

Di Renjie said in a deep voice: "There is a woman following us."

Lu Zhaolin turned his head and followed Di Renjie's gaze. Sure enough, there was a young woman wearing a face covering standing in front of a jewelry stall, glancing over here from time to time.

Gao Youdao said: "She followed me, you don't have to worry about it, let's go." He turned around and strode away.

Several people immediately followed, and Lu Zhaolin asked curiously, "Brother Gao, who is that woman, and why is she following you?"

Gao Youdao said, "She's from the Du Mansion, her name is Du Rong. She sometimes follows me around, but I never answer her when I ask her questions."

Du Yijian's face changed and he said, "Could it be that the Jingzhao Du family wants to take revenge on you?"

Lu Zhaolin snorted, "If they want revenge, they should go to Du Zhenglun. Why are they looking for Brother Gao?"

Du Yijian sighed, "This is called bullying the weak and fearing the strong. The Jingzhao Du family has declined, and Du Zhenglun and his men can't afford to offend them, so they take their anger out on Brother Gao."

Di Renjie glanced at Gao Youdao and said, "Brother Gao, do you want me to help you talk to someone in the Du Mansion?"

Gao Youdao shook his head and said, "If she wanted to harm me, she would have done it long ago. Don't bother with her."

When the others heard him say this, they stopped talking.

Not long after, everyone arrived at Furong Garden, found a restaurant in the nearby Quchifang, had a meal, and then entered Furong Garden.

There is a polo field in the East Garden of Furong Garden, with platforms and tents on all four sides, which can accommodate thousands of spectators.

The more important polo matches in Chang'an City like to be held in Furong Garden for the sake of excitement.

Yu Zhining's grandson is named Yu Zhiwei. He is twenty years old this year, but he is still studying at the Hongwenguan and has not entered the officialdom.

A few years ago, he did not enter the officialdom because he was too young. However, now that he has come of age, he still has not entered the officialdom through family connections. It is because of his father-in-law Yu Zhining.

In the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty, no one knew how to protect himself better than Yu Zhining.

When Wang Liwu was deposed, he said nothing.

When the aristocratic factions were causing trouble in Chang'an City, he claimed to be ill and avoided seeing anyone.

When the Qingliu government was rectifying the administration of officials, he asked for an errand to Luoyang and stayed away from Chang'an City.

After several disturbances, Changsun Wuji retired, the Jingzhao Du family was expelled, Changsun Yang and Liu Sheng were arrested, and only he was safe and sound.

After the imperial examination reform, Yu Zhining established a family rule that the descendants of the Yu family would no longer be allowed to enter officialdom through family connections, and all of them had to take the imperial examination.

Only those who passed the exam were allowed to enter the official career.

For this reason, Yu Zhiwei still wore white clothes and brown robes.

Fortunately, he never had a strong desire for a career in politics and only loved playing polo.

Under his careful organization, the Yufu Polo Team became one of the best polo teams in Chang'an City.

Wufu's polo team is also very strong.

The aristocratic factions were all hostile to the Wu Mansion, and every now and then, they would send people to challenge them, taking the opportunity to humiliate the Wu Mansion on the polo field.

The Wu family polo team is managed by brothers Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi.

They were also young at heart, arrogant and proud. They spent money to find many strong players and finally formed a luxurious team.

Watching polo matches is one of the favorite entertainment activities for the people of Chang'an City.

This time, two strong teams were competing. Just after noon, people from the 100 districts of Chang'an City rushed to Furong Garden in an endless stream.

There is a shed on the north and south sides of the stadium, which serves as temporary resting places for the two teams.

The rest house of the Wu Mansion was located in the south. Wu Sansi was the leader and Wu Chengsi was the deputy leader.

Everyone was changing clothes and checking the moon staff.

After a while, Wu Sansi changed into a short and narrow-sleeved outfit, wore a fu hat, long boots, and held a moon-shaped staff in his hand.

The Yuezhang is a crescent-shaped ball stick that players use to hit the ball.

Mi Jiro was also checking his moon staff.

He checked it very carefully and even sniffed it to make sure that the moon stick had been replaced by someone.

After checking that everything was correct, he looked at a young man in the corner with a frown.

This was the first time he had seen this player, and he was not a player from his original team.

Mi Erlang hesitated for a moment, then came to Wu Sansi and asked, "Sir, why is there a new player in the team?"

