Although the court did not recognize the official nature of the polo game and has always regarded it as a folk movement, in fact, all states and army attached great importance to it, and the Jinzouyuan in the city of Luoyang had already arranged careful services.

The so-called Jinzouyuan is the office of the local government office in Beijing. Of course, only some wealthy Shangzhou have it. The players of the polo team and their horses are arranged to enter Jinzouyuan. On the one hand, food and accommodation must be arranged, and on the other hand, they must protect their safety and prevent accidents.

Last year, there was a strong collective diarrhea incident in Suzhou Polo team, which forced the polo team to give up the game, causing the Taipingfu team to win without a fight and enter the top ten. In the end, the truth was not found out and it was left unresolved.

It is precisely because of the painful lessons last year that all teams are careful to prevent this year. Even if they are not in the Juyuan, the teams that house the houses are cautious and specially hired chefs and grooms, and dare not be careless at all.

The polo team led by Li Zhen lives in the inner and outer offices of Quanshanfang. Shangguan Wan'er specially invested 2,000 guan to arrange their food, accommodation and safety protection. In addition to the various expenses before, Shangguan Wan'er spent 6,000 guan for this polo team in just a few months.

Fortunately, Shangguan Wan'er has a high status. With the consent of Wu Zetian, she specially transferred thirty excellent war horses from Hexi Mujian for use. Otherwise, the expenses of this polo team would be at least tens of thousands of yuan. The biggest expenses for raising a polo team are the salary of the polo players and the expenses of the war horses.

An excellent polo player has a monthly salary of at least 80 to 200, and a top polo player can even earn hundreds of taxes per month, so only the royal relatives can afford the polo team, and even powerful ministers like the prime minister may not have such financial resources.

Although Li Zhen and others are not professional polo players, the polo team will be disbanded after the game, Shangguan Wan'er still gives each person a 100-month subsidy every month from the team formation to the game.

Of course, the money is not necessarily paid out of Shangguan Wan'er himself. There are always wealthy businessmen who rely on the powerful and powerful to be willing to bear it. For example, the polo team cost of the prime minister Li Dan is actually borne by the Wang family, the richest man in Chang'an.

The same is true for teams in each state. No state government can spend tens of thousands of yuan a year to support a polo team. They are usually temporarily formed, and with fundraising support from local gentry.

Night has fallen, and the first round of the official game will begin tomorrow morning. The room is brightly lit, and Li Zhenzheng and several polo players discuss tomorrow's response tactics.

Polo is actually an entertainment version of horse-riding combat, paying attention to formation, strategy, coordination, morale, war horses, ball skills, etc. It is generally divided into front army, central army and rear army, but there are also cancellations of front army, only central army and rear army, and the central army is divided into main generals and left and right wings, but no matter what, the rear army must exist, just like real combat is to prevent the enemy from sneak attacking the rear camp food and grass.

This is also because polo is extremely fast, and a ball can bounce hundreds of distances. It is too late to defend against riders to retreat temporarily. There are no offside rules. When playing polo, it is important to have elusive, ambush, sneak attack and other tactics. Often, there are situations where the front army just scores but immediately loses the rear camp.

"Although the Xiangwang team has good personal strength, their biggest problem is that they lack training, which will lead to problems in their cooperation. The tactical understanding is far inferior to the Qianqi Camp, so I will still fight the front army, Zhang Li and Li Genu fight the center army, Lao Pei and Lao Pang guard the rear army, everyone has no objection!"

Everyone nodded and expressed their approval of Li Zhen's formation. At this time, Pei Kuan said: "I suggest that the old fat man be slightly on the right wing!"

"Why?" Everyone looked at him in confusion.

Pei Kuan smiled and said, "I have observed carefully during the training of the Xiangwang Polo team. I found that their formations are not equipped with front troops, but three central troops. Now it will be too late to change the formation. Li Chengqi must be the main general in the middle and command the entire team. Their left wing is weak and they should be replaced by Wu Chongxun. Wu Chongxun is very good at assaulting from the wing, corresponding to our right wing, so I suggest that the old fat man be on the right and focus on Wu Chongxun. As long as Wu Chongxun does not have the chance to score, then our chances of victory will be great."

Li Linfu pondered for a moment and said, "Will the opponent launch a surprise attack? Wu Chongxun will attack the main general, and Li Chengqi will switch to the left wing?"

"impossible!"

Li Zhen shook his head decisively, "Although the emperor's arrangement of Wu Chongxun to the Xiangwang team was to be harmonious with Li Wu, in fact, it was impossible. Xiangwang's team would never let Wu Chongxun be the main player. It would be considerate to the holy intention to let Wu Chongxun come on the court. Let Wu Chongxun replace Li Chengqi will make people have unnecessary political associations, so it is impossible!"

Li Zhen said to Pei Kuan again: "The plan to focus on Wu Chongxun is very wonderful, but we need to have an alternative plan. Once Wu Chongxun cannot play or ends early, we must change our strategy."

Everyone discussed for a while, considering the situation of each polo team, and made corresponding arrangements, especially how Zhang Li and Li Linfu cooperated with Li Zhen to break through the defense of the two back troops of the other side. They considered a lot of cooperation details and discussed until very late, and everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Li Zhen blew out the lights and returned to his yard. When he walked to the gate, he saw Zhang Li head-on. Zhang Li seemed to be waiting for him. If he had something to say, Li Zhen smiled and said, "Why, can't you sleep?"

