Chapter 21 Advance and retreat
The martial arts practice place is a rectangular room, surrounded by weapon racks, complete with knives, guns, swords and halberds, but they are all firmly fixed in the racks, wrapped in cotton cloth outside, losing all vigor, like a vine that needs to be tended.
The five eunuchs stood in two rows, holding large and small boxes in their hands, which were said to be necessary for the emperor. Han Ruzi had never used them once, and he didn't even know what was inside.
The only trainer was the King of the East China Sea, and the other honorable attendants were guarding outside.
Meng E stood a little farther away and seldom spoke, and her elder brother Meng Che was in charge of all matters.
In front of many eunuchs, Meng Che didn't dare to be rude, bowed respectfully, got up and said: "There are so many martial arts in the world, I don't know which one Your Majesty wants to learn?"
"Uh...Mr. Meng, let's decide." Han Ruzi was reminded in advance that he called the old gentleman who taught the scriptures "teacher", and the person who taught martial arts was "teacher". There is one more word to distinguish between civil and military. more dignified.
The King of the East China Sea had suffered from the Meng brothers and sisters before, and had a very bad impression of them. At this moment, he sarcastically said, "It's as if you know everything."
Meng Che replied indifferently: "In terms of proficiency, there are only three things I know. If I just teach some basics, I am not talented, and I know a little about everything."
"Let's choose the one that Master Meng is proficient in." Han Ruzi didn't care what to learn.
The King of the East China Sea laughed a few times, stepped forward and said, "Tell me what you are proficient in first."
Meng Che nodded slightly, "Fist, sword, internal strength."
"I've seen you hold a sword, but I haven't seen you use it." The King of the East China Sea looked around, "There is no evidence for what you say, let us see if you practice a few moves."
"Since the Empress Dowager asked the two Meng masters to teach us martial arts, the skills must be good." Han Ruzi said.
The emperor's persuasion made the king of the East China Sea even more steadfast, "The empress dowager is the supreme body. Your majesty has lived in the inner house for a long time. She doesn't know much about the affairs of the world and is easy to be deceived. I have a martial artist in the palace. .”
Meng Che said: "One way of martial arts is to pay attention to comprehension. It doesn't care about high or low, first or younger, and it's a great honor to be taught by the King of the East China Sea."
"I don't dare to give advice, I just can tell the difference between good and bad, come on, let's practice a set of boxing techniques first."
Meng Che stepped back to a spacious place, tightened his belt, took a horse stance, slowly took a breath, stepped forward suddenly, punched, backed up, moved forward again, punched, backed up, then stood up, lowered his arms, exhaled, and watched To the King of the East China Sea.
"What the hell is this?" Donghai King said in surprise.
"It's... quite fast." Han Ruzi didn't see the way.
"If the king of the East China Sea wants to see the beautiful fists and embroidered legs, I'm sorry, that's all I can't do." Meng Che's tone was even more proud.
The King of the Eastern Sea sneered, "Let's look at your swordsmanship again."
"Swords have no eyes, let me just think about it."
The King of the East China Sea snorted, he remembered the situation when Meng Che held the sword in the Taimiao back then.
Meng Che took another few steps back, and suddenly jumped out, spanning a distance of seven or eight steps at once. His right arm stretched and retracted, as if stabbing a sword, and then he backed up, and returned to the original position in two steps. , exhaled, and said: "Please advise."
The king of Donghai blushed a little, and said angrily, "Are you kidding me?"
Meng Che shook his head, "In front of Your Majesty, who would dare to play around for no reason? This is how I fight with swords, and focus on actual combat rather than routine."
"Needless to say, your internal strength has no routine?"
"certainly."
The King of Donghai pouted contemptuously, and turned his head to look at the head eunuch: "I want to try Teacher Meng's ability, is it okay?"
Yang Feng didn't come today, Zuo Ji led the team, and said with a smile: "Don't use real swords and guns, other things are up to the king of the East China Sea."