Wu Sansi glanced at the man and said with a smile, "That's Zheng Ba, a player specially sent by Her Majesty the Queen. He's an excellent player."

Wu Chengsi said with a smile, "Erlang, Her Majesty the Queen is also watching this match. You must compete well. If you perform well, Her Majesty the Queen might even reward you!"

Mi Erlang shouted, "I will do my best!"

At this moment, Zheng Ba suddenly said to Wu Sansi, "Mr. Wu, this ball head is not good. Let me be the ball head instead."

Wu Sansi frowned and said, "Zheng Ba, Mi Erlang is a veteran of our Wufu Ball Club. He has superb ball skills and cooperates well with the players. You should be the assistant ball head."

Zheng Ba said in a deep voice, "He can't do it. If you don't believe me, let me compete with him."

Wu Sansi looked at Wu Chengsi, who said, "Then let them have a fight."

Zheng Badao: "Let's go outside and compete in back-to-back fighting."

The so-called "post-up" is a technique that uses body movements to keep the ball sticking to the body and running with the ball, which is often used to break through the opponent's defense.

This is also a technique used in Cuju, but it is more difficult to use in polo.

Mi Erlang came here with a mission this time. He had already rehearsed the plan and deployment in his mind countless times. If he suddenly changed his identity, accidents would occur, which he would never allow.

"Okay, I'll challenge you to a back-to-back fight."

The two were competing outside, and the back-to-the-basket attack only required the ball, so neither of them brought the moon staff.

Zheng Badao: "I'll go first." He stretched out his toes and picked up a ball, caught it steadily with his head, and then let it slide from his neck. When it reached behind his buttocks, he stretched out his foot and kicked it backwards, kicking the ball back with his heel.

This went on repeatedly, and the ball rolled around on his body without falling.

Mi Erlang sneered and said, "It's my turn." He also hooked up the ball and made a similar move to Zheng Ba.

The only difference is that he has to control the ball on his body while walking forward quickly. Isn't it more than twice as difficult?
The people around cheered.

Zheng Ba bowed to Mi Erlang and said, "I admire you. I dare not argue for the position of the ball head."

Wu Sansi thought it was great to see him give in voluntarily.

After all, Zheng Ba was sent by the Queen. If he insisted on being the leader, Wu Sansi had no choice.

Half an hour later, the sound of bells and drums was heard outside.

This is the sound of reminding you to go on stage.

Next to the shed was the stable. Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi led the members of the club to the stable to check the horses.

Playing polo is extremely dangerous, especially because ponytails can easily get tangled, so players will tie up their ponytails to prevent hidden dangers.

After the second bell and drum sounded, everyone mounted their horses and rode into the polo field.

The court is square, about a thousand steps long and wide.

The ground is as smooth as a mirror. It is compacted with loess, and then a proper amount of butter is poured into the soil, and finally it is repeatedly compacted.

The polo field obtained in this way is not only smooth and flat, but also there will be no dust to obstruct the view when the horses run.

The court is surrounded by low walls.

A large number of spectators had already gathered around, with officials and nobles standing in the pavilion and common people standing outside the wall.

There is a lecture platform in the middle of the court, where the referee stands.

There is a goal in the north and south respectively, and a wooden pole is erected next to the goal. As long as one side scores a goal, a colorful flag will be hung on the wooden pole.

The players from both teams rode their horses to the lecture platform and listened to the chief explain the rules. After the explanation was finished, both teams stepped back and kept a distance of twenty feet.

Between the two teams, there is a polo ball.

The ball is made of light and tough wood. It is as big as a fist, painted red and with colorful patterns. It is also called a "color ball".

With the sound of gongs and drums, the polo match began.

Mi Erlang identified Yu Zhiwei from the very beginning.

The two of them rushed towards the polo ball in the middle together. Yu Zhiwei was playing with the ball, while he was rushing towards the people.

With a "bang", the moon stick hit Yu Zhiwei's forehead.

Yu Zhiwei and Mi Erlang both showed expressions of astonishment.

Yu Zhiwei was shocked as to why Mi Erlang hit him.

Mi Erlang stared blankly at the moon staff in his hand.

The front end of his moon staff was broken. It seemed that his moon staff had been replaced by someone else, so he couldn't even knock Yu Zhiwei off his horse.

Mi Erlang bit open the poison packet in his mouth without hesitation.

The last thing that came to my mind was when the moon stick was replaced?

(End of this chapter)