Zhang Li sighed and said, "I only got news from Li Pan this morning that the Shazhou Polo team will play against Princess Taiping's team tomorrow."

Zhang Li was originally the main player of Shazhou Polo team. After he joined the inner guard team, Li Pan replaced his position as the main player. Li Pan's football skills were slightly weak, and Shazhou Polo team lost a lot of strength, and it turned from a first-class team to a second-class team.

Li Zhen smiled and said, "My sister Qiuniang was joking with me yesterday. If Li Pan also joined the Inner Guard Polo team, then we would have five Shazhou children, and they should be renamed Shazhou Second Team."

"Because it's yours, otherwise how could we have the opportunity today?"

Zhang Li hesitated for a moment and whispered: "The Shazhou polo team will be led by my father in person to Beijing this time."

Li Zhen suddenly apologized. He did not allow his polo players to go out. Zhang Li must have not seen his father yet. He apologized: "Or, after the game ends tomorrow, I will accompany you to meet Ling Zun!"

"There is no need for this. The Shazhou Polo team schedule is tomorrow morning. My father will come to us after the game tomorrow."

Li Zhen sighed: "I haven't seen Ling Zun for a long time. When I think of Ling Zun, I remembered the Martial Arts Examination last year. I really miss my Dunhuang life in the past!"

.........

The Prince of Xiang is also located in Mingyifang, not too far from Wei Tuaner's mansion. The Prince of Xiang is covering an area of ​​more than 200 acres, making it one of the largest luxury houses in Luoyang City.

Since Li Dan was abolished and demoted to the Prime Minister's Queen, he has been living in the Prime Minister's Mansion and usually stayed deep. He was only allowed to follow the Holy Driving to Mianchi during the winter hunt last year.

Since Li Dan's two deepest wives, Liu and Dou, were killed by Wei Tuaner, Li Dan seemed to have grown older 20 years old overnight, and his heart was ashamed. He was desperate about his future and future. He felt that his life would be spent in such a miserable way.

But Li Dan didn't want his son to be as tragic as him. The only concern in his heart was his son. So when Gao Yanfu brought the imperial edict and he could form a team to participate in this year's polo competition, Li Dan's heart gradually recovered, not for himself, but for his son, to win them a glimmer of hope.

Li Dan couldn't come forward, but his eldest son Li Chengqi was already twenty years old and smart and capable. He could stand alone. Li Dan asked his eldest son to do this, and he gave advice behind the scenes.

However, the eldest son Li Chengqi and the third son Li Longji were summoned by the emperor's grandmother two days ago. The news they brought really made Li Dan feel suspicious. His emperor's mother actually lifted him from house arrest and allowed him to meet with his "old friend". This was simply incredible.

Li Dan did not forget that just two years ago, Pei Feigong, the Shangfang Supervisor, and Fan Yunxian, came to see him privately, but were ordered to be beheaded in the city by his emperor's mother. The ministers who supported him, such as Di Renjie, Ren Zhigu, Pei Xingben, etc., were demoted to the magistrates.

His mother has always been as cold as iron. When will she become so tender and kind? Li Dan knows her mother too well. It is likely that this is a trap set by her mother and she wants to catch all the ministers who secretly support him.

Li Dan was very alert. He could go out for a walk, but he was spared to visit his "old friend".

In the study, Li Dan sat in front of the table and was thinking about his thoughts. The eldest son Li Chengqi, who was standing beside him, knew his father's thoughts very well. He whispered: "Actually, my father can go to see his aunt, and the emperor and grandmother shouldn't care."

The little aunt Li Chengqi refers to is Princess Taiping, Li Dan's young sister. Compared with other brothers and sisters, Li Dan and Princess Taiping have the deepest relationship. After Li Dan was demoted and placed under house arrest, Princess Taiping kept sending people to deliver various items and caring for her brother very much.

Of course, Li Dan knew that there was no problem with going to find the younger sister, but he didn't want to think too much now, so he waved his hand and said to Li Chengqi: "Tomorrow is the first polo game, how are you going?"

Li Chengqi bit his lip and whispered: "I really don't want to play on the same game as Wu Chongxun, so I would rather give up this game."

"Can't!"

Li Dan increased his tone unhappily, "Your grandmother wanted Li Wu to get along well, so she made this arrangement. No matter whether you want to or not, she must show a very united look. Even if she pretends, she must pretend for her father."

"But... we don't have any training cooperation, how can we play this game tomorrow?"

"Do your best!"

Li Dan said lightly, in fact, he didn't want to have any interaction with the Wu family. The entire Li royal family was watching him. If he had too close relationship with the Wu family, it would also arouse dissatisfaction from the royal family. His mother's arrangement made it difficult for him to handle, so he could only let it go.

"As long as you don't deliberately show conflicts, as for the outcome of the competition, I think your grandmother has nothing to say. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Dan stared at his son with sharp eyes, and Li Chengqi nodded slightly, and he understood what his father meant.

.........
Chapter completed!