The King of the East China Sea was self-aware, "That's good. Teacher Meng, I'm young and weak, so it's normal that I can't beat you. I'll call some people in to try your 'actual combat' skills."
The king of Donghai didn't care whether Meng Che agreed or not, let alone asking the emperor's opinion, he went straight out of the room, and after a while, he called all the attendants in from outside. He didn't object, so he didn't obstruct it.
The King of the East China Sea called out the oldest attendant, "This is the grandson of Marquis Piyuan and Iron Cavalry General Zhang Yin...what's your name?"
The attendant is a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old, his face still has childishness, but his body is quite strong, and he is also the tallest. Just standing there, he is eager to try, "My name is Zhang Yanghao."
Han Ruzi had noticed this attendant a long time ago, so he remembered his name at this time, and at the same time wanted to see if Meng Che had real skills.
The King of Donghai approached Zhang Yanghao, pointed at Meng Che and said, "This man's fists are relatively hard. You can teach him a lesson and let him know that the emperor's martial arts teacher is not good."
"Since I'm His Majesty's teacher, I'm afraid I'm no match." Zhang Yanghao was cautious and didn't play right away.
"It's okay, just for fun, Your Majesty wants to see it too." King Donghai looked at the emperor, and Han Ruzi nodded.
Zhang Yanghao gave a heavy hum, rolled up his sleeves, and walked across to Meng Che. The companions behind him cheered him up in a low voice, and their faces looked extremely excited. Being a servant in the palace is a boring job. There is fun to watch.
"Teacher Meng, please enlighten me." Zhang Yanghao did not cup his fists according to the etiquette. He is the heir of the Zhang family who will inherit the title of Marquis of Piyuan, so there is no reason to be too polite to a martial artist.
"Young master Zhang is merciful," Meng Che said.
Zhang Yanghao was born in a family of generals, he practiced martial arts since he was a child, and he was well-known in the small circle. He immediately put on a posture, waited for a while, and saw that the opponent had no intention of attacking, he gave a soft drink, strode forward, and punched.
"Hundred Step Fist, the first punch in the army, well-deserved reputation." Meng Che said while hiding, keeping a distance of more than five steps from Zhang Yanghao.
Although Baibuquan is a boxing method, it attaches great importance to the lower hand. Zhang Yanghao's footwork is neat and rigorous, and his fists are vigorous. Shut up hastily.
One hit, the other hid, and it was worth a half-circle. The King of the East China Sea became impatient, and said loudly: "Mr. Meng, is this your skill? Your Majesty can't learn by running and not fighting."
Meng Che also felt that enough was enough, and reminded: "Young Master Zhang accepts the move."
"Come on!" Zhang Yanghao was in high spirits, hoping that the opponent would fight back.
Meng Che neither stopped nor put on any posture. One moment he was dodging from left to right, and the next moment he rushed into Zhang Yanghao's arms, punched him, and quickly stepped back seven steps away. He stood upright with a cold face. Frost, ice in eyes.
Zhang Yanghao froze there, his legs were bent, his arms went up and down, like a small tree being blown down by a strong wind, he suddenly let out a breath, yelled, he clutched his stomach, and couldn't straighten his back for a long time.
"I'm reckless, I don't know the severity of my shots, please forgive me, Mr. Zhang." Meng Che's expression returned to normal.
Zhang Yanghao was still covering his stomach with his right hand, stretched out his left hand and shook it a few times, and said in a hoarse voice, "It's okay, Mr. Meng is good at boxing, I, I am willing to bow down."
The surprise of the attendants suddenly turned into admiration, and they asked in a hurry, "What kind of boxing technique is this?" "How much strength did you use?" "Which sect are you from?" "Do you know Gui Yuehua? He He is my family's martial artist and is very famous in Jianghu."
The ceremonial officer coughed several times, and the attendants shut up. Zhang Yanghao finally straightened up, cupped his fists and said, "As expected of an imperial martial artist, I admire you."
"Mr. Zhang is polite. My boxing method is for one person and one body. It is not comparable to Mr. Zhang's Baibuquan. It is a boxing method for the two armies to kill generals and capture the flag in front of the battle."
In the army, the Hundred Step Fist was only used to strengthen the body. On the battlefield, no one would fight with bare hands, but Meng Che's words still made Zhang Yanghao smile.
The King of the East China Sea originally wanted to make Meng Che look ugly, but after seeing the power of boxing, he immediately changed his mind and stepped forward, saying: "Well, you really have some skills, how many can you punch alone?"
"It depends on who the opponent is." Meng Che said.
The King of East China Sea looked at the attendants, and felt that they were not good enough, "The guards in the palace."
"There are so many masters, if you pick one at random, I'm afraid I'm not the match."
"Then on the battlefield, there are enemy soldiers on the opposite side. How many can you fight?"
Meng Che thought for a while, "If the opponent is well-trained, there are at most five."
"Only five!" Donghai King was disappointed, "I thought you could defeat a hundred with one."
"There is no invincible boxing in the world. Just like the art of war, it is also divided into terrains such as pass, hang, branch, pass, danger, and distance. The terrain is different, and the boxing techniques that can be used are also different. My boxing is independent. If there are too many enemies, I will fight against it. I'd rather run away and fight again when I get the chance, never try my fist at risk."
The king of the East China Sea wanted to ask more questions, but Han Ruzi coughed. After all, he was the emperor, so the king of the East China Sea could only shut up.
Han Ruzi was surprised by two things: Meng Che looked dull, but he was actually very good at talking, and also, Meng Che's boxing reminded him of Yang Feng's arrangement.
"When Mr. Meng competed with Mr. Zhang, he retreated with one blow. Why didn't he take advantage of the victory and pursue it?"
The king of Donghai said first: "He is afraid of hurting Zhang Yanghao, so it's hard to explain."
Zhang Yanghao, who had already returned to the queue of attendants, blushed.
Han Ruzi felt that this was not the only reason. When Meng Che practiced boxing alone, he would advance and retreat, never standing still and punching continuously.
Meng Che looked at the emperor and bowed slightly, "My boxing technique is not for desperate use, but for self-defense. Offense and defense can't be both, attack with all your strength, take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, go straight to the vital point, no matter whether it succeeds or not, immediately retreat and defend , to avoid the enemy's trick of luring troops."
"How could Zhang Yanghao have any tricks to lure soldiers?" Donghai King felt that Meng Che was thinking too much.
This afternoon, Meng Che did not teach the real boxing techniques, but talked about some key points, which were quite different from the boxing techniques common in Jianghu, and everyone couldn't hear the difference.
An idea slowly formed in Han Ruzi's mind, and when he saw Yang Feng at night, he said excitedly, "I figured it out!"
"Please speak, Your Majesty." Yang Feng was very calm.
"Taizu dared to advance and retreat. When he had the opportunity to attack, he did not care about himself. When the situation was unfavorable and he needed to retreat, he never procrastinated, and he didn't care about his reputation for a while. It is said that Taizu always had gods and men to help him in times of crisis. In fact, that is not the case. God-man, but Taizu—good at escaping.”
Han Ruzi paused for a while, and then he wanted to say something disrespectful to his ancestor, "It was the same when Taizu made friends with heroes. He dared to advance and dare to retreat. Some people betrayed Taizu. In fact, those who were betrayed by Taizu More, Taizu is more decisive and ruthless than others, knows how to use friends better, and knows how to protect himself."
After Han Ruzi finished speaking, he anxiously waited for Yang Feng to judge.
A smile appeared on Yang Feng's gloomy face, "Okay, let me set another question for His Majesty: Everyone in the world is selfish, there are many heroes who are more ruthless than Taizu, why didn't they win?" What about the world?"
Han Ruzi was at a loss for words and was stumped again.
(seeking collection and recommendation)